Piglets!!

Saturday morning I got a text from the Assistant Herdsperson, we'll call him Lakes, because he's from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  Anyway, Lakes sent me a text saying that Momma pig Diana had piglets.  15!!  One passed away, which is sad but ok because she only has 14 teats.  They are BEAUTIFUL.  And Diana is the sweetest pig I have ever met.  She is so mindful of where her piglets are and according to Peru (our 3rd year seasonal employee from Peru) she has never rolled on a piglet.  (KNOCK ON WOOD)  Enjoy these pictures.  

 

TGIF

It's Friday!  You know what that means.  TGIF

How Am I Trusting?

I'm trusting that I can get things done at work.  There's a lot to do - get the chicken coop ready for winter, find a new slaughter house (because our current one is failing - epically), a sow is about to have piglets any day, finding heat on our sows, finding heats on our cows (no more rhyming, promise).  Tagging our yearling sheep with their scrapie ID, spreading manure (and learning about soil quality), setting up the winter pig housing.  The list goes on.  One step at a time, understanding what tasks won't take long, which tasks will.  And delegating!  I made good head way this week (with nothing really on the above list, but still...)  Next week will start another week to get things done. 


How Am I Grateful?

This week I'm grateful for my job.  I have wonderful job where I can learn, challenge myself, try new ideas, be a leader, and most importantly, be respected.  The latter, respect, has taken a little time to gain and will take more time, but I've enjoyed it.   I've gone to work happy, and more importantly come home from work happy.  That hasn't happen to me in a very long time.   

How Am I Inspired?

This may sound a little conceded, but I've been inspired by myself this week.  I've been thinking a lot about my past recently (see Whirl Wind).  I was talking to a friend about feeling funny, just thinking about my emotional state not to long ago.  When I said I wished that I handled everything a little more elegantly.  My friend said, 
 "You definitely win the "done-the-most-to-get-her-shit-together-and-become-successful" award. At least in my book."  
To many it may seem exaggerated.  But those words mean a lot, and it made me sit back and see where I was and where I am.  Yes, looking back I could have handled everything more elegantly, but I did the best I could in the only ways I knew how.  I'm not saying I've changed completely in 3 months, but I know I have changed.  I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for that time.  I've done a lot of work on myself, and I'm proud of that.  

How Am I Practicing Faith? 

I love to knit.  Right now I'm knitting a hat.  It's the most complicated pattern I've done.  It's been coming along great!  Until last night, when I messed up my stitch count, and the pattern just wasn't coming along like it should.  Actually, it was NOT coming along.  At all.  I got grumpy and starting thinking how I couldn't knit.  I took a break, and then found out what I did wrong.  The beauty about knitting, you can start all over again.  I pulled it all out and am starting over.  I know you can't do that with everything in life, but it's that time when you just take that moment to breath you realize (and have faith) that things aren't always as bad as they seem.

Happy Friday!!

Ssssssoooooeeeeeee!

It was adventure to New Jersey today to pick up some piggies!  We bought a Large Black boar and a Large Black gilt.  Beautiful little piggies that are suppose to have wonderful tasting meat.  I have never had Large Black pig.  But we are picking up some pork on Friday, which is half Large Black and half Berk.  I'll keep you posted on how that tastes.

Here are the new editions to the farm!  Name suggestions for the boar are welcome.

 The boar!

 The sleepy gilt!

 Happy pigs eating grass.  They were pretty hunger.  Also, Large Blacks are known for grazing.  It's lovely!!

 And there's one of our Berks, scooping out the new pigs in town.

Just HAD Too Post!

Just found this article.  Brillant!  And of course, it's my home state.  We're pretty cool up there.

Vt. Town Hires Livestock To Save Money, Go Green

 

September 23, 2012 from VPR
 
Cities and towns facing tight budgets have often neglected their cemeteries, an oversight that has left many of them in disrepair with broken fencing, crumbling gravestones, overgrown grass and persistent weeds.

But this summer, the Vermont town of Charlotte implemented a new strategy to both save money and keep grass in the town's graveyards under control, and it's a decidedly traditional way of doing it: Let goats and sheep do the work.

Stephen Brooks, who oversees two graveyards in town and smaller plots as chairman of the town's Cemetery Commission, admits it's all rather pastoral. He says it's also a financial necessity.
"Depending on the time of year, sheep and goats can chew a higher percentage or a lower percentage of what needs to be chewed down in direct proportion to how fast the grass is growing," Brooks says.

He figures these wandering animals — two goats and two sheep rented from a local farmer — have reduced the need to mow and fertilize, saving the town at least $2,000 in fuel costs this year.

Before power mowers, grazing goats and sheep were one method towns used to keep the grass trimmed. In England, some towns still leave the work to the livestock.

The move has proven popular here with those who say it's good for the environment. It's also been a hit with people like Charles Russell, who simply enjoy the aesthetic of sheep and goats grazing on a Vermont hillside. Russell is a farmer and seventh-generation Vermonter who also chairs Charlotte's Board of Selectmen.

"I have ancestors that are buried in various cemeteries," he says. "I just think it's a great idea."

Russell says nearly everyone likes the idea of using goats and sheep.

"There was just this one complaint from one person out of state who didn't like the fact that the sheep were urinating and defecating on the hallowed ground," he says.

But, he points out, lawn mowers and fertilizers aren't much cleaner.

"I'd say it's not very respectful to spray gasoline and spray fumes all over the gravestones either," he says.

Many of this town's earliest settlers have been buried for hundreds of years beneath slabs of granite. Now, they also lie beneath sheep and goats grazing on a scenic hillside in the Green Mountain State.

Courtesy of NPR

Whirl Wind

Whirl Wind.  That's how I'm describing the past 3 days.  I had very, very dear friends of mine come down on Saturday, ran in a race (got third place out of all the women, I think there was 10 or so), went apple picking, hung out in New Paltz.  Then a last minute change of plans led me to see the following:

 My beautiful cat Bravo, who slept by my side all night while I stayed at my old house, Avalon.

 This GORGEOUS sunrise on I-90 heading to Vermont for a chicken workshop.

 The wonderful Vermont landscape, which made me itch to go back to there.

 And my mom, who made this very impressive Christmas ornament made out of paper.

Venturing back to MA and Vermont, and driving for more than 10 hours in 2 days (and putting 600 miles on my car) allowed some thinking time.  Mostly about my past.  Seeing my friends and being back in MA made me miss MA.  But, I'm not very happy with myself and the last few months there.  I was very unhappy, and started analyzing myself and how I handled everything.  As my mom calls it, I was "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" myself - I was telling myself if I did x,y and z instead, I would have been happier.  If I just sucked it up, let it go, I could still be there with my dear friends and milking cows.  Then I went to VT and starting thinking that I should be back there.  It left me with mixed emotions by the time I got home.

Then I got home, to NY, and felt better when I walked into my apartment.  I started to think about how much I love my job.  Yes, I wish I was as happy as I am now when I was in MA, but then I found this quote and it's perfect:

"What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now.”

No matter what happened - the frustration with my job, the heartbreak of a relationship, and what has been bothering me the most - how I was so angry, sad, and how I wore it on my sleeve and had no control over them (no matter how hard I tried), it all brought me here.  I'm taking me-time, the time I never could figure out among everything that was the World of Gould.  I had to leave, VT once upon a time, and MA next, to learn how to be comfortable with myself, how to handle situations that make me angry or sad, how to not depend on everyone around me for happiness.  I'm exactly where I'm suppose to be.  

Here's the weekly picture of the the foliage!  It's changing!

 

TGIF

It's Friday! TGIF

How Am I Trusting?

This week I am trusting that new friendships will develop.  Don't worry!  I'm not sitting home alone, sad and lonely and depressed because I'm here in NY without any friends.  I am missing friends back in MA terribly, and my rugby team a lot, but as time goes on, we are all moving in different directions.  There could be a time where I may not have any friends in MA.  But this all comes up because I had dinner this week with the CEO and the 2nd in Command for where I work.  They asked if I was making friends.  I said I had gone out a few times with people, but working 6 days a week long hours makes it tough.  "But I'm not worried, I know it'll happen," I said.

Well, a couple days later at this huge managers' meeting, the 2nd in Command apparently told EVERYONE that people should get to know me because I'm a great person and haven't met very many people yet.  Good intentions, but a little embarrassing.  I had a couple people come up to me after the meeting say, "Oh, we talked about you today at the meeting."  Awesome...  

Yes, I want to make a new group of friends.  But I know it'll happen.  I'm trusting that fact.

What Am I Grateful For? 

I am grateful for my friends that I have.  Even though they are so far away - MA, OH, NY, VT, HI, they are so supportive.  I love them dearly.  And my family too.  I called my Mom in a panic because I couldn't get my license because I don't have my SS card and to get that I need my birth certificate.  I was super annoyed and mad at myself, but my Mum helped me relax.  She said she would go get my birth certificate the next day, after she had she gotten done with working all night.  Luckily, things worked out so she didn't have too.  I love being able to call her up any time, happy, sad, frustrated, and just feeling better because I talked to her.   

How Am I Inspired?

I am inspired  by the change in weather.  It's weird, I know.  But I've never really watched the trees turn.  I guess it just reminds how much I love change.  

How Am I Practicing Faith?

Since I have come to NY, I have started meditating.  It's been wonderful.  After work I look forward to coming home to meditate.  After a long day of working, it just helps me unwind, and feel good with everything that happened during the day.  Some days meditation is better than others, but I have felt with my continual practice more peace with everything in life.  

Watch this picture.  I'm going to take one picture a week from the same spot so we can see the beautiful change that's taking place. 

A Peak into the Day

It's starting to get a little slow around the farm.  There is still plenty of things to do, but it's nice not to be running around cutting hay, moving animals, constantly.  But it is getting a little worrisome, trying to find grass and not breaking into the hay.  The drought this summer and the loss of some land has put much more pressure on our pasture lands.

But today we moved the lambs from their momma's to another barn, where they will stay as we take them away to "join the Kitchen Team," as I said at my old job.  They were so happy.  But they are probably going to cry all night looking for their moms and waking the neighbors.  We'll see if I get angry phone calls tomorrow.  

"Holy Good God"

"Holy Good God" were the words I said on the phone this  morning to Chatty.  "You need to come down here."

What was I so surprised about?  Well, I was standing outside the polyhouse where we are raising our baby chickens - 10 week olds and 6 week olds.  While I was talking on the phone with Chatty, out of the corner of my eye I saw this grey mass fly across the polyhouse, on the inside of the polyhouse.  I ran to the door, and to my surprise, this is what I saw:

 I'm not exactly sure of my owl breeds, but looking it up I think it's a Great Horned Owl.  The last time I saw one of these, it scared the bejesus out of me when I was little because it flew out of a tree right above me.

I was so in aw of this bird.  He was beautiful!  I have never been this close to a wild owl.  I did think he was going to fly in my face.  And I may have screamed and jump a little when he flew about 6 feet from me.  By the look on his face in the picture above, what would you think?

 A few weeks ago I went to open this door so the chicks could get outside, when something fell on my head.  It was a wing of a chick.  I had no idea how it even got up there.  And was a little freaked out.  Well, now I know - this owl has been preying on the chicks for weeks, one chick at a time!  He would bring it to the top of the door, like seen here, and eat it.

Chatty and I managed to get him out.  He must have snuck in there last night before we closed the chicks in for the night.  We've been having predator problems, so just recently, after weeks of no problems started to close both doors at night. The owl was closed in all night, feasting on the poor little 6 week olds that we just put in there yesterday afternoon.  We lost 11, but the 10 week olds seemed unscathed.  And for now on, I'll be looking up, down, side to side, and behind when I close the chicks in at night.

Good Bye owl!  I'd like to see you again, just not eating my chickens...











 

How African Cattle Herders Wiped Out an Ancient Plague

A very interesting article sent to me from a friend (thanks Monster Librarian!!)  When farmers know and understand their animals, amazing things happen.

From NPR


Scientist Robert Koch holding a post-mortem on an ox thought to have died of rinderpest, circa 1900.

Twice in all of history, humans have managed to eradicate a devastating disease. You've heard of the first one, I suspect: smallpox. But rinderpest?
That's a German word for "cattle plague" a feared companion of cattle throughout history. When outbreaks occurred, as in Europe of the 1700s or Africa in the 1880s, entire herds were wiped out and communities went hungry. Now the disease is gone, eliminated from the face of the earth.
In this week's issue of the journal Science, several of the architects of rinderpest's elimination lay out the reasons for their success. The key innovation wasn't technological, they say. It was social and cultural.
  Technology certainly played a part. Half a century ago, a British veterinarian named Walter Plowright, working in Kenya, created the first truly effective and safe vaccine for rinderpest. Mass vaccinations of cattle soon eliminated the disease from Europe and most of Asia. (Rinderpest never made it to North America or Australia; any infected cattle died before they finished the voyage.) Later, Jeffrey Mariner of the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, developed a version of the vaccine that didn't need to be refrigerated, allowing veterinarians to use it far from roads and electricity.
Yet the disease persisted in Africa, surviving in remote areas plagued by weak government and chronic conflict, such as southern Sudan and parts of Uganda, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Veterinarians rarely ventured into those areas, and it was hard to know where vaccinations were even needed because government officials were reluctant to report outbreaks.
Mariner, who now works at the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya, says that ultimately, the skills and knowledge of nomadic cattle herders who lived in those hard-to-reach areas were the keys to cracking the rinderpest puzzle.
"Those farmers could tell us where outbreaks were occurring," Mariner tells The Salt, speaking by phone from Nairobi. In addition, some nomadic farmers got training as "community animal health workers" and were able to carry out vaccinations themselves. They proved better at the job than veterinarians, in part because they knew their animals.
This success, in fact, created another problem for the eradication effort, because it threatened the status of professional veterinarians. "It threatened the core of their livelihood," says Mariner. "Here you come and say, 'Somebody else can do this better than you.'"
Veterinarians had the power to shut the whole program down. So a key to the campaign was solving that political problem by giving both professionals and local farmers important roles that rewarded them for success.
Tom Olaka, a community animal health worker in the border region between Uganda, Sudan, and Kenya, identified and reported the last outbreak of rinderpest in 2000. The virus was officially declared extinct last year. Around the world, cattle farmers can breathe just a little easier.

TGIF

There is a woman who I admire very much.  Her name is Brene Brown.  She is a research professor at the University of Houston.  I first heard about her from a dear friend, with a video that I have been recommending to everyone I meet (The Power of Vulnerability).  I don't want to be dramatic, but that video gave me a new perspective on how I view and live my life.  I then read her book The Gifts of Imperfections.  This has been my bible. 

In her book, and in her blog, she does TGIF.  How are you Trusting?  What are you Grateful for?  How are you Inspired?  And how are you practicing your Faith?  So I think I'm going to try to do a TGIF every Friday.  Here's this week's.

How am I Trusting? 
This week was a test of confidence.  Well since I've started this job really.  But this week I was suppose to have a big meeting with the CEO.  It didn't happen, but I spent the week a little stressed.  Then, with help from my Mum, I realized I just had to be confident.  Even if I "fake it til I make it" I had to trust myself.  I know what I'm doing!  This week I'm trusting myself.

What am I Grateful for?
This week I'm grateful for my team.  I have a really supportive team - something I have not felt in a long time.  I can go through the week running around, and I know that my team is going to get the everyday things done, and more.  We have made an impression, and it feels great.

How am I Inspired?
I am inspired this week by a woman who also works where I work.  She is one of the friendliest, kindest, non-judgmental person I have ever met.  Everyone just feels comfortable around her.  Those qualities inspire me. 

How am I practicing my Faith?

Faith has been a funny thing for me lately.  But I think I'm slowly figuring out what it means to me.  I spent all week working frantically on this egg production proposal to give to the CEO.  Today at 10AM I get a call from my boss saying the meeting as been postpone.  Ggggaaaaahhhhhhh.  Really?  Really?  But there was nothing I could do about it, it was out of my control.  I focused on how I could fine tune the report, have the chance to talk to more farmers, and feel really comfortable with what I had found.  Once upon a time I felt like I would have been angry about the meeting being cancelled.  But not today.  And that's all that matters right? 

These Girls Make Me Smile!

Say hello to Diana, Jelly, and Blondie.  Diana and Blondie are Berkshire pigs, while Jelly is a Duroc.  These ladies are fairly large - probably between 450 to 500 pounds.  That's a lot of pig.

Berks came from England, where they were said to be discovered by an army during the English Civil War.  The Army then spread the word of these beautiful pigs.  They came to the U.S in 1823.  

The Duroc has a little confusing history and no one really knows how these piggies were bred to become the pig today, but they originated in the U.S.  

Both of these breeds are heritage.  You probably have heard that word thrown around but not really understood what it meant.  Heritage breeds are the more traditional breeds that farmers had way before animals became machines.  They are hardy, able to handle the environment, and just be their natural, animal selves.  Because a lot of "commercial breeds" (and I'll say it, the Holstein cow for example) are bred to produce tons of milk or meat or eggs, their bodies have a difficult time keeping up with itself.  Don't get me wrong, I have worked with and loved some of those "commercial breed" animals.  But there's a beauty in seeing an animal out on grass and not stressed.  Seeing these three girls every morning when do the rounds, getting up to see me when I walk by, makes me remember that I have a pretty cool job.    

Where were you on this September day?

Like many people today, I'm thinking about September 11th.  I ask, what's your story about that day?  Here's mine.  And though this day will forever be heartbreaking, my story can hopefully make people smile a little.

I was in the 10th grade.  Coming to school in the morning, my friend, a freshman, comes up to me, completely worried.  "Angie, is it beat up the freshman day?" 

"What?" I asked.  "What are you talking about?"

"My brother told me it was beat up the freshman day.  Is it?"  She's fairly freaked out by now.

"No! There's no such thing.  You're brother is just giving you a hard time."  She was VERY relieved.  

After gym class (around 9AM when The Towers where stuck) I went to homeroom.  While walking through the cafeteria, another freshman yells, "We're all going to die!"

Seriously? I thought.  This rumor is getting a little nuts.  And I didn't think about it again until the next period, geometry.  

"I have no idea what's going on," my friend Liza said, "but we all might get to go home."

WHAT!? By now I was totally confused on why no teachers were stopping this rumor.  We're really going home because of some stupid rumor that some upperclassmen started?

It was 5th period bio where I finally realized what happened.  It unfortunately it was not "Beat up the Freshman Day."  That would have been a little easier to swallow.

That's my story.  And here are some others that we may not think about right away

Sometimes You Just Have to Not Lose Patience...

When you're a farmer, stupid things happen sometimes.  Or that you just do stupid things and then have to spend most of the day fixing whatever it was that you just did.  Or helping someone else fix the stupid thing that they did.  One of those instances happened today.  We'll call him Chatty.  He talks...A LOT.  What should be a 3 minute conversation lasts about 7 minutes instead.  Don't get me wrong!  I like him a lot, he works hard, he's nice.  But just likes to talk.

Today he was moving a bunch of equipment around.  With the tractor, he went to move a bucket.  But it got stuck.  Poor Chatty.  See below:

  See, the fork, for some odd reason, is not attached at the bottom.  Why?  I don't know.  But now it's good that I know that.  


Poor Chatty had come up to my office, blood coming down his face.  He had slipped with crowbar he was using to try to lever it off, and nailed him straight in the forehead.  Don't worry, no stitches needed.  

We went together to try to get the bucket off the fork.  We tried to push it off with the skidsteer.  We tried to tie down the one fork.  We tried tying it to the truck and pulling it off.  Nothing.  

As I spent the next hour brainstorming with Chatty trying to pull the bucket off, I got to thinking.  It's so much easier going at this without being totally annoyed with yourself.  Isn't that the real reason we get annoyed when you do something "wrong"?  That you're just mad at yourself for doing it?  And the same goes for being annoyed with the other person.  I could have been, "Gah Chatty, I have things to do. I don't have time for this."  Which, I have to say, happened to me with Chatty last week.  Anyway, I stayed patient.  I actually didn't even feel impatient.  So I focused on that feeling, and I hope that the next time I get into a situation where I lose patience with someone or lose patience with myself, that I remember that moment where I felt calm.  Where I could think clearly and wasn't judgmental with Chatty or myself.  (Don't worry, not all of my entries will the after school specials.  But, it's a decent lesson right?)

In the end, we couldn't get the bucket off.  Tomorrow's a new day with new ideas.  We'll hopefully get the bucket off.      

The Beauty of Dogs

Today I mustered up the strength to go to the local humane society to get me some puppy lovin'.  See, where I use to live I had access to any dog I wanted.  It was wonderful!  I'd be out on the weekends, walking puppies through the woods, enjoying their smiles and my peace.  But, now that I moved away I have no puppies to liberate.  So, I went the humane society.  

It's an interesting place, the humane society.  The dogs of course want attention, but even more than that, they just wanted to get out of their pens and move!  I walked a boxer mix named Gabby, a lab mix named Lucky, and a chocolate lab name Hershey (Really?  Hershey?  Can we come up with anything better?)  I don't think I formed any sort of bond with any of the three I walked.  To be honest, they could really give me the time of day on our short walk up and down the road.  Gabby was the sweetest, who liked to roll in the green grass she hardly ever saw.  She was so polite and mild mannered.  

But, on my walks with the dogs, I found the some of the similar peace I had walking Ava or Pico back in MA.  It's amazing how animals, particularly dogs, can make you feel.

It's decided.  Once I get my house, I'm getting a dog.  

But, I feel a little better knowing that my true dog companion isn't at this humane society (that I could see yet).  There is a cute little hound cross named Tony the Tiger (gah, WHAT is with these names!?)  Hopefully we'll become friends soon.

http://www.sullivanspca.com/availabledogs.html

The Farm

Here are some pictures of my farm!  Enjoy!

 My first calf born at the new farm

 Beautiful chickens!

 The gardens

 Sheep!

 Beautiful cow

Introduction to The Idea

I'm a single woman, who is a farmer.  I just moved to NY from MA, leaving a place that was total comfort job wise and relationship wise.  The decision was, well, easy.  You see, the last few months at my old life were difficult.  My heart was completely broken.  The place I loved and the people I loved seemed to be letting me down left and right.  No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get it right.  And everyone around me just couldn't get it right either.  Don't get me wrong, I had, and still have, wonderful, close friends there.  But those few weren't enough to keep me happy.  And I knew that no matter how far away I went, those friendships wouldn't dissolve.  So I left.  

Now I'm the boss...woo woo!  The challenge that I wasn't getting at my old job as the livestock manager has been delivered to me as the herdsperson of beef cows, sheep, pigs, and laying hens.  Every day I'm learning something new, and LOVE going to work.  Yeah, 6 days a week, 12 hour days are tough.  And hopefully I'll be able to get two days off eventually.  But compared to where I was, I'd take this any day.  

So this blog is about me, being a farmer at a place where there are mostly men.  Me, learning how to live "wholeheartedly".  Me, building myself back up after, now realizing, a lifetime of not feeling worthy.  It's a little bit of everything, and hopefully you can relate to my journey.