good quote

"A significant part of the pleasure of eating is in one's accurate consciousness of the lives and the world from which food comes" -- Wendell Berry

so what does 15 thousand dollars look like?

In the farming world it's this! Well, dairy farming particularly. The kids and I helped out at a local barn's livestock auction on Monday. I say livestock, but in all honesty it was just cows. This little heifer is not even a year old, has not produced any offspring or even a drop of milk and was sold for just over 15,000.00!! I was stunned! Yes, she's very well built heifer, but seriously 15 thousand dollars?! If this is what Andrew needs to save up to buy, we're a bit further off than we thought!

mustering chutzpah

Ugh! Today is a day that I will never forget, though at least one part I sincerely wish I could. If they can come up with an easy button, why can't they come up with a do over button? The kids headed out to the barn to do morning chores a minute or two before I did this morning because a friend had called and I was on the phone trying to help her with a question she was having. They came back into the house with a chicken, one of the laying hens that were hatched out this spring, it had to be a hen, couldn't have been a rooster! Ugh! Well suffice it to say I was pretty certain, like 99.9998% sure it's neck was broken, it's neck had been stuck in the chicken coop door and the rest of the details are a mystery. So here I was trying to remain calm and not vomit because of the circumstances that were inevitable were swirling around in my brain, this was not going to be a good day. I called Ron at work and told him about the hen and what was coming, ugh! was all I could think. We talked about which way would be the fastest and least painful, after all it was clear that she was in pain and it tore me up to see it. I got off the phone with him and took the hen outside and placed her on a hardwood stump that we got last year when we took care of the huge dead hemlock in the backyard. I had Andrew head into the garage to get my axe. She really seemed to be at peace in the sunshine. She just laid there on the stump in the sunshine with her eyes closed, Andrew handed my the axe and headed inside with Faith. I took a measurement of where I needed to land the axe and placed it in the grass. I headed inside too. I loaded the rifle, just in case I missed and there was another situation I needed to suddenly deal with took a few long inhalations of lavender to calm my nerves. I had never done anything like what I was about to do and never in a million years did I ever think I would be able to! I'm a vegetarian for crying out loud!! I'm also a caretaker of creation and this poor helpless creature I'd been entrusted to care for was in pain and there was nothing I could do for her expect to end her pain. So I took another few whiffs of the lavender and headed back out to the stump. She opened her eyes for a minute to see what had changed then quickly closed them and went back to peacefully laying there. I propped the rifle up within easy reach and picked up the axe and thanked her for her life and thanked her for eating lots of bugs for us. Took another measurement of where it needed to be placed and with one swift motion it was all over. I will spare you all the gory details but it's not something I ever care to do again. I'm just glad I was able to muster up the chutzpah to get the job done. I've only ever killed bugs; like mosquitoes or black flies, or mice; once I ran over a garden snake with the lawnmower because I was terrified of snakes and was sure it was after me! (I shudder to think of it!) I have never taken a life like this; I am ok with doing it because I know she is out of pain but I feel so bad that it had to happen. I'm not one to panic in situations like this; pretty level headed but I've wondered in the past level headed to what point? It there a point when level headedness goes out the window? It was nice to realize that when I wasn't sure this was something I'd ever be able to to I was! I was able to reach way down in a place I didn't know I had and do what needed to be done, I know that I got that strength from my Father and I am grateful!

Open Farm Day - one of my favorite days of the year

Yesterday at participating farms statewide was Open Farm Day and it just happens to be one of my favorite days of the year. Why? Because it gives me hope. Every year there are more and more people attending and better yet buying various items from these farms and the diversity of the consumer is growing as well. I love it! Often these farms have some type of demonstration or in some way educational and it's hard to choose which farm and which event to go to because there is so much to choose from! Yesterday Faith, Andrew and I went to two farms, both organic! Yea! One of our favorites is in the next town over and has a little bit of EVERYTHING, oh what an impressive place, inspiring and motivating. There we watched a demonstration on top bar hive beekeeping, something I totally NEED to try!

Natural wax from a top bar hive.

inspiration for a greenhouse........ (not coveting not coveting, not coveting....)

Apparently happy cows come from this farm too!

This farm has some of the most beautiful fibers in various stages of processing, I bought some mohair/lamb, a silvery color to blend with my llamas fiber and I cannot wait to see the finished product! Dreaming of the finished product!

The other farm was much smaller but had PYO organic raspberries so we took a few quart containers and went to town! I may have mentioned that raspberries just happen to be my favorite! I plan to freeze enough to make a pie, er, for the kids to have enough to make a pie for my birthday. They love to do that for me and have for the past couple years, I love it too! That way I'll enjoy this day twice, the first time with my children in the cool summer evening air surrounded by fields, livestock, flowers and trees and secondly remembering the day again later while enjoying the fruits of our labor surrounded by my children.

sunshine you can smell

On our way back from the blueberry patch we drove past one of the many fields of sunflowers a local farmer grows for sunflower oil to use in his tractors instead of petroleum. Good for the Earth, good for the soul!

Good for the honeybees too!

an afternoon in the berry patch

Heard yesterday the blueberries were ready and boy were they ever! The kids and I went to a blueberry farm about 25 minutes away this afternoon and picked 18 quarts off 1 bush and a little off the one next to it! Thankfully the storm (to include 3 tornadoes!) that moved through last night took with it the humidity that's been making me feel like a slug for the past few weeks with it and gave us a splendid afternoon, with a nice breeze and loads of sunshine!

My wonderful helpers with our harvest. Will likely be making jam, muffins and a pie at some point tomorrow or Saturday, or tonight, who knows! Then I'll freeze the rest for the winter.

high summer