Don't Get Lost in the Shuffle

Here in Irish Grove we've become inundated with spam. And I don't mean the kind that comes in a can and is made in Minnesota. I mean the kind that offer us all sorts of physical improvements, monetary windfalls and membership in AARP (the nerve!). Therefore, I've made the switch to gmail and hope you don't get lost in the shuffle. Please make a note of my new email address: jackie.de.batista@gmail.com and send me a line or two if you feel inspired. Just know I won't be inspired to join you on that free cruise in exchange for my personal info and, with most sincere apologies, I can't help you when you lose your passport while overseas. You're just gonna have to learn to be more responsible.

Good Enough for Irish Grove

If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a thousand times:

“You don’t look like a farmer.”

I was most recently accused of this egregious transgression while presenting Farm Financials to beginning farmers at a Farm Beginnings class.** And while inviting me to present farm financials is indeed a joke-worthy topic, how I look has nothing to do with it.

I never know what to say when I’m accused of not looking like a farmer.  What does that mean, really?  Should I be wearing rubber boots and have straw embedded in my hair?  Should I be a hipster or wear dreadlocks?  Should I be fat and/or a little bit homely? Should I stink of manure and have dirt under my fingernails?  Should I wear flannel shirts and overalls with a straw hat, or perhaps a denim skirt?  Should I look like I have no other option for my life?  Should I be a man?

A few years back I was actually a student in this class.  And I remember with great clarity how one presenter (speaking off-topic) told us that people expect farmers to look a certain way and so, if we want to be successful, we should try our best to incorporate that ‘farmer look’ into our persona.  No lie, this person actually went on to describe exactly how we should dress for each occasion.  Taking produce to the farmers market? Wear overalls, a worn t-shirt with a farm-related or liberal message printed on the front, and a wool stocking cap.  Better yet, tie your hair up with a bandana!  I was apparently the only person offended by these comments (that I know of), as many people were nodding their heads in agreement. 

Maybe someone should take this idea and turn it into a class!  They could call it Farm Fresh Fashion or An Outfit for Every Outfit!  How about The Dirt on Farmer Digs?

Miracle-Glo? 

Whatever the title, something tells me I won’t be invited to be the presenter.

“You don’t look like a farmer” is a powerful statement.  People that say this are saying I’m not    fill in the blank    -enough for their taste.  And then I get wondering….wondering about their opinions, their motivations, and ultimately their farm ethic.  Are they saying I’m not smart enough or strong enough to be a farmer? Are they disclosing their stance in the very real and terrible divide between conventional and organic farmers?  Are they trying to influence me or pressure me into something?  Are they sexist? Are they revealing an unspoken prejudice against farmers as uneducated, dumb hayseeds? 

Can they really, honestly, genuinely be simply surprised that a farmer might wear mascara? 

As a farmer—a funny-looking and apparently unfarmer-ish farmer—I can tell you that the cows don’t care if I wear a pantsuit or my pajamas as I let them into that fresh paddock when they’re hungry, the chickens are fine with both high-heels and shit-kickers as long as I throw them their coveted kitchen scraps, and the horses will just as happily grab a carrot out of freshly manicured hands as they will lovingly nibble hay embedded in hair.  Thankfully, a farmer’s animals and a farmer’s land will respond to his/her care and attention—with or without the right wardrobe. 

My response to the woman at the Farm Beginnings class?  I’m not what all farmers look like, but I am what a farmer looks like.  And I think that’s good enough for Irish Grove. 

**The person commenting on my appearance at the class was a student and not a Farm Beginnings staff person. I'd hate to give the impression that Farm Beginnings organizer Angelic Organics endorses a certain look. They always have and continue to support farmers of all varieties.

Some Truths About Farming

Farm truth #1: There are tons of projects around the farm that need to be done in a farmer's spare time.

Take the barnyard, for example.

The lovely cows, during the lovely dog days of summer, love to wallow around in their own lovely muck in order to get out of the lovely heat and humidity.

The result is a not-so-lovely barnyard and a bunch of cows that can suffer from a not-so-lovely hoof condition called foot rot.

Farm truth #2: Farmers have no spare time to finish these projects.

That's right, I said it. Farmers have no spare time to do extra projects around the farm because they're too busy with:

1) their off-farm jobs
2) their kids
3) their civic duties, and
4) their daily farm work.

It's stressful, people.

And to prove it, just look at how stressed I am at my off-farm job!

Farm truth #3: No one cares to listen to you whine about not having any spare time to finish your farm projects.

No need to elaborate on this one.   

Farm truth #4:  If you whine loud enough, a few helpers may appear out of nowhere. 

Yes.

 

Yes!

Double yes!!

Farm truth #4: There are many people who are happy to congratulate you when you finally get around to finishing those farm projects.

Farm truth #5: Kids love to write their name in fresh cement.

Farm truth #6:  Farmers love getting a good project done.

The end.

Cutie Patooties

Scott Russell Sanders

"People who root themselves in places

are likelier to know and care for those places

than are people who root themselves in ideas.

When we cease to be migrants and become inhabitants,

we might begin to pay enough heed and respect to where we are.

 








By settling in, we have a chance of making a durable home for ourselves,

our fellow creatures,

and our descendants."

--Scott Russell Sanders

Boys 1, Girls 1

Calf #2 was born this morning. It's a girl!!

She's been adorned with a very stylish #39 earring and officially welcomed to the clan.

Tally so far? Boys 1, Girls 1.

 

The Official Start of Spring

Most people don't tend to think of spring as a date on a calendar.  Sure, March 20th is the first official day of the season, but if it's a blustery, wintry March 20th does that really count?  And if it doesn't, what does? 

 

For example, I'm friends with many birdwatchers.  I can't count how many times I've heard them talk about their fist robin or red-winged blackbird of the season, exclaiming "Spring is here!". 

And what gardener doesn't joyously exclaim "Spring is here!" when they see the first daffodil, with its bright yellow petticoats, adorning the yard?

But on the farm?  On the farm nothing quite says "Spring is here!" like the first calf of the season.

 

In Irish Grove, Spring officially started on April 8, 2011.

 

  At 9:23 a.m. to be exact.