Contentment

Contentment is one of the most powerful finanical principles in our lives. If we have learned to be content, it will be easier to understand and accept our position as the manager of what we have been given. This doesn't mean we need to be hands off on money issues. Contentment helps us focus on our goals for money and to resist temptation to overspend or borrow.

Here are four signs of discontentment...

The Olive Tree

We aren't too familiar with olive trees here in Minnesota because they can't survive our harsh zone 4 winters.  I was reading about olive trees earlier this week. It takes 15 years for a sapling to reach olive bearing maturity. (In contrast fruit trees will typically bear in 3-5 years.). 15 years is a long time to dedicate space and nurture to a crop before getting any pay back at all.

However, once the root system and the scaffolding of the plant is in place olive trees can bear fruit for 2000 years. There are trees in the middle east that are this old. I've heard the analogy of slow and steady personal growth if we want to be  "a squash or an oak tree", Based on these new facts I guess I rather be an olive tree.

Learning about the olive tree made me think about the task of parenting and the parallels between olive tree husbandry and raising children. Here are 5 principles of raising children gleaned from the olive tree.

The Supper Table

As a father and a farmer I have learned that the supper table isn't just for eating it is also for leading. Many examples, values, and instructions are transmitted at the table. This won't happen if you are watching TV or talking on the phone. You need to pay attention and be intentional.

Here are five principle of "The Table".

Characteristics of a Good Farm Father

A good farm father has some unique characteristics that most of us could learn from. In honor of all those farm fathers here is my top ten list...

Isn't Mommy Beautiful?

"Isn't Mommy beautiful?" is one of the well repeated phrases of Dad on Mother's Day. My habitual response was to grin and nod, and repeat, "Yes. Mommy is beautiful", and secretly roll my eyes at the slight romance.

I appreciate the love my Mom shows for me daily, and am giving her a little love now. She works tirelessly trying to serve us, with no monetary compensation. Here's a poem I wrote to show some appreciation:

Detassling

When I was a teenager one of the best paying jobs was to be on a detasseling crew. I think they paid $6 - $8 per hour over 35 years ago. It was pretty hard work as you would typically be reaching over your head to pull out the tassels on the corn. I did this for a number of years and got pretty good at it.

Walking Beans With My Dad

When I was a teenager Dad would have us kids walk through the bean fields and pull or cut weeds. My father would hire neighborhood kids to work with us to speed up the process. The weeds between the row were generally taken care of by the tractor and the 4 row cultivator. But there were a few weeds in the rows that continued to grow. Those were the target of the bean walkers. Being a bean walker wasn't some kind of mystical thing or some kind of new sleeping disorder...

What are Age Appropriate Vegetables for Little Children

What vegetables should you plant for little children. When they were 3 years old our children wanted to help in the garden. But little fingers and little seeds are a difficult mix. So what to do?

How to Grow a Worm Farm

A worm farm is a small scale project to multiply red wiggler worms for processing of kitchen scraps for educational purposes. We offer half pound containers of worms and worm bedding to start your worm farm. Once again this year we have an abundance of red wiggler worms from our compost. The presence of worms means the compost is in prime condition and is enriched by the worms. The worms will eat their weight of organic matter each day and they are very efficient.

Worms are low maintenance and very easy to care for. Start small with a medium size rubbermaid tub or 5 gallon pail and our worm bedding. Add the worms to the bedding and gradually add kitchen scraps over the first few days as the worms get adjusted to their new environment. Don't overdue it on the scraps. It will take time for the worms to multiply and get used to eating kitchen waste. Don't put meat or grease into the worm bin. Vegetable waste is the best.

Keep your bin in the garage or other space outside the house where it won't freeze or get too warm. Worms reach adult maturity in 60 days. You will already have some adult breeders in your container so they will multiply quickly. Add new bedding periodically, good compost, news paper strips soaked in water will work or you can get a refreshed bag of worm bedding from us. Keep the bedding moist but not too wet or the bedding will sour. Don't let the bedding dry out or the worms won't be able to breath well and become sluggish.

You can remove some of the bedding and use it to pot garden plants or use it in the garden. It will be enriched and the plants will love it.

Red wigglers thrive in a high organic matter enviornment such as a cool compost pile or leaf mold. They typically don't do well in the open garden environment. You can use a bright light to harvest some of the bedding by scraping the bedding  away from the worms and the worms will crawl deeper into the bedding. You can use the enriched bedding in the garden.

Worm farms make a great teaching tool or summer project. There are some great books in the library and some good articles on-line. If you have questions please stop by our booth.

EntreLeadership On and Off the Farm

Dave Ramsey defines EntreLeadership as "The process of leading to cause a venture to grow and prosper". Webster says a leader is "someone who rules, guides, and inspires others."; accordingly, the word entrepreneur means "one who takes a risk."

We have raised our children with a spirit of EntreLeadership. Since before they were school age they have contributed in an age appropriate way to the farm and selling at the farmers market. They each have had areas that they have enjoyed contributing to and they have developed expertise in. Reed has been our root expert: radishes, onions, garlic, leeks and potatoes. Jenna is the herb expert: basil, rosemary, mint and chives. Andrea is an expert in, well, practically everything. She especially likes transplants and flowers.

Now that they are teenagers how has that EntreLeadership spirit worked out:

• Andrea, a music education major, in the summer of her freshman year in college, is planning to organize summer music theory classes for middle and high school students. She has put together a syllabus and will develop curriculum for all the age groups. She was on a path to do this independently and offer classes to schools in the area. Her first stop was the honors choirs of SE Minnesota. Turns out they had been wanting to offer classes just like this and they are interested in hiring her. So an entrepreneurial venture turned into a summer job and may go well beyond.
• Reed has had a strong interest in electronics since he was little. When he was 8 I got him an Lego NXT robot that he could program. When he was 10 I got him a PIC microprocessor and bread board. He has done numerous electronics projects. In Junior High he got interested in buying and selling electronics like laptops, ipads, ipods and iPhone. He is now a freshman in high school. He averages one purchase/sale per week. He recently bought a iPhone with a broken screen and had to completely remove all the contents to replace the screen. Pretty cool operation and it worked perfect when he put it back together. He has a nice business started. It all started after winter market a few years ago when I paid the kids about $300 dollars as an end of the season bonus. Reed wanted to buy an ipod and a new one was a little over $200. I told him he could get one for half that price if we was willing to wait a buy a used one. He found one for less than half price on Craig's list and was hooked.
• Jenna, a junior in high school, has been working at Great Harvest. She decided she wanted to work there and was able to get a job. They are flexible on hours so that works great with her school schedule. She really likes bread and cooking so this is an ideal position.
• Jenna recently bought a camera with her earnings and she is a very talented photographer. She is working on ways she can use her camera to earn extra money for college.