Have You Ever?

I am just wondering how many people actually realize how valuable farmers are?  There is a reason they get up before the sunrises and work until it is too dark to see at night.  Taking care of animals, planting crops, nurturing them and getting them to grow takes A LOT of work!  It is not a nine to five job, it is around the clock, no days off, 365 days and nights of the year job...even for a small scale farm.  It is amazing that so many people do farm and can feed all those who do not.  Do you know exactly where your food comes from?  No, I am not talking about your corner market, not the shelves and refrigerated sections of the grocery store, not even the Farmers Market that you like to get those great tasting fresh fruits and vegetables from...think about it.  Have you ever thanked a farmer?  Have you thanked a rancher?  How about it?  I never did.  They are precious people, the salt of the earth, hard working people who love what they do...you can pretty much bet they are loosing money or barely scraping by unless they are huge and can actually sell mass quantities of whatever they grow or raise to large Co-ops or Brokers who sell to markets and canners and meatpackers or whatever they do prior to getting them to your favorite store. So, I just want to take a moment, to thank every farmer, rancher, cowboy, picker, driver...did I leave anyone out?  Thank you! Thank you! Thank You, ten million times Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to feeding and clothing the people of this great and wondrous plant we call home.

I slept good last night and yesterday was an easy day for me, I mowed, pulled weeds and watered...and took care of my animals...I got my first official sunburn of the year too.  It just amazes me how much I love seeing things grow, feeling the texture of the soil, seeing fruit developing on my trees, thinking about what am I going to plant next and where?  I have chicks happily chirping in the next room, a rooster is crowing on my back porch and I have fresh picked strawberries from my plants sitting on my kitchen counter waiting to be eaten with French toast made from the fresh eggs from my chickens or ducks.  Today will be a busy day too, it is looking like it is going to be another beautiful day outside.  No I haven’t written much, but I must get busy...always a lot to do on the farm and I just want to thank my husband too, for going on this journey to find our happy place and working so hard and trying to make it our perfect place to be!