Free-Range Living

 

 

Heart v. Head ---- head v. heart -- ? part of 'life dynamics' - ?

Here's a simple conundrum on the eco organic micro-holding (small smallholding) in the UK midlands - the coming period (now at late summer) is pretty busy with site maintenance work - hedging, lopping, clearing ground and the like -as well as the 'normal' workload - picking produce, sowing autumn crops, planting out brassica plants, for instance - the problem then being lack of (aged) micro-holder energy ---- The head's saying 'come on, get cracking, lots to do', whereas the heart says 'come on, give the ol' boy a break!' Just one of no doubt a variety of 'head v. heart' type events, and at the crux of it, is that energy's tending to run out early, mid-afternoon to be precise. Ah well, c'est la vie, bound to happen in later years. Here usually the job is then to go down mid-afternoon, when energy's running out, to the little  green-surrounded padock -a Bette Midler type 'green retreat', to sit for an hour, in the shade of a high holly hedge this hot summer, normally in the 'converandry' of the Retreat cabin, writing a bit in a journal book and having a 'slow meditation' ---  

Oh, and very important in the summer, to watch the swallows at work, particularly as there were plenty of swallow youngsters around in August, all gone at later September on their long journey to Africa -apparently takes them six weeks to get there, quite amazing for such wee beings ---  The youngsters tended to be around half the size of the adults and whilst being already amazingly adept at flying, occasionally 'get it wrong', and end up stuttering, stalling and 'all in a bit of a muddle', but to then go into a glide and get back on track, catching their own grub - flies -on the wing. 

These swallows are some fliers, and sometimes the sky above the air above the paddock seemed full of them - there must have been some 50 - 60 of them up there sometimes, but still no mishaps seen. It has been very hot this summer in the midlands and southern UK with a series of heatwaves and virtually no rain for months, causing quite severe water shortage. The watering and irrigation workload here at the micro-holding - the gorgeous black loam growing ground's only 'fault' is that with the soil having no heavier clay content, water retention's not great - has been far heavier than ever before, although against that there's had to be very little mowing to do----- The swallows fly very low over still/slow moving water to take a drink in flight, and fortunately just down the road there's a series of pools so they must be getting their water drink from there. Walking by a canal not too long ago, gave the chance to see swallows doing just this, as usual being amazingly skilful in their near water surface flying.

Hearty - not -- ?

There's been some criticism that recent western materialistical societies have been imbalanced by being too much 'head' base through scientific and 'logical thinking' influences - there maybe signs that such a balance could be changing, with such eminent figures as Muhammed Ali saying : (as reported by one of his daughters):

'It's not money and power that make a person great, it's their heart' - probably recently endorsed by the universal acclaim recently for Dolly Parton on her death for her humane generosity --- 

One UK lady who won a lot of money (£100 million plus) on the Euro lottery, is still apparently, according to paper reports, in process of finding good deserving homes for much of it, following the old maxim ' money's like muck, in piles, money stinks, but spread about it does some good  ---', saying that it did her heart good to know that she was helping, making a difference --- 

Makes a body wonder, surely, whether today's strong emphasis on 'personal money accumulation', isn't, as the saying goes, 'running down a wrong road - ?' One South Pacific island tribe seemed to have solved the individual/society conundrum :

'In this island society, individual effort and enterprise was not 'infra dig', in fact they were very much encouraged, and individuals were able to build up their herds of cattle, some realising 'massive' (for them) herds of twenty head or more, by the time they were hitting grandparent status. Here the emphasis then changed with a common move of individuals then donating much of their wealth back to the community, with them often then gaining the prestigeous rank of 'elder'', not seemingly a rank in too much evidence in modern western-style materialistically-based cultures - ?'

The piece above is an example of recognising and reconciling two apparenly 'opposing' strands, 'individual' and 'social', and no doubt many might recognise that it can be a similar situation with the 'head v. heart' seemingly contradicting position. An example from the rural world may help to illustrate :

'Group consultations ---- '

A group of farming business consultants had a training day on a farm which was struggling to gain financial viability, threatening its longer-term business's survival. It became clear within the session that this case-study was a classic 'head v. heart' case, with one partner in the business stressing the 'head' needs of business viability, whilst the other partner was focused fairly strongly on 'the 'heart' side including animal welfare aspects. The group of consultants then considered the case and their recommendations and then presented them to the two farm's two owners. 

 The consultant spokeperson took pains to initially recognise the two key aspects and that they were both important and valid, then reasonably pointing out that both were needed for the long-term prosperity of the farm. The consultant then addressed the 'heart' side of the case,  stressing the existing good coverage of it. Focusing then on the need for longer-term business survival, the consultant then presented 'head' aspects which would contribute to a 'survive and thrive' business journey, which included some increases in the size of the livestock enterprises, along with the proposed projected incease in profitability and the positive effect it would have on the businesse's viability and its longevity.  The fact that the changes in farm policy was proposed by such a group of 'experts' , giving an objective, unbiased business proposal stressing both 'heart' and 'head' priorities, seemed to be the telling factors and the future farm policy proposed by the group was agreeable to and accepted by the partners.

 

'D's day --- '

D had started 'small', as a farm worker, and by dint of hard work and 'parsimony', ended up not only with his own farm business, but also a top quality herd of dairy cows it had taken him over thirty years to create. This herd, though, was by now 'yesterday's model', generally  supersceded by a more modern 'milk pouring' breed, and D was under pressure from it seemed, all sides, to update his breed of cow. As the quality herd he'd built up was a major lifetime  achievment for him, he was understandably reluctant to send his 'beloved gals' down the road to the knacker's yard, especially as his business was already financially very sound.

 With a couple of old friends, and quite possibly a bottle of Scotch, he hatched his 'cunning plan', which was to announce his impending retirement within a few years, in the meantime dispersing his top quality pedigree cattle to new 'good homes', which by and large all came about. The 'unsting' to his tale was that his milk production became fashionable due to good cheesemaking characteristics, attracting then a higher price, and making his 'good ol' girls' competitive with the modern breed, bringing too a rare knowing grin to D's countenance --- 

A further more detailed case-study illustrating modern heart v head aspects originally appeared in these FR pieces a few years ago now, and is now repeated below to further illustrate the area :

Soddy's farm -----' (part 1)

In the the west of England there's a country area not too far from Lyme Regis, where three counties - Dorset, Somerset and Devon - meet, and where you could believe a few years back, that time had stood still - a seemingly out-of-the-way world, one which seemed too to cater for people living 'freestyle'. One such was lived by the folks and animals at 'Soddy's farm' - not the real name of it but apt in the sense that Soddy was a big presence there. In fact very big, for Soddy was a giant pig, a 'retired' boar, who wandered the farm and especially the farmyard quite freely and without restraint -it was quite an event to drive first time into the farmyard to be met amiably by a giant pig --- 

D and J farmed the small farm, (85 acres) and did it, according to the experts, 'unviably', having too many different animals, plus a bit of corn. 

 'I know I should plaster the place with cows as the advisors say, but to be honest I'd be bored to bits just behind a cow's tail, and J would probably leave me!' D, another amiable giant, would say ---

( a classic 'heart v head' situation - ?!) (nb. one definition of 'expert' : 'ex' is a 'has-been', spurt's a 'drip under pressure' ------)

So they, with their three children, ran their little farm with all their different cherished animals, cows, heifers, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, donkeys ---- money was often tight and they certainly had to cut their cloth - no flash holdays or items - their transport was the farm's pick-up. Yet a happier crew you'd have to go quite away to find, and there'd be no more solid an example of 'not chasing the dollar' than them. Soddy himself was indicative of their approach. He'd come to the farm as a young boar for their thirty or so sows and had always been an aimiable, genial soul, letting the children ride on his back, for instance. The day came after a few years when he'd grown too big and heavy to serve the sows -he'd had a good life and his day was done -he was for the 'chop' -----

 'But then I suddenly found I had a revolt on my hands' said D. 'J and the kids joined forces to lobby for Soddy's reprieve, and although I fought a rearguard action, saying we could'nt afford to keep such a large, unproductive animal, I had no chance really - the opposition was formidable, and if I'm honest, I was secretly a bit relieved, because he was my mate too'. 

Although, the case study of 'Soddy's farm' may seem to some these pecuniary days to be a bit of an extreme example of 'following the heart', the point can be made that this family made it work and the farm was quite productive in its own way. Whilst it may, for instance, have not made premier division from the profit perspective (it did though pay its way), from the perspectives of animal welfare, environmental care and longer-term resource care, it did make top ratings.

  'Soddy's Farm (cont.) - pt. 2 : might Soddy not be 'unproductive' after all - ? ----

  This is the continuing un-tall tale of a small mainly grass 'unintensive' farm in the near-forgotten area of west Dorset/east Devon, on which cows, heifers, pigs, sheep, beef cattle, fowl and some goats were kept, all with a high standard of care and nutrition by J and D, and their three children. Soddy himself was the 'meet-er and greet-er' to anyone driving into the farmyard, a giant white boar, with freerun of the farm and farmyard, ( a 'freeranger'----), and although it could be unnerving arriving for the first time, Soddy was in fact the essence of friendliness and aimiablity. He'd grown too large to continue serving the sows and was destined erm, for the chop, only for J and her children to stage a revolt which reprieved him, still, though, leaving D with concerns re having to support an ' unproductive' animal on the farm, and especially one as big as Soddy. Boars do grow big in older age but with the generous feeding regime on the farm, Soddy had grown truly enormous.

' Yes', said, D 'it's true - I was the one with the reservations about keeping him, about him being 'unproductive'. Looking back, I should have known better, though. One night I was going to the loo downstairs just after midnight and happened to glance out of the front door window, suddenly spotting two shadowy figures in the moonlight. Hold up, I thought, they're not up to much good, when suddenly there was a right commotion ---- It was Soddy, charging out from his pen - i've never seen him move so fast - and heading straight for the intruders, thirty yards or so away.

Well, you've never seen two guys move so quick to get away, shrieking as they went. It often gives me a chuckle- just imagine, suddenly they had this huge ghostly white apparition out of the moonlight charging straight at them- they must have felt it was old Nick himself after them as they ran! Oh, dear, what a hoot! But, Soddy knew, didn't he -he knew they were up to no good, and he took action! I wonder how many times he might have saved us like that? Extra treats for sure that morning for him, and a new title - 'Head of Security'! And there was  me thinking he was unproductive! Good ol' Soddy!

Maybe it's not surprising what animals might be capable of, especially when they're respected and cared for as they were at this special place, and not factory-ised, brutalised and competitivised   - ?

 And, who knows, maybe the same could hold good for the human animal - ?

'Soddy's farm' (postcript) ----(pt. 3)

One small 'high care' business that did seem to put the horse before the cart has been  featured in the last two blogs. Soddy, the giant 'meet-er and greet-er' freerange boar (male pig) on the farm eventually passed peacefully away in old age - what being had had such a gorgeous life as he? The family borrowed a digger from a neighbour to dig quite a big hole - he really was a giant - and he was buried in the place he loved, and to which he gave so much love. Every week the family made a point of pausing at his grave and putting fresh wild flowers there.

 'He was just such a great character, full of bonhommie and love, but woebetide any neer-do-wells, Soddy knew and wouldn't stand for any nonsense - we never had thefts occur whilst he was 'Head of Security', said farmer D.

 'We still miss our dear old friend, who was also a friend to quite a few - some used to pop up just to see him and have a chat to him -and then us. One old girl living accross the fields (she lived alone in a small stone cottage in the middle of a field and had to cross three fields to get to their farm track, her nearest 'road'), always came down on Tuesdays to walk down to catch the local bus, her weekly shopping trip, and always bringing some titbit for Soddy, who seeemed to have a  special affection for her'

 (the family sent one of the children the 3/4 of a mile up to her cottage once a week,  to see if she neeeded anything, but also to check she was ok -community alive and well).

 'It was quite touching to see them together', said D, 'this tiny, frail old lady , totally unafraid, talking to and stroking her giant friend, who seemed to respond to her frailty with special gentleness. Good ol' Soddy!'

Such a 'mixed' small farm was relatively rare to find, and with the farm's unusual multi-mix of livestock and the very high animal welfare standards (the feedbill was certainly higher than norm), Soddy's farm had a strong 'heart' component - the head' component coming in that whilst high profits was not a particular aim, rather the farming lifestyle and animal welfare were the important factors, the 'strict' business viability component was that the farm had to make enough money to 'pay its way', and the 'cloth was willingly cut' to enable this, and the desired lifestyle.

'Off the beaten ---- '    

The guys at Soddy's farm certainly 'went their own way' - their farm was unusual to carry so many enterprises for a small farm. And yet, these were people getting loads of satisfaction from their lifestyles, so it'd be hard to say that they were 'on a wrong track' - ? It obviously takes a bit to not have to follow the 'well beaten' track -perhaps they then got their due rewards for their unique-ness - ? The 'well beaten' track doesn't always prove to be a viable one- imagine following the 'norm' trend in recent years of borrowing a fair amount of money, only then for events to catch up, to the point of even losing the roof overhead - ? With there being a trend of borrowing money and seeing others 'prospering' having done so, the pressures to follow any trend can be considerable - important though for each to still assess whether it's a good move over the longer term - ?

At last -----

The last epoch seems to have been 'logic and rationality' geared, with 'heart' a distant third, quite possible reflecting a mainly masculine-led culture - ?  Just like, say, a 'quantity/quality' balance type of situation, the 'head/heart' could be similar, with 'life dynamics' being the 'operational' factor - ?   Hey --- Good ol' Soddy ---- !!

( The micro-holders here a few years back ran a beef cattle farm -a collie bitch puppy was bought from a farm advisory client - she was the runt of the litter - why she was picked is still a mystery. She grew into a beautiful adult collie, and best of all, already knew all about marshalling cattle, with zero training - one time for instance the person going into a cattle yard had difficulty putting out feed being jostled by the cattle - only once though, the very next day Shay the collie had all the cattle lined up on their straw bedding, and would only let them come to feed when told it was ok ----- What a wonder - Shaymua O'Dearie - was she 'sent' in time of need, with there being quite a lot of pressure around ? And - animals may be 'more' than is commonly realised --- ?)