This time of year

Life on the farm can feel oppressive at this time, when everywhere you look there's something that needs to be done and there's no way you can get to it all. Crops need to go in the ground, weeds and insects need attention, fruits and vegetables need to be harvested regularly, food needs to be preserved for the winter, cheese must be made or else the milk will spoil, cows need new pasture, and so on. But this is how it is every year, and I have learned not to freak out because it will pass and things will ease up.

Instead, if you can change your frame of mind and walk around the farm sort of like a visitor, not like you actually live here, things look incredibly beautiful and bountiful, and all you feel is joy and gratitude at all this abundance and diversity. Berries lusciously waiting to be eaten, cows contentedly grazing or loafing in the shade, baby chicks just hatched picking at the ground with their mother, flowers and herbs with enticing aromas, birds chirping, insects buzzing all around, sun and a nice breeze, everything is alive and fertile, plentiful and diverse. This fills the soul and makes one get over the fatigue and the unending chores.

Some pictures:
Excellent strawberry harvest this season

We made strawberry jam. Here, Sena and Aiyana are preparing the berries.

Stirring the pot. Just Strawberries, maple syrup and a little lemon. It smelled divine.

Canned about 40 pints of jam. Not sure that will be enough. But we also froze about 60 pints of raw berries, so I guess it will be.

 And after all the work, a treat: cheese and jam, all made by us.

Peace

Cow girls

When Sena was a baby we used to call her Bug. And when Aiyana was born, before she could say Sena, she said Bug. This picture of Sena with a big-eyed bug reminded me of all that.

 Sena and the cows

When I went out last Thursday morning to milk Jasmine, I looked in Opal's stall and saw her standing there, and next to her a sweet little black calf. She had calved during the night, and there she was, a proud mama looking at me, her baby cleaned up, shiny and healthy. The calf was a little heifer, and Sena and Aiyana named her Oceana, or Oshi for short. Opal acted very calm after the birth, there was barely any difference as far as her behavior towards us. She was protective of the calf, but not aggressive in any way, did not try to ram or kick us or anything like that. Every cow is different, and every birth is different. After Jasmine we were prepared for some aggression, but Opal surprised us. Oshi is as sweet as can be, jet black, with big soft eyes and long eyelashes.
Here she is coming out of the stall where she was born for the first time.

And here she is running and bucking and just fooling around for pure joy. Jet did the same when he first came out. It's like they're so happy to be here. Makes me ashamed of being tired and weighed down by stuff. These little ones just come into the world and they're so exuberant - it's like they're telling us it is a good place.

Ed, Sena and Aiyana watching Oshi run around with protective mama Opal following close behind

 Our herd of five.

Sena and Aiyana leading the cows out to pasture

Jet peeking from behind mama Jasmine.

On Sunday, Aiyana had an idea for a surprise desert. Sena helped her make it. They ground some corn that we grew last year and baked the cake part, picked fresh strawberries for topping, and melted some chocolate. It was very good.

Karate girls got some 1st and 2nd prizes at their last competitions. They competed in forms, sparring and bo staff, as well as with their demo team.

Peace

Leave what you don't need

It’s a beautiful, sunny day, and Opal seems to be in labor. Another little calf is on the way. We moved all the cows to the birthing area, which is at the barns in the back of our property. Opal is so big, Sena said she would not be surprised if she has five calves. Aiyana is excited that Jet, who is almost 2 months-old now, will have a little cousin to play with. The mama cows and Olive the heifer, are usually too dignified, and too comfortable to join in his antics.

The CSA started last week, and all went well. The crops are doing well overall. As usual, there are setbacks, insects mostly at this time of year, but we have some ways to deal with them. Leafminer has been bad on spinach and chard this year, and cutworm has taken down quite a few lettuces. We’re replanting every week in the case of lettuces, and for leafminer we’re covering crops and have tried introducing a predator wasp to reduce their population. These measures seem to be working to some degree. I know that this is a particularly bad year for both leafminer and cutworm, and I heard of cutworm taking down entire plantings at a time, so I can’t complain too much with our situation.

Last night I was finally able to go again to the sweat lodge. It seems like the past few times I tried, there was always some kids’ activity going on, either Karate or Gymnastics. I am starting to feel like our kids are overscheduled, like everyone else, but they strongly object at the mere suggestion of cutting back, so I keep going along with the situation as is.

The lodge was beautiful as always. The fire, the intense heat, the rocks, the herbs, the ceremonial atmosphere – being in the presence of all that was like a soothing balm to my stressed out body and mind. I am so grateful for having this in my life.

One thing I’ve been thinking about is what my good friend K. said at the lodge: “Leave what you don’t need”. It seems so simple, but I do have a very hard time practicing it. What she meant is leave behind your anger, your resentment, and all of that which is not helpful to you or others. That way you will walk more lightly and more joyfully.

I know that I carry with me much that I do not need. Ed will make a comment that hits me the wrong way, and I carry that resentment for many hours. Or something stressful happens with too many things going on at once (this is pretty much how it goes every day), and that stress stays with me long after the situation is over.

Most of the time I have a hard time leaving behind the things that do not serve. But sometimes, somehow, I am able to shed any resentment, stress, or resistance that I carry, and instantly I feel lighter and so much better. It’s a good skill to practice.

Peace

It's been so incredibly dry this spring! I am irrigating every day and can barely keep up with the needs of the crops and the orchard. We had one inch of very welcome rain last week, but that was it for the past month. Very abnormal.

I went to a talk on bees and native pollinators last night, given by a well known entomologist from CT Experiment Station. Very depressing. I knew that honey bees are in trouble. It's been years that we've been hearing about colony collapse, and right here at our farm, on average only 50% of hives make it through the winter. Sometimes less. But what I found most depressing is seeing the numbers. In particular, there was an analysis of bee pollen that showed a cocktail of chemical poisons, originating from different pesticides. If they are ending up in bee pollen, I know that they're ending up in so many other places. In fact, I keep coming to the dark realization that we have poisoned our environment, and the fundamental elements that our lives depend on: we have polluted the water we drink, the air we breathe, and everything is suffering including us. In my ongoing research on Aiyana's Hashimoto, I found that autoimmune diseases have reached unsurpassed levels. Almost everyone knows someone who has Multiple Sclerosis, or Chron's Disease, or Lupus, or Type 1 Diabetes, or Hashimoto's, or Celiac, and so on. I do believe that the rise of these types of diseases, the ongoing pollution of our food, water and air with toxic chemicals, our crazy lifestyle, as well as the use of toxic materials in everything around us from plastics to household furniture, go together. I feel angry and hopeless with all this. I feel like we humans are a scourge to the earth and the other life forms we share it wit. I feel sad that we have made it so hard for our children to grow up healthy.

I don't like to feel this way, so I focus on what I can do. I have to do something. If I can't contribute in a positive way to life, then what am I doing here?

For now all I can think of doing is keep farming. Keep doing it in a good way. Plant flowers to support native pollinators. Don't spray pesticides even at the risk of losing the crop. Take good care of the cows, so they can keep the soil in good health and keep us healthy as well. Talk to people about what I've learned and what I found to be true.

Lately I've been carrying around in my pocket a little piece of paper with 4 things written on it. I look at it when I feel overwhelmed, or when I need inspiration, or just a change of focus. I've only had it with me for a week, but I found it helpful so far. These are my 4 things:

1. Do one thing at a time, do it well (this is for when I feel overwhelmed by looking at my list and noticing the 20 things that have to get done before lunch)
2. Gratitude (this one helps when I feel negative. I just refocus on things I am grateful for, like my children, being healthy, being able to work, being in a war free zone, etc)
3. Joy (I think of this as an internal state that is fundamental, although sometimes overshadowed by worry and anxiety, yet always there to reconnect with)
   
4. Hope (despite what I wrote in the beggining of this post, I do have a lot of hope, because I see goodness in so many places, and because I know that the Life force is strong and will prevail over every obstacle).

Peace

Recent pictures of cows, family and the farm

Sorry for the poor quality of the pics. Our camera is on its last leg, and I don't have time to edit and make them as pretty as I'd like. But you get the idea.

 

Jasmine and Jet

All our cows

A little outing with the girls at Bluff Point

Dipping their toes in the Ocean first time this year

Sisters

Playing on a Sunday afternoon.Some people balk at all the dandelions. I think they're very pretty and the cows love them.

Aiyana with Ed

Practicing Karate

Very happy cows grazing the rye/vetch/clover winter cover crop

The orchard

Apples in blossom

The apple blossoms make the whole farm smell delightful

Peace

Sena's letter from President Obama

Sena received a letter from  President Obama, in response to the letter she sent him in February (previously posted here). She was very excited when she saw an envelope from the White House addressed to her personally.
Peace

Pictures from our land in Willington

Ed's been working on our land in Willington, getting a portion of it it ready for planting. We're planning to grow some crops over there this year on about a third of an acre. The rest will be in pasture for the cows.

This picture shows Ed standing in the portion that he prepared for vegetables.

This is me sitting under a beautiful old oak tree, which we think is at least 200 years old. The woman who owned the land before us had her ashes scattered near this tree. She was a  school teacher and a farmer, tough and independent and, we were told, quite outspoken. She loved her land, and it's too bad that we never had a chance to meet her before she died. I hope that she would have approved of what we are planning to do with the land.

Here is Ed standing by a pile of boulders he took out of the field he plowed above. I told him that if he ever looks for a job again, all he has to do is put this picture on his resume. But he didn't want to take credit, he said it was the hydraulics on his tractor that did the work.

Sena and Aiyana were very excited to discover an old turntable in the old house on the property, where the ex-owner used to live. The house is in so-so shape. My parents plan to do some work on it and stay there when they come to CT.

There's also an old barn on the property.

Peace

It is so beautiful out right now, a real gift of a day!
Forsythias, magnolias, azaleas, daffodils, hyacinths are all in bloom. In the woods, the skunk cabbage is bright green, and the understory is leafed out. The big trees, like maples, are only just starting to show that brilliant yellow-green which announces the unfurling of leaves. Many birds sing morning and night, and it just feels so good to be alive right now.
Because of the prolonged cold this spring, our season is at least a month behind last year, but the past couple of days have been much better, with temps near 70F and bright sunshine. So things are starting to look better.

The grass in the pasture is very green and lush, but not tall enough to put the cows out yet. We'll probably do it in the next two weeks.
Jasmine has been very good. Ed is working on our new field at our other property, so he hasn't been around to do the milking with me in the morning. I asked Sena to help. She is just watching me for now from outside the fence, to make sure all goes well, as I did not trust Jasmine enough to let Sena in at milking time. But I am starting to relax, because Jasmine is pretty much back to being her old sweet self. She's giving us plenty of milk too, without any kicking or any other problems.

After the rocky start with milking Jasmine, we seem to have found a nice routine that works for everyone. We separate Jet and Jasmine for 12 hours overnight. We put him in a little pen where she can lick him and be right next to him if she wants to, but he cannot nurse. We don't want him to nurse at night, so that we can get a decent amount of milk next morning. After we milk Jasmine in the morning, we let Jet out and he spends the rest of the day with his mom, nursing as much as he wants, until we put him in at night again. Jet seems to like his little pen, and he goes and lies in there even when we don't put him in. And Jasmine likes her treats, which we give her each morning at milking time. And we like the milk. And the milking experience. As with Opal, I find milking very enjoyable and relaxing (after we get passed the kicking phase).

Jet is still eating hay, we see him once in a while, but does not seem to have any more issues with breathing. So I guess he figured out how to eat it right. He is super adorable, but Jasmine does not like people to be near him for too long, so we don't get to snuggle with him as much as we'd like.

I don't have great pics of him yet. So I'll post these, which I took a few days ago. Here he is nursing after we finished milking Jasmine.

Peace

Jet meets Vet

Jasmine's been a lot better with us in the past few days. She is almost back to her sweet old self. Still protects her baby, but has not tried to charge, butt, or kick us any more. The milking is going well too - this morning she gave us almost three quarters of a gallon.

Little bull Jet is keeping us on our toes though. We had quite a scare with him. We noticed a few days ago that his breathing seemed loud and labored, like he had just run really hard or exerted himself in some major way. He was nursing fine and seemed to have pretty good energy otherwise. I called the vet and he said to keep and eye on him. He thought it could be the way his nasal passage is shaped that makes him sound that way, which is apparently common in bulls, and which resolves itself in time. But he said to take his temperature just to make sure it's not an infection. We watched him for the rest of the day and it seemed like the breathing was getting worse. We took his temp, which was not as easy as it sounds, since we had to contend with his protective mama, separate her from him, and then hold him down for two long minutes with the thermometer stuck up his butt until we got a stable reading. Poor guy, he kept trying to poop out the thermometer, and his breathing sounded even worse as he struggled to get away from us. It turned out that he did have a temp. By this time, of course it was too late to call the vet, so we had to wait till next morning. I thought the poor guy sounded terrible with his labored breathing. Of course I had to do some research and found horror stories on the internet about calf pneumonia and such things. I went back to the barn just as it was getting dark and checked on him again - he was still breathing hard, and was not getting up to nurse. I went to bed worried that night. Next morning we got in touch with the vet and scheduled an appointment. When we went to see the cows, Jet sounded worse than the night before, and now he had foamy drool around his mouth. I watched him for quite a while, and he seemed lethargic, kind of just stood there by his mom (at least he was standing...), but did not skip or run as he had done a couple of days before.

Finally, the vet and her assistant came. The vet though he was the cutest calf they'd ever seen, and she also said that he sounded bad. She started to examine him and put her finger in his mouth to check for cleft palate. She got a puzzled look on her face and then slowly, as we watched, pulled out of his mouth a big disgusting looking thing. It was a slimy blob of matted hay and straw. As soon as she pulled it out, Jet's breath went to normal and he literally bounced back to his normal self. The vet seemed quite astonished with the turn of the situation, and thought that it was very bizarre, and said she had never seen anything like it before. She asked us if we would let her have the disgusting blob she pulled out as a specimen for her collection of weird vet stuff. We said yes. Everyone was most relieved, and amused, and bewildered by the whole thing. Mostly we were happy to see little Jet bouncy and full of vigor again, and breathing easily. It turns out that part of that blob was going down his trachea, blocking it partially. It was also making it hard for him to nurse. Poor little guy, he must've been so uncomfortable, yet had no way of telling anyone...

The vet said to keep an eye on him. He is too young to be eating hay, but apparently he was eager to be like his mom or something, and tried to eat it anyway. We're supposed to check his mouth (and temp) periodically to make sure nothing else gets stuck in there. I did see him chewing on some hay this morning again, crazy little guy. We'll have to hold him down tomorrow and check him. Not fun for anyone.

Here's a picture of the thing the vet pulled out of Jet's mouth. It looks like a huge tadpole or a horseshoe crab. It's so weird.

 And here's happy Jet after we got the thing out, prancing behind his mom like nothing ever happened

Peace

Beautiful spring days are upon us

I love the sweet moments when I am watching Sena and Aiyana be happy doing simple things like riding their scooters.

 Sitting in the field with my friend LT.

Jasmine had her calf last Wednesday, a little bull named Jet. He is jet black like his mom, and very adorable. Jasmine's mothering instincts are strong, and she's been very protective since he was born. She was so friendly with all of us before the birth, to the point that last a few days before the birth I was lying down with her in the pasture, resting my head on her. But after the birth, she's been much more aggressive with us, and charged at us to tell us to stay away from the baby. Cows are prey animals, and this behavior is normal for them, especially at the time of birth. Still, despite knowing that, I find it difficult to deal with and adapt to her being so different. As of right now, we are not letting the Sena and Aiyana go to the cows by themselves anymore, and Ed and I are also only going together.

We started milking Jasmine yesterday, and so far it has not been easy. She gets very anxious when she's separated from her baby, even if it's for a few minutes. She kicked at us while we were trying to milk, and put her foot in the bucket once. Milking under stress is not conducive to letdown either, so her flow is restricted. Fortunately, we know now that cows are creatures of habit and routine, and after we go out there a few more times and get her into a milking routine, we expect things to improve a lot. Also, Jasmine's hormones should calm down over time, and hopefully she'll go back to being sweet and friendly.

I got my quince trees and planted them last week. They're close to the house, right where we can see them from the kitchen window. The girls and I named the trees Mamaia and Bunica for my two grandmothers.

My breathing has been much improved over the past two weeks. I've been taking the supplement I wrote about before, and I think it made a big difference. I still feel stressed at times, but I feel like my body handles it better, which is what the B vitamins and herbs in the supplement are supposed to do. In case anyone is interested, it is called Daily Stress Formula, and it is made by Pure Encapsulations. You can get it through a Naturopath, or you can buy it here, like I did.

Sena and Aiyana had a Karate competition in New York and their school's demo team won first place. You can see their performance here.

Peace

Last Friday I delivered some greens to Fiddleheads in New London, and afterwards treated myself to a little time by the Ocean. I had my tea, and I sat on a big rock out on the end of a pier, listening to the waves, end enjoying the misty atmosphere. It was quite restorative.

On the weekend, we had an young orchardist come help us prune out apple trees. He was a very inspiring man, and we asked him to be our consultant for the whole season, which he gladly agreed to. I feel like we need to do a much better job caring for the orchard than we have been in the past couple of years, and he will be the right person to guide us through the main tasks of the season.

Jasmine is bagging up, and Sena and Aiyana are very excited about the upcoming birth. We expect her to calve towards the end of next week.

I wrote a summary of my research on Hashimoto's, and put together a specific action plan for Aiyana's treatment. We will be talking about it to the naturopath on Monday when we go to see him. I want him to do a whole bunch of tests to help us find the root cause of her auto-immunity. I think he'll work with us.

My breathing problems and anxiety have been much better in the past three days. I started taking a supplement for adrenal support, containing significant amounts of B vitamins as well as several herbs known as adaptogens, which help the body cope with stress. I think it's working. I feel like an edge has been taken off my overall state of being since I started these supplements, but it's only been two days, so too early to draw any hard conclusions.

I got peas and beets in the ground outside this week, despite the wet and cold. Next week a lot of plantings are scheduled - I hope the weather will cooperate.

Tomorrow I am going to the sweat lodge. I missed the last two times but I am determined not to miss this one. I look forward to the fire and heat, and being close to the earth.

Peace

They're here!

Snowdrops, the harbingers of spring, are out!

Sena and Aiayana ran out (in costume), when I told them.

Sena said "Mama, you know you take a picture of them every year". That's right.
Peace

April 1st and sunny!

Got Aiyana's blood tests redone, one month after starting her on thyroid medication, which was last week. The results were encouraging in a way. Her thyroid hormones are almost back in the normal range, which is what the meds are supposed to do. Her antibodies are still high, suggesting that her body is still attacking her thyroid. That is what I'm working on. Her doctor brushes this off, saying they'll always be high. She didn't even want to test for them in the first place bc. she says there's nothing they can do about it. Of course this infuriated me, because I know there are things you can do, it's just not what medical doctors have been taught about. Anyway, I persuaded her to have the antibodies tested again, and she reluctantly agreed.
I'm still working on figuring out the root cause of what's triggering her antibodies, and I think it will be a long journey. In any case, I need to be able to test her blood regularly, to see which changes are making a difference and which are not, and I hope to find a doctor that will work with me in monitoring this.

My anxiety / breathing problems are getting better overall. I still have times when I feel really tight, but I think they're getting less. I've been taking vitamin D, cod liver oil, Vitamin C and St.John's Wort as supplements. I also ordered a stress relief herbal formula, which I hope will help further. I cut my caffeine by half, which means that my daily cup of cofee is watered down some, and I only have black tea occasionally. I've made a spreadsheet to organize meal preparation, and made this very time-consuming task more efficient. I made a decision not to worry about Aiyana, but instead spend that energy to do things. Make a plan of action, and just do one thing at a time monitoring the differences. This is where working with a competent and cooperative doctor is key.

Yesterday Sena and Aiyana and I went biking. We left out bikes at the edge of the woods and then went hiking. We stopped by the edge of a pond, and the girls played. I sat by the water and then laid down on a large rock. I kept falling in and out of sleep. It was so peaceful, hearing the wind rustle through branches and  different birds call. I always felt that laying on the ground is helpful, but yesterday in particular, I almost could feel the tension leaving me as I lay there.

Our worker started this week, and that has been a great relief for me. He's taken over my greenhouse and field tasks, and now my main concern in that respect is to organize and manage the tasks. This weekend we have a young horticulturalist coming over to do some tree pruning. I look forward to that.

The cows are doing well. Opal is huge, I feel like she may give birth before June, when her due date is. Training Olive is going pretty well, although she still has her defiant young cow attitude. She pushes her mom around a lot and has become the dominant of the two. She's not dominant with us, because we won't allow her, and the training is preventing that. Jasmine is dominant over Olive, which is good, because she needs another cow to put her in her place. And Opal is dominant over Jasmine. Now you know something about cow hierarchy at Shundahai.

Tomorrow we're selling. Finally the parking lot is not covered in snow any more, so we can have customers come here at the farm.

The sun is out. Enjoy it!

Young, spunky Olive

Beautiful, sweet Jasmine

 Big mama Opal

Peace

Stress

Spring Equinox was just a few days ago. It also snowed a few inches, so it still looks wintery outside. But the sun is bright and the days are long, and Sena and Aiyana are memorizing poems about Spring. Spring will come.

I hear that the maple syrup season hasn’t been good yet this year, with the prolonged cold. Things are growing in the greenhouse, but we’re definitely delayed relative to previous years, as is everyone else. In 2012 we were planting in the ground by late Feb, but this year everything is still covered in snow.

I’ve been doing a lot of learning on Hashimoto’s. I’m reading my third book on it now, called Root Cause by Izabella Wentz. It’s the best one yet. It’s written by a young woman, with a doctorate in pharmacy, who has Hashimoto herself. Her book is very well researched and documented, and very thorough. It gives a lot of hope, not only for Hashimoto’s, but for other autoimmune conditions as well that yes, autoimmune conditions can be halted or even healed through lifestyle and diet. I am so grateful to her for writing this book and sharing her journey and her research.

Based on everything I’ve read, or otherwise found out, and in consultation with our naturopath, I’ve been making changes to our diet. I am also giving Aiyana quite a few supplements, such as Vitamin D, the lack of which I read is pandemic, and highly associated with Hashimoto; cod liver oil for omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids; probiotics for gut flora; Brazil nuts for Selenium, which our soils here in the Northeast are deficient in, and the lack of which is a factor in Hashi. This is in addition to her thryroid medication prescribed by the endocrinologist. Aiyana’s being really good about taking it all without much complaint.

I’ve eliminated gluten completely from our diet; eliminated iodine (excess iodine is associated with triggering or perpetuating Hashi. in predisposed people). I’m trying to stay away from starches as much as possible, which means limiting all grains, potatoes, and sweets (which we didn’t eat much of to begin with).

We’re eating the veggies that we grow ourselves, nuts which we buy (I’ve been making nut based crackers and pie crusts, which are really good), legumes such as beans and lentils some of which we grow and some we buy, fruits which we grow ourselves, dairy and eggs which usually we produce ourselves, and Aiyana and I also eat meat if we butcher an animal.

I’ve been quite stressed lately with dealing with everything. I feel pulled in too many directions. Aiyana’s health has been my top concern, and I’ve been spending a lot of time reading and doing research. Food preparation with the new restrictions, has been taking more time than usual, and much more planning. The farm needs my attention too, plants need to be started, weeded, etc. The orchard needs attention – pruning must be done at this time of the year. The cows need daily attention.

With all this going on, my old breathing problems, which I’ve had on and off since I lived in Montreal, came back. I had been free of them for a couple of years, but they came back about three weeks ago. I’ve been to doctors and I am told that I don’t have asthma, and my heart and lungs are fine, everything is great. My personal feeling is that it’s all stress based and stress triggered, but the problem is that once it starts happening, I don’t feel that I have much control, and actually the more I focus on the problem, the worse it gets. Eventually, it resolves by itself, but while it’s here it can be very unpleasant and it limits me.

I’ve been spending extra time with the cows at the end of the day, as they always calm me down. I’ve also been listening to relaxing music as I do my work around the kitchen, and enjoying the sun and birdsong when I'm out working. I’ve been giving Sena and Aiyana more responsibility, such as weeding, which they took on surprisingly well. Ed’s trying to be supportive. He suggested that I take a vacation. Maybe...although I really don't want to go anywhere, I love being here on the farm. What I need is to figure out how to do my work and then let go instead of stressing about all there is left to do.

I see this breathing problem as a challenge and as a teacher, something that is here to teach me how live life better.

Peace

This morning when I went out to water and feed the cows, I noticed that the trees had a distinctive red tinge to them. I feel like it happened overnight, a sign that the buds are swelling and sap is running.

Yesterday, when Sena and Ed and I were with the cows, we think we felt Jasmine's baby. We're always unsure whether she's pregnant or not, even though the vet checked her in the fall and said she was. She does not look that big, and it's hard to tell, even though she's supposed to give birth in April. But feeling the calf was reassuring, and fun.

I've been working with Olive to halter train her. She got a little spunk to her, now that she's a teenager. She pushes her mom around, and I wanted to nip that kind of behavior in the bud, so she does not think she can be pushy with us. She has tried... But the halter training is really helping, letting her know that we're in charge and she has to obey and walk nicely alongside us when we bring her from one place to another.

It's rainy and misty today, and it really feels like spring is on its way.
One more week till spring equinox! Very exciting!

Peace

Spring

I spent today seeding onion soil blocks and organizing the greenhouse. It was 55F and sunny outside, with a warm breeze. It must've been 90F in the greenhouse. The fields are still covered in snow, but it is melting fast, and there are puddles everywhere. Bare spots are appearing and even though it's soggy, it fells so good to see the ground again. While working in the greenhouse I could hear different birds singing and calling - a morning dove in particular has been very vocal over the past week or so. There are other signs of spring too. The cows are shedding their coats in great clumps of hair that come out in when I run my hands over them. The spinach in the greenhouses is growing visibly from week to week. We'll be harvesting some tomorrow and selling to the food co-ops in Willimantic and in New London.

Things are going well with Aiyana. She's been taking her thyroid medication for a couple of weeks now, and is doing fine with it. We've all been off gluten for the past couple of weeks as well, and we don't miss it. I've been cooking a lot more corn, which we grew last year, and it's delicious. I've also been more mindful of blood sugar balance and cooking with that in mind.

We met with our naturopathic doctor for two hours last Sunday and he was very helpful. We're going to be doing more blood work and other tests to figure out if there are any food sensitivities or other things that could be flaring up Aiyana's immune system. I feel like we've got a better understanding now of what's going on and what we're going to do about it than we did a week ago.
We're going to continue to read and find out info on Hashimoto's (got two books in the mail today), but in the meantime I am relieved that Aiyana is doing so well with it, and seems to have no symptoms.

Sena and Aiyana did their yearly farming presentations again over the past three weeks. They presented to a total of about five hundred kids, from 2nd to 4th grade. They love doing it, and it's good to see how comfortable they both are speaking in front of large audiences. At the end of the presentations they take questions. That's always interesting. One question that seemed to cause a lot of confusion was whether the chicken you buy at the supermarket has a head. Sena and Aiyana had shown pictures of their (live) chickens and talked about how they care for them, but for some reason the kid who asked this question just could not reconcile the fact that those chickens are the same as the chicken his parents buy at the store, and that that chicken did have a head at some point.
Another major source of confusion was the cows and their milk. How do they give milk? Why do they have to have a baby to give milk? How does the baby come out? To this question, Sena said "the same way you came out of your mother" and left it there. It's sad, I think, for these little kids that they are growing up so disconnected from real things.

I've been reading the Tao Te Ching again, and found it helpful over the past few weeks when I felt unsettled. Sena and Aiyana have been copying excerpts from it in their calligraphy notebooks. They love doing that.

Peace