The last few weeks, between planning and ordering seed, I have been working in the shop on various pieces of equipment. Here at the Bountiful Blessings Farm we use older farm machinery to perform our tasks. If any of you know me well, you will know that I like old Farmall tractors. I guess, again because of my upbringing, I favor the red tractors. Over the winter months, we bring in each of the tractors and do the normal maintenance work they require. Just like your car or truck, they require oil changes and tuneups. This finally gets me to what I wanted to mention - We heat our shop, office and greenhouse with wood. I have been feeding wood into the wood stove since it got cold this year.
It really doesn't take a lot of wood to heat our shop as we have it very well insulated. The wood we use is wood that would either go to the landfill or get burnt on a burn pile just to get rid of it. We hope we are doing a small part in helping the environment. I know, air pollution, but as I see it; if it was burnt on a burn pile, it would pollute the air as well. At least this way, the shop is heated and less fossil fuel is used.
We also set up our seed germination room in the shop. We are able to keep the seed room warm enough to germinate our seeds without moving stuff into the greenhouse which also would require heat. Nonetheless, once we begin growing, I have to get up from bed at least once a night to put wood in the stove. Farming has it's negatives - for me, this is one of them. As much as I love opening the greenhouse and growing, I do not enjoy disrupting my sleep to fuel the fire. I do convince myself, however, that it is only for a short period of time during the year. I guess it is no different than birthing calves, or milking cows. I farm because I love it!
When I see the fruit of my labor, it makes me so happy, and I am only a steward or caretaker. I love seeing the first seedlings pop up through the soil. It is amazing to me how God designed the regeneration of plants, to provide us with food and nourishment. What a miracle! I cannot wait to start planting those little seeds - only few more weeks!
Blessings!
It really doesn't take a lot of wood to heat our shop as we have it very well insulated. The wood we use is wood that would either go to the landfill or get burnt on a burn pile just to get rid of it. We hope we are doing a small part in helping the environment. I know, air pollution, but as I see it; if it was burnt on a burn pile, it would pollute the air as well. At least this way, the shop is heated and less fossil fuel is used.
We also set up our seed germination room in the shop. We are able to keep the seed room warm enough to germinate our seeds without moving stuff into the greenhouse which also would require heat. Nonetheless, once we begin growing, I have to get up from bed at least once a night to put wood in the stove. Farming has it's negatives - for me, this is one of them. As much as I love opening the greenhouse and growing, I do not enjoy disrupting my sleep to fuel the fire. I do convince myself, however, that it is only for a short period of time during the year. I guess it is no different than birthing calves, or milking cows. I farm because I love it!
When I see the fruit of my labor, it makes me so happy, and I am only a steward or caretaker. I love seeing the first seedlings pop up through the soil. It is amazing to me how God designed the regeneration of plants, to provide us with food and nourishment. What a miracle! I cannot wait to start planting those little seeds - only few more weeks!
Blessings!
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