[sprocket]

I did this myself thirteen years ago - I quit my well paying software job, bought a bunch of goats, and built a cheese business. I'm just now in the process of winding our dairy and cheese business down - it was an amazing period of personal and professional growth, money wasn't an issue, but the complete lack of flexibility (exacerbated by having to milk animals twice daily, every day, for 300 days in a row) eventually got to me.

I was out trying to bottle train 40+ hungry goat kids this winter in -13C temperatures when I decided that I didn't want to do this anymore. My wife and I decided to shutter everything a couple days later.

We don't have any regrets - I learned FAR more in running my own business in an area that wasn't previously my expertise, than had I stuck around doing things in software development. However, here I am again looking to find another tech job.

I'm fortunate in that I've kept a lot of tech skills current, in that I've had multiple personal projects or freelance contracts during slower winter periods. I can safely say thought that I have farming and cheese making out of my mind, for the foreseeable future. Should I ever want to do it again, I'll book myself 3 weeks in France, go milk and make cheese with a small cheesemaker there, and enjoy that all the day-to-day problems are someone else's. :)

[jacquesm]

If you would expand that comment into a book I would probably buy it.

[sprocket]

After I've sorted out the what-to-do-next issue, perhaps I'll consider putting it down in my cheese making memoirs.

In the interim, here're some gratuitous photos from the farm:

   https://imgur.com/a/84zAcbu

As a final aside...anyone looking to hire a tech guy with 13 years farming experience? ;)

[jacquesm]

Those photos make me want to hear the rest of the story even more :)

[fsflover]

Reminds me of this movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Biggest_Little_Farm.

[toomuchtodo]

+1, would preorder!

[mancerayder]

You couldn't pay people to do the -13C activities?

[sprocket]

The -13C wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back. Sometimes it's not a matter of throwing money at the problem until it goes away.

Farming is hard, and dairy farming is even harder. The sheer responsibility of being responsible for 150 other beings day in, and day out, and having to show up every single day is very challenging. I haven't had regularly scheduled weekends in a very long time.

We've had a lot of very good staff over the years, but in the end, at 5am or 10pm at night, it's me who is ultimately responsible. I've missed out on a lot of gatherings with friends and time with family, because I had to ensure for the needs of my animals first.

[okr]

Sometimes i wonder how we were able live on the back of people like you for such a long time. I remember my elders used to grow up on a farm too, getting up early, cold or warm, no excuses. And me just doing IT things, leaving the "day-to-day" duties to others. I feel bad.

[sprocket]

It's a very rewarding lifestyle and I have a lot of good memories of it. It's meaningful work and it gave me a good sense of purpose. I'm in my mid-40's now though and my body just doesn't have the ability to recover like I could in my 20's or 30's.