Looking Back at 2011

This time last year, we were in the middle of our year at the Farm School.  We hadn't been to Italy yet, we hadn't endured lambing season, hadn't cut the umbilical cord of a new calf and hadn't watched the first plants of the season sprout in the greenhouse.  A farm of our own was just a few notes on the back of a piece of paper and something Theo and I wondered about.

Fast forward to now, and we're living in our farmhouse, anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first chicks and piglets and planning the crops we'll grow for our first season.

The road here hasn't been all that smooth.  As of August, our house that we were supposed to move into was completely gutted and we needed to be living there at the end of October.  Those days were hard, long and stressful.  I was commuting over an hour to my new job as an elementary school teacher and Theo had an equally long commute to the new house.  Why wasn't I writing about this grand adventure of plumbing mistakes, lack of dry-wall and no heat?  It was bad enough to go through those days once and at the end of them I certainly did not want to relive them through writing.  Then, a week before we were supposed to move, and New England got dumped on by the first storm of the season, our house wasn't done (think no toilet, no kitchen, no walls, no heat, no running water... the list goes on), our truck was broken, which was impairing our ability to even move out of where we were currently living (and each day was closer to the end of that lease) and this guy, the one in the back, didn't come back inside one night:

Talk about a stressful, sad and pretty horrible weekend.  It was times like those that the great parts of the fall shone through: my best friends dropped everything to help me search the woods for Hobbes, who never came home again.  My mom came down to the new house and helped us get it ready.  Theo's parents, who live in Montana, sent us a set of power tools which were invaluable.  During that weekend, we received our first email from someone we didn't know and hadn't met who was interested in our lamb and chickens.

Eventually, we did move.  With one last, long look at the woods behind our old house, hoping that Hobbes might appear, we drove to the new farm.

What comes next?  Ordering seeds, putting the final touches on our new home, planting flower beds and waiting for spring.  What have we learned over the last year?  Not to let the cat outside.  Continued thanks to our family and friends who have been nothing but supportive as we begin this great adventure.  We've had lessons in perseverance, tenacity, hard work and that the days march on, no matter how great or how bad they might be.  Hopefully I'll write more, especially as the season gets started and we're doing more exciting things than installing a shower and wiring lights.

We hope that 2012 will be kind to us as new farmers and that the good times will continue to outweigh the bad.  We're getting a dog soon, so that might fill a bit of the emptiness Hobbes left in our lives and our home.  We can't wait to see how this year goes and to look back at it in twelve months with all that we've learned and all the experiences we've had.

I hope all of your New Years are happy and hopeful as well!

Two Gross Things

One peaceful afternoon at the farm, I was sitting around with most of the group cleaning garlic. Sophia comes into the lower barn to find me and tell me that I need to take Theo to the hospital. Theo doesn't really like the hospital- his words to me once were 'don't ever, ever take me there, no matter what', so I was a bit surprised at Sophia's declaration. I head up the driveway to find him bleeding all over the grass from an incredibly deep cut on his finger. How'd he do it? Sharpening the scythe. Very grim reaper-esque, if you ask me.

So we headed off to Athol Memorial Hospital, a wonderful, quite little place down the road from the farm and they fixed him up.

I, of course, thought the excitement was over for the day. We got ice cream cones, because what trip to the hospital shouldn't end with an ice cream cone, and drove back to the farm. We pulled up and found The Grossest Bug Ever lying under the maple tree behind the farm house. It was so big the chickens wouldn't eat it and I don't blame them.

A couple of gems...

I'll post a couple of photos over the next week that I found on my camera. I forgot that I had taken these this summer!

We spent a few hours taking a break from the busy summer season to shell beans with Carlen. And, of course, to make smiley faces out of them.

And, later that week, we braided Red Torpedo Onions into long chains. It helps to have monstrously large hands, which I'm blessed with. I added some flowers to the chain which dried along with the onions.

Graduation!

Let's start with the sad part: the tomatoes just couldn't handle all the rain. They are ghosts of their former glory. It's kind of ok at this point, because with Fall coming I'm excited for some pumpkin soup and roasted winter squash. That is the joy of seasonal eating.

There was a huge party at the farm with all our friends and families for graduation. My Mom and Dad and Rebecca and Anthony all came to help us celebrate. We kicked off the afternoon pressing cider in the orchard.

Mom helped take the leftovers down to the pigs. They were so excited! (And huge!)

I think the most amazing skill anyone has learned this year is the rare ability to levitate pitch forks. Theo is obviously a master.

We all sat on hay bales (and were given the above pitchforks as a present) for a wonderful ceremony full of poems, thank yous and a violin duet by Emily and Rebekah.

We made Sara a cake for her birthday on Tuesday.

I put a rabbit on it in honor of the angora rabbit she has taken care of over the last year.

Post graduation on the tractor!

With Maggie's Field in the background.

And our diplomas!

And the best graduation presents ever! Sweatshirts for our new farm. I'll post more about this soon, I promise!

Dad, who used to be a welder, checking out my fire cube with me.

And finally, the T-Rex that Betsy and Sarah gave Theo as a graduation present with the Prosecco from Rebecca and Anthony. You can also see Theo's bingo card from Thursday night with Josh, Stephen and Justin on the coffee table as well.

Power Out = Awesome

Ok, it's not really awesome to have no power, but my school was closed yesterday and I got to spend a day back at the farm! What a wonderful gift!

Woo Hoo! We're Famous (Again!)

Check out a new article about the farm!

Things I wish I had known

I had a lot of questions this time last year, so I'll do my part in passing along a bit of knowledge, or at least experience (some of which was learned the hard way).

What to bring?

You need really good boots. We all have the neoprene and rubber muck boots, either from Muck or from LL Bean or one of the other places that make them. Imagine walking through muddy water with manure in it that's higher than your ankles.

A really great set of rain gear. I have a gore-tex rain coat which I love and I really wish I had a pair of the carhartt overall rain pants. I have non-overall rain pants which are fine, but I have to wear suspenders with them. Another image? Bending over to harvest and having rain run down you pants because your jacket is above your waist. It makes it a completely horrible day.

Theo would like to add that he wishes he had a set of warmer rain gear and then something lighter for when it's hot out. He has those carhartt overall rain pants and says they're great, but they're too much for the spring and summer.

Speaking of having rain running down your pants, if you're living off the farm for the year, I highly recommend keeping a complete change of clothes either in your car or at the farm house. Not just dry socks and stuff like that, but shorts and a tshirt for if it suddenly gets warm, warm clothes for if it suddenly gets cold, something comfortable for sitting around the farmhouse for class and never, never leave your rain jacket at home.

A lot of people wear carhartt work pants (or deluth- there's lots of brand loyalty and comparison). I'm a fan of carhartt because they make women's clothing and it's really comfortable.

Multi tool/ and or pocket knife. I got mine from Chainsaw Bill (who you will meet and love any maybe win a pocket knife from) but I wish that I had the kind where part of the blade is serrated.

Work gloves are also a good thing to come with. Theo likes the $4 Ocean State Joblot kind and I like my leather Carhartt ones. It's funny that none of us really wear gloves any more, probably since we're just used to having poop on our hands and getting our hands pretty beat up everyday, but we wore them all the time in the fall. Also bring a pair of lined gloves (I got Kinco ones) because it get's colder sooner than you think and I wish I had had some from the beginning.

For the winter? I loved my wool shirts and my onesie LL Bean long underwear. Quilt lined overalls are good but I really wish I had (and might buy for myself one of these days) the full body coveralls that are quilted. So warm and cozy! I also got a winter work coat (also from carhartt... seeing a trend?) since I didn't want to ruin my nice ski coat.

Bring warm blankets for the winter since the farm house is pretty cold, and slippers since nobody wants work boots inside (or sandals for when it's warmer).

Bring musical instruments and board games and cards.

Bring a really, really good hat and really warm socks.

Some general advice?

There is so, so much food at the farm which is such a blessings. Part of what I'm saddest to leave behind is the meals we all ate together. However, if you have a non local or out of season food that you really like (for me, avocados and for Theo, any type of fish) you can expect that you'll have to buy that yourself.

I also think a real strength of the program, and the management is their willingness to accommodate what each person wants to learn. Obviously, one person can't change the whole curriculum, but the staff is really supportive if you want to go deeper into a certain subject. Advocate for yourself- it's really helped me when I wanted to do more welding and Theo when he wanted to spend more time canning and preserving.

One other tip for the few weeks left? Come to the farm prepared to carry heavy things. I wish I had spent more time building strength- you'll be carrying 50 lbs of turnips down a rocky path and lifting it into the back of a pickup. Also heavy? Throwing hay bales, lifting two five gallon buckets of water and 50 pound bags of grain.

A final thought: leaving the farm school is hard and figuring out what to do after is even harder. There was a lot of stress in March and April about everyone's next step. Wm (who you will also meet and love) told us that it happened every year and hearing that made it a little better. Throughout the summer we've met many, many farmers looking to hire us. Theo and I had many opportunities of where to go to start our own farm. And who knows, maybe we'll need someone this time next year.

I'm sure there's other things and if I think of any, I'll post them later. Off to go shuck the corn for dinner!

Sigh

Well, as you all have noticed, I haven't been faithfully posting lately. I could blame it on the busy summer season on the farm, which would be true, or that the weather is beautiful and who wants to be on the computer when they could be outside (also true). However, the fact is that writing about my life right now means facing the sad truth that my year at the farm has come to an end. I'm excitedly starting a job teaching in a Montessori school and while I'm looking forward to this coming year, it has been very, very hard to say goodbye to the farm.

It's sad to leave what feels like an unfinished season- the tomatoes are ripe on the vine, the eggplants are just coming in, and the pigs and chickens are getting bigger everyday. And while I'm still around a bit, since Theo is at the farm until the end and my days at school are shorter, allowing me to pop in for breakfast or dinner, my own commitment and responsibility on the farm is over.

I've been lucky to feel very welcomed at my new job but that doesn't make me less homesick for sitting around the table in the farmhouse talking about vegetables and local meat with no caveats to explain what I mean when I talk about the weed pressure in the brassicas or the amount of forage for the cows.

I'll say this, both to my class and future classes: the farm is a special place. It's a wonderful little bubble and emerging back into a more conventional environment is a harsh reminder of gender roles and a certain brand of self criticism. There was never any presumption over the last year that a woman couldn't do something a man could, or that the men should be building and on the tractor while women focused on canning or fiber arts. In just a couple of days away from the farm, I already miss the assumption that I can use a skill saw or even just hammer a nail into the wall. It's striking to walk back into a world that cares how you look and that a bit of dirt isn't a badge of a long day but something to be avoided and immediately cleaned. It was hard to appreciate the culture of the farm while in it- we were so immersed in a place that supported and nurtured our values, it just felt like that was how life always was.

I'm sure I'll still write about the farm (and there's exciting news coming about our own, brand new farm that we're starting) as the summer ends and the fall begins. And I'll say again that I'm very excited about my new job: I love working with kids and the staff has been incredibly kind and welcoming. I'll just always really, really miss those days when we were at the farm, instead of just memories.

We Made a Haystack!

Isn't it great? We built a round frame about four feet high and piled hay on while we walked around in circles to tamp it down. It grew and grew throughout the afternoon as we put more on. Once we had gotten it as big as we needed it, we raked the outside so that water would shed off, instead of trickling inside and rotting the hay. A couple of inches of the outside will be lost to sun bleaching and rot, but inside it'll be nice and green for those snowy winter months!

This Student Farmer Went to Market

We're taking turns each week attending the Belmont Farmer's Market and Thursday was my chance! I had a great time selling all our produce and hanging out with Kim, the staff member who came with me. We sold out of almost everything and I loved getting to meet all the people eating our food. We also got to meet ButterGirl, the lovely woman in the stand next to us who bakes cookies and brownies from her home and sells them in markets and wholesale around Belmont and Somerville. So delicious and inspiring as a business model.

Farming is So Hard

Whenever anyone tells me that farming is backbreaking work, I just remember the time we ate fresh strawberries on our ice cream cones on a hot summer day. Life doesn't get much better than that.

Thunderstorms!

I wish I had had my camera this afternoon as we watched a huge storm roll across the fields. Caitlin, Theo, Emily and I were out weeding bind weed out of the garlic and onions when the sky darkened and thunder started rumbling. We said we would head back to the farm at the first lightning. The clouds were so awesome! The wind was blowing the truck doors closed as we jumped in a drove back. Such a fun time watching the rain from the front porch, eating left over steak, ice cream and M&Ms.

What a Week!

So much is happening around the farm! One of the most exciting things is that we're getting ready to harvest some of the crops that are busy growing in the fields. It's great to be able to walk outside and grab some lettuce for lunch. Sadly, the bugs and pests are also ramping up their season so our sweet potatoes aren't looking too great, nor are the cauliflower. Both of these are growing in our home garden. The tomatoes are getting bigger each day, but the Green Grape variety seems to have been hit by a bit of disease. I had to compost two of them which was rather sad since they had already set fruit. Luckily, I had some extras in the cold frames.

Tonight is the Big Pig Gig, our annual fundraiser at the Charles Hotel in Boston. Josh and Obi have been working for a week now getting the decorations ready and I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

And, over Memorial Day weekend, Theo and I went backpacking! We climbed Mt Eisenhower, Mt Pierce and Mt Jackson in the White Mountains. Very foggy and chilly but we had a great time. It was fun to eat some of the kale from the farm when we camped at night!

Into the Jungle

Turns out we have a jungle on the farm. We found that the electric fence was shorting and we headed out to find the problem. While fighting back the spring flush of brambles and grass that seem to grow purposefully to short out our fence, I visited a corner of the back pasture that I had never been to before. It turns out that two trees grew over the electric fence and this, combined with a tree that had fallen on it in the winter, meant that we had quite a bit of work to do.

Working around the poison ivy, we chipped away at the bark until we could snap the insulator that had once held the wire away from the tree. We then nailed in a board and new insulator, making sure to leave the nails out a bit so that we could adjust it in the coming years. Job well done, if I say so myself.

Fire!

There's nothing like a good burn pile! And there's certainly nothing like having two going at once. We've been working all spring to clear a new pasture and finally have enough trees down to burn them and start a fence. We put high tensile fence back in the woods with Ben which was a blast. We got to choose the line it would take from tree to tree, then cut down the brush in between. Can't wait to do this on my farm some day!

So Much Has Happened!

So much has happened!

We cleaned up an abandoned lot in Lawrence, MA for a nonprofit there who farms with high school students:

The lambs learned how to be extra cute climbing in the manger (before we castrated them and docked their tails):

Our piglets arrived:

We visited the garlic we planted in the fall and it's delicious! Green garlic any day now:

More tomatoes sprouted:

I repotted the older tomatoes:

We gave the onions a haircut:

We planted spring wheat:

And Theo had a birthday:

Welding Again

Welding is awesome! Ron is a really great teacher and it was fun to practice stick welding and cutting again.

We have independent projects coming up soon and I'm considering a welding project. Stay tuned!

What a Morning!

Despite the lambs, we still had plenty of time for fun:

And work:

Destruction

Sometimes, it's just fun to take a sledgehammer to an old manure spreader.

In all seriousness, we spent some time with our angle grinders and skill saws (and ratcheting socket wrench, one of my favorite tools) taking apart our old spreader to make a new wood wagon for hauling cordwood.

We took out the bracing in the middle and tore apart the sides to preserve the axle, wheels and hitch.

Pretty soon we'll put our skillz to work constructing a gorgeous wagon!

Frost Seeding

We aren't just planting vegetables and we're not just planting in the greenhouse. We have to tend to our pastures as well. We spent a few days planting clovers to fix nitrogen into the soil and make our sheep extra happy. The seed, as you can see, is beautiful.

Bacteria does the heavy work of fixing nitrogen while clover simply gives the bacteria place to live. We mixed this lovely pile of bacteria into our seed buckets to inoculate the field.

And used super long sticks to stir.

Even though things still look dead and brown, hopefully we'll see our clover peeking up as the ground thaws.