Why I Cried

I'll be honest: it's been a rough week here, and this is not a happy blog entry. Overworked and underpaid is an understatement to how we're feeling right now... exacerbated by our sense of isolation both physically and socially. Example: We came home from a 14-hour day of arguing, harvesting, a flat tire, deliveries and selling veggies by bicycle in a downpour that made us $5, to half of our meat bird flock sleeping OUTSIDE their fencing. We knowingly cut out a lot of work for ourselves for just the two of us, but we were optimistic that things would fall into place with help from friends. Things get done, and friends do help, but halfway through this season it seems that from here out there are more and more things to do with fewer hands and more things to buy with fewer dollars. It's looking less and less likely that we'll be able to take ONE weekend off to spend together in Burlington for our anniversary because we can't find coverage for the animals, when what we need more than anything, more than equipment, more than money, more than getting stuff done, is a vacation. I truly feel good and am proud of what and how much we've accomplished and how self-disciplined I've become, but there needs to be a balance. We are burning out quicker than we can refuel, and there doesn't feel like a fill station is anywhere in sight.

Speaking of cars, on top of all that, the car that I bought in Mississippi is starting to be constantly needy at almost 200,000 miles. Flat tire (my fault), coolant leak ("fixed" for a week until Monday), still missing a title (from the sleaziest dealer in all the land). Let me put this out there: we have to drive everywhere for everything, and I'm really missing my two wheels. Especially when 90% of the professionals I deal with concerning my car are decidedly unprofessional, overcharging and treating me like an idiot because clearly women know nothing about cars. And the hoops to jump through to borrow a vehicle to get to where we need to go makes my passion for bike-centric living bloom like algae on the lake. And I have to laugh at the thought of even having time to take a recreational roll down the rail trail.

Yesterday I helped Andrea slaughter rabbits. I haven't participated in many animal processing (really just the one time with some old laying hens) but this one ran rather smoothly and I don't think it could have been more humane. Andrea processed the rabbits far away from the other ones, one at a time, and each one's life ended quickly. She showed me how to skin them and eviscerate them, and her partner Rick and I concurred that the only part that "got to us" was how warm their bodies are as you take them apart. I will spare the macro-shot pictures. With two more slaughter days this week I've been thinking a lot about my upbringing in a Kosher home and what it means to follow kashrut. There are many specifics to keeping Kosher but I have been most concerned with the aspects that address if the animal did not suffer in death and if the animal is "clean" enough to eat. Well let me tell you, we've got the most kosher pigs and rabbits you'll ever see, and I can guarantee they've had better lives, have/will have more humane slaughters, and have more scrutiny over the processing than many kosher factory processing plants of animals fed antibiotics and GMO corn.

So in light of all this, I came across this blog: The 'Why I Cried' Project. Felt cathartic to read and felt some solidarity with all the other passionate hardworking people out there. Complements one of the three books I'm currently reading nicely: The Greenhorns collection of essays by beginning farmers.

I know these feelings of frustration and anxiety will pass and that things have to get worse before they get better, but while I'm here I might as well cry about it, right?

Um...

The blog posts (or lack thereof) have come up in conversation with several people recently, so here goes my best attempt at an update over the past (3!!!!?????) months. The weeks have gone by rapidly. I'll cover each element separately to try to wrap my head around things.

Veggies: Everything is coming up roses. Actually, with everything else going on, I totally neglected to literally stop and smell the flowers and never got around to planting calendula and sunflowers, my favorites, but have been cutting the weedy wildflowers to bring in a bouquet for our market stand. I think they look nice. Gotta represent that Vermont red clover.

We've been learning lots about weed control, mainly how you can't, and cover cropping and rotational planting. Not anything too sciency, but with a little common sense and some foresight it's easy to figure out. For plants like chard and kale and broccoli, we've mulched them with hay about a month ago and haven't had to weed them since. We cover cropped a large section of our field with a pea/oat mix from High Mowing. This did fight out some of the crabgrass but was mainly to keep our soil in check and to fix some nitrogen during the early part of the season when we didn't have a ton of stuff to plant. From the peas in the cover crop we harvested a lot of pea tendrils, the part of the plant before it turns into a pea, which makes an excellent salad mix addition, garnish, or snack.

Even though we aren't 100% sure of where or what we'll be doing next growing season, we'll definitely be cover cropping over the winter and planting a garlic party come the fall. G'bye grass!

 We noticed a bizarre nutrient deficiency with our field, however: everything on the western half of our field grew beautifully and in a timely fashion. The eastern side grew stunted, sickly, and took forever. Our rows are oriented east-west, so for example, pea plants at the front of their row grew several feet high and toward the back tapered off to about a foot. Unfortunately we didn't see this problem until after several long-term crops were planted, such as some onions and a little bit of fennel, so we missed out on some field potential there. But now we know! So over the next few tills (after rows of things like cabbage, shell peas, radishes, other early spring crops) we amended the soil with North Country Organics "Pro Gro": an organic approved mixture of minerals and nutrients. This made a world of difference, and now all our plants grow uniformly in their rows. We've also gotten creative with foliar sprays as well: raw milk, sea salt, and fish emulsion blends, supplying necessary B-vitamins and nitrogen... yummmm? Now, things are coming in great. We have lots of tomatoes that are on the verge of ripening, more zucchini than we know what to do with, and endless cuttings of chard, kale, and salad mix. We found ourselves with some awkward amounts of crops which we found creative recipes to turn into value-added products. I made a delicious radish relish with spices like cumin and turmeric, which made an amazing burger topping, and pickled snap peas that we are still munching on. Another discovery that we are still enjoying: turnip green pesto! Try it, you won't regret it. Found the recipe on the Salts Kitchen blog. http://saltskitchen.net/2011/12/08/thumbs-up-turnip-greens-pesto/

Pest control has been manageable, our only major issues being cucumber beetles and cabbage worms. We used some DIY methods to control them such as salt sprays, but ended up needing some processed organic pesticides. Not our preference, but we were in a pinch and did our research to find the very least-bad one (Spinosad: A naturally occurring bacteria that kills harmful insects, used on almost all large scale organic operations) and only sprayed the plants with the worst damage. 

On a brighter note, if the summer vegetable work took a week, we are finally around happy hour on Wednesday. The metaphorical weekend is creeping up sooner than later and even though there's still work to do, the bulk of it is over. We're proud of the amount of care we've been able to give to the crops considering how time consuming animal care is as well, and with both less planting and less animals right around the corner, we'll really be able to amp up the veggie attention.

Pigs: They're huge. We moved the slaughter date from November to September and then again to July 26. Now that we've done that I can't believe I was mentally prepared to have them around for that long... They are low maintenance but still something to think about every day, hauling at least 30 gallons of water to them in the woods every day, moving their pasture every week, searching dumpsters for pounds and pounds of food that will really only get them a few meals, trips to the farm and garden store every few days to buy more supplementary grain, trying not to think about them as pets....

Eli came over and showed us a slideshow of a NOFA workshop he went to which showed how to slaughter and break down a pig. It was fascinating and actually got me very excited for the end of the month. He told us about how the Italian farmers leading the workshop used every part of the pig to make mouth-watering dishes, including coagulated blood saute, brain frittata, and raw liver. While I'm sure I'll be a bit hesitant to actually cook and then eat stuff like that, I can't imagine throwing away parts of these pigs now that we've put in all this work to feed them and keep them healthy for the season and that I've gotten to know them a little bit. Some people have warned us against naming the pigs and being friendly with them, but I would much rather eat something that I've had a relationship with, much like vegetables and the eggs from my own hens, rather than an anonymous Iowan born and quickly raised, power-washed-with-antibiotics sub-animal.

Special Advertisement: if you're interested in purchasing a whole, half, quarter, or eighth of pig, let us know ASAP! It's a great deal to buy it in bulk and you get a mix of cuts (not TOO much of the weird stuff I just mentioned...). 

Hens: We now have a total of 26, a rag-tag motley crew. Some adopted from a confinement operation, others from a sweet old man. In a perfect world we'd be getting at least 20 eggs a day, but with a combination of hot hot hot weather and wide age variance in our ladies, we've been getting closer to an average of 15. We move their pasture often and sometimes boost their feed with a little cayenne, which seems to help, but on the whole we don't feel like it's worth it to get more layers. We have no problem getting enough for our CSA members, eat a few ourselves, and the extra box or three we bring to the market. We also adopted a rooster named Coco (he came with the name, but have found that the phrase "you go Glen Coco" has been appropriate to say to him in several situations) because some of our hens kept escaping the yard to visit the neighbor's rooster, which has helped keep them closer to home. We also took him with the hopes that he might fight off predators but he is a scaredy cat and just crows at you then runs away. At the very least, he is endlessly entertaining if not an unwelcome alarm clock.

Rabbits: 3 weeks ago Andrea brought us 9 little bunnies in a tractor that we pull along the grass twice a day. They are fun to hang out with and I'm happy that I'm not the one presiding over the processing of these guys because they are too cute. She brought us 4 more last week in a bigger tractor which is easier to pull around because it has wheels. They'll be gone quick, a week from yesterday, and we'll run two more batches this year for her. She already has them sold to a caterer, which is great, and she plans to use their fur for something as well.

Meat Birds: What started with 46 is now 33. After 2 weeks of being chicks we moved the chickens and turkeys outside to a small tractor Sam built. We noticed one chicken much smaller than the others, not eating or drinking, so we brought it inside and nursed it back to health. We tried to assimilate him/her back with his/her siblings, but they didn't take to it very well as it was still... the runt. Runt, as he/she is affectionately named, is now the family pet, listens to NPR or the alternative rock station, and likes to perch on shoulders.

About a week later we had a massacre. At night, we would either bring the remaining 45 back inside or cover their tractor with a tarp. One night there was a storm and we can only speculate, but we think the strong wind lifted the ground stakes that held down the tarp, exposing the tractor, and allowed one or several predators to drag out 4 turkeys and 9 chickens, leaving some scattered around the tractor and some MIA. It was a frustrating day but we managed to build them an entirely new, much larger and way more secure tractor (made out of the old hog panels), complete with an electric charge provided by the weaker solar charger we had originally bought for the pigs. We also bought a strand of electro-net which is now set up as their run in front of the tractor, so they spend days on lots of grass and (hoping to not jinx it) have had 0 predator problems since. They electric netting doesn't bother the birds, as their feathers protect them from shock, but it does bother the noses and paws of raccoons and other critters, which is most important. The turkeys are getting large and some of the toms are developing the quirky habit of displaying their feathers and waddling around while some of the chickens are now old enough to attempt a cock-a-doodle-doo a la Coco. We process the chickens on July 23rd and will get a new batch of chicks next week. We're going to try Cornish Crosses, the more widely used commercial meat breed and will similarly order a batch of faster-growing turkey birds to supplement the ones we lost. These more economically viable breeds are slightly controversial among animal raisers due to their rapid weight gains but are breeds of choice for the famous Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms in VA and many other local organic operations in the area given their ability to forage when given the opportunity.  Since the verdict still out on these breeds, we want to see for ourselves why and see if we agree with the traditionalists or the new wave of breeders looking for alternatives to the classics. 

Miscellaneous other things: hot and dry weather keeps us busy watering plants and animals alike. We've sold some veggies to Burlington and Enosburg restaurants. We've taken on 2 more "veggie only" CSA shares. We are enjoying fermenting and sprouting: I made a sourdough starter and Sam the master baker has been putting it to good use. Kohlrabi kraut, regular kraut, ginger carrots, and kombucha are gettin' their stink on. We love the farmer's market and enjoy the company of our neighboring vendors, including Laughing Wolf grass-fed highland beef out of Fletcher and our East Shore Vineyards friend Wendy. We will take a weekend off after the pigs move to the great freezer in the sky to go see Wilco. And plans are once again up in the air for what the future will bring us at Fat Rabbit Farm but so far, that's worked for us! We've had a lot of fun with visitors here, so don't be shy and stop on in. We work hard but play hard, and by play hard I mean eat creemees and hit up the swimmin' holes.

Lost in the Trees

We were lost in the trees for a month, sorry! Not really, but we did see a really incredible band called "Lost in the Trees" in Burlington a few weeks ago. And have generally been pretty busy so I will try to recap most of what's happened the past couple of weeks but won't bore with details:
We have all of our CSA spots filled. Thanks everyone! We are thrilled to be serving a few families in the Sheldon area as well as a few friends in Burlington.
We have pigs! Their names are Bubba, Walnut and Toby.

They are really sweet boys. At about 4 months old, they weigh 70 pounds each! Holy bacon, Batman!
We went through a few different fencing fiascos but have finally found something that seems to work. At first we used cattle panels to create a 16x16' square pen for them, plus a shelter that we fashioned out of 2x4s and a tarp. Since we want to move them along different parts of the pasture, however, we quickly learned that it was difficult for us to move the pen without letting them loose. Luckily with the help of neighbors and friends we've always lassoed them in, and of course offering them some treats to lure them back home helps.
Next we set up electric fencing for them. 100' of electrified polywire netting holds them in well... if there's enough of a charge. At first we tried using a solar charger that we bought off craigslist, but the zap of the fence only annoyed the pigs and wouldn't ya know it, they picked the stakes up and dragged them around. In the end, we splurged on a much stronger solar fence charger and haven't had any problems, and the netting doesn't need to be moved as often because the area it encloses is bigger. Plus, when we do need to move it, it will be much easier (lighter weight, plus the pigs respect the physical barrier more than the cattle panels). It's not ideal that we have to shock the pigs to keep them in one place, but now that they've each tried it once with their noses they rarely even come close now. We're going to buy an additional 100' of netting to give them an even bigger area  to roam around and dig up. Boy can they dig! They get their noses in the ground and WHAM- your field is tilled! We aren't going to directly plant crops in the area they've already dug up this year, since the manure is still... fresh. We're going to plant some cover crops that the pigs can eat, and next year we might try some rice or ducks in the pasture that they've been on (it's some pretty soggy land).

We ordered a 16' canvas tent to live in! Should be here and set up in the next 2 weeks. After going over many pros and cons for building our own cabin, we decided that it would be in our best interest, time frame, and budget to buy a sturdy tent. We are excited to move out into it, to be closer to our fields and live a little more connected to the earth instead of the internet. We'll also build a small outdoor kitchen and composting toilet. We're lucky to still have the amenities of Sam's family's house in close proximity for laundry, a hot shower, the occasional Mad Men...

This morning a big burly man named Mark came with his tractor and tilled in our field. He tilled over at Duffy Hill Farm (Sam's farm last year with his friends Lucy, Eli, Joe and Nate) and said our soil was considerably less rocky. Yeah! Speaking of DHF, we walked around the woods behind there and found lots of RAMPS which we'll hopefully harvest and sell wholesale this week. We also found a bunch in the woods on our road... yum! Back to the fields though. We grabbed a bunch of compost that DHF left last year and spread it on the field before Mark tilled it in so hopefully the soil will have some nutritious stuff to feed the plants. Direct seeding begins ASAP! Transplanting... soon. We bought an awesome light table from the same people we got our hens from which has helped in the past cold, cold, weeks to keep most of our seedlings alive. Now that it looks like warmer temps from here on out we'll probably move everything back outside.

We were also able to see in person the dispersed members of DHF the past couple of weeks, all except Nate who will be back in June to tent it up with us and help out from time to time. We had dinner at Lucy's and Eli stayed over a few days, and Joe's been up to visit a few.

We also ordered our meat chickens (Freedom Rangers) and turkeys (Standard Bronzes)! 46 little birds comin' next month...

And we are officially part of the Northwest Farmer's Market in St. Albans this year! Selling a few veggies, some eggs, bread, and taking orders for birds.

That's about all for now! Thanks for reading!

PS all the laying hens also have names now (we got 5 more, Light Brahmas, from a family in Sheldon, and are planning on getting juuuust 2 or 3 more): Brahma, Mama, Obama, Llama, Pajama, Whitebutt, Cameron, Zelda, Nutmeg, Cornelia, Peggy, Joanie, and Billie.

Humble Beginnings

Okay, things are definitely feeling real with this week of 70 degree weather getting us out bright and early every day. And with the sunshine came energy, excitement and a sense of urgency to get things done. The receipts are piling up quickly with many trips to the local lumber store, ace hardware, farm & garden supply, etc. etc. etc... But amazingly the costs have stayed low and we've completed a chicken coop and small greenhouse (and purchased two small greenhouses from Tractor Supply for wicked cheap), picked up our pullets, and started about 20 trays of seeds. It seems like every day we add more to our to-do list but it's still satisfying to be crossing things off.

We also spent today scoping out potential ramp and fiddlehead harvesting secret spots, and a few days ago broadcasted some alfalfa into our pasture for our incoming rabbit friends. Unfortunately this weather is dipping back down but now that we've gotten things rolling, there's no stopping us!

CSA sign-up form

Woah... too much computer screen. March, for Franklin County vegetable farmers, is a time of planning, printing, organizing, advertising, and e-mailing. This deceptively warm weather and early spring are getting us geared up for what may perhaps be an early season. Our last seeds should arrive shortly and we're scoping out wild-crafting spots for the spring so expect pickled fiddleheads, ramp pesto and other forest harvested goodies. While spring is still on the horizon, we have a few CSA share slots open. Here is a link to our CSA sign-up form with more information about shares, logistics, and pricing.


Fat Rabbit Farm CSA sign-up form

Hope to hear from you soon,
Sam at FRF

Long Overdue Update!

Since our last post, our trip has come to a close and we are comfortably nested back in Sheldon. To say the least, our vacation was not at all what we expected but we're definitely glad we went. We drove out of Jackson in a Dodge Durango, without plates, that belonged to a fellow who several years ago drove it to Horace Slay Auto Sales where he proceeded to steal a Corvette out of the lot. Not my dream truck but a funny story nonetheless.
From there we breezed through the south (the adjustment of moving 50 miles a day to 50 miles an hour was a bit weird) with brief stops in Tuscaloosa AL and Athens GA. Then we spent a few nights in Greensboro NC with my oldest and dearest friends Marissa and Leah. A night in Asheville drinking the local brew and biking without our travel weight was followed by a tour of Western NC by Sam's friend Becky who recently acquired land in the hills there. It's mystical and eerie and beautiful, and Becky has plans to transform her hillside into an Appalachian herb garden and community. We also visited the property of her friends who are practicing homesteading as young adults and seem to be having a blast living the rural life that many of us were taught to work away from, with a yurt, a cabin, an outdoor kitchen, tiered gardens...
Our next stop was Radford VA to visit Sam's oldest friend Anthony and his girlfriend Brittany where we unwound, got some great thrift shop finds, played with their dogs and goats (but not their cat... he was mean), drank mojitos, and ATE. On our way from there to DC we stopped at Polyface Farm, famous as the home and workplace of Joel Salatin, a farmer who has written several books on the radical nature of responsible sustainable farming. We were excited to be there but not much was to be seen as their visiting season had just commenced, so many of the animals were not roaming free as we had expected and hoped. Seeing the pigs got us giddy to pick up our own, which we'll be doing in just a few weeks!
We spent a night with my friend Rebecca in DC, a night in NJ with my grandparents, and a night in Newton MA with my mom before heading up to Vermont.
And what a joyful return it was... There's nothing quite like this green mountain state. The next few days we stocked up on bulk grains and cooking oils at City Market, got my car registered, visited our friends, and made a giant to-do list for the upcoming season. Seeds are ordered, materials and young poultry priced out at the local farm supply store. We are excited to say that we will be building a house (and likely other structures... chicken coop, garden shed, etc) using pallet construction methods! As pallets are sturdy, free, and easy to come by, this seems like a no-brainer to us.
Although contemplating participating in the Winooski farmer's market, we don't think we'll be doing that and are waiting to hear back from St. Albans. Our friend/former roommate/fellow farmer Blake has also offered us a few weeks of the season at his spot in the Shelburne farmer's market for days he can't make it, but we'll see how that goes.
New favorite breakfast for both Sam and I (we had this two days in a row and regretted not having it a third): Fried egg sandwiches on Sourdough toast with cheddar, sauteed red onion and shredded brussel sprouts. Add condiments as desired (Sam: BBQ sauce, Cayla: mayo and/or salsa). Can't wait to make this with our own everything-but-the-cheese... and you can too if you sign up for a CSA share!

Thanks for reading, and we hope to hear from you soon with any questions/comments/interest in a share. Check us out on Facebook, too! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fat-Rabbit-Farm/122483537871847

Moondog

Well well well well well. Over the past week we've biked through: a downpour, oil refineries, 20mph headwinds, cool couchsurfing hosts in Baton Rouge, a total of 7 popped tubes, a brand new tire with kevlar bead destroyed, weird combinations of different processed foods, skinny shoulders that barely avoid 18-wheelers, and a lot of frustration. That got us up to Natchez, MS, where the start of the Natchez Trace Parkway is. This road runs 440 miles up to Nashville, but we were only planning on taking it about 100 up to Jackson  or further up to Tupelo MS where we'd switch and go east through Alabama.

Day one on the trace we met a guy named Eric who was out for an afternoon ride, and he chatted with us as we leisurely biked along. As we were headed downhill we all heard Sam's tire go POP! so we pulled over to fix it. Eric stayed with us and lent a hand as well as concerns for our wellbeing, so he left his phone number if we needed anything. That night we got to the Natchez State Park about 15 miles up the Trace and stayed in our tent from 7PM until 7AM while the rain and lightning came down on us without pause. Sam kept his panniers in the nearby bathhouse where fortunately there was a washer/dryer, so in the morning we spent about an hour and a half drying our tent, sleeping bags, and ourselves. Both our bikes, however, were now experiencing problems: Cayla's chain would skip and fall off every time she went even slightly uphill, and Sam's tire/tube fiasco continued to cause worry. After a brief visit to the Emerald Mounds, which were indigenous ceremonial grounds as impressive as Stonehenge in the amount of labor put in, we embarked along with a six-mile descent calming our bike calamities for the meantime. It was only a matter of time, however, until Sam's tube went flat, again, and we were out of tubes to replace them (every flat was beyond patching, with either large tears or holes around the stem). That's when we called Eric.

With his long gray hair flowing and bellbottoms to boot, Eric picked us up and brought us back to Natchez to fix our bikes at his local favorite mechanic. Cayla ended up with a new chain and a new gear ring in the back, and Sam got a new tire. Then we rode back on the Trace for a quick 10-mile ride with Eric and his riding crew just to keep our legs stretched. We took Eric out to dinner and he let us stay in an empty rental home he owned, where after a looooooong day, we fell asleep around 8.

Eric insisted on making the 2-hour drive up the Trace yesterday to drop us off in Jackson where we had a Warm Showers host set up. We couldn't thank him enough for the help he gave us, and we'll miss him, but it felt good to keep moving. As we drove up the Trace it felt a little weird knowing we really wanted to be biking it, but sometimes things don't work out the way they were supposed to. We're staying in the Fondren neighborhood of Jackson with Don and Becky, some awesome people who own a home with a huge garden, two greenhouses, cool art everywhere, 4 cats, a snuggly pug named Moondog, and a miniature horse named Willow. In the 70s, Don and Becky moved out into the woods, built their own cabin, and lived there off the grid for 8 years. In order to raise their three kids they moved back to town, but they still carry their ruggedness with them. They've been vegan/vegetarian since and pointed us to the co-op in town which felt comfortingly like City Market. We hung out there for a little while eating lunch and making phone calls to start shopping around for trucks, and even went to see one in town. Then we went out for pizza with Don and Becky, and fell asleep, again exhausted.

Today is raiiiiiiining and cold, so we'll be taking it easy, looking for more trucks, and planning our next moves. We may be headed back to Vermont sooner than expected to get a jumpstart on farm things as that anxiety has been weighing on us. Traveling is fun but feels unproductive in a lot of ways. Stay tuned for what comes next!

PS: photos can be found at: http://instagrid.me/slboutin/ and include: Sam searching for a gecko in the bathhouse in Natchez; the Emerald Mounds; playing with Willow; and air-mattress surfing.