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Location is Everything

6/27/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
I don't belong here. I was just looking on Kijiji, an online classified buy and sell site, at sheep and lambs for sale both in BC and Alberta. In BC there are the sheep I like, smaller farms and farmers deidcated to organic production. Here in Alberta it is all about big meat. Suffolk, Katahdin, Texel and even Dorset are huge meat sheep, some with wool, some that shed. That is what the market is in Alberta. I raise wool sheep for fibre and try to be as organic as possible here. The sheep are raised without antibiotics unless they are sick,but they are not routinely given a course of treatment in case they get sick and that is what the sheep farmers do here. The ewe lamb I recently acquired was given 2 weeks of antibiotics in case she got sick in weaning. She was also given vaccinations, wormers and everythng possible. I don't use any of those routinely, but will do what is necessary for the health of an animal if it is sick. 

Aside from sheep, just procuring organic grains is impossible, or it was last year. Here, people live in the dark ages, promote GMO's and Round up ready canola and put hormone implants in the beef and so on. They are exactly the opposite of me. I did not consider this before I moved, but in the next move, I will either rent a year before settling or ensure that where I am going is a place with like minded people. People who are educated, read, learn, are hungry for new information leading to better quality of lives for themselves and their animals and are stewards of the Earth, that is care about how they treat this world. Not here, they don't. There is no fine for littering and people toss garbage out their windows without a thought. Disgusting. 

Yes, I am a little down. I just spent a day butchering my lambs with a local farmer, who although he is a very nice person, is exactly the opposite of me and is proud of it. One day in the company of a person so contrary to health and health of the world, was enough for me. I want to hibernate today and am, partly because it is 32 degrees outside and too hot to do much at this time of day, and partly because I need to recharge my energy. As an introvert the way I do that is withdraw into myself and become retrospective, to read, study , learn and previously to play music and sing, though I have not done much of that since coming here, not sure why exactly. 

But, location matters. I cannot sell my farm produced organic meat, but even if I could, people here do not want it. They prefer grain fed fat meat to lean organic grass fed animals. Even the guy butchering said the animals were skinny, which they were not, but they were not fat, that is for sure. They had never seen grain and thrived on forage based feed only. They did not need to be wormed because they had a natural resistance to worms, unlike grain fed animals. 

People here do not care about hand made soap, only what is highly scented and from a pyramid marketing scheme, cause that is what they know. They are ignorant, not wanting to learn and grow. 

Now, since I am here for some time yet, I must make the best of my time and make it the best I can. So, I need to find ways to market my organic face and body creams and butters, essential oils and soaps and the things I wish to sell. The farm store has not brought many visitors yet, but maybe a grand opening sale day would help. I need to brainstorm for ideas to make life not only bearable, but wonderful for the next while, despite feeling the a matchstick in a toothpick box. So, it is time to meditate, think, create, dream and grow again. When plans change unexpectedly, then we must change also, without pain or aggrevation, but with joy and with a hope that life will be the best we can make it be. 

So, I dream. Where I go next will be somewhere that like minded people dwell. Then reitrement will be fulfilled, joyous and pleasurable, all that it is meant to be. It should be thus for all of us. You?
2 Comments
Canadian silkies link
9/20/2015 07:32:31 pm

Well I live in Williams lake bc and we raise about 25-40 turkeys organically and have absolutely no issues selling them and we raised meat lambs this year and all five were spoken for quickly. We also raise chickens for the eggs and breed (I LOVE chickens, especially my silkies) so sorry to hear you have issues selling things I would be interested in your ameracaunas if you were not so far away. Do you have an intact maremma or great pyrenees? Would like to know thx

Reply
Fluffy link
9/20/2015 08:14:02 pm

I do have a male in tact Pyrenees/Maremma. Yes, there are huge differences all to do with location. Grande Prairie is an excellent place to be if you sell grass fed meat and organic anything. Here, nope, not at all. People don't care if it is organic or not and have no idea what the difference really is. Sad. Thanks for writing.

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    Fluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. 

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