He's laughing with us, not at us

So for anyone who doesn't believe that God has a sense of humour, you should read my last post. It was a lovely thing about taking time and enjoying life around me.

Giggle*Snort*Guffaw

Sigh.

Well, that didn't work so well. The summer ended up being a little crazier than expected. Henry was working full time at a job that wasn't a great fit for him. I was participating in three farmers' markets a week, which meant Moses was in daycare three days a week as well. It was a little nuts. Granted, we have learned from this process. Two markets a week is good, and we can handle that. Three seems to put us over the edge at this point in time.

The fall was busy with three times the bulk orders as last year, plus a Christmas rush. As well, we raised turkeys for Christmas and some chickens for our own freezer. We made a decision not to pursue a breeding herd at this time, but it is something we'd like to do once we are living on our own farm. I am not complaining about any of that as the increased sales were a welcome surprise. In the middle of all that, on my birthday in fact, I got this surprise as well:



Okay, so it wasn't a complete surprise, but I really didn't think that October was going to be the month. In fact, I was so sure that I was NOT pregnant that the day before when Henry and Moses took me out for lunch for my birthday I had a beer. (God really does have a sense of humour).

Thankfully, we seem to have established a kind of equilibrium. We are still busy, but things seem to be progressing at a pace with which we can deal. Henry is now teaching which is a much better fit. A full-time position may be opening up this summer, and we are praying that he gets it. Work on his thesis is progressing as well, and a rough draft should be submitted by mid-February. We were asked (after I asked to be asked) to participate in a really good market once a week, and if all goes well, we will hopefully be invited to participate weekly in the summer. Ideally, if we attend that market and we remain at our other favorite market, we should make at least as much if not more than we did last year at three markets. (Yes, we are still working out the logistics of a very pregnant woman loading and unloading coolers). I also continue to waffle about whether to find out the gender (final decision date February 19).

In between all that, we hosted my in-laws and parents for Christmas. Have had time to play in the snow. Do a billion and one puzzles. Dance. Play "hockey stick" in the basement. Relax.

It's nice.

The actual farming life

So, what happens in the farm on the winter?

Not much, really. We have the daily care of making sure the waterers are working. Henry puts out round bales every few days, and we check to make sure that all is well. But, winter on the farm is relatively quiet. It's a nice break that way because we are plenty busy in other areas.

For the meat-side of the business, we're doing once-a-month drop offs in Toronto. We send out an email with all the details, people pre-order, and then we hang out at Tinto's (and drink coffee and eat their yummy food), while we wait for people to come pick up their orders. It's been going really well, and we've even had several new customers try us over the winter.

The Guelph Organic Conference was last weekend. I was on a panel called The Future of Farmers' Markets representing producers. It was really interesting to hear about the behind-the-scenes politics that can go on at these markets. It also makes me realize how much I love the Sorauren Park market. It was so great for us last year, and I'm looking forward to it starting up again this year. I was talking to one of market managers, and he mentioned that he was interested in getting me on the advisory committee. While I'm not sure I have the time, I would love to do it. I've always been passionate about farmers' markets as a consumer and a producer, so it would be great to have more say in how this market works.

It was also really good to see a bunch of familiar faces at the conference. I didn't actaully attend any workshops, but I spend a number of hours wandering around the trade show, meeting and talking to people. It really helped reinforce for me that this is where we should be. After ten years or marriage, I don't know how many different jobs, this feels like a calling. It was neat talking to people who have been doing this kind of thing (organic farming and direct marketing) for 30 years and thinking that I can see Henry and I in their position in another 30 years.

In other news, Henry has started a job working for FarmStart and the Ecological Farmers of Ontario. He's the Training and Resources Coordinator (I had to look that up online). I think it's perfect for him. He'll be coordinating their education programs (teaching and farming - his two specialties). It's a bit nuts right now in that he's trying to finish his MA thesis as well, but this job brings an economic stability to our lives and allows us to use our farming income for the farm. Hopefully, those two factors and the reduction of our debt load that getting bought out of Russet House Farm (a good thing but a topic for another post) brings will allow us to buy a farm in the next year or two.

Hello?

It's been ages since I've posted anything. I'm teaching this year and with the farm business and Moses, it felt like something had to give. I'm still teaching, but I really want to do more writing, and since I've already got this here blog, I thought I'd get my butt in gear and start here. So, without further ado, several days post New Year's Day....

Top 8 Events of 2008
(in no particular order)

1. Moses - specifically his first birthday, but in general, he is a delight and joy, and I am addicted to kissing his chubby cheeks. Oh, I also love to hear what he's thinking now that he's got quite a few words under his belt. (Turns out he mainly thinks about farm animals).

2. Starting a farm business with Henry - We participated in a farmer's market this year, and I loved it.

3. Spending time with family, specifically surprising my sister for her 30th birthday and my family's week-long visit here over Christmas.

4. Practicing Resurrection - It's a crazy amount of work, but the three of us camped with the attendees and had a great time.

5. Mom's group activities - Including library time, swimming, impromptu swim parties at our house, and potlucks. Sadly, most of my mom's group friends have moved away or are back at work, plus the kids don't sit still for that length of time anymore.

6. Getting the teaching job I wanted - I've loved using my brain for more than diaper changes/feeding. (For the record, I teach a seminar one day a week as part of a larger course for a second year English lit reading class).

7. Starting to work out - I know this isn't that momentous, but in October, I started doing 30 Day Shred, which had about a billion great reviews. I LOVE it, and I really notice a difference in my mood. I actually can't wait to start up again since I haven't done it at all this week due to visiting family.

8. Celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary

Goals for 2009

I read somewhere that writing them down makes them more real or something like that, so here goes:

1. Write more - I've got a few articles I want to write, plus I want to post here once a week.
2. Continue exercising
3. Stick to a budget - That involved creating one first.
4. Save money
5. Focus on Moses more - i.e. don't try to write/read/clean when it's our playtime.
6. Practice hospitality on a more regular basis (Anyone want to come over for dinner?)

Hopefully with #1, I'll be back soon to let you know how I'm doing.

Updates

Well, it's been over a month since I last posted.

Oops!

That doesn't mean I haven't been obsessively composing posts in my head during that time. I have been. It's just the distance from my brain to the computer is rather large it seems. Anyway, there are a few things I thought I'd update you on.

1. We've been selling our beef at the Sorauren Park Farmer's Market. It runs Mondays from 3-7. If you're in the neighborhood, come visit us. It's been so great meeting and getting to know people. Everyone has been really supportive and excited about what we're doing.



2. Here's a link to the Slow Food event I mentioned earlier.


3. We had a surprise calf! It turns out that one of the cows we bought was pregnant. Henry went to do chores one day, and there he was. The cow was really too young to get knocked up and wasn't able to take care of the calf. We've been bottlefeeding him. Henry named him Knuckles because it took him a few days to stop walking on the knuckle of his foreleg.

Knuckles and Moses

Don't worry, Knuckles won't be dinner. Instead, he will become a lead steer, which means we'll use him to help us lead the cattle wherever we want them to go. Because we bottlefeed him, he pretty much comes running whenever he sees us. Cows are herd animals - and greedy - so if one of them goes toward something, the rest have to make sure they get their share.

Since we didn't want Knuckles to be lonely, we bought a heifer which we named Niko. We're bottlefeeding her too. I'll get a picture of her up as soon as I get a chance.

So, let's see - right now, I'm bottlefeeding two calves and still nursing my son. Hmm.... Any bets on who gets weaned first?

What Not to Wear: The Farm Edition

I've always said that you don't have to dress badly just because you live on a farm. I've tried to avoid wearing mud (or worse) encrusted boots to the grocery store. If I go out for lunch with some friends and then have to do chores afterwards, I bring clothes to change into.


Sometimes, I think I take it too far though.*


You don't want to know what's on my shoe.

*In my defense, Henry said that the paths were fine, and we were planning on going out to dinner afterwards.

Competent

As I was doing chores last night, I noticed that the bulls had gotten through a gate and into a paddock with some heifers and steers. Now for obvious reasons, we don't want the bulls with the heifers. I stood there debating what to do. Henry was 45 minutes away and in class. I could have left them until he got home and hoped for the best, and I was tempted to do this. BUT, I decided to try and use some grain to lure the bulls back to their paddock, and what do you know - it worked!

As I was telling Henry this, and I mentioned that I had to keep checking to see which ones were the bulls. His response - "They're the ones with the bigger heads." Umm... that's not where I was looking.

Justifying Violence Part 2 (*fixed*)

Henry received this today in an email newsletter from Cow Calf Weekly. (Read Henry's article).

Our Perspective: The Biggest Beef Recall Ever

There was a lot of media hype this week surrounding USDA's announced recall of 143 million lbs. of raw and frozen beef products produced from February 2006 to February 2008 by Westland/Hallmark Meat in Chino, CA. The video from an undercover Humane Society operative was extremely damaging.

The recall itself was based on the fact the plant wasn't handling downer animals properly; the media hype was about animal abuse and the federal school lunch program. The various industry organizations responded quickly by both assuring the public that essentially all animals are treated humanely, and by condemning the abuse that occurred.

The disturbing part of this incident isn't that it triggered the largest recall in history, or that it provided plenty of justifiable ammunition for the groups working to eliminate beef production. It isn't even the images and negative publicity that are likely to affect beef demand for some time.

The most disturbing part is that despite the fact that 99.99% of the people involved this industry do things right, our industry's credibility was harmed. The result is that when distorted or non-factual claims about our industry are made in the future, they will resonate more with the public than they otherwise would have.

As an industry we have to embrace the fact that we can't afford to have any more of these types of mistakes. One or two rogue employees can cause irreparable damage to this industry, and because we are a low-margin industry that in part depends upon low wage-earning employees, the responsibility to train and create the proper cultures for those employees is critical.

-- Troy Marshall

A Winter's Tale (Tail?)

I'm no Pioneer Woman, but I think these shots turned out decently (despite my lack of Photoshop. Sigh).

The view from the hay loft.


Secret Agent 005 and her bodyguard.

Dreaming of spring.


The blue door of the barn.

Starting Up

I'm back (and so, thank heavens, is my computer. I've missed it. In fact, I was tempted to write an Ode to an Apple, but I thought I would spare you all).

I've been feeling overwhelmed the last couple of weeks as we start this new business venture. Our to-do-list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter.

So far we've:

• acquired business number
• picked up loan forms
• started a business plan
• drafted a budget
• met with feed co-op salesman*
• opened business bank account

*He was really great. He's local, organic, and very honest about the products he has.

We still need to do these:

• apply for a farm number
• finish customer database
• start tracking expenses (in an organized way)
• mail out brochures
• design/write web site content
• take a deep breath!!!