Opportunities on the Farm

By Cory Mentink

Walking through the pasture the other day got me thinking about opportunities on the farm. The grass had grown back in a wonderful way providing great forage for the cows and sheep, and looking a bit closer at the ground, I noticed mushrooms growing up under the grass cover. This to me is a good sign that our mycorrhizael fungi in the soil are becoming more active! For the uninitiated, “the term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant’s rhizosphere, its root system. Mycorrhizae play important roles in plant nutrition, soil biology, and soil chemistry,” as defined by Wikipedia because I’m not that smart. As the health and life in our soil improves so does the health and life of our animals and ultimately us!

We’ve been able to maintain at least daily moves this year with the flerd (combination of flock (sheep) and herd (cattle)) which I believe is helping to improve our soil, another great opportunity! I do believe that God has created a special connection between man and soil, and that our health is directly related to how healthy the soil is that we are getting our food from. After all, He did form Adam out of the dust from the ground! (Genesis 2:5-7) 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

The rains this year have been a great opportunity in grass regrowth while also presenting their own challenges. We put up our own hay on farm which requires a big effort from the whole family and it’s great to see the team work! Everything from loading and unloading square bales, to meals, to moving round bales, or bringing Dad tools and parts to fix the swather, baler, tractor, etc… The challenge has been getting it put up dry, especially when you only have a few days window to cut it, let it lay to dry down, and finally bale it. I have been reminded several times this haying season that God is sovereign and the weatherman is not! This is the humbling part of farming, to remember that we are not in as much control of things as we think we are, and it’s an opportunity for God to chisel away some more of my stubborn pride.

Sometimes life is just busy and I feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done, but sometimes the greatest opportunities come when we take the time to slow down and take our children with us (which in all honesty I don’t do as well as I should). For example, each evening I need to take the 4 wheeler out with milk for the pigs and stop by to move the chicken tractors before I can get on to another project (emphasis on getting to the next project). If I mention this in the house, Annika (5), Asher (4) and Abigail (just turned 2) will inevitably want to come “help.” Abigail’s, “Me? Me? Me?” is just too adorable to say no to, so down the path we go. The real surprise to me in this is that they are all actually pretty helpful in keeping the chickens away from the back of the chicken tractor and moving the feeders while I pull the shelter forward. Though we’ve had to learn not to step on the chicks or to throw feed out of the feeder, there are moments we’ve shared that money can’t buy, and I wouldn’t trade a month’s worth of hours for.

It’s been a good year so far, though it has seemed to fly by, and by God’s grace we’ll continue to grow going into next year, in Christ, as a family, and as a farm. I hope that everyone can take the time to slowdown, put your hands or feet in some great healthy and living soil, and take a deep breath of what life is all about. If you are ever in the neighborhood feel free to stop in, we’d only ask a few minutes’ notice to make sure we don’t have any little ones playing in the driveway. God Bless.