Being a farmer means you are always at the whim of Mother Nature. You stay up late watching over spring lambs in the field, wake up early to pick the harvest, then head off to the farmers market.
Farming is hard, and in any given year it can be easy to get sad or feel defeated. Like when the sun shines too hot, the rain doesn’t fall for too long, and a whole crop of lettuce is lost after you miss just one day of hauling water. Or when the rain simply won’t stop and all of your root crops rot. A surprise freeze after the blooms are on in the orchard? That ends your hopes for an entire year’s worth of peaches, as well as income your family depends on to pay the mortgage.
It’s a gamble to be a farmer, and, unfortunately, Mother Nature is no longer the only factor at play. These days, farming can feel more than hard, as cultural factors push payment for hard work down to almost nothing. The gamble farmers must make in order to produce now fades into the background as commodity convenience and commercially made food render growers’ struggles invisible to consumers.
It’s difficult to make ends meet, and farms are going under at record rates. Farmers have a tougher time hanging in there each year, and community appreciation for their hard work seems to be at an all-time low.
We have a big problem with suicide and depression in the farming community, and these days it’s not hard to see why. So I thought I would take time to list some of the things we can grow to help.
All of these plants have been clinically studied for their benefit in cases of depression, stress and anxiety, and they can be grown in temperate climates as annuals, if not as perennials.
• ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) — root
• chamomile (Matricaria recutita) — flower
• ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) — leaf
• lavender (Lavendula officinalis) — oil diffused and flower internally
• maca (Lepidium meyenii) — root
Denne historien er fra Healing Herbs 2025-utgaven av Hobby Farms.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra Healing Herbs 2025-utgaven av Hobby Farms.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
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Keep your land, animals and yourself in good shape this winter with this helpful advice.
COVERAGE CONCERNS
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FARMER'S GUIDE Berries
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Preconditioning CALVES
Follow our step-by-step guide to get more money for your calves.
Soil Conservation
Often, outside of having a specific problem that needs to be addressed, soil conservation isn't something every farmer readily thinks about. Yet conserving the soil should be at or near the top of every farmer owner or manager's list of concerns because absent the prevention of soil erosion, we have the opportunity for another dust bowl.
Year-Round Lettuce & Salad Mixes
It's easy to think of salad greens as just a spring- or fall-garden crop, but it's possible to enjoy freshly harvested lettuces, mustards and more from your own garden year-round.
Barn Improvements
Days are never long enough for a farmer. From dawn to well into the night, tasks arise that often require immediate action. Having to search for tools or equipment is an enormous time waster and incredibly frustrating when you can't find what you need, especially when you know you have it.
