Farmer Second Post

During the second half of the Growing a Farmer, I began to recognize a characteristic of Kurt that really changed how I perceive my own life. Kurt taught me the value of efficiency and how one is able to fully utilize his or her resources to one's advantage. When every meal is prepared on the farm, it is made with a distinct purpose. Furthermore, nothing is wasted and many of the items on the farm are reused in order to make a fully efficient farm. When comparing Kurt's attitude toward the farm compared to many Americans today, you can see a drastic contrast. For example, the average consumer today would not think about utilizing their resources efficiently. Every dollar spent today is often spent on luxurious or nonsensical items, whereas Kurt teaches us the importance of efficiency, illustrating that their should be a purpose behind every resource used.

Not only has the farmer demonstrated the importance of efficiency on the farm, but he also stresses the need to improve upon the current situations that the farm faces. Another takeaway readers should learn from the inspiring characteristics of the farmer is his willingness to constantly improve. Never complacent, the farmer found a way to stabilize his farm economically and also implemented a mix of crops and animals. Still not satisfied with the progress, the farmer was hungry to improve various aspects of the farm due to the fact that there can always be something better done.

Many people take for granted the daily work that a farmer has to put in. I personally thought that the job of a farmer was particularly an easy task and would not use that much thinking. However, after reading this novel I learned that certain attributes can be associated with successful farmers: efficiency, persistence, always looking to improve, etc. Aside from farming, other professions that seem to be easy to do may in fact be more difficult than one thought. For example, plumbing may not be as easy as one thinks. I recently spent some time with the plumber at my house and he taught me the complexity of the tasks that he has to deal with at times. The lesson I took away from this novel was to not take for granted tasks that seem fairy easy because they often do not play out to be what they seem to be!