Friday, December 30, 2011

Looking Ahead

 
Many people have asked me what I plan to do after I'm finished at the Farm School.  The fact is that I have no idea, and yet I have lots of ideas!  My fellow classmates are all over the map... some have very firm ideas about what's next for them...homesteading, diversified crop production, CSA, college.  Others, like me, are in the process of exploring the seemingly endless ways that you can farm or incorporate this education into your work and personal life.  Will I return to medicine?  I'm tabling that internal debate for now.

I have always been the gal with a plan...I like to know what's next for me.  This time around, however, that's not the case and I'm trying very hard to be at peace with uncertainty.  Being here is like being a kid in a candy store; everywhere I turn there's something new and exciting to learn, and when I look at the upcoming curriculum, it just keeps getting better.

Which poses interesting challenges for me: to be okay with the unknown, to let the path unfold before me, to live in the moment, to trust the process, to throw myself into the learning without getting anxious about the future.

Several years ago, I was sitting in a professional conference that I wasn't enjoying very much. My mind started to wander...big time...and I began fantasizing about what I really wanted to do when I grew up.  I spent hours designing my dream business: a green education center, which would include an organic farm, a classroom space for cooking and wellness classes, and a retail market space.  All of this would operate on a sliding scale model designed to include all comers.  I even started drawing up crude architectural plans for the buildings and fields.  But wait...oops!  No farming or business experience. At all. Last winter, as I was rehashing this whole fantasy for the umpteenth time, a friend told me, "Hmm...you should check out the Farm School."  Oh Universe, I love you.

Speaking of business.  In December, we started a series of business planning classes with Ray Belanger of Fish Park Consulting, which turned out to be a pivotal time for me.  The initial class took me from feeling like la la la farming is fun to wow, I could actually do this.  Ray's take-home message?  With a good well thought-out business plan, you can go from an 80% chance of failure to an 80% chance of success.  I'm not sure how he's come up with those percentages, but he seems to know what he's doing.  I never thought I'd be interested in business; the difference now is that it's taken on a whole new level of relevance.

PS: I have a brand new camera! The Coolpix S3100!

Friday, December 9, 2011

An Open Letter

Dear Nikon Coolpix S3000,

Until today you've been my faithful friend.  Your slim design fit neatly into my Carhartt jacket pocket.  I could easily pull you out, take some photos, and go right back to whatever task I was performing with nary a break in the action.  Harvesting veggies, trimming sheep hooves, or picking rocks out of the fields...you were always there.  The quality of your photos was pretty good for the cost.

However, based on today's events, I would like to suggest an amendment to your "Quick Start Guide."  Although the "Guide" is useful, I see a significant oversight on your part, and its inclusion might have prevented the catastrophe I endured.

"Section G.II.a:  Additional instructions for care of your Nikon Coolpix S3000.

When arriving home tired on a Friday night after a productive week on the farm, it is important to remember to remove your new camera from your jacket pocket before attempting to do laundry. The device will not function properly after being submerged in water for the duration of the wash cycle.  Do not attempt to air dry the lithium battery or memory card...this is wishful thinking and only makes you look ridiculous. If this happens, do not attempt to call us...your warranty is completely void under these circumstances and we will make fun of you after addressing your concerns over the phone."

Nikon Coolpix, I trust that this suggested addition to the owners manual will prevent any undue suffering on the part of your future customers.  Thank you for your consideration.

Rest in peace

Sunday, December 4, 2011

December


Things have gotten quieter on the farm.  The sun sets at 4:30 in the afternoon.  Although still on the warm side for December, it's pretty chilly in the mornings and evenings.  The harvest is done...the last of the carrots came out of the ground this week and are safely tucked into the root cellar. 

Chores continue on a daily basis, although they've become much simpler.  No rotational grazing until the spring!  For the winter, the beef herd has been firmly ensconced in the Waslaske Barn and field, complete with a de-icer for the water trough and a space heater to keep the hose from freezing.  The barn is huge and beautiful, with plenty of room for hay storage.  The bull we rented for breeding purposes is gone, hopefully having completed his procreation duties.  They seem happy.  I know I'm anthropomorphizing, but cows are people too, right?

The sheep are living in the Upper Barn near the farmhouse.  Junior, our ram, cohabitated with them for a month.  The ladies should all be pregnant by now and will have their lambs in March.  Junior has headed back down the road to Sentinel Elm to continue his ewe-breeding "work."  It's like clubbing in New York, sheep-style.

We're still spending time outdoors, but our daily activities have transitioned to more classroom and lecture time along with a bigger focus on animal care.  Here's a sample of the week's activities:

On Tuesday, Michael Dulock, a whole-animal butcher who owns Concord Prime & Fish, came to visit.  He spent an afternoon with us demonstrating the elegant techniques involved in butchering a whole pig...from stem to stern.  He believes that you should use every possible part of the animal, and at the end of the day he had me feeling pretty passionate about pigs' feet, head cheese, and tongue.  In theory.  This was an amazingly instructive class.  Now I can tell you more than you ever wanted to know (or maybe you do!) about bacon, ham, tenderloin, pork shoulder and rib roast.

Our instructor Olivier gave us a class on cordwood, sort of an A to Z primer on the qualities of different types of wood, when to use them, how they burn, what it's like to split them, how long to dry them before burning, etc.  Who would have thought that there would be that much to talk about? 

Veterinarian Dr. Stephen Major visited to talk about the evaluation and management of sheep, goats, and horses, complete with descriptions of common ailments and basic routine care.  He returns next week to discuss cows and take us on a field trip to a nearby dairy farm.

We continue to work on the sawmill and timber frame structure.  Soon, we'll have all of the pieces cut and prepared.  Work will continue again...in April!

In the meantime, right now there's time for contemplation, reading, studying, learning, spending time with each other, cooking, and doing Zumba classes at the YMCA.  And next week, the seed catalogs arrive!