Fighting Inertia
The month of August is the time of year I have difficulty maintaining my motivation around the farm. Days are hot and humid and never seem to end. The sun takes forever to drop below the horizon. Evenings remain sticky and airless, and we don’t sleep well. Before I know it, I’m behind with every farm chore. Weeds proliferate, scrubby brush becomes overgrown, and every animal looks at me as if to say, “Is this EVER going to end?”
I can’t describe the number of times in August my husband and I come upon a farm task - a tree fallen across a fence line, a loose fencepost, another hole dug by the Great Pyrenees, a broken board on a pasture shelter - and we agree to wait until fall or winter. It’s just too hot and miserable!
Even the dogs barely move throughout the day. They spend most of their time looking for cool spots in the shade, under porch steps, or tucked away into a corner of the barn.
Our goat herd will browse through their pastures early morning and late afternoon into early evening, but the crew spends much of their time lying in the shade or in a cooler shelter.
During these weeks (and months if we add in June and July), keeping clean water and shade available for the animals is of prime importance. Many of our female crew look rather bedraggled as they’ve lost the thick fur of winter and are trying to regain weight lost from giving birth and producing milk. These hot months are designed for eating, drinking, and lying around.
Unless you are the human farm resident …
The grass continues to grow. Hay needs stacked in the barn. Water troughs need scrubbed. Dogs need fed (and returned to the pastures they’ve dug out of). Plus, do I need to mention the bugs? Ticks. Mosquitos. Sweat bees. Fire ants. Yellow jackets. Red wasps. Horse flies. The insect world comes alive in August and seems as irritated as we do by the hot, humid days. And whom do they choose to attack? Us.
In all honesty, I must admit that I do a bare minimum of work outside throughout the weeks of August. I spend my afternoons and evenings indoors making soap and herbal oils and salves as I await that magical moment when the calendar flips forward to September. I know it’s psychological because the opening weeks of September differ little from August. But there is something about slightly cooler evenings plus a lessening of humidity in the air that sparks a shot of energy into my life each morning when I awaken.
Autumn is coming. The leaves will soon begin to change. Someday soon I’ll get to wear a sweatshirt again. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll get back to all those tasks I’ve put off for the past couple of months!
Dr. Kathryn Bush owns and operates Dry Hollow Farm, a working goat and sheep farm in Huntingdon, Tennessee. Together with her husband, Russell, she creates skincare products from their fresh goat milk, grows organic herbs, welcomes visitors to their two cabins on the farm (available for stays through Airbnb), keeps the farm’s on-site soap shop stocked with their handcrafted products, and enjoys working the farm in company with their Great Pyrenees dogs (who work hard guarding the animals). Check out their natural products featuring farm-grown ingredients here, and sign up for the Dry Hollow Farm newsletter to stay in touch and be the first to hear about farm news, events, and new products.