I do have a Homestead. And I’m right proud and
serious about it. But while I’ve always managed to raise up, sell, plant,
harvest and otherwise oversee creation of things that bring in some cash
to defray the cost of the farm proper, I’ve always had to have employment
off the farm to pay for those little luxuries like clothing for the
children, upkeep on vehicles, health/auto/property insurance, taxes, and
stuff we can’t grow, like toilet paper and ink pens.
I’ve tried to work a normal job during normal hours
and still maintain the farm, and it’s a dreary, precarious slog. When my
co-workers were enjoying a cuppa and the morning paper before their drive
in to work, I’d been up already for at least an hour, milking goats,
tending horses, and then diving into the shower to become halfway
presentable, and most always not quite making it- the stray hay in my coat
pocket, forgetting to take off my ‘barn shoes’ before leaving for work,
arriving to work just a tad late because I forgot to turn off the water
hose to the horse tanks and had to turn around and go home to turn it off-
all proof to the world that you can take this old gal physically off of
the farm, but it always follows me like a fed cat.
Daylight savings time is a particularly nasty season
for normally employed small homesteaders. For fully half the year the
critters get fed in the dark in the morning, and fed in the dark at night.
It’s almost enough to make anyone throw in the towel and move on back into
town.
But here’s the thing. Just because you need a ‘real’
job to support your country living dreams, doesn’t mean you’re stuck in
the 9 to 5/M-F nightmare.
The first thing that needs to be addressed is that 9
to 5/M-F is an inconvenient time to be away from the farm. That’s
daylight. And when the Vet is available. And….daylight. So the first
logical option is that if there are multiple shifts at your workplace,
apply for your same position, but not 1st shift. Either 2nd or
3rd shifts are good options for homesteaders. (And they
generally pay more, which is an extra bonus).
Are you trained in something that’s open to working
flextime? Many medical positions can be arranged so that you can work say,
3 twelve hour shifts instead of 5 eights. I know one Flight for Life nurse
who works 2 sixteen-hour shifts and is done for the week. If there’s no
Dr. in front of your name, and no RN or LVN behind it, there’s a wide
assortment of 2-year degrees that would afford the same schedules- X-ray
tech, lab tech- check out your local community college for the different
courses. While the thought of having to go back to school for 2 years may
give you the heebie jeebies, stop and think a minute about being trapped
in your cubicle for another 20 years. Better?
Do you have small children? Do you LIKE to have
children around? Daycare is a wide open field, and depending on where your
farm is located, there may be a niche waiting for small people to enjoy
YOUR wide open fields while their moms work at the jobs you don’t want to,
and pay you to stay on your homestead, Bless their hearts. Make sure to
check state and local guidelines regarding certification and insurance
requirements.
Keep your eyes and ears open at your current
employment- when there was a brand new position coming up at my workplace,
I was offered the job and I took it even though my original intent was to
QUIT as soon as I could afford it. The benefit of being the first person
on a job is that there’s no existing job description, and the possibility
of writing your own and pretty much making up the job as you go is both an
awesome responsibility and wonderfully freeing. While I won’t even
pretend that if we won the lottery tomorrow I’d stay on my job for the
love of it, it’s been just what we’ve needed to allow us to do what we
need to do on the farm, and for our family. Of course I’m very careful
not to take advantage of that freedom.
