What It’s REALLY Like to Live on a Small Farm

Over the past year, I’ve been receiving a lot of messages on social media. It’s so nice to hear from followers. Some of them have become such good friends. But often, they comment on how I am living their ‘dream.’ I try to make our social media presence as real as I can (without showing me in the shower) but some people think our life is perfect. So, in this post, I’m going to share with you what it’s like to live on a small farm in the country. This post is not to deter you from your dream of country life, if you have one, but to illustrate the day to day reality.

When You Live on a Small Farm Lives Depend on You

Life on a small farm looks idyllic but the reality is not all about strolling across hills or collecting fresh white eggs from the chicken coop. There are animals who depend on us. Getting out of bed on a below-freezing morning to feed goats and let ducks out is not fun. Checking that the chickens are safe during a storm or moving sheep and cows before a storm is an effort. Finding your hens have been killed by a predator or that a newly born lamb has died makes you feel like you are letting your animals down. Even if it was unavoidable and not your fault.

Another reality with animals is that they don’t care about daylight saving. When it’s light, they want food. And they make a LOT OF NOISE if they don’t get it. It’s easy enough to get the animals used to eating at a later time and in winter I used to feed them after school when Gavin was away. But they do like breakfast.

Forget About Going on Holiday

When you live on a small farm you don’t really want to leave. It’s a lifestyle. However, if you do want to go somewhere, even for a night, there are things that must be attended to. Going on an extended holiday means you must employ the help of others in the care of your animals and garden. Our animals need daily feeding, the dogs need walking, the cattle and sheep are moved about the paddocks to fresh pasture. Then there’s the garden. Tasmania is cooler and wet but the garden has to be tended.

It’s lucky I don’t really want to go on holiday! I’m not sure we could find anyone to do all the things that must be done on a regular basis.

When you Live on a Small Farm You Don’t Go To the City Often

As a girl who grew up in the city and loved high heels and going to bars with friends, saying I don’t care about that anymore is a big thing. Lately, I’m finding even the journey into the city to have my hair and nails done is becoming too much of a chunk out of my day. Not that I would give up a haircut, but I seem to want to be here more and more. The isolation appeals to me. I can always find something to do. Living on a small farm provides you with lots of opportunities to try new things and see life in another way.

Because we live an hour from most of our friends they sometimes forget we exist (unless we remind them)! We don’t get invited to as many things as we used to. We don’t know the latest place to eat and we haven’t seen the new movies. My wardrobe has changed so much that when I got invited out for dinner, I had nothing to wear. All my clothes have become linen and casual. And because a trip to the city is a day long event, I couldn’t just pop to the shops and buy something new.

There’s an upside to this, which could also be a downside. You spend most of your time with your partner. Meaning, if you disagree about something there’s nowhere to go! Like most couples, we have the odd disagreement about nothing. But we enjoy each other’s company and we get along well. Moving from your network of close friends is not for the couple who might already be on rocky ground.

You Slow Down

This is one of the best parts of living on a small farm. We move at a slower pace. Days are delineated by mealtimes. Afternoon tea is a thing. It was never a thing before. Dinner on the verandah is a thing. We listen to the birds. We watch our animals do silly things. It might not be this way for those who were born in the country but it is for us. We appreciate life more now. Maybe that’s because we never took time to notice it. The seasons are more important when you are on a farm. We are more attuned to our environment now. And because we want to preserve what we have, we’ve started to learn about growing our food, cooking, making. It’s a lot of fun to reconnect with traditional practices.

One of the biggest positives is the visitors! We entertain more now we are on the farm. I love to set a table and cook lunch (never dinner, it’s too far to drive home). Our friends (when they remember we exist) invite themselves to stay for holidays. Our house is now their holiday because living on a farm is a bit like a fun holiday you went on as a kid. The one where you got to pat the animals.