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!