LITTLE BY LITTLE.
After nearly every evening move, Eric and I like to take a moment to pause and watch the cattle graze. One such evening, Eric was musing about how relieved he was that he hadn't had the money to buy the livestock he wanted when he first started rotational grazing. He's just now, after over ten years of working with livestock, starting to feel confident in what he's doing. In that time, his instincts for the animals have improved tremendously. He's learned how to handle them, and how to better anticipate their needs. And though he knows he's still got a lot to learn, he said he was glad to have learned what he knows on the motley mix of animals that have always made up his herd.The cows he wanted cost several thousand dollars a piece. And had he started with those animals––shelled out ten or fifteen thousand dollars on a few cows––there would have been a lot more at stake. They easily could have bankrupted him before he knew what he was doing. Luckily, Eric couldn't have afforded animals from good stock when he started. He started with a milk cow named Delilah and her bull calf, purchased from a neighbor for $400. The calf was wormy and died, but Delilah lived, and Eric built from there.Now, he has a Devon bull he likes which he spent good money on, and slowly he's starting to build the herd he wants. "Everything worthwhile takes time," Eric once told me and I'm starting to realize how widely it applies, and how sometimes being low on cash, however frustrating or limiting, can be a gift.Hannah and I have spent the last few months moving in inches. We inched into the forest. We inched into the cabin. We'll inch into the rest of our lives and we'll inch because we have no other choice––we don't have money to move more than an inch at a time. When I think about Eric and his cattle, however, in a way, I feel blessed to have such little mobility. Sure, we want our forest cleared and filled with livestock, pigs, goats and gardens. We want our house set up with running water and a solar system. We want a lot of things, but perhaps, by being forced to only move in inches for the next few years, we'll thoroughly learn every inch of what we're doing. In turn, it will make us better farmers, carpenters and partners, preparing us for the day when we can finally move swiftly in feet––or who knows, maybe even yards––while teaching us to appreciate every step. So right now, moving slowly is quite alright––everything worthwhile takes time-- and we have a lot more time than money, and a lot to learn yet anyway.- Jesse.