There is farm life and there are farmhouse aesthetics.
The first is filled with milking, shoveling poop, and lots and lots of chores. The second–the farmhouse aesthetics that I admittedly adore–is really just about looking like a farmhouse.
A farmhouse lifestyle is not the same thing as “life on the farm”
Ironically, the Instagrammable farmhouse lifestyle that depicts a tidy, bright, and dirt-free home could not be more opposite from day to day farm life.
My farm life is full of random odds and ends that never seem to find their home: tools, wires, spare bits of wood that I’ll planning to repurpose for something else, metal and screws.
We have lots of dirt piles, poop piles, compost piles, burn piles, and piles of weeds that I’ve hand-pulled.
I am constantly getting dirt on my face, mud on my boots, and doing my best not to bring it all inside.
Farm life is full of dirt, poop and chores
The dog rolls around in the dirt. My daughter plays in dirt. And I do too (because I always seem to misplace my gardening gloves).
We do A LOT of laundry around here.
Maybe that’s why I love having a clean house so much.
Side note: maybe the overly neat and tidy farmhouse look is actually just a way to compensate for the mess that’s always waiting outside.
Farm life is all about taking care of others
There’s something about taking care of living things (plants, animals, and your family) that brings you immediately into the present moment and outside of your head.
Whether it’s the goats that need milking, the rabbits that need more hay, or your seed starters that are reaching for more sun and warmth, all of these living things have requirements. And you are trying to manage it all.
You a steward or a shepherd. You serve them for 99.9% of their life, so on the last day of theirs, they can serve you and be food for your family.
There are also other living things that you are trying to avoid or deter. The nuisances of fleas, flies, mice, mold, moles, and weeds. Oh my goodness, so many weeds.
Even the beautiful things like apple trees or rhododendrons need shaping and trimming so they don’t do damage to the roof and gutters.
You can’t expect others to understand why you are so busy
There is so much to do. All of the time.
And A LOT of it is time-sensitive.
- You won’t get a garden if you don’t plant it time.
- You won’t get milk if you don’t breed your animals when they are in heat.
- You’ll spend more money than you need to if you don’t cull your rabbits when they’re ready.
But for everyone else that you talk to about your farm life, they will think that it’s cute and adorable and entirely recreational.
In a way, they’re right.
You could just sell everything, live in an apartment (again), and buy everything from the grocery store.
Unless the people you are talking to have a farm or livestock of their own, they will probably never understand why your calendar is so full.
Farm life can be fun or full of stress
I’ve learned to take my to-do lists for the day and cut them into a third.
This way, we are all still having fun and not burdening ourselves with a thousand to-dos and no time to notice when the sun is setting or time to appreciate the soft little nuzzles from the barn cat.
Isn’t the whole point of this lifestyle is to live a healthier, happier, and more wholesome life? Isn’t the point to have some fun?
Things often take longer than you think they will. Especially if you have little ones.
So don’t be like me and torture your family with too many tasks and to-dos.
The work ends when you say it ends
Living on a farm has taught me that there will always be a project.
And when you complete one project, there are three new ones waiting you didn’t even know about before you started the first one.
It can feel like a defeating process if you let it get the best of you.
That’s why there has to be parameters for each day.
Know when to hang up your hat for the day. Take off the muddy boots. And go inside for a nice cup of hot tea.
The sun will rise tomorrow
Remember to ask “what actually needs to get done today and what can wait until tomorrow?”
There are times when you really have to rise to the occasion–whether its a sick animal, a goat giving birth, or a baby that’s struggling to latch. There are times when you face life and death scenarios.
You do your best to show up when it really counts and accept whatever farm life throws at you.
I do my best to remember to give thanks, relax, and embrace this season of life. Whatever it may be.
Because the sun will rise tomorrow.
My final footnote about farm life
It may be cliche to say, but God never gives us more than we can handle.
Even our chores and the daily responsibilities and burdens we sometimes carry can be blessings in disguise.
I’m not sure how long we’ll live on our little homestead farm. But, I do know that I will regret any moments that I took it for granted.
Everything and everyone we have in our life, and all that is good, is a gift from God. It is given and and it can be taken away.
I never want to take this all for granted. While we are here, and in this chapter of life, I want to embrace it for exactly as it is.
The end.
