David Zirnhelt
Ranch Musings
I visited two farms last week on travels to northern Vancouver Island. One was an older farmstead where an old barn was being repurposed as a recording studio.
While there I saw a sign that came from a tiny grain elevator town in Saskatchewan. The sign said, “I am so busy … I don’t know if I found a rope or lost my horse.”
I know the feeling and am trying to be fastidious about losing it. Of course, being less busy means getting less done.
Some say this is good. Then mindfulness can replace the busyness. Thinking more clearly can result in more purposeful actions and results.
At the recent Canadian Forage and Grasslands Association one speaker from Regeneration Canada, who farms and ranches in Saskatchewan, paused at the podium before he began his talk - just to ”listen” to the audience which became very quiet.
He went on to say he likes to listen to the natural grasslands that comprise a significant portion of his cattle pasture. Knowing what the quiet voice of nature is telling us can make us much better stewards of the land and life on the land.
So many people who visit our place remark on the quiet they hear when pausing to listen and observe.
Quiet and special places are gifts we have all around us, simply for the taking. And too, in pauses in conversations we can feel the “pregnant pauses” which, when they are over can bring forth new understandings to those conversing.
Listening is the beginning of understanding communication. I enjoy the non-busy times on the ranch when I can do a little reflection.
The farm I visited is mixed operation which offers, in addition to products like beef, honey and vegetables, “glamping” in private spots in the woods and disc golf where hoops are places along the roads and pathways. This is marketing since players visit the farm store and become repeat buyers of beef and honey.
One of the big revenue generators is the lakeside sauna rentals. The farm also breeds bees which they hope can be resistant to pests. Importantly, the farm trails have interpretation signage explaining various farm functions and the abundant nature throughout.
This farm also specializes in business training for women entrepreneurs which is highly successful. They employ four to five people. This is a good business model for small farms or family farms. The farm is on the edge of suburbia and is mostly forested.
Both places I visited are offering serenity and natural beauty to a busy population that may have become more grounded as the result of Covid slowdown. They strive for the feeling of “community” and offer places for that to happen.
For my part, being partially retired, I look forward to listening to the land and purposefully focusing on being more native to the place.
READ MORE: RANCH MUSINGS: Methane from livestock, a culprit?
Don’t miss out on reading the latest local, provincial and national news offered at the Williams LakeTribune. Sign up for our free newsletter here.