Green Acres 2020 Edition

So I’m green to this farming thing. I grew up on a farm, but who really remembers which veggies should go next to what at the age of eleven. Yeah, I spent couple winters as a kid butchering cows, but hand me a knife and piece of meat now and I’ll ask for a fork and a baked potato. Not that I couldn’t do hard work or learn new things now, but back then I would ask some questions, mostly I was brave and would just do what needed to be done. I was a worker helping the farmer and his wife and in return I brought home fresh food and $3 an hour. In my time and for my age, I was wealthy. Now days, taking on a farm I’m more analytical. I see projects as risk and dollar amounts. I’m trying to change my perspective and see adventure and learning experiences, especially for the sake of all our kids. I see it in their eyes, my husband and I are the farmer and his wife. They are the brave ones that jump right in and help right along with us. That encourages me!

I’m a little young to avidly remember the show Green Acres. However, my mother loved TV Land and I enjoyed watching with her. Shows like Gilligan’s Island, Petticoat Junction, and M.A.S.H. were amongst our favorites. I reference Green Acres not just because I’m green with the whole farm thing, but because I can more than ever relate to that show. For those who don’t know, it’s a show about a New York lawyer who longs for a simpler way of life so he buys a farm, sight unseen, and moves there to live off the land, much to the dismay of his socialite wife, Lisa. The collision of small-town life and Lisa’s sophisticated ways leads to quite the entertaining show.

Now, to be clear, I’m no lawyer despite my ability to argue a point. Nor am I from New York and I don’t long for a simpler way of life, per say. I do want to find ways to be more eco friendly and self sustaining for our family of seven. And though we saw the land before we bought it, the issues we are uncovering are beyond imaginable. Lucky for me, my husband is a jack of all traits. If you were to ask anyone I went to high school with if they could see me as a farm girl, they would tell you no with sincere confidence. On the flip side, ask one of my coworkers from a previous job in Columbus OH (-I-O), is she a city gal, they would also tell you no. I’ve never truly found where I belonged. Honestly, I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere. But then again, I’ve not been everywhere.

Circling back, I only lived on the farm as a kid for roughly half my childhood. Part of my early childhood my mom and I, she was a single mother at this point, lived in an apartment that is today considered section 8. Back then it was just referred to as “the hood”. Not the best of living, but I can tell you our apartment was the cleanest in the entire complex. She could put a Military Sergeant to shame. The other half of my later childhood we lived in a mature subdivision seven minutes from downtown Louisville KY. I had the best of both worlds as a kid looking back. So I reference Green Acres because I’m pretty much both characters in one, I love aspects about the city but the farm life is so comfortable despite the hard work and exhaustion. Right now I just wish we could get a handle on it.

We don’t have a large farm. We have about eight acres. I have a background in planning, so naturally I have a short term plan and a long range plan. Mostly just an idea of what we’d like in an effort to be sustainable and to teach our kids a thing or two. I have no idea what I’m doing on this farm. I get up just about everyday and I dress nice for work. I return home and change into run down cloths and work hard util the sun is gone. It doesn’t seem like we get much accomplished and we spend more time fixing things than we do maintaining or improving. I can’t even begin to count the hours I’ve spent researching ‘how to’ and ‘what’s more efficient’. The list of things to tackle is so overwhelming and the projects just keep coming. My poor husband longs for the day he can just find a good routine. In many ways we feel very overwhelmed, but in the weirdest way we feel right where I need to be. I’ve always joked we need our own reality TV show, but maybe I just need to assist in writing a sitcom, Green Acres Rye Edition. I can see it now!

Reference Green Acres theme song for nostalgia!

https://youtu.be/Mbk81X6WHA4