(Tuesday 4/15)

I always forget how busy this time of year is. As soon as the weather warms up, as it did over the past week, there’s an explosion in plant growth, and everything wants to go in the ground. Onions, kale, broccoli, cabbages, chard and other plants, which we started as seedlings in soil blocks as far back as February, and which were barely growing until a couple of weeks ago, have since been picking up and growing visibly overnight, and now must be transplanted in the ground. We have also been working on transplanting apple trees, and are expecting a shipment of blueberry bushes and peach trees at the end of this week, all of which need to go in the ground ASAP. This urgency combined with the fact that the soil is wet and unworkable for days at a time make this time of year pretty stressful. Today and overnight we are expecting 2 to 4 inches of rain, so I’ll just have to postpone any planting until the soil dries up in a few days.

(Wednesday 4/16)

After writing the above, we ended up getting snow overnight, and the ground was covered when I got up in the morning. I inspected the plants and everything seems to have held up fine. But tonight we're expecting a low of 25F, and I am worried. We covered everything, but some of the plants may still get damaged.This is April...

This week has been much warmer and as a result we’ve seen a spurt in plant growth. The spring peepers are out every night, and in the morning, many birds call. The cows have been shedding their winter coat and replacing it with a soft, fuzzy, new one.

I’ve been busy with the usual: cooking, homeschooling, planting, taking care of seedlings, harvesting and selling at the farm. I’m also training myself and Opal for milking. Her calf is due in early May and I have to be ready to milk her then. I’ve been training her to come out from the pasture and into the stall where I’ll milk her. She comes for greens. I put a bucket of claytonia or mizuna or other some other fresh greens in front of her stanchion and she comes right in. Then, while she eats, I sit by her side and touch her belly and udder, similar to what I’ll be doing when milking. So far, she hasn’t tried to kick me yet, because she’s such a good cow. But I am not expecting things to go too smoothly at first. I’ve been warned by enough people that at some point I’ll be in tears. For now, I’m doing what I can to get both of us used to the milking routine.

I love being with the cows. The nicest thing I did for myself lately, (other than lying in bed with Sena and Aiyana telling stories at night), is to sit in the pasture with the cows and be part of the natural world. It’s peaceful and grounding.

It’s a beautiful day today. I hope you enjoy it!

Peace

I put pictures of snowdrops up every spring. They're very special.

Jasmine and Opal on the move. In the background is their movable shelter and stanchion where we're going to milk them.

Opal. She's so cute and very pregnant.Today her baby was moving a lot, I could see ripples going through her belly, and I felt it kicking too. She's due to calve in early May.

Peace

no hat

this morning when i went out to bring water and hay to the cows, i had to stop and take off my gloves, hat and extra sweater. i was too hot! quite a change, from the way it has been lately. the ground is still frozen, but it really looks like spring is on its way at last.

i've been carrying a stick with me lately. we have a rooster that is quite rude. he attacked both me and ed several times. he's very macho and just keeps coming at us whenever he feels like it. last time he came at me, i had to hit him with a board. i never feel good hitting anyone or anything, but there really is no other way with him, unless you want to get spurred. he's fast too, and he keeps coming at you until you hit him hard enough. he is very useful at protecting his ladies, otherwise i'm afraid he'd be soup. someone said that if chickens were larger than they are, we'd all be dead. they can certainly be mean.

aiyana has been reading to the cats lately. amazingly, they sit in her lap and listen. i think they just want to be by the fire, where she usually sits. i can't imagine them being interested in the books she reads to them. the last one was pretty trashy - it was called "magic kitten".
 
peace

Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox just passed a couple of days ago. This is the time of equal day and night, a time of balance, and the first day of spring.
It has been warm, then cold, and warm again. Tonight we're expecting a low of 12F. We'll be covering the lettuces and salad greens in the greenhouse extra good to protect them from frost.
Still, despite the challenging weather, new shoots are coming out of the ground every day. Birds are returning, and I have already seen three butterflies flitting about. There is hope in knowing that no matter how hard the winter, no matter that ice is still on the ground, young shoots are bravely coming through, instinct brings animals out of hibernation, and life begins again. I keep this image with me to carry me through difficult times, when things can seem heavy, or dark, when i feel stuck.
I like to remember that no matter how hard my own personal "winter" may be, instinct and the life force I have within me will pull me through. Life renews itself, heals itself, and continues.

The nights have been cold over the past week, in the low 20’s, but during the day, the sun came out and this made all the difference. The snow is gone off most of our fields. Outside, the soil is still too hard to work but inside our two green houses it’s a different story. There are lettuces, spinach, spicy salad greens, radishes, peas, carrots and beets growing, as well as the soil blocks I started which will be transplanted outside in a few weeks.  Sena and Aiyana like to go to one greenhouse after schooling, take off their shoes and jackets and play. It gets pretty warm in there, 70’s or 80’s, depending on how much we vent, and it smells good too, like earth and fresh greens.

The snowdrops came out a few days ago. I’m always so happy to see them! They have a suddle, sweet smell and I like that you have to get down low, almost lying flat on the ground in order to smell them. It feels like a bow, which is quite fitting.

The cows are on pasture now, and loving it. We’re doing rotational grazing, which means that they get a new piece of pasture every day, and even though there isn’t much grazing now, it’s nice to have them out there getting used to the system. They spend all day out in the sun, and when I run my hand along their backs, they feel nice an warm.

The chickens like to go over to the cows. I love the sight of them together, the cows chewing their cud and slowly moving around, the chickens scratching in the dirt, pecking around, and taking dust baths. They’re happy together.

I gave the cows some fresh greens today - Tatsoi from the greenhouse, which is going to seed. Wow, did they like that! The next time I came over with a bucket, they expected a treat again, even though this time I was just bringing water. They ran over to me, a little too excitedly, I thought, for a 500-600lbs animal. Fortunately they put the brakes on in time.

I had a very good day today, because as soon as I woke up, I remembered that my attitude sets the tone of the day much more than what happens to me, what needs to get done, and so on. I also remembered throughout the day to focus on whatever I was doing at the time and avoid thinking about all the other things that need to get done. I hope I remember this more often.

Peace

Some recent activities

Ed, splitting wood. He did it for four hours every day, over the course of about one week. I honestly hink that I can do maybe 10 swings if I really push myself, before I'd be totally exhausted and useless for the rest of the day.

Sena's been working with Jasmine every day, and she loves doing it. Here she is getting Jasmine used to the halter and to being led.

 Aiyana got to walk Yo, our friend's doggie. She always asks about having a dog, but we're not going to do that any time soon, so in the meantime Yo is coming over for a weekly walk. They are both very happy.

I've been making more cheese. This is my first Cheddar. It's drying right now, and then I'm going to put it in the root cellar for aging. Not at all sure what it's going to be like.

Other than that, Spring is here! (I think). Today it's been just glorious, warm and sunny. Sena said that the wind felt different, much milder than before. She and Aiyana said that they felt glad inside, and a "Wake Up!" kind of feeling. They wanted to go out barefoot and I let them.
The fields are still mostly covered in snow, but it is melting fast. Hopefully a couple more weeks and we'll be able to get some seeds in the ground.

Peace

Still winter for now

It's been too cold to do very much outside. Still, thanks to our high tunnels, I was able to start some seedlings, about 8000 onion plants. Brassicas like kale, cabbage and broccoli, will be started later this week. There are also crops in the ground, like spinach and salad greens, growing well despite the cold. I have them in the high tunnel, covered with double row cover. They are growing strong now with the increasing daylight. We had some for sale last week, and we will sell again this week. Unfortunately we cannot sell right here at the farm because it's too icy, and we have no parking space with all the snow. Walking around the farm is just not a good idea right now, unless you have spikes on your boots, or you're us. We sold our greens to Willimantic and Fiddleheads food Co-ops. We've heard from people who were very happy to have fresh greens. They are a treat at this time of the year. I am grateful that we have them.

The cows are doing very well. They've come such a long way since they arrived here. They are very comfortable with us now, and we've all settled in a routine. Jasmine was very afraid and nervous when she arrived, but now she comes up to us and follows us around. Both she and Opal love to lick us, especially our hands. It's nice, but it can get a little much, especially since their tongues are kind of rough. They've licked my face as well. I really love them. I hug them sometimes, because I love their bigness. They're amazing animals.
Soon I have to start working on training Opal for milking. She's getting big, so maybe she'll have her calf early. Could be anytime between April and June. I have to get her used to being in the stanchion where she'll be milked, having her udder washed and generally being handled for the time it takes to milk, which I think will be anywhere from half an hour to an hour, probably more at first given my inexperience. At least Opal is experienced, thank goodness.

I've been reading quite a bit about dairy cows lately, trying to find out about different aspects of keeping them, such as feed, health, pasture management, calving, etc. My favorite reading so far has been Joan Grohmann's "Keeping a Family Cow". It is well written and informative, but more than that, I just like the author a lot. She's in her 80's, and still keeps a cow and other animals, plus her garden. She has a blog I like to read, called Heifer Diary. When I'm 80, I also hope to have my garden and my cow, just like she does.

Aiyana's writing

Aiyana had to write a few sentences for her lesson a few days ago. Here is what she wrote:

"The trees outside looked like silver when the lightning flashed. They whispered to each other. They never bother me. They have magic powers. They are very clever. They always have the right answer."

A quote from Stella, my four-year-old niece

(My sister sent me this, and I want to share it. Her daughter, Stella, is the same little girl who sang Hellelujah on the potty a couple months ago)

"Somewhere in the world, we will all die...", brief pause, and then she continued "but we will have fun before that."

Homeschooling update

I have to say that I am surprised and pleased at how well homeschooling is going. I was expecting teaching to be kind of painful, something I have to push on the kids, and sometimes it can be that way; but mostly it has been fun, and the more I do it, the more I love it.

There are the favorite subjects, like History, which we cannot get enough of. Sena and Aiyana could read about history all day, and I catch myself reading ahead in their book just because I can't stop, when I should be cooking, or cleaning, or doing some other work.

There have also been some pleasant surprises - like Aiyana getting into classical music. She found some old CD of mine and started playing it, and let me know that she really liked it. She asked me to find that kind of music. We went to the library and have been borrowing the Clssical Kids CD series. They are great, one CD for each composer, telling a story about that composer's life, and playing some well known pieces of theirs.

Another nice discovery has been the Mike Venezzia book series for famous artists like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and so on. Each book is dedicated to one artist, describing their life and showing some of their most famous artwork. Sena will read as much as she can, five or six artists if I don't stop her and tell her to go do something else. We also read these books together, and it's fun talking about what we like and don't like about a certain artist. As of right now, Sena and Aiyana know more about famous painters and their work than I did a month ago. Which is not saying much, but I am happy about this unexpected turn.

Another surprise was grammar. I knew that I wanted to teach the kids grammar and writing, and I expected it to be a struggle. Writing kind of is. They like to read but when it comes to writing a summary about what they read, they dread it. Grammar, on the other hand, which I though would be much more boring, they love. I think it's because they like the structure of it, and they like how you can make sense out of language by using grammar.

Overall, my favorite part of homeschooling right now is the fact that we are learning together. I often find myself inspired and refreshed by something we read or studied during homeschooling. I like the openness of that.

Over the past week

 Greenhouse waiting to be shoveled out.

Compost pile: Is there life after death? Of course.

Brothers

peace

Wind blowing, snowflakes falling

Winter is undeniably beautiful

 

Lots and lots of snow

After last week's storm, Ed and I shoveled for 4 hours each. We had to get our greenhouses and hay tunnel cleaned up, for fear that more snow, which was forecast to come (and did come), would make them collapse. We lost one greenhouse last year, and it was a real pain getting it back up and functioning; it made us late with our planting, and we did not want that to happen this year. So we were out there shoveling.

This week, the forecast called for a lot of snow, and it was right. Rd found a used snowblower attachement for our BCS tractor on Craiglist, and we decided to get it. He went to Vermont and picked it up on Tuesday. He had it all set up and working by Tuesday night, and I felt relieved that we would not have to shovel (as much).
But, on Wednesday, Ed came down with a stomach bug, bad enough that he could not get out of bed for very long. And it was snowing hard. When the snow got deeper than 6 inches, Ed tried to get the snow blower going, but he was feeling too crappy and came back to bed. I headed out to shovel. By myself. No Ed, and no snow blower. How ironic, I was feeling all confident the night before...but that's how it goes. I shoveled one greenhouse first, the one that looked the worst. 200 feet plus the roof. Then I came to the house and crashed in an armchair. Thank goodness that i had cooked a big pot of venison and cabbage stew, and Sena had made butternut squash soup. At least there was plenty of good food to eat when I came in.
Ed was throwing up and feeling miserable. Sena and Aiyana and I watched an episode of Little House on the Prairie, which my sister lent us. After that, I had to go bring water to the cows, and seeing that there was lots of snow on the ground, Ed and I decided that the hay tunnel would collapse unless someone shoveled it out. Sena and Aiyana and I headed out there again, in the dark this time. Sena and Aiyana used two little buckets to get snow off the hay tunnel, and I shoveled. We actually kind of had fun. We kept saying how this would make a good story to tell to their children. Little house on the prairie's got nothing on us!
Next day, Ed was still feeling bad, and it snowed/freezing rained again. We shovelled some more.
On Friday, Ed was able to get out of bed and run the snow blower. Since then, we were able to get everything cleaned up really well. No standing snow on the greenhouses or tunnel.
So this has been the week of shoveling. And we're not done - it's snowing again as I write this.
If I could only get those people paying the gym to waste their perfectly good energy running on those machines up to our farm! They wouldn't even have to pay me!

42

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 42.

Ed’s 91-year-old grandfather sent me a card that says: “How would you spend the perfect day?”

Here’s how I would spend it:

I’d wake up to see my children and Ed and have them sing Happy Birthday to me.

I’d make coffee and drink it by the fire.

I’d go outside and pause for just a moment, deliberately breathing in the cold, refreshing air, enjoying the feeling of the sun touching my skin. I’d go to the greenhouse and pick some salad greens for lunch. I’d go to the cows, clean their stalls, and hang out with them for a while. I’d sit near them in the hay, and watch them chew their cud. I’d allow myself the luxury of just sitting there, listening to their chewing noises, hearing their breath, looking out over the fields, feeling content.

I’d come back to the house to make chees and yoghurt. I’d clean the kitchen only to a “good enough” standard.

My sister would bring me freesias, my favorite cut flowers, the only cut flowers I get, and only on my birthday. We’d visit for a little bit.

I’d have some time alone, and I’d sit by the fire, in my favorite armchair with the sheepskins on it; I’d light the beeswax candle my sister made, and the candle Aiyana re-gifted to me. I’d sit and feel grateful for all the good things in my life, and for the hard things, and for how they mesh together. I’d enjoy being here another day to experience it all.
I’d read “Keeping a Family Cow”. I’d reread some favorite quotes.
I'd talk to my parents.

That would be, and was, my perfect day.

peace

Happy Groundhog Day!

This is one of my favorite holidays of the year, marking the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox. It also marks the time when the sun is getting noticeably stronger, and plants and animals start stirring from their winter slumber. In our greenhouses, we start seeing lots of growth in February for spinach, salad greens, carrots, beets and other cold hardy  vegetables.

I've been trying to read Cheryl Strayed's "Wild" for the past few days, as a way of relaxing and doing something different. I usually like mountaineering / adventure books. But I can't get myself to like this one. At the risk of sounding really boring, and knowing that her book is super popular, I have to say that I find her description of how messed up her life was, and how she made all these poor choices, not very interesting. Also, the hiking part of it is not inspiring to me. I keep thinking that it will get better, and that there will be something that will reach me about it, but it's not happening, so I think I'm going to give it up. I'd just rather do something else than read about her messed up decisions and her one big hike that's supposed to prove that everything is OK. Pretty harsh, I know. Boring too, I know.

I read a book this past summer, that reminds me of "Wild" in some small ways, and that I loved. The author, Melissa Coleman, had also lived through a very tragic family event which shaped the rest of her life. There's no great hike in it, just a very unconventional way of life, with its daily trials and tribulations, all of which seem very authentic. The book is "This Life is in Your Hands". Beautiful, moving story. Check it out.

Peace