Grow Garden Grow!

It was a crazy week last week.  And a nice relaxing weekend (more haying probably should have been done.  Saturday wasn't the best though, some rain.)  I got to spend Saturday with some dear, dear friends camping.  Let me tell you, I am not the biggest fan of camping.  But this was actually quite fun!  I think I just have to have the right gear with me.  Which is basically my yoga mat as a sleeping pad.  Made all the difference in the world!  I'm also hoping to buy a fishing rod and get a license.  I have gone fishing a few times and love it every time!  I'll keep you posted on that - and maybe even catch you dinner sometime! 

I went to my garden today, which is doing quite well.  I don't like being so far away from it, but it is what it is.  Together my Dad and I are getting some veggies to grow!  I picked three cherry tomatoes, probably could have picked some lettuce but I think I'll wait a few more days for that.  I'm a little worried about my regular tomatoes, but we'll have to see how it all progresses.  Everything else seems to be doing well!

Work is going well. I'm really starting to get organized again, which feels good.  It has been a slow start for me with this job for some reason - usually I'm right on top of it!  I think my motivation is finally coming back.  I've started a pasture rotation spreadsheet for the brood cows, so next year I can have an idea on how we moved the cows.  It's fun getting to know the pastures - what grasses are growing, how fast the cows went through it, how long it takes for it to grow back.  Hoping for some soil sampling this fall too!  I'll be doing the same spreadsheet for our yearling cows and sheep too, though the sheep is a little bit easier.  

I wonder what this week shall bring?  I'm hoping for more hay, building a new picket fence, and sending our wool off to be turned into yarn.  I'll keep you all updated!

Lots to say, not enough time

It'll be a quick entry today!  I'm not at home but I wanted to give a quick update.

The last two days were spent baling hay.  The 972 bales The Ranch did totally makes up for weeks of not haying.  It was a hot two days too.  But I'm feeling a little more relaxed about hay now!  Not that I was anxious about it, but I sure didn't want to have to ask for a check for a thousands of dollars for hay.  I think we'll make our count, if the rains continue to stop as they have.  It's been a good week without it!  

I have more to update you all about, but it'll have to be another day.

Hey...Hay!

Finally, some normal summer weather.  Though I should knock on wood because who knows how long it'll last.  

Haying our last field which is 11.4 acres.  Our biggest one, so I'm taking it into parts, though I'm doing two thirds today.  We'll hopefully pick the hay up Monday and Wednesday.  Thought it's suppose to be out of control humid on Monday, so it might wait until Tuesday...  I'd mow the second third tomorrow but friends are coming to town - woo woo!

This field is all tedded out.  Tedding  sweeps the rows out so it's a thinner layer across the grown.  It dries fast this way.  We'll ted again tomorrow, then rake it into rows and bale on Monday!

Me smiling, even though I have another two hours at least on the tractor.  Just happy to be getting some hay down with this good weather!  Though I don't know how people can stay on the tractor so long - close to four hours already today, and some people out west are on there for much longer than that!  Thank goodness for the Northeast and their hills and woods.  Means tiny fields for farmers.











And look what I found in the field.  I don't know where this could have come from.  Perhaps it was a lightening strike?  We have had some pretty nasty storms this summer.  That thought is terrifying! 

Reflection Time!

One year ago today I started my job at The Center.  Can you believe that?  I had packed up all my stuff and moved all my belongings to the middle of NOWHERE.  I read my journal entry from that day, and skimmed my days from beginning to end.  I do not regret my choice to leave that place.  And I was about to type how I wish things worked out there, but when I think about it I'm not sure if I do.  What a weird feeling.  I learned so much there and met some good friends.  But I can't imagine myself still living there.  I'm not saying that my home now is full of culture - it is by far not.  But the familiarity of where I am is helpful.  I'm much more comfortable walking down the street.  I'm much more comfortable talking to strangers.  It makes a huge difference.  And, there is more of my type of culture where I live now than there was in NY!!

In the mean time, here's my new read:

So exciting!!!  And there are two more on the way!  I'm bound and determined to get bees next year.  I like my job, but I think I need to spice things up a bit.  Do something I haven't done before.  I'm still enthusiastic about farming, but raising animals for meat gets to me a little.  Do not get me wrong - I love raising healthy, grass-fed meat for people and know exactly what went into the animals, how they were treated, knowing the life they had.  But I don't feel the connection to them as I did with dairy cows.  And in this therapeutic environment I'm in, it gets difficult to have people look beyond death.  I think bees could be a way for people to accept what farming is, therefore accepting all parts of farming.

Wish me luck!

TGIF

I apologize for not writing in so long!  Time goes by quickly sometimes.

How Am I Trusting?

My housing situation is a little rocky.  Not currently, and it's not even really rocky.  I'll be moving into a nice once bedroom apartment in town that I'm super excited about.  The land lady though, has a reputation of anxiety issues, and in turn tries to be controlling.  I'm nervous about that.  But right now I don't have any other options, and just have to trust that, well, something will work.  What else do I have?

 How Am I Grateful?

I'm grateful for being at The Ranch.  What a wonderful, supportive place.  I have not felt that way in a number of years.  

How Am I Inspired?

I am inspired by farming.  I so desperately want to use farming as a way for a person to connect with their own body, to connect to nutrition, to connect to their capabilities, and to connect to others.  I have been reading so much about veterans committing suicide because of PTSD, depression, and other mental illnesses.  These soldiers are not getting the support they need.  I want to help.  How?  I'm inspired to figure something out.   

How Am I Practicing Faith?

I had a nice conversation with my supervisor on Thursday.  We usually meet to update each other.  She gave me a very nice comment, talking about I have a quiet confidence that she was unsure about when I first started.  But as she has seen me work and has gotten to know me she's excited about me being there and that I'm a great fit for The Ranch.  She continued saying how I have a calm presence.  I told her a little bit of my history at The Farm and how when I left I made a decision that I would not get to that emotional point again.  That I started meditating and reading (Brene Brown to be exact!).  My work on myself has turned me into a different person, and how I continue that work today.  She was very surprised to hear all that, and said that I will be a great example for residents on learning that emotional control.  

It was a great feeling, both being recognized by someone who doesn't know me as well as other people.  And that I know that my hard work is paying off.

Turkeys and Wool

Today was an exciting day at The Ranch.  I got the phone call at a little after 8 this morning that the baby turkeys I ordered back in May were waiting at the post office!  I've decided that one of my favorite things in this world is the chirping sound of little baby birds coming from behind the counter at the post office.  It's funny that they come in the mail, it's fun to see people's reactions and the conversations of what's actually happening, and it's great to get a new life on the farm.  It's my first time raising turkeys, so I'm going to have to do some reading.  Hopefully all 25 will survive.

Another really exciting thing that happened today was wool skirting!  After two years of being built up, I organized an "All Ranch Wool Skirting" activity, with lots of help.  We took the afternoon and cleaned bags and bags of wool.  There were probably about 15 bags total.  It was fun leading the activity, explaining what we were doing and why, listening to music, and eating popcorn and popsicles.  All the residents seemed to get a kick out of it too.  Yes, there were some complaining, but hands never stopped moving.  I love the projects where the residents see the beginning, middle, and end.  Skirting was the middle and next I have to get the wool processed so they can see the end.

Now we have all this lovely wool that's decently clean, ready to be shipped to a mill to be turned into yarn!  I'm hoping to us my dear friends' Skirted Fleece Mill to process it all!  They are in Pennsylvania and just opened last March.  Part of me feels like I should go local with the spinnery in VT.  But how can I pass over such good friends!?

It was a great day.  An over-overwhelmingly grateful day.   

Confessions of a Theraputic Farmer, II

I like to keep things moving.  When I have to hang out and wait while I'm working, I get tired and (slightly) annoyed.  So I like to think that the residents I work with have a similar mindset.  I know 90% of the time they don't.  But sometimes their interest is so short lived I don't even want to give them a second to think about how they could be doing something else.  I hope that doesn't sound harsh.  I definitely do not take out a whip and yell, "Move faster!" or "You should have this 4 acre field fenced in 15 minutes!"  I want to create expectations that will be similar to what they will meet once they leave The Ranch, expectations that they can set for themselves.  I also want to create an environment where they can just do something physically, become almost zen-like, so they can get out of their heads.

This afternoon was unfortunately not one of those days.  It wasn't the end of the world, and I have had worse days than this.  But I hate feeling like something was all planned out and then falls apart.  And I know that things don't always go as planned.  But there is a difference between the unexpected and poor planning.  Today was poor planning.  It makes me feel silly in front of the residents.  I'm suppose to be this role model (especially with my position as Head Farmer), and I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off because I can't find bleach.  Meanwhile everyone is just waiting for me to get it together.  It's a frustrating part of my job, and unfortunately one that I seem to be running into more often than not lately.

New plan: every afternoon after work is over, I will sit down and write exactly what the next day is going to look like, examine to see what has to be prepped so the following morning I can do it.  I'm usually good anyway, making a list on Sundays of things to accomplish during the week.  But now I'll be a little more detailed.  Tomorrow is Day 1, we'll see how it goes.