Am I quitting farming?

The last three months of 2013 was full of trials and tribulations for me. Layoffs, temp jobs and failed business plans have left me reeling and trying to find balance.

I'm starting to think that I'm setting myself up for failure if I go through with the plans I had started on in October. This is complicated by the fact that my involvement in the tree stand didn't produce a darn thing. That's right. I made nothing for 7 weeks of work. Luckily I had my other temp job that looks like it's going to become permanent.

I've got an offer, but it's an hour and a half commute each way, which I might be able to live with if it weren't for the fact that I'm keeping my graveyard shift job at all costs.

That said, I need to take a few days after the Holiday Apocalypse to get things figured out. I'd really like to get a farm position that's either regular pay or salary plus commission.

Back in September, I was seriously considering never farming again. I thought I had changed my mind in October, but these things are hard sometimes. I have to provide for my family somehow and it seems like all the people who supported me in farming have either bugged out or proven unreliable with a few notable exceptions, hence the far-away job offer.

Focus will come in time. In the meantime, I'm resting like the land.

Holiday Apocalypse... or Why I Miss Farming Right Now....

Well, coming up on the end of tree season and it can't come soon enough. Working two jobs has really beaten me up a bit, even to the point that if you touch my left shoulder, I'll scream.

Cancelled plans for the weekend over my overt brokenness in favor of spending the evening at the tree lot, trying not to lift anything.

Right now, I really miss farming. I miss the farm I used to work at to the point that I've stopped by and visited a few times recently. They've had their own set of challenges recently with the serious freeze... broken pipes, frozen water lines and the inevitable hauling of buckets of water to their animals. I've had a few of those issues with my own critters and am happy to not be hauling buckets of warm water on top of having an angry rotator cuff.

I really miss the quiet of winter farming though. The time spent weeding seedlings in the high tunnel and biding my time until spring. I miss my former coworkers, especially those who had their ways with quiet sarcasm.

I can't say I miss the outhouse on cold days. Especially since my "real" job had to haul in outhouses for a few days this past week during the worst of the deep freeze. Thanks, City of Bremerton, for not keeping your water mains functional!

Back in October, I could look over the farm and only see death and doom as crops succumbed to the frosts. On a frosty December day, however, you can see all the potential, the ground biding its time until it welcomes new crops in a few months.

I'm itching to do some farm planning. I'm ready to start making things grow again. Soon, but not yet.