Duskwind Farm

The long week

2012-01-29T11:41:00.001-06:00

Friday enjoying the warm weather

Okay so it has not been the greatest week here. Joanie prolapsed again, this time we had to have the vet come out and put it back in. Poor Joanie was in so much pain. She ended up pushing it back out again while the vet was here and then tearing some of the tissue. Prognosis is not good. The vet, who was wonderful, said that it will only get worse and having babies is not a good idea for her. So although the prolapse is back in for now we are not sure that it will stay this way. There is no nice way to put this, Joanie will be culled this week.

Joanie's rectal prolapse

Ramona's lump

Then while giving Ramona a belly rub I noticed a lump. I of course freaked out. Ramona is 10 this year and you would not know it. So I took her in to the vet and decided to have the lump removed. She will go in on Tuesday for the surgery. The lump will be sent in for testing, crossing our fingers that it is only a lump and not cancer. In the meantime I am using oils on her, and I actually think the lump has decreased in size.

All the while Chuck was enjoying a little vacation with some friends- ice fishing. Hope he comes home with a couple meals worth!

A myotonic prolapse

2012-01-23T22:27:00.001-06:00

The gardening workshop turned out great! Territorial Seed Company sent me a box full of seed to hand out, added bonus! So now I am on to planning another workshop, this time raising backyard chickens!! Several people showed interest in that and a workshop on preserving the harvest.

And it is finally starting to look like winter outside. We don't have enough snow for Kid 1 to make a snow man, but that did not stop her!

This morning when I went out to feed and water I noticed Joanie, the myotonic, had a something coming out of her. I looked close and it seemed to be coming from her anus. I ran and got my camera freaking out that she had prolaped like one of our sheep. That was an awful experience one I hope never to repeat, so I downloaded the pictures and sent them off to a fellow goat herder. One definitely more experienced than I. I am sure I have mentioned her once or twice (Shonyo Farm), anyway she told me to relax a little. Turns out this can happen in myotonic goats. Now it is something that I need to watch but she explained it as having to do with the muscle tone and if they have a heavy cough this type of rectal prolapse can happen. By the time I had gotten back out the prolapse was back in. Joanie is pregnant and her weight gain, due to the pregnancy, is putting pressure on her innards and then the coughing that I saw her doing this morning did not help. It was also suggested that I drench her with a cup or so of mineral oil and the use of some essential oils. Poor thing, seriously being pregnant comes with all sorts of issues!

You can see in the above picture her back legs are stiffened due to her fainting. I will keep an eye on her and cross my fingers that this does not happen again!!

Free Gardening Workshop

2012-01-18T21:03:00.000-06:00

I know it is cold outside, but believe me this is the best time to start planning your garden. I am so excited about this gardening workshop, and about sharing with you what I have learned from growing my own produce.

So if you are interested in growing your own produce, but just aren't sure where to begin? We will talk about preparing your plot, buying seeds, and caring for your plants. Besides learning about gardening I hope it will be a great opportunity to connect with others who share similar interests. Join us on Saturday January 21st from 2pm until 4pm at McPete's in Big Lake. If you have any questions please feel free to shoot me an email.

Nourishing the kid

2012-01-05T20:40:00.000-06:00

The other day I took the littlest kid in for a doctors appointment. There was no concern just trying to find a physician in the area that I like. Unfortunately it will be hard to top the one we left.

When you have a baby they like to see you in the office about every three months for the first 15 months of the kids life. For Kid 2 this was his first time, although he was seem by his midwife the first couple months. They might consider me a bad mom, but we don't vaccinate and I don't feel the need to bring the kid in just to have him weighed. Sure they say they need to make sure the kid is reaching all the milestones, but I have no concerns. For your whole pregnancy they say no two are the same, then you head into labor and the same things applies, but as soon as you have that kid they better start babbling, sitting, crawling and walking in a certain time frame.

So why am I writing about this? I am truly convinced that my nutrition before, during and after pregnancy, plus the great foods that my now toddler is eating are helping him grow. I feel like I have a secret that I want to scream from the roof top!

My secret~ eat lots of good fats, only grass-fed meat, pastured eggs and as much organic fruits and veggies that you can get your hands on. Not to complicated right? I didn't think so.

We eat lots of butter made from cows on pasture. The two we like are Kerrygold and Organic Valley Pasture Butter. Sometimes the toddler likes to eat a spoonful of butter! When looking at meat, butter and eggs (and milk for that matter) it is important to buy grass based- forget about organic. Organic is no better than confinement if they are not pastured. Now organic and pastured is a huge plus!

And sometime he just like butter in his hair!

When I was pregnant with Kid 1 I got into doing all sorts of research about what I should eat and then when she was eating, what I should feed her. Along the way I bookmarked Nourishing Our Children. After having Kid 2 I again started researching, funny thing the same thing that I found 4 years ago for Kid 1 was the same for the second one. As it should be! Since the first kid Nourishing Our Children has put together a DVD, and although I don't own it yet, I was able to watch two previews of the DVD available on their website. It is amazing!

I also recently ran across this post on The Nourished Life. Elizabeth Walling writes about an e-course called, Beautiful Babies: Nutrition for Fertility, Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and Baby's First Foods. In this particular post is a sneak peak into this 12 week course. I sure wish I had some extra money laying around to enroll in this course and buy the Nourishing Our Children DVD!

The woman who saw Kid 2 at the clinic was amazed at how well he behaved, sat, listened to instruction and played with his sister. I know that in part his development, temperament, and smarts are due to his and my nutrition.

A love story

2011-12-29T21:15:00.000-06:00

Farming is loving something so much it pains you. It is risking everything, loosing it and feeling blessed. Farming is my passion.

I know this for certain. I can think of nothing that I have ever done that has made me so happy. And yet I am a farmer with no farm.

It has been a year, a whole year since we left everything. I can honestly say not a day goes by that I do not think about our farm.

My heart breaks thinking of the animals we will never see again. Tears well looking back at the pictures.

We are farmers without a farm but one day, one day soon, we will have our own place. And although nothing will be able to replace the love lost, we hope to find new love.

If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were.Khalil Gibran

Cheers to a happy and healthy new year~

Planning a garden for next year?

2011-12-22T20:56:00.001-06:00

After a year off of gardening I am already planning for next year. I have gotten several catalogs and after this crazy holiday season ends I will be placing some orders! Dreaming of all the fresh possibilities definitely keeps me warm during these cold dark winter days. I love pouring over all the wonderful descriptions, learning new planting techniques- like did you know that before you plant sunflower seeds you should put them in the freezer first, something about the cold helps them germinate. How cool is that!

A few months back a couple of friends asked if I would help them plan their produce garden. I was so excited about the opportunity that I mentioned it to a couple other friends and before you knew it I was in the midst of planning a class! So now I would like to extend the invitation to you!

Are you interested in growing your own produce, but just aren't sure where to begin? We will talk about preparing your plot, buying seeds, and caring for your plants. Besides learning about gardening with will be a great opportunity to connect with others who share similar interests. Join us on Saturday January 21st from 2pm until 4pm at McPete's in Big Lake. If you have any questions please feel free to shoot me an email.

Hope to see you there!

Hunting for the perfect tree

2011-12-17T22:02:00.001-06:00

This is the first year since kid 1 was born that we have celebrated Christmas with a tree. She was very excited to hunt down a real tree.

She liked the idea of a kid sized tree,

while Chuck was teasing her about getting a much bigger tree.

Finally we all finally agreed on one! As you can see from the pictures there is almost no snow. The kid is a little disappointed, but as of late has been preoccupied by the countdown to Christmas.

Seeing the fun of Christmas through a 4 year old's eyes has been so wonderful. It has been very hard not to let her open all the presents already!

Kid friendly cookies on a stick

2011-12-14T21:14:00.001-06:00

The kid and I have been busy baking! She loves counting how many cups of this or that she puts into the bowl, and of course licking the spoon. Today we made cookies on a stick. This recipe comes from my childhood. I am not sure my where mother found this one, but I do remember making it every year. Why is it that anything on a stick seems to taste better?

I know some of you are in shock right now. Yes the picture above is of candy- full of corn syrup and many unpronounceable scientifically engineered crap, what can I say. As a kid every year we made holiday cookies to share with our family and friends, and now I am finding myself wanting to share this tradition with my kids. The little one loved watching and playing with the measuring cups, but the big 4 year old was all business!

This recipe is super easy. Basically put bite size candy bar on a popsicle stick, wrap peanut butter cookie dough around it, dip into sprinkles, and bake.

What holiday traditions are you passing on to your kids?

Kid friendly cookies on a stick

1 bag bite size candy bars
Enough popsicle sticks for 3 dozen cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour

Unwrap candy, stick with popsicle stick, put into freezer.

Mix butter and peanut butter together until smooth, add sugars, baking soda and baking powder. Mix until combined, add eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, a little at a time. Chill for a half an hour. Form a ball around the frozen candy stick, not to much just enough to cover the candy bar. Decorate with sprinkles before baking, or frost after. Bake at 375 for 11-13 minutes. Let cool before taking a bite- that candy is hot, hot, hot! For a quick and easy way to wrap each cookie put a sandwich bag over the cookie and tie a bow at the base.

Enjoy!

Squash Pie

2011-12-13T07:37:00.002-06:00

I think Mother Nature is confused. Right now, just this minute at 7:40 am on December 13th the temperature is 36. Not -36, we are in the positive people. It is wonderful, but the kid, well she would like some snow. She wants snowmen, snowballs, and she wants to eat her some snow! For crying out loud she has new snow pants she needs to break in. Maybe Mother Nature is under the weather- maybe Santa will have to step in.

I have been wanting to share my squash pie recipe for some time now, the problem that I have run into is actually taking a picture of the finished product. The pie barley cools and it is gone. I used to make the regular old pumpkin pie- but then I was introduced to hubbard. Hubbard is a sweet squash with a outer layer that is so hard you almost want to use a chainsaw to cut it open. And it is so big you might have enough squash to make 10 pies!

It is a little more work than just opening a can of pureed pumpkin from the store, but it is oh so worth it! And with the extra you just divide it up and put it in the freezer for later. I put mine in pint mason jars- there is enough to make a nine inch pie in each jar.

So for next year go out and get yourself a hubbard squash, or grow 'em. I cut mine in half and bake them face down on a sheet until I can stick a knife into the meat without resistance. Scoop out the goods, puree it and either cook up a whole lota pies or divide it up and freeze.

Squash Pie
11/4 cups pureed squash
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon flour
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup evaporated milk ( 1 12 ounce can = 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix it up- put it in a pie crust and bake at 400 for about 45 minutes. To know when it is done shake it a little it should not move like liquid but more like jello. Cool it completely, then put it in the fridge, the flavors are much stronger when cold. Cut and enjoy!

Rooster Update!

2011-12-02T10:09:00.001-06:00

This morning Chuck said it was 11 degrees out! I know it is December and it is supposed to be cold, but cold with no snow just seems wrong. Yesterday the rooster was still sneezing and still had gooey eyes. But this morning things seem to be markedly different. The ointment my friend Lynne gave me has worked! The ointment was animals scents from Young Living, to the ointment I am not sure all that she added, but I know there was thieves, and Copaiba. She also gave me some Purification to put in the water. She was a little worried that they would not drink the water, but they did. In fact last night when I checked on them their dish was half empty. This morning I gave them another drop of the purification in the water and as you can see Sandino did not mind at all.

Sorry that the pictures are not that clear, but my fingers were almost frozen!

Could my rooster have a cold

2011-12-01T14:44:00.001-06:00

Can't catch a break with these chickens. Yesterday I went out to find our rooster sneezing, then when I got a closer look at him he had discharged bubbling out of his eyes! It looked like when kids blow bubbles with their spit. He was also breathing with his beak open. By the time I got back out with my camera there was only little bubbles in the corner of his eyes, and he was breathing normal. So I called my friend Lynne and she gave me some essential oils to put on his comb, and one to put in the water. I need to make sure that the girls don't get sick. I am also sending Chuck to the butcher to get some liver, they go crazy for raw liver, it will give them extra protein and hopefully boost their energy to fight off whatever might come their way. Poor things! You can't really give them chicken soup!

This morning he was about the same, and none of the girls were sneezing or showing any signs of sickness, so I put the same essential oil stuff on all of their combs. Crossing my fingers for a fast recovery, and no one else getting it.

Updating the chicken coop

2011-11-25T18:53:00.001-06:00

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had. Chuck said it was the best thanksgiving dinner he has ever had. That puts a lot of pressure on next year! Neither of us are big turkey fans, so this year I made rabbit. Our friend Lynne raises heritage breed rabbits. I made rabbit, mushroom and Tarragon stew. I had gotten two rabbits from Lynne and only used the legs, the rest is in the freezer waiting for another stew. I mostly followed the recipe except I used two different kinds of mushrooms, and the white wine came from a batch my dad made. The sauce did not thicken, so I just made a roux in a separate pan and use the sauce from the stew to make gravy. Since there was so much sauce the next day I turned it into beef stroganoff- again it was amazing! I will definitely be making this recipe again!

The old roof taken off- the new siding on

The weather was fantastic over the weekend and we were able to get some outside work done. Earlier this year our chicken coop roof suffered some damage, nothing major just a few holes, but something that needed to be fixed before we got a bunch of snow. Chuck had also been working on putting siding on the coop and the lean-to.

The poor chickens were locked up for a couple of days while Chuck put the siding on. He had to take down the outside run, and since we have had trouble with neighbor dogs the chickens had to stay inside. As soon as we let them out they headed to their favorite dust bathing spot. Poor things! So this got me to thinking, I am thinking I might shovel up some of the loose sand, put it into a couple 5 gallon buckets and give the chickens sand for winter dust bathing. Then I can mix the sand with diatomaceous earth for some real mite control. Every time I add new bedding to the coop I dust the old bedding with diatomaceous earth, although I am not sure this actually does anything it does make me feel like I am.


The back of the coop all finished with a new roof!

The new siding is all up and now to finish the front. Next is insulating. The goal is to make it nice and comfy in there- so comfy the girls want to lay eggs all winter! And just warm enough so their water does not freeze. So far they seem to like it. Although it is a little dark- we are working on that too!

I am Thankful

2011-11-23T12:46:00.001-06:00

Kid #1 with Penelope Kid #2 with butter in his hair!

This year has been anything but easy. With so much seeming to go wrong sometimes it's hard to be thankful, it's hard to push aside the crap and look at the good. So, I want to take a moment and share what I am thankful for. If you feel so inclined I would love to hear what you are thankful for.

Chuck and Shep- takin' by our friend Adair

We have moved on, and I am thankful. We are living with my dad, and I am thankful. I have two healthy and happy children, and I am thankful. I am married to a man who is a wonderful husband, father, friend, and in-law, and I am thankful. My mother was diagnosed with Cancer, has gone through chemo and will start radiation soon, her energy is up and she is in good spirits, and I am thankful. I have wonderful friends and family who are supportive and understanding, and I am thankful.

My dad~
Happy Thanksgiving!

On the road to Thanksgiving

2011-11-10T20:29:00.001-06:00

I posted this back in July and thought I should re-post as a reminder that the turkeys you buy in the grocery stores are not happy or healthy. Please this year think about buying from a local farm. If you don't know where to start looking try EatWild or Local Harvest. I even found some on craigslist.

The other day while on a trip into the cities it seemed to be snowing, snowing white feathers. I wondered if maybe the Canada geese were molting and that was why so many feathers. Not really sure how that is possible, but sometime my mind doesn't always make sense.

Then I saw this
I still could not tell exactly what it was, so I sped up.
A truck load of turkeys. It just breaks my heart. And I wondered, what were all the people driving by thinking. Would this change the way they ate, or bought meat? Sadly probably not.

My dear friend Douglas Post

2011-11-09T10:22:00.000-06:00

Last week I lost a very good friend. My friend Doug Post.

Doug was my genetics professor at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. There are 3 things I remember from that class. One, calico cats are always female. Two if you wanted to make sure you passed any class of Doug's he recommended leaving a bottle of Johnnie Walker blue on his desk along with your final exam. And the third is Doug was never politically correct and had a great sense of humor.

My very first day of class with Doug was definitely a memorable one. Shortly after Doug started class a man opened the door to the lecture hall and summoned Doug over, they talked for a minute and then class resumed. Doug never said anything about the man or what they talked about, he just kept lecturing. After a few minutes a man came in and looked around, Doug was talking about genes and I remember he commented on this guys lack of hair. The guy left, a few minutes later several men came in all wearing blue FBI jackets, they spread out and walked up and down the isles. I happened to be sitting with two friends, we were a little more than half way up the lecture hall, sitting in the middle of the row. There were probably 4 or 5, maybe more, FBI men walking the class. This was one of those large lecture halls that probably sat a hundred or so. Doug kept lecturing through the whole thing, making random comments about the FBI men in the class as it related to what he would be teaching in class. Then all of the sudden several of the men came into the row right in front of where we were sitting, jumped over the girl who was in front of us and grabbed a guy. Without saying anything the FBI agents picked the man up, and out of the class he went. Just as they were leaving Doug says, "Anyone else thinking of dropping the class."

Doug was certainly one of a kind. I was lucky to have traveled several summers with Doug out west on his Bio Wyo trips, and one winter trip to the deserts of the southwest. Doug passed away on Sunday, October 30th of acute pancrentitas. I was fortunate to be able to spend time with him at his home in the woods and have frequent phone conversations. I will miss his caring voice, his reassuring and encouraging words, and his love for life and learning. Below is a copy of his obituary.

Douglas Delray Post, formerly of Amherst Junction, WI, died Sunday, October 30, 2011, at Marshfield Hospital, of complications arising from acute pancreatitis. Born December 11, 1938, in Canton, Illinois, Delray, as he was known to family and friends, graduated from Rushville High School in Rushville, Illinois, in 1956. To earn money for college, Delray spent his summers working as a ranch hand at the Charlie Burton Ranch in the heart of the Sandhills region of Nebraska, near Bingham, from 1955 to 1960, a period and place that shaped his heartfelt love of the American West and no-nonsense perspective on life. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, in 1960, and earned a Master of Science degree and a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Biology in 1970 from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. He conducted pioneering field-based research on sympatric speciation that led to the identification of a new frog species, the Plains Leopard Frog, the Latin name of which he assigned in honor of one of his biology professors. Doug served as a professor in the Biology Department at UW-Stevens Point from 1969 until his retirement in 2006, when he was awarded emeritus status. He was an inspiration to many of the hundreds of students that enrolled in his classes, especially his field biology classes based in Wyoming and the Desert Southwest. Teaching was a lifelong passion to which Doug devoted himself tirelessly. He enjoyed tending to his sheep, vegetable gardens, flowering plants, honey bees, and hummingbirds; loved exploring the woods around his house; and took great pride in hearing about the many exploits of his children and grandchildren. His family and friends will always remember him for his incisive wisdom, hunger for knowledge, passion for reading, adamant non-conformist approach to life, sense of humor, love of nature, and tender compassion for those he loved. His stories were always interesting, often humorous, and occasionally believable.

He was preceded in death by his father, Marshall Stephen Post. He is survived by his mother, Velma Post, Rushville, IL; brother, Delbert Post (Liz), Tampa, FL; sister, Marsha Post, Philmont, NY; ex-wife, Janice Ronchetto, Stevens Point, WI; fiancée, Judy Ratkowski, Plover, WI; daughter, Debora Post (Thom Walsh), Rosholt, WI; son, Eric Post (Pernille Boving), State College, PA; six grandchildren, Geoffrey Yenter (Afton Otto), Tyler Yenter, Lindsay Yenter, Mason Post, Phoebe Post, and Boochie Post; and one great-grandson, Calvin Yenter. A visitation will begin at Shuda Funeral Home, Stevens Point, WI, at 10 am, Friday, November 4, followed by a memorial service beginning at noon of the same day. Condolences may be left online at shudafuneral.com.

Meet the man

2011-11-08T07:03:00.000-06:00

This is Harmon. He is a Nubian buck- ain't he cute? Well don't get to close 'cause boy goats are gross. It's not their fault, blame it on the girls. When the girls are in estrus the boys lose control of themselves. Oh, they are not like this all the time, just when the girls are in heat. Poor boys, just minding there own business, then one day they get a whiff of a lady in heat and they start peeing on themselves. Yep you read that right- the boys pee on themselves. Poor Harmon didn't even know what hit him, this is his first race around the tracks. Sweet innocent little boy, just became a man.

The male goats are called bucks and in the fall they go into rut, just like deer. While in rut they have this urge to pee on their legs and face. Sometimes even in their mouths. This drives all the girls wild. Bucks have sent glands on their legs that excrete an oil. The bucks then rub this oil over themselves and peeing on themselves helps release this oil. The smell from the oil is like a greeting card to the ladies.

Harmon has been in with Friday and Joanie since October 16th. Does go into estrus on average every 21 days. The day I went to pick Harmon up, a doe at the farm he came from was in heat, so Harmon was already wet with pee. Upon smelling him Joanie went into heat and I am assuming not much longer and Friday came into heat as well. This Sunday Harmon leaves to bring his services to another farm. Boys don't stay gross for long, come winter they will most likely stop all this grossness and return to sweet innocent men.

Support your right to choose what you eat

2011-11-02T11:52:00.000-05:00

Do you know Michael Schmidt? Well you should- he is fighting for our right to eat what we choose. The quick history of Michael Schmidt: he lives in Canada, he is a farmer, he sells fresh milk. His farm was raided by 25 armed officers (a tad over the top don't you think?) in 2006 for selling fresh milk. Does this not seem crazy to anyone else? We are talking milk, not cocaine! Why does Canada's government, and ours for that matter really care if I choose to drink fresh milk? Which by the way I have been drinking for 7 years, my kid, soon to be kids, husband and whoever visits our house drink it as well. Oh they will tell you it is about safety. Really? How many hundreds of thousands of pounds of meat get recalled every year? From January to September 26th of this year, too many to calculate but just for January of 2011 alone 45,239 pounds of meat recalled. Yet these companies are allowed to continue to operate. They hide, trying to stay out of the spotlight, hoping the media will not focus on them, hoping it will not hurt the bottom line. But a dairy farmer caught selling fresh milk- wants attention, hopes the media will not go away. Hmmmm?

Michael is on a hunger strike- he is on day 35. All he is asking is for his government to meet with him. That is it. And you know what, they have no plans of doing so. How interesting that they raid his farm for consuming something, but will let him die by consuming nothing. Weird set of laws, if you choose to live you must consume what we deem good for you, even if there is loads of evidence to show otherwise. Today it is fresh milk- what will it be tomorrow? It is your right to choose what you want to put in your body. If you choose pasteurized milk that is your choice why can we not allow the same freedom for those who choose unpasteurized milk?

Backing up, what I do and where

2011-10-29T07:15:00.001-05:00

I love my computer, it is a MacBook Pro from 2007. And when I say I love my Mac I mean I LOVE it. I could not live without it. I do not know what I would do if it died, it is my life. Okay so now that you know that let me just say I am not so good at backing up my computer (read I never backed up my computer). I know how important it is and how devastated I would be if everything was somehow gone. But I never really knew when to back up and how, did I really have to have a bunch of CD's to back up, and how the heck do you back up everything to a CD. I wanted to, but somehow it just never happened.

Then our internal hard drive got full. I tried to delete things, I even got some of those flash drive things and put stuff on them, it made a difference for a while. Then the pop ups would start again telling us our start up disk was full. I had to do something I was afraid one day the hard drive would be so full the computer would not turn on anymore, not sure this is a realist fear but I did not want to take any chances. I started doing research, I figured I could get an external hard drive move our pictures and some other stuff onto the external drive to free up the internal one. While reading reviews I like to also read the comments, and I found brilliance. One commenter said- sure get an external drive but also back up through an online back up service. The reasoning was if a fire came through your house the fire will not only burn you computer but also you external drive- so backing up just on a drive will not save your stuff. I had never heard of an online back up service. So I started doing more research. And this is what I found and this is where I back up:

We pay $5 a month to have our computer backed up online through BackBlaze. I love it! It is super easy all you do is install the program and it backs up automatically, and constantly! The thing is though is it replaces itself, so for example if you deleted something and then weeks later realized you needed it, you have a month from the time you deleted it from you computer until you will no longer have access to it. If you happen to loose everything from you computer you can get an external hard drive or a CD with your restore on it. That does cost extra but well worth it if you loose everything. Having an external hard drive that malfunctioned I had to use this service. It was awesome and the customer service was great, a little slow but answered my crazy I think I lost everything hysteria. They do offer free restores, but generally for small items not a whole hard drive. You can also have BackBlaze back up your external hard drive.

I also back up on Backupify. Here I back up social medial. You can back up 3 social media accounts for free. So I back up my email, my Facebook Page and my blog. To me the most important thing is to never loose my pictures. I share lots of pictures on Facebook, so in itself Facebook is a good online back-up service.

I also back up on DropBox. Another free site, up to 8GB. Here I can "drop" files or pictures into the icon on my computer and DropBox saves it. The site is free, but you can earn more storage by inviting friends. So the above link is an invite link if you want to join through that link you and I will both get extra storage.

I also have some of my pictures stored on Flickr. With the intention to move more there soon.

Plus I have the external hard drive. So now I hope I am covered and never loose my precious pictures.

Planting Garlic

2011-10-26T18:21:00.000-05:00

These past couple of weeks have been rough. Loosing Ben was awful, plus we had colds, Chuck threw his back out then got a paper cut in his eye! To top all that the external hard drive that I moved all of my pictures to malfunctioned and no longer has any of the 4 years of pictures stored on it. The company who I bought the hard drive from offers a recovery service $300 to $1000. To me that seems strange I have owned the thing for 3 weeks, it had the pictures one day and not the next, shouldn't there be a free recovery service if the device you sold is a piece of crap. I should say it was not selective- everything was gone, but the pictures were the most important. So we are hoping to be on an upswing this week.

In the mix of all that I planted garlic. I think garlic is one of the easiest things to grow, the key- planting in the fall and good manure compost. I planted close to 200 cloves which will all turn into heads. We use a lot of garlic and I am hoping to be able to sell some, and have some to plant for 2013's harvest. My dad, ever so helpful, heard about a way to plant garlic that would be a space saver. Thus the great garlic project was born. I planted about half the cloves my way, in rows, and the other half the "new" way. Before planting the new way we had to make the planter board.

The new way does save on space- that is for sure. Preparing to planter board took much more time then planting them in rows, however next year if I decide to use the planter board I wont have to make it. As you can see from the pictures the new way does save on space- in fact a lot of space. We will see how easy it is to weed. As for the actual planting, I used a broom handle to make the holes- it was difficult. Not for any fault of the new way- but we live in sand, actually we live in sand dunes.

So while making the holes the sand kept filling back in, my dad came to the rescue with a watering can.

Once the board was lifted off it was time to put the garlic in the wholes. Since the holes were not all that great it was difficult to see if I actually planted garlic in the hole or not. I am sure with practice I would get a routine down and this would not be an issue. After planting I layered each plot with straw and now the growing begins!

I promise to post directions on making the planter board soon.

No running water, No electricty, a little more detail

2011-10-17T07:31:00.000-05:00

By far the most popular reason people are brought to our site is by searching 'living with no running water or electricity.' And although we are currently living with all the amenities I thought I might talk about our lifestyle prior to our leaving the farm. I think it fascinates and confuses people as to why we would want to live this way. When we started dreaming of our farm, we knew we wanted to live simply, not necessary with out running water. The land where we were to live had neither running water or electricity and to get both of those it would have been a steep investment, one that would have cost more than we could afford and would have prolonged our start into farming. We decided that we would start living without. We figured we would slowly start to acquire these finer things in life. Living without would give us an idea of how we wanted to live- whether it be the traditional well and septic, and being tied to the grid or something more sustainable.

In June of 2008 we moved into a 32 foot travel trailer. The hardest part about that first summer was not having running water for the animals. By the barn there was an old non-working sand-point that we had to re-install in order to get water for the animals. The goal was before winter, so in the mean time we collected rain water runoff. We were lucky that first summer to have many wonderful rain days, although haying was made difficult.

Seems like the thing that peaks curiosity is bathing. We choose a location for the travel trailer that was hidden from the road and other building. We did this because we like our privacy, which worked out well for sun showering. We would collect rain water put it out in the sun to heat the water up, and that is what we used for bathing. It is a wonderful feeling being outside with the sun and the breeze on your body, we continued to sun shower when we had the house too. We had a wash tub that we would fill with water for the kid, and I would also wash diapers in the tub. Later in the summer we bought a kiddie pool, and would sometimes use that like a big bathtub.

That fall Chuck started building our house, 384 square feet of luxury! Moving from a travel trailer that felt like living in a hallway to the house was wonderful, it felt huge in comparison.

The barn on the property had electricity so we could run the sand point and our freezers. In our house we had a propane stove and a propane refrigerator, out of an old RV. At first we lived with no lights, using only oil lamps and the sun. We built the house with passive solar in mind. We moved into the house in October, the sun was setting much earlier and by December we could not stand it. The house would be dark around 4, and we found ourselves getting sleepy. Oil lamps were more like mood lighting! So we had to put in some lights. We used a boat battery as our source of energy and put two socket up one on either side of the house. It was fantastic! Cooking dinner became so much easier. We then would take the battery to the barn to charge it. At first we used regular light bulbs, then in 2010 we switched to the compact light bulbs this made a huge difference. We went from charging the battery a few times a week to a few time a month. Our goal was to get some sort of solar charger hooked up to the battery so that we would not have to haul it to the barn to charge it.

We also had a generator for running the washing machine and dryer, and later the water heater. When we ran the generator for laundry we would also charge our laptop. The generator was loud but so useful to have. There were several times a storm came through and our neighbors did not have electricity and we never knew. The washing machine and dryer are both Bosch, and I love them! The washer plugs into the dryer and the dryer plugged into the generator. You only had to have cold water, there was a setting that you could use that would heat up the water. This was fantastic, since we did not have hot water, and I had diapers to wash. At first we ran a line from the sand point at the barn to our house. Later we put a sand point at the house that we would then use. The sand point at the house was put into our root cellar along with a water heater. Above the root cellar was what we call the coop it housed our bathtub, our laundry machines and our composting toilet.

The toilet- yet another thing that people are curious about. This one has been an adventure. As we all need to go- and have some place to do it. In the olden days farm houses had an outhouse, not such a big deal but we were not sure that is what we wanted. Although we knew whatever we did it would have to be outside, as our house was just to small. At this point we looked into composting toilets, nice, compact but expensive. Then we found The Humanure Handbook, we decided then to make our own composting toilet. There is tons of information to be found on the web, one to check out is Humanure Headquarters.

For heat we had a wood stove, not such a big deal to heat such a small house. We were plenty warm, even though we did not have insulation in the walls yet. We probably went through more wood then we would have, but still we did not go through that much wood. Leaving the farm for an extended time in the winter was made difficult as there was no secondary heat. Anything that had water in it or was liquid would freeze, eventually the goal was to have a heater of some sort, just to keep things from freezing. We did have a small propane heater in the coop, and thought about something like that for the house.

Now that we are back living among the amenities I do miss living simply, however it is nice to have warm water when you need it.

A sadness of the worst kind

2011-10-14T14:00:00.007-05:00

This week we put to rest a member of our family. He was not large in stature but he was a large part of what made up our pack. Ben slipped away from us this week. He was a funny little dog that taught us many things, not the least being wonderful things come in small packages. He was a good boy and he will be missed immensely!

2 more equals a farm

2011-10-05T07:08:00.005-05:00

On our journey back to farming the first phase is fresh milk. Being spoiled with having fresh milk all the time we have had to make adjustments. Soon we will be enjoying our own milk once again, this time goats milk. If you would have asked me just a year ago if I would have ever gotten goats I would have laughed and said no way. But in all truth I did not understand goats, and now I have 4- go figure!

You already knew about Joanie and Friday, and now we have 2 more. Almond and Pansy, both Nubians. Although Pansy might get a new name, the kid is thinking one up. I am afraid she might be called snow white, as that is the current addition.

Goats have the personality of dogs, they want your attention, and treats if you've got them, and if not what is wrong with you anyway! I am and have been absorbing any and all information on goats. My current search is about feeding. We did not feed our cows grain and wonder about feeding goats a more plant based diet. This has been a learning adjustment for me, as goats are so different than sheep or cows in so many ways. It has been good for us to have a positive movement in the farm direction, I can't wait to start milking my own goats come spring!

Monthly meal planning

2011-10-01T06:05:00.005-05:00

Well it is the beginning of another month and around here that means time for me to make another monthly meal plan. Boy do I seem organized!

I started this about 2 years ago. With Chuck in school full time, working, farming, and a young kid, it was hard to find time to grocery shop. I could really make time to go shopping once a month. Knowing what I was going to cook, and what I was going to need to cook those meals became important.

I don't always follow the plan, but it feels good to have one. I don't plan breakfasts or lunches, just dinners hoping to have leftovers for lunch.

I have also given up on cookbooks, but I gave up on those years ago. I found that some cookbooks had maybe two or three recipes that I used otherwise the book just sat around collecting dust. So, I decided to make my own cookbook. I took all my favorite recipe, put them in one place, then donated the cookbooks. I find most of my recipes now online, and when I find one that we like I add it to the cookbook.

Making a monthly meal plan might seem daunting, I have found what works for me is to assign meat or meatless days- so here is what my weeks looks like:

Mondays: Beef
Tuesdays: Fish
Wednesdays: Meatless
Thursdays: Chicken
Fridays: Pork
Saturdays: Soups- now that the weather is getting cooler, in the summertime this could be free choice or salad day
Sundays: Nothing- those are Chuck cooking days!

When I started breaking my weeks down like this it became easy and not so overwhelming. I try not to repeat too many recipes from month to month. And with the change in season this becomes easier.

Having meal time planned has really simplified my life. Doing one big grocery trip knowing what we need and what we don't saves money, not to mention time.

Another site that I like to use while planning my meals is eat the seasons. The site tells me what is in season here in the US. I use it mostly in the winter when we need fresh fruit and we are in a snowy waste land. I have found that just because this site says that it is in season does not mean that the store actually got if from US.

Back online

2011-09-27T07:38:00.011-05:00

Things have been a tad bit busy, that combined with the fact that we had a small computer issue. Oh, and my camera died. The computer issue was remedied with the purchase of an external hard drive. Apparently I take too many pictures and Chuck has too much music. I have no idea what happened to the camera, but now I have a fancy schmancy new camera that I am totally in love with. It makes everything look so pretty!

I have also been canning and freezing, cooking and cleaning. And soon I will be planting garlic. I need to get some broccoli, cauliflower, squash and some apples. Then I think I will be almost ready for winter.

Last week Chuck finished fencing in an area for some of our goats, and now two of the 5 live here. Yep I said 5 but one wont stay too long, we only need him for his ummm stuff. Then he goes either into the freezer or to live with a friend. It is so wonderful to have livestock again. And the kid is loving it too. The rest of the goats will come sometime next month we need to put more fencing up.

This is Friday, born on Good Friday this year, she will be one of my milk goats. She is a Nubian, and will be bred this fall to kid in early spring. Gestation for a goat is 5 month.

This is Joanie, she is a Myotonic also known as a fainting goat. They are primarily used for meat although I have milked her. She was bottom of the herd at Lynne's place but here she is the queen and she is loving it!

Sandino is no longer living in our house, actually she has been outside for quite sometime. She loves it and is doing really well. The couple of people that saw her when she was at her worst can not believe that she lived. With the help of my friend Lynne, I used essential oils on her daily. She smelled fantastic and healed so well.
The littlest of the kids is crawling all over the place and pulling himself up on everything! My favorite baby stage is when you put them somewhere and they don't move, oh how I wish that stage lasted longer!

Banana goodness

2011-08-25T13:54:00.007-05:00

I'm on strike, a making breakfast strike. No, not officially but Chuck and the kid might argue otherwise. With Chuck getting up at the butt crack of dawn, there ain't no way I am getting up just to make him breakfast, he is on his own. I know I am such a caring wife- you don't have to tell me! Then when I mossy outta bed half past sunrise, I really don't want to cook. Some days it is pie for breakfast other days it is pudding or banana muffins.
I had a roommate in college that did not know banana bread was made with very ripe (i.e. rotten bananas) once she found this out she vowed to never eat banana bread again. For those that also did not know this, it is important that the bananas are over ripe this brings out the banana flavor. I know there are plenty of people who throw away too brown to eat bananas. It literally breaks my heart. I love banana muffins and banana cake. I actually buy more bananas then we need just so I can make banana cake. Notice I said banana cake- not banana bread. I am not a fan of the bread, seem dense and so dry.

So with a couple pounds of overly ripe bananas I set out to make muffins, package them and then freeze them. I love this, then when we have nothing left to eat for breakfast I can pull these out. Or if Chuck feels like muffins he can grab a package. Before I had kid 2 I made a bunch of these and froze them, it is great to have something easy.

I am not sure where this recipe comes from, my mom has made this ever since I can remember. My mom always made it in an tube pan (think angel food cake). The cake is soft, moist and delicious. And the best thing to add is chocolate chips, the mini ones- yummmm! This time around I was out of chips, so there might be a revolt here. I will keep you posted.

Banana Cake
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups bananas (about 3-4)

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and mix well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, bananas and vanilla. Beat at high speed for 5 minute. Pour batter into greased pan and bake at 375 degrees. The time will very depending on the pan, I used a 12 spot muffin pan and it took about 20 minutes.

Home canned peaches

2011-08-23T07:16:00.000-05:00

I have a love hate relationship with August. It is a harvesting/canning/freezing frenzy. Don't get me wrong I love all the fresh produce, but why does it seem to be all at once?

A few years back Chuck made a request for canned peaches. Never having home canned peaches I was not sure how it was gonna be. Let me just tell you- THEY ARE AMAZING. If you can get your hands on some good peaches can them now, eat them in the middle of winter, there is nothing better.

Canning peaches might sound intimidating, but let me assure you it is super easy. I thought I would share with you what I do.

What you need:

First the obvious- find some peaches. Spread them out on the table so that they ripen.

4 pots- a big one for the water bath, one for the syrup, one for blanching the peaches, and a small one for boiling the lids

A colander that fits in the blanching pot, this is optional. I found my colander at a thrift store- it ain't pretty but it gets the job done.Sugar- for the syrup

Water- this one you think should be easy- not so if you live without running water in your house

Canning jars and lids. I like to use quart jars, but have also used pint jars. If you take a lunch to work or have kids in school you could even use 1/2 pint jars.

I like Red Haven peaches, they are sweet, easy to pit, and can nicely. This year I bought 75 pounds. I know it sounds like a lot but I try to have enough to get us through the winter, plus a few to give away. Since Minnesota does not grow peaches in abundance (apparently there are peach trees in MN) I get mine from Michigan. I order with several other people so we get a great deal.

The first thing you want to do is wash and sanitize your canning jars. If you have a dishwasher this works great, if not what I do is wash them all- then right before filling 'em I stick them in the boiling water bath .

Next fill your water bath pot, it takes awhile for it to boil.

For the syrup, you can choose how heavy you want the syrup to be, I like a light syrup so I use 6 cups of water to 2 cups of sugar. This will make 7 cups of syrup (this is important to know, I will explain later).

It is important that the syrup be boiling hot when you fill the jars, so timing can be a little tricky but you will get the hang of it.

After you have your syrup combined and heating on the stove. Lets get pealing. In your blanching pot you should have boiling water. Place peaches in colander and put in water for 20 to 40 seconds. Do not cook your peaches, all you are doing is getting the skins loose. Take them out and put in cold water.

This is what I do, I know that I can fit 5 to 6 peaches, depending on the size, in each quart jar, and my water bath pot can fit 7 quarts so I blanch 45-50 peaches. I do them all at once then they are waiting to be peeled in the sink. Once all are peeled I cut them off the pit. I do not pull them off, I cut them off. You could also can them whole, peeled but whole. If you have chickens or know of someone who has chickens feed them the skins- they will love you for it.

Once you have them peeled and cut, pack them into the jars. It is important that you push down on them, squeeze them into the jar. Don't push so hard you turn them into mush, just hard enough that you pack them in. Now add your boiling syrup- I use about 3/4 to 1 cup per jar. SO if your water bath pot holds 7 quarts this would be perfect! Then I clean up the rims with a wet wash cloth, put the lids and rings on. Stick them in the water bath for 20 minutes, take them out and viola you have fresh canned peaches for the snowy, cold winter.

Pain in the back

2011-08-22T07:44:00.000-05:00

I am laid up- it's a problem. Or rather I have a problem. You see I can't just sit around, especially when I am being told to sit still. On Friday my back started hurting, which is not all that unusual for me. You see when I was in college I was at a concert and there was body passing, a guy was dropped on my head. It wasn't good, lots of pain and problems until I was better, then someone rear ended me. Anyway I have had my fair share of back pain, but for the last several years I have been pain free, that is until Friday. It got so bad that I literally could not walk on Saturday. And well that stopped me for a while until I had to unload my 75 pounds of canning peaches, I got yelled at for that. But today I was actually feeling better, which was not good, cause now I feel a lot worse. I can't help myself. Chuck mentioned I was probably due for another accident. Not sure why he would say that. I mean in the 3 years we farmed on our own I only had a few accidents, the burn, whiplash, and slipping on ice really things that happen to everyone. Right?

My learning moments

2011-08-15T07:24:00.001-05:00

Lately I have been trying to look at life a little differently. I am trying to re-evaluate and make some changes, I am trying to be more aware. When people, things, or ideas are brought to my attention I am trying to look at these as learning moments. I know it might sound a little crazy, but while making peace with what we have lost I am trying to focus on what we can gain.

Sometimes it is just a small thing like Chuck finding both of his running shoes. Which might not sound like a feat but he had been looking for about 6 months and they turned up in two different cities. Then last week I became the adoptive mom to a few hens. Now these are not just any hens, these belong to a friend of mine who after loosing one hen to a raccoon decided the big city was just to much for these hens. So they were packed up and moved to our little homestead, but not before another creature severely wounded another hen. Miraculously Sandino (the miracle hen) has lived. I wont go into the details but she is a trooper.

So I was thinking about my learning moments and about my friend who keeps telling me how grateful she is. Now my friend doesn't have any kids, cats, or dogs, but she did have these hens, and she loves them. Now maybe to some it might sound crazy but then I got to thinking remember Ben. Well I nursed him back to health several times (including the latest head swelling, cracking open, and well grossness) these hens are to my friend what Ben is to our family.

SO that got me thinking even more, I know right my head does hurt a little. When we had hens on the farm did I feel this way about any of them? No. Why? Well there were like 50 of them. I am not saying that we did not care about our chickens but not enough to have one nursing back to health in my house. Even though we were considered a small farm, were we too big to have that kind of connection with our chickens? This is something I intend to think about, was having 50 hens allowing some sort of disconnect. Or maybe I am just more of a dog person.

Whatever the case may be, the love that my friend has for her hens is inspiring. I am not sure what Sandino's fate is going to be, she is hurt pretty badly, but I am going to try my best to nurse my friends hen back to health.

On the road to Thanksgiving?

2011-07-27T06:58:00.006-05:00

The other day while on a trip into the cities it seemed to be snowing, snowing white feathers. I wondered if maybe the Canada geese were molting and that was why so many feathers. Not really sure how that is possible, but sometime my mind doesn't always make sense.

Then I saw this
I still could not tell exactly what it was, so I sped up.
A truck load of turkeys. It just breaks my heart. And I wondered, what were all the people driving by thinking. Would this change the way they ate, or bought meat? Sadly probably not.

Bragging

2011-07-18T06:37:00.004-05:00

Summer is in full swing here, and I have to say in a teeny tiny way I am glad we are not farming. It is friggin' hot, and humid! How easily one can adapt to having air conditioning.

So I wanted to take a moment- a moment to brag. Yep we know some really cool people. Two of those really cool people are doing a little show called The Perennial Plate. Yep we know them! I know you are so jealous. And if you have never heard of The Perennial Plate, seriously have you been living under a rock.

Okay the deal is every Monday they upload a short documentary of their hunting/gathering/harvesting/eating adventure. Then sometime mid week or really when they get a second outta their whirl wind adventure there is a blog update. Mirra has a great sense of humor, and is wonderful with the vocab- seriously you have to read her latest update. Funny things happen to Daniel in almost every episode like did you see his butt crack- why was that not edited out?

Every time I watch an episode it gets me excited about farming, eating, and buying locally. And it amazes me how Daniel knows how to cook with so many different ingredients. So watch, learn and eat well.

Milk

2011-07-15T06:50:00.005-05:00

I like milk. I never used to, in fact I really don't remember drinking much of it as a kid. In college I started feeling sick and gross after drinking milk or eating ice cream, so I stopped.

Fast forward to 2005 when I was introduced to raw milk. I had never heard of such a thing. I was told that being lactose intolerant meant I could not digest pasteurized milk, but it would be different with raw milk. So I tried it and I really really like it, I was hooked. We became part of a group buying milk from a dairy specializing in raw. Our dream was to eventually have our own family cow. And we did, until last year.

For those unfamiliar with the raw milk saga it is hard to find and buy. In Minnesota it is not illegal to buy or sell, but you can not deliver. Or however you want to interpret that or get around that. I think that raw milk should be legal to buy directly from the farmer when and however you want. But this post is not about the legal aspect of it, it is about me trying to figure out what the heck I was gonna do now that we have no milk cow.

At first I went to my old standby delivery guy. And it was okay, but not fresh. I was used to getting it right after being milked. The other thing was that the milk was delivered in plastic jugs, I was not to happy about that, and I had never been to the farm. A big no-no for me. But I was desperate for raw milk.

My next plan was to go on craigslist and look for someone selling a backyard milker, call them up and see if they had extra milk that they would sell me. I kept my eyes and ears open for anyone talking about raw milk. Then I remembered. The woman that we had gotten our meat rabbits from, who lived just a few miles from where we live now had goats, and she had talked about milking those goats. So I called her to see if she had extra she wanted to sell. She told me she did not have time to milk but if I wanted to milk them I could. So I went over there that night, that was 2 months ago, and I continue to milk them daily.

I am milking my friend Ahna's goat (photo taken by my 3 year old)

I milk 3 goats, 2 of which are classified as meat goats, and bring home a half gallon a day. And that is just milking them once a day.

Goats milk tastes just like cows milk- I can not tell the difference, and I have been drinking raw cows milk for 6 years- 3 of which we had our own cow. It is however different. Goats milk is naturally homogenized- that means the cream stays suspended in the milk and does not separate and float to the top- like non-homogenized cows milk. It also is white. Cows milk will get a yellow look to it- this from the carotene but goats lack carotene. I do miss the cream, but I really don't have to have it and really rarely use cream, I just miss it.

Goats are perfect for those that just want enough for themselves. They are small eat less than a cow and have the personality of a dog. They are easily trained- they love attention and they provide you with milk. I am not saying that cows can't be trained or they don't love attention they are just really really big.

If you would have asked me about goats when we had our farm I would have said- no way! It had nothing to do with me not liking them, they are just high maintenance. And we had cows why would we even think of getting a goat. Well we are getting a goat- two to be exact. I have been reading, researching and learning as much as I can. Apparently you can take the farm away from the farmer but you can't take the farming outta them!

We don't have them yet but we will soon. The above picture is of our newest addition she is a Nubian, called Friday, she was born on good Friday. So my solution to getting raw milk might be a little extreme, I know not everyone wants to milk their own goat or even has space for a goat. But maybe you know someone who has some goats that maybe you could milk. I milk a Tennessee meat goat (meet Marie), a Myotonic (meet Joanie, our other addition), and a Nubian (this is not Mona).

The dreaded 'C' word

2011-07-07T06:19:00.004-05:00

I am up- up too early. Today is the day it all starts. Well actually it all started in April. Indulge me for a minute. I had just come home from dinner out with a friend and I got the call. At first the call seemed, well, rather unimportant, cause really nothing was going to come of it. I mean I was not worried in the least. I was sure this sort of thing was common and there was no need to worry, cause it would be nothing. But then it wasn't nothing- it was something. Breast Cancer.

It is not my cancer, but my mothers cancer. So today, after having the lump removed last month, there will be a port put into her chest. This port will allow the chemicals to be added to her body, chemicals that will hopefully allow her to live the rest of her life cancer-free. And so this journey begins and although it is not my journey it is one that I will be taking with my mother.

I am not sure I am ready for what is about to happen, I am not even sure exactly how you prepare for something like this. So unprepared and unaware I am stepping out into this, the first day of a long journey to a cancer free mom.

Having plenty

2011-06-13T05:14:00.006-05:00

Farming is more than just keeping animals or a garden, it is knowing the seasons, the weather, the soil, the animal, the seed, and most importantly yourself. Chuck loved the challenges of weather, haying in the heat of summer, then hand milking in the frozen winter. Me, I love the challenge of storing food for winter. Growing up my family had a garden, I remember picking and shucking the corn my mom would freeze, podding the peas while watching a movie, eating strawberry shortcake for dinner after a day of picking. Now it was my turn to put up for my family. At first I was very organized about it, I documented how much of everything I planted and when, then in a separate document recorded everything I harvested and put away. That way by the spring I would know whether I needed to plant more or less, and if I needed to put up more or less. I also kept track of things I did not plant but put up all the same. Now after 4 years of keeping track I am pretty good and knowing how much of what we need. So starts this season of no farm and no garden.

Over these last few years I have gotten to know other farms and now I am to rely on them. The trick is to stay ahead of the season. Right now we have meat in the freezer, but I know that will soon be gone. The best time to get most of your meat butchered is right before the animals are taken off pasture. So here in Minnesota that is around deer hunting time. However, this month I will be getting 25 butchered chickens to put in the freezer, and another 25 in the fall. Yep we go through about 50 chickens in a year. That might seem like a lot but there are 365 day in a year so when you look at it like that 50 does not seem like so much. Chickens have a shorter growing season requiring, depending on the breed, 8 weeks from start to finish.
The idea is to have enough to get you through until the next harvest. The pork we will get from our friends at Pastures A Plenty, in the past we have raised 2 pigs to put in our freezer, but this year I think instead of getting two whole pigs I will just order the cuts we mainly eat. Having a whole animal does challenge you to cook things you might have otherwise never tried, but I will skip that this year. Our friend who took the sheep agreed to provide us with lamb, now I just need to find a cow and we will be set for meat. Pigs and lambs grow to butchering size in about 6 months where a cow takes at least 2 years.This might sound like a lot of meat, and probably it is but I cook everything at home and I never want to buy meat out of season. Three meals a day for 3 people, and soon 4, it adds up. We have 3 freezers and by the time winter comes around I will have them all full. Now on to fruits and vegetables. For the last 3 years I have been trading a friend lamb for tomatoes, corn, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, and watermelon. I am not sure what I will do this year but I am sure we can work something out. Last year I canned 80 pounds of tomatoes and froze 4 dozen ears of corn. The peppers are mainly eaten when we get them, however I do cut some up to freeze. I have in the past froze stuffed peppers, it just depends on what I have time and room for. The broccoli and cauliflower is hard to say how much I freeze when I get them they are in produce boxes and I freeze about 4 boxes of each, or whatever is given to me. This year I will have to get peas, beans, onions, squash, and potatoes. I have a couple friends who I might call on for those.I go to a strawberry patch every year. I have tried to grow strawberries but have found them too much work and would rather pay someone to do the work and I enjoy the harvest. I try to harvest around 50 pounds every year. Strawberries, plus blueberries and peaches pretty much get us through the winter.

Last year I made up pies and froze them without cooking, then when we needed a pie I just took it and baked it up. This was fantastic and I will do it again this year. Another thing I tried last year was freezing the produce in glass canning jars. I loved it! Not only do they stack nice I can reuse them year after year, and no plastic! This year if I have time I might try making my own fruit juice and freezing that, but we will see what I have time for.

We're not all bad

2011-06-06T07:50:00.001-05:00

A hard lesson for most to learn, including me, is not to judge. We are so quick to judge others, we all do it and no one seems to be immune from being judged. This past weekend I was in a situation, this was a little bit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and people just being mean. I don't want to sound whiny and I can understand the idea behind why they were upset but cut me some slack.

You know those people, the ones who wait until the last possible moment to merge, the ones we all think are trying to screw everyone and get to the front of the line. Well I was thought to be one of those.

This is how it happened. This weekend I was out running an errand when on the way home we ran into some traffic. Eventually the traffic stopped moving, a stand still. For at least 20 minutes we all sat there wondering what was going on. In my car I sat with a 3 year old and a 4 month old. Now I am not saying that automatically make me immune from waiting, and at first it seemed fine. But then the 4 month old woke up, at first he was just complaining a little and we were singing songs to him trying to head off the screaming that I knew was to be coming if he did not get nursed. So when the screaming came and me being the only adult there to try and comfort him I had to do something. As I saw it I had 3 options:

#1. Get out, run to the other side of the car, take him out of his car seat, bring him back to my side and nurse him, hope traffic does not start moving until we are done, run him back to his side, and strap him in. Did I mention this was on an interstate where the speed limit is 70mph.

#2. Pull over, I happened to be in the right lane, and proceed with #1.

#3. Pull over to side and drive past stopped traffic to next exit and proceed with calming the baby.

So, I went with what I deemed the safest for myself and my children, #3. Now I did not know why we had all stopped, I figured there was an accident. We could all see smoke and a couple of fire trucks did have to move through us, before we had all stopped. I pulled over and started to make my way past all the stopped vehicles, and people were not happy. They were yelling at me, one car even pulled out in front of me as to stop me from passing. I was shaking, people were so mad and said some really mean things. I made it to the front of the line where they were slowly letting traffic through. There was a guy who seemed nice enough to let me in and we were on our way to the next exit.

The guy who had let me "cut in line" seemed to be going the same direction as us. We made it to the gas station I nursed the baby, got back into the car and proceeded to head home, and who was behind me? The nice guy who let me "cut in." Like I had mentioned we were on an interstate where the speed limit is 70mph, so I stayed at 65 hoping he would pass me, and assure myself it was just me freaking out. But he didn't, in fact he followed me at a distance for quite sometime, and then all of the sudden he seemed satisfied with me and blew past me.

Now I know it might have been just a coincidence, but it just seemed too weird.

So the moral of the story is give people a little credit, don't assume everyone is an ass.

Spring has finally srung!

2011-05-31T08:56:00.004-05:00

Everything is blooming, how wonderful spring finally joined us! When farming this is one of the best times. All the babies are born, and everyone moves out to pasture. Last year knowing that we would have a baby we decided that we were going to take a year off from gardening. I have to say once the seed catalogs came I questioned whether I could go through with it or not. I do miss it and I am sure I wont be taking next year off but, one year wont kill us. With farmers markets popping up in almost every city I am sure I wont have a hard time finding what I need, I just hope I can find enough quantity to put some in the freezer. I like to have peas, beans, corn, broccoli, and cauliflower to last the winter and into spring. Last year I froze 4 dozen ears of corn and we might have enough left for one meal- so I would say that is pretty good. I also canned 80 pounds of tomatoes and we have one pint jar left. Every year I try to keep track of how much I put up, so that I know if the following year I need more or could do with less. Putting all the vegetables and fruit up for winter is a lot of work but in the gray days of winter there is nothing better than opening a jar of tomatoes and smelling summer!
We solved our egg problem. It was actually really easy- we got some laying hens. Our friend Ahna had taken our chickens when we moved off the farm and she offered to give us a few back. So now we have 6 hens and one rooster. That gives us 4 to 5 eggs a day. I have to say it is fantastic! The next thing on our list is milk. On the farm we had 2 milk cows and although there were times when we were short on milk at least I knew some would be coming soon. So right now I actually happen to be milking a goat at a farm down the road. The short story is, I know the farmer and she had mentioned to me last year that she might start milking goats, so I called her to see if she had extra I could buy. When I called she told me that she did not have the time to milk but if I wanted to I could. So for the last 3 weeks I have been getting fresh goats milk. So now we are thinking about getting our own goat. I have been doing research on breeds and reading all I can to learn as much as I can. They are very different from cows and I do miss the cream, goats milk is naturally homogenized, but they are full of personality!

The Egg

2011-05-24T06:30:00.001-05:00

Okay on to the egg itself. I once got a call from a woman who was looking for eggs, but she only wanted the ones with white shells because they tasted better. I have to say I don't know of any taste difference, that being said I tend to like the brown eggs- something more earthy about them, and not as clinical as the white. You might even run across a farmer selling blue eggs. The color of the egg is bred specific, I am not aware of any one bred of laying hen being healthier than another. As far as the color of the egg is concerned I think an egg is an egg.

Living with no running water or electricity in the house, it was so important to us to have a clean hen house. A clean hen house provided us with clean eggs, we rarely washed eggs. I know you are shocked, maybe even grossed out at the moment. However eggs are laid with a protective protein coating called a bloom. The bloom is a natural barrier that prevents bacteria from entering the egg and also reduces moisture loss keeping the egg fresher longer. An egg that is not washed and still has it's bloom could stay fresh in the fridge for 6 months.
One egg has 6,000 to 8,000 pores, once that bloom is removed think of all the bacteria that could get into that egg.

When we raised our laying hens we would clean nest boxes at least once if not twice a week. This way the eggs would be mostly free of debris. We rarely washed our eggs. It is important to ask your farmer if they wash their eggs. Another thing to think about is how they wash the eggs. I am not sure but it would seem to me using hot water to wash eggs would open the pores pushing bacteria in, if we washed eggs we used cool or cold water. Also I can't imagine any reason to use soap, I would think that the soap would be pushed into the open pores.

When buying fresh from the farm eggs, you should ask when the eggs where collected, the expiration date is 4 weeks from when they are collected. That is not to say that if the bloom is still in tact that they will not stay fresh longer, but I think it is peace of mind knowing how old your eggs are. Also hard boiled fresh eggs do not peel easy, they need to be at least two weeks old before they will peel. If you have ever hard boiled a fresh egg you know peeling it is so frustrating, half the white part comes off with the peel. The egg literally looks massacred!

Let's talk chicken food:

Raising hens on pasture cut our feed cost substantially, with the hens getting most of what they needed from the grass we only substituted their diet with grain. In the winter time the grain was the main diet and we substituted the rest of their diet with hay, and scraps. Our grain was not organic, which was a question that we were asked often. At our farm we supported local, we felt that if we supported local, locals would support us. In the area that we lived farmers were not growing organic grains nor was our local feed mill selling organic. The same is true for non-GMO, as much as we would have preferred non-GMO our local farmers were not growing it, nor was our local mill supplying it. This is where I think that the consumer needs to take more responsibility, as a farmer we did not have the time or the money to research and find a place that we would be able to buy organic or non-GMO feed. But as a consumer your job is to make demands if more demanded organic and non-GMO more farmers would grow it. If we did use organic or even non-GMO feed it would have had to be shipped in costing us double if not triple what we were paying for local grain. That cost would have to be passed on to the consumer.

I think it is very important to ask what feed your farmer is giving to the hens, and if you find someone who uses organic or non-GMO ask if it is from a local co-op or a local farm. I do believe organic is better but beyond that I believe local is the best.

Ben update

2011-05-22T17:47:00.005-05:00

With everything that has gone on the last couple months I have not updated you all on Ben. So I thought I should put a few pictures up. I swear he is the luckiest dog ever! Ben is absolutely back to being himself. You would hardly know that anything ever happened. If you missed all the details of Ben's latest adventure check here and here.

You can sort of see his scar, Chuck say it makes him look tough.

So Ben is back to being Ben.

The laying hen

2011-05-19T15:36:00.006-05:00

Lets say you were in the market for a new car would you go to the dealership and just pick one off the lot without knowing anything about the car? No? Why the heck then would you walk into the store and pick an egg carton off the shelf without knowing anything??? Knowing the safety of the car you are going to put your family in is just as important as knowing about the food that you are going to feed your family. Maybe it is just me but I think people want to know more about the food they eat, they are just not sure where to start. So lets talk about laying hens.

Before talking to your local farmer it is important to know some facts about chickens. The first and most important- chickens are omnivores, lets review a little of our grade school science. There are herbivores meaning green eaters, then carnivores, they only eat meat, and lastly the omnivores they eat both greens and meat. Laying hens are omnivores- they need to eat animal protein, along with greens.

Okay so I know what you are thinking, how natural is it to see a chicken picking at a hunk of meat, and besides where the heck would they get that? Well as much as they would like a big hunk of meat, insects are meat too. We have even seen hens running around the pasture with a mouse they caught, while several other chickens are chasing after. So if the farmer tells you the hens are vegetarian-fed, these hens are probably undernourished. What does that say about the health value of the egg?

It is important to ask your farmer where the hens get their animal protein. If they are pastured the protein will come from the insects that they eat- that is when they are on pasture. If they are confined that protein will come from their feed. Most laying hen feed has animal protein mixed in, I like to know what that animal protein is. When we farmed we did not give them supplemental animal protein in their grain we gave them bones (with meat still on) from the animals that were butchered on the farm, pigs, lambs and beef cows. We never fed the laying hens chicken, not to say they would not eat chicken I just felt weird about that.

Chickens eat grass, okay so they are not ruminants (animals like cow, sheep, or goats), but I once read that they will consume 30% of their calories in grass, that is a lot of grass! The one time we raised meat chickens and butchered them on the farm, it was very evident that they eat a lot of grass. The crop would be full of grass, bugs and grain.

What does pastured mean, this is where it is important to go to the farm so you can see with your own eyes. We had a movable hen coop the coop would move behind the cows. The idea being that you would move them after the fly larva would hatch the hens would scratch the manure to find the larva. The chickens would help us with our fly control. To me this is pastured, our hens had almost 20 acres to run around on.

Some farmers have a coop that has a fenced area attached to the coop, this is considered free range. The problem that I see with this is that the grass won't have time to regrow before the chickens eat it down. Over time you will have a bare area with no grass and few bugs, not only does this make for unhealthy soil, the hens don't benefit. That being said there are some farmers that have multiple fenced in areas that they can rotate, some call these fenced areas runs.

Another farmer might have hens that run around the yard eating grass and bugs, they have free range of the farm. Not pastured just able to run free. This I see as the same benefit as pastured.

Next we can talk eggs.

The Egg

2011-05-17T06:19:00.006-05:00

Ahhh, fresh eggs. This is actually something that we are having a hard time finding at the moment. When we were on the farm we raised 50 hens, so there was rarely a shortage of eggs. Recently I have been buying eggs from a friend of ours who sells to coops and direct to customers. The eggs are good, he feeds organic and does all sorts of interesting things BUT the chickens do not go outside. And to be honest that makes a huge difference. If you have ever had a farm fresh egg from truly free ranging hens you know that the yolk is almost orange.

The orange is from beta carotene, which comes from eating grass. This is kind of a hard concept why would green grass make egg yolks more orange, and milk more yellow, and animal fat more yellow??? I do not know how it works, but it does and to me that is an indication of good food and of a healthy animal.

Why is beta carotene important? Our bodies turn the beta carotene into vitamin A. Which is needed to form and maintain healthy skin, teeth, skeletal and soft tissue. It also produces the pigment in our retina promoting good vision. So the darker the orange, or yellow, the more bata carotene that our bodies then turn into Vitamin A. All good.

So where the heck do you find good egg? Well I do know were not to find them and that is the grocery store!

My first suggestion would be to raise your own. They really are very easy to raise and talk about fresh eggs- can't get any better than that! One chicken will lay over 300 eggs in their first year, close to an egg a day so if you had 6 hens you would have about 3 dozen eggs a week! Many local feed stores have baby chicks waiting to go to a good home, or sometimes you can find listings in the local papers or even craigslist. If you buy chicks just know that it will be 5 months before you will get any eggs.

When we first started raising laying hens the goal was to sell eggs at our local farmers market. The first year we were selling around 20 dozen a week, the second year I barely had any to bring to the market. Why? Well those customers that started buying at the farmers market kept buying after the market was over all of them coming out to the farm to buy the eggs. I could have raised more hens to get more eggs but our goal was not to become a production farm and besides we could only raise as many hens as our land would support. So as you probably have guessed my next suggestion is going to your local farmers market.

For those of you who do live a little further out in the rural areas, take a drive. More than likely you will see a sign at the end of someone's driveway advertising fresh eggs.

Back in the field~ so to speak

2011-05-16T07:18:00.003-05:00

I have been thinking, just because we are not farming at the moment does not mean I should stop blogging, well that and the encouragement of many wonderful supporters. So here I am again, back online. It actually feels good to be back and thinking about farming, instead of trying to avoid the topic due to all the emotions we have been going through. Our lives have changed so much it almost feels surreal, like farming was during another lifetime. And now I am on the other side, the side I imagine most of you are on, the I don't/can't raise my own food so where do I find good food side.

Right now the big campaign is "know your farmer", which if you have kept up on my rants you know I support 110%, but what about know your food. So many of us trust that the food industry is taking care of us, but I am afraid they do not have our best interest in hand- just our money. The food industry is afraid if we become educated they will lose our money. So they don't exactly tell us the truth, they allow us imagine a farm of the freshest grass, the friendliest farmer, and the most beautiful of animals, all living in perfect harmony. Is there such a place in factory farming? I don't believe so, but I do believe that we have such farms and food right in our neighborhoods, in our communities, and with a little research we could all be eating wonderful fresh foods!

When we were farming I was always surprised by the calls and emails that we got asking us where to buy _______ (insert farm fresh food). The other question was always what questions do I ask, if I go to the farm what am I looking for, what is good and what is bad? The cow had some poop on it is, that okay, the chickens were able to go outside but they were fenced in, is that okay? We even got calls from people who bought meat from a farmer and did not like the taste and were not sure what to do.

So I thought since I might have some incite that would be useful, maybe I could help. So I was thinking I would tackle one area at a time, dairy, eggs, meat, veggies. I not sure exactly how this will come around and what it will look like, but I am hoping it will be helpful.

An ending

2011-02-16T07:52:00.004-06:00

LuLu's calf born on December 21st

The past couple months our lives have been turned upside down. We went from feeling like we were finally getting ahead, adding to our house and our family, to not knowing what to do, where to live, or where to go. We had this romantic idea of farming the family farm, we thought somehow that this would be admired or even appreciated. And in all fairness it was but not by the people that we thought. I am not going to re-live all that has happened, because we have done that a million times. I will just say that after the article was published in our local paper, the family farm was no longer available to us. We had been kicked out, not for our farming practices, not for anything to do with the farm itself, but because we could be. The hurt and anger are a hard thing to deal with.

We as young farmers and parents, and Chuck as a full time student could not afford to buy a farm, move somewhere with all the animals. So we had to sell. A friend of ours took the sheep, chickens, ducks, and a cow and her calf. We sold 2 calves. We found a place to rent with 5 acres and took the 2 donkeys, the 2 milk cows, their calves, and the steer. Chuck found a part time job working at a dairy farm milking the night shift, and still going to school everyday- driving close to 3 hours each day. Plus milking our cows.

The farm was not big, just big enough. We had a personal attachment to every animal. Seeing them leave the farm and not with us was very hard. Several of them had been born on the farm. We watched them grow up, we watched them give birth. They provided us with food and income to survive. It was hard work but we loved it. The kid loved it.

We moved and continued on with what we had left. It was even harder, we felt like we just kept chasing our tails. What were we doing, what were we going to do. In the mean time we had a baby. A beautiful baby boy, Elan Thomas.

We needed to do something, we could not go on like this. We want to farm, we want what we had. But at the moment those are not options. What we have is our family and what we are working on is Chuck's education. Those became our focus. We decided to get out of farming for the moment. Allow Chuck to focus on school and us to focus on our family. That meant finding a place for the milk cows. The heart of our farm, the animals that we had the deepest connection to. Watching them leave the farm was the hardest thing I think we have done so far. Our dream, all of our work, all of what we had identified our selves with, everything was gone. The anger is the hardest thing to deal with.

Looking back we can see the red flags, and really in all honesty we could see them before we just chose to ignore them.

We are moving forward and someday in the future the dream that we had, the life that we were so close to having will be ours.

Old Oak Family Farm

2011-01-08T18:02:00.007-06:00

This is an amazing short film about our friend Kyle's family farm in Wisconsin. Here is a link http://climatewisconsin.org/story/farming

Henriette

2010-11-27T14:37:00.009-06:00

April 2009

November 2010

This is Henriette she is the first milk cow we bought back in April of 2009. She had difficulty with her first calf, the calf died and she got an infection. We bought her from an organic dairy farmer who had to treat her with antibiotics due to the infection. He therefore could not put her into his milking herd. She was quite weak and also low in the herd rank, so probably not getting enough to eat. The farmer was going to ship her. Which usually means one of two things, either to the slaughterhouse or to the auction I am not sure if either is better or worse then the other. We bought her for $400. When Chuck brought her home, she was very weak and very sad. She did not even stand up in the trailer, not even out of curiosity.
We had only 4 other cows so she would no longer need to fight to eat, drink or for shelter. She spruced up almost right away, she still looked skinny and dirty but she had energy.

Getting her in April was nice since she would only be eating hay for a month and then she would be out on pasture, getting the fresh grass that her body needed to heal.

It is amazing to look at her now. She has filled in and become quite a wonderful looking cow. She adores Chuck, not so interested in me or the kid but that's okay. Chuck is the only one she lets milk her, I did try once but she would not let her milk down and she kept kicking and stepping in the bucket. I got the hint fast!
She was bred this spring by our bull and is expected calve anytime now. She has been getting plenty of exersice and Chuck has been putting her in the barn for a hour each day with really good hay. We are hoping that her next calving will be easier on her body and we wont have to intervene. And we are also hoping that she has a bull, to end our almost 3 years of straight heifers!

Featured in the local paper

2010-11-24T08:49:00.002-06:00

Here is a link to an article written in our local paper.

Pine City Pioneer

And if you haven't seen the latest Perennial Plate- It is a great one. How lucky we are to have a farm like LTD Farm in Minnesota! And Daniel re-posted his very first episode where he raises his own Thanksgiving Turkey, in his backyard in Minneapolis.

Hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Elsi

2010-11-23T07:27:00.005-06:00

This year has definitely been a year of learning. We have had to make some tough decisions, the latest being slaughtering one of our milk cows. We had gotten this particular cow at the beginning of this year. In March she had a beautiful calf, and after waiting a few months Chuck started milking her. She was difficult, she had never been milked as this was her first lactation, and she had rather small teats. With the other first time milk cows that we had Chuck had some difficulty at first as the were learning and he was learning, but this cow was different. Sometimes she would decide she did not even want to come into the barn, then if he did get her in she would not want to keep her head in the head gate. Chuck had to rig up a system where he attached a rope to the lever on the head gate that made it close, he would then have to walk all the way around the barn where the rope would be hanging out a window, wait for her to think he was gone and then he could pull the rope, close the head gate and she was stuck. Then he could think about milking her, that is if she did not step in the bucket or knock it over. Even when he did milk her she would not let down all of her milk so we were not getting much. When she would come into the barn she seemed so nervous about something she really would leave quite a mess behind, getting poop on all the freezers, and really whatever else was within that area. Cleaning up from her was a job, and we would have delt with it if she hadn't started to kick Chuck. It happened just a few times but if she would have ever seriously hurt Chuck we would be really stuck. So the last time she kicked at Chuck was the last time for her. We decided to have her ground into beef and make whatever money we could from her. We did sell all the beef within 4 hours, which was quite a record for us, and she does taste good. I just wish we had milk. Right now we are waiting for one of our 2 other milk cows to calve. Being without milk is horrible, but I guess being without my husband because he was kicked by a cow would be much worse:)

I also thought I would give an update on Ben. He was doing so well when I brought him in for a check up just a few days after his surgery. Then over the weekend he started to decline. The issue is with a cut like he has sometimes the skin does not reattach itself, the top layer dies off. We were really hoping that that would not happen, but it seems that is just what is happening. It is a rather large area and we are not sure if there is enough skin to do another surgery, but the vet wants to try, so tomorrow Ben goes back in for a check up and to see what they can do. Below is a picture of him without any dressing on, you can see where the skin is pulling away from the stitches. You can also see the drains that were put in, they have removed those now. I really hope that this is the last major thing that happens to Ben, I think that this has really put him over the edge. He is being so good though, letting me clean his wound, eating, drinking and taking his medication. Thanks for all the good wishes, we will keep our fingers crossed.

The Dog with Nine Lives

2010-11-18T08:32:00.007-06:00

This is Ben, he is a 6 year old dachshund we got him when he was just a year old. Ben came to us when I had my dog training/animal nutrition business. Ben was severely aggressive, I had never seen a dog more aggressive. But he was only a year old and I felt had potential. When I went to see Ben I had no intention of taking him, I thought I was going to help his owner with training. Instead I left with Ben. Needless to say Chuck was not to happy, he was actually deer hunting that weekend and had no idea what I had done until he got home. Anyway with some intense training he has become a great dog. I had actually even found a home for him, but by then Chuck was attached. And Ben is a mans dog, he love power tools, he will follow Chuck anywhere. He thinks he is a herding dog, he has been kicked by the cows who think otherwise. And when Chuck uses the chainsaw he has to put Ben inside 'cause Ben gets so excited he actually tries to bite the saw.

One summer Ben was bit by something and his head swelled up so much it split open, and then he was run over by the truck, oh and besides being kicked by the cows he was actually stepped on by a 2000 pound draft horse square on his back. We often say you can't kill Ben, not that we have tried but he seems to find ways to get hurt. Well yesterday he was hurt pretty bad. We are not sure exactly what happened but Ben managed to get a deep cut from shoulder to shoulder the skin was so stretched it could actually be pulled over his head, plus a couple other cuts that were pretty bad. Needless to say Ben headed in for surgery. He came home last night pretty drugged and very unhappy, he is not much better this morning. There is some possibilities that the skin will not re-attach, but then again it is Ben and with everything that has happened to him I can't imagine he wont make it through this one. The picture below is of him this morning. He is in a lot of pain but is up and at least alert. He has a body wrap on to keep everything in place and to help with swelling, you can also see a drain on the upper part of his neck. He will go into the vet again tomorrow just to be looked at and then in a couple weeks the stitches should come out. I have to say he is an amazing dog, and a dam lucky one too!

House and Pie

2010-11-03T10:38:00.009-05:00

The crawl space is now done and Chuck is working on putting the floor on! It is so exciting. A neighbor is going to let us use her bobcat so Chuck can back-fill around the house. It is starting to really go fast now, lets just hope the weather holds out just a little longer.

Last night I made a couple of squash pies (just like pumpkin only I use Hubbard squash), using the lard that I had rendered. So this morning we tasted them- nothing better than pie for breakfast! The first one was a crust made with just lard. The lard I rendered was leaf lard, the lard surrounding the kidneys, which is supposed to be the highest quality lard. It took about 5 hours to render and with leaf lard from 6 pigs it did not amount to much, just 8 pints. I had done some research on using lard for crust and had read that some like a butter lard combo. So the second one was half butter half lard. The winner was the half butter half lard. Not that the all lard one tasted bad it was really good, but the butter added a flavor that tied the squash part and the crust together nicely.

This is the crust of the lard only pie- very white, something I am not used to. Using butter from cows that are on pasture the crusts are usually very yellow.

This is what the lard itself looks like. I felt like the lard had a smell to it, Chuck says it just smells like fat. It was not a strong smell, it was just different.

Not that you can tell the difference but the pie on the right is the lard only pie.

We're getting there

2010-10-29T15:26:00.006-05:00

With winter seemingly right around the corner things have been super busy and, as much as it pains me to write, I am looking forward to the snow and the cold. Chuck has been working like crazy on the foundation. The picture is from last week, he is actually almost done, and then the flooring and before you know it we will have an addition.

The farmers market is almost over, which has been wonderful this year. I sold some canned peaches, and pickles, and homemade frozen cookie dough. The most popular flavor was my chocolate chip caramel surprise cookies. I can't even make a regular chocolate chip cookie anymore without there being complaints that there is no caramel in the middle:)

The lambs have all been slaughtered and we are enjoying the meat. Last week I rendered lard from the pigs. I have not used it yet but I am excited to try it. I will let you all know how it turns out.

The kid is now 3- how time flies. She can't wait to have her own bedroom, and really neither can Chuck or I. It is amazing how small the house feels already, knowing that more room is coming sure does not help.

I am at the end of my 7th month and boy is time really flying with this pregnancy. We have our homebirth midwife that we have been meeting with and so far everything is good. When the first kid was born we were living in my dad's house, indoor running water and electricity, this one should be interesting. But the midwife and a friend who will be our doula are up to it. I am excited and looking forward to the new baby, but I am glad we still have time.

This little piggy tastes good

2010-10-25T13:53:00.006-05:00

Yet another great video from The Perennial Plate, and this one includes pigs from our farm. It may be a little disturbing to some- but if you eat meat you need to watch this.

We have an open farm, if you as a consumer were to buy a product that comes from our farm you are always welcome to come and see how the animals live and die. In fact with some of our on farm produce we do not sell unless you have come to see how the animals live.

We have such a disconnect from our food in this country it is disturbing. If more people cared not only about how their food is raised but also about how their food dies we would see such great improvements. Okay, I will get off my soapbox before this gets to long- just go watch the video:)

2010-10-15T18:49:00.001-05:00

The calendar says fall is coming but the weather says summer is still hanging on. Chuck has started putting the foundation in for our addition. He is doing it himself and this is only the second time that he has laid block, but he hopes to be done in a week or so. Then the house will go up quite quickly I am sure. I am now 7 months pregnant and still having some sick days, but am feeling pretty well other than that. Today is the kids 3rd birthday, I can not believe that she is already 3, time sure does fly.
We started digging up potatoes to put into the cellar, we still have a few more rows to go.The lambs started going into the processor earlier this week- we are doing half the lamb flock now and another half in a couple weeks. We did get our pork back from the processor earlier this week, it is so nice to have a freezer that is starting to really fill up. I still have some pies I would like to make and freeze and I have lard to render, but things hopefully will slow down soon.

We are still waiting on one of our cows to calve, we bred her with a bull so we are not exactly sure of her due date. We are getting really low on milk so we need her to go soon. The learning curve of planning when your milk cow should calve has been quite difficult. We have 3 milk cows, however one is very touchy and probably wont be around for to long. Cows are really sensitive to change, well most of them anyway, and our black cow is very, very sensitive. The other day Chuck was limping from a twisted ankle and she would not even go near the barn. There has been several times when she refuses to be milked or go into the stall for seemingly no reason. Now LuLu on the other hand could care less, but she is a big pain in the butt in other ways, like forgetting that she is a huge cow and not a little dog. We are thinking that we will have to sell the black cow as her and Chuck do not make a good match, she kicked him a week or so ago and I think that put in the final vote for her to go.

An update

2010-09-28T07:43:00.010-05:00

Things have really been busy on the farm. The party is over, we had about 90 people, it was fantastic. It was great to see so many familiar faces and get to meet so many new people. If you missed it this year don't worry we plan on having one next year too!After a summer without refrigeration in the house we finally found a propane fridge and we love it! The old fridge always seemed to have problems but we just made due, as you can see from the picture of the house the old one was out of an R.V. it had a soft padded brown fake leather front. The new one is much bigger has a freezer and actually looks like a real fridge. We found it on Craigslist for a good price and only had to drive 6 hours round trip to get it.
When people find out how we live one of the first questions we seem to get asked is how we bathe. Well up until now it was outside in the summer and from a warm pot of water in the winter. Last year I actually joined a gym so I could shower, but not anymore! We have a hot water heater! This is in what we call the coop. It is an old chicken coop that was turned into a ice fishing shack and is now our bathroom/laundry room. We have a propane heater in there as well- talk about livin' the high life! The kid got to take the first bath and she loved it, I have to say it was a wonderful bath. The water heater is a 20 gallon one that we heat up with the generator. It takes about an hour but we can use the generator for other things that don't take much juice during that time. It is very exciting!
Chuck has been working on rebuilding the barn he took down, I need to get out there and take pictures to share with you all. He is also starting on the addition. I have been busy getting ready for the winter. This year I canned peaches, pears, beets, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I have also been freezing corn, peas, beans, strawberries, rhubarb, blueberries, and pies. I still have more to do but I am making progress.

Yesterday the pigs were slaughtered, which happens on the farm. We only had 6 pigs to bring in for processing, prices were very high this year so we decided to raise less, and we still made no money. We are not sure what we are going to do for next year, just might raise enough for our freezer and the pig roast. Daniel Klein from The Perennial Plate was out here again filming the pigs, he also took some of the heads to make wonderful things with. Not sure when the film will be up but I will let you all know about it.
The picture below is after a long day of getting the hair off these pig heads!

We are having a party- and your invited!

2010-09-02T08:38:00.004-05:00

We would love for you to come and see the farm, meet some people and eat! Click on the above picture for a bigger display. Shoot us an email and let us know if you can make it- I will give you directions too!

Just a little update

2010-08-21T08:46:00.003-05:00

Wow I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted. The summer has really flown by. Chuck has been working on his shop, and hopes to start our house addition in September. The animals are all growing like crazy, my garden is pretty much just weeds, but the freezer is filling and so is the pantry. The farmers market has been going really well although we don't have any eggs to sell. Not sure what is going on but we have 75 laying hens and are barely getting 3 dozen a day. Granted most of the hens are from last year but I thought I would at least be getting 4 dozen a day. We butchered our first round of meat birds, it was surprisingly easy. However we raised a heritage breed the first round and after 14 weeks they were only 3 pounds when butchered. Now I know that back when grandma was on the farm that is what a chicken weighed but now-a-days people are used to those 5 pound birds. So we are now raising the standard Cornish cross. They are said to grow to 5 pounds in 8 weeks, which is kinda scary to think about but when you are selling them you need to give your customer the best product and the best price. We did sell the 3 pounders and we heard good reviews but when you have a family of 7, as one of our customers does, it is hard to spend $10 on a 3 pound bird. So basically if we want to keep our customers we needed to make the switch or lower our cost, but when it takes twice as long to raise the bird to just 3 pounds the extra feed cost really adds up.

We we have some news to share with you all, and I am totally using this as my excuse for not updating the blog- but we are going to be having another baby. I am due at the end of January, so right now I am at 5 months. I was really sick and very tired, sometimes taking 2 naps a day, which if you know me I do not take naps. I am no longer sick but I do not have all my energy back. The kid is super excited and tells everyone. We are planning another homebirth, although I have been slacking on actually hiring a midwife, I would love to have our first midwife back but she no longer lives in Minnesota.
Well that is the news so please don't hold it against me that I have been slacking at updating, I can't promise I will be any better, but I will try!

Let hope it stops raining just for a minute

2010-06-22T14:13:00.009-05:00

Of course life has been busy- it is spring, well now officially summer I guess. We have had to much rain to even keep track of, we had hay down that never got bailed so that will be bailed for bedding. It is suck a hard thing to see go to bedding. My garden is being taken over by weeds! So a little dry weather would be much appreciated. I think we are done with baby's for a while. Our last lamb had to be pulled and did not make, so 13 lambs total this year, up from 11 last year. The cows are done calving until fall and Chuck is training in our newest milk cow, and it has been an adventure to say the least.

This is blueberry rhubarb pie that I made for the freezer. I used fresh rhubarb and blueberries I had in the freezer from last year. I still want to make more- it is so nice to have pie ready to bake, just in case we have visitor or I am lazy and want something sweet.

This is the barn Chuck took down, he has started putting that front entrance part, that you can see in the bottom photo, together as a separate shed for garden tools.

The egg layer are loving being outside, fresh grass and bugs- yum, yum!

Last year we bottle fed a couple of orphaned rams, one we had to cull early this spring and the other has been getting out of fencing and just being a pain. Well finally he is in the pasture with our other ram- away from the ladies. Our main ram was not to happy as you can see he broke off part of his horn, now they are friends. Ahhh everything is right in the ram world.

The newest additions, born May 27th she is a cutie! Still no name for her, Chuck's working on it:)

Just a little update

2010-06-03T12:38:00.004-05:00

The farm has been busy, busy. Last week we had another calf, you guessed it, another heifer! And this was from our Scottish highlander (a meat breed). This past weekend our duck hatched 9 little ducklings. They are so cute! Still have one more ewe to go- not sure why she is taking so long. Hay season is upon us- we will probably be baling hay this weekend. Chuck is working on getting the tractor and the baler up to par. My garden is almost all planted, I have a few more rows of beans to plant, last week I was checking on my potato plants and they were covered in potato bugs! Not my favorite but I am hoping I caught them early enough so I wont have to many problems later- I did go to all the plants looking for eggs and smashing them.

The meat chickens we are hoping will be ready in another month or so- having never done this before should be interesting. We went with a heritage breed so they take a little longer, that is why we really have no idea when they should be ready. We have 50 of them to butcher this round with a total of 150 to raise all summer.

Egg production is steadily increasing we are at around 3 dozen a day- still no problem finding homes for them all- even with no advertising. It still amazes me how people find us! The farmers market is still a little over a month away, and by then our new laying hens will be laying.

And just in case you missed it check out a short video of our farm over on The Perennial Plate.

Capturing the farm

2010-06-01T08:53:00.004-05:00

Okay so remember when I said we had filming on the farm? Well the film is now up on The Perennial Plate website so check it out!

Besides not enjoying seeing myself or actually hearing my own voice (do I really sound like that?!?) I thought it is an amazing video! What do you think?

Lambing trouble

2010-05-20T11:59:00.009-05:00

I would love to say things have gone smoothly with lambing this year, but this has been our hardest year. Granted we have more ewes this year lambing- we are up to 10. It started even before we lambed with one of our newly acquired ewes prolapsing. Basically her uterus was falling out. So we had to put a harness on her that would keep everything in. We had never done this before so it was quite a challenge to say the least. Once we figured out how to get it on her, we had not put it on tight enough so it slipped out of place. The next day after readjusting, her neck was swollen, so we loosened it hoping that it was just because we had it too tight. That did the trick but I did not like the fact that it collected manure, as you can see from the picture. Also the harness seemed to cut into her. The problem might be because her tail was docked to short it was unable to hold the harness in place, so we had to make the harness tighter. If a tail is to short those muscles used for labor are affected causing the prolapse. Last Saturday she did lamb and had two beautiful lambs each weighing in at 12 pounds. She lambed between 4 and 5 in the morning and lambed right through the harness with no problems. But then of course that could not be the end of that, two days later she was prolapsing again. Her uterus would be showing and then would seem to go back in, this time I decided to use the retainer. Although I was not to excited to stick this inside of her it was much easier and seems not to bother her. It will be removed tomorrow. At the end of the season she will be culled (slaughtered), although I just purchased her I and am not very happy about doing this I can not risk her prolapsing again.

Our oldest ewe (Grandma- I know, I know very creative huh!) gave birth on Tuesday morning sometime between 2 and 3. The ewe did not clean off the lamb suggesting that the lamb was stillborn.

On Monday, Alice (one of the 3 that actually have names) was laboring for about two hours with no progress not even feet sticking out so I washed up and went in and pulled out a 20 pound ram lamb! First off I can not believe I did this, I never really pictured my self doing this but you do what you have to do. I think I pulled it out just in time, his tongue and nose were purple. He was having trouble breathing but he came around and is doing great.

Filming on the Farm

2010-05-19T09:26:00.012-05:00

This past weekend we had visitors. We love having people come to the farm. Not only because at this point it is really hard for us to actually leave the farm and hang out with anyone, but also because we really do like entertaining. Back in April I told you about The Perennial Plate an online documentary series about eating in MN. Whether that is from finding your food on a farm or foraging for it. I encourage you to go to his site to learn more but also to watch the short clips he already has up. Anyway Daniel Klein and his girlfriend Mirra came out to the farm last week to film a lambing. Unfortunately the girls were a little camera shy. But he did get plenty of other filming done. So in the month I would say you will see a Duskwind Farm addition to The Perennial Plate!While here Daniel decided he wanted to catch and guinea, butcher it and cook it up for a mid-day meal. The picture above is what a guinea looks like. They are native to Africa, they are kinda strange looking and they are really really noisy. People often raise them because they are supposed to be great at controlling ticks. We inherited ours from a gentleman that was looking to scale back on his own flock. So last year we got 14 of them and were down to 9, that is before Daniel came. Daniel was very determined and was not giving up on his idea to eat a guinea. Mirra was not at all excited about this. Mirra is a recent vegetarian, loving the turkey that they raised in their backyard only to butcher it was devastating to her. Daniel basically told her if you don't like the killing part you should not enjoy the eating part. Since then Mirra only eats veggies!
He used the same technique for slaughtering as he did for the turkey in his first episode in his documentary series. Ilana was there the whole time and seemed not bothered at all by what was going on- in fact her favorite part was pulling out the feathers.

The meal was good along with the meat we ate garlic plants from the garden and a pie Mirra made, her first! I wont spoil all of it as I am not sure what he will be showing. Below are a few other pictures from the weekend.Also Daniel is having a party this weekend to help raise money for his documentary project. Please go to his website and read more about this great series, but also feel free to leave a little money:)They really are milking in these pictures, what good sports!

The $160 Lesson

2010-05-11T13:17:00.005-05:00

Last year we inherited a couple of donkeys. Working at the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue when I was younger I became fond of a donkey named Joey. Ever since then I have had a soft spot in my heart for donkeys. Last year we had their hooves trimmed by a wonderful farrier. He was patient and very gentle with them. We were very impressed. So this year we called him up again, and after waiting a week and not hearing from him I called a few more times. Well I was thinking he must be on vacation or something and a farrier is a farrier right? WRONG! I looked in the paper and found a guy who said he had 20+ years experience and so we arranged to have him come out. I was unable to be at the farm that day so what I am telling you was told to me by Chuck. The guy we hired turned out to be a little off to say the least. Chuck said he refused to trim up one of the donkeys and when it came to the horse he said he was going to charge us $100 not the $35 others charge. If you have met our horse you know that he is kind and gentle, Chuck said the farrier was trying to muscle him around and he (the guy) kept falling on the ground Teddy was not impressed. Chuck had to ask him to leave the farm before anyone got hurt. Even for a half ass job we paid him so he would leave. Yesterday our original farrier came out and did a wonderful job, and Teddy well he did not even bat an eye, he ended up having to re-do the one donkeys hooves that we already done since it was such a poorly done job.
Lesson learned- trust your instinct, and always ask another horse or donkey owner who they use.

Overwhelmed, Overworked, and Under funded

2010-05-06T10:04:00.008-05:00

Things on the farm have been busy to say the least. It seems spring comes and we are instantly overwhelmed, overworked, and under funded. To start off 3 weeks ago all 3 vehicles decided to go on strike- all within 3 days of each other. So at the moment we are down to one working vehicle. Chuck is finishing up at school and will be starting summer session soon.
Last week we came home to one of our ewes prolapsing, for those unfamiliar that literally means to fall out of place- so her uterus was falling out, not such a good thing. But I think we have it under control. Next week we should start seeing lambs- which is by far my favorite time on the farm! Last year was the first year that we let them lamb in pasture. I really liked watching the ewes give birth out on the fresh spring pasture. This year they will again be lambing on pasture, but this year I am not going to separate the new mothers from the rest of the flock. Last year after they lambed I moved the mothers and their offspring into a jug, kept them there for a day and then let them out. The jug is supposed to be a small confined area that allows mother and lamb(s) to bond. I am not sure if this is really necessary and I feel it stressful for the new mother being separated from the flock. I want our farming to be as natural as possible and I feel it very unnatural to move the ewe and her offspring.

Tomorrow we have a preschool group coming to the farm for a tour. Should be fun, I am sure the kid will love having a bunch of other kids around.

Earlier this week my grandfather was moved into hospice care, they call it comfort care. His health is declining, but his spirits are still up. My two aunts have traveled back into the state to spend some quality time with Grandpa and other family members. With my dad unable to drive long distances, the kid and I were able to bring him into the cities for a visit, and we hope to do so again next week. Although it is a sad time, it is also time of reflection. I have been thinking about all these great memories that I have. Ice fishing, strawberry and raspberry picking, fish frying, yearly trips out to Montana, holidays, the list goes on and on. If you know my grandpa you know he likes red meat, wheat or rye bread, and pie with ice cream. Although I know the pie is important the ice cream also has its memories, like going to Dairy Queen and getting a dipped cone- or better yet an ice cream cone in the back yard of Grandma and Grandpa place. I can say I never remember my grandma making a cone for us but I sure remember Grandpa doing it. I am not sure if I just noticed the way he did it or if someone pointed this out to me, but my grandpa knows how to make an ice cream cone. Really those cones are only good for holding the ice cream- they are stale and bland so it is the ice cream that is the important part, and Grandpa made sure that the ice cream made it all the way to the bottom. This is an important technique- you have to make sure you only scoop out a little to fit into that bottom part of the cone, from there it is also important to push each additional scoop down, there for maximizing ice cream consumption. Grandpa never skimped on the ice cream- a true sign of a wonderful grandpa!

It happens to everyone

2010-05-02T07:44:00.006-05:00

Ahhh a nice warm day the sun warming you up and you think you will just sit here for a minute- I mean there are things to do, dust bathe, eat bugs and grass, maybe even lay an egg. Then you feel your eyelids getting heavy and then your head, then your neck kinda gives and your head bobs. Crap did anyone see me!

You are invited

2010-04-14T10:28:00.004-05:00

Chuck and I will be giving a presentation at the local community college next Thursday the 22nd at 6pm. Also the college will be hosting a showing of the documentary Food Inc. on Tuesday of the same week. If you have not seen or even heard to the movie I strongly encourage you to go- it is an eye opener!

Looking for something good to eat

2010-04-08T08:14:00.003-05:00

Sometime I know it feels easier to just go to the grocery store and buy your food. It feels so hard to have to look around and find those things local when really everything you need is right there at your finger tips. With all this talk, and not just from me, about buying things locally it seems to be easier to find some of those small local farms. My friend Alison emailed me just yesterday, she moved out of Minnesota, and is going to start looking for those small local farms. Of course a great place to start is your local Farmers' Markets, but those might not be open for another month or more. So I told Alison that I would do a post on where to at least start looking for those small local farms. Well sorry Alison but I thought I would start with some great resources for Minnesotans, than give some broad websites. Okay Minnesotans the first place to look is Minnesota Grown, then there is Land Stewardship Project, and then try Local Foods Partnership. Then there is this one- I really love it The Perennial Plate it is an online documentary series. I don't want to spoil it for you all but this guy (Daniel Klien) who is a trained chef (trained at all these top restaurants around the world) comes back to Minnesota where he grew up and is finding all these great food resources right here in Minnesota. I strongly encourage you to check it out! Now of course not all farms are listed in these great resources, like us for example. But this will get you started- the more you know about your food and where it comes from the better you will feel- I promise:)

Okay now on to those of you who do not actually live in MN. My favorite is Eat Wild. Try typing into your search engine Buy Fresh Buy Local and then your state, also try Local Harvest. As I sit here I can think of several others but this will get you started. The other thing you can do is of course talk to neighbors or even your local feed mill, and then for sure this summer go to the local Farmers' Market.

Beyond that it is important to know what you are looking for, ask lots of questions and by all means go to their farm and see the animals, or the garden. Make sure this is a place you want to buy from.

Happy Hunting!

Inside the house

2010-04-07T16:41:00.006-05:00

With so many changes going on around the farm we sometimes forget to take before and after pictures. So in anticipation of the addition I thought I should take pictures of the inside of the house as a 'before.' Then hopefully if everything goes well I will post later this year pictures of the 'after.'
As you can see we still do not have insulation in the walls. This is not because we do not have the insulation, but because we sort of put it off. We were so busy last fall outside the house and then when it came down to it, it actually was a mild winter. So we decided to wait until this fall- WE PROMISE. I know friends and family have been worried about how cold it gets but with such a small house it really warms up fast and as long as we are home or will be home in a few hours the house stays warm.

Memory

2010-04-05T09:15:00.003-05:00

"Yes, the long memory is the most radical idea in this country. It is the loss of that long memory which deprives our people of that connective flow of thoughts and events that clarifies our vision, not where we're going, but where we want to go."
U. Utah Phillps

Annual Naked Day With A Twist

2010-04-03T15:50:00.008-05:00

Next month we will be lambing and it is always a good idea to shear the sheep at least a month ahead. And of course with this warm weather the sheep were ready to be done with their wool. Now that we have actually been in the same place for 2 years we knew just who to call. What a wonderful feeling not to be running around trying to find someone before we lamb. Well anyway the day was set and things were going great. Well that is until one of our heifers decided she was going to give birth before we would shear- like a half hour before. So it was a little hectic but everything worked out great. Her labor progressed great and before we knew it we had a calf on the ground. Because everyone shares the barnyard in the winter we had put the cows out to pasture so we could get the sheep confined without any problems. So it really worked out great. The calf is healthy and there were no problems- not like LuLu.
Well I guess there is one problem, we were hoping for a bull calf, no such luck another heifer. We are 3 for 3. I would imagine this is not something you hear most farmers say- since heifers are worth so much more than a bull. But we need something to eat, and a heifer is worth to much. So cross your fingers that the next one be a bull:)

A title

2010-03-20T06:56:00.004-05:00

It seems that we all need to title ourselves or what we do. Maybe it makes us feel more important. Now that I have a kid my "mother" title follows me wherever I go, although I love being a mother I find it frustrating that this becomes my title- Chuck's title is never father. Anyway I digress. With this upcoming discussion we are having at our local community college Chuck and I have been having a discussion of our own. What do we do- what kind of farmer are we? Seems like we need to define ourselves. We certainly are not conventional, or confinement farmers. So what are we? Organic? No, not only are we not certified we only feed grains from our local mill (supporting local is very important to us) and our local farmers do not grow organic grains (the grains go to the chickens and the pigs). I used to say we were sustainable, that is until Monsanto started claiming it was sustainable, and there is no way we want to be associated with Monsanto's idea of sustainable. So who the heck are we? People like Joel Salatin call themselves grass farmers, but it does not give consumers that beautiful picture in their heads of cows out in a pasture eating green grass enjoying the sun. It makes me think of our neighbor who has no livestock and grows hay to sell in the winter. I like the term pastured to describe how our animals are raised, but then does that make us pasture farmers?? I think just farmer is good enough, but then we seem to feel a need to describe in more detail what and how we farm. So what about responsibly farming? We are responsible farmers. We know are animals, we know what they need, we know the capacity of are land, we know what our breeds are capable of producing on a natural diet, we know our animals need no additional medication to keep them producing. In return our animals trust us, they produce for us, they are healthy, our customers know where their food is coming from, they feel good about what they are eating, they are healthy. This is responsible farming, we are responsible farmers, our products are responsibly grown.

The downside, anyone can claim responsible farming because it is so subjective. This I am afraid, I have to say again, is where the consumer comes in. It is your responsibility to become a educated consumer. Know where your food comes from- put a face on your food.

Spring has sprung!

2010-03-18T12:39:00.005-05:00

I promise I have been too busy to post. Really, really busy. And to add to that about a month ago my grandfather went into the hospital, and without getting into all the details he has been moved into a nursing home. It is a weird feeling visiting him, as the last time I was in a nursing home was when my great grandparents were there. So there is that and then there is the farm stuff. Spring is coming and boy is it coming like a freight train. All the snow is gone, and the frost is almost out as well. Our tiller is in the shop but I am sure if I had it my garden would be tilled and staked! The animals a quite happy. The barn yard is so muddy we let them all go out to pasture- just so they could run and jump and lay down outside. Well although they loved it that was kind of a mistake. The next day they were all lined up like kindergartners, (okay picture not a straight line but a bunched line with them all looking over each others bodies- wish I would have had my camera) waiting to be let out. Problem is we do not want to destroy the pasture so nothing grows. So yesterday Chuck and I put up some non-permanent fencing in an area we are calling the sacrifice pasture- it grows well but not a spot we mind they be.
We have chicks in a brooder- these are are going to be egg layers. We also decided this year to raise meat birds. Can't tell you how many people have asked us to raise chicken- especially after seeing Food Inc.. Chuck is going to have to put together a movable coop but not for a month. Then last week Chuck had spring break and him and a friend went and took apart our new addition.
Oh, and we are still looking for piglets- we do have a lead but those would come from the Dakotas and we would really like to find a local producer- and one that raises a heritage breed, we need 14 piglets if anyone has any suggestions let me know.
Chuck and I have also been asked to speak at the local Community College during their earth week program. We will be focusing on fresh food, and buying from local farms.

Lambs will be coming in May and we also have a couple of calves coming then too! I just love this time of year! Remember all are welcome to come and visit, May and June are the best times.
Enjoy you days!!

My excuses

2010-02-25T10:45:00.003-06:00

Okay so I have not been on top of this blogging thing. But I did somehow loose the connector for downloading photos (this really, really sucks). The other excuse I have is we have been really busy. So because I have no photos or time to post I thought I would pass along someone else's blog. Enjoy and please learn something!

Fooducate

Breaking News

2010-01-06T18:04:00.003-06:00

Forbes named Monsanto Company of the Year. The accompanying article The Planet Vs. Monsanto is irritating in so many ways. Monsanto is not out to save the world, the poor, or the earth as this article suggests. But I think what really makes me mad is that we as people of the world of all different religions of all different races, we all claim the earth. Some say God made the earth for them, some say Gods, some say the earth is their provider. But what no one says is Monsanto is their God, their provider. They genetically modify seeds "to ward off insects or make a crop immune to herbicides." In this article it says "people have been selecting plant genes for 5,000 years was no defense." But this is not what Monsanto does, it takes genes of a plant and introduces "a genes from bacteria living in the wastewater" and you have a whole new plant resistant to Roundup. This is not God, earth or whatever you believe in. But if the people of this world keep wanting cheap food this is what will continue to happen. Check out U.S. Food Policy for another take on this article.

Diagnoses; Klutz

2010-01-05T07:44:00.004-06:00

Well it has happened yet again, I am laid up! So it all started yesterday morning, Chuck and the kid were going to take me to work. Having only one vehicle, and me working so much Chuck is going a little stir crazy, and the kid had her first day back at gymnastics since holiday break. Everything was going smoothly, we were on time and then I went to take the kid and my work stuff out the to vehicle and I slipped. The kid hit her head pretty hard on the ground and I hurt my ankle enough so I could not walk. So it was off to the emergency room. The kid was given a CAT scan just to make sure there was no head injury- all clear, and I was given ex-rays, nothing broken but boy did it hurt like hell. The doctor wanted me to go see a orthopedic physician to make sure there was nothing wrong with the ligaments. So back to the house, made some calls, and then Chuck headed back up to the hospital to get the ex-rays, then back to the house to get the kid and I and off to yet another hospital. The orthopedic doctor said it was a sprain, I have to wear a splint and be on crutches for 2 weeks and then if everything is going well it is a walking boot for another 2 weeks.
So my wanting a time out from accidents lasted just over a month! I have never had this many problems- there must be something in the air or water up here that does not like me. Chuck still has one more week before classes start, so that helps, next week should be interesting. Although I think that kid kinda likes that I need her help so much.

Ammonia treated meat

2010-01-01T09:40:00.005-06:00

Check out this link. Apparently our great food system uses ammonia to kill bacteria in the nations beef supply. People need to really think about why in the world does the meat need to be treated with ammonia in the first place. It's disgusting to think about. The big meat producers are producing an inferior product full of bacteria. And some of the biggest sellers of the meat,(Cargill, McDonalds, etc.) know this product to be inferior(and potentially dangerous) so what do they do? Require different ways to produce the meat so that it is safe to eat? Nooooooo, they treat it with ammonia so a potentially poisonous meat can be used to feed America. By the way, Cargill is the same company that came up with the patent of treated beef with Carbon Monoxide to make the beef keep that nice red color that you see at you local grocer. Happy Shopping and Happy New Year, Chuck

2009-12-30T20:27:00.007-06:00

I apologize it has been so long since we last updated, life has taken over here at the farm. Between me working and the snow storm we have been bogged down. I am not sure the total snow fall, the first storm was somewhere between six and eight inches, the second- or maybe it was the third I seem to have lost track- was wet and rainy good for making snowmen.

The animals all seem content, I am not even sure the sheep are sleeping in the shelter at night. They have a pretty think layer of wool. Earlier this year we bought ourselves a ram. The last couple years we had been able to find a ram, but then you have to wait until that person is done using him, and then there is the whole trying to find the right breed. This year we were able to put our ram in early enough that we should be lambing by May- perfect! We have spotted him doing his job a couple times. Some farms choose to use a marking harness (a harness that you put a big crayon in that leaves a mark once he has mounted the Ewe) we bought one with every intention of using it, but really in the end who cares. Either they get bred or not, not all gestations are exact they range from 144 to 152 days so in the end you can not really predict the exact date, and if you leave him in with the girls long enough everyone should be bred. And to be honest do you really want to try and put a t-shirt type thing on a ram, I don't think so.

This spring we are thinking about adding on. I know, I know, is 384 square feet not enough, well as it turns out we could use just a little more space. A few weeks ago Chuck purchased an old grainery. When the weather allows he will take it down, move it here and attach it to our existing house. This new addition will be for the bedrooms, it even has a loft, we are thinking this will be where we sleep. It is very exciting to think about, our very own bedroom!

These last couple weeks I have had some interesting conversations with people about our food system. Last week at work a guy said to me 'I heard you were into health food,' well not exactly I told him, I consider us into real food, and believe me that is a lot different than what people consider healthy food. I think sometimes people get this idea that we are some sort of purists. In the traditional sense of food, we are into healthy food but unfortunately people think of healthy foods as skim milk, even soy milk, tofu, fat free and low fat this and that. Anyway as we were talking he said tell me why I should buy, for example eggs from a local source. Now this is where I have a problem, sure eating eggs from someone who lets their chickens roam free has many health benefits- for you and the chicken, and I could list them (and have) but what really gets me is if you go to some stores you can get a dozen eggs for under a dollar. Lets break this down, the farmer has to purchase the hens, raise them for 5 to 6 months before they start laying, then once laying has to harvest the eggs, clean, weigh, candle, grade, package, then ship them to the stores where someone stocks them, scans them, and bags them, oh and did I mention the feed and water costs. All for under $1? I just can't figure out how this is done?? Oh, yeah our tax dollars subsidize farmers for growing and raising food at a loss. But if you buy from lets say us or some other local grower- that whole $2.50 goes to us, who raise, feed, water, collect, clean, package and sell. It is not only good for your health it is good for the environment, the local economy and those farmers that are stuck in a rut of producing things at a loss. I bet they would love to be able to actually make a profit from their hard work. So what can you do- remember every time something you buy goes across a scanner that is a vote- a vote to keep producing that item. I know I have said it before but when Walmart customers stopped buying milk made from cows given hormones - Walmart stopped carrying it. Your voice and your dollar counts. I am not sure I convinced the guy at work, he then proceded to tell me he bought a 5 pound tube of ground beef for under $5 and it was great- it did not even cook down, I felt like my lecturing for the day was over so I skipped telling him that was because ground beef in the stores is from old dried up milk cows- it is so lean because they have no fat left in their poor little bodies.

This Land Is Your Land

2009-12-12T19:24:00.003-06:00

This Land Is Your Land

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

--Woody Guthrie

The black Pearl

2009-12-11T12:50:00.006-06:00

We seriously have something wrong with us. This summer and fall we were given a few kittens for barn cats. Well one of them has become a favorite of Chucks, so she is now a house cat. Pearl really is a nice cat and has a great personality. She stands up to the dogs and is friendly with the other indoor cats. So we are up to 3-4 cats in the house at any given moment and 4 dogs, and 1 kid. Remember the house is 384 square feet, plenty of room almost, 35 square feet per person/animal. Anyway the other day while the kid was sleeping and I was doing the dishes I heard a sound like running water- not having any in the house I was looking around and this is what I saw:
Just in case you are wondering the new cat is going potty in the kid's potty chair. This was the first time I had seen it but have seen her use it a few more times since this picture. Crazy cat!

The Root Cellar

2009-12-03T10:06:00.008-06:00

The block had to be sealed from water, we had many ideas but this one was the winner

Done and ready for fill

Filled

Ramona checking things out- dew claws up! (get it instead of thumbs up- hahaha)

Had to put some boards under to lift it up onto the block

Lined up ready to go

Since there was not enough room to push, with it being so close to the house and the deck, we had to pull it

Now that there is room a little push

Half way there

Just a little further

Finished

The inside- plenty of room!

My Dad

2009-12-03T08:48:00.004-06:00

First off I should say my Dad is a big pain in my butt, however I don't think I would want it any other way. I don't think I would ever say he was a great Dad, but then again I am not sure what makes a great Dad. He worked all the time, he complained and fell asleep at our school concerts, never really knew our friends, or got involved in our social life. But then there was the side of him that you really would not expect, he took us out to breakfast for our birthdays, and always got us chocolate milk (something I still crave around my birthday). In college he would send me cards with a stick or two of gum in it. The first time I thought what the heck is he doing- one stick of gum- crazy old man. But then if you knew my father you knew it was something else and sure enough there was a 50 folded up in the gum. He bought me my first car, my red Wolfsberg edition Jetta, oh how I loved that car. He made all the beer and the wine for my wedding, I think he was even more popular then Chuck and I at our own party! So on second thought was he a great Dad, yeah, but still a pain in my butt:)
In the past couple of years my Dad lost his job, his income, and insurance, had surgery on his neck twice, and is now getting disability through the state.
Anyway my point of this post was the above picture. Since Dad is now getting money again he has been feeling better about things. He has been cleaning the house and even putting the heat on. Last year he had the house at 50 degrees and lived in his bedroom with a space heater. When I was there last week I noticed on the window ledge where his bronzed baby shoes sat- the kid's baby shoes in between them. How cute is that. The kid adores him and he adores her. He is a great Grandpa!

High Maintenence?

2009-12-01T10:54:00.006-06:00

Chuck says I am high maintenance, and not in the treat me like a princess way. For crying out loud I live in a 384 square foot house and my bathroom is an outhouse- so no princess here! But while coming home from work (I will get to that later) I hit a deer, and now I have whiplash and have to go to physical therapy everyday this week. I have to say things started going down hill for me when I got pregnant. I mean my brain sort of went mushy, and not that I think I am a great driver but I am pretty good, hitting the city bus- not so good. Anyway then there was the whole spilling boiling water on my arm, besides other things I shall not get into. I think I need a time out from accidents for a while. Other than that things are staying busy. And oh yes the job. Well winters are slower for us so I decided to try and get a part time job to bring in a little extra money. Nothing fancy but something to keep me even busier. When I was in college I worked for a big box store doing loss prevention (fancy term for catching shoplifters), then I moved on to a grocery store and then a big box hunting and fishing store, and now I am security again for an establishment not to far from where we live. It is not bad I work two to three times a week when Chuck can be home with the kid.The calf is doing well, we are still not sure if she is blind. We are sure that she can at least see shadows. We have named her Beatrix, 'B' for short.

Next week the ram goes in with the ewes, so we should be expecting lambs in May, a full month before this past year. The average butchered size this year was around 40 pounds- not bad, next year maybe closer to 50 pounds, which for 100% grass fed is right where we want to be.
As for the butcher that we went with this year, we were fairly pleased. They really worked with us when it came to getting the animals in for processing. However I was told that we would be getting nitrate free bacon, ham etc. but that turned out to not be true so we have found another processor that we are going to try next year and they are nitrate free. Thing is that I had to schedule the processing dates already and they are booked already into next October! We are thinking that we will raise 12 pigs again next year we have orders already in for half of them, even the lamb spots are filling up fast! We have added 2 ewes so we have the potential to have 20 lambs if everyone twins, but I doubt that will happen so maybe around 15.

It is a weird feeling to be just finishing up one farm year and already feel overwhelmed for the next one. I have already been receiving seed catalogs, and I am not even done with preparing my garden for next year!!

Knitting and soap

2009-11-24T11:25:00.012-06:00

I learned to knit from an boyfriend's mother when I was in college. It was so fun to turn a ball of yarn into something, like a washcloth. I never really branched out only learning to make a plain scarf and those washcloths. Then when a male friend who just learned to knit made a hat I figured I should be able to do that. I learned to knit a hat in a round, make a hat on two needles stitching the ends together, but that was where it ended. Until earlier this year when I joined a local knitting group. I am now trying all sorts of things- having a kid that I want to make things for helps. Eventually I would love to spin my own yarn- having sheep is a start!

Several of the women in the knitting group spin, in fact one of them is spinning up some wool from one of our ewe's for me. I am not sure what I am going to make with it. The idea that I can make something out of wool that comes from our farm it an amazing feeling. I still have to pick colors to dye the yarn. I am not sure how much yarn will come out of wool from one ewe but the woman who is spinning it says a lot! I almost hate to just make hats out of it- maybe one day I will graduate to making a sweater for myself- would that not be wonderful!

I have now made socks for the kid with another pair on the way. I knit a scarf with a cable pattern, which has yarn from one of our ewe's. I have made lots more hats and I am trying to knit a pair of mittens for the kid.

And since I was feeling so brave I decided to make soap. I used suet from our cow, rendered it (now called tallow) and made soap. It was not to hard and to my surprise it worked- it even lathers!!

A beautiful day to have a baby!

2009-11-22T10:10:00.012-06:00

Yesterday was quite an exciting day at the farm to say the least. Chuck came in from morning milking saying that he thought Lu Lu was in labor. Sure enough I went out about a half hour after that and her bag of waters was out. Chuck had to run into town and when he came back she had pushed the feet out- only problem was they are supposed to come out hooves pointing down and these were pointing up. At this point it had been about a half hour and it was 10am so we decided that if by 10:30 she had not progressed we would think about pulling the calf. Chuck was nervously walking back and forth and really worried that the calf might be in danger. By 10:30 I had went into the barn where she had moved to and watched her, she seemed to be more at ease when I was there and then she had a contraction and it looked as though she barley pushed. Chuck came back and she was following him around and seemed really needy. So we decided she was trying to tell us she needed our help. Chuck went and got the chain to pull the calf, put it around the calf's legs and waited for a contraction. It was amazing Lu Lu let him put the chain on and then when she had a contraction and he started pulling she was pushing as hard as she could. The calf came out- back legs first (it is supposed to be front legs and head first), and alive!! We were so happy to see it alive, and a little heifer to boot! (A heifer is a girl cow that has not had a calf.) Lu Lu went to work cleaning the calf up and that is when we noticed the calf's eyes. They both seem to be cloudy, were not really sure what this means- is she blind? We spoke to some other farmers about this and they had not heard of such a thing, everyone thinks she will grow out of it so we will see. Lu Lu has really not settled down enough to let the calf nurse, or at least we have not seen her nurse and when we are out there Lu Lu wont hold still for her. So we milked Lu Lu so that we could give a bottle to the calf. Right now it is so important that the calf nurse because she needs all the colostrum she can get. Lu Lu is quite the pain in the butt to milk but she will get used to it, we are going to try and milk her every few hours instead of trying to do it all at once. The cats in the barn are in heaven, getting a little extra colostrum milk. As you can see it is a deep yellow color. We are still thinking of a name of the little one. Last year when Althea was born we decided that we would name them in Alphabetical order by year. So the new one needs a 'b' name.

Okay two more picture

2009-11-19T16:37:00.004-06:00

So we have a whole cow in the freezer- the kid is loving all the meat she is definitely a meat a potatoes kinda kid. Anyway we had gotten done with dinner and I was making M&M cookies and as you can see there was some steak left on the table - little miss climbed up and instead of eating the cookies she chose the steak- now what does that say about grass fed beef!

A root cellar and water!

2009-11-19T14:41:00.008-06:00

We have water! At the house that is. This will be so wonderful this winter to be able to have water close to the house- and I will be able to wash clothes and bathe in a tub all winter long at home!! We are moving up in the world. As I seem to always say things have been busy. We are finally done processing all animals for the season. Tomorrow we pick up the two lambs and the smoked pork then our freezer will be complete! Well almost on Tuesday I pick up a couple of fresh Turkeys that I traded for ground beef. One will be on the Thanksgiving table the other, well I am not sure yet but we will find something for it to do.
We sometimes grapple with the idea of what we are doing. Really what the heck are we doing? Farming? I have been thinking lately of trying to come up with a better word that describes what we do. A week or so ago we watched Food Inc., if you have not seen it or heard of it check it out~ it is a must see no excuses if you eat then you need to see it, I am not sure I want to be lumped into a system that I do not believe in. Farming has gone from small family owed businesses to huge corporations. It is just sickening. And then here we are living in a 384 square foot home with only a battery to power our lights, propane to power the refrigerator and the stove, wood to heat and no running water. What are we doing? We still have no idea but as the days pass us we learn so much. Is this how we are going to live forever? Who knows but with two freezers full one of meat the other of veggies and fruit we are sure aren't complaining. There are plenty of people living in a big house full to the gills and they are buying cheap food.

The root cellar is almost done. We need to put all the soil back in around it and then move the coop on top (once we do that I will explain more about the coop). It has taken much time from start to finish- and we are so thankful to our friends (Brad, Jamie, Rowland, Nia and Corey) that have helped! Looking at these pictures they all seem to dress alike- I m not sure what is with the black t-shirts. Anyway once done hopefully it will be full of potatoes, squash, apples, onions and well anything else we can think of.

Nothing much just a quick note!

2009-11-12T10:46:00.004-06:00

The season is coming to an end. This past Thursday the lambs were butchered. Chuck has been trying like crazy to finish the root cellar- I promise to post pictures soon! Just wanted to let you all know that we are here- just crazy busy. Lou Lou has not calved yet but Chuck thinks it will be any day now. He says the most exciting thing is seeing what the calf looks like. It will be so wonderful to have a calf again- and not one that we have to bottle feed! We are enjoying so much wonderful meat, we just got the call that our smoked products are ready- bacon here we come!

2009-10-29T16:31:00.003-05:00

"How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, the way the world is used."
-Wendell Berry

Today the hog are being slaughtered. All 12 and we are glad in a way and sad in others. The pigs will go and feed friends and family. The farm is slowing down heading straight for winter. Projects are being figured, and finished.

The series of pictures below are of one little black kitten herding the sheep- pretty funny as she is maybe 2 pounds and she worked them about 300 feet back from the farm where she resides. Guess sheep respect the little ones.

Lambing caught on tape

2009-10-29T11:56:00.003-05:00

I have wanted to share this with you since early this spring. This year was the first year we let the ewes lamb out in the pasture, it was amazing and I think it is important to pass along to you. What an amazing event to be able to watch, and this is all done with out any human intervention and without any drugs and right out in our wonderful grass!

Did you hear?

2009-10-22T08:46:00.006-05:00

A pig that attended the MN State Fair has H1N1.

At this moment I wish everyone would just take a step back take a deep breath and think about what is really going on. Why is this happening, what can we learn from this, and what is the right way to go about making sure this never happens again?Why is this happening? I truly believe our confinement farm way of raising livestock, coupled with our monoculture farms and the fast pace way we want to raise these animals is changing them in ways we can't even imagine. Making them susceptible to all sorts of diseases, and allowing mutation of existing diseases.What can we learn? So I heard not to worry they were working on a vaccine to give to the pigs. Oh, what a great idea, modern medicine can fix anything! Seriously do you even know the regime that confinement cows go through. In order for them to live in confinement they have to hop them up on modern meds to just keep them alive- and of course milking! Is this what we want to happen to all things that we consume- well it is and unless WE the consumers do something about it.What is the right way to go? Well I know I have already said this a hundred times but when you buy from a local reputable farmer, one that is possibly using heritage breeds, not injecting them with hormones, vaccinations and other crap, grass fed, pastured, maybe even organically raising, then you can be sure you are getting meat, milk, cheese, veggies that are safe and good for you. It is up to you the consumer- us non conventional farmers keep saying it but until the conventional system feels it nothing is going to change! Animals are being put into a system that goes against nature and they are put there by us and we are the only ones that can get them out of this horrible system before something worse happens. By then even those farmers that are farming the way they should are going to loose everything because you can't stop the spread of what is to come.

Where the heck did fall go?

2009-10-15T15:09:00.006-05:00

I still have veggies in the ground not to mention garlic to plant! The Sandhill Cranes are on the move and I love to hear them- but I am not ready for winter yet! We have truly been busy and now it is meat harvest time. Last week two cows were slaughtered here and then we drove the carcasses into the butcher. We should have beef later this month!!! Then the pigs are to be taken and then the lambs!

On a more pleasant note our kids is now 2- I can hardly believe it. She is growing and changing almost every second of the day. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful child.

Until next week you will be unable to publish a comment- sorry but send me an email if you have to say something duskwindfarm at gmail dot com.

The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

2009-10-08T15:29:00.001-05:00

I am sure everyone has heard the saying but have you really ever been in the wrong place at the wrong time? Well on Monday that is just where I was.
I had left gymnastics with the kid and was heading into the cities. On the way there were a few cop cars with their lights on heading south, same as me. When they came to my car they slowed down driving parallel to my car, they were looking in at me then driving off. I thought it was kind of weird and wondered what was going on.
Then, just south of Forest Lake before 35 divides into E and W another cop car flashed its lights behind a vehicle that was behind me. When that vehicle moved over the lights went off. I too moved over and the cop moved behind me. It’s 70 mph on 35 but with the cop right behind me I had slowed to 65, I wasn’t sure what was going on. A minute or two passed (or so it seemed) and the cop turned on its lights from behind that car two other cop cars fanned out to block the far right lane, I pulled over. I wasn’t sure that was going on looking behind me I saw them grabbing the shotgun type guns from the gun racks in their cars- again still not sure what the Hell was going on they yelled something at me, I thought they said get out of the car, so I did. Then I heard them yelling for me to get back in the car so I did. I rolled down the window; all three were pointing these big guns at me. They told me to open the car door with my right hand and step out of the car- I did. They told me to put my hands up- I did. They told me to turn around- I did. I was shaking and crying I had no idea what was going on. They told me to walk backwards toward them; again they were pointing those shotguns at me all the while. I was moving backwards I have no idea how my legs were able to move I was shaking so much. One of the officers yelled to me to move left (into traffic) I did and then another yelled for me to move right. I was almost there; I can’t really remember what exactly happened when I got to the cops. I remember they told me to put my hands on the car I felt a pat down and the one cop talking right next to me told me to listen: there had been a bank robbery in North Branch, my vehicle matched the description except mine was not a Ford, he told me the officer was just doing her job, that I have short brown hair so she could not tell my gender from behind. The time that I drove through and my speed were all factors.
At this point I said my little girl was in the car- Thankfully she was sleeping and did not wake up. One of the officers went and checked on her.
I stood there- I was shaking I thought my legs were going to give out. I just stood there.
Bits and pieces are hard to remember. I remember talking about me being free to go-I don’t remember how they said it. I just told them there was no way I could drive I was shaking so much. I mean I had my kid in the car.
I eventually did leave- the two officers that were waiting for me did not offer an apology or an escort to my car. It was over and that was that.
First off I am okay and so is the kid. I am still in shock and wonder what would have happened if I made a wrong move. It was certainly traumatic. I keep playing it over and over in my head. I keep seeing those guns pointed at me.
Yes that officer was doing her job and yes I am grateful for the police. But I have to wonder could she have done her job better, YES.
All those other cops on the road that morning probably had a moment where they thought my car could have been the one even though the wrong manufacturer- but instead of jumping they chose to drive up beside me noticed I was not the one they were looking for and drove off.
Not one of those three officers that pointed a gun at me said they were sorry all one said was “she was just doing her job”. All those cars that drove by as this was all happening thought I was a criminal- all those cars thought those cops heroes for catching the bad guy.

I know in time it will just become a memory and I wont think about it so much. But for now I just want everyone to know I did nothing wrong. They made a mistake and a big one!

Can't catch a break

2009-10-01T14:19:00.006-05:00

With this cooler weather it is easier to get things done. And there are tons of things for us to do. I am still canning like crazy, I canned some apples for pie and then with extra tomatoes we were given I made ketchup. I actually tried to make ketchup a few years ago and it was horrible, this time it was much better, but 8 pounds of tomatoes a whole day and just shy of a pint.
Today it is raining and although we need it and today it is okay but we could use a bit of dry weather for the weekend, the forecast doesn't look so good. Yesterday I dug up potatoes and pulled some onions. I still have 3 more rows of potatoes (30 foot rows) to dig and cure and about 300 onion plants to pull. I also pulled all my squash- something chewed on almost everyone! But still 80 squash for fall. Summer is like a whirlwind, it feels as though we never got a break. It is strange how long winter feels but how fast spring, summer and fall goes. Last week our friend Adair and her husband David and their grandson came to the farm. You might remember when she came last year, this time it was a little rainy. She still took some pictures but will be back when the fall colors come in a little more.In a couple of weeks 2 of our cows will be going into butcher and our freezer will once again be full, then we have 2 pigs and some lamb to squeeze in. Plus all that I have frozen for veggies and fruit for the winter. The kid will be two this month- how weird it still feels to be someone's mom!
This weekend Brad and Jamie will be here to help put in a root cellar. I will do my best to document. I am not sure we actually know what we are doing. Ahhh, another adventure!

The incredible egg- are yours edible?

2009-09-17T14:53:00.005-05:00

Since we have discussed milk with some detail I thought I would talk about eggs. First off raising your own eggs is much easier then milking a cow a couple times a day, and if you live in a city and they allow you to keep hens it is worth it for the eggs alone.
Again I have to mention how it is important to know where your eggs come from- a running theme- know your farmer.
We have just under 50 hens and get about 3 dozen eggs a day. Our chickens are locked up at night and let out around 10 am (most if not all eggs are laid by then). The chickens have full access to the farm, and they do take advantage of this. We have a mobile coop that moves behind the cows, the idea is that they will eat the fly larvae in the cow manure. Okay now into the interesting stuff.

Did you know:

Each egg has between 6000 and 8000 pours? Each egg also is laid with a protective barrier called a boom, this boom protects the egg from bacteria and other outside toxins that would otherwise seep in through the pours. It is important that this boom stay on the egg. When you buy eggs from the grocery store they are sterilized- the boom is remove exposing all of those pours to bacteria and other germs that are found in the processing plant, the truck, the grocery store, your fridge. Our eggs are each hand check by us and spot washed if need be, but our nest boxes are kept clean with fresh bedding so there is little need to wash the eggs.

Eggs truly raised on pasture are 20% higher in Omega 3 and are much better for you then commercial eggs. Just because a carton tells you that your eggs are free range means nothing-unless you have actually seen them running around you do not know they are free range. The rules to be labeled as free range are really lenient. Check out this article about free range eggs in Australia, I am sure it holds true for the US too.

Chickens are not vegetarians. Lets just set the record straight niether are cows, sheep, horses, ducks, well anything that it on pasture. Now that does not mean that you should buy commercial feed that has meat-by-products in it, because in fact many do not eat what we call meat. But they do eat bugs and bugs are not plants, so not vegetarian! So those that claim that thier chickens are eating a vegetarian diet are missing a key protein in the chickens diet. Those chickens are producing inferior eggs, unhealthy eggs. Chickens will also eat meat, they will actually cannibalize if given the opportunity.

Chicken eggs come in all sorts of colors, there is no taste difference, although I have a hard time buying white eggs- to clinical for me. The color of the egg depends on the color of the chickens ear lobe. No joke! Here is an article on what really matters- not the color.

Unhappy birds are unhealthy birds- don't buy your eggs in the grocery store without knowing about the eggs and the birds. Better yet find a local farmer and buy from them. They don't have to be feeding organically to be better eggs then you have ever had. If you want to know you are getting the best eggs, raise your own chickens. Read Joel Salatin's book Pastured Poultry Profits before you start, this is our textbook for raising our hens.

Cannin' like crazy and other stuff around the farm

2009-09-10T15:09:00.007-05:00

Well we have been crazy busy again. With Chuck back in school we are trying to figure out a nice neat schedule to get everything done in. The bugs have been terrible, I think with all the cool weather we really lucked out and then came the rain and now the warmth, the mosquitoes are really really bad. Henriette has been down a little on milk- probably due to the bugs. What do the bugs have to do with milk production? Well, her body puts its energy into making the milk but if things in her environment are taking her energy for something else we notice a drop in milk. Oh, how interesting the cow is.

I have been canning like crazy- peaches, tomatoes, jams, and jellies. Also freezing veggies from the garden.

Wild plum Jelly

Wild grape- that will be grape jelly soon

Crabapple Jelly!

This year I have canned 100 pounds of tomatoes (20# more than last year- we ran out!)

Fall is just around the corner, in the mornings there has been so much fog a result of warm days cool nights. It is so beautiful, but it wont be long before cool air sticks around. The fog is so thick dew is dripping off the plants like it had just rained.And last but not least we have a new animal. I tell you honestly we did not plan to have a horse right now. Yes we did plan to eventually get a horse. Chuck wants to be able to use a horse for working around the farm. We wanted to start looking get an idea of prices and find a breed we like. Well it turns out a neighbor friend of ours has horses and she had a Belgian that she was looking to sell. Once she heard we were looking she decided that her horses new home would be ours. We worked out a trade deal and the horse is now living at Duskwind Farm! I have to say we have not been able to spend much time with him as we have been so busy, and the bugs have been so bad. Chuck and I have little to no experience with horses so we are looking to learn as much as we can. Another local farmer's wife has offered to help us anyway she can as she has experience with drafts, and she owns Percheron's.

Just a side note I am selling peaches at the Farmers' Market- if anyone would like to buy some they are $5 for a pint- they are Red Haven peaches from Michigan canned in a light syrup with organic cane sugar. They are actually going pretty fast- I am surprised at how many people want canned peaches. I am also selling garlic.

We now have butcher dates for all animals that will be processed this year. Lately Chuck and I have been freaking out. We had a butcher that we lined up for our fall processing, we really like them because they were small time, interested in nitrate free processing and willing to let our animals be slaughtered on the farm and the carcasses brought in for processing. Well to make a really long story short they no longer have a building and instead of calling to let us know we had to find out from someone else and then I called and left a message to no answer and then a week later when I called they had changed their message to say any processing of farm animals will have to wait until after they have a building and after deer hunting season. Which really pissed us off- first off when you go hunting you can not be sure you will get a deer- I know I have a cow. And second we have been really good customers. Well I could dwell but we have now found a new place and we are really excited to try them this year and hopefully stay with them. So the cows go in early October, the pigs late October, and the lambs mid November. The pigs should be huge and hopefully the lambs will be bigger than last year. Although we had no complaints and everyone except one of last year customers is back and ordering a whole instead of a half. The only one that did not come back only bought because she wanted to try it and we were desperate because someone canceled on us by sending us an email the morning of slaughter- of course we did not get that until after the lamb was dead. Can't undo that!

The table

2009-09-02T10:47:00.005-05:00

So when Chuck and I moved up north we 'took' a table from my dad's garage. This table has been around for as long as I can remember. The story is that my parents found it at an antique place, the main part of the table had a wooden frame attached, the two leaves were not attached and had no way of attaching. Chuck and I figured he could make something work- he is handy:)
The table is really too small without the leaves and the legs are kind of annoying since you can't get your legs under the sides. My mom came over a month or so ago saying that she was going to buy us a table that she saw but after thinking a while about it went back and it was gone- she thought it would be perfect for us. I am not really sure why she happened to be looking for a table since we had made no mention that we wanted a new one, unless there was an ulterior motive. You see the table had been in my dad's garage, my parents are divorced and have been for at least 7 years but there are things my mom did not 'take' for some reason and has decided she wants now. I of course have always loved this table so I asked my dad and as it always goes he said no- but not the kind of no that actually means no- you have to know my dad. So it became our new table.
This past week my mother called to say she had gotten us a table, and would bring it by over the weekend. Well she brought it last weekend- and it is blue. And not a pretty I want to eat off of this blue.
I have to say Chuck and I were not too excited, I am sure my mom picked up on that saying that she would leave it and if we did not like it she would take it back. And then she said that if we like the table she would be back to pick up the other one. Oh, there it is that ulterior motive.
Anyway the blue table has a main part and then two leaves that pop up from under the main table perfect for our size house. Well the next morning as I was laying in bed I had a wonderful idea I bet the table that we 'took' from my dad was originally on a frame just like the blue table- I wonder if we could switch, and that afternoon Chuck made us a new table- it is so wonderful so beautiful and so big- Thanks mom for the wonderful table.

More on Milk

2009-09-02T08:46:00.009-05:00

We have gotten many questions about where to get A2 milk. The thing is if you buy milk in the grocery store you more than likely are buying A1 milk- Holstein milk. However I could be wrong so I would say that you contact the farm, find out what cows they have and ask them about A1 and A2 or better yet go check out the farm- but if you buy from big companies like Kemp's or Land O' Lakes that might be hard since their milk comes from hundreds if not thousands of farms. So the milk you are drinking could literally be milk from 100 different cows, 10 different farms and who knows how many states, and that might even be conservative. But when you buy right from the farm you know what kind of cows they have- because you can see them- you know how many cows milk is in that gallon of milk- because you can count the cows- you know what state the milk is from- because you know where they live. And while you are concerned about A1 and A2 I would also like to point out you should be buying the milk raw (unpasteurized). Read the excerpt below from Mark McAfee's guest post on Hartke is Online.

Again is your health worth cheap foods? If you were to buy a car many would go to consumer reports take the car for a test drive- find out what it's crash test rating is. But what about the food we eat- as Americans it seems all we are interested in is how much is it. Finding out how safe that car is to carry your kids is important but what you fuel their bodies with is also so important. We don't trust other drivers on the road to not crash into us but do you trust the companies making your food not to poison you- you shouldn't.

Okay, so maybe you are not ready for real milk yet, there are plenty of small dairies that you can buy milk from in the store. Small-scale creameries supplying to local co-ops and health food stores. Do your homework, if they won't let you come out to the farm and look around don't buy milk from them. If you are ready for real milk there are lots of great farms to get wonderful organic, grassfed, hormone free, A2 milk from and if you need help finding them I can certainly help- that is if you don't live close to us- or don't want to drive:)

"With the advent of the pasteurizer in 1893 (first called the par boiler) far more than bacteria were killed. The pasteurizer killed personal responsibility. The pasteurizer disconnected and marginalized the farmer and made his quality efforts irrelevant. The pasteurizer killed enzymes and good bacteria and nutritional values. The pasteurizer produced a dead partial food out of a once vital alive and complete whole food. The pasteurizer started milk markets toward a 100 year long slow death as more and more people could not drink dead milk and became sick from it.

This was a death marked by dairy lies that covered its own demise and cover stories of its false benefits and a racist blame game against broad categories of people for their innate deficiencies from a pasteurized dairy invented deficiency called “lactose intolerance” or “Lie” (abbreviated and very true in deed). Literally no one has lactose intolerance…instead it is “ pasteurization intolerance” and nearly anyone can drink raw milk just fine. Yet the dairy industry has invented a blame game that tells Asians and blacks and American Indians that they are not white enough to drink milk. That they have a deficiency. This is a false science and a huge dairy lie. It was their dead food product made toxic by their own shelf life extending technologies that was the problem. It was not the consumer’s fault, regardless of race. The pasteurized milk industry has created a racist blame game and this is the very tip of the iceberg….many more lies lay deep in the political and economic game of selling dead food from industrial farms that do not know any of their customers, personally."

What fuels your body?

2009-08-27T09:57:00.005-05:00

I forgot my camera today- so no new pictures sorry. This week has been crazy busy. As I left you last week we had gotten 4.5 inches of rain, by the time the day was done we were up to 6 inches. We were supposed to go to Colorado for a friends wedding, but at the last minute had to change plans. I would have loved to be there but in the end it worked out to be the best. The well pit flooded because a fuse blew in the barn and the sump pump could not do it's job. The pump broke and thankfully Chuck was able to fix it after it dried out. We were without water for a couple days but now things are humming again. I have been canning like crazy, 3 bushels of peaches, 40 pounds of tomatoes, and some jams and jellies. I have also picked all my garlic and it is cured cleaned and ready for sale.
Yesterday Chuck told me my posts are boring. Not that I see him posting anything so I am going to try and make them not so boring.

My latest read was more information about A1 milk and A2 milk. If you have not heard of this you need to become informed. Basically A2 milk is the good milk and the milk you probably buy is A1. To help you understand what A1 and A2 is read this article. Below is an excerpt from the article, hopefully it is not confusing- I figured it would be easier than me trying to explain what it is.

"Milk consists of three parts: 1) fat or cream, 2) whey, and 3) milk solids. For this story we are only concerned about the milk solid part, as the fat and whey don’t have this “devil”. The milk solid part is composed of many different proteins which have their own names, lactose, and other sugars. It is the protein part of the solid we’re interested in. One of these proteins is called casein, of which there are many different types, but the one casein we are interested is the predominant protein called beta- casein. As you may or may not know, all proteins are long chains of amino acids that have many “branches” coming off different parts of the main chain. Beta casein is a 229 chain of amino acids with a proline at number 67 – at least the proline is there in “old- fashioned” cows. These cows with proline at number 67 are called A2 cows and are the older breeds of cows (e.g. Jerseys, Asian and African cows). Some five thousand years ago, a mutation occurred in this proline amino acid, converting it to histidine. Cows that have this mutated beta casein are called A1 cows, and include breeds like Holstein.

The side chain that comes off this amino acid is called BCM 7. BCM 7 is a small protein (called a peptide) that is a very powerful opiate and has some undesirable effects on animals and humans. What’s important here is that proline has a strong bond to BCM 7 which helps keep it from getting into the milk, so that essentially no BCM 7 is found in the urine, blood or GI tract of old-fashioned A2 cows. On the other hand, histidine, the mutated protein, only weakly holds on to BCM 7, so it is liberated in the GI tract of animals and humans who drink A1 cow milk, and it is found in significant quantity in the blood and urine of these animals.

This opiate BCM 7 has been shown in the research outlined in the book to cause neurological impairment in animals and people exposed to it, especially autistic and schizophrenic changes. BCM 7 interferes with the immune response, and injecting BCM 7 in animal models has been shown to provoke Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Woodford presents research showing a direct correlation between a population’s exposure to A1 cow’s milk and incidence of auto-immune disease, heart disease (BCM 7 has a pro-inflammatory effect on the blood vessels), type 1 diabetes, autism, and schizophrenia. What really caught my eye is that BCM 7 selectively binds to the epithelial cells in the mucus membranes (i.e. the nose) and stimulates mucus secretion."

All milk that you get in the store is or has some A1 in it. Again we the consumers have the power to change what is consumed. We have become a society of fast and cheap. Want to talk about health care how about care about what is put into our bodies- prevention.

Last week I was talking to a woman who shops at Walmart. She said that she is reading about how bad this is and would like to shop elsewhere but it is too expensive. Should we not pay more for the stuff that fuels our bodies. My suggestion to her was to keep track of her spending for the next three months and make a pie chart to see where the money was going. As Americans we spend less than 10% of our income on food. If you make $30,000 a year you would be spening less than $3,000 a year on food, that is $250 a month, $60 a week and less than $10 a day. How much do you spend on gas a week, on TV a month, how much is your cell phone bill. Probably all more than your food bill.