Making Hay While The Sun Shines and Storing Your Family's Harvest

Making Hay While The Sun Shines and Storing Your Family’s Harvest

Even though I’ve never lived on a farm, I’ve always felt very connected to the seasons and agrarian life. Living where I do in Michigan with four distinct seasons and lots of farmland and orchards around me is ideal for someone wired this way.

I seem to be especially in-tune with the idea of growing and preparing in the summer for the autumn harvest and the winter ahead. Even now in mid-June I find myself thinking about preparing my home and business this summer for the coming autumn.

Maybe you feel that a bit more now too?

Preparing For Difficult Times

We’ve learned over the past several months that delivery systems are fragile. Even now the computer chip shortage is making it increasingly difficult to purchase what you want or need. We are being told that items that normally take just a few weeks to a month for delivery aren’t to be expected for six to eight months. I have personally been waiting on something very important that I ordered seven months ago. Cars and farm machinery are being impacted. Global shipping is a mess. Our financial system is fragile at best.

I encourage you to take some time and reflect on what you learned during the lockdowns. While none of us want a repeat of it, we would be foolish to think that it won’t be tried again. Whatever motivates it, be sure you are preparing a harvest for your family for the months ahead. Even if you live in the city or can’t physically grow your own food, there are many things you can do to prepare your family for whatever might come next.

Creating A Family Economy

One of the first posts I wrote when I started blogging is Creating a Family Economy. It gives you a peek into our mindset as a couple and how we’ve organized our lives over these many years. This is a topic I’d like to follow-up on in the future as I believe we are seeing a significant movement among some of the younger generation toward a multi-generational, family-based lifestyle that is less dependent on the system.

I also believe we’re going to see more and more of this as we leave the Fourth Turning and head into the First Turning. We’ll be undergoing a paradigm shift in the way we think about work, family, marriage, children, money, community, and government.

So prepare your harvest, both for now and the future.