Health:
A farming life is a healthy life. The urban lifestyle means long commutes and hours sitting, oftentimes at a computer. These both cause stress and tension in the body. Not to mention that sitting for long hours will cause your muscles to weaken and your back to ache. But living on a farm will require you to reach, pull, push, lift and maintain your balance. You will receive a full body workout without ever stepping foot in a gym. On smaller farms, your main form of transportation will be walking from one area to the next; one chore to the next allowing you to easily surpass the recommended 10,000 steps to maintain basic health. Because the majority of your workday is spent outdoors, you will easily meet your daily requirements for vitamin D. By now, we all know how important it is to eat a diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables. Of course, we can get all the fruits and vegetables we need at the grocery store however once a fruit or vegetable is picked it begins to lose some of those important nutrients. At the grocery store your produce has traveled a long distance from farm to warehouse and from warehouse to store and store to consumer. By the time it reaches your dinner table vital nutrients are gone. When you live the farm life you are able to step outside your front door and collect your vegetables for the day, allowing you to prepare colorful, nutrient dense meals for you and your family. Oftentimes a garden produces more food then you could possibly ever consume. You and your family will have the option of selling this plethora of fresh produce at your local farmers market, providing a service to your community (making an abundance of fresh produce available to them), getting to know your neighbors and making a little extra money in the process.
Work Ethic:
Living on a farm requires a lot of hard work and commitment. Animals need to be fed and cared for, gardens need attention, outbuildings and fences will need maintenance and repairs. You cannot hit snooze repeatedly and sleep an extra hour when the animals are depending on you to feed them. Farm life runs on a schedule and everything is interrelated. Your children will learn the importance of hard work and the rewards. Ensuring animals are fed and cared for means that you will have milk, meat and eggs to eat. Because you are not near a city, chances are you will be eating most of your meals at home. Children can begin to assist with feeding the family from an early age. At first just washing vegetables and later graduating to peeling and dicing them. Before you know it, they will be capable of preparing full blown meals.
Respect:
Taking care of living creatures will fill your child with a sense of pride and confidence. Being around animals is relaxing and will help your child to learn empathy from a young age. They will also understand the circle of life and the interconnectedness of all things. The fact that farm living is directly affected by Mother Nature means your family will gain a new found respect for weather, animals and the earth. They will learn that animals have their very own personalities and that if treated kindly and with respect they will be happy to see their human friends. Growing a garden will help you realize how important it is to take care of the soil. You can grow a beautiful rich garden when you treat the earth respectfully. There are many options on how to care for the soil and keep it strong. One way is by rotating where you plant certain foods. Different foods pull different nutrients out of the soil. Moving the crops around so the same foods are not grown in the same space time after time ensures that the soil will continue to remain healthy and you will be able to grow vegetables for years to come.
A farm life is not for everyone. It takes hard work and commitment. It can be a very rewarding way of life. Farm living can provide a wealth of good food, exercise and fresh air. It can ensure that your children are aware of the symbiotic relationship between plant, animal, people and the earth. Farm life can slow life down and create a deep, strong bond between you, your family and the world.