Living and Farming in a Changing Climate

The past six months we have experienced three severe weather events.  DROUGHT, we had almost no rain August -October.  Then the rains came bringing flooding. Most recently a winter storm blew in coating everything with several inches of ice, the ice stayed for 10 days because temperatures rarely got above freezing and dropped as low as 2 degrees. Growing crops, raising livestock, maintaining infrastructure, and just plain living life on the land has become increasingly challenging. The new norm is to expect the unexpected and to be prepared for the worst. My new outlook after we have experienced a crazy weather event is, what’s next? Maybe a tornado, maybe a wildfire, maybe a landslide. I am not trying to be all doom and gloom; in fact I am a very positive thinker most of the time. I’ve even been blamed for being too optimistic, but this is just reality! We are learning to live with it.

In drought the crops wither and the grass stops growing, so we must plan ahead and have lots of organic matter in the soil and deep mulch in the garden, this hold the moisture in the soil. In the pastures we rotate the animals often and plan ahead always leaving more then we need, never overgrazing with the goal of always having a stockpile of extra forage for the drought. In heavy rain and flood which can come unexpectedly any time of year we are always prepared to move animals to high ground. We have plenty of feed and supplies to last and we just make do the best we can and watch the force of nature flow by. In winter storms and freezing temps, we have plans for draining pipes and hauling water. WE have generators to help power the most important infrastructure. We have plenty of firewood to heat our houses and hay bales to feed and shelter our animals. We have experienced power outages and wildfires as well and we know that in order to survive and thrive we must be prepared and have a store in reserve for hard times. No matter how prepared we are there is nothing easy about being out in the elements seven days a week in the rain, the heat, and the freezing cold. But we know it is part of the job and we love being outdoors even when the elements make it tough. But are we prepared enough? Can we withstand what is to come, who is to say? What if storms take out power lines and bridges? What if disease comes in from the outside liker avian flu? Will we make it out unscathed? No but we will try our best, we will learn and adapt like we always have, and we will do whatever it takes to survive and continue on or path. We know now more than ever is a time to commune with mother nature and tell her we care; we want to give back more then we take. This is a time to restore balance where much of the chaos we live in is mand made. WE must assure the earth that yes we humans have been very greedy, mindlessly taking, mining all of the resources for our pleasure and profit and it seems there is no end… but all humans are not that way. WE have hope because there is a growing army of those who want to do good and help give back to the land. Now more than ever we must think of how we can restore communities of people who are responsible for each other and the land that supports them. Every aspect of our lives must be careful thought out. How do we get food, shelter, clothing, how do we educate the young and instill hope and passion to continue on this path? We have taken many steps in the right direction, but we need to take many more steps and we need many more folks to join us on this journey. Who know where we will end up?

-Kelsey