Kvetching at the movies
The other evening, J. and I sat down to watch "The Biggest Little Farm", a new documentary that is out. I enjoyed it, but have a few mixed feelings about it. I loved that the couple took two hundred acres of depleted, arid ground, and brought it back to life. I loved the interplay of the nature's systems at work. I loved the beautiful place they created. I loved the sheep.
But I also felt as though it was a little disingenuous. While the couple did a lot of work, it wasn't just one pair of people at work. First, they had investors which allowed them to do a lot of major earth moving and building to get things going. (I am fully aware that my annoyance at this aspect is totally sour grapes on my part. I completely own it.) Second, they had a lot of volunteers (staff? it is unclear), helping on the farm. It's not quite the image of lone homesteaders creating a beautiful farm out of nothing that the trailer kind of makes it seem.
Finally, there was the naivete. I tend to be extremely conservative in beginning new ventures. I like starting on the smallish side, learning what I need to know, and then expand. Both J. and I cringed more than a little bit when in the movie we were shown the box containing one hundred ducklings that had just arrived. Yes, that would be one hundred as in one zero zero. That's a lot of ducklings. Little messy, stinky ducklings which grow into big messy, stinky ducks. Ducks who love water. Ducks who will poop in that water. I wasn't terribly surprised when they had trouble with water quality in their retention pond. That's a lot of ducks. And I love ducks.
Anyway, I'm still sorting out how I feel about the movie. I wish more farms such as what they created could be made. I am totally on board with a wide variety of plant and animal crops being maintained while working with the natural environment. But, the reality is, it takes a lot of hands to make something on that scale work. Even with my larger than average family, we would be hard pressed to care for that number and variety of animals without help, not to mention the row crops and fruit trees. I just wonder where the balance is. (There was also no mention of how much the feed costs were for all the animals. I can only imagine they were pretty significant.)
I do think life is richer with a variety of animals around. They certainly make life interested. L. was climbing near the hay bales the other day, and found this.
You probably cannot tell what is going on here, but it is a clutch of eggs that a hen laid up near the top of the hay. The eggs were nestled in between two bales and were as cozy as they could be. I know exactly which hen it was, too. There is one of the red hens who loves the barn, and will wander around inside the horses' stalls helping herself to any droppings of food they leave behind. She is absolutely fearless. She may be fearless, but is clearly not terribly maternal aside from the little nest she created. Those eggs were cold. I don't think she had any thought about coming back and actually brooding them. That's just as well, because as cute as a bunch of little chicks would be, the absolute last thing we need around here are more birds who lay eggs.
I do not desire 300+ hens or 100 ducks, no matter how big my farm nor how many people work on it.
But I also felt as though it was a little disingenuous. While the couple did a lot of work, it wasn't just one pair of people at work. First, they had investors which allowed them to do a lot of major earth moving and building to get things going. (I am fully aware that my annoyance at this aspect is totally sour grapes on my part. I completely own it.) Second, they had a lot of volunteers (staff? it is unclear), helping on the farm. It's not quite the image of lone homesteaders creating a beautiful farm out of nothing that the trailer kind of makes it seem.
Finally, there was the naivete. I tend to be extremely conservative in beginning new ventures. I like starting on the smallish side, learning what I need to know, and then expand. Both J. and I cringed more than a little bit when in the movie we were shown the box containing one hundred ducklings that had just arrived. Yes, that would be one hundred as in one zero zero. That's a lot of ducklings. Little messy, stinky ducklings which grow into big messy, stinky ducks. Ducks who love water. Ducks who will poop in that water. I wasn't terribly surprised when they had trouble with water quality in their retention pond. That's a lot of ducks. And I love ducks.
Anyway, I'm still sorting out how I feel about the movie. I wish more farms such as what they created could be made. I am totally on board with a wide variety of plant and animal crops being maintained while working with the natural environment. But, the reality is, it takes a lot of hands to make something on that scale work. Even with my larger than average family, we would be hard pressed to care for that number and variety of animals without help, not to mention the row crops and fruit trees. I just wonder where the balance is. (There was also no mention of how much the feed costs were for all the animals. I can only imagine they were pretty significant.)
I do think life is richer with a variety of animals around. They certainly make life interested. L. was climbing near the hay bales the other day, and found this.
You probably cannot tell what is going on here, but it is a clutch of eggs that a hen laid up near the top of the hay. The eggs were nestled in between two bales and were as cozy as they could be. I know exactly which hen it was, too. There is one of the red hens who loves the barn, and will wander around inside the horses' stalls helping herself to any droppings of food they leave behind. She is absolutely fearless. She may be fearless, but is clearly not terribly maternal aside from the little nest she created. Those eggs were cold. I don't think she had any thought about coming back and actually brooding them. That's just as well, because as cute as a bunch of little chicks would be, the absolute last thing we need around here are more birds who lay eggs.
I do not desire 300+ hens or 100 ducks, no matter how big my farm nor how many people work on it.
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