Fairwell, Dolly.

Tonight, as we shared dinner with friends and family, we celebrated the beginning of summer, hard work and the farm’s bounty.  We made a toast to Dolly, our family’s milk cow, as tomorrow she will become part of our family’s food.  

It’s been a tough decision to butcher Dolly.  She’s been a wonderful part of the farm the last three years - supplying milk, two calves and hundreds of hours of companionship.   When she developed mastitis early on, we were sure that with our love and tender care, she would heal and we would spend a couple decades together in a cheese-butter-yogurt frenzy.

 When we first bought Dolly, we had no idea how her early care as a calf – before us -  would impact her longevity as a milk cow.  We simply wanted a dairy cow, she was affordable, and we bought her off of Craigs List (what most people do for their 40^th birthday, right?!?)   We were naïve.  We didn’t ask the right questions of the seller.  Our animal husbandry experience was restricted to adopting shelter cats and dogs.  We figured all that was needed for success was a little TLC and some YouTube videos.  We were wrong.

Late into her first lactation, Dolly developed mastitis and we thought  it was just a random first-time-mamma-cow –thing  and we thought we had treated it successfully.  Then in her second lactation, the mastitis came back with a vengeance.  After spending months administering herbal concoctions, heat compresses, massage, ointments and even breaking down and using antibiotics, we knew that the udder infection was serious but still we refused to believe she was a lost case.  After hundreds of dollars in vet bills, research and lab work, her milk production continued to lessen and her udders continued to deteriorate, and we knew that , as much as we wanted her to be a part of our farm, she just wasn’t going to be able to.  A milk cow that can’t produce milk or calve is a losing combination or a very expensive pet. 

Tonight under the full moon, we stood in the field with Dolly and the calves and said our goodbyes.  So sweet - the warm summer breeze mixed with the smells of grass and blackberry bloom.  So strange to know that tomorrow her flesh will be torn into pieces and will feed our family in ways we never anticipated. 

Everyday on our farm, we learn something new about the cycle of life and about ourselves.  Thankful blessings, mixed with sadness.

Glorious Poop

Well, okay, maybe glorious is a stretch, even for farm geeks.  

However, this week we are busy fertilizing and adding nutrients back into the soil and are grateful for small blessings.  We're doing this in a variety of organic ways and each offers different results.

One of the major jobs of having farm animals is dealing with copious amount of poop. Cows and Chickens and Piggies eat a lot and poop a lot.  We work hard to keep the animal's areas free of poop not just to keep it clean, but by doing so, it helps keep smells, flies and parasites at bay. Because our animals are all grazers, if their dropping are left on the grass, there is more chance of the animals ingesting parasites and this is why so many animals are loaded up with pesticides to rid them of what could have been prevented.  

The benefits of poop-gathering is that after it's collected, aged and broken down - courtesy of worms, sun and water - we're left with a rich compost and fertilizer. Aged cow manure is used in the garden beds as it makes a rich humus that the plants love and helps add back in bulky organic matter.  The chicken droppings are mixed in with pine shavings and after they are aged are spread out on the field, they boost the nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.

We're also experimenting with adding kelp meal to our pastures to bump up the mineral content of the soil as water and erosion can deplete micro-nutrients that are required for a healthy pasture.  Healthy pastures = healthy animals.

And lastly, we are experimenting with comfrey tea as a green manure.  Our Russian Comfrey plants are quite prolific.  Their blooms feed the bees and their long roots mine minerals and nutrients from deep in the soil .  By cutting their leaves and soaking them in buckets of water for a couple weeks, we are left with a "tea" to apply to garden to boost silica, calcium, iron, magnesium, nitrogen and potassium levels.

While scoopin' poop is not my favorite job on the farm, I'm reminded that like most things in life, we have the resources we need right at our feet - we just have to be willing to use them.

Imagine

For so many who live in small communities - especially transplants - it can be difficult to connect to like-minded people simply because "how do you find them?!?"  I am reminded over and over that my community is ready and waiting - I just have to be willing to seek them out.  I have to put myself out there if I expect to be seen, to be heard, to connect.

Since our commitment to farm and to share our bounty, we have been received so warmly by our neighbors and by our surrounding community. Daily we meet new people who share our values of wholesome food, nurturing the land and protecting our planet.  

So, follow your bliss! Be bold! Believe that what you have to share will be embraced!  Someone(s) just like you is waiting to have a marching partner.

Anonymous No More!

Hooray!  Dan completed our farm sign today and she is glistening in the afternoon sun!  

The barnwood beams and boards were salvaged by Dan and his friend Adam many summers ago when we lived in Prineville, Oregon.  That old barn in Powell Butte was erected in 1890 and was used at one point as a Pony Express resting station.  I can’t believe they almost burned that baby to the ground!  If Dan and Adam hadn’t disassembled that 3-story manmoth and salvaged all the wood, so much history would have been up in smoke.  

When I look at the beams and see the hand-chiseled sides and notch-and-peg work, it blows me away to think what farmers had to do back in the days of old.  Everything was done by hand!  As we live and work on our land, we are thankful for all the hard work as it not only feeds our body, but our soul.  I’m sure the old farmers use to think the same thing.  Different day, same story.

Zippity-doo-dah!

Thank you, Darin, for introducing me to Chimichurri sauce as it's my new favorite for so many dishes.  It is a zippy, fresh, bursting-with-flavor Argentinian sauce and we've got all the green ingredient growing in the garden right now.

It's delicious drizzled on grilled flank steak, or veggies, or black beans or even eggs for breakfast! Mix it into sour cream for a spunky dip or heck, find your own Chimichurri zen.  Here's my version:

1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup olive oil

2 TBSP apple cider vinegar 

3 TBSP fresh lime juice 

1/2 cup (packed) fresh cilantro

A bunch of summer garlic greens (or 3 garlic cloves) 

3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

Throw all of this in a food processor and blend until it looks smooth.  Let it sit out a couple hours on your counter before serving so all those flavors meld.  It keeps pretty well in the fridge for up to a week, but I've always eaten it before then.

Enjoy!

Baby Chick?

Well, it's hard to say what the outcome will be, but we're crossing our fingers.  One of our yearling hens is laying on a clutch of eggs while another hen is trying to decide if she's brave enough to make the 21-day marathon sit.  Can you imagine, sitting for that long, barely standing long enough every couple days for a drink of water and a peck of food?   Not me!  We take them offerings of berries and mostly they hiss at us to leave them alone.  I completely understand, mamma.  I'd be cranky, too.