Ray
Sorry to hear about the bird trouble. While not overly amuzing, I can't help but ponder some past ventures of ours that presented trying times.
First it was bonzi plants for the ornimental horticulture crowd back in the early 70's...bought a slew of small conifer pines and trimmed them like Edward sissor hands..even sold a few until the damn things died from some sort of bug.
Then it was day old crossbred Angus/Holstien calfs..I could get them from the nearby dairies for little or nothing. I killed, oh mabye, a 100 of them until I got a second job at a feed store in Chino, CA and an old Portegue milker taught me to keep them hungrey and feed them raw eggs of they scoured..Over the next year the calf market went nuts. I was selling 200lb calfs for nearly 2 bucks a lb. Making money hand over fist. The market took a horrible dump in about 1979, I got out unscathed, but there were some larger growers that were margined to the hilt and lost everything. Having built a nice nest egg we moved further into the country in San Bernardino County. Next venture..
The place we bought was part of a 40 acre lemon orchard..Each house had 10 to 20 trees that we left intact for that "country feel". Seemed reasonable that there was still a market for the lemons so I made deals with all of the property owners to pick their lemons, they got 15% of what ever the local co-op paid me. Did you know that lemons have huge spines on the branches? They do! So after a season of climbing ladders and wearing leather armsleeves I made a whopping 500 bucks..Seems the lemons would only make juice quality.
Then came the love of my life...cattle. We sold the San Berdoo property and moved here...had 2 horses and 3 good registered Angus bred cows in the stock trailer when we arrived at this property. Eventually, those 3 cows grew into 20 head of the nicest Angus you could imagine. Well, guess what...Dr. Arman Hammer came along with embryo flushing in his registered herd and decided to change the entire look of the breed. The classic Angus is short and stocky, broad across the chest and just says, I'm full of meat and it is marbled!!!! You can appreciate that since you were in the business....Now, they wanted lean and very tall cattle!! Very little fat so that the yuppies would eat the meat...grass fed and all of that. Ended up selling the last of the herd at a commercial sale yard. All in all we made money of a 20 year period, but it was a lot of work. LOL In the mean time we have farmed small grain, made hay and a few other "fun" things like dried apples coated in various flavored sugars. All the while, building this house, raising two sons and both of us working full time jobs.
Of course the latest little venture is the grape vineyard of my son's and my little berry patch..somehow, I just feel I have one more left in me.
I guess the whole point to this ramble is...Anything that we try to do outside of the humdrum 9 to 5 is going to be difficult. But, it is part of a spirited life. People that trade the markets, reach for the little extra, thru innovative or tried and true methods are what make the world what it is..truly an amazing place.
NEVER GIVE UP!!
Ken |
