My last "regular" job was night shift on a very rural ambulance as a tech. We were the only ambulance covering 1500 square miles, and the nearest hospital is 20 miles west of our western border (95 miles from our eastern border). For 50% of our calls, it was just me and my driver who only had basic CPR training. Although I rarely needed it at work, triage is a skill I use at least weekly for the ranch. Every Sunday morning I plan out my week, identify bottlenecks for time or resources and plan how to navigate it. This is fully knowing that there WILL be things that derail the schedule. Early in the morning I walk through the animals at home, doing a quick visual scan for abnormal behavior or obvious injury. Also, making sure everyone is in the spot they are supposed to be (goat life). Then, if needed, I could triage what to do when and what resources I would need. Fast noticing is a skill is developed over time, and it's usefulness isn't limited to medical stuff. If you grew up in a rough home, sadly, you are likely already good at this. It is also sometimes an autistic superpower. The professional name for this skill is situational awareness. It is the ability to quickly notice and evaluate your surroundings including the behavior of other people, identity things that are not "normal" and decide what you need to do to either stay safe or alter the undesirable possible outcome. An example would be if you were at a farmers market with your small kids. You notice that several stalls away, there is a man acting very aggressively with a vendor. You choose to casually go the other way and skip that row until later. Another situation is that you notice a small child wandered off from its parents and is heading towards a road. You step in front of the child to redirect the movement. The faster you are able to notice, the more time you have to evaluate, and therefore, make a better choice. You can also develop awareness over long time periods. I know that right now I am dependent on the feed store for rabbit food and I know my demand will go up once the next round of moms have babies. I also know that the price of feed is tied closely to the price of fuel, so I need to respond now to avoid issues in June.

The best gardeners (and farmers) are the ones who have put in the reps, made the mistakes and learned from them. On Fridays I will (and I invite you to) share the things I learned the hard way so we can learn from and support each other. There is no such thing as a perfect garden.

Psst , don't tell anyone....although it sounds super fancy, with all the stuff I do, it really doesn't take a ton of time. I have developed systems and rhythms that reduce both the time and mental load, so a lot of it runs on mental autopilot while I am half awake and thinking about other things. My planting list for this week took less than 10 minutes to do. (Except the houseplants). Which is why in February I break it down week by week what I need to plant for the season. Then each week I just look at the list and do the small steps. It is easy enough to be able to do even if my life/ADHD is super challenging that week. My 100+ houseplants take about 10 minutes per week to care for. The 20 rabbits now only take 10 minutes a day (total) to care for (except for breeding stuff). Systems and rhythms are my biggest strength. They mean I can keep going when I am sick, or busy caring for family members, or just really distracted. The concept of permaculture is an established set of 12 steps to build systems that are efficient, reduce inputs or waste, and sometimes run themselves. It was originally for ecologically based food systems, but the sequence applies to medicine, families and business as well. What is one task in your week that you wish you had a better or more streamlined system for? What is one system or rhythm that you have developed that you are really proud of? Image of tulips blooming in my yard from a few days ago.

The goslings got to swim for the first time today. Afterwards I put them back in their old tote to let them dry off. Absolutely amazing how fast they are growing.

Agnes is due to deliver her first calf sometime in the next few weeks. Between March 7th and March 28th. Put your guess in the poll below. Person who gets closest will get a few packets of my favorite seeds. I'm guessing March 13th because I will be gone the whole day... 😂