Realizing the Dream

This morning I planted seedlings. The tiny turnips pushing their little green leaves toward the sky are a positive affirmation to my ever greening thumb. We have a very simple arrangement, these seedlings and I, wherein I provide food, water, and fertile soil and they provide me with food and a healthy serving of happiness and accomplishment. And as I tucked each turnip into it's new home of sandy loam I was reminded of another time and place where I sat in the same position, kneeling before a much more mature plant--my favorite plant--a tomato.

Here, I sat before a long row of towering tomato plants. Cherry, Beefsteak, Roma all lined up and happy as could be. My now dear friend and farming advisor, Heather R., had grown these beauties from seeds earlier in the season and they were paying her back for the love and attention lavished on them with sagging branches laden with ripe red and yellow fruits. The air was saturated with the very distinct and wonderful smell of tomato plants. I remember the pure happiness as I picked ripe tomatoes off the branches and put them in a basket at my side. Justin's mother, Kimi, had brought me here for my first visit to Heather's pastoral Green Acres Farm. Justin and I had just moved from San Luis Obispo to Auburn to start our life together and I was feeling lost and a little scared of the magnitude of our move. But being at Green Acres amongst the bees and butterflies that were diligently at work beside us, pollinating the new flowers so we could have another round of vegetables was the perfect medicine. The scent of these tomato plants struck a memory of home, of the beautiful garden my Poppy would grow every year. His tomatoes were the prized plants of the garden and we always had the beautiful fruit in the house. Being out in the sunshine amongst them doing the work he did every summer was a wonderful comfort, a sense of home.

Then there was this distinct feeling of wholeness that came over me, as if my heart knew all along what I needed to be doing with myself, but my head was too caught up in the belief that I should have a six-figure job in an office at a desk. And with that completeness came a sense of calm. I looked around and everything that I saw was like a jolt of recognition. Yes, here is the garden where I will live on organic wholesome fruit and veggies. Yes, there in the pasture are the goats that will provide the milk, cheese, and yogurt that I love so much. Aha, there are the chickens scratching and crooning at the ground in search of worm and bugs, they will provide eggs and meat. Yes this is the life for me.

Of course it took me a couple more years to get fully into the swing of farming and get the confidence to really go for it, but that day was such a confirmation of the path I should take that I've never looked back or felt the need to apologize for not having a desk job in some office. Yes I do have a day job, but it is a fun place that allows me to push our farm goals further.

So here I am now with a greenhouse full of seedlings: tomatoes (of course), peppers, eggplants, broccoli, lettuce, beets, and turnips. Up the hill there is a barnyard full of chickens laying eggs and three goats (two of which are pregnant), and a hut housing 50 meat chickens. Things are pretty great here right now and only getting better.

The Beautiful Life

Our farm is nothing fancy. We do what we can with the little space and the equipment we have. We don't have a big red picturesque barn with lazy barn cats lounging in the bales of hay. We've scrounged together a modest barn surrounded by wire fencing and t-posts. We did, however, splurge on a wonderful electric netting unit and a fence charger. The most wonderful thing this provides for our animals is safe mobility. I ordered the fence off of the Kencove website. They call it a feathernet because its electric wires create a small enough grid to keep the chickens or goats in and the predators out. It came with step-in posts that are easily pushed into whatever piece of ground we desire to put it in. In our heavily wooded property Justin and I can get this thing assembled in about half an hour mostly because we need to clear paths for the fence to go. If we find a place out in the open it takes about 10 minutes. Then the animals can roam around in a new pasture. Eating, scratching, sleeping, and pooping to their heart's content until it's time to move to the next space.

Joel Salatin, my guru of farming and animal husbandry, has really capitalized on the innovation of electric fencing. His idea is that the movement to new spaces every few days keeps them healthy. They stimulate the flora to grow with their hooves and claws and then leave the wonderful gift of their manure to feed the next flush of growth. It's such a wonderful system and it makes so much sense because we are improving the land with our animals while we feed them. Letting them do what they do best, the way nature intended.

This is why we named our farm Schone Vida, Beautiful Life. It is our guidepost to the way our farm shall be run forever. A holistic goal on which to base our management decisions. A reminder that if we are to succeed, our animals must be able to behave as naturally as possible. This means experiencing the sunshine and breeze while laying in the leaf duff or grass. Why does this matter? Because we, as farmers rely on these animals to support our lifestyle. Unhappy and sick animals do not perform to the best of their ability and they certainly do not produce the best meat, eggs, or milk. I have had the pleasure of tasting the difference and I have discovered that our beautiful life on the farm produces truly the most beautiful food.

Let Us Eat Cheese!

This morning's milking went a little more smoothly that yesterday's. Tinkerbell is very clever and seems to be getting the hang of our routine. Of course, it is really nice to have Justin there to talk and pat her while I milk. Today she was more relaxed. Now I just have to get these milking fingers back in shape so I can get the chore done faster for her.

Other than our mild success on the stanchion I am happy to report that by tomorrow morning we will have more than enough milk to make a good amount of soft goat cheese! I am going to get the mesophilic starter today. Spreadable cheese is only the beginning! Soon we will have yogurt, cheddar, kefir, moldy cheese, and ice cream. This farm girl loves her dairy products and her farm guy loves his ice cream. Thanks to Tinkerbell for making it possible on a very small budget!

On another exciting note, we will be putting in our first grass seed to make a small grass pasture for the goats and chickens. I didn't think this would be a possibility for us, but after having the goats and meat chickens clean out a spot that was heavily grown over by manzanita and deer brush we have a nice sunny patch to start a pasture. This might not seem like a big deal, but on a 5 acre property that is composed of 80% manzanita forest any little victory is celebrated. The cool thing about all this is the minimal amount of human effort that went into clearing the spot. All we have to do now is saw out the large trunks of manzanita and cut them up for firewood. Space for pasture and warmth for the winter, its a win-win! I'll try to document the process for ya'll.

Meet Tinkerbell

On Sunday afternoon Schone Vida welcomed a new face to the barnyard, Tinkerbell. Tink is a 3 year old (we think) Nubian doe. The real awesome part about her is that she is currently producing milk! That means in a short span of time we are going to be enjoying fresh raw goat milk and more excitingly cheese!

Tinkerbell on the right

Now taking on this big responsibility was not something I, nor Justin, took lightly. Bringing a milking doe onto the farm requires us to make sure she gets milked every day. Yes, we already have Charlotte, but she will not be in milk until next spring. Because of my full commitment and uber excitement for this lifestyle, I knew this wouldn't be a problem.

Tinkerbell came to us from a lovely woman in a neighboring town. She told us that she'd tried to milk Tink for a while, but that it was always a struggle to get her on the stanchion and to hold still during the process. I knew that training Tink to get on the stanchion and quietly stand through milking would take a few weeks. She is strong girl, so getting her to do something she might not necessarily want to do is a struggle. My job is to show her that milking is a relaxing time for her to eat her grain away from the other goats. In a couple weeks I should be able to go out to open the barnyard gate and have her calmly put herself in the stanchion. All it will take is patience and lots of consistency.

The first day I put her on the stanchion I was nearly finished milking her out when she kicked putting her right rear hoof directly into the milk pail. As they say, there's no use crying over spilled milk. I calmly took a deep breath removed her foot from the milk pail and continued milking her out. Once I was finished I patted and talked quietly to her. She and I are going to spend a lot of time together, so I want her to trust me.

That night I read up on all things goat, finding this amazing website from a farm back east called Fias Co Farm. They have a large herd of La Mancha dairy goats that they raise holistically. The owner, Molly, is very knowledgeable about herbs and their various uses. On her website, she talked about this goat hobble she uses on nervous milkers. Essentially it is a 2 in wide piece of nylon with Velcro that you wrap around the goats upper legs to put pressure on the rear ligament. The pressure is enough to render the goat unable to kick. In time, Molly says 2 weeks, the goat learns to stand quietly without kicking at all. I immediately ordered one for us. It cost me $10, but will save me lots of frustration and tears later. I know Charlotte will definitely need it when she's in milk since she's the biggest punk ever.

After milking Tinkerbell had another milestone to pass before she was in the clear. She had to meet Charlotte and Buttercup. First, I introduced Charlotte knowing that grew up in a large herd of goats. They sniffed each other then happily ate hay nearby. Next I brought in Buttercup. She is the dominant goat since she has horns and a major attitude. Well she calmly met Tink then came back around and challenged her with a mock head butt. Tinkerbell played it right by immediately putting Buttercup in her place with a well back up head butt and push. Buttercup quickly got the point and moved on. Now the three of them are calmly munching on food in the barnyard.

Welcome Tinkerbell, I know we'll have many of great years together at Schone Vida!

A Wonderful Summer Day

Yesterday was the type of day full of activities that make Summer so wonderfully special around here. Farming, swimming, and canning. That's pretty much what my days off will consist of from now until the first rains in late Fall.

Justin and I started the day off with our usual copious amounts of coffee and my now ritualistic morning yoga routine. Then it was time to farm before the day got too hot to think straight. We took wheelbarrow fulls of compost here and there throughout the garden. It's been 2 months since we actively began composting this pile and I'm still amazed that this dark brown earthy-smelling substance was nothing but a giant pile of cover crop, straw, wood chips, and sawdust at the start. Composting is gardening alchemy at its best and I am unnaturally intrigued by the process. Everything literally explodes with growth as soon as we top dress it with the stuff.

We had a lot farm maintenance and improvements to do because of our looming family vacation next week. In an effort to make the farm chores more automated and streamlined we've installed low-flow automatic waterers and Justin built the goats a fancy new feeder that reduces their wasteful eating habits to nil. Right now we have 2 goats, 19 laying hens, 1 rooster, 30 meat birds, 2 turkeys, 2 cats, 2 dogs, and 1 fish. That's 59 heartbeats that regularly need food and water to get through the day. For us it's not such a big deal because we are used to the usual tasks. At most the farm take 30 minutes to get all the animals taken care of and the watering done in the garden each day. We're cutting that time in half with our new improvements, so the gal coming to take care of the farm will not be completely overwhelmed.

Before we left for the river at 2 pm we had trimmed goat hooves, cleaned out the barn, top-dressed plants with compost, cleaned out and prepared a spent bed for winter crops, harvested a ridiculous number of cucumbers, planned a watering system for our front yard (which we installed later that night), and started a batch of compost tea.

The Yuba River was wonderful. We explored a new spot where the river is wide and lazy and surprisingly warm. We swam with the dogs in the gentle current for hours. The water is so clear blue that you can see straight to the bottom where the fish are swimming just beyond your reach. I was surprised at how docile their were since I don't think people fish in this spot. Daisy spent most of the time in a shallow sandy eddy pawing at the school of minnows swimming close by. Ayden just swam in and around our little rock jetty using the current at his personal doggy treadmill. It's days like this that make you appreciate the seasonality of Nevada County and the special things you can only do for a short time each year. Right now we've got juicy peaches, beautiful sunshine, and the swimming holes. And might I add that my tan is fabulous!

The end of our day was spent processing the fruits of our labor, literally. We are now beginning to ride the tidal wave of vegetable harvest. It begins placidly enough with cucumbers and squash before rising to a crescendo of tomatoes, beans, corn, peppers, more cucumbers and squash. Then in the fall will crash upon us with pumpkins and other winter squash, melons, onions, garlic, and leeks. Pickling ingredients dusted the bottom of brand new Ball jars then were joined by some sliced jalapenos and speared cucumbers both fresh from the garden. Fifteen minutes later Justin poured the simmering brining solution into the jars, we tightly sealed the lids, and turned all the jars upside-down to sit until cool. In the morning we would have 7 sealed jars of spicy pickles.

I am so thankful for all of this.

Back in the world of the technological!

I was looking at the date of the last blog post I did: March 26 huh? I cannot believe I've been without a computer for that long. The first few days after our Mac crashed I felt major withdrawl pains. By July it felt perfectly natural. In fact, I don't think I've been more productive in my life, but I did really miss sharing our farm story on the blog. So, thanks to my wonderful dad we are now in possession of the family's old gateway desktop computer and boy is it wonderful!

Let's breeze over the catch up. The garden has been exploding with green and delectable fruits and vegetables. Our baby laying chickens are now gangely teenager chickens and one of the older birds decided she wanted to have a clutch of her own, so we have 4 mixed breed baby chicks running around like they own the place! Justin and I got in a new flock of 32 meat chickens and 4 Bourbon Red turkeys. Away from the farm Justin and I have achieved some wonderful feats too. Justin and his friend Ryan climbed their longest multi-pitch route to date in Yosemite. I've been awarded a promotion at Yuba Blue! Things have been on the up and up.

My dad, step-mom, and step-brother came to stay at the farm last weekend. We had such a good time cruising around Nevada County taking in the heat and great food. It was really cool to show my family, who haven't seen the farm at this stage in it's life, just how much we have accomplished in the passed few months. They also got to experience the realities of farm life first hand when a critter of the raccoon persuasion helped itself to one of my prized turkey poults in the middle of the night. We didn't realize what happened until we were doing morning chores and noticed the chicken wire pulled away from the pen and 1 turkey missing. These are the lessons I hate learning on the farm. While I realized long ago that this life we have chosen on this farm will include regular deaths of creatures he have cared for, I would rather my animals feel that death at my hands than at the vicious paws of a wild animal. Justin and I made a promise to the rest of our flock that day to do a better job protecting them from such attacks. We were lent a pellet gun from Justin's step-dad and reinforced all the edges of the chicken pen to prevent a second raccoon feast.

More to come soon!

The Pursuit of Hap-peep-ness!

A big storm coming in today has allowed me to go into work late. For some reason people aren't as excited about coming in to buy things when there is snow on the roads (go figure). Although the weather is poor, there is a flurry of activity going on in the living room brooder, a chick party if you will. Fluttering, chirping, and pecking noises are driving Daisy absolutely insane. So far the chicks are doing great and growing so fast that every morning I can see new mature feathers growing in. Our neighbors decided to add 6 chicks to our flock so they'd have some eggs too. Now the flock has grown from the original three to eleven with only three left to arrive next Thursday. Come June we should have enough eggs to keep our fridge stocked and have enough left over to sell to friends.

Meat Chickens: We are gearing up excitedly for this years meat bird flocks. This year we've decided to do multiple smaller flocks and try some of Joel Salatin's intensive grazing techniques but with more of a free range flavor. We will do the Freedom Ranger chickens again since we had so much luck with them last year. Since this property is thickly packed with manzanita we will utilize the cover to send out our meat flocks in the relative safety and protection of electrified netting. I'm thinking we will keep the space available small, so the chickens are forced to range the ground intensively. Their manure will fertilize the ground and hopefully improve the red clay with time. Since reading Joel's books, I have really begun to think of how the animals can do the work of improving the soil for us while turning a small profit at the same time. We will begin the free ranging chicken experiment with the meat birds first, then adding the goats to brush the manzanita back a bit. The pressure will be healthy for the soil and add nutrients back that have been depleted during the heaving rains and snow we've had this winter/spring.

Goats: The girls are doing great. They are both enjoying their coats right now especially with the extra chilly night here. Justin was worried that Buttercup was too cold, so wrapped her up in Ayden's extra dog coat. She's one toasty little goat now!

Now it's time for me to head to work. I cannot wait until I can just stay here at the farm working outside with the animals, making things grow, and providing gourmet locally grown food to customers. For now I'll just have to be happy with the small steps that comprise my pursuit of Hap-peep-ness!

Enticing Spring to Come

As I write there is a quiet blanket of snow forming on the trees outside my window. Living at an increased elevation of 2800 ft means that winter holds on to the chill like a vice until Spring can beat it into submission. The weather at this time of year is unpredictable at best. In fact, yesterday we checked the weather in order to decide where to park the cars. Rain was the plan, but snow is what we got. It's so weird for this Southern California born and raised girl to live by the weather forecast and pray for sun whenever possible.

On wintery Spring days like these I need to take steps to pull myself out of the funk consistent clouds and snow bring. The first step was purchasing a seed starting mat. Essentially a heating pad for your seeds, it has allowed me to put some faith in the coming spring thaw by starting multiple heirloom flowers and vegetables. Hollyhock, bee balm, shasta daisies, tomatoes and much more are happily growing in their little plastic greenhouse near the kitchen window. The little seedlings stretching out to the sky are like a beacon of hope that we will have some warm days soon!

Our next spring inspiration arrived yesterday in animal form. Three 2-7 day old chicks came home chirping away in their carrier: an Americauna, a Barred Rock, and a Red Sex Link. They are just the beginning of our 2011 egg flock with more arriving this Thursday giving us a grand total of 8 new chicks. We're hoping to get about 12 eggs a day come the end of summer! We used the galvanized water trough our friend Phil gave us as a sizable brooder for the new additions. With food, water, fresh shavings, and a heat lamp all provided the brooder will be a wonderful home for them for 2 months or until they have all grown in their adult feathers. Right now they cannot maintain their own temperature, so the heat lamp does that for them. Their homecoming was quite comical. The two cats and Daisy watched the brooder with a little bit too much interest. At the time I was thankful for the welded wire top we'd fitted to the trough to protect our newest additions. I think this will be a good experience for Daisy especially who has a slight issue relaxing around the sights and sounds of chickens. In two months she should be completely used to resting around the chick noises.

While we are thankful for the respite winter provides, the increasing daylight begs for us to go outside and get things started. For now we'll just have to be satiated with our indoor endeavors and have faith that Spring will arrive soon.

Schöne Vida gets an upgrade

Since farming has become my absolute passion there have been many things that we have needed to make certain things around here work. The biggest challenge for us is acquiring things that are necessity and knowing what things are luxuries that will have to wait. For example: we need a substantial shelter that can house the chickens and goats while protecting everyone from predators, but we don't need a sprawling red barn with a hay loft right now. My obsessive bargain searching has paid off well. We knew that we needed a new shelter for the animals at the new farm and we knew we wanted one slightly larger than the current one. I found a man on Swap Shop (a local radio station's craigslist-like website) selling a 8' x 16' shed frame constructed with 2x4s. This gentleman had built the frame years ago and covered it in plastic sheeting in order to protect his tractor. The price for this beauty: $50! Really nothing in comparison with how much all the wood would cost to build it. Justin and I promptly drove over and loaded the disassembled shed into the truck.

When we were lucky enough to have a break in the weather our neighbor was kind enough to use his new tractor to level a building pad for us. Then for the next week Justin used his amazing skills to build the barn frame then cover it in plywood and tar paper for the roof. And what good timing. Right as he was finishing putting on the tar paper a huge rain storm came through. We managed to move over all the animals in the down pour during the most miserably wet day I've been through in a long time. Being cold and wet is no fun especially with the added stress of transporting 7 frightened animals and tearing down their old shelter for scrap wood and chicken wire, but we did it. We banged together some last minute essentials and called it a day. We slept terribly that night, waking up to every little animal sound we heard, but everyone made it through the night just fine.

The shed has been complete for one week and the animals seem to love it. Their new enclosure has plenty of brush to eat and bugs to search for. As for us, we are so happy to be here in the new house. This is a great place to learn more about farming and save more to buy a farm of our own. Things continue to get even better!

Putting the Cart Before the Horse.. Adventures in House Hunting

Today was a great lesson for me in patience. For about a month I have been preparing to turn in my loan application to the USDA Rural Development Office. All the while many hours have been logged on the Nevada County MLS website. What started as a innocent curiosity about the "the market in our price range" turned into daydreaming about how a certain property could perfectly fit our needs, then led to a phone call to the listing's agent to find out more information, and ended up with us looking at a couple properties today. The prospect of real estate turns me into a monster!

We looked at a beautiful property in Grass Valley. Nestled on 10 rolling acres between Grass Valley and Auburn. Basically, its a perfect location to place ourselves for easy availability to customers buying our produce and meat. We were elated and giddy on the dream of our own property with so much promise. Sure, the house was in dire need of some work, but Justin with his years of construction experience didn't balk at its state.

This is it right? No more searching, we've found our future home, right?? Nope. While riding on the wave of sheer real estate ecstasy my cell phone brings me back to reality. It's Mary Jo, my mortgage broker expert calling to make sure I wasn't getting ahead of myself. "I don't want you to waste a lot of time looking at properties until you have been approved by the Rural Development Department to go for it. This 10 acre property doesn't sound 'modest' to me, so don't get your hopes up." Now I know I wasn't supposed to get ahead of myself, but I've been swept away. Damn.

Thankfully I have a wonderful partner in Justin to bring me out of my post euphoric real estate slump. Feeling sorry for myself, I told him about what Mary Jo said. In his usual buoyant manner he said, "All we can do is wait for the application. There's no point in getting ahead of ourselves until we know what's up. We're going to get whatever place we are meant to have." That was just what I needed to get out of get out of my funk. That's why I love this guy.

Now it's time to move on with new resolve and wait to hear about our application. Patience really is a virtue....one I don't always have.

Everyone, Meet Jack

Meet Jack, the rooster. Justin and I decided the girls needed a strapping man to protect them after the dogs got in and killed a hen. We knew we wanted one that wasn't mean to people and able to be picked up if we needed to do any first aid or treatments. We found Jack, a Light Brahma on a little farm in Colfax where we also scored a beautiful tiny Aracauna hen, "Thumbelina". At first we were worried about his flock-leading prowess. The hens picked on him mercilessly at first. The whole right side of his neck was torn up from other roosters at his old home picking on him and he hardly had any tail feathers. He actually looked like a butch hen when he came to Schone Vida. Well, now he's come into his own. His ladies adore him, following him around everywhere he goes. His feather have grown back and now he is quite a handsome sight. Moreover, he takes very good care of his girls. In return for some "tail" whenever he wants it (which is about 5 or more times a day), he alerts the girls to predators sp they run for the shelter of the barn and during feeding time he steps back and let's them have their fill before he takes a turn. Yesterday as I was making the pathway down to the barn and uncovering shovelfuls of worms in the soil. Jack would scrutinize the soil until he saw a delicious morsel then trill to his ladies to come running. Pulling the worm out by his beak he'd fling it toward one of the hens and point at it with his beak. The girl went nuts for this and went to bed with full bellies. Guys, you can learn something from this: Woman like to be fed and protected...most of the time anyway.

Moving and Shaking

Time for an update! With spring approaching I have been getting antsy to begin the growing season madness. The chickens have already begun celebrating the increasing daylight by leaving 5 little gifts for us each day. Even Blondie (the meat chicken) has taken up the challenge of providing an egg a day and always with two yolks! I think she's saying "thank you" for not slaughtering her last summer with the rest of the meat flock.

Because our neighbor told us she was worried about her horse stomping Charlotte and Buttercup over food we have opted to keep the goats and chickens in the large garden area for the duration of our time here. They don't seem to mind the arrangement at all as long as we keep on feeding the supplemental hay. They next big question for us was: Where do we have the garden now? The conclusion was to have an elaborate potted vegetable garden on our front porch. We have been calling landscapers around the area and making deals to buy their used black nursery pots for cheap (i.e. 75 cents for a 15 gallon pot). It won't be the most beautiful garden, but it will get the job done until we find a place with enough room for everything. Our good friend, Phil, made us an even better deal and sold us three 150 gallon galvanized water troughs for an unbelievably good price. They were brand new and just sitting around his property without a purpose until I laid eyes on them. Now they are holding beautiful soil from Hansen Bros. landscaping and the promise of happy veggies come spring. So far I've planted asparagus, rhubarb, raspberries, garlic, onion, and potatoes. I've got some beet seeds soaking in water for the day and carrot sees on a damp cloth to jumpstart the germination process. Those seeds will go into the soil tonight along with lettuce and spinach. Peaceful Valley nursery has promised that my back ordered strawberries will arrive in a few days. Can't wait for that!

In the mean time, Justin and I decided to put a nice path with steps leading down to the barn. We are lining the path with rocks and filling the path with left over bark from our wood-splitting activities. There was a sizeable pile just lying around and I've been vexed to find a good purpose for it. The bark will break down every time we step on it, putting useable carbon back into the soil, and it looks pretty! We want to leave this place nicer than when we came and I think the next renters would appreciate such an effort. So far it's looking quite nice.

The biggest news to share was my attendance of the inaugural Sustainable Local Food and Farm Conference in Grass Valley on January 22nd. With over 300 people there to hear the wonderful lineup of speakers, the Holiday Inn Conference Center was buzzing with excitement. The first speaker was Aaron Lacich, a smart guy who used to work for Fox and CSNBC behind the scenes, but had a child and realized he wanted to do more for the world in which his baby girl was going to grow up. He has spent about 6 years working on a film documentary called We Are What We Eat. You can check out his website: www.wearewhatweeat.org . The documentary looks promising and very educational.

The next speaker was Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy. He is all about raw milk and actually sells his product to our Local Co-op, The Briar Patch. He asserts that food has been disconnected from health. His presentations spoke about the wonderful health benefits of drinking raw milk and the FDA's regulations on the sale of that product. They are asserting that raw milk is a dangerous product with a high likelihood of killing people who drink it. Guess what? Not a single person has died from drinking raw milk in hundreds of years, but the untested pasteurized milk most of us (including myself) drink has killed 3 people last year alone! His presentation makes me wish Charlotte was in milk right now. I miss having raw milk available to me whenever I want at a cheap price.

Will Winter, DVM spoke next. His presentation opened my eyes to the importance of maintaining healthy pastures. Grass is the best way to feed cattle, he asserted, and healthy cattle are grown on healthy pasture. He taught us how to mob cattle up into small spaces by using portable electric fencing. This is called an intensive grazing system. You forced the cattle to become more of a herd again and by doing so make them eat every bit of the available feed in that small area before moving them to the next space in 24 hours. This challenges the grass to grow stronger and more lush during times of rest between grazing. It's an elegant system that reduces erosion problems, increases plant biodiversity, and improves herd health.

Finally, the keynote speaker and the person I wanted to hear speak most came had his turn, Joel Salatin. He is a revolutionary farmer and a self-proclaimed lunatic. He is the owner of the very successful Polyface Farms in Virginia. His keys to success are a highly diversified farming model with lots of movement and no debt. His farm is raises beef, meat and egg laying chickens, rabbits, and pork. He uses these animals in rotation on his pastures and woodland to improve the soil and wildlife on and around his farm. The system is so beautiful and simple that I cannot believe more people aren't following it. He says it's because people these days have "constipation of imagination". But by allowing his animal herds and flocks to express their "phenotypical expressive states", disease issues drop dramatically and animals are much happier. Chickens are allowed to range out on pastures three days after the beef herd to scratch out fly larvae that have grown on the cow patties. This fertilizes the pasture and promotes healthier soil. Pigs are mobbed up into the forest areas to root and disturb the soil, stimulating undergrowth. He completely blew my mind with his business model. I know that as Schone Vida grows we will apply many of his ideas to help us toward success. I'm glad I went to the conference and have decided to attend as many as possible. The knowledge is priceless and I want the locals to get to know us better.

Well, its time to head back out and put more time into the barnyard. Peace out!!

The Blissful Place

There wasn't an exact moment I could tell you when it happened. Sometime in between having Justin's dad over for dinner back in September and sharing Thanksgiving with good friends this little farmhouse became a home. We've slowly hung more pictures and salvaged old furniture, brought in and warmed the house with an old wood stove, baked delicious pies and burned Thanksgiving stuffing. Schöne Vida has become a comfortable place for friends and, soon, family to gather. This is a place where we eat dinner at the table together every night, something I realized I took for granted growing up, but completely enjoy now. The plates and glasses don't match and we don't have a couch yet, but that fact seems to make it bit more special. Schöne Vida does not judge where you came from or what you're wearing (although it will likely smear some dirt on your shoes or jeans as a parting gift) and it is not pretentious. Moreover, the door is always open to loved ones who want to drop in; it's a true country home. Being here makes me excited about the year to come. Hopefully we can make more traditions and enjoy more wonderful food with the ones we love. Happy Holidays!

Tahoe and Fences

This morning when I went out to do the morning chores my gaze was met by more than just Charlotte and Buttercup. Before me stood, along side my goats, my neighbors 4 goats and Tahoe, the giant horse. Oh no...we forgot to close the pasture gate last night! Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but with heavy rain systems passing over Shone Vida, our garden and farm yard areas have been turned into giant mud pits. Little 45 lb Charlotte and Buttercup can't do much damage to the soil, but 1000 lb Tahoe makes the garden soil look like the surface of the moon--cratered. Great...

The shenanigans that followed while I sleepily tried to herd the horse and 4 goats out whilst keeping my goats in were quite comical. Tahoe stood there resolutely non-plussed by my efforts to pull him out and Buttercup ran out into the pasture crying for Charlotte and evading my efforts to coax her back into our farm-yard (she's still a little shy of us, but loves Charlotte). Finally, I got all my neighbors animals out into the communal pasture and my goats locked in our farm-yard. Now onto the morning chores. The girls were happy that they didn't have to share their hay breakfast with Tahoe and company. The chickens were more at ease. Now everything is back to normal, except the garden soil. Justin is going to be driving T-posts into the line that will delineate the garden and the farm-yard today and on Monday we will string the fencing; something we've been wanting to get done for a long time. Then we will have a legitimate garden!

Our lesson for today: always close the pasture gate at night.

These Rainy Mornings

Tonight is Cornish Christmas in Grass Valley, the town where I work my day job, so my bosses don't need me in until noon. Granted I'll be working until 9pm tonight, but the work will be fun since we'll be too busy to be bored.

This morning after being not-so-gently coaxed out of my warm bed and into the rain by Charlotte's loud bleating. I took hay to her and Buttercup, let the chickens out, and ran back inside for some much needed coffee. Right now Justin's slowly getting the fire going, due to some wet wood, and soon we'll head back out in the rain to clean out the barn and lay down fresh straw. Since I have extra time this morning Justin and I agreed we'd work on cutting and splitting some fallen oaks around the property. Our little wood stove demands more fuel and I demand a warm house! We bought a nice maul (wood splitter) from our local hardware store a couple weeks ago and have put it to good use. Justin taught me how to split wood properly and I must say that I feel a little more hardcore every time. After I've worked up a good sweat and can hardly catch my breath Justin takes over and makes my measly splitting look like child's play with a leap and a sharp swing of the maul. He can take a giant round of oak and turn it into 8 or more perfectly even wedges with 2-4 whacks. Show-off.

I'm very thankful to have Justin here to teach me the more manly side of homesteading. He has learned a lot of useful winter skills like splitting and stacking wood. It may not sound like a whole lot, but this guy gets the work done with gusto and he's an excellent teacher. If you'd have asked me as a child in Pasadena if I'd be living in the country splitting wood to keep my house warm I would have said "No, that's why we have gas and Poppy to bring the wood in". Yikes right? Nevertheless, I'm better for it. My weakling arms are getting stronger and I feel more and more confident in my "roughing-it" skills.

Ok, coffee's done and the rain is lightening up...

Why I raise livestock

So I’m finally sitting down on a rainy day here at the farm. To be quite honest, I am thankful for days like these when it’s too rainy to work in the garden, fix the fences, or do minor animal husbandry. These are the days when I can catch up on my correspondence and housework. Here is a long rambling on my experience with farming, especially raising animals. There are so many topics I could talk about, but here’s one to start. If you have any other questions or want me to discuss something else entirely let me know.

Firstly, in regard to heritage livestock: these are animals whose genetic breeding can be traced back to before we began raising animals in CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations). They were around even before the industrial revolution. These are the animals that our ancestors raised out on the farm or in large pasture settings. They raised them from birth to slaughter in this fashion. The really cool thing about these heritage breeds is that they retain strong instincts to be good mothers, hide from predators, forage for feed, withstand hot or cold weather, and resist pests and pathogens. Not only do they carry these instinctual behaviors packed in their DNA, they also have better tasting muscle fibers (meat). They started dwindling as CAFOs took over how we managed livestock because they couldn’t produce an cheap product in the shortest amount of time possible, they are not as cost efficient to raise in a CAFO setting, and they cannot withstand the pressures of living in such a confined space. For example, the last flock of 100 chickens I raised was of made from a cross-breed of heritage stock. The flock took 12 weeks to reach an average dressed weight of 4.5 lbs., while a CAFO bird will reach an average of 4 lbs in 7 weeks. Despite the increased length of time to harvest, we had a very low mortality rate of 5%, and a CAFO chicken operation can claim 11% on a good flock. You can find in depth information different breeds on the critically endangered list on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy wesbite: http://www.albc-usa.org/

The crazy part is that CAFOs are in place because they are an efficient way to provide cheap protein to the masses, but at a terrible cost. There are numerous negative environmental aspects of raising livestock in such a fashion and all the while it is doing terrible damage to our local economies. I don’t just mean the United States in general, but our counties and towns. The way we are doing the things now is putting all our money into a few large companies who produce an insane percentage of our country’s meat when we could be giving cash to our local farmers. These guys and gals sign contracts with these big companies. For beef farmers that means sending their calves off to CAFO feedlots like Harris Ranch for “finishing”. For chicken farmers that means getting paid by Tyson to raise fast-growing meat birds indoors for 7 weeks before they are picked up for slaughter and the same goes for pork. Just think about the petroleum and diesel used to ship those animals across the country to different processing facilities and then ship it back to your local grocery store.

After knowing the enjoyment of raising my own chickens, harvesting them with my own hands, then eating it at the table I know that I cannot eat another “un-chicken” or even Tofu again. The flavor is richer and different from a Tyson chicken. I know personally that the animal was well cared for, even loved while it was alive. The chicken was honorably thanked for providing meat for my table and killed quickly. I know that I spent the least amount of gas possible caring for them too. Doesn’t it seem more economically and environmentally responsible to go to a local farmer and buy straight from them? To be clear, I only buy meat from farmers who raise their animals in a fashion that I find suitable.

I realize as a compassionate, caring person with a no-doubt beautiful heart and mind you feel the need to make the effort to stop taking lives through your eating choices. The fact is that this is that carnivory happens in nature. Meat is a vitamin-rich and calorie-dense source of sustenance. Because we are evolved creatures we have the ability to choose what we eat, but instead lets choose “how” we eat. Pasture-raised meat is a wonderful thing in moderation.

Because I care about the humane treatment of livestock, I eat them. I purchase, raise, prepare, and devour (with gusto) them. I support my local small farmers who raise their livestock on pasture. This drives Justin insane because I’d rather purchase more expensive pasture-raised meat or not eat meat at all that night, but in the end he has seen how much better our chickens live than CAFO chickens. I know that every purchase I make to “clean meat” farmers shows someone making decisions in the agri-business world that people are appalled at the deplorable factory farm environment. Until their bottom-line begins to decrease, millions of animals will continue to suffer and the heritage animals that know how to get the job done, on pasture, will disappear.

I cannot tell you that a pasture-raised animal does not suffer. Of course it suffers for an instant at death, but it dies to feed us. The reason livestock are here is to sustain us, and only in their death can that happen. What I care about is the life they lived before that final day. I take solace in the fact that my chickens felt the sunshine and breeze on their feathers. They got to flap their wings and make all kinds of racket. They got to peck the dirt and take dust baths. I don’t feel guilty harvesting them anymore because I know the beautiful life they lived. I can tell you that I am extremely thankful for them.

A vegetarian’s diet can support sustainable agriculture and does make a difference in how vegetables are conventionally grown, but keeping that money kept out of the hands of responsible small livestock farmers isn’t changing the treatment of those CAFO animals you are abstaining from eating. If you spend your hard-earned cash on one pasture-raised meat product a week, things would have to change in the CAFO industry and fast! When the money is gone from those factory operations, the animals will not live such sad lives.

I raise meat because I love animals and I eat it for the same reason.

The "Barn"....if you will

Holistic Farm

I'm happy to report that our two caprine additions are getting along very well together. Yesterday when I went out to give the girls their morning feed and let the chickens out I found them both, dead asleep, completely cuddled up to each other. It felt good to know that they both have found comfort and companionship in each other so fast.

For the last 36 hours Shone Vida has been enjoying immensely cold weather and non-stop rain. We might even get snow soon, if it gets colder. In good faith of that fact, Justin and I spent a bit of last night and this morning shoring up the "barn". I piled fresh straw in a corner for the goats to cuddle up in at night, Justin put up some lumber in the barn opening to keep a bit more cold out, and we brought an armload of hay out for them to eat. From what I've read, I need to make sure that the girls have plenty of feed for the day and night. Firstly, because goats really don't like the rain and won't spend as much time eating the grass in the pasture. Secondly, I don't really want them eating the wet grass because right now there are more parasitic parasites on the grass. I keep the girls wormed, but prevention really is the best policy. Neither of them seem to be too distressed about this, spending much time in the barn eating their heads off. Charlotte, especially, is the most glutinous creature I've ever met.

Today marks the first day that I start my holistic approach to farm management. I recently purchased an amazing book by an Aussie, Pat Coleby, called Natural Goat Care.

Amazon was selling it for about $20 new. Coleby is an expert in the field of holistic livestock management. From my reading I've gathered that her approach to management is prevention of disease through proper nutrition. She suggests making a mineral lick for the goat using readily available minerals in their natural form. The cool thing is that animals have an amazing ability to seek out the vitamins and minerals they require, while we humans tend to ignore those signs. So now I have a few buckets out in the barn with different minerals in them. Now the goats can eat as much of a nutrient as they want whenever they need it, according to Coleby, because of that they will be much healthier. One of the items Coleby suggests having available ad lib is kelp meal because it provides a myriad of important vitamins and minerals in their most natural form. I'm pretty excited about this little experiment. Charlotte seemed to enjoy a few licks of the kelp meal already. Now I am interested to see if the chickens decide to take any of the vitamins. Hopefully Shone Vida will be enjoying a long time of healthy and happy animals.

The Goats Have Arrived!

The momentous day has finally come and now two goats call Shone Vida home. You have known about my first goat, Charlotte, for a while. Now going on 8 months old, she's growing up nicely and is still as friendly as ever. In my last post I said that we picked a little boy to be her companion, but after a week of trying to get a hold of my vet with no response back (the vet is known for this nonsense) Justin and I decided that a female would be better for us. She is a white Cashgora from my co-worker's herd and super cute.

Justin and I went to Samantha's house this morning to pick the little girl up. We simply loaded her up in the Ranger with the camper shell on and drove down to Green Acres. I wanted the two goats to arrive at Shone Vida together with the intention of everyone starting fresh. Things didn't quite go smoothly at first though: as soon as we loaded both goats in the back, the little Cashgora began furiously butting Charlotte out of pure fright. Needless to say, Charlotte spent the rest of the truck ride home on my lap. What can I say? I'm a sucker for that little goat.

Thankfully the two are getting along great now that they are safe in their new pen with food and water. Unfortunately they are both experiencing some growing pains. Both of them are in the pen crying loudly. I imagine it will take a few days before they completely settle into life here. I've been agonizing over this day for a while; feeling guilty about taking Charlotte from Green Acres and her beloved sister, and guilty about taking the baby Cashgora from her herd. But time to face facts: farming and sustainability are my passions and Charlotte is a huge part of making that happen. Charlotte is special because she is really the spark that started this journey for me.

Welcome to Shöne Vida!

Well it's been way too long since my last post. I've definitely been missing keeping up with the blog, but life was getting a little too full to keep up with this part. Here's a rundown: Heather and I raised 101 Freedom Ranger chickens. Due to 5 losses and our own softness we only harvested 90. Justin and I moved into a 1 bed/1 bath home on 5 acres in Auburn, not far away from Green Acres.

Because every good farm has a name Justin and I thought long and hard about what we would name our new homestead. We decided upon a name that melds our ancestry together(German and Portugese): Shöne Vida which means "beautiful life". The name seems to fit the place well.

Since moving in we have moved and fitted a metal shed to become a weather-proof chicken house and goat shed. That's right, I said GOAT SHED. I am very pleased to announce that my little goat Charlotte will be coming to the farm on November 16! While her arrival will be well received here, I am a little sad for her because her sister Rose will not be coming along. However, thanks to a good friend at work a Cashmere Angora X boy will be a new addition to the farm to keep Charlotte Company. So it looks like I'm going to have to learn how to sheer, spin, and knit all in the name of my dear Charlotte.

It's going to be a busy winter here at Shone Vida and I'm loving it!