In my previous academic life I got into the habit of taking students abroad every two or three years, mostly to Italy. I didn’t do it to make extra money, Lord knows (I always ended up spending more than I made), or because I harbored a secret ambition to be a tour guide, returning continually to the same places. I did it to provide students with a concentrated introduction to the way cities had been built in different times and different places, and also to give my own kids a chance to see different parts of the world. In both of those goals I think I was successful.
These travel-abroad courses were really made possible by our old and dear friend, Oliver Learmont (now Father Oliver in the Anglican Church (UK)). I would tell him what I wanted to do, and he would make it happen. One summer, while we were in Venice, Oliver managed to wangle a tour of a private palazzo that was being converted to a house museum. It was the perfect visit for students on an architecture and preservation trip. As we made our way through the vast building, daughter Sophia noticed a carved inscription over one of the doorways and asked me what it said. It was Latin – fortunately simple: Non Sine Patientia: Not Without Patience. That particular summer had had some trying times during the trip, and the phrase resonated immediately. In the years since then it has become something of a Russell family motto, often brought up when impatience rears its ugly head.
It is the perfect motto for our present farming enterprise, which is branching out in many different – and unexpected – directions. This entry will simply mention the undertakings we have undertaken so far. Some of them will get further elaboration in future posts.
The first thing about which we must all have patience is making a profit. In a recent post about what we were after in this new life I mentioned making a living from the farm. Making a living and making a profit are not synonymous since very important parts of living are simply not profitable: beauty, for instance, which is – quite unexpectedly – coming to have an increasingly large role in what we are doing. But in the long run either you are making a profit or else you are indulging in a hobby.
The primary profit-making venture of the farm has always been intended to be cheese, made from goat’s milk. That is why we have goats. But – oh, boy! – are we a long way from making a profit from cheese. Nevertheless, that is the reason why so many of the things we are doing have to be done. Not without patience.
Primary does not mean sole, however, and we are striking out in different directions to achieve another original goal of this undertaking: multiple income streams. And all of these demand patience. Anything involving raising animals absolutely requires it. Goats kid once a year; rabbits kindle after 28 days, but nothing happens immediately. So far, we are venturing in a number of different directions: goats, chickens, turkeys, rabbits. The goats were, as I have mentioned, the original intention of the farm. Chickens were also intended from the beginning, though the single breed has been expanded to a couple. The turkeys can be blamed on Kathleen, who replied to a craigslist ad and came home with four: a Narragansett Jake (who will grow up to be a Tom) and three Royal Palms of uncertain sex. One of the Palms disappeared the first night, but was soon replaced by a Bourbon Red, so we still have four. Even after Thanksgiving we have four, though our goal is to eat our own turkey next year. Not without patience.
In the early summer Zach followed up on another craigslist ad and brought home three rabbits: a buck and two does, along with several cages and various miscellaneous rabbit-growing equipment. Although the initial animals were largely worn out (craigslist is a daily reminder of the duplicity and deceitfulness of human beings), Zach has diligently expanded his rabbitry to the point that it now encompasses a couple of dozen breeders. What have we got from it so far? One tasty (but tough) roast rabbit. Not without patience.
And tomorrow we go off to look at a couple of Shetland sheep. I like lamb; Kathleen wants the fleeces. Not without patience!