Phil's Character Growth

On Monday, Phil was all set to go down to finish raking our little field and then seed it. He drove over with the tractor, but the ground was a little too wet. He figured it would be okay to seed, and then clear, so he drove back, took off the rake, and went to put the backhoe on the back.

Superman Phil, though, couldn't get the hydraulic lines connected. He told me later that he was about to get really frustrated and blow his stack, when he suddenly thought, "Maybe this is the Lord's way of telling me I'm just not supposed to do this today."

What character growth for Phil!

So instead he spent the day building up the sides of the truck, and bending a cattle panel over the top, so we'll be able to bring our Fox and Socks pigs to the abattoir on Thursday. I am excited to see them go. The three pigs together are getting through about 50 pounds of feed a day, and at $22.50 a day, that gets pricey quickly.

Phil tried to get the hydraulic lines connected at the end of the day, and they went together without any trouble.

For myself, like the boys, I, too, am tired of looking at the same picture books. I climbed over mountains of stuff in the storage area, and found a box of children's books. It was one of the highlights of my month to find the forgotten treasures. And some I have no connection to anymore: it felt good to put those in the giveaway pile. I packed up a collection of books we've read enough this year, and decided I would do the same thing every day.

Sadly, today I tried to find another box, but apparently Phil and I stacked our myriad boxes without much consideration: the classics (Homer, Shakespeare) and the engineering books are on the top, and all the favorite children's books so far buried I cannot reach them. Bummer.

Phil spent today clearing the lower pasture. He's cleared the whole line along the creek, and started swaths of land. He's figuring out how to use the tractor to best effect. He even got a dense patch of underbrush cleared, so dense he wondered (before we got the tractor) if he should just ignite it. But neither of us trust our abilities to prevent larger forest fires, once ignited, so I'm happy he was able to cut and knock down the brush.

I had a disappointing calculation about the chickens and eggs. I know that our broilers were about $20 apiece to raise; I had hoped that, at $5/dozen, we were almost breaking even with the eggs. But, at the end of the year, I have perspective on how much the chickens actually lay, and how much the feed costs. Sadly, at $5/dozen, we aren't even covering current costs, let alone the $1000 it cost to raise the chicks to full-sized birds.

Which leaves us with several unpleasant options: switch to potentially GM feed (non organic), or add soy (which does transfer: folks allergic to soy cannot handle soy-fed meat or eggs, and I really don't want soy) in order to reduce feed costs. Or stop selling eggs, which is not a happy option since we actually have a few persistent customers. Somehow, I don't think raising the price of eggs to $8/dozen, even though that's what I think would be a true break-even price, is doable for most folks.

The economics of farming frustrates me. I feel like it should be possible to produce food that I would want to eat for a reasonable price, even if I don't pay myself, but that isn't happening.

In happier news, though, Phil and I are talking again about housing options, and that is fun. Even 1000 square feet, well designed, would be a great living space!

For now, though, when I turn on the motor home tap and warm water comes out, I truly rejoice. What a treat!