Reflections...

Reflections on Farming – and by Extension,

Reflections on Raising Our Chicks
by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

I recently purchased and happily read three new memoir-type books on farming – and in each I found a quote that put me in mind of our experience raising our new flock of chicks during the past 7 weeks. 

Some of my thoughts and feelings are reflected in the quotes from these authors…

“A farm is a manipulative creature.  There is no such thing as finished.  Work comes in a stream and has no end.  There are only the things that must be done now and things that can be done later.  The threat the farm has got on you, the one that keeps you running from can until can’t is this: do it now, or some living thing will wilt or suffer or die.  It’s blackmail, really.”

Kristin Kimball (The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love, p. 150)

“Farming is a beautiful thing, but it takes a lot out of you.  It’s not so much the actual labor but rather the relentless responsibilities that do it.”

Jenna Woginrich (Barnheart:The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One’s Own, p. 148)

“At last the chicks arrived…  From that day forward…  Up at four – start the kitchen fire – put the coffee on – go out to the baby chicks – come back and slice off some ham and sling it into the frying pan – out to the baby chicks with warm water – put toast into the oven – out to the baby chicks with mash – set the breakfast table – out to the baby chicks with chick food – open a can of fruit – out to the baby chicks, and on and on through the day.  I felt as if I were…fleeing down the track in front of an onrushing locomotive.”

Betty MacDonald (The Egg & I, pp. 107-108)

Now, not wanting these quotes to leave you with the wrong impression, let me end this post by saying that raising these chicks (from 1-day old to their current 7 weeks of age) has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done yet as an employee of the Learning Farm. 

Some of life’s best experiences require a bit of effort on our part...