North Star Farming: Learning Sustainable Agriculture

What a difference two months makes

2008-07-09T19:09:00.002-08:00

First photo: May 9Second photo: July 9and the flowers under the 'veterinarian' sign were free from Risse's greenhouse (link coming soon. . .). I put those in today.

FYI

2008-07-05T13:15:00.000-08:00

Hello teachers:Don't forget the Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom Educator Institute iscoming to Fairbanks July 30-Aug. 1. We will have the three-day workshop atthe UAF Experiment Station on campus. It's a dynamic event with lots ofactivities, speakers and field trips. You can take it for 1-2 UAA credits orwithout. The course without credits is $90 ($75 for preservice or informaleducators) and

Look closely: Pictures of Redemption

2008-06-23T18:14:00.003-08:00

We all should pray for the tenacity that nature shows us every day.

2008-06-23T18:10:00.000-08:00

Where are my guys?

2008-06-23T17:21:00.002-08:00

I supervise a work group of teenagers. We "lost" these two while litter picking in the parking lot. These photos are posted with their permission as it appears ANYTHING that associates them with this car is exciting :)Directly after this one of them picked up an empty plastic sushi containter and asked "What's a california roll? Dude, it sounds like something you aren't supposed to do with

From Far North to "Far North"

2008-06-19T07:15:00.005-08:00

While some of my silence on this blog has been busy-ness, a greater chunk has been a level of ideological discord with my summer employment . . .the schism of the reality in the daily work I've commited to until I leave for New Zealand and the things that bring meaning and vibrancy to my life is huge. This summer I am working for the Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Recreation Department

From Peep to Pan

2008-05-31T17:10:00.002-08:00

Please forgive me if some of you find this difficult, but we raised six birds from tiny chicks to freezer fillers. I butchered them myself--quickly and surely--and our second roaster is coming out of the oven tonight. These fat birds never had names but were still hand fed worms and bugs, given sunshine and playtime.

Blame it on the post office workers

2008-05-31T14:46:00.003-08:00

This hatchery seems to enjoy writing captions for its chicks. Make sure you scrowl down to the pics on the bottom, including the quail chicks."Little Dan" the quail, as mentioned in yesterday's blog, is doing very well. After calling the hatchery we order from and finding that they don't "do quail at all" the best guess is that he escaped from someone else's shipment and a harried postal

Falling through the cracks

2008-05-30T14:05:00.001-08:00

Even with my new summer job I still get to work in the chick barn at the feed store on Friday and Saturday. The demand for broiler chicks is so high this year that each week 800-1000 chicks come in, boxed in sets of 100, and each week they’re sold out before Monday. Broiler chicks are the classic yellow-fuzzy palm-size balls of cuteness. Imagine the surprise when, inside a box of dozens of

Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom: sent to me via e-mail

2008-05-23T16:09:00.003-08:00

Just a quick reminder about the Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom agricultural literacy courses this summer: July 30-Aug. 1 in Fairbanks; Aug. 5-7 in Palmer. Both are available with up to 2 pro development credits. See more at www.agclassroom.org/akThis is cross curricular and adapted to all grades.Also, time is running out to use your $20 allotment for Alaska teachers from the Washington Dairy

Stories

2008-05-18T17:23:00.002-08:00

My work at the feed store here on college road has been a tenure based on the "chicken season" and its passing. I've expressed great interest in taking on more responsibilities, even aspiring to some management tasks, but I have remained a helpful and capable chicken woman out in the barn instead. After six weeks, I'm, not even authorized to use the computer in the store to 'ring people up'.

At the Yak Ranch

2008-05-15T15:18:00.005-08:00

I'm unsure why I've put off writing a full report of my three days in Delta at Sawmill Creek Ranch. I think it just gave me so much to think about, and so many images and realities, that sorting and qualifying the experience has given me pause. My hosts were people of great honesty and heart. Everyone I met there just seemed to enjoy being their unique selves and that in turn frees you up to

Out of the Brooder

2008-05-09T16:57:00.002-08:00

No, that's not MY hand with the pheasant chicks, (just one of those fun 'stock' images from the I-net) but they are that small and that cute. I went into the chick barn at the feed store this morning to clean and one of these little chickies was standing in the middle of the floor. It reminded me of the kid on the field trip who forgot to use the 'buddy system' to stay with his classmates. The

Heritage Breed Turkeys

2008-05-03T21:03:00.002-08:00

We have turkey chicks at the feed store. We also carry heritage breed turkeys -- turkeys that can breed naturally and produce fertile eggs. Unlike our traditional thanksgiving birds, they haven't been bred for the double musculature that created the need for us to aritficially inseminate. This article explains more without being too inciteful and extreme (in my opinion).

From snow (and chickens in the guestroom) to the first sunny day . . .

2008-05-03T16:58:00.000-08:00

Windstorm

2008-05-02T16:02:00.003-08:00

This past Monday I worked in the chick barn at the Alaska Feed and then went to work at the Hutchison High School teen parenting daycare. For a single day I was the one pushing the six-pack stroller through the high school hallway and singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” until they fell asleep. Today I have a mild case of the flu. For all the hand sanitizer and the bleach-wash we use on the

Learn Beekeeping this month

2008-04-09T06:35:00.005-08:00

Been hankerin' to learn about free-rangin them bees here in the Interior? The followin' info is hot off the SARE listerv from Ms. Michelle Hebert at the CES, Call Steve Petersen at 457-2440 for more info.BEE SHIPMENTSArrival dates – April 24 (1st shipment) ThursdayFor bees April 25 (2nd shipment) FridayCost per package3# w/ Q $115.004# w/ Q $135.004# w/ 2Q* $150.00* a four pound package with 2

2008-04-02T11:58:00.002-08:00

Sustainable Community Action Network (SCAN) of Fairbankswith support from Organic ValleyAnnounces "Earth Dinner" Community Potluck and Forum -- a renewable event held April 19th from 430pm-630pm at the Fairbanks Food BankFrom the "canned" Organic Valley earthdinner website, available at http://www.earthdinner.org/> About Earth Dinner>> "The act of putting into your mouth what the earth has grown

April 19, straw bales, snow

2008-03-31T08:18:00.003-08:00

There always seems to be one final "snow dump" late in the spring up here. It feels like it's usually in March. Well, yes, with one final day left in March, the outside world is a powdery blue-gray of precipitation this morning. Tomorrow morning I will make my first (of many, I hope) 5-minute-walking commute to Alaska Feed to help out in the chick barn with the spring fuzzies. Wear boots and

Go Figure!

2008-03-28T06:22:00.000-08:00

I can't find online publicity anywhere, but the "Feather-of-Knowledge Chicken Info Session and Chick Auction" is this weekend --tomorrow, Saturday--at Seekins Ford starting at 9am. YES, IT'S AT THE CAR DEALERSHIP! Call them to confirm at Seekins Ford:459-4000 or call Alaska Feed 451-5570. From 9-12 folks will be talking about coccidiosis and chicken health issues. The 'chick auction' begins

"Sheep to Shawl" Part 1

2008-03-23T15:03:00.004-08:00

It's taken me quite a while to fit learning raw wool preparation into my life, but now I can't wait to do more! Continued credit--and kudos for friendly encouragement--goes to A Weaver's Yarn (their link at right).Here was Darla, an Icelandic X ewe lamb. Extenuating circumstances on the farm, including a very late, snowy spring, meant that she ended up wearing almost more of her hay than she

2008 Fur Bikini Contest

2008-03-21T23:22:00.006-08:00

. . .was one of the most visited web galleries at the Anchorage Daily News.com today.This should be a close second, but I know better. *sigh*http://www.adn.com/matmaid/story/351739.htmland thishttp://community.adn.com/adn/node/119569I finished my first day at the 4th annual Sustainable Agriculture conference here in Fairbanks. Tomorrow is another day. It's an interesting mix of progress and

Master Food Preserver Schedule

2008-03-14T07:31:00.001-08:00

The classes will be held in the kitchen at the Fairbanks Food Bank, 725 26th Ave., the first Thursday of each month, 6:00-9:00 p.m. with the exception of January 10th. The classes will be hands-on with lots of opportunities to practice. A reminder letter will be sent out prior to each session. Here are the classes as we now have them scheduled:> January 10th - Basics of Food Preservation> March

2008-03-06T17:20:00.000-09:00

http://community.adn.com/?q=adn/blog/69017

Three-day lesson plan I did for pre-K at Arctic Light Elementary

2008-03-05T18:11:00.002-09:00

Here is the result of our three days of "study" of caribou migration with "special ed" three-and-four-year-olds

Become a Locavore

2008-03-04T06:33:00.000-09:00

I'll be taking the following master food preservation classes from CES. Stay tuned for some July and August "PU Parties", the "putting up" of food at harvest time. I'd also encourage us all to guestimate an annual amount of $ paid for produce and "rebalance" to make that money available during the growing season. If I normally buy 300$ of produce at the Farmer's market and rely on the grocery

Five Freedoms

2008-03-03T22:10:00.000-09:00

The UK has a governmental oversight committee, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC), with a diversified group of non-governmental affiliates. The following is from their website. The HSUS has something similar, but is still considered a "special interest group". Take your votes to the grocery store and to the farmer's market and to the small-scale farm friend down the road. True

One easy change and an Easter weekend proposition

2008-02-29T08:31:00.003-09:00

The easy thing: Make a stack of all the catalogs you get and set a day (even Saturday afteroon, consmer customer service is even open on Sunday to take your call!) and call and cancel further catalog service!!! In calling at least 30 of these vendors, I've never had a single one be anything other than happy to get me off the mailing list. Recycling is great-- but start at the source, REDUCE.

Yaklings, cheese, and the DEC

2008-02-20T17:12:00.002-09:00

I'm scrambling to leave for North Carolina for a week this evening. With layovers and all it's 24 hours of travelling. I haven't clarified with some of my contacts yet about linking to their businesses; I want to make triple sure they approve of this blog format. But I will be travelling with 80 pages of dairy regulations from he Department of Environmental Conservation, and a large chip on my

Welcome Back, Cat

2008-02-17T09:53:00.003-09:00

It's been almost a year since I was at Overlook Farm. The other blog I've been on all year has taken on the tone of the literary and spiritual struggles of someone growing into herself. It won't be an easy division, but I'll try and keep "farmy" news to this blog and that uber-reflective stuff on the "Goldfinch" blog. I plan on adding links to local businesses and telling you more than you

I've moved

2007-06-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

http://catkeepswriting.blogspot.com/

letter to the lambing ladies

2007-05-31T23:25:00.000-08:00

May 30, 2007:Greetings lambing crew!It was another magical year of learning and challenges, surprises and joy, as our sheep flock has more than doubled in three week¡¦s time. Again, your attentive concern and willingness to stumble out to the barn at odd hours is one more reason Overlook Farm is a special place. Your help was priceless. Your questions and comments often help us see with new

the average crazy and camel earings

2007-05-28T04:04:00.000-08:00

So much has been happening it's really hard to know where to start. I'm writing on Memorial Day from the basement of my old high school friend's house in Somerville NJ. We escaped the farm for two full days because Celine and Ed welcomed a son just five months ago and . . . Massachusetts is as close to New Jersey as I expect to be for several years. On the way down yesterday we made a surprise

long distance call

2007-05-22T01:47:00.001-08:00

I opened my e-mail at 5am this morning to find a message from someone I didn't know that a friend and co-worker of mine died in a freak electrical accident. I made a long distance call from he center to 907-479-5196 that lasted about 15 minutes. I don't know on what bill this will show-up.Martina was a 31-year-old woman, a classic Alaskan homesteader with her own cabin(she pee'd in the bushes:)

The Hardest Work

2007-05-18T01:52:00.001-08:00

There are many essay possibilities from yesterday's time on the farm.Right now I'm trailed by the image of a semi-circle of 35 sixth-graders around a small birthing pen (I made them stand back fifteen feet and boxed the ears of anybody NOT whispering). The ewe went through three five minute episodes of hard labor -- groaning, lip curling, body rocking as two hooves were visible, then retracted.

The 8 M's

2007-05-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

When we give tours we talk to the kids about the "eight things we get from animals that start with M". Sometimes I have them act these out, with varying results: MilkMeatMaterialMoneyManure (dried as cooking fuel in addition to fertilizer)Muscle (plowing)MotivationMore! [animals, that is. . .sometimes kids say "mating";)]In line with the last of these M's I can tell you we had three sets of twin

Trapped in Guatemala with Girl Scouts!

2007-05-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

So . . . an afternoon field trip with five (10 y.o.)girl scouts and two chaperons (yup, a really small group!). We made it to the Guatemala global village house before the thunder and lightening started right over our heads, torrential rain drowning out my voice. One of the girls was hysterical about it, practically in my lap. I was stroking her hair and telling her how brave she was being. We

Wind Feasibility Study Grant

2007-05-16T01:29:00.000-08:00

From our e-mail newsletter:Overlook has received a feasibility study grant from Mass Technology Collaborate to explore wind energy as an alternative energy resource. It'll be a year long study and might include a test tower on the farm. We'll keep you posted.

Dot's a dancer

2007-05-14T04:25:00.001-08:00

. . .tiny hooves as she cavorts on he floor of the barn . . .a pen by the admin center called "romper room" . . .and, I'm afraid, she can pick out my voice to follow-- oh no!! NOT bonding!!"Catherine had a lit-tle lamb, lit-tle lamb, lit-tle . . . "Time to let others handle her and talk to her more!!

sentence structure

2007-05-14T04:10:00.001-08:00

I know that last post was hard to read! I took a friend to the airport this morning between 2 am and 430 am. THEN I checked on the sheep. I'm blaming the poor sentence structure on lack of rest.

Counting sheep

2007-05-14T01:43:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me, after stumbling to the barn at odd hours in the last few nights to see if anyone was/had/was going to give birth--if the numbers of our flock had, indeed, increased--that perhaps the origin of the idiom of the insomniac "counting sheep" had something to do with shepherds making midnight calls to do just that.We went to take a group picture with one of the womens'lambing groups.

Mr. Popek recently reminded me

2007-05-13T02:59:00.000-08:00

of the "era" in my life when these were written. The second one won something (mild). AlaskaUp thereThe pendulum swings harder.SummerDarkless, yawning open, rose-lit, tumescent,Pitch in parking lots and throng at gas pumpsThese sleepless ghosts in worn-teeth stancheons,Bicycles and canoes, buckle and runHike and swat, swatChildren in laughing, muddy light-born everywhereHow visibilty, too far

Dot's doing GREAT

2007-05-13T02:48:00.000-08:00

She took 7 oz. at midnight (some HUGE percentage of her bodyweight) and got through until 630am. She wags her tail when you call her name. hmmmmMore later

bottle babies, sunburn, middle schoolers

2007-05-11T02:34:00.001-08:00

A quick note to say that I'm alive after yesterday's 100+ school-age visitors, tours, livestock drama, and HEAT. I went to bed at 830pm in anticipation of that 3 am "birthing call" from the lambing barn this morning. The other night one of our ewe lambs, not even a year old --we didn't think she'd even been bred-- squeezed out the tiniest sheep ever seen by ANYONE on the farm. This thing

Darla = Sweater!

2007-05-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

This little gal is a "ewe lamb" -- one of last season's lambs that wasn't bred this year. We'll be shearing soon, and I plan on making a Darla sweater! She always comes right up and sniffs your face and tried to nibble the camera.

Global Village in spring

2007-05-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

The first picture is the Peru house (again). The wooden pen is a zero-grazing structure behind the Guatemala house where our star milking goats, Rachel and Arwin, spend the the day. Here they are being escorted back to the barn for the night. The trellis in front of the Guatemala house is Kiwi fruit.

A question of value

2007-05-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

This yurt was actually sent to us from one of our project partners in Tibet. It's woven from yak hair. It takes one year to get one pound of hair from a yak (by brushing it out). It takes 200 pounds of yak hair to make a yurt. I have the kids smell it, touch it, imagine weaving it. I tell them the details of the time taken in it's construction and ask "Is this house valuable?"

Chicken pranks and ear tags

2007-05-08T00:25:00.001-08:00

It's 4 am and I've just come from the main barnyard . . .SOMETHING has been eating our chickens --and only the three medium-sized birds confined to an A-frame pen at the Peru site. The rest of the chickens are so free-range they practically lay eggs under our pillows in the volunteer house (seriously, they're annoying), but they've escaped "our predator" thus far. On Saturday morning we had

Full circle

2007-05-06T15:07:00.000-08:00

Our new housemate is Simon from Tanzania. He has been the director of Heifer Project International in Tanzania for 20 years. He lives in Arusha.

another lesson plan

2007-05-06T07:30:00.001-08:00

Estimated Time Frame: 5 minutes for Activity 1 (if doing), 20 minutes for Activity 2.Materials:1. Two tomatoes: one conventional and one grown at Overlook Farm or another local farm. The vegetable/fruit used could vary depending on what's seasonally available at the farm. If doing the activity in winter, omit Activity One (the comparison between the local and conventional fruit/vegetable).2.

How to pick up chicks

2007-05-04T03:35:00.000-08:00

1. Get a phone call from the post office at 630am2. Get the right box3. Don't squeeze them4. Keep them under the heat lamp like chicken nuggets and keep the barn cats away

"Piglet" goes home

2007-05-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

Stopped in at the animal shelter to ask about how Piglet the cat was doing. The girls there renamed him "Ocean" for his lovely eyes, he got neutered today and is going home tomorrow. One small step for a cat, one giant leap for a . . . something.

Lambing season

2007-05-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

Can you spot the twin lambs napping in a patch of sunlight? And, unfortunately, my photo of the Ladies-in-Waiting was taken with the compost pile as backdrop.

My Housemates

2007-05-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

Tony Milanzi and Miles Wheat

May First

2007-05-01T03:31:00.001-08:00

Lambs. I won't soon forget the image of a muddy flock of sheep, in the gray morning drizzle, parting to reveal a bright-white newborn with a candy-pink mouth calling out for mom. I spent some time thinking about what it truly meant to be "the pascal lamb"." I thought of that image on the Episcopalian robes and alter dressings that I grew up with--a lamb and a crook and a cross--the taking

A tiny cry in the flock

2007-04-27T08:30:00.000-08:00

Yes, I went down to hay the ewe flock this morning in the rain(they're still in their temporary paddock)and, while I'm used to the deep baaaaa-baaaaa sounds of sheep who've been heavy smokers for years (or transgendered, or, well . . .just mature tenors) there was the bleating of a tiny lamb in the middle of the 35 sheep. She still had her umbilicus dragging in the mud and was going from ewe to

egg-a-palooza and parsnips

2007-04-25T12:01:00.001-08:00

Today was my day off and I did, in fact, take my Piglet to the rescue league. He's still very thin, but he plays with toys, purrs, rubs and acts very cute. They're wonderful there. They admire him as much as I do and wormed him, tested him for FeLV, will neuter him, and make sure he's in a home as soon as possible where he can scamper and watch birds and hunt bugs-- instead of in a cage in our

Update on Piglet

2007-04-23T11:27:00.000-08:00

"Piglet" is thriving. He's rediscovered his purr-motor and is up to normal size meals with no signs of "gastric distress". It's great to have a little creature to get snuggles with. If he were neutered I'd smuggle him into my room ;)

Piglet

2007-04-22T02:47:00.001-08:00

In the red barn, the informal infirmary, a large metal crate bears the sign"Cat's pet-project 4/21/07Hi! My name is "Piglet". I am a 10-month-old intact male kitty who was abandoned here on the farm. I earned my name by collapsing of dehydration in the pigs' feeding trough this morning. I will likely be sent to Worcester Animal Rescue League to be neutered and adopted."In late February

More than a snapshot

2007-04-21T02:57:00.001-08:00

I enjoy writing up the humorous "polaroid photos" of my time here, but let's see if I can't give a fuller pictures of the exciting/busy/frightening/ exciting changes coming up in the next three weeks . . .in case there aren't any blog entries for several days at a time.1. Dale is here and active on the farm, and not travelling for the next three weeks from what I can tell. This is a great

A photo of my super-cool supervisor, Dale

2007-04-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.daleperkinshorseshow.com/index.htm

Or. . .

2007-04-20T13:11:00.000-08:00

. . .lock three chickens in the car accidentally. That's today's faux paux (sp?)

Add this to the docket . . .

2007-04-20T02:46:00.000-08:00

. . .of things I never imagined I'd grow up to do:Parallel park a longbed truck filled with goats in downtown Marlboro Massachussetts so I could use a pay phone to call a jolly-British-accented man named "Alf" for better directions to his boarding school because of flooded roads.Last Tuesday three of us took quite a few Nubian goats and "yearlings" to a small, amazing, boarding-school-farm for

More magazine funnies

2007-04-18T07:18:00.000-08:00

My recent discovery of back issues of "Live Animal Trade and Transport" has opened my eyes to the marketing of unique products like the "Wiley Net Gun: hand held for land vehicle, air or water capture" and the advertisements that bid to be the carriers of the spoils. Take, for example, Martinair Holland Cargo's add: "Our specially designed 747 freighters provide customized services for cattle,

From one of our lesson plans

2007-04-18T05:52:00.000-08:00

"When using this lesson plan, remember to stress that we are not asking anyone to turn their lives upside down. We don’t expect anyone to change their entire lifestyle, but little, thoughtful choices can have a huge impact."From a box of Cheerios that sells for $4.19, the farmer receives $0.06. For a 12 oz package of potato chips that sells for $2.99, the farmer who grew the potatoes receives

Mystery Solved!

2007-04-17T03:53:00.001-08:00

Housing animals in this wet, windy, stormy weather is a real challenge. Housing them where they can't escape, where we can give them grain and water and bales of hay, where the wheelbarrow fits and the other herd members don't literally "walk on top of them" to get to the feed (this works well if you're a sheep . . .they pack in tight as lemmings) is even harder. We've had two old sheep in "the

We're having a blizzard

2007-04-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

That's it. Just 'we're having a blizzard'.

Frosted Pigs

2007-04-14T02:33:00.001-08:00

It's been a long week here. After Easter last weekend I just felt as insatiably tired as I've been feeling chronically hungry. I slept A LOT this week. And read my first non-agricultural book in more than six weeks. I am halfway through my adventures here and I feel myself re-assessing, gathering, and looking beyond my nose at my life. I recently got news that I won some goofy local poetry

Hailing tapioca bits

2007-04-12T12:59:00.000-08:00

"Due to extenuating circumstances, spring has been cancelled this year . . ."Sleet, rain, hail coming down all day. All the spring projects I wanted to work on had to get pushed aside for indoor pursuits. In trying to get the office set up for our new livestock coordinator, Donna (arriving April 19), I've been going through two file cabinets and finding a great deal of archive-able Heifer

Catalogs for everything and cultural pluralism

2007-04-09T02:50:00.001-08:00

First, you should know that Dale left again for a week in Arkansas. I have some things to order this morning with the farm's credit card, things like ear tags for the lambs and batches of turkey poults. Yes, there's a catalog for everything . . .you can order-up birds like batches of cookies, sheep-handling equipment . . .a whole catalog devoted to ear tags. YAY capitalism!!On another note,

Good Friday

2007-04-07T03:08:00.001-08:00

It's so hard for me to stay in touch these days, and I'm so sorry to be this impersonal!I think of you all a lot . . .always when it's a bad time to call! I'm sound asleep by 9 pm-ish (EST) every night. My days are spent almost entirely outdoors fixing gates, throwing hay or bags of feed, catching goats, my head down into the wind as I cross the barnyard, greeting new people or kids who trickle

Snow, actually

2007-04-05T02:47:00.001-08:00

Here I sit, looking at the lacy, ice-coated branches of trees and the rolling blue-whiteness of the front pasture. *Sigh* We had a really great drop-in volunteer with loads of animal experience, but she left yesterday morning -- leaving a four-page note and dashing my hopes that she'd be around for a week to help. Oh well. Tony's cell-phone alarm is set to go off with the song "Yankee Doodle".

FW: Spring into new beginnings

2007-04-03T03:23:00.001-08:00

From: "Heifer International"

Fudge! Fudge!

2007-04-01T02:08:00.001-08:00

Just when I think I have no new muscles to tap into that could get sore from farm demands ... just when I think I've reached peak "fighting weight" . . .spring arrives and animals start escaping from their pens because its just plain fun to get into the grain bin and get chased around the barnyard. Or, if you're a sheep, its fun to slip out of the gate when the little woman comes with your hay

The job I came here to do

2007-03-31T02:29:00.001-08:00

I finally feel like I'm doing the job I came here to do. Whether it's an East Coast self-involved mindset or what, while Dale was gone the unilateral reaction to my presence was "Who are YOU? You aren't Dale!! Oh Nooooo!" There wasn't any "glad you're here, thanks for trying and just being you" sensation. I've asked for the responsibility and now I feel valued for being me - "Dale sent me

Are ewe as tired as I am ?

2007-03-28T16:52:00.001-08:00

Gonna go to bed here in a few moments. I have to get out to chores early to haul hay and then leave at 845am to go to a NOFA conference (Northeast Organic Farmers') in North Grafton that lasts most of the day. Friday we are going to get all our ewes in one place so we can start giving them a boost of grain with their hay in anticipation of lambing . We have some "fiber sheep" in the North

Sunshine,tractor driving and being heard

2007-03-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

I learned to drive a tractor today. I'm no expert yet, but I got to move two loads of wood chips into the paddock where the sheep, cows, and water buffalo are slowly being sucked under by mud that would make the rainy season in Uganda seem modest. I also had a good meeting with Dale and the other livestock volunteer where I was frustrated enough to stand up for myself . . .fully express myself .

A box of joy and sweet success

2007-03-28T02:42:00.001-08:00

Monday afternoon, when I needed a hug most, the very best "birthday box" a girl could ever get arrived for me. I opened it -- albeit it was about a week early. My eyes started to water when I saw everyone who'd contributed! Truly, I am blessed. Thank you doesn't quite seem enough.It took all day, involved three employees, three volunteers, two Internet service providers and a whole can of "

Speaking of the Mysterious and Unpredictable

2007-03-25T09:19:00.000-08:00

. . . I was reading the book "Cowboy Memories", a compilation of tales from the transport ships and planes with which Hiefer used to send animals directly from the U.S., and came across the story of some young men delivering 21 heifers to Japan. The cows were bred before they left the States and two gave birth on board. At their arrival in the Japanese port the authorities were so grateful to

Presumptuous questions can be good . . .

2007-03-25T02:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's public pancake breakfast here brought out hundreds of people. While brilliantly sunny, it was still a bit cool -- certainly mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful. I was staked out at "the hoop barn," the temporary shelter that the goats and kids have been in since the main barn burnt. The crowds came in waves (I have no idea how they were seating people inside, all I heard was some radio

Saturday/computer stuff

2007-03-24T03:16:00.002-08:00

I don't have Internet access at the place where I'm living, and I usually come to let Dale's dog out of the learning center around 7 am. Unfortunately, this computer doesn't allow me to log into my blog SO I, again, rely on the "Special K man" to fix the formatting when I send a post from this e-mail account. The computers above the red barn allow my to log into my blog, but my computer's

A bit of clarification . . . and words on frustration

2007-03-23T02:45:00.000-08:00

It's REALLY spring now. A warm rain overnight and puddles, puddles, everywhere.I feel I need to quantify and justify some of the harsh blog-words from the other day. The farm steward, Dale Perkins, has been on this farm for 17 years and --until a year ago-- was a bachelor who had an apartment in the barn for ten years before they built the small house I'm/we are now staying in. His presence is so

they keep them in log cabins

2007-03-22T11:28:00.001-08:00

So -- there is a club called AKMGC the "Alaska mini goat cache". In Alaska, a real "cache" is a small storage cabin built on high stilts so bears can't rob you of your stash of moose steaks/salmon etc. Suddenly I see myself going up and down a tall ladder with water and mineral buckets and bails of hay . . .eegads! Anyway . . . a fine place to start when considering a small dairy operation

Just life

2007-03-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

Crying, for me, doesn't ever mean "life is horrible". I cry fairly frequently -- and often with frustration and anger. I did that this morning around 1130, and my housemate apptly remarked "You're being asked to make decisions and your decisions are being called into question". Which is at the heart of the matter here. No one is mean spirited, and this is just an unfortunate chain of events,

Early March 22

2007-03-22T03:42:00.000-08:00

Yes, it’s been a challenging few days –emotionally, physically, spiritually. I feel so grateful for what I’m learning, however, that when I get to step back from the realities of angling the truck out the mud with thirteen bales of hay piled in the open bed (that I loaded all by myself, yayayay for little-bit-of-me!!!!) I feel full of life and well-being. I’m not completely comfortable, a state

A small something I'm proud of

2007-03-20T15:26:00.000-08:00

We buy our organic animal feed/grain from a family-owned company that today agreed to enroll the farm in a program that pays Heifer International 25cents for each bag of grain purchased. From what I can tell so far this will give about $250.00 to Heifer International every year. The farm won't have to keep track of bags, receipts or anything . . .our distributor does the recording. This makes

Bottle Babies

2007-03-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

It's still very hard work getting around in all this snow, especially with the icy crust that makes swinging gates and digging out pens and pushing wheelbarrows arduous. I'm quite sore, felt a little woozy in the middle of the day, but made myself sit down and eat an extra meal -- which fixed the problem. We currently have only one female kid we are supplementing with a bottle of milk

Holy Sh*t! Welcome to farming!

2007-03-17T07:20:00.001-08:00

An impressive storm started around yesterday at noon: snow, howling wind, freezing rain overnight. Late yesterday we cancelled the Saturday pancake breakfast (this is also good because we volunteers are getting SICK of leftover pork sausage!! sausage and gravy, sausage quiche, sausage and potato stew, sausage and jello . . . ), but this morning I got geared up to go from our volunteer house to

Don't leave out the realities . . .

2007-03-15T12:00:00.001-08:00

Doing pretty well here, but again, things can feel pretty disorganized sometimes!. . .. . .headquarters mailed a very large check for an large order of organic feed that I am supposed to pick up tomorrow at 11 am from an organic feed store no one here has ever heard of. The truck I'll need is in the shop and I need someone else to help me move hundreds of pounds of feed. It's supposed to snow/

Massachusetts accent

2007-03-15T07:25:00.000-08:00

The greatest maintenance guy in the universe, Gary, has the best Boston-area accent ever. We have guest who make checks out to "The Heffa Project" after talking to him.

Mr. Boot the Ram

2007-03-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

It's his old-man-crabapple personality . . .and the way he orders the water buffalo and the camel around . . .that make him cute.

General Farm Photos

2007-03-13T10:04:00.000-08:00

More Global Village photos

2007-03-13T10:01:00.000-08:00

Global Village

2007-03-13T09:53:00.000-08:00

Behind the main farm area is the Global Village where "micro countries" are set up with appropriate livestock and housing from the area represented. You realize that these photos all highlight the backdrop of late winter in New England, but you can get the idea. Peru, Thailand, Tibet, and China are some of the most popular areas. In th summer we take groups out for overnights in these areas,

Little Bits' bits

2007-03-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

I was sending an e-mail last night from one of the computers in the upstairs of the small barn. I was used to hearing Little Bit bleating and talking to her companion goat in the adjacent pen below my feet downstairs, but her bleating took on the noise of strangulation. By the time I made it down the stairs she'd already squeezed out one of the four she had. The kids in these photos are twelve

Goats' Milk and Sore "Ninnies"

2007-03-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

I was showing some human-teenage-kids how to milk the does (female goats) while they were in their milking stanchions this am. We were filling a baby bottle for a goat kid whose mother is sick. They got a little squeamish about it and started daring each other to try it and I just took a swig from the bottle I was collecting and *AHA* it didn't taste goat-y or farm-y at all! I've always found

Realities of "Cowboy-ing"

2007-03-12T03:43:00.000-08:00

So . . .I just figured out why we bother with a time change in the spring: So farmers can see to mend fences and bottle feed the newborns until past 6pmandI just figured out why they wear bandanas around their necks: It's a "dust rag" to hold up over your mouth so hay bits and chicken poop doesn't get into your lungs.Part of today's project: fix where the llamas and the camel trampled the gates

Saturday Evening

2007-03-10T14:18:00.000-09:00

I got a lot done on the computer today, after the generous admonitions from my co-workers to stay inside and not do "field work." I've done some ordering, some write-ups, some figuring out of the confusing unmarked mineral supplementation bags for the different livestock. I've read up on and developed a plan for weaning kids from a (goat) mother with mastitis. At around 1 p.m., at the pinnacle

Inside Gargling

2007-03-10T05:54:00.000-09:00

I'm feeling much better today. I went to the doctor yesterday and got some super-expensive antibiotics to cover my bases as the work load shows no signs of stopping. . . and once the flu "goes respiratory" on me it usually gets into my lungs. I'm not messing around with that this time. I was back to work outside yesterday and my voice was gone. Is there any way to mime (sp?) the phrase "The ram

Bound to Happen

2007-03-08T15:09:00.000-09:00

Well, yes, I got very sick yesterday. My energy is flagging again as I write this . . .my fever is gone and now I just have an icky cold. I ventured out to get into the farm's root cellar for potatoes, onions and garlic for the lamb stew I'm making. Acorn squash, too. I will take very good care of myself over the next few days so I don't get sicker. There are some more interesting posts