permaculture

[Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>]

The following was copied from the market farming list and I have removed the 
name to render it anonymous and edited it slightly.
Just wondered if this resonates with other growers out there and how they are dealing with it. 

More perennials? More crop diversity? Fewer children? Income from non-farm 
sources? ???

   I have been farming for roughly 8 years, and this is now our 6 year
   running a CSA. This year we are up to 225 members. I have always
   been very
   enthusiastic about doing what we are doing, (feeling like we were
   part of a
   larger more important mission) so even though the work we do is
   incredibly
   difficult it always seemed worth it.

   However, this winter I seem to be in a real lull about farming.
   I'm also feeling a bit concerned about the stress of farming in
   general. We as
   farmers put ourselves in the storm of so much risk every year. There is
   always the looming possibility of bad weather, frost, etc that can
   take out a
   number of our crops, and drought. There is also the stress of labor and
   customer needs.

   We use different strategies to help alliviate this stress
   (i.e. CSA marketing, row covers, succession planting, etc.) and all
   of these
   are all useful, and I have become a better farmer for it. However,
   (please
   allow me to endulge in a bit of whining) I'm only 33 (and have four
   small children--by the way), but I am starting to already feel the
   affects
   of farming taking its toll both mentally and physically. In the
   fall, it
   feels like I crash from the previous year's season and I go through
   stages
   where I dread the next growing season. (PTSD for farmers??)

   In addition, it seems that the winter months bring little relief for
   worry but brings only
   isolation (we live far out of town). What really has brought me down
   in the
   past months is knowing that even the best of the farmers are only
   making on
   average about $14.90/hour (from John Henderickson's U of W study)--

   So, I'm sending out this post not looking for more technical
   strategies (i.e--farm
   planning, business plans, etc.) but looking around to others who
   have gone
   through what I'm going through and who have pushed forward and feel
   good
   that they did. I guess I'm looking for hope.... Perhaps a bit of a
   support
   group for farmers.

--
Keith Johnson
"Be fruitful and mulch apply."
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47407
(812) 335-0383
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
http://www.PermacultureTradingPost.com
Switch to Solar Power the Easy Way
http://www.jointhesolution.com/KeithJ-SunPower
http://www.PowUr.com/KeithJ-SunPower
Blog: http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com/
also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
http://www.permacultureactivist.net/design/Designconsult.html
also Association for Regenerative Culture
http://www.ARCulture.org
also APPLE-Bloomington (Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy) It's a 
small world after oil.
http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington
also Bloomington Permaculture Guild
http://my.calendars.net/bloomingtonpccal/
and: http://bloomingtonpermacultureguild.blogspot.com/
also: Bioregional Congress
http://www.bioregional-congress.org