Last year, I came across this article about “passion” and its connotations in the worlds of careers and hobbies. It got me thinking about the Farm and how it has changed from a “passionate dream” to a solid plan, on its way to reality. In this 9-part series, I’ll take the key paragraph from each of the seven P’s in the article and expound on it as it relates to the Farm.
Practice
If greatness came down to passion — or worse, talent — then it’d be reserved for only a select few. Practice means greatness is doable … one tiny step after another.
Since making a decision to grow a vegetable garden – which came a couple of years before I started noodling the Farm concept – I’ve committed myself to practicing certain skills, particularly as related to food preservation: canning, dehydrating, freezing. I do quite well with freezing and dehydrating, but I’m still working on canning, and only practice will improve that.
With the Farm plans, there are many other skills that I want or need to learn or improve on: how to shear alpacas, wash, card, and spin their wool, and use the yarn; carpentry and pottery; smithing; oxen driving. I’ve acquired a spinning wheel and a pottery wheel, and know someone who has raw wool, so I can work on these skills as time permits while looking for property for the Farm, but it will take a fair amount of time to reach a point where I can teach others.
Knowing what I don’t know is half the battle.