Free-Range Living

Starting and running a 'freeranger'-type lifestyle enterprise can be an attractive way of 'freeranging', but there can still be potential pitfalls such as over independent thinking, lack of 'heart/head' balance and adoption of generalistic, assumed objectives rather than 'freerange' objectives suited to the enterprise.    Lifestyle enterprises can be seen as the vehicles which deliver the satisfaction of an array of multi-dimensional 'freeranger' needs,  and as such need a more encompassing system of assessment than a purely financial assessment might deliver.

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April's a busy month on the organic eco-holding normally, but particularly this year due to the virtual complete absence of rain, translating then into more  watering work. The upside is that plant growth has been phenomenal and the crop area looks pretty good. Although it's a lean time of year for eatable produce, onions are still available from store, the recently installed 'early production' glasshouse in the small paddock has yielded very timely salads produce, and of course, the good ol' spring greens, having survived a savage winter, have 'burgeoned' brilliantly to provide fresh, healthy and TASTY veg. 

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The ‘big’ free-range idea is to give animals such as egg-laying chickens and dairy cows a natural (to them) environment which then allows them to express their innate, unique behaviour patterns, for their own sakes, and to facilitate their natural proclivities and productivities. The ‘spiritual’ foundation to this appears to be a feeling that as ‘top animal’ man should be working ‘in partnership’ with them and recognising their needs, rather than just trying to dominate and control them; husbanding and caretaking rather than merely exploiting, paradoxically though often leading to good sustainable levels of productivity. There’s just something so satisfying, too, about seeing those chickens scratting busily and contentedly about in the paddock.

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