5 Things on an October New Moon

I know, I'm late again this week.  But at least it's something, right? :)

1) Have started jumping through hoops for the land purchase.  Looks like I won't make December 1st no matter what I do as the parcel split needs to go before the zoning committee for the township and the next meeting we can make is December 1st.  Waiting for the ok to proceed with the plan from the seller, then the next steps are the appraisal on the farm and the survey for the split.

2) Had 1 showing on the Cottage house yesterday and have another scheduled for today.  If anyone is looking for a nice home for cheap ($500 to assume the loan!!) and the possibility of no payments til August, send them my way!

3) Need to find a way to corral the chickens better.  Mostly because I want to decorate with pumpkins but I know the chickens will peck at them.  Hmmmm...

4) Cleaned the mudroom this past weekend, including scrubbing the floor.  Moved the patio bench and chair into the mudroom for the winter.  Not looking forward to winter weather mind you... not saying that at all.  But I am looking forward to being able to sip a cup of tea in the mudroom on one of those "it's so sunny that the mudroom is WARM even with snow on the ground" days.

Of course when the door is left open, the barn cats have their own ideas...

5) Trying to figure out the plans for this weekend.  Having more work done (at least in the barn), may be judging Saturday, would like to go to a corn maze maybe, have the party on Saturday night, still need to clean for the impending appraisal, want to ride (need to if I'm hitting the Blessing of the Hounds next weekend), need to work on a costume, then make a dish to take to the office carry-in on Monday.  I need a longer weekend. :)

5 Thing for mid-October

1. No news yet on the loan paperwork, although it's still early in the week.  I really don't expect anything til Wednesday or so.  Keep those "yes you can buy more land" digits crossed!

2. I really need to get Stewie a ball to play with.  Walked the fenceline last night to fix the electric in a couple places (no, just putting on new wire holders... I'm not an electric goddess) and he followed Reilly and I the whole time.  When we got back to the beginning, I walked off where I'd like to put an arena - trying to decide if 100x150 is ok or if I "need" to go to 100x200 and how it would look in the field, when Stewie decided he was bored or something.  He started PLAYING with a bucket... pushing it around iwth his head a bit then spinning and bucking like he was at the National Rodeo Finals... then back to the bucket.  I feel bad that he only has chicken friends.  He even tried to play with Reilly, but unlike when he first arrived at the farm, the boy has grown... Reilly hides behind me when Stewie gets playful.  If we do beef again, there will need to be at least 2.

(note, it's now THURSDAY!!  so much for finishing this "in a few minutes")

3. I participated again this year in the Ghosts & Goblins 5K race downtown (proceeds to benefit Children's Medical Center).  Fun race.  That was Tuesday.  Now it's Thursday and I swear I'm more sore than I was yesterday!  Something tells me I need to do more fitness work before I get horses at the farm... or hauling and tossing hay is going to be a daily adventure in pain.

4.  Same as #1.  Still no news yet on the loan application.

5.  Raining again today.  It's good for the land, but it shows some things that just make you want to laugh.  I wish I had a picture.  I arrived home late last night after meeting some old friends for dinner.  It was dark.  It was raining.  Yet there were 8 of the 12 Turkeys huddled on top of the rabbit hutch napping in the dark rain.  their house isn't perfect, but there is a roost pole in there and there are parts of it that ARE dry.  Nope... the turkeys seem to prefer being out in the rain. 

Step 1 taken ... now the waiting begins

Turned in all the financial paperwork this morning to try and get the loan accomplished that will enable the farm to expand up to 20 additional acres.  Thinking positive and trying not to be sick to my stomach with stress as it's now out of my hands.  We should hear back from the bank by the end of next week.

Digits all crossed!!

5 Things (in pictures) on Columbus Day

Had to work today... ah the joys of working in retail.  Managed to get a few things accomplished this past weekend.  But decided rather than just recount those in words, I'd do most of today's entry in pictures.

1) Fall may be here but there are still some pretty things around:

Flower growing next to the back patio

Wooly worm making its way across the pasture

2) Still harvesting pears:

Pear from one of the trees.

3) The cow is happy about the pears... comes running when I'm on that side of the fence:

Silly cow coming to beg for pears.

4) Chickens are still dumb.  No this is not a staged picture.  Yes some dumb chicken really did leave the egg here.

Egg found on the workbench, "nested" among scrap wood.

5) Planted a new tree.  Hope to make the old burn pile area a nice garden/sitting area.  Started with the Royal Frost Birch tree thanks to Vogel's Nursery (and their 30% off fall sale!)

New tree near the barn.

5 Things in October

1- It's October already?  Wow!  Seems like just yesterday it was spring.  I love October for the most part, and just like the rest of Fall, I'd love it more if winter didn't follow so closely behind it. 

2- In the grand tradition of harvesting for winter that's happened for the entire of human existence, I did some canning this weekend.  Picked a couple grocery bags of pears from the trees in front of the pasture and made pear sauce from them.  Canned it yesterday into 14 pint jars.  All the jars sealed and look good.  Talked to the neighbor as well and she said I could "have at" their pear tree.  So I see more pear sauce in my future.  And maybe some pear butter too!

Pear sauce cooling and sealing.

3- Moved the fencing for the turkeys over the weekend.  Incorporated the rabbit area and fencing and figure it doubled the amount of space the turkeys have.  They LOVED it! 

4- Slight farm detour -- Saw 2 movies over the weekend on VUDU -- X-Men: First Class and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.  I'm really glad I saw X-Men first... while not a fantastic movie, it gave me something to fall back on that not all sequels are complete garbage.  If I'd seen Transformers first... I'm not sure I would have even bothered with X-Men.  Transformers was THAT bad.  I'm not usually one to complain this loudly about a movie but really... when Megan Fox looks like a genius for getting (herself?) fired and not being part of the project, you know it's bad.  Bad editing, bad story, bad script, bad acting... not to mention putting us through all that bad for 2.5 hours!  Bad movies should be limited to 90 minutes tops.  That way you don't waste the WHOLE evening watching something that bad.  I wasn't even engaged enough to enjoy the special effects.  It was just... bad.

5- Back to the farm -- Have a busy week ahead.  Putting together all the paperwork and bank statements for the loan application to get more land.  Plus Nikol came over yesterday and we talked plants and I would love to get a couple in the ground (while Vogel's is doing their sale).  Need to finish cleaning up my tack so I can get it all moved into the new tack room and clean out the mudroom.  Probably making more pear sauce -- since what I've done has turned out so well, I can't see waiting and letting pears rot on the trees (although Stewie the cow LOVES pears and is going to be quite miffed when they're all gone).  May even try making a few jars of pear butter.  And contractors come this weekend to work on the mudroom/bathroom roof issue.

Bonus:  took a ride on Spot yesterday.  Not sure if it was because he was in his stall, but he was quite full of himself.  His canter transitions are getting MUCH nicer though.

The Other 4 Things

To continue 5 Things for this week...

#2 - The work on the new tack room continues.  As of last night, the only parts left to "complete" are the door and window.  Of course there is more to do -- move the light switch, put down floor mats, insulate -- but those things come in time.  I've actually started moving some of my large collection of "stuff" into the room and I'm really excited to see it all come together.

Reilly checking out my unpacking.  Window and door will be on the right of this shot.
Notice the new cabinets -- I LOVE the ReStore!

Obviously more work to do here, but you can see the system of holders for blankets and saddle pads.
The plan is to have saddle racks on the far wall (as it's the most sturdy wall in the room).  That's next.

#3 - Chickens really are dumb.  Caught this bird-brain finding a new nesting spot -- in the cabinets above the workbench.  Also found she's been going there for a while as she left behind 6 eggs.

Dumb chicken

#4 - Reilly got groomed!!  He was starting to look (and smell) like a good ole farm dog so off to the groomers he went.  Took him to Kela's here in New Lebanon and they loved him, of course.  He looks adorable.  A little funny perhaps with his feet trimmed all up for a wet fall (had them take the excess fur around his feet off so he wouldn't track quite as much mud into the house), but he looks... and even more SMELLS... so much better!  They even gave him a blue bow.

In the car on the ride home.  Ain't he so cute!!

#5 - Finally put a For Sale sign up in front of the Cottage house.  I've gotten quite a few phone calls from it.  A lot of people I think are hampered by wanting to buy now but can't move in due to the renters being in place.  Oh well.  Gives me hope for the future though.  Just wish to have it "moved on" sooner rather than later.  If anyone reads this and knows someone who's looking to buy a house, please pass this on.  Renters are in place til August 1st, but I'm offering to pay the sellers the difference between rent and monthly payment through then so no mortgage payment til you actually get in the house... and you still get the deduction on your taxes!

The small print in the middle says "No Closing Costs. No Down Payment. Save over $40,000"

5 Things ... condensed

As I sat down to write this week's 5 Things, I started writing the first item and realized that this was too important to even put down as #1 in the 5 Things list.  It needed an entry all to itself.  And since the writing of 5 Things is intended to help me keep up with writing about what's going on at the farm, there was no reason at all really that I couldn't take this week's 5 Things and write instead about 1 very important thing.  I'll write about the other items later in the week, but really... this deserves to be highlighted on its own.

Yesterday, thanks to the Little Art Theater in Yellow Springs and the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, I got to see a screening of the movie Farmaggedon.  I would highly recommend anyone who is at all interested in freedom of choice when it comes to food to see the movie - either as a screening (a list of which is on their website), in the theaters when it finally gets distributed and released or on DVD when it's available for sales.  The documentary mostly focuses on the specific issues/incidents surrounding the sale of raw milk throughout the country.  Each state has it's own standards and rules -- you can buy it in the grocery stores in California... have to go directly to a farm in NY... and can't buy it at ALL in Maryland.  With different rules come different enforcement but there have been a number of completely ludicrious incidents that make you question the entire legislative process... not to mention the bureaucrats.  From confiscating and destroying sheep really without solid proof of a disease that is pretty much imaginary in sheep (and would later be proven to be non-existent in those sheep destroyed), to confiscating a family's personal food stores after an armed raid and holding the family (including small children) at gunpoint for hours, to dumping paid-for milk simply because it crossed state lines. 

There were many audible outrages in the audience.  Why is raw milk the 2nd most regulated agricultural crop in the US -- behind only Marijuana?  Why is it legal for someone to smoke a pack a day yet illegal for them to buy raw milk?  The former product is proven to have no benefits and a long list of detriments, while the later carries a small chance of a known lethal bacteria which is, lately, more prominent on spinach. Why would government agencies act this way -- entering a family home and holding children at gunpoint?  Taking equipment, food and animals away for destruction?  Where are the raids on the big industrial farms?  One point that was brought up in the film was that an organic farmer had to fill out MOUNDS of government paperwork to prove what is NOT in their products.  Why don't industrial producers have to fill out MOUNDS of government paperwork to say what is IN theirs??  The system does seem slanted and the one-size-fits-all approach not only doesn't fit small farmers, but creates an unnecessary burden... and that's without the overreaching officials and early morning raids at gunpoint.

Probably the most audible disgust from the crowd came in the case of the sheep.  Several years after the sheep were destroyed, a lead official for the FDA was finally brought into court under a deposition and stated, for the record (paraphrased here), that US Citizens truly have 1) no absolute right to choose what they eat or what they feed their children and 2) no absolute right to their own health (not health care... basic health).  She also admitted that no disease was ever found in the flock that was destroyed (or in the equipment taken or the hay that was confiscated and dumped).

I walked out of the almost sold out theater feeling 2 things -- a heavy dispair at the state of freedom in this country (with a good dose of "why bother" thrown in).... and an almost violent urge to tell the entire government to Shove Off!  The local food movement in growing and our representatives need to know where we stand.  I want the freedom to choose to get to know my farmer and eat/drink their product.  I want the freedom to go to the corner mini-mart and gorge myself on twinkies. 

When we went to a community meeting last fall regarding the new Ohio Livestock Care and Standards Board, I met a hog farmer from Darke County.  I am extremely glad to have gotten to talk to him.  He is very proud of the work he is doing and his desire is to feed the world.  I hope he succeeds.  My desire is to feed my family and my neighbors.  There is NO reason both systems of farming cannot exist in the same country EXCEPT that someone has decided they can't.  Why not?  Conspiracy theories will say follow the money and they very well may be right.  In the meantime, if we can't choose what we put into our bodies... be that pastured turkey, grassfed beef, raw milk, twinkies, McDonalds or coke... how free are we really?  and if we aren't free to choose the basic of all things (our food), WHY NOT!!??

HR Bill 1830 was introduced to Congress in May and would remove the interstate commerce ban on sales of raw milk and raw milk products.  It is currently in committee review.  Here's hoping freedom can win one.

In the meantime, seriously... if you get a chance to see "Farmaggedon" I highly recommend it.