At the Farm Gate: Fun with Resources on the Farm
We can hike the woods, kayak the river, hop hay bales and fish for hours. But top on their list for farm fun? Digging a hole.
When my cousins’ kids visit the farm, the No. 1 request is to find “Farmer Doug,” who will stabilize his backhoe in a harmless, remote space on the farm. My dad acts as a driver’s education instructor as they use the bucket with hydraulic thumb to dig, dump and even grab a tire and smash an old piece of metal that he staged in their big kid sandbox. Oh, the delight in digging.
No matter the dwelling, we hold the power to make our own fun where we reside. Certainly, the farm has plenty of natural and man-made resources to amplify the options. My teenage son takes his friends tent camping beyond the Southeast Field. They play Airsoft in the Moody Timber. He buckles up in a utility vehicle to ride trails with cousins, and the farmstead provides some challenging games of hide and seek.
Straw in the barn satisfies the climbers and outdoor rows of round bales the jumpers. We hunt for deer, raccoons and morel mushrooms in the appropriate season. The snowmobile and sleds surface when the snowfall exceeds 2 inches. My daughter finds peace for homework and reflections on the farm near the river bridge, and in the warm months, she frequently picks wildflowers in ditches and woodland areas.
On a slow-paced day, we sit on the porch smelling the smoker transform our farm-raised beef chuck roast into the most flavorful pulled beef and question why anyone besides neighbors would want to drive our dusty gravel road.
Then again, we realize our routine farm chores deliver someone else’s fun. Relatives who visit love to feed the cattle, so Dad makes piles of grain around the utility vehicle for an up-close encounter. They gather eggs from our chicken house, harvest vegetables from Mom’s garden and ride in the combine and tractors in the fall or the planters in the spring while we work.
We take vacations away from the farm and immensely enjoy them, but it never crosses my mind to make travel plans on a Labor Day break or other long weekends. Rather, those extended days provide the gift of time to enjoy being at home and on the farm.
About the author: Joanie Stiers farms with her family in Knox County, where they raise corn, soybeans, hay, beef cattle, backyard chickens and farmkids.