Considering the Return of the VAP

I admit that I am both a list person and NOT a list person at the same time.  Tammy might initially laugh at this statement - until she thinks about it a bit.  I'm the kind of person that starts to bog down if I am carrying too much of a list in my head.  So, I find a "big idea" list session to be a way to do two things.

1. get stuff OUT of my head so I have space to work

and, 2. rapidly become dismayed by how much isn't getting done - which fills my head-space right back up.

The hope is that it is a little less full than it was before I started.  The alternative is to keep growing my hair out longer to make more room for my brain.

When we had more workers on the farm, a daily list or plan was important and we would often put it on the "Chalk Door."  I would also create a daily VAP (Very Ambitious Plan) on a designated note pad so I could prioritize what was going to happen each day.  It was a big enough deal that I actually have multiple VAP related blogs!  This would also serve as a good way to do some record keeping.  A simple check mark next to an item made it clear that the task was done on that day.  And, I could use the margins for other notes if I needed to.

A daily list is completely different from a "big ideas" list because you have to try to keep that list to what could OPTIMISTICALLY be done.  And, when I had more people to manage, that might include alternative items if weather or some other factor prevented us from doing some of the planned activities.  So, in practice, there were always things left over that did not get done.  I don't think I ever completed a VAP over many years creating them.

I will admit that a VAP was quite useful, and it was often motivating.  However, it took time and energy to make them.  That meant, when the workers left for school or jobs in the Fall, I typically would fall off of the VAP-making wagon, so to speak.

I wonder if a VAP wagon would look like this?

Anyway, the difficult thing about VAPs is that I need to find time at the beginning and/or end of the day to make them.  The beginning of the day can be difficult because there are daily things you just want to get done.  Things like... waking up.  Feeding the birds.  Walking through the shower.  Going back because you forgot to rinse off.  You know.  The important stuff.

The end of the day is an energy issue.  I survived the day that was.... am I sure I want to spend time before I try to go to sleep thinking about all of the things I should do tomorrow?

Sadly, the answer is typically "no."  But, the production of daily VAPs (or maybe a two-day VAP as a compromise) might be the solution I need to unbury from the long mental list of responsibilities and tasks that I need to do.  

Yep.  Solve the problem by adding "make VAP" to the list.  It's just one more thing.  Why not?

Have a great day everyone!  And good look with your own, personal, VAP.

Man with the Plan?

Every so often, we get asked a question about what we do on our farm that makes me think a little harder after the conversation is over.  The question that got me going this time was presented by an individual that may have only been trying to encourage conversation rather than a deep philosophical exploration.  In any event, what this person got was probably what was wanted; a short, pleasant conversation that may have only scratched the surface of what could have been said.  What I got was a headache afterwards as I tried to figure it out for myself...

The Question:

What would you say is the most important task for you on the farm?

Whoa!  Are you sure the farmer is up for this one?

Whether I was right to do so or not, I immediately discarded a whole host of tasks on the farm that are critical items.  These are the daily farm chores that really need to be done.  Inspector (shown above when he was a kitten) might argue that feeding the cats should be at the top of my list.  And, in reality, it is at the top of our list every day along with feed the chickens and turkeys, water plants, get water to birds, open and close high tunnels, etc etc.  But, in the grand scheme of the farm, none of these is inherently more important than any other.

I suppose I could say planting, harvesting, weeding or any other crop specific task, but while they are all also critical, they aren't the most important by themselves.  Equipment maintenance?  Record keeping?  Habitat management for beneficials?   Weather monitoring?  Sales?  Building repairs?  Mental health?  Creating really good playlists to work by?  Being able to NOT scratch where it itches? 

Planning Wins the Day?

It actually didn't take me long to conclude during the conversation that planning was actually the most important task I perform on the farm.  And I can tell you right now that I have not been planning in 2022 as much as I have in prior years.  

It used to be that I would create a VAP (Very Ambitious Plan), which was a bullet point "to-do" list.  I did not always write one out formally, especially when there is a large and very specific project that would dominate the day.  For example, I do not think I wrote anything specific out when we built a high tunnel.  But, anytime there are more workers on the farm than myself, there needs to be a plan that I can convey.  But, I haven't had any additional workers on the farm yet this year, so...

The Chalk Door - just one way to tell everyone what's up at the farm.

There was often so much going on at the farm during a typical June day that the process of planning could be a project all by itself.  For example, our June 19 VAP from a few years ago had over 50 items on it.  Item one was "morning chores."  I only say this to point out that the list did not include a separate item for each daily task (such as scoop the litter box...).  

With some of Tammy's family visiting (and wanting to be involved) the plan involved eight different people in some way, shape or form.  A good plan is one that keeps everyone as busy as the want to be (if they are visiting) or need to be (if they are part of the crew).  The plan also needs to consider resource availability.  After all, the lawn tractor can't be two places at once.  Or, at least, that seems to be the case on our farm - even if we try REALLY hard to put it two places at once.

The Plan Within the Plan

Planning for a single day usually has a basis within the plan for the week (or for some series of days).  I can tell you that we have a plan every week, and that would be true.  But, it is more likely that our plan covers three to five days with any accuracy.  It seems that I cannot predict how things will go well enough for any of our weekly plans to be terribly accurate towards the end of that week.  Essentially, the weekly plan occurs whenever the prior weekly plan is completely unhelpful for the upcoming daily plans. 

You might ask why we can't adhere to our weekly plans better (or why Rob can't manage to plan better so the weekly plan works).  Go ahead.  You can ask.  But, you know I'm going to answer even if you don't!

I'll give one example and that should be sufficient to explain how this can happen. The forecast called for a very low chance of less than a half inch of rain on Monday of a given week a few years ago.  The rest of the week was supposed to be dry with seasonal temperatures.  Instead, we got three to four inches of rain over a couple of days.  Suddenly, the plan that called for prepping seed beds and numerous other things that need somewhat drier soil was entirely out of the question.

In short, things happen.  Weather can alter what you can do.  Equipment breaks.  We will discover tasks that must be done NOW even if we didn't plan to do them "now."  Blackflies and Buffalo Gnats can get so thick that we have to run screaming into shelter every hour or so to stay sane (I wish I were joking about this one).  Some items take longer than anticipated.  Others don't work out the way we planned and they have to be deferred until we solve another problem.  It's just the way it works.

So, just imagine how the entire season's growing plan must look when we compare to what actually happened at the end of the year?

Failure of Plans and the Need for Contingency Plans

You've got to figure that we probably spend some time with contingency plans since there are so many uncertainties in the first place.  And, you would be correct.  We do create contingency plans.  Most of our 'formal' contingency plans are created as a part of our season plan.  On the other hand, our daily VAP usually includes contingency items on it should conditions prevent something else from being done.  In other words, each VAP has more on it than we can hope to complete simply because we need items on our radar should we need to make a change.

Surprise Lilies are actually pretty predictable, as far as surprises go

If there are even chances of rain or dry weather, we often create separate plans for the actual weather conditions.  For that matter, if there is some sort of variable that could influence what we do, we'll try to account for it.  But, no matter how hard we try - we can still find ourselves in 'unplanned territory.'

When Contingency Plans Fail

After letting myself think about the original question as I wrote this post, I have to amend my answer to say that adapting is actually the most important task I perform on the farm. 

There is a practical limit to how much time one can plan without actually performing the tasks in those plans.  There is also no such thing as a perfect plan.  It's a matter of coming up with a set of plans that will be good enough most of the time. Then, WHEN (not if) they fail, you simply do your best to adjust and make the best of it.  After all, when plans A, B and C are off the table:

Rob: "It's time for plan D."
Crew Member: "What's plan D?"
Rob: "There is no plan D.  So, let's do this..."

Best Laid Plans

The semester is going full tilt and Tammy has a list a few miles long of things that require attention.  I also have my own list of things that must be completed before a very real deadline in mid-March.  In short, there is a little bit of stress in the household as we try to hold it all together and get it all done.  

This is all part of a normal cycle for us. Academia always has its cycles with moments of hysteria and moments of... less hysteria.  Farming also has its cycles and its moments of frantic activity.  When things feel a bit out of control, the two of us try to make an effort to plan some things out so that important things do not get missed.

The Food Plan

We have gone through phases over the year with how we go about meal planning and our most recent approach has been to talk about it at the end of each week and come up with a tentative menu for the coming week.

Why tentative, you may ask?

Well, when we tried to call it an actual meal plan that we would follow, we were always disappointed when the whole plan was scuttled on the second day of the plan - for whatever reason.  Something took longer than we expected and we needed to create a meal that was simpler than the one that was planned.  We discovered, last minute that a key ingredient was not in the house, so we had to move on to plan B or maybe plan C.  Someone (who shall remain nameless - except it was me) either took out the wrong thing to thaw or forgot to take out ANYTHING to thaw.

Things happen.  While we might have been happy with the plan when we wrote it down and discussed it, there was next to zero chance we were ever going to follow that plan to the letter.  Life just doesn't allow that to happen.

We've actually come to embrace that a bit and we come up with a list of ideas and a tentative schedule as to when it would make sense to do those things.  Many meals are "leftovers," which allows us to take advantage of meals prepared largely in advance when other options aren't going to happen.  Hey!  If you're going to cook pork chops, rice and squash for dinner, you might as well cook up extras and put them in containers for a lunch in a day or two?  Right?

The Farm Plan

If you know me and you know our farm, you likely have some idea that each year's growing season is based on a fairly complex plan that is worked up in the off-season.  What you might not know is how upsetting it was for me in the first several years that those plans never came to fruition as I envisioned them.  

Yes, we grew things and delivered things and were generally successful.  And, yes, we knew there would be events we could not control.  But, it just seemed like Plan A, Plan B and Plans C-G were all scrapped by the time we got into April.  It was enough to make me question why I spent so much time planning.

But, I continue to plan - always knowing these fantastic scripts I am writing will be filled with all sorts of participants who prefer to ad lib their lines.  

Why do I do it?  Because I have come to appreciate - even more than I did at first - that good plans prepare me to react more efficiently to all of the unexpected things that are going to happen.  It doesn't really matter if I need to take elements from Plans A through Z and throw in a few "off the cuff" things.  In the end, food was produced, sales were made, projects made forward progress, and we are still living and breathing.

Good enough.  And maybe better than good enough.

The Blog Plan

I actually started musing on this topic because I have, at various points in time, created a 'blogging plan' for myself.   Years ago, it was based on an idea that I could provide some consistent material with themes that might help us to promote our farm.  And, over time, plans came and went, themes were offered and then they faded away.  The only plan that worked over the long run was that I would continue to offer up something on the blog.

Frankly, I never was sure that it did anything specifically to help our farm sales or the farm's image.  But, I knew that it helped me to write things down and it reached some important family and friends so they could see what we were up to and some of what we were thinking.  I can live with that.

Perhaps that is not being fair to myself?  Just like the farm plan and the meal plan, the effort I expended became part of a pool of ideas into which I could dive when I was looking for something to put here.  More often than not, the preconceived blog post would not get written, but it would inspire me to write something else that was actually much better than the original!

It might seem odd that I would talk about a blogging plan.  After all, writing here pays no bills.  Those who read the blog don't NEED me to write (at least I assume you have other more important things in your lives than this blog).  This simple blog only wields a tiny bit of influence, if any.  

But now that writing is a larger part of my life (I do get paid to write for PAN now, you know) I am finding it, too, needs a bit of planning so I can be successful.  If I plan and develop a pool of options for myself, I am more able to come up with something when it is needed, even if it isn't anything I had on my original list

Just last week, I was able to put together a blog for PAN on short notice when it was needed.  Maybe I'm on to something here?

The Life Plan

So, how are you doing with the plan you made for yourself?  The one you made where you told yourself where your career would go, where you would live, how your family would take shape, and what important things you would accomplish?

Yeah.  Mine too.

Except, I find that my life plan has been very much like our food plans, our farm plans and my blog plans.  All of those plans provided me with a foundation that I could work from.  When I think a little harder I realize that there are parts and pieces from all sorts of plans for my life that have come together to make this life what it is. 

It makes me think that our plans for the future are not the important thing.  It's the act of planning for the future that IS the thing.

I plan on having a good and productive day - and I hope you are able to do that too.

VAP Angst

The days of the Very Ambitious Plan (VAP) seemed like they were past.  Then, I got to January and realized I might need some sort of a VAP in my day to day efforts.

What is a VAP?  

The Very Ambitious Plan (VAP) had its origins at the Genuine Faux Farm as our daily 'to do' lists that were necessary if we wanted to manage our farm and all of the moving parts.  We made our first blog reference to them in 2016, when we discussed VAPs and even suggested some VAP statistics that we could use (but didn't - look... it was all in fun, ok?!).  We had a bit more fun with another blog post titled VAP Revisited that just took us even further down the 'silly road.'  

Regardless of how much fun we had with those posts, the VAP was actually an extremely important tool for us over the years as we farmed.  It was a good way for me, in particular, to organize my thoughts as to how I would utilize precious resources - the most precious of which was time.

I still recall conversations with Denis (who worked on the farm several summers) about how he was always aware that there was a plan behind the decisions and reactions to unplanned events that happened every day on the farm.  Well, Denis, I owe a great deal of that to the creation of a daily VAP.  The time I took to put it down on paper helped me get things straight in my head so I had a prayer of getting through the day.

But What If We're Unambitious?

I have certainly considered making a VUP (Very Unambitious Plan), but when I want to make a VUP, I usually don't have the motivation to do it (get it?  Huh huh?!?).  

Anyway, the very nature of list making tends to lead some people to be more ambitious and others towards less ambition as they get overwhelmed.  Why?  Well, the Law of Expanding Lists takes over and the VAP just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  This can either fire you up to get as much as you can done or it buries you with expectations.  

Tammy and I both know where each of us lands on lists - like the farm VAPs.  Tammy dislikes creating lists - finding them stressful.  This is especially true if we make a list with a longer view.  To her, it only feels like a list of things to be disappointed about because we won't get to them.  On the other hand, I find creating these lists useful as they help my brain focus on a subset of tasks.  I know its time to make a list when I feel the paralysis creeping in that comes with being overwhelmed trying to figure out what's next.

On the other hand, give Tammy a nice 'check-off' list of things to do today or this week - and she's happy.  In fact, I've found many who have worked on the farm loved having a list of things to check off when it was done. 

But, What If It Doesn't Work?

I realize that January is not my best month - as far as being motivated and keeping myself on task.  In high school, college and prior to working at the farm, I was pretty faithful with my ability to catch some sort of cold or flu that made matters worse.  It's just a cycle I go through and I have my strategies for dealing with it.  The question is - will the return of the VAP become one of those strategies as I go through a January with very different purposes than the past twelve (or so) January months? 

So far, I've met with very mixed success.  Not surprisingly (to me) the days it worked the best were those where the list was more farm oriented AND where there was more active 'doing.'  Thus far, I have had much less success getting my own person to accept that VAPs are also good for office work.

We'll give it the ol' college try and see what happens.  Worst case scenario - I'll give up making the VAP ahead of time and write things down as I accomplish them so I can then check them off.  Or, better yet, I'll start making lists that break each task down into smaller actions so I get to check MORE things off.

1. Climb stairs of the house
2. Walk down the hall
3. Enter the office
4. Sit in desk chair
5. Turn on computer
6. Wait for computer to start
7. Hum a tune while waiting
8. Pet a cat while waiting
9. Connect to internet
10. Load up blog web page
11. Scratch head and wonder what to write
12. Start writing
13. No, never mind, try another topic
14. Another false start
    
15. Write blog
16. Upload pictures to blog
17. Proofread
18. Schedule blog to publish next morning
19. Stretch a little
20. Look at list for next thing...
    

Ups!  Nothing more there.  I must be done for the day.

Good work me!

Have a great day everyone!

VAP Revisited

In July of last season, I wrote a post about our VAPs (Very Ambitious Plans) that several people found either amusing or alarming, depending on how one was feeling at the time.  By way of a short introduction, Rob has always been a list-maker, but the realities of our farm requires that we take list-making to a higher level.  Each day needs some sort of a plan to maximize results.  While Tammy is NOT a list-maker, she also agrees that we always have a more productive day when there is a clear VAP to guide us.

Example of an item that changes the VAPArrgRat

Discovered VAP Items
 In the previous post, I spent time creating some 'fictional' statistics for our VAPs.  And, no, before you start thinking I am more crazy than I really am, I have not actually run any of these statistics - nor do I intend to.  One of the categories was the Discovered VAP items.  Things that didn't go onto the plan before the day started are said to be 'discovered.'  For example, if critters (aka varmints) are getting into the peppers we have to add "put the electric fence around the peppers" ahead of most everything else.  I guess lists and the plans they represent are meant to be broken.

May we help with your VAP?

Chores, BOLS, and MEWs
I am sure there are many people out there who think I must do nothing other than think up useless acronyms or words and then share them with the hapless blog readers out there.  I assure you that this is not true.  Ok, when I'm doing a repetitive task on the farm, like picking spinach, my mind does tend to wander to such things.  After all, it is much better to be creative than to dwell on the things that aren't going right or to worry about the things you are NOT doing at the time.  Although, I will admit that many of my thoughts focus on things that are coming up and farming decisions I must make.  So, I guess I don't know where this silliness comes from.

Move those trays to the cold frames please

Every VAP has a set of chores that are common to nearly every day of the farm.  They don't usually need to be written out much more than something that looks like this:
T, H, H, N - W F
Translation: Turks, Hens, Henlets, Nuggest - Water, Food

Why even bother writing anything?  Well, if you have to ask, you aren't a list maker.  It's all about the joy of crossing things off a list.  Well, that, and it's a simple way to put yourself into a planning mode for the coming day.  Start with the routine and simple to get the brain engaged in the process.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

There are always a bunch of smaller, somewhat unrelated things that need to get done each day that do not qualify as chores.  We call this our BOLS-sublist (Bunch O' Little Stuff).  We're considering putting this on our chalk board for all the workers to see.  That way, if anyone has a few minutes in between a job, they can pick one of these to complete.  A prime example is something like moving the carts with plants in them to another location.

On the other hand, there are the multi-part or larger tasks that we now call MEWs (Major-Event Work).  Hey, we have cats on the farm.  Everything they do is major (according to them), so this makes some sense.  The process of  harvesting, cleaning, packing, loading and delivering a CSA is a MEW - though we might be tempted to call it a 'chore' since it occurs on a regular basis. 

On the WICGID list

Then there are "WICGID" (Wish I Could Get It Done) items.  Things like loading the software and setting up the download from our weather station to our computer.  Is it a really big deal?  Apparently not, since it has appeared every so often at the bottom of our VAP on and off for over a year.  Alas - another item that keeps the Carry Over Ratio on our farm high.

Oh, don't remember what a Carry Over Ratio is?  Guess you'll have to go read the original VAP story!

VAP

One of the things that we do in order to help us keep track of things is create lists.  In fact, if you want to see our theories about 'to do' lists, you can look at one of last year's posts on the topic.  Or, perhaps you should just put reading that post on your own "to do" list.  And, if you're smart, you'll go read that one and THEN add it to your "to do" list so you can cross it off right away.  Instant gratification.

This year, Tammy and I decided that we needed a better name for our daily/weekly plans rather than "to do lists" or "daily plans/weekly plans."  We don't want to be boring you know...

VAPs for GFF
So, we have decided to call these things VAPs.  And, in the weekly case, they are WVAPs.

Of course, you can figure out that the "W" stands for "Weekly."  The VAP part is short for "Very Ambitious Plan."  But, since we are not ambitious enough to say 'ambitious' each time we refer to our daily or weekly lists, we now say "VAP."

VAPomatics - Statistics for the Farm?
The great thing about a VAP is that it almost sounds like one of the various abbreviations used for baseball statistics.  In fact, I've been considering adding some statistics to our farm as it relates to the VAP.  Maybe a VAP Completion Ratio (VAPCoRat) so we can have a statistic that determines how well we do completing most of our VAPs.  Since each line item has a different difficulty level, we might have to come up with a VAP Difficulty Rating (VAPDifRat) and then we can come up with a Weighted Completion Ratio (VAPWtComRat) so we can compare days that have a shorter list of items (but some very difficult) with a day that has a longer list of things with less difficulty.

One of the things we also do is record what actually gets accomplished during the day.  Some of this is important for organic certification.  For example, if we apply composted manure to a row, then it needs to be recorded.  Some of it is important for future planning.  It could be useful to know that it took three days with two workers to spread straw mulch in the tomato field.  Clearly, as long as an item is ON the VAP, we can record that it was done by simply checking it off.  Simplicity!  Sometimes, I might also have to record specific details (irrigation ran for 2 hours, etc), but that's ok.  It's all part of doing business on the farm.

Discovered VAP Items
But, with any list, there will be 'discovered' VAP items.  These are things that either were forgotten when the list was being made and rediscovered as the day progressed, things that were uncovered as being necessary to do in order to do something else on the VAP or something we just decided to do because.. .well... we wanted to do it.  Oh... and don't forget the things that became necessary for whatever reason (woodchuck getting into the brassica again - better get that electric fence fixed up).

It might be interesting to develop a VAP Discovery Ratio (VAPDisRat), which could be broken down into VAPRedisRat, VAPDisNecRat, VAPJusCuzRat and VAPArrrgRat.


CarryOver VAP
By their very nature, VAPs rarely have a 100% VAPCoRat.  What? you've forgotten your VAPamatics already?  Ok.  VAP Completion Ratio.  So, with every VAPCoRat under 100%, there will be uncompleted items on the VAP that will carry over to a future VAP.  This leads to several new and exciting potential statistical categories!

VAP Carry Over Ratio (VAPCarOvRat) is the ratio of items that carry over from day to day.  You might be temped to say that this is all of the items on a VAP that didn't get completed.  But, this would be incorrect.  If the next day is a harvest day for CSA, then many of the uncompleted items from the prior day won't carry over directly.  They may move to another day.  These would belong to...

VAP Delayed Carry Over Ratio (VAPDelCarOvRat)

Sometimes, an item keeps showing up on a VAP and just doesn't get done.  So, each item could be given a Carry Over Number (VAPCON) that counts the number of times an item has been deferred.  Just think of all of the neat-o stats we could make up on that one!

Then, there are the items that build up a big VAPCON (lots of deferrals) only to get to a point where doing that item is not longer pertinent.  Hmmm.  We've had plant the pine tree on there since May and it has a VAPCON of 200.  I think the ground is frozen now.  I can't decide whether this should have a statistic called VAPOopsRat or VAPMehRat or maybe VAPWWYTRat (VAP What Were You Thinking Ratio)?  Perhaps we could have a VAPWWYTRat Red Flag Warning for the farm....

Watch out for the OAP
If the number of items with high VAPCONs is ridiculous and your VAPWWYTRat is high enough to warrant a farm-wide Red Flag Warning, then you are probably not actually dealing with VAPs.  Instead, you have succumbed to the temptation of creating OAPs (Overly Ambitious Plans).  And, we all know what that leads to...

A NAP (No Ambition Plan).

The Law of Expanding Lists (Revisited)

Back in the infancy of this blog, we wrote a post that brought up the idea of the "Law of Expanding Lists."  That old post is here.  Really, it's not a bad post at all.  Especially if you consider the fact that I didn't really spend much time editing that one.

Tammy and I decided to spend a little time this past weekend trying to do "non-active" things on the farm.  So, Sunday, for example, we limited ourselves to feeding the hens, henlets, ducklings, turklets, ducks and cats.  Making sure all of the above had water.  Watering plants that are still in trays or pots.  Opening the high tunnel.  Setting up and running drip tape on the newer broccoli and cauliflower planting.  Planting another 14 hot peppers in a raised bed and replacing about 20 tomato plants in the field with new tomatoes.  A couple of laundry loads, some washed eggs and composting of all remaining tomatoes in pots.  Always nice to have an easy morning start.

In the early afternoon, while Tammy was at an event, Rob sat down and worked on doing a little "mind mapping."  Essentially, what this means to me is that I need to get a handle on all of the things that are roaming in my head that I think I need to be done.  I usually hope that getting as much as I can down on paper will help me.

But, I don't think I feel much better because I ran into the Law of Expanding Lists!

Definition: A to do list is compiled with a certain period of time in mind.

We really need to work this plot west of the old high tunnel.

Anyone who makes lists will relate to this.  There is the list of things that you SHOULD do sometime.  Then there is the list of things you WANT to do sometime.  Both of these fall into my 'mind mapping' exercise in hopes that some good ideas will come out of it.  It is also done to help me prioritize into the 'working lists.'

The working lists include the list of things to accomplish during this particular growing season. Typically, we do not expect these items to be accomplished any time in the near future, but we need to know that they loom in the horizon.
Then, there is the "critical" list of things that have a high priority and need to be done.  Some of the things on the critical list actually make it to the weekly list, followed by the daily list.  And, all of these actually ignore the "recurring list" of things that get done on a regular basis.  Sometimes these appear on the daily list because they are not quite a daily chore.  But, the daily recurring list only makes it onto the daily list as a single line item:  chores.

And, before you get too worried that I am spending all of my time making lists, let me assure you that there is not typically a hard copy of daily lists unless there is need for clarity in communicating with workers.  Even the weekly list is not necessarily wholly committed to a physical form unless we get to the point where we feel like we are overwhelmed or missing things.

Now for the rules.  Note that these rules apply the similar time period lists.  For example, transitioning form one daily list to the next daily list - or from an old critical list to a new one.

Rule 1: Completion of n items on the list results in the addition of a minimum n items replacing it in the list.

We weeded and tilled the North bed in the high tunnel - now we needed to plant beans, rosemary and run the drip line.

The example shown in the picture above is the most obvious list item addition that can occur - a task (or tasks) that follow the same 'critical time line.'  I suppose you could make the argument that we likely had planting beans, rosemary and running the drip line on our list already. But, if you consider that each day has its own list, it becomes clearer.  Completing weeding/tilling on day one resulted in the addition of planting and running drip line on day 2.

The sneaky part is the recurring portion of the daily list.  Remember chores?  Well, we just added irrigate the bean and rosemary rows has just gotten added.  Then, there is the sneaky addition of WEEDING these rows that will appear in later daily lists.  We won't even consider harvesting at this point.  

Rule 2: Every item on a list has at least 2 hidden items implied by its inclusion on the list.

List item: pick up lumber by the new high tunnel

You will notice that this picture does NOT show the new high tunnel.  It shows the south side of the Poultry Pavilion.  The running gear we are going to use to move the lumber is in the center of the picture.  The flex tine weeder (green) is in the way and must be moved first.  The tall weeds will likely have to be cut down as well to help us free the running gear.  Both of these are simply implied by the single item, but will take actual time to do on Monday (and did take actual time to do).

Rule 1 still applies since we now add cleaning up the tall weeds South of the Poultry Pavilion to one of the upcoming daily lists (for example).

Rule 3: Time Critical items increase future entries by simply appearing on the current list.

Oh, winter squash, how we love thee and how we wish the grasses would not grow there too.

Taking the photo as an example - getting the winter squash weeded is a time critical item.  If we fail to do this in the next week, the grasses will be a very big (literally and figuratively) problem.  Anden very accurately pointed out last week that the rest of the farm does not simply go into stasis while we are performing a given task.  The time we spend weeding one field means the other fields are not getting attention.  And, a time critical item will push other critical items back - often making THEM time critical items.  Uh oh.

Rule 4: Failure to complete Time Critical items multiplies future entries by a minimum of 2 times.

Hey!  That field was FINE last time I looked!

Ok, so the winter squash didn't get done.  So, it still needs to get done.  But, when a list deals with living and changing things (such as plants), the task can actually morph and change so that a whole host of hidden tasks (see rule 2) begin to appear.  Suddenly, the job that might have taken a little wheel hoe time might also include a rototiller, or weed removal or some additional task like removal of the drip line so larger cultivating equipment can run.  And...

Rule 5: Unless you are at a terminal point in the season, carried over items from one list to the next will typically be 50% of an ambitious farmers next list.

This really is beginning to sound like a losing battle.  Therefore, I propose that we adopt a new list system for our farm.

Today's List:
1. Do everything.

Tomorrow's List:
1. Do what you did yesterday.

Simplicity at its finest.