A Glimpse into Small Town Life

Michael and I went to buy feed on Saturday afternoon. We buy it from a farmer that lives out a ways. He sells feed in bulk and he custom mixes from the recipe that you give him. We purchased 1400 pounds of feed and saved quite a bit of money. While we were waiting our turn, a man that we did not know was helping the guy in front of us. We assumed they were friends. After they were finished, the man walked back to his truck with a large smile on his face. He stopped to talk with us and told us the other man was a district manager for a large farm store throughout our area. He was raising Katadin sheep, just as we were, and he was giving a lot of information. Michael went to speak with him while Seth and I chatted with the other man by our truck. The district manager was quite helpful. He shared his recipe for feeding up his sheep. He also shared information about programs that our county is doing to PAY us for cross fencing and watering systems. Michael informed him that we did not want any part of NAIS and we would not sign up for it just to get some money. He assured us we would not need to. He then gave Michael the man's name at a local store that we needed to see to get more information. As we we were leaving, the man informed us that if we needed T posts that today was the day to buy them at the local farm store because they were going off sell at the end of the business day.

We promptly left and drove to the local farm supply store to purchase our T posts. While we were there, the man who helped Michael load the T posts was the very man we needed to talk with about the county program. He gave us a wealth of information and invited us to his farm. He also has Katadin sheep and he has some rams to sell in the next few months. Guess what we need? We need a good ram. We also extended an invitation to come look at our farm. By sharing ideas with other farmers, it allows all of us to grow and become better at what we do.

This is one small part of living in a small town. Most everybody chats with one another and a lot can be gleaned from those chats. What appears to be simple chatter actually leads to some great opportunities as well as friendships.
grace and peace,
julie