Great article, Hadden. My mother lives on the prairie in western Canada and the troubles she faces with hordes of destructive deer is devastating. I wish it were legal to remove them but alas there is nothing she can do. It makes her large-scale gardening/landscaping very difficult and in some ways, impossible.
Thanks Shannon. Indeed, deer can be a menace. They have no natural predators here in the UK (wolves went extinct ages ago) so their numbers can easily climb to unsustainable numbers. Thankfully, they can be culled over here.
So true... a good farmer friend once told me farming keeps you humble and close to God. Because you can do everything exactly right and still have nature destroy all your hard work overnight, and then all you can do is pray and start over.
A great article. I've been enjoying the ever-growing swathes of greenery which have shot up along the Acle Straight on my way to work but noticed that the rugby pitches were beginning to look brown this week. I wonder if we are in for another arid summer.
This is great. I’ve spent most of my life living in primarily agricultural areas, though we were always considered “city people.” I’ve heard more than one farmer joke, “It’s never good weather for a farmer.” Like you said, the sun is good for the lambs, but drought is devastating to crops. It’s taught me to always try to refrain from complaining about the weather, as though God sends rain or sun primarily for my convenience. I’ve appreciated hearing from farmers over my life, giving a bit more humility before nature (I think) than I would have had otherwise. Your writing is a gift to the rest of us!
"It’s taught me to always try to refrain from complaining about the weather, as though God sends rain or sun primarily for my convenience"
- Spot on Leah, this is something I have learnt to do too (though it can be hard at times to stop complaining when it is so instinctive/everyone around you is doing it).
That is certainly true. In our farm we have constant battle, or sometimes just acceptance, against all sorts of nature. And because we live and farm "in the forest" and not in an agricultural landscape we have a lot more wildlife than is common.
Weeds are the easy part (well, you need a lot of work but it is all predictable), insects and disease are sometimes troublesome, but the bigger animals are the real challenge. Voles are constantly killing our trees and perennials, today I also noticed that they pick the ripe strawberries in the greenhouse., Hare, deer, boars, geeze and cranes damage different crops. We don't keep chicken or hen as we would have to keep them fenced from the ground to the sky because of multiple predators.e cattle are too sturdy to be a prey even for the wolves, but If I had sheep I would be afraid of the packs in the neighbourhood as well as the eagle and raven which kill lamb. The wildlife is also cruel towards itself. Yesterday the woodpecker cleared out the small tits from their nest. Having said that both I and my wife love this place on earth.
I think we learn from nature about the nature of everything. Humans are literally destroying the earth's ability to sustain life as it has existed for 1000s of years. When I look at a forest from a distance I see beauty beyond anything man can make. When I sit in a forest and quiet myself and settle with patience I hear small lives eating, calling, and sometimes dying. At night from my apartment I can hear owls, sometimes I hear something scream. That owl takes one meal. I don't understand the purpose of it all, but I mourn the loss of wildlife. Maybe something new will come after we're done. For now I remember the forest that gave me peace when I was a child.
What if we simply fed ourselves, in small groups, a day at a time, setting aside what we need for winter? Would we need so much? What if your sheep were used to clothe a small group only, grazing and enriching the soil the way they do as you move them from place to place?
I won't be around to see beyond the collapse. I hope those who survive find a balance, a way to survive with doing as little harm as possible.
Hadden! Your voice!! Epic🌱🌿💚
Great article, Hadden. My mother lives on the prairie in western Canada and the troubles she faces with hordes of destructive deer is devastating. I wish it were legal to remove them but alas there is nothing she can do. It makes her large-scale gardening/landscaping very difficult and in some ways, impossible.
Thanks Shannon. Indeed, deer can be a menace. They have no natural predators here in the UK (wolves went extinct ages ago) so their numbers can easily climb to unsustainable numbers. Thankfully, they can be culled over here.
So true... a good farmer friend once told me farming keeps you humble and close to God. Because you can do everything exactly right and still have nature destroy all your hard work overnight, and then all you can do is pray and start over.
A great article. I've been enjoying the ever-growing swathes of greenery which have shot up along the Acle Straight on my way to work but noticed that the rugby pitches were beginning to look brown this week. I wonder if we are in for another arid summer.
This is great. I’ve spent most of my life living in primarily agricultural areas, though we were always considered “city people.” I’ve heard more than one farmer joke, “It’s never good weather for a farmer.” Like you said, the sun is good for the lambs, but drought is devastating to crops. It’s taught me to always try to refrain from complaining about the weather, as though God sends rain or sun primarily for my convenience. I’ve appreciated hearing from farmers over my life, giving a bit more humility before nature (I think) than I would have had otherwise. Your writing is a gift to the rest of us!
"It’s taught me to always try to refrain from complaining about the weather, as though God sends rain or sun primarily for my convenience"
- Spot on Leah, this is something I have learnt to do too (though it can be hard at times to stop complaining when it is so instinctive/everyone around you is doing it).
Thanks for the nod. Praying for rain up north and down south.
That is certainly true. In our farm we have constant battle, or sometimes just acceptance, against all sorts of nature. And because we live and farm "in the forest" and not in an agricultural landscape we have a lot more wildlife than is common.
Weeds are the easy part (well, you need a lot of work but it is all predictable), insects and disease are sometimes troublesome, but the bigger animals are the real challenge. Voles are constantly killing our trees and perennials, today I also noticed that they pick the ripe strawberries in the greenhouse., Hare, deer, boars, geeze and cranes damage different crops. We don't keep chicken or hen as we would have to keep them fenced from the ground to the sky because of multiple predators.e cattle are too sturdy to be a prey even for the wolves, but If I had sheep I would be afraid of the packs in the neighbourhood as well as the eagle and raven which kill lamb. The wildlife is also cruel towards itself. Yesterday the woodpecker cleared out the small tits from their nest. Having said that both I and my wife love this place on earth.
I think we learn from nature about the nature of everything. Humans are literally destroying the earth's ability to sustain life as it has existed for 1000s of years. When I look at a forest from a distance I see beauty beyond anything man can make. When I sit in a forest and quiet myself and settle with patience I hear small lives eating, calling, and sometimes dying. At night from my apartment I can hear owls, sometimes I hear something scream. That owl takes one meal. I don't understand the purpose of it all, but I mourn the loss of wildlife. Maybe something new will come after we're done. For now I remember the forest that gave me peace when I was a child.
What if we simply fed ourselves, in small groups, a day at a time, setting aside what we need for winter? Would we need so much? What if your sheep were used to clothe a small group only, grazing and enriching the soil the way they do as you move them from place to place?
I won't be around to see beyond the collapse. I hope those who survive find a balance, a way to survive with doing as little harm as possible.