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Need scheduling help from farmers

By: MarksCristy on 5/29/2003 10:13:43 AM

OK, I know my farm is just a hobby and is small, but how do you do it?

I have one horse, three goats and a sheep, chickens, and am putting in a large garden this year.

Barn chores usually take anywhere from 1/2 to 1 hour every morning and evening. My dh wanted this to be our kids' responsibility, but they are only 7 and 9 and just can't quite do it on their own yet. So I am the one out there twice a day, usually with one of them to help me and the other in here to watch the younger girls(5, 3 and 1).

Any ideas? This extra two hours of work has really messed us up. Housework is hit and miss, school work is not all getting done, my quiet time is gone.(that's partly 'cause I'm pg again and need more sleep...)

sigh....

~Cristy

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Need scheduling help from farmers

By: Denise on 5/30/2003 1:00:51 PM

Cristy:

Oh, you lucky duck!! A little farm!

I think that sometimes we (read: me) forget that chores and homeschooling and life are not separate from each other. It helps me to remember that it is our lives and our living that is the vehicle through which we teach our children about the Lord, about love, about relationships, and - probably least importantly - about knowledge.

So what if it takes you an hour or two twice a day to do chores with your kids?? Through that work you can teach them about God (isn't He so obvious in a farm setting?), about the importance of their relationship with you and each other, the value of stewardship, hardwork, joyful giving, and on and on. And, that doesn't even get into the academic benefits that can be gleaned from attending to a farm. Schedule it up, as needed, and remember the importance and value that the work carries with it. You will find a way to squeeze everything else in and, in the meantime, you can rest knowing that you are focusing on the priorities.

*******************

So ..... what are you going to do with that wool???? : )

God bless,

Denise,
who misses her little hobby farm.

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Need scheduling help from farmers

By: savedmay95 on 5/30/2003 10:06:01 PM

I have 2 sons ages 5 and 2 and we live on a small farm. The daily chores take about an hour each morning and evening-milking a cow, feeding calves, cleaning, etc.

I do the morning chores before my dh leaves for work. The boys get up around 6:30-6:45, just as I am finishing. Dh leaves for work around 7.

The boys come with me for the afternoon chores, each with a bit to do (after all animals are in their pens). While I am milking, the boys will either run around the pasture-all animals are penned up, or in bad weather they will sit next to me and pretend to be milking the cow.

While I am preparing the animals-getting them to the barn and pens, they usually play on the swingset or ride bikes and wait for me to tell them they may come in the pasture.

This year I have a small garden as I am expecting a baby in July. I have scheduled an hour for my outdoor chores-garden, lawn mowing, and cleaning out the calf house. I use the first 45 minutes to do my work and the rest of the hour is spent playing with the boys, usually on the swingset. I make sure to stay on schedule, even if I only have a bit more weeding to do and rain is expected. The boys like to help in the garden-both learned around age 1 the difference between a red and green tomato. I would only use fertilizer or dust when my dh is with the children.

Canning is what I have a hard time scheduling!

Jennifer

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Need scheduling help from farmers

By: MarksCristy on 5/31/2003 4:35:39 PM

To Denise--Actually, our sheep is a haired variety and is only for meat, so no wool to deal with! We are just going to let him fatten up on all the pasture he can eat this summer and butcher in the fall when the grass begins to fade.

Everyone looks at him and thinks he's a goat, but I can tell you from working with him, he is so DUMB he has to be a sheep! LOL The goats are so much more intelligent...think next year we'll raise a calf on the extra milk instead of this kind of critter. :-)

Cristy

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