New Animals

New animals have joined the menagerie at the farm. Never willing to leave well enough alone, this spring we have a new kitten, a cow, two new fjord horses, three piglets and some baby chickens.

Several hens went broody this spring. They sit on the eggs and refuse to move. We set two on eggs in their own little boxes apart from the rest. The hens would have nothing to do with a traditional family, they wanted to share a house. 21 days later the two mothers emerged with 3 chicks that they have been happily co-rearing. They are growing quickly and doing well. Another hen started a batch and should be hatching a few more soon. Having already ordered chicks through the mail who arrived on May 15, we now have lots of new pullets that will begin laying eggs this fall. That will bring the total laying flock to about 25. Many of my hens are Buff Orpingtons and some of the new chicks are Buff roosters. This means that when hens set next spring, the offspring will be pure bred. I want to maintain an older breed to help with genetic diversity.

With the arrival of the new cow, I realized again that most of my life has been a creation of early dreams of having a farm. Flamingo (I didn't name her) came from my neighbor who milks 90 jerseys. She is milking on 3 quarters. After a somewhat rocky adjustment period of homesickness, she has decided that North Creek isn't a bad place. Every morning and night she comes in and willingly lets us hand milk out a gallon of fresh, foamy milk. The sound of the milk streams hitting the pail is very satisfying. She is easy to milk and hasn't kicked once. I bought her a red collar and a bell to complete the picturesque scene. The milk is piling up but we have made butter, yogurt and some mozzarella worthy of handball equipment. I think it will melt on pizza given a high enough temperature. The pigs are happy about the new cow and get feed soaked in buttermilk, skim milk or whey everyday.

The new fjords arrived though a complicated labyrinth of connections with Amish and horses I had raised years ago. Buck, also known as "the brut" and Bubba is a very large overweight fjord horse who makes my other equine look possitively svelt. Bruce, who is now known as Jack is normal sized and a bit scatter brained. Neither has been worked consistantly and are in the process of building muscle and experience. It continues to be hard to find the time to do the horse work when I have a tractor but the times I get out with the horses is rewarding. A new corn planter will add an excuse to harness them. Horses work best when they are used regularly.

Sweaty Math

Thinking about Peak Oil is one thing and acting on it is another. In his "Crash Course," Chris Martenson talks about the human labor embedded in one gallon of gasoline.* My chain saw uses about a quart of gas per hour. "Sure," I thought, "I could use a cross-cut saw." The big pine woods of Wisconsin were cleared primarily with axes and cross-cut saws after all. I borrowed a saw from a friend and went to work. Half an hour later, I had cut enough wood for 24 hours of winter stove heat. My chain saw could have cut all of the small log pile with 1 quart of gas. It will take me at least 4 1/2 more hours of hand sawing. If gas cost $20 a gallon, it would still be only $5 for the quart of gas that could cut up all the wood. I'd like to "earn" $10 an hours for sawing. At 5 hours of work, that would be $50. The $5 of gas for my chain saw gets pretty insignificant with this in mind.This is the capitalist way to look at it though.

Another way to look at it is my health and the environment's health. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I drive to the High School and work out with weights. Sawing the wood, I felt parts of my body I am not as familiar with. Half an hour of sawing a day could put me in good shape. It worked many muscles, core, back, arms and even legs. I was breathing hard too so the cardio is covered. It could also put me in the chiropractor's office. Jury is out on this. I'll let you know in the morning. Sawing by hand is very immediate and real. The old adage that heating with wood heats you four times, when you cut it, when you split it, when you bring it to the stove and when you burn it. This wood has already really warmed me. It was quieter and meditative. It's also just plain hard work.

I put a hand pump in the barn this winter to water the animals. It was such a romantic, nostalgic idea. Its also just plain hard work. The horses drink a lot of water. Many more energy savings ideas and I will be in good shape or just tired. Doing these trial runs of energy savings showed the relative value of gasoline to get hard work done.

Saving a trip to the store 30 miles away seems more important when the two gallons of gas saved could cut 40 hours of my labor's worth of wood for heating. I have made a commitment to cut wood each day this week and see how it feels. With gas at only $2 a gallon, it seems foolish but it brings into focus the amazing qualities of gasoline.
*www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse

Signs of Spring

Signs of spring appear as the weather warms: a few more birds, interest in basketball and eggs. The chickens very accurately measure the day length and perk up. Suddenly after a long dry spell, there are eggs again. At first just one, a fluke? No, now each day there are 5-7 eggs. Chores much more pleasant with these small gifts. I put them in my pocket and try to remember they are there before an enthusiastic disrobing ends up with a wet, gooey pocket. Already the eggs are building up and I will have something else to barter. I am hoping that several of the Buff Orpingtons will get broody and that there will be some chicks this spring. I have tried doing them in the incubator but the hens know just when to turn the eggs so that they hatch. [These wonderful pictures are again taken by my talented mother, Meredith. Thanks mom!]

Optimistic Bread

Basic things really are reassuring. Comfort food took on a new meaning this afternoon as I took a loaf of fresh bread from the oven. It was not just any bread. It was home made. In it was an egg from my chickens honey from my neighbors freshly ground wheat from another neighbor It was very very good. Renee Bartz came over the day before to use my fanning mill. A fanning mill is a wonderful Dr. Suess machine that removes chaff, grasshopper parts, weed seeds and other "extras" from grain. A big grin covered Renee's face as she cranked the handle on the machine and out of one shoot came the un-thrashed heads of wheat, another the weed seeds, another the light, broken wheat, and into the bottom hopper came the wheat. In exchange I got a zip lock back of wheat kernels. I put them in my electric mill and into the hopper poured the flour. The metal burrs of the grinder heated the wheat but its smell was wonderful. Right then and there I whipped up a loaf of bread. This bread is comfort food in the best sense of the word. It made me know that I could have the best bread possible using resources close to my farm. Living on the farm, I know that I can feed myself and many others if necessary. Right now all I have to worry about is how to not eat the whole, warm loaf with the butter soaking into the bread... drooling?

Maybe it could be better....

Rob Hopkins, who started the Transition Town Movement, says, "It is possible that life with less energy will be better." I like that idea, its hopeful. Hope is a word that has gotten a lot of use recently and that's a good thing. Looking towards a life with less energy, I want to have hope. One of the places that I have found hope is in this little animated film by Frederic Back called "Crac!". Its a French Canadian film that celebrates their traditions but also the community of people who lived with less energy. Enjoy.

Sustainability, Energy Descent and Localization

Every now and then, new information hits me that changes my whole outlook on life. This happened in November when I was introduced to the website chrismartenson.com/crashcourse. This is a fascinating, scary and eye opening discussion of the intersection of the Environment, the Economy and Energy.

I have known that something "big" is going on but it was amorphous until I watched Chris Martenson's 3 hour Crash Course. It made so much sense and was quite sobering. What we do with information like this makes all the difference. Talking with my friend Dana, I discovered the Transition Town (TT) Movement and my energy was able to move towards the positive. The TT movements outlines a framework in which communities can look at how to prepare for a life with less cheap resources. It involves becoming closer to others, more resourceful and resilient. Rob Hopkins who started TT, has the great attitude about the upcoming reduction in available resources, "Maybe life will be better without all those energy inputs!"

As a farmer, I can work my horses more, work my self more, slower and with purpose, not to free up more time but to enjoy the time more; invite more people to live at my farm, share my life and the resources that are here. How can I grow more to have extra to feed those in need. Can I sell more shares and hire one more worker to support another person locally?

Here is an example of a video developed by TT Lewes in England.