The Lay of the Land

The Lay of the Land
by Karen Beth Pike, Columnist

"Taking Care"

November 13, 2003

"Apart from the character and the condition of the soil, the location of a farm and the crops to be grown two of the most important factors that influence profit and loss are the "lay" and the "lay-out" of the land. Lay always refers to natural features; lay-out, to artificial ones. Items included in "lay" are elevation, aspect (or direction of slope), and level. Each of these has a bearing upon the character of farming that may be conducted." (Five Acres and Independence, by M. G. Kains, Pg. 27)

How long has it been since you did an honest self-appraisal? Consider the native equipment God has given you to use in the experiment that is your life, and then consider the use you are making of that set of talents and skills. We all came into this life with the same basic equipment. Where we go from there is largely of our own choosing. As we grow and develop, we find that there are certain things that we particularly like (or dislike) doing. Often those things become our talents and the things that we become skilled at doing because we enjoy them so much. These things determine the lay of our personal landscape. Where do we go from here?

Do you have any dreams that you have given up on achieving? Why did you let them get away from you? Was it a lack of time, or a lack of direction, or something entirely different? I think that there are things that each of us wants to do in our lives. Sometimes it is a youthful wish, with no real intent. Sometimes it is something that we are passionate about, the kind of thing that gets us up in the morning with a fire in our bellies to achieve that thing in our lives - whatever it is. I have learned that it is far better to wear myself out trying to reach a goal, than it is to plan it all out on paper and never pick up the shovel and hoe and get busy doing things to make it happen. I hear many people say things like "I wish I would have…" and they never made the first step toward making those dreams into reality for themselves.

This is where we begin to work on our personal lay-out in our landscape. What can I do today that will propel me forward toward the dreams I have for myself. A word on dreams… a wise person once said that "a goal is a dream with a deadline" and I think that is a good place to start. Pick out one thing that you want very much to achieve in your life. Write it down, and then put a date for achievement next to it. Then put on your thinking cap and start breaking it down into parts. For instance: I'm taking my farm organic and have the goal of self-sufficiency - this takes time and is a major goal. I'm giving myself five years. In this amount of time, I'll need to plant an orchard which I'm planning on doing this spring since it takes many fruit trees up to five years to produce a good crop reliably. I'll also need to get fences built to contain the livestock I'm bringing back on the farm in the next two years. The market garden needs to begin with the monitoring and measuring that comes with producing for the public - things like, how many rows of tomatoes to have a good supply. One zucchini plant can probably feed a major city (not really, but it seems that way sometimes) so I probably don't need as much space for those. What kind of unusual things will I grow as an experiment each year? When will I need bigger equipment and how will I fund those expenses? There is the sheep shearing, the dairying and several other profit centers available on a farm. At some point I'll build a greenhouse for the transplants and a commercial kitchen for the dairying and the value-added things that I'll produce from the surplus.

My challenge to you is to dust off your dreams, make them into goals and start building the plan to get yourself there. It will give purpose to your days and light in your eyes when you have something in your life to get passionate about, especially if it is something that you feel is valuable - and your opinion matters. ***

Photo of Karen Beth Pike courtesy of the author