I started driving a tractor at a young age. Most kids of farmers do. I cannot tell you how many hours I’ve spent on a tractor plowing a field. I’ve used chisels, sweeps, duck bills, and discs. I’ve started at sunrise and finished after dark, even spending some time running …
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Lessons from the Farm: Build Around the Water
Somewhere before or after my senior year of high school (I forget which), we underwent a major construction project on the farm. We tore down our existing corrals (part of which had been there for nearly 100 years!) and built a new set. This was my largest construction project to …
Lessons from the Farm: Adapt and Innovate
My dad is my hero. Part of why I value my time growing up working on the farm is all of the time I got to spend with him along the way. For some reason, there’s one conversation that has stuck in my mind for close to 20 years. It’s …
Lessons from the Farm: Efficiency Isn’t Flashy
I started driving a tractor by myself around age 7, maybe 8. It’s not as dangerous as it may seem because I only went about 3.5 mph most of the time, and it’s difficult to do much damage at that high rate of sloth-ness. As I got older, I realized …
Lessons from the Farm: Fill the Water Jug
Do you remember the old school Tupperware? When I was growing up, we had some pieces of Tupperware that were (not-so) beautiful shades of orange, green, and brown. Ironically, they kind of matched our shag carpet. One of the best uses I remember for the Tupperware was to fill it …