The Deconstruction of a farmer ~ 25/25/50 = school/experience/instinct

In our family Ms. Forrest Rea and Farmer Luke are both extremely intuitive about farming. Forrest has ALWAYS wanted to be in on the action happily following Farmer Luke whenever he would let her tag along. Her gentleness, compassion and instinct with reading the animals and their behaviour is amazing to watch….she has pretty much been happily strapped to Farmer Luke from birth, puttering around going about the chores. It’s truly adorable to watch as they are clearly cut from the same cloth and the intuitive instinct Farmer Luke exhibits is certainly present in Forrest too.

Forrest would happily sit and talk to the chickens as Farmer Luke went about the chores

"wawa you wan wawa?" ~ always a helper!

for the first two seasons this was their daily routine

she now insists on gathering HER eggs...so we've been told...

this little 3 foot ninja will be running the show in no time!

As I’ve said, Farmer Luke is truly exceptional in his intuition about farming and knowing the land. For instance, when I met him he could read the sun and be within 15-20 minutes of the exact time….I am not kidding….trust me on this because I would test him at every random opportunity…hoping to stump him and catch him up BUT 9 times out of 10 he was bang on! just plain nuts if you ask me…in a crazy primal kind of way. The guy can also read grass ~ that’s right. Grass! ….and various other ground cover. I know…he went to school for pasture management and much of it was learnt by experience farming in three different countries…BUT nonetheless the man knows the nutrient value of grass based on its height on his gum boot!!….this kinda blows me away …I mean….who else do you know that can do that? Seriously.  

I've been told this is some good grass....

DIRT 101 - by Farmer Luke: bend it and if it cracks then it's sandy loam (preferred) ~ if it doesn't break then it's clay...."Ohhhhh. O.K."

...ANNNNNND  my all time personal favourite example of Farmer Luke’s incredible intuitive instinct at its very best (so far) involved: a bear, some cattle, a few other farmers and a cow whisperer…..

the story goes....Farmer Luke got a call early one morning by a farmer down the way who had been out all night looking for his cows that had broken through the fence after being spooked by a bear. Always willing to help a farmer he was there in a matter of minutes. After they mended the fence and one botched attempt to get the cows back into the paddock, the other farmers went off back to the barn to fetch the tractor and some grain...cuz obviously the only option is to coax them out by spreading grain right?.....ya. right! While they were gone Farmer Luke knew just what to do...he went to the middle of the paddock and lay down in the grass for a lovely mid-morning nap.....don't get me wrong....this was a well-intentioned manouver by a well-seasoned farmer (...and a sleep deprived dad...) ~ while the other farmers were still off busy getting the equipment ready and grain loaded...Farmer Luke was snoozing away....finally, he awoke to the familiar sound of...

sniff.

..sniff sniff.

...snort.

..sniffffffffff...

knowing this sound all too well he jumped up just before the first lick came splashing down on his face ~ GOT YA! WHOOP WHOOP 

farmer 1/cows 0

By the time the other farmers were back with all their equipment Farmer Luke had the cows safely back into the paddock and as he would say, "they were happy as" HAHAHAHA love this story for obvious reasons but the best part was how dumbfounded the other farmers were; they had no idea what he had done.....and even after a detailed explanation they still didn't truly believe him......silly silly silly farmers and their machines. 

You see…what Farmer Luke had discovered along the way by befriending cows and managing them on pastures, was that they were naturally curious and if there was something low to the ground and motionless in the grass they would automatically go to it in order to get a sense of what it was. huh! WELL I’LL BE a monkey’s uncle! Who knew? Clearly the other farmers who also raised cows had no idea. Now for the record, assuming anyone is actually keeping a record...HA...this Granola Girl technically did know this trick...but I would never have thought of it and I only know this because Farmer Luke taught me the trick when I made friends with my first calf on the farm in England. I have to say.....it’s a little disconcerting opening your eyes to this….

So all of this to say….the formula for this farmer seems to be 25/25/50 representing 25% schooling + 25% experience + 50% intuitive instinct. It’s that 50% instinct which sets him and Ms. Forrest apart from the rest of us in the family ~ it’s simply undeniable that they exhibit qualities that you just can’t easily learn…those qualities are inherent. Luke is the product of what I see Forrest to be and as a party to that journey I am so excited to watch it bloom. It just doesn’t get better than that! 

And in the end...I’ll learn….