[AT] Old tractors and old men

[Grant Brians]

Herb's advice here in his post is right on target. The fun part of 
farmers markets is the interaction with people and supplying them with 
nutritious and tasty food. The best sales people I have seen at farmers 
markets are almost always senior citizen men. My advice to Charlie and 
others is to also look for a young person who doesn't have access to 
land or tools but can be interested in farming. I myself got into 
farming because I had a market garden in our Suburb when I was 10-13 
years old on a neighbors property. He and his wife loved the veggies and 
that the property was taken care of ad he liked seeing me work....
             Grant Brians - Hollister,California farmer
p.s. I will admit I grew up before Video Games, cell phones and the 
Internet so I wa wired for work, but still there are young people out 
there who want to learn and work.
On 2/4/2017 7:10 PM, Herb Metz wrote:
> Charlie, and Others, I turned 86 several months ago.  Ten years ago I
> developed severe scoliosis, then old mans humped over condition.  It is not
> funny, but people (all ages and both sexes) clear a path and open any doors
> when they see me coming.  Surgeons reach for the door knob soon as they
> learn that I have heart arrhythmia; also am on my second pacemaker. My back
> gets a bit worse each year;  doctors say to set my own pace.
> Barbara and I seriously enjoy gardening; she has a prize daylily garden in
> addition to roses, irises, etc.  I have a large no chemicals vegetable
> garden and sell at both local farmers markets.  Not diplomatic enough to be
> considered a good salesman, but I sure enjoy selling because of the
> conversation sharing with others who appreciate good vegetables.  That perk
> is a bigger plus than I ever expected; in fact I had not thought about it
> until after it was well established.  And that is why I primarily addressed
> this email to you. You are an exceptional conversationalist, so I think you
> would likewise really enjoy the marketing portion of such project.
> Yes, we are getting older; last year we had to hire a part time helper.
> When I was 15 or 16, I remember Dad telling a carpenter cousin that doctors
> were now telling retiring farmers (many farmers in KS at that time) to "stay
> busy"; their prior advice had been "they had worked hard all of their life,
> so sit down and enjoy retirement and take it easy"; unfortunately many of
> those farmers were being buried a few years later.
> Another big perk is getting to use our Allis Chalmers tractors; D-14, G's,
> 720 large lawn tractor, and equipment.
> Just thinking about a trip to the VA and seeing young veterans in
> wheelchairs, who will be in wheelchairs the rest of their lives (limbs lost
> because of land mines) quickly provides an occasional necessary attitude
> adjustment. Herb(GA)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: charlie hill
> Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2017 5:32 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] Old tractors and old men
>
> I'm 66 now and according to my doctors and all the tests
> I'm in good shape.  Blood and urine work all looks good.
> No severe prostate problems yet, etc. but my legs are giving
> me a fit.  Doc tells me my knees are far enough gone to replace
> yet but they are a bit unstable and grind at times.  My right hip
> is hurting me.  My ankles have been bad since I tore them up
> playing football as a kid.  All of that together along with the stress
> and inactivity of looking out for my mom for two years until her death
> have turned me in to an aching,  out of shape  old man.  I have been
> cleared by my doctors and a physical therapist to go to the gym and
> try to get back in shape and I'm going to do that soon.  luckily my
> insurance
> will pay for most of the cost of that through a program called Silver and
> Fit.
> Others may have access to another program called Silver Sneakers.
> My urologist did a CT scan of my kidneys and bladder recently.  He didn't
> find
> any problem there other than benign prostate hyperplasia but he did notice
> that
> I have some deteriorating discs in my lower back so I guess I need to be
> careful
> at the gym.
>
> Speaking of farming.  As sad as I am that my mom is now gone on, I always
> thought
> that when that day came I'd be free to do something different with our small
> farm.
> I wanted to try farming some sweet potatoes, pumpkins, water melons, and
> veggies for
> sale at a road side stand.  I have almost all the equipment I need to do it
> and I even
> have irrigation equipment left over from our tobacco farming days.  However,
> I just don't
> have the drive and motivation to do it now.  I also thought at this age I'd
> be able to restore
> my tractors and old trucks but I don't have much enthusiasm for that either.
>
> Oh well.  At least I'm on the green side of the grass.
>
> Charlie
>
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