So, you say you want to downsize and get back to basics...
I don't know about you, but I have heard a lot of talk about people wanting to get back to basics, slow down and smell the roses, downsize their lives, get away from the rat race so they have time to live their lives.. Not necessarily a new thing, but I have heard these statements in the media and from the mouths of friends and acquaintances alike. I wonder how it has worked out for them.
We have done a certain amount of getting back to basics around here. Gotten away from the rat race, as it were. Now we are in the chicken race, or the season race, or the keep the house from falling in race. There was a time when I spent my time dreaming about and pursuing the perfect wave. It meant a lot of driving, camping out, down time around a campfire. Now, we have gardens, chickens, goats, cats and a dog. Thoughts of waves are few and far between around here. And pursuit of them is a dream.
Slowing down and getting back to basics around here means eating from our gardens, raising chickens for eggs and meat, milking goats, burning wood in the kitchen cook stove. Some of these things we have been doing a long time, but some are new. But eventually they add up. And now that it is winter, some take more effort or are more urgent. A typical morning is like this, get up early to start the stove and get the coffee on. Take fresh water out to the goats and give them hay. Feed the chickens and check for eggs. Come back in to have a coffee and breakfast and stoke the stove. Back out to milk the goats, bring the milk in, process it and clean up. Out to split wood for the day and bring it in. In between, keep the stove stoked. That often takes me through till 10:30 or 11 AM. Depending on the weather, try to get some maintenance done or if it's inclement, do some work for clients (telecommuting). Every couple of hours, go back out and re-fork the goat hay and check the chickens. Keep the stove stoked.
In addition to the daily chores, we are always up against a change of season to prepare for. Coming into winter, it was get the house buttoned up and the animal shelters battened down. Coming into the fall it was get in the fall harvest and enough wood to carry us through. Over the summer it was get hay into the barn. In the spring it will be care for the new goat kids, with any luck. There were some singulars in there to. Watch for the goats to be in heat and get them bred. Construct new housing for the goats. Move the chicken coop to the new spot for the season.
We do have some systems that make things easier. For the winter we will use an automated feeder that feeds the chickens for us in the early morning. In the summer the chickens are free range and we don't have to worry about them so much. There is a heated base for the chicken water so it doesn't freeze that cuts down on needing to get out there early. There is water plumbed from the spring down to the garden so we don't have to lug it. The garden is mostly raised beds that are a lot easier to tend than beds on grade. But for the goats and the wood stove, it's fresh enough that we are still working to find those ease factors. Getting the necessities in can be a daily grind.
Being successful does become all about those ways to automate / ease the processes. I think I'll call them easements. If I had to go out every morning at the butt crack of dawn to bring water to the chickens, they'd be in chicken soup before long. Sometimes it's about learning the hard way, sometimes it's about learning from someone else. For the goats, I lucked into knowing someone who had them pretty well figured out. I was able to model their processes and get a big jump on the learning curve.
Well, I don't think I am going to get much further with this tonight. Your going to have to take my word for it that we do it as I don't think I am going to get around to telling you how we do it.
We have done a certain amount of getting back to basics around here. Gotten away from the rat race, as it were. Now we are in the chicken race, or the season race, or the keep the house from falling in race. There was a time when I spent my time dreaming about and pursuing the perfect wave. It meant a lot of driving, camping out, down time around a campfire. Now, we have gardens, chickens, goats, cats and a dog. Thoughts of waves are few and far between around here. And pursuit of them is a dream.
Slowing down and getting back to basics around here means eating from our gardens, raising chickens for eggs and meat, milking goats, burning wood in the kitchen cook stove. Some of these things we have been doing a long time, but some are new. But eventually they add up. And now that it is winter, some take more effort or are more urgent. A typical morning is like this, get up early to start the stove and get the coffee on. Take fresh water out to the goats and give them hay. Feed the chickens and check for eggs. Come back in to have a coffee and breakfast and stoke the stove. Back out to milk the goats, bring the milk in, process it and clean up. Out to split wood for the day and bring it in. In between, keep the stove stoked. That often takes me through till 10:30 or 11 AM. Depending on the weather, try to get some maintenance done or if it's inclement, do some work for clients (telecommuting). Every couple of hours, go back out and re-fork the goat hay and check the chickens. Keep the stove stoked.
In addition to the daily chores, we are always up against a change of season to prepare for. Coming into winter, it was get the house buttoned up and the animal shelters battened down. Coming into the fall it was get in the fall harvest and enough wood to carry us through. Over the summer it was get hay into the barn. In the spring it will be care for the new goat kids, with any luck. There were some singulars in there to. Watch for the goats to be in heat and get them bred. Construct new housing for the goats. Move the chicken coop to the new spot for the season.
We do have some systems that make things easier. For the winter we will use an automated feeder that feeds the chickens for us in the early morning. In the summer the chickens are free range and we don't have to worry about them so much. There is a heated base for the chicken water so it doesn't freeze that cuts down on needing to get out there early. There is water plumbed from the spring down to the garden so we don't have to lug it. The garden is mostly raised beds that are a lot easier to tend than beds on grade. But for the goats and the wood stove, it's fresh enough that we are still working to find those ease factors. Getting the necessities in can be a daily grind.
Being successful does become all about those ways to automate / ease the processes. I think I'll call them easements. If I had to go out every morning at the butt crack of dawn to bring water to the chickens, they'd be in chicken soup before long. Sometimes it's about learning the hard way, sometimes it's about learning from someone else. For the goats, I lucked into knowing someone who had them pretty well figured out. I was able to model their processes and get a big jump on the learning curve.
Well, I don't think I am going to get much further with this tonight. Your going to have to take my word for it that we do it as I don't think I am going to get around to telling you how we do it.
Labels: chores, rural life
posted by MMP at
3:41 PM
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