A lot has been going on around here, and I need to get caught up here! In mid-April Orrin started to move the cows to ¼ acre parcels that he had electric-fenced. He was giddy with excitement to be able to do this, has he has been dreaming of management intensive grazing since he first read about it in Michael Pollan's “Omnivore's Dilemma”, in the section about Joel Salatin. (If you haven't read it but are interested in where your food comes from, you really need to read that book.) Orrin led Gigi into each section with hay at first, but she picked up on it quickly, and was clearly looking forward to being moved at the end of the day (he moves them around 5pm). Unfortunately, he ran out of fencing supplies, so the moves were halted for about a week, while we waited for the delivery of additional supplies to come. They just arrived Friday, and Orrin was right back out there, setting up a new fence and moving them that day. I think the initial giddiness has worn off some, replaced by the reality of having to set up fencing every day, but he is very dedicated to this idea, so is enjoying the process of it all.
We continue to eat lots of greens. The first round of asian greens, bok choi and arugula have gone to seed, but we are still cutting leaves off and eating them in salad. I thought they would be too bitter for us at this point, but the freshness of the food is so welcome, that they are still very tasty to us. Multiple types of lettuce are ready now too, so that is giving us additional flavors in our salads, as well as more spinach. New rounds of asian greens are up and big enough to be eaten, so we are just starting to cut those. Chard, transplanted in the fall, is finally growing and healthy again. We are using that and kale in smoothies and in green juices, and the chard stems we cut up and use like celery in our salads. It feels like we are on a “green diet”, and our bodies seem to be thankful for it!
The potatoes are doing great, leafing out and getting bigger. The peas are growing taller, and are starting to latch onto the strings that we have hung for them to climb. The garlic, both in the greenhouse and out, is looking good, and we have almost 100% germination from what we planted.
Jake, Melissa and Perin moved onto the farm a little over a week ago, and are living in a tepee near the pond. They said it was the one flat spot they could find nearby! It's true, we have a fairly sloped piece of property near the house. We are glad to have them here, as the company has been great, as well as sharing child care and some meals has been wonderful. Oliver loves having them here too, and wants to spend all his time with them. When we get the other house finished, they plan to move in there, unless they decide they are enjoying tepee life too much.
Jake's dad owns a mill, and he is currently here milling the logs that Jake and Orrin had cut down over the winter, into the sizes that Orrin has specified. Much of it will be used to side the other house, with hopefully enough to build a wood shed as well.
I have been teaching yoga to friends and family at a friend's house since my first 50 hr training in January. Last Monday was my first time teaching in public, and I was so nervous! But it went well, and I will continue to do that probably until my studio here is completed (it's part of the unfinished building). I will be doing another 50 hr block of training in July, and I hope to be teaching in my own studio after that. Fingers crossed! I'm really enjoying teaching, and sharing yoga with others.
It's been nice to have fresh, truly free range eggs available to us from the 5 chickens that are here now. We are glad to not have to feed them grain anymore, and are thinking about what kind of coops to build so that the laying hens can follow the cows around on their rotations. The chickens will be helpful in breaking up the cowpies and eating bugs and fly larvae to keep the flies down. We will be getting 40 meat birds in about a week, and 20 heritage birds (for both eggs and meat) at some point this month. In the long run we plan to just use the heritage birds for meat, but to get started we bought some meat birds as well.
