Anyone who was born and raised in a rural farming community knows what life on a farm looks like. However, if you happen to be from the city and plan on moving to the countryside, here are 10 things you are going to learn on a farm, coming from a woman who has 15 years of marriage and five children – living on a farm.
1. Working 9-5? Not anymore
If you’re used to your 9-5 schedule, you will learn that life on a farm doesn’t include such workdays. A farmer’s working day often looks like this: Waking up early and working until everything is done. Sometimes, even the dark of night doesn’t stop the work.
2. Sleeping in rarely ever happens
It looks like most if not all farm folks are early risers by default – it might be genetically ingrained in their DNA.
If you’re still in bed at 7 a.m. you will very likely be asked, “Are you going to sleep all day?” The person asking this question will be serious.
A farmer’s day begins at dawn. You will finally learn to get up early.
3. Good clothes and chore clothes
You will learn about strict rules regarding good clothes and chore clothes. Farmer’s moms have this rule for their kids. However, no matter how hard they try to make your good clothes out of the barn, eventually, most of your apparel makes it to the barn and into the everyday clothes category.
4. Unbreakable brand loyalty
When a farmer likes a certain brand of equipment, they tend to be as faithful to it as possible. Farm folks are very serious about their equipment. Pretty much similar to the genetic predisposition to get up early, the brand loyalty often runs in the family and it’s passed on to next generations. When you marry a farmer, you marry a brand.
5. Clean your calendars
Seasonal work comes before all other activities. The end.
6. Variable meals times and locations
During plant and harvest season, the meals are served outside – in a field. And it is served when a part of the work is done, farmers don’t just stop in the middle of everything and start eating.
Eating out in the open isn’t a bad thing at all, and if you’ve ever had a meal in a field, you know what I’m talking about when I say: “Food tastes better in the field!”
It really does.
7. Patience is key
Farm kids learn how to be patient very early. Most farm kids have their own chores around the farm, and even when it comes to Christmas or Easter, no presents are opened, no eggs are hunted, and not even Halloween candy trick-or-treatin’ is happening until all of the chores are done. A farmer’s kid knows all about patience.
8. Never say: “I’m bored.”
Boredom comes as a rare commodity on a farm. Work is never done and even if you start to feel boredom creeping up on you, never let everyone know about it – unless you feel like picking up some new chores. You will learn how not to let people know you’re bored.
9. The weather forecast is the most important thing on TV
When the weather man starts speaking, you better hush. Everything about a farmer’s life, including his schedule, income, and many times his mere sanity depends on the moods Mother Nature decides to treat him with. You will learn that the weather means everything.
10. Learn more about animals than you ever thought possible
Once you decide to live on a farm and you get accustomed to all the animals around you, once you get to know the animals and get some experience working with them – you will learn to recognize signs of sickness, pregnancy, the difference between cows and heifers, steers and bulls, etc. You will also learn how to take care of the animals and, probably, bond with a few of them.
Living on a farm is a specific way of life. It is very different from anything else, and it is very rewarding on so many levels. Do you feel challenged?
(Source: Charlotte McMullen via Grit)