Earth Day

Yesterday was Earth Day, but truly, every day is Earth Day, because the Earth gives us everything we need every day: food, water, shelter, clothing, everything. The Earth gives us beauty to keep our souls alive and joyful, and everything it gives is free. And so we should remember and acknowledge this every day, and walk the Earth in gratitude and respect.

Yesterday, Sena and Aiyana and I were driving to Yale for a doctor appointment for Aiyana's Hashimoto's. We came up with three things or challenges to ask people, and ourselves, to do in honor of Earth Day:

1) Reduce our consumption; in particular, the challenge would be to try to cut our garbage output in half from where we are now. This includes all garbage we generate: the garbage under the kitchen sink; the old furniture and TVs and other big stuff we put on the side of the road to have picked up; the garbage we generate when we get take out foods in throw away cups and containers, etc. Recycling is not enough! Recycling requires energy. What we're talking about is reducing consumption, and reusing the stuff we already have. Personally, I don't like to think of myself as a consumer and trash generator. I'd rather be a reuser, one who leaves the Earth beautiful. Here is an inspiring video from Patagonia that my sister shared with me years ago. It's about people and the stories of their well used, well loved stuff.

2) Go without factory raised meat for two weeks. Try it, and then go further. Factory raised meat is polluting and cruel to the Earth and animals that have to endure it. Switching to humanely raised, grass fed meat is one alternative, although it may take a little work to figure out where to get it, depending on where you live, and it may take more money too. But to me, if I had to chose between money and clean water, clean air, and a safe environment for my kids, I'd go with the latter. I know it seems simplistic, but at some level, what you spend your money on is a reflection of your values and what you're choosing to support.

3) Inspire others to do their part. No matter how small. Simple, every day changes that we can permanently incorporate in our lives are what makes a difference. You don't have to quit your job and join an NGO to feed the hungry. That's not nearly as effective. Do something that you can do, that fits in your life as it is right now, and that you can stick with. And inspire others to do the same. Look in your heart and be honest with yourself about what you can and cannot do; and then out of that honesty, take action.

I fear that this may come across as preachy or judgemental. That is not my intention. I wanted to put something out without spending hours to revise it because I feel that I must do something, whatever is in my power, even if it will earn me negative judgement.

Last night we had a beautiful thunderstorm, and this morning new leaves unfurled on trees by our house. When I see all that beauty, I feel so grateful and I have this strong sensation that I must do something to keep it beautiful and to allow others in the future to experience it too.

Out of this

 comes this. Amazing, no?

Peace

So Happy!

We let the cows out on pasture today. After eating hay since December, today, they are so happy to have lush green grass again.
And, in case you have not noticed, we created a Facebook page for Shundahai, so you can check that out if you want. Like it, pass it around, do whatever you want. Earlier today I updated pictures of veggies from our morning harvest.

Oshi enjoying grass and dandelion leaves

 Olive is approving of the rye

 Mama Opal in a very undignified pose, but loving the grass too.

Peace

Beautiful days are upon us

Everything is greening up and growing. The sky is clear, the temperature is pleasant, and there is no humidity. Bumblebees are out foraging, buzzing loudly as they go from flower to flower. Dandelions are in bloom. Peepers are peeping in the evening, and birds are chirping morning and night. It is such a beautiful time of year!

 Most trees have not leafed out yet, but one of these days we will wake up and all will be green.

We got new baby chicks last week. They've grown a lot already.

The cats have been watching, will less than honorable intentions, I am sure...

Peace

Alpine pastures, here we come!

Finally, this year we will be taking the trip to Romania that we've been promising the kids since 2010. It's always felt impossible to get away from the farm for more than 3 days at a time, but this year we've planned things out so our workers will be here while we go to Europe. I reserved plane tickets last week. We'll be going for 3 weeks at the beginning of October. We'll be flying to Milan, Italy, and from there driving to Bucharest, Romania, through the Alps!!! I am super excited about this. I've always dreamed of seeing Heidi country (Switzerland), always had this image of her granfather's hut on top of the montain, with the hayloft where Heidi slept and the fresh milk they shared. And now, we'll be driving through the Austrian alps (which to me is close enough to the Swiss Alps), and the Italian Dolomites, and I am so excited. The kids want to visit lots of castles, which should be easy. I want to see cows on alpine meadows and Ed, I think he mostly wants to stay away from crowded places and see how Europeans practice small scale agriculture, which I do too.

Peace

Thank you to my dad, for sharing this with me

Instead of being critical, search inside yourself and be honest about what is true. Then, out of that honesty and understanding, do what you can.

 https://youtu.be/ipe6CMvW0Dg

Peace

Invitation to Shundahai event on GMO foods

A few weeks ago, Ed's mom, the girls and I went to the Capitol in  Hartford for a GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) labeling meeting. I was very impressed by Tara, the speaker and creator of GMO Free CT, how eloquently she presented to our political representatives the case of why GMO foods should be labeled.
As I said before, I want our farm to be a vehicle of positive change, not just grow food, and I think that the GMO issue is one that everyone needs to know about for their own best interest, and that of the environment. So, after that Capitol meeting, I invited Tara to come to our farm and give a talk on GMOs. To my great excitement, she accepted.
Now I want to get the word out to as many people as possible about this upcoming FREE event. Here is the flyer I put together for the event, and I ask that you pass it along and spread the word if you feel so inclined.

Peace

Sena's challenge

For a few months now, Sena has been involved with a youth organization from Ellington, CT, called "Decide to be kind". The mission of this organization is to build a kinder, more compassionate community. One of the ways they hope to achieve this is by challenging people with different goals, such as donating to the food bank, being kind to each other, being grateful, and so on.

Today, Sena filmed her challenge, titled "Be Kind to the Environment".
Here is her video:

The calves were licking Sena's boots almost the entire time she spoke, that's why she was looking down at them at the end, thinking "what are you guys doing?"

Peace

Grape Hyacinths on a misty morning - I wanted to post these especially for my mom, because I know she loves flowers

 Garlic visibly getting greener and taller every day

 In the greenhouse, claytonia, one of our favorite salad greens

And mixed asian greens, also amazing in salad at this time of year

Sena was asked recently to write an article in the Cetacean Society International newsletter about her latest work with helping the whales. I will post it when it is published.

Peace

Easter weekend

Egg hunting in the morning

Then Easter lunch at grandma's, golfing lessons and some karate action too.

 Bo Staff

 Sparring with Ed, two on one (he can still kick their butt, but not for long...)

Peace

outside

this morning as i stepped outside, i found myself enveloped in warm, moist air. there was a faint smell of wood smoke, and all around, i heard birds singing. it was overcast, and with all the moisture in the air and diverse birdsong, it felt almost tropical out there. i consider myself lucky. my lifestyle allows me intimate contact with the natural world on a regular basis. i have to spend time outside every day, and over time, that contact nourishes something inside me, something that gives me strength and perspective and makes me feel at peace.

i worry about our kids. not just my kids, but our kids. many, too many of them, grow up in buildings. they are more connected to their electronic devices than other people or the natural world. they barely get to go outside; and even if they want to, often there's simply no time in their hurried day, as they get shuffled between school, different activities, and home. i worry for their physical and mental health, because i do believe that regular contact with the natural world is critical to their wellbeing. spending time outside, for many kids these days, is unusual rather than the norm. no other animal is as disconnected from their environment as we are raising our kids to be.

i hope that somehow, we, adults, turn this around, and give our kids the gift of being connected, less to electronic devices, and more to the natural environments they find themselves in. not asking to get rid of the electronics, i know that's unrealistic - just hoping for more balance.

this morning, i noticed tiny leaves starting to unfurl. the grass in noticeably greener too. before long, there will be an undeniable explosion of green all around.

peace

Fog, then snow, and sun again

Foggy morning a few days ago

 Yesterday morning, snow almost covered the crocuses

Now it's sunny again and the garlic is standing proud

Peace

More crocuses and Farm Newsletter

Some pictures of the girls with their crocuses and Midnight the cat. And a link to our latest farm newsletter.

Peace

Spring Peepers and Crocuses - The Earth is waking up!

The peepers started chorusing in the swamp near our house on Wednesday. The girls and I heard them, and were instantly happy - such a cheerful sound, and, peepers mean spring!

We went to the swamp to see if we could see them, but they were hard to spot.

Our field, currently in rye / pea / vetch cover crop, is starting to green up. In a few weeks we'll be moving the cows on it to mow it down. I'm sure they're looking forward to being on lush pasture again, after eating hay all winter.

The lettuce and spinach seedlings in the greenhouse are coming up and getting ready to go in the ground.

The cows at their winter residence - mama Jasmine with Jet and Oshi in the foreground.

Opal and Olive in the milking stanchion.

Aiyana got crocus bulbs last October for her birthday, and she and Sena planted them in the ground in late fall. This morning, they ran excitedly to the house to tell me that the crocuses were blooming, and the three of us ran outside to see,  smell and welcome them.

Peace

A sunny spring day

The sun is high up in the sky now, which means longer, warmer days. Today feels truly blissful - the temperature is warm and comfortable in the 70's, and the birds are singing merrily.

This past weekend I found out that the 20 year-old son of a woman I know committed suicide by hanging himself at home. He was on antidepressants, and I can't help but think about him, and about his mother and their whole family. It makes me so sad. I wish he had waited for this beautiful day, maybe it would've lifted his heart. But in today's toxic, competitive world, we made it hard for people to be happy with simple things, like a sunny day and bird song. We teach our kids to always be looking for more, for something new, something more exciting; we teach them to seek happiness in material things, social status and superficial relationships which will never make them happy. We raise them to have short attention spans and no connection with the natural world. I can't help but think of the mother of this young man and how she must suffer right now. I wish her peace.

Homeschooling

 Peace

This is what real eggs look like

It's not Easter yet, but our hens don't care about that. They give us a pretty assortment of eggs anyway - different colors, different sizes. The hens who laid these eggs live in the same coop, which means they generally live under the same conditions. But, as you can see by their eggs, their individuality is clearly asserted.

Peace

A little story I heard

The grandfather said: "Inside us, we each have two wolves. One wolf is full of anger, jealousy, greed, envy. The other one, is full of love and compassion, kindness and understanding."
The little grandson asked: "Which one wins, grandpa?".
"The one you feed the most", said the grandfather.

Peace

A woman that inspires me

Joann Grohman inspires me and I'd like to share this excerpt from her blog, heifer diary. I love how she writes and in particular how her experience, hands-on know-how, and love of her farm come through in these lines.
Joann is in her 80's now, and I first learned about her through her popular book "Keeping a Family Cow", which I read when we first got our cows. I've been following her blog on and off for the past few years, and I am always inspired by her energy, her outlook, and her love of life.

Enjoy this excerpt from her blog:

Friday, October 4, 2015
Apple Tree Recovery
This is how I saved my Wolf River Apple tree. I planted this Fedco tree about 1980 and failed to remove the wire tag. I then neglected it dismally for the next twenty years during which it grew up and nearly died of strangulation. I was struck by guilt for the poor thing about 2013. It had managed to put out a couple of wizened little apples much afflicted by codling moth. I looked up on the internet how to bring such a tree back to health with organic methods. All authorities agreed that without using pesticides it was going to be a slow process taking several years. I decided to invent my own method.
Here are the things that Sally and I employed. The first thing I did was train my free range chickens to come down to the tree and work over the ground so they would eat the codling moth larva. I did this by dribbling a trail of chicken feed about 150’ long which trail they followed, where they found additional grain scattered around the base of the tree out to the drip line. They came every day and scratched around. This was in the summer of 2013. I also tied scented drier papers in the tree to deter the moths. I also sprinkled generous amounts of diatomaceous earth all around on the branches and around on the ground and on the trunk. I also carried down whatever whey I could spare. I also tied little mesh bags of Irish Spring soap into the branches to deter deer. Later when snow was on the ground Sally took several cargo sled loads of composted sheep manure and put that around it, this was repeated in 2014. She also worked on pruning. No poisons were used at any time. The following summer of 2014 the tree rewarded me with a few clean apples. This year, 2015, the tree was loaded with hundreds of large perfect apples. Admittedly this was a big year for apples in Maine but the production of this tree was dramatic. I am thrilled with my crop of exceptionally large well-flavored fruit. We don’t know which of these strategies was most important to success- we think they all worked together

Action for labeling Genetically Modified Foods this coming Thursday in Hartford

There's a group called GMO Free CT that's been doing some excellent work towards labeling Genetically Modified (GMO) foods in CT. Our farm is on their distribution list, and I just saw that there's an important meeting coming up in Hartford this Thursday, regarding GMO labeling in childrens' food. So, if you'd like to know what goes in your food, consider attending Thursday's meeting to show that GMO labeling is important to you, and see below for more details:

PLEASE STAND WITH US!!  LABEL GMOS NOW.  YOUR PRESENCE IS NEEDED. Hi Edward! Please join us in Hartford this Thursday, March 3rd, as the Children's Committee hears testimony about implementing GMO labeling in CT now!!  We cannot stress how important YOUR presence is.  It has been almost three years since CT passed the 2013 GMO labeling law.  Since then, our movement's presence in Hartford has been limited.  We need to show them we are still here and we still want GMOs labeled.  The time to get loud and stand together is NOW. We have a full and exciting day planned. 11:00   Room 1B Press Conference 11:30   Room 2B Hearing begins 11:30   2nd Floor Atrium  Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Party Here is a link to HB 5300   https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=HB-5300.  The intent behind this bill is to implement the 2013 GMO labeling law.  Vermont's GMO labeling law implements this July. Why should CT citizens continue to shop blind while VT citizens will have the right to know?  Please submit testimony to kidtestimony@cga.ct.gov.   All testimony is due by Thursday morning March 3rd and should be submitted in Word or PDF format. We will be gathering near room 1B by 10:30 with stickers for everyone to wear.  Please consider making attendance on March 3rd a priority.  We succeeded in 2013 by standing together, we can do it again.  If you have any questions please contact Christine O'Day at connfact@gmail.com.  See you Thursday! We hope to see you there. Tara Cook-Littman, Christine O'Day and the ConnFACT/GMO Free CT Team