Farming for Sanity's Sake ...

Times have not been the best in 2009, but it is amazing to me to see the number of recent articles about different types of hobby farming as therapy, as escape, and as that added boost to help people cope with the insanity of the world around them.

For example, take the recent Hometown Annapolis newspaper in which a couple decided to give up the urban hustle-and-bustle for the respite found in alpaca farming. Read the article.

In The Washington Post, another couple decided to hang it up with suburban living and are escaping to more peaceful confines on the Eastern Shore to raise chickens. Read the article.

A recent documentary on the National Geographic Channel takes a closer look at farming as therapy with, "The Farm," chronicling how the Louisiana State Penitentiary System uses farming to help inmates cope with their circumstances and as an outlet for many of their inmates. Read more.

There it is, your moment of Zen ...

History or History?

A recent article in The Washington Post highlights the battle between those who want to "preserve lands" for the sake of history and those who own and have to pay ($$$) to maintain the property in order to keep it "historic."

Read this farmer's plight in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. Yes, yes, right here in Maryland this is happening. Read more.

My opinion? I know this is a tough issue which has many people divided. But this case, in particular, seems pretty straightforward. The farm, from 1933, is not nearly as old as others around it that were preserved from the 1700s, which sound like better "historic" sites to preserve. In the meantime, let this poor farmer do what he wants to with the land (to build a new home for his grandson).

And how can you really justify preserving this old house and barn when developers have carved up more than half of Montgomery County with small subdivisions and cramped communities already anyway?

If you want to see the true signs of aging, drive by some of these communities, which were built in the 1950s (only 20 years after this farmer's place was established), and you'll see the signs of wear and tear, aging and buildings that could use some revitalization for the sake of history.

But torturing this old man and his family by making them PAY for repairs to a property that they want to doze anyway? What has become of us as a society, if we FORCE a family to do this and to PAY for it? Land of the free? Home of the Brave? Let him tear it down and build a new home for his family on it.

Isn't that what America and "the American Dream" is all about anyway?

Goats (and Sheep?) to the Rescue!

I always love hearing these stories about how goats are used to help trim back or eliminate invasive plant species in undesirable areas. From Key West, Florida to the highways of Maryland, and other hard-to-reach places on government properties and wetlands, goats are "eating away" at the problem. Read more.

Goats are renowned for their ability to eat away at much of "the brush" that former President Bush used to spend countless hours "clearing" on his ranch. All he really needed was a couple dozen goats with hungry stomachs turned loose on the property and he would have never had to spend another weekend trading cleared land for poison oak or poison ivy.

The only issue I tend to have with this story is the fact that sheep aren't usually the ones eating away at these invasive plants. Far from it, in fact. Most sheep breeds find these invasive plants poisonous to them, so the goats tend to be the invasive-eaters while the sheep are there to graze on the grasses and keep the goats company.

Read more on the article and decide for yourself.