The means or the end …
An interesting discussion at dinner:
Me: The dinner itself is the reason I am farming. The farming is a means to an end – the end being good clean delicious nutritious food. The good food and good dinners are the objective. The farming is the fuel. The farming is the means.
Alex: Food is the fuel that gives him the energy to go out farming. The food is the means. The end being the work. He loves the work. His objective is a good days work. The food is merely fuel. He would eat standing up and has no real interest in the taste as long as it has hot sauce.
Our John. (looking around) Where is John? Gone to bed after eating his dinner leaving us at the table to talk about it. The dinner, the work, no point in discussing it. That is John.
Did you see the new face in the line-up? That is Bobby Red. I bought him yesterday. He had been born by mistake on a feedlot. But he had a good Mum and she raised him before I bought him so he is lovely and healthy and caked in dried mud.
He is very, very friendly – and a good looking Hereford calf. I am not sure of his age – he is about 275 – 300 pounds at a guess. Herefords do very well on pasture so I nab them when I find them. He has horns though but they are too big to deal with now. But that is OK.
He was immediately called Bobby Red giving us the letter “R” for 2017. So any births this year will have a name that begins with R. 2016 was T. There is no rhyme nor reason to the lettering. Don’t even try. All beef animals are called Bobbys. All pork animals are called Plonkers.
Molly’s background has changed as well. Alex has begun to line the pig pen in pallets to cut down on the Easterly rushing into the farrowing pen, this also gives me a better background for my images. I have an unlimited supply of pallets so they will be popping up all over!.
We have sun in the forecast today – it will not be overly warm and there will be wind but there will also be sun. And all is forgiven if there is sun.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
Friday weather:
Day – Sunny. High 56F/13C. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
45 Comments on “The means or the end …”
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thekitchensgarden 
I’ve never seen cows with coats that look “fluffy” until I started following your blog. :-). I now have on my bucket list to pet a friendly, fluffy, cow. Who would have figured…? lol
These are their winter coats – lovely aren’t they.. c
And this is one of many reasons I enjoy your blog. I learn something with just about every entry.
Of course I was immediately going to ask why R and not U or S for that matter? Just as well Bobby Red is friendly if those horns are going to grow bigger, I love the Hereford calves with their big soulful eyes and thick curly coats 🙂 Laura
R for RED! of course.. ha ha a
Have a beautiful weekend C. My Pete is home tonight for 2 weeks. Yay for me.
🙂 Mandy xo
Yay!
OOoo~ Molly’s silhouette shows her changing udder. She looks like she’s beginning to fill in earnest. What dates are you thinking for her delivery now?
Her second date is today – so I am thinking on the weekend probably sunday when I have a whole lot of people coming over for lunch!!
Hahaha! Of course!
He does look like a lovely calf – perhaps being a Hereford, Sheila will make friends with him 😉
I’m with you: Farms are to grow food. That is their whole purpose. It doesn’t matter if it’s food for animals or humans, that’s what they’re FOR. To regard food as merely fuel seems disrespectful of the effort involved in producing it. I wonder if you’ll change his mind during the course of his stay. Your food is exceptional, no hot sauce required.
I see the remnants of the treehouse in the gorgeous sunset photo. Any chance of rebuilding it, or is the tree to weak to support it now? I keep looking for the Tibetan prayer flags flying on it over on a doorway in the barn sending out wishes of peace with every flap. 🙂
That poor old tree is dying – for some reason the flags want to stay at the door to the house, but maybe this summer they will want to go outside.. at least from hanging at the door they are still bright and colourful.. c
Keep them where they want to stay, at the door to the house. That way the blessings of peace go both into the house and outdoors as well! 🙂
Keep them where they want to stay, at the door to the house. That way the blessings of peace go both into the house and out onto the land and animals! 🙂
Thanks for bringing the tree house and the Tibetan prayer flags front and center. I did pause in wonder at the photograph, but I was so taken by the light, the web-like silhouette in the distance, and the broken line of dark beneath , that I overlooked the railing and platform there in the broken limbs from that sturdy old trunk. It really is a telling photograph, with various plot lines. e.g. the flags, and the barn door, and the wind — I must have missed all that in my past daytime visits. As in life, small details make for quite a big picture. (Now I’m talking about the farmy itself, with its many beautiful photographs and warm, humorous, informative stories.)
to me ..food is a means to an end..who cares what it is..as long as its tasty….and not fattening?
Love the new BobbyRed…he is so cute and such lovely eyes…. lots of love xxx
Sent: Friday, April 07, 2017 at 2:33 PM
You mentioned a while back that you were looking for a bull for the big girls, but I guess Bobby Red is not it. He has been fixed as they say? He has a very sweet face. Poor Molly. I hope she farrows soon, poor thing. Good to have conversation around the dinner table. Alex is an excellent start to your woofer season and I am with him on the hot stuff!
I really can’t run two bulls -too much space needed but I wish I could!
Red is gorgeous! Question – is ‘The Cadet Alex… and is Alex your son? I’m sure that had been explained a long time ago but I missed it.
Love the photo of that ominousness cloud – hope the weather isn’t too bad today. ; o )
Alex is a summer worker on the farm – he will be here for two months – The Cadet is a girl from down the road who visits occassionally.. c
Gotcha – ‘and now I know’ !! ; o )
Red is darling. Our family is full of R names, but they are all variations on Robert, on both sides of the family American and Italian, which is shortened to Bob. Or Robby. So that could get pretty goofy. Bobby Bobby. Bobby Bob. Bobby Robby. You can see where that goes. Hmmm. Russell? Riley? Richard? I love the tale of the dinner discussion and John’s role in it. The objective clearly is a good night’s sleep! Love to all participants, of outspoken and not-to-outspoken variety.
hahaha…. So true, the end is not food or toil, but a good night’s sleep! Love it 🙂
You’re right, all’s forgiven when there is sun. Today, we have none. The world is white this morning. It has not been forgiven! Tomorrow we get your sun, apparently… Your skies are perfectly gorgeous!
Poor Alex, I think he must have been too long in the armed services, although I always thought they had good cooks but if he sees food only as a fuel and only as long as he has loads of hot sauce, then he has been deprived, poor thing. How long will he be with you? If it’s long enough then perhaps his outlook will shift from ‘means’ to ‘end’.
Bobby Red looks very sweet and Molly looks very round. Hope you have a lovely day too. ~ Mame 🙂
I have had very good luck putting rubber castration bands on horns. First clip the hair around the horns. Then put a thick castrator band, not the normal little green ones, but thick ones (I buy them online at Valley Vet). These bands are normally used to castrate large bull calves or even grown bulls. So put that on the horn and get it as close down to where the horn comes out of the head as possible. Then give the steer a shot of tetanus antitoxin and you are good to go! Takes about a month or so for the horns to fall off. Usually no bleeding when they do eventually fall off. Seems to not bother the steers after about a minute or so. Sometimes, when the horn falls off, it dangles by a tendon or something. I just snip that off with scissors without any problems. I have used this method many, many times with great success.
Elva that is fantastic advice – i shall do it and also share this knowledge with some friends here. I will order the heavy bands right now . THANK YOU!!!.. c
Oooo~ that IS good advice. I’ll keep that little piece tucked in my memory for possible later use. You never know about horns!
I love the Fellowship! c
Always glad to see a new Bobby. I love the discussion. Since I am all about perception, it is delightful.
I’m with you Celi, in the means and ends department. Sounds like you got yourself a good worker. My high school student came by today to help. Hallelujah!
Means. Ends. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The process is the goal. I agree with John.
Lovely photos!
J > Happy is the one who delights in the both the food on the plate and the work done in putting it there – knowing that one without the other loses more than half its worth. Honest labour makes the meal all the more satisfying. Personally, I’m with John. Chosing between them is to miss the point entirely.
Snow here today : ( Can we see a photo of your new helper?
As a rule I don’t put up photographs of the people who work here unless they ask me to. They come and go so fast. And are often shy.. c
I am with you on food being the end. To me the garden and the kitchen go hand in hand. Brett wasn’t much into the taste of food, being more interested in quantity, when we first got married. He still cares about quantity (he works hard), but he’s come around to caring equally about taste. It only took 17 years…
Food every time, although I do like the work especially now the weather is improving the nights are longer and I can truly feel tired and achievement can be observed.
Oh most definitely the means to an end…the eating is the ultimate pleasure, especially if shared with loved ones!
oh those beautiful skies! Hope your day went well!
I think food is to be enjoyed and savoured. It is especially good when shared with family and friends. I like the new herd member, Bobby Red. I hope he fits in well with the rest of the farm group.
Oh I love Bobby R’s darling face and look at that “cow”lick on his forehead…it looks like a snowflake! Is that where the word cowlick came from? 🙂 C’mon Sun!!
After 16 days of no Internet which is limping still: oh, food to me is certainly not fodder! On the one hand it is the strongest of medicines in the world. On the other it is the ultimate art form any of us have to express our imagination and ever-growing knowledge to the delight of self and others and, surely, the best way to make friends, THE cultural way to learn about the rest of the world and to share in peace. Surely the most wonderful way to spend an evening is in 3-4 hours of fusing food and wine and enjoying wonderful conversations. A week is not worth living for me unless such stimulation and learning is available 🙂 !
I adore food (I have just scoffed an Easter bun with home made quince jelly). I admire your hard work and your vim and vigour! Wish I was there to enjoy a meal and a glass of wine with you 😃