Why to Live On a Farm

My top five reasons for a family to live in the country on a farm:

1:  Children learn to work.  

The Bible says that it is good for children to work.  It is manifestly obvious that a person who learns to work as a child is far better off when he (or she) grows up, than one who was treated as being either incapable of, or above work.  If a child has everything done for him, then he will receive a rude awakening to real life when he grows up and has to support himself and probably a family.  Of course, a child can be taught responsibility and learn to be hardworking in the city too- help out with the laundry, sweep the floor, do the dishes, shovel snow, etc, etc, but the country provides a much greater incentive and outlet for energy.  In the country on a farm, a child works because he has to, or the farm falls to pieces because Mama simply can't do it all.  Don't view work as a bad thing- love it, and teach your children the same thing.

  In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty.

Proverbs 14:23 

2:  A farm in the country provides more room for wholesome, enjoyable, strengthening activities.

There are probably a good many people who will disagree with me when I say that there is more to do in the country in the way of recreation than in the city.  But when you think about it, there really is more to do- especially for younger children.  You can't really play cowboys and Indians in the woods in the city.  And in the country, water comes from a well, so making tons of mud pies doesn't hurt the family budget.  Plus there's chickens to catch, holes to dig, ponies to ride, cows to look at, dogs to romp with, barns to explore and play in, and lots and lots of room to run- to name just a few.  Sure,  you get a lot dirtier making mud pies and sliding down a makeshift tarp "Slip'n'slide", but what does that matter?  At the end of the day, just rinse off in the hose!  And if you live by a pond or lake, a canoe, boat or raft provides another possibility for fun.

3:  You get to produce more of your own food.

This is a big aspect of a farm- food production.  Whether that means a flock of five laying hens and a rooster, or fifty acres of oats and a flock of sheep, or three milk cows and two pigs, or just a big garden, you are that much more prepared for if the economy crashes, the stores shut down, a tornado blocks the roads, or any other calamity.  Not to mention that you know exactly where your food comes from, and how it was handled, how old it is, and the life history of the animal or plants that gave it.  There is also the added benefit that farm fresh food is nearly always a far higher quality than what comes from the store.

4:  You get to experience God's creation first-hand on a daily basis.

God created this world with incredible detail, variety, and functionality.  On a farm, especially one which includes animals, you have a first-hand opportunity to experience and enjoy these attributes, and many others, of Creation.  This is a help in home-schooling, because children can grasp an idea better if they are seeing it constantly in real life.  (For example:  The life cycle of a tree is easily understood if the child helped plant the apple orchard, then pruned the trees, and mulched around them, then ate the fruit a year or two later.  He will see that the old, dying trees are eventually cut down and used for fuel, and that  it blossoms to produce fruit and seeds.)

5:  You have the opportunity to own and raise animals and a garden.

Raising animals can be such a joy.  To be sure, it is inevitably mixed with sorrow if you raise more than just a few.  There are always going to be chicks that die, goats and sheep that somehow manage to kill themselves, or cows that fight or get sick, and gardens that seem to grow nothing but weeds.  All these evils are a result of the Fall.  But the joys of raising them far outweighs the sorrows, if you are set up for success, and carefully maintain them.  

These are my five favorite reasons to live on a farm.  There are others that go under the general heading of "Enjoying country life"- like sleeping at night without being wakened by sirens blaring and horns honking on the highway.  (My grandmother would say that our dogs more than make up for the lack of this noise, but it was either get dogs or get rid of the chickens since the foxes and raccoons were so bad.)  There are few things more wonderful than spring on the farm.  The baby ducks and chickens all hatch out, the trees put out their fresh leaves, the wild roses bloom, and everything is bursting with new life.

Altogether, I love the countryside, and small family farms, and believe that they are the best physical environment for families.