Square Dance!

Much bustle is happening about the farm, and we have had some rough weather. But right now, let's talk about squares.

Well, not just squares, but squares (us) dancing in squares. We had an amazing time! Our draft horse club hosted a pot luck dinner last Saturday night followed by a great fiddle band and beginner style square dance.
We took the family van along with James, Kim's mom and brother, Geoffrey and headed down to the festivities.

The draft horse club is a fine bunch of people. Everyone asked about our progress with our current team and what's been going on with our farm. Then we piled our plates to the ceiling with delicious food and dug in. These people know how to throw a pot luck, that's for sure. We all ate until our eyeballs nearly popped, including helpings of desserts (yep, multiple ones).

Once the music started, it was hard not to join in. I tend to be a little stand-offish in larger group settings, but soon hit floor, much to the chuckling delight of my brother-in-law. Thanks to the help of a good caller and friendly co-participants, we caught on quickly. As it turns out, square dancing is just fun. James joined right in too and was quite the hit with the entire group. We danced for a few hours before getting back into the van home, still full and exhausted.

I think there is a reason that farmers have enjoyed a good square dance. We don't always get a chance to socialize, the demands of farm life often keep us close to home and at work for longer hours then most. But many farmers still enjoy a good meal. And a group dance- though not usually something I'd think I'd really like- was a great relief from long hours. No pressure to make small talk, or talk shop. No pressure on image- everyone looks pretty silly do-see-doing. Just spending time in the company of others after sharing a meal.

So honor your partner, and honor your corner!

Here are some cute animals!

Enjoy this video of our pigs!

Happy Monday!

Great Grilling!

We are grilling people. Given the option we will grill just about anything, not only because it is delicious and makes us feel that special summer time feeling, but also because it makes less dishes :)

But we also are into grilling because it's pretty special for us to step out the door and just be outside without the pressure to be working or having to tend to anything. It's a moment to really just relax, drink a beverage (adult or otherwise) and just be.

Making the grilling experience even more awesome is getting to grow the food that goes on that grill. I wasn't always drawn to farming in the same way that Ejay was. I grew up in a farming community in a house where we made hay every summer, so the allure wasn't so mysterious. When I left for college and my own life, I discovered that I didn't have the stomach to eat meat, mostly because of the books I had read and the people who I met that had such passion for vegetarianism. I literally read Fast Food Nation and became a vegetarian the next day.

Now admittedly, I was the worst vegetarian of all time. I have always been pretty bad about food in general, substituting ramen noodles for most meals or eating some tortilla chips with cheese as dinner (ask anyone who knows, I'm into snacks as meals). I was pretty much existing on microwaved Boca burgers and cheese.

But when I met Ejay and we started dating, I really started to think about what I was putting into my person. Ejay's passion for food is infectious (he's just that person), and I started to realize that what I was buying and fueling myself with was not only affecting my health but that I was making a lot of the choices with my dollar that I was trying to avoid by being a vegetarian. Not contributing to a food system that was mistreating animals and the people who were raising them was important to me and I had discovered that, for me, growing that food (meat included) wasn't just an economical choice, it was an ethical one.

I'm really excited to be growing good, sustainable meat and veggies for people who are on their own food journey but also for people who just want to eat food that tastes amazing.

Whether you're a member of our CSA or you're supporting small farms by shopping at a farmers market, you're making a choice to help sustain an alternative to the factory farms and big agriculture. Folks who do that are equally as inspiring to me as the folks I know who are still so passionate about vegetarianism/veganism. Thinking about what goes in your body and on your grill is admirable and delicious!

Shiny new toys

We don't often get brand new things around here. We get "new to us" things, which is excellent since we love recycling and re-purposing. But when we are able and willing to spend money on something new, it's pretty awesome.

Our computer died yesterday morning. We had gotten a laptop from our great friends Carrie and Sascha and it was working famously until yesterday. Realizing that we can't really do much in the way of running our business without one, we started researching on the interwebs for something that was affordable and had good reviews. Ejay is much more of a technophile than I am, but we both agreed that something small and portable was the way to go.  We made the decision to go to Best Buy to get something that would do the trick.

We made that decision by around 6:45am.

I headed out around 8:30, thinking I'd make it to the store by 9:15 maybe 9:30 and be good to go.....

As it turns out, malls don't open til 10am. It turns out, when you basically live in the 1890's (minus the laptop and iphone....?), people don't get up at dawn.

So I waited.

We got a Chrome Book, for those who are curious. We do most of our business stuff on Google Drive, so it made sense to us. Also it's silver and small and pretty, which are obviously important to me. :)

While I ran this errand (and snagged an ice cream cone on the way home) Ejay and James were home building chicken accommodations.  Another surprise waiting for me at home - our new vacuum! It was a day filled with useful tools and good news for sure.

Later in the afternoon, we tested our irrigation - I have never seen anything more glorious than a sprinkler watering my greens and peas without me being there with a bucket and a prayer. With a few adjustments and some more pipe we will really be in business.

Today - We plant and plant and plant and plant. And then plant some more!

p.s. - If you want in on these delicious veggies we're planting and meat that we're raising, we still have a few shares left. We have a variety of options to fit everyone's needs - a meat only share, a bi-weekly pick up on farm, our weekly year round share. Shoot us an email if you have any questions!

James the Intern

So! We have a new farm resident... and it's an intern!

James comes to us from Wells College to spend a month learning the ropes on our hectic little farmstead. He doesn't have a lot of farm experience, but brings a good amount of enthusiasm and willingness to learn. And we're glad to have him. So we thought we would do a little interview to introduce him!


Where are you from?

I am from Hollis New Hampshire. It's a smaller town. I really liked it, it's pretty forested and lots of tall white pines. It used to be more farming but now it's more suburban; unfortunately more forests are being taken  down for housing developments, but there are still nice hiking trails.


What are you majoring in college?  I'm majoring in Women and Gender Studies at Wells.


What are your hobbies/pass times?  I love singing, dancing, being in nature, yoga, and food.


What are your first impressions of the farm?  I instantly fell in love with the area.  The mountains surrounding the farm are particularly beautiful.


What are you looking forward to during your internship?  I'm looking forward to working outside; getting up early and working through the day as it develops.  I'm also excited to explore some of the conservation land during some of my down time.

What would you like to learn while you are here?

I'm looking forward to learning how to plant yummy vegetables and to learn more about taking care of animals and meat production.



Anything else you'd like to say?  I'd really like to thank Ejay and Kim and all the animals on the farm, for giving me a great opportunity and making me feel welcome.  It's only the first official day of the internship and I can already tell I'm going to have a blast.

It rained! And we planted! And it was good!

That's pretty much today in a nutshell. It rained which was amazing. Yesterday it was threatening to break, with the weather app on my phone teasing me with its 90% chance of rain.....with a dry sky. But this morning  it finally opened up! We were out in the field planting some lettuces, arugula, spinach, cauliflower and cabbage. We had also finished the onion patch and gotten in some more radishes when it started to sprinkle. We headed to the greenhouse to finish up the "first leg" of the day when it really truly started to rain. It was excellent.

We worked in the greenhouse for the rest of the morning and then broke for lunch. And it just kept coming! it rained until almost 4 this afternoon and it still looks like it might some more. GLORIOUS.

We've got a lot more planting to do, but it feels pretty good to be on track with our schedule. With the dry weather it was hard to get anything in the ground, especially when it was practically dust in the vegetable field.

The day before we got in 2/3rds of the onions with some help from my Aunt Pam. We've mentioned Aunt Pam and Uncle Bob before here, they are super amazing and thoughtful so it was no surprise that Pam brought over a huge pot of chili and cornbread for us on top of coming to help us out for the day. It was delicious and very much appreciated!

Keep thinking thoughts of rain for the long term forecast so we can keep plugging away with our spring veggies.

Watching the Sky

Well, the field is plowed. We are grateful. It didn't happen the way that we planned, or intended, but it's done now. Soon we will write more about our next steps, and our plans for future field work. But the field is prepared for plants in that the sod is broken, exposing rocky but ready soil beneath.

But it's dry. So dry. We've been updating our irrigation system from last year. And we spend a lot of time looking at the sky for a sign of clouds to bring water other than through our outside intervention. Today there was a brief reprieve, a solid shower, but we could use a good inch or two. It feels all too familiar from last year, and I think we have a little drought PTSD. But we are trying to learn our lessons well, and plan for the worst before we really have stunted or burned crops.

The sky can tell you a lot of things, if you care to look at it. We're pretty good at telling what time it is, what predators are near by, if we need to watch for storms. I think about the view that other folks have in their skies. Building lines, mountains, deserts... I wonder how many people stop to look and see what they can glean. I'm not sure that it's all about always looking forward, or reviewing behind. There is something to be said to look above and search for rain, even if you know it's not likely to come.

I'm not a religious man, though I was raised to grow up as one. I don't think that my sky searching is some kind of metaphor, or internal struggle. I think it's just about pulling my head from the dirt for a moment.