Market Farming

[Pat Meadows <pat AT meadows.pair.com>]

On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:12:32 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:

>I've been following this list for quite some time and it seems as though 
>most people just do this for fun, to get their hands dirty. 

I'm a gardener, not a farmer, but I'm not representative of the people on
this list.  I've been on the list quite a while too.  I can - immediately,
without even trying to do it - think of quite a few listmembers who are
making full-time livings at farming.  I think you're *very* mistaken.

Even as a gardener, I'm not doing it for fun.  I'm doing it for the
following reasons, which I take *very* seriously:

1.  For health, we need the fresh veggies and cannot afford to buy them.

2.  If we could afford to buy them, we cannot find them locally anyway. In
many cases, we cannot find the veggies I buy locally *at all*, and in other
cases, they are in sad, wilted, old condition.

3.  I feel compelled by my faith (Buddhism) and my ethical system, my
morals if you will, to do my part to alleviate Global Warming and part of
that is growing as much of our own food as I can.  This is not necessarily
*fun*; it goes way beyond fun.  I find it a moral imperative; just like
don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't kill.  I take growing as much
food as I can equally seriously.

4.  I happen to love doing it, but that's just good luck, really.  Even in
this case, it goes beyond *fun*.  Love is deeper than fun, way deeper.

I think an awful lot of people farm because they MUST; they are impelled to
do so for similar reasons.

In the past I have grow enough veggies for a family of four and have sold
veggies too.  I had the same reasons for growing food 30 years ago that I
do now.

But I'm 64 years old now, with serious arthritis, degenerative disk
disease, and other medical problems. Growing a significant amount of our
own food takes a very significant portion of my ability to work.  

In spite of the fact that I love growing food, believe me, there are many
times now that the *last* thing I'd call it is *fun*.  Serious chronic pain
isn't fun at all and it's really tough to work through pain.  Really
difficult.  Extremely difficult.  

Don't call it *fun*, please.  That's insulting to me and probably to a
whole bunch of other listmembers. 

Pat
-- Northern Pennsylvania
http://www.entire-of-itself.blogspot.com/
'Every one of us can do something to protect and care for our planet.
We should live in such a way that makes a future possible.'
 - Thich Nhat Hanh