When you have to write down “wash hair before meeting” like it is an usual activity, you have officially become a farmer……or a mother of toddlers…..which is basically the same thing if you raise farm animals! 😉

When you do a wellness check and a fence check and a trees-falling check first thing in the morning after a big storm, you have officially become a farmer.

When you have rips and stains on 80% of the clothing you wear daily because you don’t want to ruin any of your new clothes, you know you are a a farmer.

When you check on your new flower seeds, fruit trees, and anything growing about 3 times a day just in case something has suddenly sprouted that you don’t want to miss, you know you have become a farmer who is also a gardener.

When you hide behind an outbuilding so no one can see you when the Amazon delivery man, mail man, UPS man, or a neighbor drives up to avoid the embarrassment of owning dogs who make total fools of themselves any time a car pulls in even NEAR your driveway, you know you are a farmer with Livestock Guardian Dogs.

When you have added panels to your fence, stretched another layer of wiring over your fence, fixed holes in your fix, and blocked every conceivable gap in your originally tidy, six-strand barbed wire fence line, you know you are a farmer with determined animals both inside and outside of the fence line. **Fencing is literally the second full-time job you didn’t know you were signing up for when you purchased your land.**

When you, every once in a while, wonder if you can handle the difficulties of raising animals and growing new plants, you need to remember that you are a brand new, first-generation farmer who is learning at an exponential rate. Keep working hard and trying your best!

When you have learned that in farming, sometimes “Go Big or Go Home” makes you actually have to go home and start over, you know you are finally learning some hard lessons!! We learned this the hard way by planting flower beds and gardens that were WAAAY to big for our time, energy, and water budget! Start small. Our gardens are about one-fourth of their original sizes this year!

When you have learned that locals will NEVER refer to you as a local and you will always be an outsider or newbie to them, remember that you are a first generation farmer in that county and, it’s totally okay, because you may be planting the seeds (literally!) for your children or grandchildren to be considered a local someday….maybe?!

When you want to take a break from country life and have a “normal” life and you go spend some time in a big city and experience a “normal” life in traffic for a week, you will probably drive back home down your country road listening to John Denver belt that famous tune as soon as you can. (Trust me!)

When you feel tired or exhausted or stressed or overwhelmed, just take a little walk outside and look at the sunset. Hear the sounds. See the beauty. Take it in.

That is when you know you have arrived.