Farmer Wisdom Through the Ages

Farmer Wisdom Through the Ages

Farmers work on Labor Day. So this is my way of taking a day off, by letting others write for me today.

“To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” –Mahatma Gandhi

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.” –Robert Louis Stevenson

“One of the healthiest ways to gamble is with a spade and a packet of seeds.” –Dan Bennett

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” -Old Greek proverb

“Whoever makes two ears of corn or two blades of grass to grow where only one grew before, deserves better of mankind, and does more essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians put together.” –Jonathon Swift

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from a cornfield.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower

“There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” –Aldo Leopold

“Farming is a profession of Hope.” –Brian Brett

And a few of the old favorites:

“Clear Moon, Frost Soon”

“Sow four beans as you make your row;
One for the rook,
One for the crow,
One to die,
and one to grow.”

A few more modern sayings, always worth pondering… and harder to attribute to a source:

“Once in your life you may need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman or a preacher, but every day – three times a day – you need a farmer.”

“No farms, no food.”

“If you ate today, thank a farmer.”

“You can pay a farmer today or your doctor tomorrow.”

“Gardening is cheaper than therapy.”

“Farmers skip dinner during harvest… to make sure you don’t have to.”

Well, enough of this, I’d better go make hay while the sun shines, or my hide won’t be worth a hill of beans. At least today,
“The Goldenrod is yellow,
the corn is turning brown,
the trees in apple orchards,
with fruit are bending down.”

For I followed this advice: “Choose a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Even if you’re a farmer.

-Suzy