News from the Tributary

2009-06-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

The Chicken Coop

Our first batch of goat milk ice cream with blackberries from last year's harvest...amazingly delicious!

Mama's Musings

2009-06-15T16:39:00.001-07:00

Wow- how time flies! So sitting at the computer this spring has been a challenge due to little boys, chickens galore, and weeds- yes, the bain of my existence right now! As I look out the window I can see green - the trees, the grass, and the garden. We are still adding some plants here and there to the mix but overall have gotten the base of the garden started. We have had rain in spurts which brings many smile from us. It seems like the plants are starting to get the hint and grow...nothing better than watching a tomato plant reach for the sun-I can already taste the basil/tomato sandwiches!

We have a mix of about 300 chicks currently wandering our pasture- some were raised for friends, some are the soon to be chickens in the freezer, and then those left are the long awaited laying hens...Black Ostrolops. It has been amazing watching them scurry around the field eating all bugs in sight and many blades of grass...just seems right. Huxley has been enjoying his new duties of the chicken feeder.

I am still milking our goat, Lumpy. We have become her biggest fans with the creation of new cheeses this year as well as many batches of goat milk ice cream. I have the milking fever and am hoping that more milk goats are in our farm's future.

We have also been setting up a booth at the Bella Vista Farmer's Market on Saturdays. Shitake mushrooms are the most requested item so far but the goat milk and chicken are not far behind.

Spent the evening putting tomato cages in the garden and watching the chicks with Roland...always get a giggle from him when he sees them scurry around. I reread "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver this spring and was reminded once again what an amazing lifestyle this is...when Huxley, Roland, and I went gooseberry picking earlier this week to put in the freezer for Thanksgiving pies I realized how thankful I am to be able to teach my children what it means to truly savor food from the plant to the plate...I hear a cicada..Happy Summer All!

Mama's Musings

2009-04-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight dinner consisted of farm raised eggs, wild poke, and morel mushrooms combined to make a delectable quiche. Yes, the wild edible harvest season is upon us! We have been walking with the boys- looking for mushrooms and examining each berry bush we pass. Things on the farm have also started to blossom. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the free range chicks in a couple weeks, have been planting in the garden and the greenhouse, and I have been milking our goat, Lumpy. I have come to realize that milking is truly one of my favorite things about the whole farm scene. I love walking to the barn in the morning to be greeted not only by an eager goat but also by the swallows dipping in and out of the barn and the pigeons waking with a flurry as I step over the threshold. Am hoping to learn how to make some new cheeses this year (ones that go great on pizza as Caleb finished the outdoor bread oven this winter and we can't get enough of the goodies that are being created in it). High point of the week other than fireflies and the song of the Whip-Poor-Will would have to be the asparagus from the garden...delicious!

2009-03-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend started off the 2009 garden season for us as an adventure in the greenhouse with our newest tool- a soil blocker. This amazing little gadget is going to cut down on our plastic use (something we are trying to consciously to cut back on) and will be a lot healthier for the plants and our soil in the long run. We planted all of our early crop including cabbages, kale, leeks, broccoli, shallots, and even some comfrey. We are hoping to use the comfrey as part of our natural worming for the goats this summer. Caleb also started about 18 Sugar Maple seeds. With the warm weather that spurred us into spring like activites Caleb also planted some garlic and comfrey in the ground that our neighbor shared with us.
We are hoping to finalize our chicken order this next week- planning to get more meat chickens and some laying hens. Huxley is still requesting ducks so it looks like we may have a few of those running around this summer too. And Caleb is still daydreaming about a milk cow while I await the arrival of our next batch of goat kids so that I can start milking.
I have been catching up on my reading while laying Roland down for naps and ran across a simple yet amazing idea- think of the difference we all could make if every single person in the US bought 10 dollars worth of local foods a week. Think how much less fuel that would consume as well as the support it would give the local economy. Just a thought...

Mama's Musings

2009-01-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

How time flies! I must admit that the majority of my farm time and energy has been going towards the two small humans on the farm this winter but with spring only a couple months away I have begun the garden and livestock daydreams. Feeling the urge to pick up a Gene Logsdon book and really get my wheels turning.
We are due to have goat kids within the next month or so (which means I'll get to start milking- hooray), Caleb is currently building a compost pile to rival the Great Pyramid, and we are gathering ingredients for our latest farm toy- the soil blocker (a great invention that cuts the plastic out of plant starts and gives those seedlings all the extra nutrients to grow well).
Plans for the year ahead...definitely grow more corn as the taste of homegrown hominy is unbelievably delicious, laying hens, more meat chickens, ducks (a special request from Huxley), perhaps a pig or two -which we hope to feed on food grown here on the farm, some indoor citrus trees, hopefully get the greenhouse up, and a garden filled to the brim with food to enjoy fresh as well as to harvest and savor next winter.

Poppy's Perspective

2008-12-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

Farming is for the birds.

That may be cliche, but how can you resist it when you have as great a crop of bird feed as we have this year. And it has to be the best kind of bird seed at that; the birds love it, it is free, and I don't even have to fill feeders. Yep, you probably guessed it. We have got weeds, weeds, glorious weeds. Just outside my window is our pig pen a couple summers absent of a pig now and flower beds that have not been put to sleep. They are growing an amazing crop of poke, giant ragweed, wing-stem, brown-eyed-susans, coneflowers, docks, mullein, goldenrod, pigweed and a thousand more grasses and asters and other unknown weeds; and they are all seed laden!

The best thing is the ease with which this crop grows.

I was fortunate enough to work with a man, Tom, who could off the top of his head recite many of Aldo Leopold's writings (and other conservationist / naturalists). He once let loose a passage of Aldo Leopold's extolling the virtues to habitat of a certain type of agricultural slovenliness. This was a passage about fencerows and how his fencerows grew up like the hair of an unkempt hermit; unshaven, unwashed and in all ways unneatened. I know I messed the words up on that one big time(sorry Tom, sorry Aldo), but the point remains the same. He was not the type to keep a well manicured fencerow and he saw value in that.

Anyway, Adam, who I also work with, just returned from an Audobon meeting a couple weeks ago and told me how detrimental the loss of the family farm has been to birds. Urban expansion and ever expanding industrial farms with their erasure of fence lines and overambitious tidying have done away with unkempt fence lines and things such as fallow hog yards. These bird-food producing weeds grow best in edge habitats or disturbed and early succession areas and these areas are disappearing alarmingly fast. He had numbers and stats which blew my mind and then promptly flew right through the hole, but it was staggering how much of this habitat and the estimated accomanying food resource has been lost.

So I used to think I was lazy, but now I'm proud to be in the same company as the great conservationist Aldo Leopold.

And I'm happy that on this second snowy morning of the winter, as I was sitting here writing this, I was able to look out the window and see cardinals, juncos, a crow, white throated sparrows, goldfinches, and a carolina wren all feasting and well fed.

Poppy's Perspective

2008-11-29T06:00:00.000-08:00

"They concentrate the flavor of the sea".

I heard a radio show a while back and on old French oyster farmer was speaking of his love of oysters.

Mushrooms are that for me and our Ozark forest. Their taste and smell are the forest. It might make more sense to say that forests concentrate the flavor of mushrooms.
I am in awe of mushrooms. I love their bizarre shapes, beautiful colors, alien textures, and intricate details. I love looking for them, finding them, observing them, and of course eating them.

My buddy Toby (A twenty-somthing fifth grader) tells the joke... "Why was the mushroom the most popular guy at the party?"

Give up?

"Because he was a fun guy"

It is true.

This year was amazing for mushrooms. Our harvest of morels, shitakes, chanterelles, corals, woodears, oysters, sulphur shelfs, and lion's manes has been the culinary force to be reckoned with.

This week I have had just such a couple mushroom forces to reckon with. Raven made a mushroom lasanga of corals, chantererlles, oysters and shitakes that was so.........(well, probably shouldn't use expletives).....good that the king's chef would have been beheaded had his majesty known what the peasants were feasting upon. And then the next day my brother comes up with some pate of fresh chicken liver (we had just butchered) and chanterelle. Chef better hide.

Any way, thanks to Aunt Susan for the Paul Stament CD and DVD. The future is looking brighter as for our ability to cultivate these culinary treasures. And it is also looking brighter as for how we can employ these tasty organisms to minimize nutrient runoff from our farm and better enable our land to take care of itself. We are looking forward to experimenting with many of the techniques and varities he describes. Thanks Susan also for getting Alisen on the boat: once she boards there is no turning back.

There is a decent chance of rain today and tomorrow. Prime weather to excite the wood ears and oysters.

Untill next time----HAPPY SHROOMING!

Poppy's Perspective

2008-11-28T18:51:00.000-08:00

Huxley and Roland and I went walking up into our wild part of the farm yesterday. The sky was blue as blue and the day was warm. We found one dried but quite sugary persimmon left hanging, we ate fingerfulls of magnificent rose hips, we licked the sticky sour oils from the berries of winged-sumac, all in awe of the season's golden colors which had been brushed over the landscape's grasses.
I mentioned to Huxley how fortunate we were. I got an uncomprehending stare. "Do you know what fortunate is?", I asked. An uncaring "nope" is his response. I couldn't let it slide. "Fortunate", I said, "means that our lives are full of fortune. Fortune is kind of like pirtate treasure." He knows what pirtate treasure is: "I'm going to look for treasure" he will say and bring back a pretty rock, or a berry or leaf or seed head of some plant that he finds interesting.
"Where is our treasure?", he asks.
I tell him, "Our treasure is this beautiful view of the hills and that hickory tree, it is those rose hips in your hand, it is your beautiful baby brother and your mother and you, it is our beautiful friend Raven who has come down to stay with us and help us and share this beautiful time with us."
He says nothing but his face shows comprehension and his walk has changed a bit. After saying it my walk changes a bit as well. I'm a little more loose and movIng with a humble pride. In my hands is my new baby boy. In my subconscience is our big pile of firewood, our larder of bountiful harvest, and the presence of the greatest imaginable family and friends.
Sailing in this fair weather on this beautiful life we are flying our skull and cross bones high, stealing treausures and burying thanks.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Poppy's Perspective

2008-10-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

I have heard that we share over 90% of our genes with even our most distant mammalian relatives: observe mice. Over the last four days we have been busily harvesting, collecting, hording, or bordering neurosis, whatever you want to call it.
We picked up over 1,000 pounds of walnuts (that is 1,000 pounds after removing the hulls), we dug 456 pounds of sweet potatoes, smoked and canned 35 pints of peppers, filled the dehydrator with okra, froze about 15 pounds of persimmons, made a magnificent haul of Bill's Cherokee Hominy Corn, dug and hung enough peanuts to keep a circus elephant well fed (but not Huxley), and most importantly we soaked up some beautiful fall weather.
It is true I have been hording these beautiful days. I have been packing them away in my soul. I'm not sure days could be better spent. The product is more than just pounds and pints.
My hands are colored black from walnuts, the smell of their husks has stained my nose, the thud of their falling rings in my ear and the view of the breadth of the hollow from up on Betty's ridge has burned into my mind.
Packed into my soul are many of the seasons other harvests as well.
Huxley and I made our way up the hill to the persimmon tree through the bright and beautiful tones of coral berries and sumac and the hues of who knows how many different colors of grasses. Huxley hid under a cedar tree and picked sweet-everlasting and there was an audience of golden rod all under a soft blue sky. When we finally made it to the tree of our quest we began to gather and eat, to eat and gather and eat some more. There were animal trails all through the tall grass and persimmon seeds strewn everywhere: observe our genetic affinity with opposum, deer, coyote, fox, raccoon, and.....mice. Who could pass up that sweet fruit? Where do those persimmon roots dig that sugar from anyway? How do persimmon leaves manage to filter out those sweetest of the sun's photons?
Maybe we share a greater affinity with persimmon trees than has been realized. They are horders as well of the same sort of things as myself and mice: the sweetness of the season and the sugar of the land.

Mama's Musings

2008-09-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a while since our last notes from the farm. Fall has come upon us and with it many activities here on the farm. In mid-September we received our second batch of chickens ( 100 Cornish Crosses). They seem to be doing well- growing like weeds. Infact, they have almost out grown the brooder in the barn and will soon be heading out to pasture. Our garden had a rough go of it this summer with all the rain but we have managed to put up some food and have had a lot of luck with our fall garden- which is a change- usually it is too dry for anything to really flourish. It has been so wet here- we even got flooded in when rements of Ike passed over Missouri!
This last weekend was our 3rd Annual Art Celebration here on the farm and it was wonderful. The crafts were spectacular and as you can see by the pictures the farm had a true artistic flair for the weekend. I am already daydreaming about next year.
Caleb has found a new passion- mushrooms- both wild and cultivated so we are thinking of creating a niche in our farm for mushroom growing and selling. I have spent a lot of time at the stove lately frying up different types of fungi.

Mama's Musings

2008-09-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Ah, the rain is upon us again...yes, it has been a very wet summer around here. All the water has been hard our garden. Our tomato harvest was one of the worst yet- I did get to make some tomato jam though so I can't complain too much. We did spend the day processing smoked peppers. We have added some new peppers this year - hoping for more color and great flavor. Received one hundred more Cornish Crosses this last week. They seem content in their warm little brooder out in the barn. Hard to believe that they will be ready to butcher in a couple months- hopefully we'll be able to find freezer room. Collected a huge basket full of shitakes yesterday and have had the dehydrator running full force since then. Caleb and Huxley planted a fall garden a few weeks ago so we have been reaping the benefits...fresh salad greens and radishes so far. We are currently gearing up for the Art Celebration at the end of the month. A wonderful way to bring local artists and farmers together to share their wares.

Mama's Musings

2008-08-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

Woke at dawn this morning to butcher more chickens. It went fairly smooth and luckily the weather cooperated- it was nice and cool ( or at least cool enough). We have been focusing on butchering the roosters so that we can add the last 30 or so hens to our small group of chickens by the house and get some eggs. Huxley and I live off farm fresh eggs- which thankfully we can get from our neighbor right now- but ones from our own backyard sound even better. It is such a strange feeling to walk out to the free range coop and only see a handful ( about 35) of the chickens left. I must admit it is sort of sad- too quiet. We are seriously thinking of raising another batch before November- if we can find freezer room- there is so much chicken I am having a hard time finding room for my garden goodies I like to freeze every year.
Speaking of the garden- WE HAVE RED TOMATOES-I picked a whole basket full for dinner tonight- Hooray! Huxley loves it as his favorite past time in late summer is grazing on tomatoes in the garden. We have dived into canning the past week or so. Just added 14 more jars of potatoes to the cellar yesterday and hoping to put more green beans up tomorrow. Also, working on getting the fall garden in...we have never been very good at getting one in but I am bound and determined this year to eat greens from our garden until the first frost. Hope your harvest season is feeling as fulfilling...

Mama's Musings

2008-08-02T05:59:00.000-07:00

Not sure where the time has gone- already August! It has been extremely hot here which has caused me to want to do as little as possible outside during the day. Caleb is the opposite- loving the dripping sweat that humidity in Missouri brings. So my summer indoor activities have begun which include my favorite thing of the season- canning. Our garden is still behind in production but we have found an abundance of green beans, black eyed peas, and cucumbers. I was reminded the other day about how much work goes into black eyed peas- they take forever to get enough out of the shell to have a full canner load but it sure is worth it to eat a bowl full in the middle of January. I am happy to announce though that I have started to fill the shelves of our cellar with all the garden goodies I can.
We butchered another batch of chickens last week too. Waking very early to beat the heat. We have started to butcher the mixed breeds and are finding that they are a lot smaller than the Cornish Crosses- the average mixed is about 3 pounds while the average Cornish was 5 pounds. We did, however, make fried chicken with one of the 3 pounders and I can honestly say it was some of the best I have ever eaten...the meat has texture and a very rich flavor. We are tossing around the idea of raising another 100 chickens before November but have not finalized that plan yet.

Mama's Musings

2008-07-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

Another day of butchering behind us. It was another successful one - time and weather wise. It had rained the night before so the morning was cool and cloudy. In fact, just as the sun broke through the clouds (around noon) we were putting the last bird on ice. We had some smaller birds this time (between 2 and 3 pounds) which we heard make great fryers. After dealing with the 6 and 7 pounders the little ones felt like finches during processing!
We ate green beans and onions from our garden tonight- such a nice feeling to walk out the back door to get dinner out of the ground. I've been reading another Gene Logston book-my guru-and have gotten inspired yet again to pull weeds, harvest food for the winter, and look around our little farm and be extremely thankful.

Mama Musings

2008-07-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

Rain, rain, and more rain...with all this wet weather the garden is coming along quite slowly. We have a few green tomatoes and are crossing our fingers that the days will be warm and that they won't crack before they turn that delicious edible shade of red.
Had a nice treat appear on the farm the other day- Alex brought us a greenhouse! It is 12x15 feet, worn in, and perfect! Now we have to decide where to put it. I can't help daydreaming about year round salad greens.

Mama's Musings

2008-07-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our third official day of butchering. We weren't sure what caused it but we had our most smooth day yet. We woke up at 5:30 to rain so we sat on the back porch with tea and breakfast in hand trying to decide whether we should butcher or not. As the rain cleared, Caleb headed out to the propane burner to heat the scalding water and I knew we were in business. Amazingly we started at 8 and had all 24 chickens butchered by noon. Of course, we still had three hours of packaging left but being done by late afternoon was wonderful. We actually took a break and headed for the creek when we were all done. All of us have been very interested in the wild berry foraging that is available this time of year- made a gooseberry pie the other day that was amazing!
Today the ground is nice and soaked after more rain late last night so Caleb is already giving the garden the weeding attention it badly needs. So far our garden production is off to a slow start but this week we have enjoyed potatoes, onions, basil, one pepper, swiss chard, and fresh oregano (which I have been putting in everything).
It unfortunately has been a hard summer for the goats. We have lost quite a few to parasites which always seem to be worse with the wetter weather. We are trying some natural preventive wormers such as honeysuckle, kelp, and walnut. Hopefully these will make a difference. We have also decided to cut down the herd to hopefully a more manageable number for the winter ahead so we sold ten last weekend. I am hoping to add a couple more milk goats before the next milking season though. It seems as if our plans are ever changing- that is one thing that the farm life has taught me- go with the flow.

Mama's Musings

2008-06-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

We did our second day of butchering today and I must admit I am tired. We processed 24 chickens in about 10 hours- pretty good timing for a two person crew. Mostly Cornish Crosses as they are the fastest growing in the bunch. Invested in a vacuum sealer and am so happy that we did. It not only makes packaging simplier but it also helps the meat stay fresh longer in the freezer- from 2 to 3 years! Hoping to butcher another batch at the end of this week if we can find room in our feezer.
Tomorrow is a garden day. Caleb has been a weeding and mulching fool this week so we are hoping the majority of our time tomorrow can be spent planting more. We did eat our first pesto of the season tonight and it was delicious. As we sat down to eat we toasted in the summer season...ah, fresh basil.

WE'RE BACK....

2008-06-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

Well, Huxley and I have been back for about five days from our adventure out west. Yes, I feel spoiled and many thanks go to those who helped hold the farm together while we were gone. We have already started to get our hands dirty. Spent the first couple days enjoying muggy weather, the rain, pulling weeds, and visiting with friends and family. This morning, however, we jumped right back into the farm life again. We started butchering the chickens...yes, the dear little chicks we left in May have grown into beautiful free range poultry. This was the maiden voyage of the plucker and we are happy to report that it was amazing! It really can pluck two chickens in about 30 seconds. We are hoping to schedule a butchering day for all the locals so that everyone who wants to can see what a wonder this thing really is. We butchered twenty-four today and hope to keep a stream up of about 20 or so a week until all 180 are in the freezer. We have learned a lot during this chicken adventure and I must say that while helping with the processing today I couldn't help but look around me and think about how and where these chickens have been raised...we have a lot to be thankful for. We did bake one today for lunch and the flavor was wonderful. The birds are ranging between 4 and 7 pounds right now which means that we will be eating chicken all week-one bird goes a long way- which is a good thing.
Hoping to spend this week attacking the weeds in the garden and putting tomato cages in. The wet weather has been hard to work with so we are a bit behind in getting everything in that we wanted to- the staples are in though which hopefully means that I will be canning a lot in a few short months. Good to be back...

Why Did the Chicken Cross to the New Coop?

2008-04-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

Thought you might like to see how the chicks are growing. They were officially moved into the movable coop today. They seem to like the extra room. It is supposed to be cold the next couple nights so we put extra heat lamps in and will be checking on them a lot. These few birds are taking advantage of a little sunlight. Check out how fast the Cornish Crosses are growing ( the white bird in the picture). All the chicks that we ordered were heavy breeds but the Cornish are definitely growing twice as fast-amazing!

Mama's Musings

2008-04-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

As you probably can tell by our lack of journaling- spring has sprung around here which has caused us to get busy ( and be too tired to write at night). Today was spent getting the chicks ready to move into their "permanent" home. We moved them from the inside porch a few weeks ago (thankfully- they were starting to smell a bit) into the goat barn. Caleb built this amazing little brooder for them that was very roomy ( they have grown a lot since first putting them in there thus the use of the word "was"), a lot quieter than our house, and has a great view. But alas, they have grown too big for it and are now ready for the movable chicken coop. It has been amazing to see how fast these little guys grow and how much they eat! They won't be free ranging it for awhile yet but at least this will give them a chance to get comfortable in their new home.
Other news- last weekend we planted about 290 feet of asparagus. If all goes well we will have a lot to eat and sell in a couple years. The funny thing about all this asparagus is that when I ordered it this winter the people at the seed company said, "Are you sure you want that much?" and when I talked to neighbors about it, they said, "Are you sure you want that much?" Well, let me tell you after digging the huge trench to plant them in and spending the entire day lovingly planting them in our beautiful compost we were saying, "Are we sure we wanted this much?"
A neighbor, Chris, has been delighting us with little tid bits from his greenhouse and garden adventures. So far he has shared Elderberries, Raspberries, Horseradish, and an amazing variety of peppers in all colors and temperatures...smoked peppers here we come.
And our neighbor, Roseanne, was Santa for the day and brought us an old bee hive and some bee equipment- looks like bees are in our near future ( next year...). I hope so because I sure love honey and there is a magic to working with bees that I have missed.

mama's musings

2008-04-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

Our latest additions to the farm arrived today...all 200 of them...some Cornish Crosses and a mix of other heavy breed chickens. It was an adventure getting them here and we are feeling extremely thankful for friends and neighbors right now. I woke up on Thursday morning to yet another flood-the biggest so far this year-and a phone call with the news that our chicks were happily waiting for us at the post office...there was no way we could get there. So our newest farm members had a sleepover at Chris's (a home full of fellow chicken appreciators) and then were ferried across the creek via Roseanne's truck with Caleb in the passenger's seat. We are a bit out of practice with this whole chick thing so it took some time getting things set up but all seems well. Huxley is extrememly excited and has already taken the job of giving them feed as his own. We are keeping them on the inside porch for a couple days since the weather is supposed to be cold the next day or so...plus I think that secretly we like to be able to watch them interact with eachother.

The flood did do a number on the recently planted garden but as soon as the sun shines we'll plant what we need to again...I guess if farming was easy, everyone would do it...

mama's musings

2008-04-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

As I write this the beets, broccoli, cabbage, parsnips, turnips, greens, onions, brussel sprouts, peas, and kale are basking in our garden...recently, watered by Mother Nature. Yes, we finally had a day nice enough to begin planting. I would have to say the best part about gardening so far this year is that Huxley has been helping us. He and I spent most of the day shoveling compost into a sifter and taking the amazingly rich soil to the rows so that Caleb could place each seed or plant in its goodness . Each worm that we came across Huxley would pick up and place back into the compost pile..."their home", as he called it.
I began daydreaming about transplanting the shoots from the raspberry bushes that we planted last year...already envisioning a row full of bushes hanging with those tart berries. A project for the weekend ahead. We are also in full preparation for the chicks as they will be here next week...200 little ones to feed, water, keep warm, and enjoy. I think Huxley is going to find this next adventure quite exciting-he already loves feeding our laying hens.
Milking has been going fairly well-except for tonight. The goats decided that with their bellies full of new spring grasses and the weather exceptional- why come down to the barn for dinner. Huxley and I called and tried bribing with grain to no avail so no milking tomorrow-one day shouldn't hurt and I must admit a morning off sounds sort of inviting. I have had many people interested in milk...so many in fact, that I haven't even been making cheese- the milk doesn't stay around the farm long enough. I am happy to report that many are finding health benefits from drinking the milk-easier to digest. That makes it all worthwhile to me and reminds me why we are putting the effort into all of this- not only for our own health benefits but also for that of our community.

Poppy's Perspective

2008-03-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

The rain continues. I awoke early this morning to crashing lightening, pouring rain, the expectation of another flood and the realization that no garden work would be accomplished today. We are officially late in planting our onions, peas, salad greens, cabbage, and broccoli. We did get a little greenhouse play in today however and plenty of spring season appreciation. It is beautiful out. Dutchman's britches, phlox, pale corydalis, and rose verbena are all in bloom, and the verdant nature of the season frames the blooming colors. Bats are already on the hunt and this evening welcomed back the whip-poor-will.
Richard, Huxley and I made an attempt at loading up the milk cow yesterday. Our luck was as good as mine has been lately at managing to get days off from work to coincide with soil dry enough for planting in. She was immediately onto our out of the ordinary intentions and was taking no chances of decreasing her quality of life. Who can blame her? She resides in a beautiful spot. She has access to a beautiful upland pasture, a short leaf pine forest, and a serene creek bottom full of limestone bluffs and wise looking sycamores.
The rain does have its benefits. It is filling the water table, making the shitakes bloom, and giving me an excuse to do some reading.
I've been rereading some old friends and making some new in preparation for an upcoming event at work. The subject matter encouraged my thoughts to align in a way that somewhat allows me to articulate a part of our relationship with the land here.
The subject is sacredness. What is it? One thing that it can not be is anything for which a price can be attached. What are those things? Obviously people and memories, but then it occurred to me that also the property which I grew up on. I do not own that property, my parents do, but if I did, it wouldn't be for sale period. Alisen and I have often discussed whether we would ever sell this place. It seems unfathomable. Our farm is becoming sacred. What else is sacred? Very few material possessions if any. However, a couple of weeks ago Alisen, Huxley and I found two arrowheads within days of each other. We have found many arrowheads here on this farm since we moved in. Every time I find one the first emotion to arise is sheer joy at the luck and pride of sharp eye. But then ,within an instant, I clasp it and realize that no one has held this tool since the maker and I feel a connection. The maker of the arrowhead found this land as favorable a place to live as I do. The maker of the arrowhead is gone but no matter how he may have changed the land, he left it in a condition which was favorable for its continued existence as a healthy, life supporting piece of ground. The arrowhead is a symbol of that, a religious symbol, and a sacred symbol.

Poppy's Perspective

2008-03-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

The garden season officially opened today. We planted about three hundred feet of potatos. The soil was loaded with earth worms, warmth, and promise. There is an open ended word for you: Promise. Yeah, sure I could taste the June new-potatos, but I could also taste sweat and frustration as I eyed all those little chopped up pieces of johnson grass stolons laying beside the seed potatos.
The season opening was delayed by about a week due to 9.5 inches of rain that made for one spectacular flood but conditions not so great for tilling. But we are good to go for now anyway with onions, peas, and greens on the radar.
We have got another new fence. What we have called the potato-pasture now has a south and north half. The goats are presently inhabiting the south half. As of now we have six seperate pastures and are planning to subdivide a considerable amount more in the months and years ahead...the more the better or the more adjustable the better as this is all a part of, and our grand entrance into, a management plan known as intensive grazing. For more details on the ins and outs and what fors of this facinating system I would be pleased to introduce you to our local guru of grass: Mr. Tex.
We have also recently planted more trees. We have reintroduced an absent member of our arrowhead-spring-pasture floral community: The shortleaf pine. We have also planted three chestnut trees, three nanking cherry trees, and two fig trees.
One final bit of exciting news. We may have a milk cow on the way. Richard, our friend, computer technician, librarian, and fellow neighbor farmer has offered us the use of one of his cows who just happens to be mmm.... mostly Jersey. We will keep you updated on this exciting and most recent turn of events.

The First Batch of Cheese...

2008-03-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

I must start off by saying one word- Yum! Yes, we have almost completely finished the first batch of cheese- all I am going to say is whole wheat bread(made from scratch), homegrown sprouts, and creamy goat cheese...
It was an adventure making my first batch of the season. First off, finding things like organic buttermilk and ice created a bit of running around that I am not used to. The actual milk preparation for the cheese went great. I woke up the next morning though to find a bowl of milk that hadn't separated into curds and whey for some reason. After a few choice words I hit the books and learned that it was either the rennet or the weather. I took my chances and added more rennet, in time, I was rewarded for my patience.
Batch #2 will be in the making this weekend.

As a side the milk goats are doing great! They have taken to the milking routine and are usually waiting to get up on the stanchion in the morning. A twist in events, Suzie has become the star milker-she is giving a good amount of milk and is very patient. Lumpy, on the other hand, has gotten a bit stubborn about standing still and a bit greedy about the amount of food she wants to eat while being milked- I know, I suppose she is spoiled...oh, well!

Poppy's Perspective

2008-03-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

It was a great weekend. We planted about 75 trees: Pecans, paw paws, and possum haw. We planted to the music of spring peepers and rushing water, as the creek is still up. At one point I crawled up into one of our cave springs to get a cup of water for a newly planted paw paw and discovered a nice sized grotto salamander! And at another point while planting a possum haw I looked up to see two circling bald eagles.
Yesterday in an effort to correct a developing erosion problem near our barn we built a new fence to keep the goats off. The fence was built by lunch and by evening chore time I was being greeted by an Eastern Phoebe who was perched on the new wire singing his name to the heavens. It was fabulous to see him framed out in the open so happily.
This evening while moving the goats to a new pasture at dusk just as the Orion and the Pleiades were becoming visible I was admiring a sliver moon like a cup holding its darker two-third. There was still a red glow in the West from the sun as well as the glow of a distant forest fire on the old elk ranch. With the smell of smoke in the air the goat kids were crying from being separated, the spring peepers were at their prime volume, the great horned owl that lives up Lisa's hollow was making himself known, and a flock of geese flew overhead honking a spring serenade. It was a stimulus overload and it felt awesome!
For dinner tonight we had canned mashed potatoes and green beans from last year's garden and we cooked goat steaks over a fire. After dinner and chores Alisen, Huxley and I walked up to the top of the pond pasture to watch the fire on the elk ranch, enjoy the magnificent sky of stars, and feel the love of family.
Did I already say it has been a great weekend?

Our Destination

2008-03-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

We are striving to become a 'Forty Family Farm': Meaning, in time we hope to supply about forty families with as much of their meat and vegetable needs as possible. We hope to grow and produce a wide array of food: Vegetables from artichokes to zucchini available fresh seasonally and in great enough amounts to provide anyone interested the option of preservation; year-round salad greens; a variety of jams, jellies, smoked peppers, dried vegetables and other preserved foods; berries of several different kinds; walnuts, pecans, and chestnuts; a variety of mushrooms; lamb, chevon, beef, chicken, turkey, rabbit, tilapia; goat milk and cheese; cow milk, cheeses, butter, cream and yogurt; honey.

Farm Philosophy

2008-03-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

Our Farm Philosophy; or why we want to farm and our guiding principles.

We have chosen to farm because we have a passion for growing and harvesting food. We also feel that farming allows us our best opportunity to be a part of the land and community stewardship process that is so vital to sustaining the health of our environment and quality of our lives.
Our farm philosophy is simple. We want to farm in a way that is good for people and good for the land, or in short: What is good for the community. This is in Aldo Leopold's sense of the word community in which he "...enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, animals..." Wendell Berry suggests that one should measure every decision by the question, "What will this do to our community?" That is the question we wish to measure our decisions by.
Similarly, Leopold states (and we agree) that "a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."
All of this could be more simply stated by saying we wish to farm sustainable. Agricultural practices are said to be sustainable if they are socially just, environmentally sound, and economically viable. Yet, in asking of any practice whether it is sustainable or not is more art than science. For it all boils down to what kind of world we envision, the path we choose to get there and the information available by which we base our decisions.
So the world we envision is one in which food is full of nutrition, taste and character. We envision a world where food is supplied regionally and regions can boast of their differences and uniqueness. We envision a world in which farms filter our air and clean our water. We envision a world where people visit farms for fun. We envision a world in which farms have intact natural areas and function as refuges for natural things, whether it is a back forty or a native flower bed. We envision a world where farmers pride themselves on ecological restoration and where people visit farms to see wildlife. We envision a world in which small diversified farms dot the landscape so that one could ride a bicycle from coast to coast never having to travel for more than a days ride before coming to some farm by which room and board could be exchanged for doing some pleasant work. We envision a world where people not only know the farm that produces the food they eat but where people can actively participate in growing and harvesting the food they eat.

From the Milk Stanchion...

2008-03-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

For the last week or so I have had the privilege to start my day out in the barn with the milk goats. I am up to about two quarts a day from them (I leave their kids on them the rest of the day) and am getting very excited about the first batch of cheese.

Thought I would share a bit about the two goats that are meeting me at the stanchion each morning. Lumpy is the goat that I milked last year. She has an amazingly easy going personality (as long as their is food involved). I did figure out today that she is not too fond of cats; when they slink around the corner she is ready to start kicking. The other goat, Suzie, could care less if a cat is at her feet; dogs on the other hand are another story. Suzie is a new milker for me this year and has turned out to be the more patient of the two when I finally get her up on the stanchion (she'll put up a bit of a struggle until she sees the grain).

It Felt Like Spring...

2008-03-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

What a weekend...the weather was amazing- up into the 70's! We spent the entire time outside. Things have really started to pick up here on the farm. We have 16 goat kids that were born within the last month. We have spent plenty of time just watching them grow and play with eachother...they are very entertaining. Two of our milk goats gave birth and with that came the chance for Alisen to begin milking again. Hoping for our first batch of goat cheese by this weekend-YUM!