Homestead Hill Farm: Life in the Fast Lane

...Life in the fast lane
surely make you lose your mind
Life in the fast lane, EVERY-THING all the time...

- Eagles 1976

While I realize that farm life was definitely NOT what this song was written about, it was what was running through my head this morning as I began my day. It seemed everywhere I looked, everything I passed,every… well…EVERYTHING needed attention!

…faster, faster…the lights are turnin’ red…

It’s that time of year when the job possibilities far outnumber the hours in a day, and if allowed to, the workload could truly overwhelm us. However we know our limitations, both physical and mental/emotional, so we don’t allow ourselves to give into the panic that sets in sometimes when we notice that…

ACK! It’s the first week of June!

There are flats and flats and flats to plant out…there are flats and flats and flats to seed, but the greenhouse needs to be emptied first…wait, the corn needs to be sown…the winter squash has to be planted, irrigated AND mulched in…

winter squash

the okra should be seeded…the broccoli AND asparagus need picking…

Waylon MUST be shorn!!!

…now, the bugs are eating the squash, what do you want to do about that?

cucumber beetle damage

…the tomatoes need tying AND mulching…

the peppers must be mulched as well…

and the NEVERending weeding (OMG!)

…the onions are horribly messy, you gonna get to that? …the lambs need to be moved…the sheep want a new paddock…can you put up a net fence?...what do you mean you have to MOW first?…a town-run MUST be made for feed and essentials, and then they all have to be put away...and while you're in town...get some gas for the tractors and tillers…oh my goodness, look at the trash….we REALLY need to go to the dump! …can we do a dump-run/lunch-date next week?...maybe, but the garlic! We have to pull the garlic!...There is broccoli to freeze for winter, did you do that yet?…I’ll get it, tonight…promise!

My desk is buried in paperwork, you think I can take a rain day to do office work? ….what do you mean it’s going to rain AGAIN?...tonight?

….oh man, the wind and rain knocked the peas over…and I think they need picking again…that’s a BIG mess…make a note: DON’T do THAT again! …

overgrown...but, VERY productive

the hoophouse needs tilling…can you do that for me?...we should plant more scallions…do you think turnips will work in the hoophouse in the summer?

...the big roto-tiller is in need of some sort of repair…wait, did you order a part for it?...we need more spinach plants…blasted mouse!...how much spinach /lettuce you think we could sell?

...Jed stinks…do you think we should shear the dogs this year?...did you add plant sweet potatoes to the list for this week? …we need to do something about the weeds around the hoophouse, can’t roll down the side…

weeds along hoophouse

Weed-whacking needs to go on the to-do list…no, wait…mow the grass…bushhog the front fields…make a list for the butcher…did you know the lambs go in three weeks?

...is the cabbage ready to pick?...are the beans blooming yet? What about those carrots, are they EVER going to mature?

...better check the cauliflower!

Cauliflower ready to pick

….should we mow the asparagus patch, or give into the weeds?.

..are the crows eating the newly planted corn?

...wait a minute, I need to take a breath!

But, you know what? None of it is going to disappear. Nope, this happens every year. Read THIS ...and THIS... If we don’t get to it today…it will still be there tomorrow. I reckon it’s just job security!

So, we’ll go at it…slow and steady…like the tortoise in the ancient fable. …and try to have a little fun with it in the meantime.

Because you know what..?