Leigh, a reader of this blog and an author of several books poses the question..."Is Homesteading a Dying Trend?" on April 2.
The gentleman who runs the Possum Ridge video channel addressed some of that question in THIS video. Very briefly summarized, everything has positive momentum when you are starting out. You have new(er) equipment, new fence, new soil and are younger. Every year you can look back and see progress. At some point, the maintenance requirements grow to exceed the "fun" level and growth stops or even reverses.
My take on the subject is that many people get sucked into the myth that they can do it all. They can be:
- Blacksmith
- Welder
- Mason
- Carpenter
- Electrician
- Plumber
- Mechanic
- Weaver
- Spinner
- Fix fences
- Sheep sheerer
- Butcher
- Tan hides
- Doctor
- Vet
- Herbalist
- Hunter
- Fisher
- Gatherer
- Make soap
- Cheese-maker
- Brewer
- Winemaker
- Baker
- Artist
- Grafter
- Apple picker
- Dig wells
- Lumberjack
- General Laborer
There was a time when family or neighbors who had mastered those skills were on-tap and available with just a phone call. If you needed a crew of 10 people for an afternoon getting hay off the field, you could find them.
Good luck with that now.
For the record, I hired my nephew to "fix the riding mower". I am not sure what it needs but I trust him. I loaned him a copy of the key to the pole-barn. He trusts me to pay him. He is a busy guy and I might not get it back before July...but it will get fixed.
"A good man always knows his limitations." Harry Callahan
Very insightful post. Age is tough- and even for the old and fit, it is easy to damage oneself by over-stressing the body.
ReplyDeleteLike you pointed out though, "who ya gonna call?
I would LOVE to have some young fit guys around who wanted to work...but they are few.
I am far more cautious about taking on a job now, as an old man- pull that engine, rebuild this or that? As a young man, sure!
But one thing age teaches, is how wrong things can go, and how every job has a lot of details involved that are not obvious on a surface level.
The infuriating part is a lot of people who are "pros", don't seem to know the details either. so now there is a whole new level of expertise required- how to determine, on an initial contact, whether the "pro" actually knows their job.
Putting on coveralls with a name tag does not mean one is a mechanic. Maybe a list of validating questions is in order.
"Can poly-urea and lithium based grease be safely interchanged? "how much axial end float are you looking for on this U joint?
In the end, just like using AI to get an answer, it takes as much knowledge to validate the answer as it does to do the job.
i was a "one-man-gang" before metastatic prostate cancer 2 years ago. now, the hardest part is making myself accept the fact that i can no longer do what i want to do. a recent meme to the fact that stated "if you are frustrated that a person can't do something , stop and think how that person feels". it really hits home now. i have learned that age and everything that comes along with it is the hardest life lesson to learn.
ReplyDeleteil.chuck
Had a dripping faucet that needed a new seat and washer; referencing Harry Callahan, I called a plumber. He didn't stock washers(!) and was unaware the seats are replaceable. He wanted $1,200 to install a county-mandated single handle bath tub faucet. Nothing available would fit without replacing the tub/shower enclosure. Nope!
ReplyDeleteWhere I used to live, I could (and did!) get a crew together. Here is different. If I needed it, I could probably do it with some calls, but not as easily.
ReplyDeleteIt depends a lot on where you are and what connections you have made there.
Jonathan
You 'can' do all those things, just not at the same time. And yes, crews used to be 'available'. Now...good luck getting A person to help.
ReplyDelete