Dateline: 13 April 2014
 |
| Sap buckets, washed and air-drying before being put away for another year. |
The last two weeks have been a vacation from blogging. I spent the time focusing on homestead and home business projects.
Maple season is over for another year. The buckets have been washed, rinsed, dried and put away until next season. We ended up with 8 gallons of syrup, which is enough to get us through the year (we typically use 6 or 7 gallons in a year).
Beyond that, I've been working at cutting some willow and poplar wood off our land. Both woods are soft and not the best firewood for heating a house, but such wood will work just fine for boiling maple syrup next spring. I'm splitting and stacking as I have time, but the focus now is on the garden. Growing food is a top priority with me this year.
Bearing that in mind, I have come to the realization that in order to get done what I need do get done around this little homestead, I must cut way back on my blogging. The time has come for less talk and more action.
I'm not going to stop blogging, but I'm going to stop posting blogs that are long and require a lot of time on my part. For the rest of this year (and maybe longer) I will be posting a series of "Agrarian Snippets." These Snippets will have one or two pictures with no more than one paragraph of text.
Such a format should allow me to still post regularly, without putting anywhere near the time and effort I have put into writing here in the past.
I suspect that most readers of this blog are also very busy, so I think you will appreciate this new format. Reading my Agrarian Snippets will not take a lot of your time. You could think of them as little postcards from me to you, instead of longer letters.
The Agrarian Snippets format will commence tomorrow.
Snippets are about all I've been able to manage as of late when I do get time to post. Less talk and more do is a good mantra. We ended up with just over a gallon of maple syrup from two taps in around two and a half weeks. We hope to do more next year.
ReplyDeleteWe too are cutting back on our blog posts. They take a lot of time and our focus is on food production. We are going to be very serious this year about producing and preserving as much food as we can, both for us and our animals. I hope many people are focusing their attention this year. There are many things in the wind bringing changes to our lives. I look forward to your posts.
ReplyDeleteFern
Herrick, I think your Agrarian Snippets is a great idea. It takes the pressure off of you. If I ever go back to homestead blogging, I will consider that, too. I'm just glad that you'll still be in touch with us!
ReplyDeleteI love postcards. Godspeed, Herrick!
ReplyDeleteThat's probably a wise move, at least for this time of year.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'd prefer if you continued to produce as much great content as you did in 2013. You're an important voice in the agrarian movement. However, I understand why you need to cut back.
ReplyDeleteKind Regards,
Muns
"Snippets" indeed. The public DEMANDS you put aside your personal life and write! Write! Write!
ReplyDeleteFrom now on, I'm doubling down on my posts. No less than 3000 words EACH from now on - and I'm completely eliminating all prepositional phrases, plus the letters "w," "i" and "q."
The agrarian movement needs us to step up!
I'm disappointed. Please cancel my free subscription and send me a full refund.
While I definitely understand your need to cut back on blogging, I must chime in to say that I'll miss your longer posts! I've learned a lot over the years from your writings and have really appreciated your unique contribution. But our times dictate extreme measures, and I'm thankful to learn you will be posting your "Snippets".
ReplyDeleteEchoing a previous commenter: Godspeed! And may the good Lord preserve us all!!
Happy to read and glean whenever you're able to post here. :) My space here on the www has been sorely neglected of late due to homeschooling, the homestead, family, and the family business, so I get it! Thanks for sharing and inspiring so many of us, Herrick. Well done on the maple syrup. Best wishes to you in your garden this year. We're enlarging our gardens this year and hope to harvest and put by all we can to fill our pantry and have some to share with him who has need. Blessings to you and yours!
ReplyDeletePS: Voddie is a great guy (a few posts ago); he has spoken at our annual homeschool conference here in WA a few times (last year, in fact). We love that guy. :)