Better Late Than Never - The Farm Story

I lived on 40 Days Farm for eight months. This 40 acre farm is owned by a wonderful family that advertised living accommodations in a hundred year old farm house in exchange for help with the farm chores. When I was looking for a new place to live that was closer to work, I couldn't believe my luck in finding this Craigslist ad. What could be better than living on a farm in exchange for a few hours of work each week? When I found out that they had horses, I was sold on the idea.

While I didn't have any farm hand experience, I came on board with loads of enthusiasm. I'm glad that R and K decided to give me the benefit of the doubt that I could learn what I needed to know. Living on the farm was wonderful! I enjoyed the physical labor more than I ever imagined. I realized that there is nothing like seeing the real fruits of your labor, such as having a clean horse stall or selling a healthy goat.

I used to get up in the mornings at 6 am in order to have enough time to do my farm chores and then get ready to go to work. Even when it was really cold and I had to break the ice in the horses' water buckets, I enjoyed taking care of the animals. I enjoyed doing everything required to make sure they were happy and healthy. In fact, I love cleaning stalls. Yes, I know, it sounds strange even to me, but it is completely true. I would happily clean horse stalls for a living if I could get paid enough to live on.

I have wanted to live on a farm ever since I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, the "Little House" series, which include Farmer Boy. Farmer Boy was the story of Laura's husband Almanzo Wilder's childhood on a farm in New York. Although 40 Days Farm is a "work in progress" as R likes to call it, I was not disappointed with my experiences there. During the spring of 2008, I helped with the birth of 12 goats and one colt. I learned how to milk a goat and that chickens are the best garbage disposal imaginable - what other garbage disposal will give you fresh eggs in exchange for rotting leftovers? I now know how to groom a horse and some basic medical concerns to look out for when working with horses. It is a time in my life that I will never forget and will probably long for far into the future.