GMO?

I love when people ask me about GMO and Pesticides. They open a whole can of worms. Debate time!!! Ok. So first, you have to understand there are many different "personal" definitions of GMO. If you want to get really technical from dictionary.com:

GMO definition. The abbreviation for genetically modified organism. A GMO is an organism whose genome has been altered by the techniques of genetic engineering so that its DNA contains one or more genes not normally found there.

So what does that mean in simple terms? Well, it means that there is something different about that plant or animal. Lets take the Standard Rex rabbit as an example. A rare (not normally found) DNA trait was found in two rabbits. Ironically, re breeding those same rabbits never reproduced this genetic trait. So, two rabbits exhibited this rare trait. Those two were the basis of the Rex rabbit breed. The trait is a recessive genetic trait causing the guard hairs to be very short. So why isnt the Rex rabbit GMO? Because it wasnt done in a lab. It was naturally occurring. Sweet corn (heirloom varieties) have been selectively bred for years to create the sweet long ears of corn we have now. It was tasteless with very small ears and used as a grain for flour or animal feed until a few were found with a genetic difference and were bred together. They werent done in a lab.

So, under current definition (I recall it used to say genetically altered, but didnt say engineered), GMO is classified as changing of DNA by genetic engineering. So what is that? Webster.com says:

Full Definition of genetic engineering

: the group of applied techniques of genetics and biotechnology used to cut up and join together genetic material and especially DNA from one or more species of organism and to introduce the result into an organism in order to change one or more of its characteristics

Here it gets to be only my opinions:

Now, here is where it gets tricky. Having had a child with a birth defect I do like the science of genetic engineering. I believe it has a place in our medical society. I believe it could benefit our lives. I also think that if there was a major disease wiping out the worlds veggies or fruits (like the banana crops of the last few years) that genetic engineering would be useful in helping to protect from the crop disease if it was not preventable through other methods. I do not think that genetic modification should be done for convenience. If you want to spray a certain herbicide to kill weeds and that spray is cheap, then lets modify the genetic make up of that crop to withstand the spray. No, I do not agree with that. We have worked hard for 6 years to get all of the GMO canola off our land. Mostly because it interfered with other crops as it could not be sprayed out. As a farmer, there are many many many things at our disposal. I believe they all have their place. There are mechanical means: mowing, pulling up weeds, discing a field, basically mechanical methods of solving your problem. There are chemical methods: herbicides, pesticides, and fire. There are planning methods: rotational grazing, crop rotations, allowing them to become overgrown to smother weeds, heavy seeding to prevent weeds or resting the fields. Science plays a part as the health of the crop depends heavily on the health of the soil. The science wouldnt have been created to help produce better food if it wasnt needed. However, there is a point (and it will be different for everyone) when it goes beyond what is needed to convenience. When you reach that point you risk damaging the whole eco system. For instance. That canola I was talking about. It has cause massive issues in our ditches. Smothering out the natural plant species that could withstand our local environment, causing less food for the wildlife, contamination of heirloom varieties of canola, contamination of farmers fields, this canola honey is solidifying in honey bee hives and causing them to starve, and you can not retain your seed as it is patented. So you spend more money buying new seed every year rather then growing what you already produced. Now, they are bringing in gmo alfalfa, with the same concept as that canola. We have already stopped growing canola all together here. Having dairy animals, I would prefer to not stop growing alfalfa, but it may come to that. For me personally, the risks out weight any possible benefits.

So what about the sprays? There are herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides that are commonly used around here. I have not used fungicides and do not use fungicide treated seeds. Insecticides I have not used in the crops. I have used it in my greenhouse when no matter how many times I washed the leaves or used tape to remove the aphides or used DE on the plants and I still have enough of them they are damaging my plants. I believe that their is a use for each spray, but using them only when needed and using them only where needed I think has been lost. I have mowed down and disced up a field due to weeds rather then spray it. It is not something I can afford to do every year. If the costs of spraying the field outweigh the money I would make harvesting that field, then I will disc it. Your choice of spraying or not should not be taken lightly. I am not going to get into the different sprays and everything that they cause to the human body. I am only going to say, I rather not do it if I do not absolutely have to. I rather mow an area then spray a field. Or better yet, burn it to return all that nutrients to the soil faster.

In short, everything has it's place. It is when we do things because it is easier, not better, that it becomes a problem.

Updating..... Again!

So sorry guys!  Well, a lot has changed and yet very little has changed.  The road construction is at a halt, so we just keep moving forward.  We made the decision to go forward and no longer put everything on hold for them like we did for a year and a half.  It will likely take us a couple years to move over now.  But that is ok.  It will mean more in the end because we are doing it under our own power.  The biggest change was that decision.

Not so much has changed as I ended up with two rabbits as house pets for the winter.  They are REW (red eyed white) standard rex rabbits.  They were born in October and came all the way from southern BC to join our farm.  They will provide us with our white pelts.  I love my rex rabbits.  I will breed them in June to give them plenty of time to grow nice a big.  No early kindling for this pair.

 Yes, we know.  The rabbits eyes match my daughter's hair!  There are many things to argue about in life.  Hair keeps growing, not something I am going to argue about.

The next new thing......  My rebuilt greenhouse!  We had a massive storm hit about 2 weeks ago.  The driving winds ripped the greenhouse plastic and the snow load broke a few of the rafters.  I lost everything that was in there.  Over $3,000 in damages and lost plants and such.  But, the bright side was that it gave me the chance to build it with the alterations I had been wanting to do for a couple years.  We will see how the new one works for us.  The plastic greenhouse was perfect for light.  It could get hot in the summers if I didnt have a barn fan drawing out air.  But the winters, unless I insulated all of it, which cut out the light, it didnt stay warm enough to grow anything as it would still be below 0 C and freeze.  The new one is not really what I had in mind, but it is close and a start!  The bottom half of the walls are solid and insulated and I used old windows we found/picked up for the upper half and insulated the roof.  It means I will have to use a few grow lights in the winter, but it is better then nothing!
*Pictures to come when it is done*

We finished our planting plant for the crops for this year.  After last year being such a bad drought, most the crops were a write off by the insurance company.  But the barley did really well!  So, lots of barley being planted this year!  Hopefully it does as well if not better.

Here is to a good 2016!

Realizations and Relocations

There has been a lot that has happened recently.  Some good, some bad.  Others, well, it depends on how you look at it.  This road widening and the stress of not knowing how we will do it all and knowing that we wont get enough to have someone else do it.  We are not physically capable at this time to do everything that needs to be done.  See, I recently (almost 5 months ago) had a baby.  During delivery the front of my pelvis was injured.  I was left unable to walk and move without great pain for weeks.  It took three months before I could walk around the farm without a lot of pain.  But, if I choose to do that I was still left very sore and knew I wouldn't be of much use the rest of the day.  It has only been the last month that I have felt almost no pain even after walking around as much as I want.  Sitting on hard surfaces still hurts though, as does lifting anything more then 30-40 pounds.  However, I am on the mend and very grateful.  But, that has meant that most of what we had planned this year has went undone.  He cant do everything himself!  Between the farm chores, the feeding and watering of the livestock, cooking of meals, everything for three months.  Now still doing most of it, but I am at least able to do the household chores again and the smaller animals.  Just don't ask me to lift a bale of hay.  That sadly means that we are left with the options of waiting til the spring to move, try to do as much as we can this fall and moving even if everything isn't done, or having things split between the two places.  Now the geese are flying so we know that we will have a very very early winter, which is what we didn't need!  Crops will be a total failure this year too if that happens.  We have struggled with a drought for three years now.  Oh yes, and we haven't settled with the road yet.  So why even bother pushing to move this fall?   Well, besides the issues of mental health (long story), it is for the livestock.

See, I look at this road widening and the force of the move as a huge chance.  A chance for some realizations to happen.  First thing we realized over this past year with my health issues was that one person can not do this place alone.  It isn't like we have a lot to do either!  It is the set up!!!  Or lack there of.  We know now, after having the livestock, that our current set up just doesn't work.  We need things changed.  It is a change that would have happened, but this is giving us the chance to do it faster.  At least after we settle.  We have also prioritized our lives and what has to be done and it helped us realize that there are some things that we can live without.  We have already been without TV for almost two years.  This relocation of the farmyard and our home is allowing us to set everything up in a way so that one person could do the chores if something happened.  Right now you have to go to three different places just to feed the rabbits.  You have to go to the hay storage that is no where near any of the livestock to get their hay.  You have to go to the grain bins to get the oats for them as there is no place to store even small amounts near the rabbits.  Then you have to drag the hoses over to water them or haul it in buckets.  Oh and when you have to give them straw for the nest boxes you have to go to yet a different place to get it.  Takes three times as long to do anything.  Same for the goats and Jerseys and poultry.  So, one of the first things we needed to do was have a place to store the feed near each of the livestock.  As in the winter, the tractor is not always reliable.

So, even with all the stress of trying to do the move with no funds, trying to set everything back up properly, trying to recover my health, trying to make ends meet, and realizing that no matter what else we do, crops will fail again this year due to weather, so we will have no more income, this is all a blessing in disguise.  As it will help us realize what is truly important and how to improve things when we move.

Just Keeps Going Up

So, we have been slowly getting our quotes.  This is taking a lot more of our time then we initially thought it would.  Trying to figure out everything we needed quotes for.  It is very interesting what I found as I read and reread through the initial appraisal done by the dept of trans themselves.  They make comments in writing that negotiations, professional fees, and general nuisance for us are not tangible so therefore not put the appraisal. Then they said that there will be additional charges such as hotel stays, emotional stress, moving company to put everything into storage and back out again, but that it is not included in the appraisal so not covered.

Then I talk to the rep from dept of trans.  I understand that the appraisal was done by a 3rd party they hired.  And it is amazing to me how many people on our road that we have spoken to or that the rep we deal with have spoken to and none of them have these things in the appraisals.  Yet dept of trans said they would pay for them so that the people having to move are not out large amounts of money because we have no choice in the move.

So, we get told in May to get all our quotes together.  We have been working on that.  Finding some people to do quotes is proving exceedingly difficult.  Such as, I can not find a mason anywhere!  No one knows anyone that isnt retired.  There is a chimney that is built from brick that has to be removed because it connects the house to the basement, so therefore can not stay, but will need to be rebuilt and repaired.  Some of the people to get quotes from are hours away and costs us money to get them to give us quotes.  We have spent almost $1,000 just in getting the required quotes from companies already.  So we press on.  Keep getting them.  I am glad to report that we only have four quotes left to go!  The contractors have been here to get the info they need and I am just waiting on them to arrive.  So glad!!!

So, what is the damage so far?  Well, let me break it down for you:

Replace Her driveway $67,417.68
Replace our driveway and dugouts that will no longer be useable  $176,628.37
Permit to build per site $50 each for a total of $100
Replace all water and sewer lines $108,075.00
To get gas service back to both residences $15,226
For sea cans to store all the stuff while the homes are moved and repaired $2,370
To box and move everything into sea can and then back into houses afterwards $3,512.50
Travel trailer for us while the house is moved and repaired $4,158.00
Handicap motorhome for them while house is moved and repaired $17,451.00
To drop three power poles for the homes $40,500
Generator to run power to all three homes until power poles are dropped in 6 months $35,721
Replacement of the shelter belt $ 29,400
Fence replacement (remove old fence included) $20,000

Total of $520,559.55

Then we are waiting on the running of electrical to the homes from the poles
Cost of rewiring her home to bring it to code
Cost of replacing the decks we currently have and my greenhouse that is on one of the decks
The building mover to actually move the home
The cost of the new basement to replace hers, the crawl space to replace mine
The permits required for the rest of the building sites.
Replacement of the landscaping

Those things all come from four places, Electrical company, General Contractor, Permit Pro, and Landscaper.

I cant believe some of these prices.  We have gotten known companies from the area to give us the quotes.  The sewer and water line is even the company the province has on contract to do these things in this area.  I about choked when I gathered up all this so far and realized that this is going to be more then I ever expected.  This just keeps going up and up.  And nothing we have put in here isnt what we already have.  I am seriously afraid to see how high this is really going to go.  I also know from talking to other residences that have been in negotiations already, that they are countering and not giving anyone what they are asking for.  I do have every one of these quotes in writing from the companies though.  I had one contractor off hand, that does this stuff for a living tell me he estimated it would cost us around $800,000 to do everything from the size of the project.  It isnt like we want to have to do this.  We have missed out on getting one of our fields planted this year all because we have been dealing with contractors.  We have not asked for the $20,000 in lost revenue due to it not getting done while dealing with all these contractors and permitting agents and the reps themselves.  I seriously dont know what to think of all of this.  Things are so expensive up here.  Granted a gallon of milk in town is $6.10.  It just keeps going up!

Just Keeps Getting Better

Well, it seems right as we are getting a handle on everything going on, something else comes up.  Now, our county is changing by laws and it WILL affect what we can rebuild on the farm.  It would not allow a commercial processing building (which we have, but has to be rebuilt due to the road widening) on Agricultural land.  So we would be out half our income.  Much less our farm store which it simply states "no retail" and retail is defined as sale to the public.  So, now, not just dealing with the road widening and all the headaches that are coming with that, we now have to try to fight the county on some of the wording before they pass it.

Want to know what makes this even better?

They sent the letter to our grandparents that have NOT owned the farm or ran the farm since November 2013.  Our grandparents that are in Calgary.  Not to us nor to "mom" who are listed as the property owners and have been since November 2013.  And it is a legal document to boot!  So, grandma and grandpa got the letter on June 4th.  With a dead line to respond by June 2nd.  Yeah, we have had to raise hell and in the midst of everything else, try to get all the bylaws read and ready to be responded.  Oh yes, and the first reading was at their meeting on May 5th and it is set for vote on June 9th.  I wonder if there is a law that say the amount of time from first reading til it can be voted on....

Yep, another fun legality of a day lol.  I swear, this is becoming more about the legalities of trying to farm, then actually farming lately!

Want to see the new proposed bylaw?  Here it is:
http://www.northernsunrise.net/include/get.php?nodeid=1406

Want to know the one that bites the worst????

It would REQUIRE A PERMIT to FIX MY FENCE!!!  Seriously??????  Our home quarter is a corner lot.  And as per section

3.2.1 The following developments shall not require a Development Permit provided they otherwise comply with the other provisions of this Bylaw:

3) In all districts (other then Hamlets and Rural Settlements), the erection or construction of gates, fences, walls, or any other means of enclosure (other then a corner lot or where abuttinga road used by vehicular traffice) less then 2.4m (8ft) and the MAINTENANCE, improvement and other alterations of any gates, fences, or wall or other means of enclosure.

Yeah, each building permit is $150 too.  So several times a year I have to go get a permit to repair my fences.  A car drives through them (happens about twice a year, seriously), a wind storm knocks a tree on to it, a moose goes through it, etc...  We fix fences at least once a month here.  Total BS!

Power or powerless?

So, we were told last month that we have to have everything moved by next summer for them to break ground.  Ok.  So, in the midst of trying to still farm, we have to move the farm homes and farm yard.  Ok, we got this.  Or do we?

As we have been getting all of our quotes lately, we are finding it is taking a lot of our time.  Seeding should have been done last week, but we had to take time to find companies and schedule times to bring them out, show them the buildings, houses, and new sites.  Depending on who they are and what they will be doing depends on how long it takes to show them what we need.  For instance, today we had the company come out for sewer and water.  They are the company that is contracted with the municipality to do the water lines.  So, they were out here and it took about two hours for them to look at the lines that are here, where lines have to be ran, and where the new septic tanks have to go.  But, we arent too far behind seeding, we hope.  So there is that little fun tidy bit we are dealing with.

However, the real issue that came up this week is the power.  Granted, our home we were looking at doing as much solar power and wind power as possible.  Being tide to the grid as a back up for the deep winter months.  We also will have a natural gas generator that will back up in the power goes out.  She (Mom) will have a natural gas generator to replace her power and have the power as just a back up.  Why are we glad we made these choices?  Cause we were told today that the power company couldnt put in the two new poles to run power to our new sites for 6 months from the time we schedule them!  IF we schduled them now and prayed that we had funding before it was done, that puts not getting power til end of November.  We are into -40 easily by then.  So, do we go ahead with the move and hope that the system that we are putting in will be enough electricity to hold us out til the power lines are put in?  A system that we have never used and just learning about?  Then again, we have power outages every winter, anywhere from two to three days to a week at a time.  So is it that bad that we may be a bit short on power?  So, we are told by Dept of Transportation to be moved next summer.  Yet we cant get power til winter.  What do you do?

The True Beginning

As some of you may know, the hwy in front of our house is widening.  When the "old house" was built the road in front of the house was a dead end dirt road.  It was built by our great grandparents back in the 1950's.  It was their second home, one they hoped to live out their lives in and they did, great grandpa passing in the 1970's and great grandma in 1993.  Their first home they built in 1920's when they homesteaded this property.  It still exists here on the farm as well, just not within the new road allowance and set backs.  A lot has changed in this area since the 1950's.  The road was widened to be two lane.  Then it was paved.  Now it is widening again.  We were told that it will eventually be a four lane hwy.  So, it is very evident that the road will continue to widen.  Great grandma and grandpa had one child.  A girl.  Our Grandma Inger.  She married Grandpa Ray.  Grandpa worked in the oil patch as the head geologist and lived with Grandma Inger in Calgary.  Their two children now live on the farm that has been ran by the family since it was homesteaded.  Mom (who wishes to not be named) lives in the "old house" that was built by our great grandparents.  Her brother (who will be left unnamed) moved a mobile home onto the property 2000.

Now, the by-laws of our area say that only two homes can be on each quarter, So, with Mom having the "old house" and her brother having his trailer, there are two homes.  Our home was built as an attachment to the "old house".  Our home is attached by a porch, according to the by-laws that makes it one home.  So, there are now three homes and three families living here.  The road widening affects all of us in different ways.  Mom's brother's house is not in the way, but will have to have new electrical and new water ran to it, everything else stays the same for them.  Our home has to be moved as does the old house.  Since the by-laws changed this year, we can now have three homes per quarter, we are not putting the homes back together.  Instead, we will all be moved to our own sites.  We are moving to the west side, he (Mom's brother) stays on the east side, and Mom moves to the south side.  This will give each family unit the ability to have their own families while still being part of the bigger picture.  What does this mean exactly?  Well, it means that we have to get utilities to each new location.  Also septic systems, driveways, barns, chicken houses, etc.

Two years ago now the farm land was inherited jointly by Dan (Mom's son) and Mom.  Dan and Tera ("us" or "we") run the farm and Dan inherited all the farm equipment to run it with.  We already had our livestock that we bought and pay for separate from the farm land under our business.  Since we run the farm now we are in charge of planting the crops, harvesting, paying the bills for the farm etc.  So, the barns and chicken house will need to be moved to our new site, cause going to the other side of the quarter in -40 weather to care for animals is not feasible.

Now, I have to say, the people hired by Dept. of Transportation are at least trying to work with us.  They came back with their first offer and as they looked over it, agreed that it is not a realistic amount and to get appraisals and quotes and we will go from there.  They are even willing to bring an engineer from the Dept of Transport out to see the layout of the quarter so that they understand that there is little flat land here to built on or move a home to.  Given the harsh winters, things have to be close and usable.  All we can do is wait and see how this goes.  We know what we need to do and where we need to move to and why, we just have to get them to see it.  So far they are willing to work with us on it and can only hope it stays that way.

We plan to keep a blog of things on a weekly basis.  We have so much we have to do and things that will change.

And here we thought that our journey began a couple years ago when we came together and decided what we wanted our future to look like.  Now our true beginning starts!

Our new site!

Spring Prep

Once Christmas is over, most farmers start to turn to the new year.  Some are looking back in order to move forward while others see it as a fresh start every year.  There are as many reasons and opinions on what to do as there are people. 

As with everyone else, I like to think that we are ahead, but it always feels like we are trying to catch up.  Last winter we set out to change that.  We unfortunately didn't get as much done over summer as we were supposed to, but it made this years prep easier.  You see, last winter we made a list of all our fields, the problem weeds we have, what we can plant to help control them or if they can be controlled.  Combined that with the feed we would need for the livestock and what small cash crop we could grow.  That is normally half the battle here.  We made plans last year for 7 years. 

My livestock is bred in the fall, so again, not much to do.  Chickens are put into breeding flocks in November.  Cows are bred in July.  Goats in October.  So, spring prep for livestock will be first the chicks that hatch in January.  Well, the chick cages are bleached and stored every July, so they just need shavings and filled feeder and water unit.  Then it is the goat kids in March.  Not much there.  Just the normal supplies that we keep on hand.  Same goes for the calves in May. 

So, what does our spring prep consist of?  Seed catalogue after seed catalogue.  We have several that come every year.  Some things we already know what varieties we want and some we dont.  We have to look at what we ate as a family, what sold, what grew, what didn't, what kept, and what didn't.  Not to mention the amount of what was eaten.  Only after we know all that can we start our seed catalogue search for just the right seeds.  Some things we save the seed from.  Others, we simply can't right now.  So we sift through the half dozen or more catalogues to find open pollinated heritage or heirloom seed.  Then we order.  Oh man does it feel like it is expensive.  Reality is, if you don't plan what to plant, how you will use it, and the amount needed, it can be very expensive and wasteful.  Try not to get caught up in the "look" of the seed and all the new things to try.  Are you really going to eat it or have time to care for it.  If you can't answer yes to both, don't get it.

Next it is taxes.  Yeah, no one likes it.  No, everyone has to do it.  Yes, refunds are good.

It is also a good idea to revise any plans you have.  Grazing plans.  Fences may need repaired due to a winter storm.  Creek path could have washed out.  Any number of things.  Field plans, even though you may have 7 years of them still have to be looked at.  Did a new weed show up?  Was one weed worse?  Did a neighbor over spray killing hay crop?  Will you need a new bull this year? 

Spring prep is all about planning.  Planning to succeed in the year to come.  The more planning you can do the better prepared you will be and the more work you will be able to do.  I recently read something to the effect of " do the right work to move a head, not just the busy work".  Anyone can work 9 hour days.  But to move forward you have to know what is most important to do then.  Planning is the only way to do that. 

First Rule of Farming

It never seems to fail.  You have planned it all out, you know what you will be doing for the next few days, week, month, season, or even year.  Then it happens....  What is it that happens?  Anything and everything.  Here are a few examples:

For the next two days you will be grinding grain so that there is ample feed for the week while you do other projects.  However, two hours into the first day of grinding you turn around to see the cattle coming for you.  They pushed the fence down and have made a break for it.  So, now you have to spend most of today getting all the cattle back in and fixing fences.  Only throws you off a day, but still, it happens.

Seeing as how building projects are done in the winter cause the summer you are too busy farming to build anything, this winter you will do an addition to your house to make room for the new addition.  Then a month before winter hits, you are approached and told that all new improvements must me stopped and the house will be appraised or moved because they are widening the road and your house is in the new set back.  So, now you have to wait a year to do any building on or build a new house.  Well, moving the house or building a new one on that scale can only be done after the ground thaws to put in new footings.  That means you are not just pushed back one winter, but one winter, one summer, and into the next winter!  Oh yes, that also means that you will be so busy trying to move everything, the house, the farmyard, the fencing, that you will miss a year of crops cause there just isnt time for both when you have a 90 day growing season.  It happens (and is happening right now to us)!

You plan to breed your new pair of chickens cause they are from really good lines and look awesome.  They are both young and you have them in a breeding pen just waiting on the first egg.  Only for the hen to be taken by an owl right before she is due to start laying!  It happens.

So, what is the first rule of farming?  Flexibility!  Anyone can make plans and stick to them, but as a farmer, when you have livestock, weather, rainfall, and customers to deal with, you have to be flexible!

Organic or Not Organic that is the question...

So, from time to time I toy with the idea of going Organic or even more extreme to go Biodynamic (which to me makes more sense than organic since it is the old style of farming.) I could do without the sprays and synthetic fertilizers in fact now that I have inherited the farm we are stopping the use of them (can't afford them anyway).  For me the biggest factor stopping me going this route is no use of antibiotics. To me, I will do holistic treatments and they work most of the time, but sometimes you have to use modern medicine to help your animals. Under these systems the animals are now no longer certified and has to be sold just because you treated the animals to save it. I am sorry but if my kid is sick and natural methods arent working I am going to take them to the hospital and get them something to get my kids better. After treating them I wouldn't sell off my kids why should it be the same with my animals??... 

Ok, so animals are raised in general for food not as our offspring, but what about that dairy cow you raised from a calf hand reared through thick and thin, prized of the herd to a farmer, she is considered one of our offspring, our hopes and future are in that cow and others like her.  If she is treated we are expected to get rid of her??... 

It is the duty of a farmer to raise the healthiest food we can!  Also to be the guardian/mother to our animals to provide them with the best life possible.  God gave us this responsibility to care for the land and animals in our care that their lives would provide us as we have provided for them. Too me the use of antibiotics is one of those tools God has given me to help when the time is needed. I do agree that their use is way too high but going from one extreme to another does not make sense to me. Farming is about balance, too much of one thing never works out well for the farm, the soil or the animals. 

We sell what we produce on our farm direct to people in town.  I agree it would nice to have some type of certification saying yes we run our farm more naturally than the current farming practice, because than they know yes this is ok food to eat without being able to come out to the farm to see it themselves because like us, they are busy people. However since I don't agree with no Antibiotic use I don't see us going biodynamic or organic.  It makes it harder for us to get people to try what we produce because it is not certified even though if they came to the farm they would see how we raise our animals and crops. I guess I am old fashioned and believe that people should get to know their farmer and trust him like they use too with the growing of their food. Perhaps we need a certification called the responsible farmer for those who believe in the Balance of farming like our forefathers did.... Dan

Why We Farm!

Yes, I admit it, I am one of those that probably spends too much time on FB somedays.  Recently there has been a lot of talk on the negative aspects of farming.  A particular person made a post that really hit home this year for us.  Many people are so moving from the city's to farms recently.  They have "stars in their eyes" about this lifestyle.  I do not call it a job, because a job you get to go home from and not worry about til the next day.  This is a lifestyle.  It is something that you live day in and day out.  Last year and this year we have had massive crop failures.  It makes it very tight.  You worry about how you will pay the electric bill.  What animals can I sell and still be able to not impact myself in a bad way so that I can make that payment.  We have lost calves this year.  We have lots chickens to hawks, coyotes, foxes, and due to a very wet spring an outbreak of coci even though they were on medicated chick feed.  Fences have been damaged and walked through.  Garden didnt get cleared and planted properly this year and the veggies we did have all died due to health issues and being unable to go water them.  We have nothing here at home to can except what people have traded with us.  Egg production is down due to the loss of adult hens to the hawks.  Our local butcher closed down and now we have to drive three hours one way to get animals done up to sell the meat.  It adds to the costs for sure.  Our meat bird flock was decimated due to a storm that went through and blew open the building that was their hut and the coyotes got in, that was all in one night.  We have no money, very few crops, and our livestock is going down rather then up due to many factors.  It is a bad year.   We suffer through illness just like anyone else.  We suffer through injuries just like anyone else.  We do not get to take time off without it affecting everyone and everything.  I got hurt pretty bad this year.  Causing a situation that I was unable to walk and am still recovering.  Hubby has had to take it all on himself.  Everything.  Being cooker, cleaner, feeder, feed grinder, waterer, hauler, birther, harvester, everything.  For two weeks.  I am finally able to start helping again, although I still can not stand for long nor can I carry anything, not even our 20 month old daughter.  I can get the kids to help do minor chores.  Like feeding the rabbits and goats.  Doing the dishes.  With help of a chair and my 7 yr old (who loves to cook) we can make breakfast and lunch, but not dinner yet.  Nor can I milk my own goats again yet.  I have breeding coming up in a month and I am just hoping that I can get out there to transfer who I want to when I need to.  If not, hubby will still have to do it.

So why do we do it?  Why do we live this lifestyle and why do we farm?

Lets see if I can explain this where people will understand.  I do this for the crops, the livestock, my children, my self, my husband, and those that purchase from us.  I do it because it is a hard life, but much more rewarding then almost anything else.  To be able to give my family healthy food to eat.  To teach my children through our daily lives what is important in life, the first being your family.  I do it for those little miracles.

For my children:  I love to watch the faces of my children as they watch a calf born from the cow they helped to raise.  The joy at sharing that moment with them.  To watch the excitement as a chick hatches into their hands.  As they bottle feed a sick baby goat and help give it medicine to make it stronger and healthy again.  To then watch that baby goat be able to run and bounce around.  The deaths are part of that too.  They experience death often too.  Be it during butchering or from predation or from illness.  It happens and they know it.  They learn to deal with it in a manner that helps them in life.  They do not take life for granted.  To watch your children plant seeds and love to get dirty and grow things at the same time.  Then to watch them get to harvest veggies from the seeds they planted.  They love that they got to do it and then they really enjoy eating it.

For my husband: To support him in his decisions on the farm.  To help him see his vision and figure out how to get there.  For him to feel good that another year has gone by and he accomplished something many people find too hard or too stressful.  For him to feel loved and useful.  To help him support his family and get those large jobs done.  To allow him the freedom to be with his children when he wants to and not just "after work".  To allow him to sleep I will take night watch when a first timer is calving or an animal is sick.

For the crops:  To enhance the soil in the old fashion to help our crops.  As ultimately that is helping us.  To grow the food for our livestock so that we know they are eating just as healthy as we are.

For the livestock:  To be able to provide the best we can everything they need.  To give them treatment when needed, pasture, feed, water.  To be able to be thankful to them for their life that will ultimately give you your food for your life.  To watch those births and miracles they provide for us.

For my customers:  So they too can get good quality.  So they know where their food is coming from.  So they can experience some of the farming life when they choose to and see the miracles themselves.  Even if it is just the miracle of a garden or a chick hatching.

For myself:  Mostly it is for myself.  As human beings we are ultimately selfish.  We look out for what can benefit us.  For me, my benefit is the joy this life brings to my children and my husband.  For the pleasures a good harvest can bring.  I dont do this to fix fences, I really do hate to do that.  Worse yet is cleaning out the barn.  But I still do those jobs so that I can experience the joys and miracles that I so want.  I love to watch a new life come into the world.  I love to be able to give people the food and quality they love to eat.  I love for my children to be able to play outside and I know they are safe.  I love to see my husband take a deep breath after a hard days work as he looks out over the job he completed and realize just what he accomplished that day.

I know this all sounds romantic.  The honest truth is, the reasons I live this life are more important to me then the reasons I would leave this life.  Sick animals sometimes have to be put down.  It is up to you to do it.  No one else.  Farming as a bottom line is a hard life.  You dont get vacations, but you get miracles.  You have to fix fences when the animals or wild life breaks through them, but in doing so you get to see the daily growth of your livestock.  You have to collect eggs everyday or they freeze or the chickens learn to eat them, but you get eggs that you know are healthy.  You have to milk the cow/goat twice a day, but you get fresh milk, cream, butter, and cheese.

I love this lifestyle because you get out of it what you put into it.  There is never just one way to do things.  You learn more everyday and nothing is ever the same.  We work hard to live well.  Some people rather work hard at a 9-5 job to buy the things we provide for ourselves.  I am grateful to those people, because it is them that buys from us that allows us to pay our bills.  And it is them who are grateful to us for working so hard to provide it to them.  I do this because my heart and soul are in it.

August just isnt August this year!

Well, this year the weather has been so off.  August has been hot and dry, until now, mid August.  It is cool and almost frost at night.  The crops are ready to harvest a whole month early, which is not normal and we were not prepared for that.  We are now shuffling through the steps faster then normal.  No biggie, we will get it done. 

Remember that new goat from the last post?  Well, she isnt lonely anymore.  She still doesnt get along well with my other two, but they have all settled into an agreement of sharing a pasture during the day and separate stalls at night.  She is eating well and giving almost three liters of milk a day.  All the animals are benefiting from her gift.  Angel is now being weaned so the other animals are getting more of Amber's milk daily.  We got our clover field cut and they are loving the hay from that.  So we will be good.  Oh yes, and the other two never did kid.  So, we will try again for a December breeding to have May baby's!

Our rabbits have been producing like crazy.  I had two more large liters born and we just butchered 4 yesterday of the older ones.  We sell our Rex's as pets or breeding stock depending on their quality.  What doesnt sell and I cant breed we eat.  We sell some for pets mostly to pay for the pellets to feed the breeding stock so that all the meat we get from them is free.  It is rare that I have to buy pellets without being able to pull it from the rabbit fund.

Our Whipcream gave birth finally too!  To another bull calf.  UGH!  We cant seem to get a heifer out of her!  Oh well.  Her bag this time is huge and we are getting great milk from her.

We have butcher dates set for the cows and pigs we do not want to over winter for the end of October.  That will be great to get them out of here.  It will help on our work load for the winter.  Dan is going to be stuck doing the winter chores this year as I will not be able to help him outside this year.  

All our gardening was a failure this year.  I got sick shortly after my last post and was down for a couple weeks.  When I finally was able to move around again I found that no one had watered anything and everything except my chives and onion is dead.  No more herbs this year to last us over winter.  No more cucumbers or squash.  Sad deal for me as I love my fresh stuff.  I replanted peas and beans as those can still grow in enough time though.  

We have also decided (more I did) to thin out the chickens.  Anyone that I do not want I am having butchered in two months.  I decided I am done with those hatchery jersey giants.  They did not get anything close to what they were supposed to.  I am enjoying my other breeds very much and will keep them.  

On the other hand.  It is even better having Dan home now.  He isnt trying to shuffle work with harvesting and he is able to start teaching the girls things I simply dont know or cant do.  They have become a great help and I am so blessed to have them as my family.  

It Is Really July?

Yeah, so I have been very bad.  I feel like I havent had time to breath and the blog is the last thing on the chore list.  Today I think it is a good day to do a catch up because Dan is in town getting a tractor tire fixed, it is windy and cold outside, and one of the girls is sick, so I am in the house while she takes a nap.

April-  April came and went.  Nothing major happened other then the snow was still on the ground by the end of the month.  Unusual for us, usual we are melting in April.  Due to the snow it did set back a lot of our plans.  Our garden boxes didnt get put in.  No fencing got done.  No tilling or discing in the fields.  Just nothing really.  I was busy all month, but really cant remember on what.  Oh yes, I was hatching chicks and ducks all month.  I started in March.  You see, a friend of mine put on a poultry show and I helped her.  I did the behind the scenes stuff.  I guess show isnt the correct term either as there was no judging.  It was a sale.  We did well for a first time sale and plan to do it again next year.  I will have to hatch earlier for that though.

May-  So busy!  Finally got the new baby goat the first of this month.  She is growing well and loves attention.  We named her Angel.  The snow melted the first week, then it snowed again and melted the second week and dried up by the third week.  We have family come visit us, but had to plant the fields too.  We got all of the fields planted just in time for the May 31st deadline.  We also started to suspect that Pearl was pregnant due more to her behavior then anything, but she started to look a bit wide.  After all the crap with Cesar over winter, I did not expect any kids this year, so we are watching and waiting to see what happens.  I suspect she will kid in June.

June- Got some discing done in the field we decided to summer follow.  We want to plant alfalfa in it and didnt have time to do a cover crop so we will summer follow it to help with the weeds.  There has been no rain.  We desperately need rain.  None of the crops are growing well.  We finally got the flax seed cleaned from last year.  Something is not right there.  Only got 1100 bushel off 200 acres.  It is considered a big crop failure.  We are now at the last of our savings with no more income coming in.  With the flax failing, it isnt worth the trucking fees to get the flax to the elevator to sell it as it would cost me as just to truck it as I would get from selling it.  It puts us in a really bad bind.  No income coming in, bills stacking up, crops this year not looking good, it just isnt a good year.  Luckily we did a job for someone transporting early this month and can cover the bills off that job for the next two months.  We need to take on more jobs, but when we do, we are not completing our own jobs on the farm.  So it is a double edged sword.  Still no baby goats, but now Snowflake is starting to bag up a tiny bit.  Or is it just fat?

July- Had the chance to get a new goat that is two and in milk.  She has the bloodlines I have wanted, so should work well for what we want.  I picked her up the first part of July.  I have had her now for a week and she is milking 2 liters a day for me.  It is just enough to feed Angel.  Our cow that I was using to feed her dried up and I have been very short on milk for her.  Now she is doing well getting the goat milk and having a good time of it too.  She is bottle fed so I am milking at 8 am and 8 pm every day.  The new goat, Amber, is lonely and not eating as well as I would like.  I tried to put Angel with her, but Angel wants nothing to do with Amber and climbs out of the fence to get back to me.  I cant put Pearl or Snow with Amber cause guess what, no baby's!  They are still pregnant.  Dan watches Pearl's stomach move around from the baby, but still nothing.  They have to be born soon, cause the end of Feb is when I moved Cesar to the greenhouse from the barn.  That only leaves 5 days til their last possible due dates.  Now what?  We wait.  Remember that post?  Impatiently waiting?  Yep, it repeats it's self.  Well, this month we have got a lot accomplished though.  We got most of the goat fencing done.  We have been cleaning out around the barn and milking parlor.  We should have both finished by the end of this month and then I can start to white wash the inside of the barn and get everything resecured.  Then next month maybe we can get the new room built onto the barn.  No extra jobs this month, but I started to sell my chicken feed and that has really helped.  That alone is paying half our bills this month.  So we are ok for this month.  The stress of not having enough money is really starting to affect me, but I try to not let anyone see how much.  I know it affects Dan too, but he tries just like I do.  If we can get two or three more good jobs this year or a decent crop this fall, we will be ok.  I hate having to depend on things like that.  It shouldnt be that way.  We have to finish getting everything set up properly to be able to have things make money!  For some reason this year everything seems to be taking twice as long as it should.  The garden was a bust, had bugs attack it and nothing we tried worked.  It is dead.  I am hoping to save some of the perennial herbs, not so sure I can.  It is one of those years that you just want to scream, cant anything go right?  Every project has been put off or only partially done and some things just shut down.  I had someone tell me once, if you really want to know what faith is, be a farmer.  You have to have faith that everything will go just right for you to have a crop just to be able to live and farm for another year.  God must really be wanting to test my faith this year as everything has failed.  Yet it seems that things are coming along right as they are needed most, so we hope, pray, and have faith that we can keep going.

So, it is mid July and here we stand.  Hunched over and starting to feel defeat, but not allowing that to happen.  We are who we are and we work hard everyday to build the life we so desperately want.  With Dan having quit his job in January it really puts the financial issue of farming into more perspective.  We try to do things locally and sell at the farmers market and do minor jobs for people, but it seems that everyone that wants the work done or buy things are so far away it would cost us more to go there to do it then we would get paid for it.  So it isnt always feasible.  A friend of mine has loaned me one of her sons.  He has been a great help because he wants to learn farming.  Since he has been here he is learning all sides of it.  He has witnessed a birth, a death, and the financial stress of it.  It is enough to put anyone off farming, yet he persists and still wants to learn.  We are teaching him everything he wants to learn and everything we can think of in exchange for his help in completing some of the chores, even if it is daily chores so that we have time for the bigger projects.  It gives me hope that Dan and I are not just building this life for it to be thrown away after our time is over.  That the next generation will want to keep it going.  I can only hope that at least one of our children will follow in our foot steps.  I dont want my children to have a hard life like we are having getting things set up.  I want it to be ready for them to take over and be profitable and a good life.  That is the goal we work so hard for.  Our children.  That is why, even when all seems to be going down and lost, when everything seems to be against us, we can rally and keep going forward and find ways to do what we need to do.  Because we do it for them.

Impatiently Waiting

It feels like you are either so busy you forget to breath, or you are impatiently waiting on those miracles of life and sometimes waiting so hard you forget to look at the ones happening around you.

I have been impatiently waiting on one of our Jersey cows to calve.  She was due two days ago.  For the last two days I have been sure she was going to have it.  All of her pins are gone.  She is so swollen that it looks like the calf will just slide out any second.  Yet here I sit, in suspense.  I am normally pretty good at predicting these things with my cows.  Not this one.  This is a new cow for us and her first calf here.  After two or three you really get a sense of how the cow will progress.  This cow, she just likes to very very very slow progress and keep you waiting.  Last night I went to bed and thought about what she will have.  I am hoping for a heifer calf, of course.

Impatiently waiting keeps you on your toes and on the edge of your set.  It keeps you guessing and checking.  And unfortunately, it keeps everyone else annoyed that you are being so impatient.

With this particular occurrence, I realized this morning, that in the last four days since I have been watching her so close, I have forgotten to look around me.  I have hatched out turkey poults, ducklings, and some chicks.  All of which is a miracle its self.  Little bundles of down needing my attention.  They are all growing well and very strong.  Already trying to get out of the brooders.  In the next few days they will be moved to the chicken house.

Just a reminder, dont get too caught up in one experience that you forget to realize and participate in all the other ones going on around you.  Smile, it is spring and a great day!


*Update*

The true irony of this, is several hours after I posted this, she delivered a still born heifer calf.  It is only the second time it has happened here, but every time it is felt.  Just shows even more, remember what you have, because you may not get what you think you will.

Green Excitement

I am weird.  I know this.  I dont mind this either.  I am one of those people that get excited over the smallest and oddest things.  I love to see new things emerge and things grow and new life, in all forms.  So, as with every year, I started some seeds.  In years past I didnt have my green house so inevitably, my house was too small for all I would start and half would die from lack of light.  Just the way it is.  Well, this year, I have my greenhouse.  For the most part, it has worked well.  There are kinks I need to work out for next winter, but for the big reason, starting plants to be ready to plant in May, it is working great.  A week ago I started another batch.  My first batch is now almost a month old and doing very well, the more cold hardy things like peas, lettuce, and onions.  This batch though was pumpkin, cucumber, beans, and carrots.  Everyday, I go in to water the older plants and check the seeds to see if anything sprouted.  It is like a kid at a birthday party.  Awaiting the gifts so you can open them.  I love to go in and see a tiny sprout barely out of the ground.  Well, in this case, barely out of the soil in the packets.  Today, this is what I found when I went in.

Cucumber Sprout

Cucumber Sprout

Pumpkin Sprout

My Blueberry Bushes!  

Another Blueberry Bush.

This is buds on my largest Blueberry Plant

Carrot Sprout.

The same carrot sprout.  Just looks cool.

Pea leaf.

Tomatoes, Corn, and Dill.

These are the one month old variable plants.

Tomato.

Tomato.

Dill.

Basil.

Basil.

Pea plants and green onion.

In the front is pea plants and garlic.  The pot in the back (right) is a normal yellow onion I bought from the store that started to sprout.  So I planted it.

Buds on my chives.

Another bud on the chives.

Thyme sprout.

And this is my perpetual helper.  She has to be in the greenhouse when ever I am.  This is Tink.

At least I love a simple life.  I cant wait to taste some of the veggies of my labor lol.  I really do enjoy seeing this and knowing that I am helping to nurture it along.  I just hope that I can pass on this love of growth and transformation to my children.  They love to go and pick the veggies and eat them off the plant, so maybe that will be enough to start a seed in their hearts.

Ice Inspiration

There always seems to be something.  You have a lot to do and not a lot of time.  So you schedule it out so that you can get things done on time for your needs.  You work hard at your daily list and just as you think by some small chance you will make your deadline, bam!  Something happens.  It doesn't always have to be big either.  It can be something as small as calling to get some info from someone.  Yesterday we called to get more info on licensing and permits for starting our diary.  One call turned in to four hours on the phone with various different people and offices.  So, how do you look at it?  You are now behind your schedule yet got a lot of good info you needed.  Good and bad?  I heard it said in farming you take the bad with the good.  I think it is that way in life.  Not just farming.  Farming is dealing with life and a few hundred acres. 

So, combine the hours on the phone with the walk I decided to take yesterday to check the highland cows and horses, mostly because the hoarfrost was awesome, and my day was shot!  I knew the animals were fine as I can see them from my upstairs of the house.  But how many of you have seen really clear and beautiful hoarfrost?  This was what we got to wake up to.

The view into our pasture.

The horses coming out of the trees to say hello.  All the white on the trees are hoarfrost.

Linnie, the Highland Cow.  See the frost on her hair?

Up close of hoarfrost on tree stems.

Up close of hoarfrost on cattle panels.

Beautiful huh?  For me, it isn't just about taking the bad with the good.  It is about looking beyond that.  Looking at the possibility of what might be and what is under it all.  Take the hoarfrost for example.  It is a combination of heavy fog and sub 0 temps.  The fog touches something and it creates tiny ice crystals and they build and build.  The tiniest little drop of water, so small it can hang in the air can create beauty like this. 

So if we take the bad with the good and look deeper, maybe we can all find the inspiration and beauty we need to get our lists done and learn to enjoy either the process or the outcome.  Besides, if it isn't bringing good or beauty to your life, why do it?

Realizations

I originally wanted this blog to be about the successes of the farm.  But you know what?  That isnt what a farm is about!  It is about the learning process.  It is trying new things when something doesnt work like you want it to.  It is about working hard and persevering to reach a goal that you want.  It is about life, death, laughter, and heartache.  In one day you can have so many different emotions and many of them will rush at once.  I think that this week was a reality check for us.  Our whole goal has been to make the farms we remember our grandparents being on when we were kids.  Ones that have many different animals that all work together and they can make a living on it.  May not be a big one, but it was enough.  We want to be together and work together as a family.  We want the bonds that we will hold us together through it all.  There are hard times.  A lot of hard times.  There are good times.  Not as many as you would hope, but that is what you work so hard to get.

So here is an update of things since November.  This winter had been horrid.  We lost the first two calves of the season to -40 C cold and winds.  Then we had a bull calf born and all was ok.  Then two days later, a heifer calf born and she ended up half frozen due to weather and had pneumonia.  Thank goodness (or not depending on how you look at it) that we have a working relationship with our vet.  We called in and got a shot of Nuflor and she is totally recovered in a matter of days.  She is now a bottle calf.  My barn is full so I had no where to put her, so she is in my green house that is attached to my house.  She was too big to fit in a dog crate so I put her in a make shift pen in there.  We have a sale in April we are supposed to go to and cant seem to get anything to work right.  My chicken house still isnt done (was supposed to be done in December) so that I can separate the birds to get pure chicks.  My pigs that I bred do not seem to have carried anything.  They should be due in 3.5 weeks, but nothing.  I was supposed to have had piglets for that sale.  I had plants started and the new kittens we got in December had killed half of them.  They like to knock the pots over.  The rabbits wouldnt breed.  They just fought.  The girls would not settle.  After several attempts over a period of a few weeks I finally got ONE to settle.  Now just hoping she delivers so that I have my baby bunnies for the sale.  I watch them and do not leave them so I know when a successful breeding attempt was made.  My new buckling that I got last fall seems to not have grown at all over winter.  He has been up and down so much with this weather.  We have been working them every three months mostly cause even the vet doesnt know what else to do for them.  The two does are good.  He hasnt been.  He finally has started to turn around and get really good over the last week.  It seemed no matter how much food and water he had, he just was not growing!  He even felt thin.  So much for having goat kids this year!  He has been in no shape to deal with the girls.  And yes, my goats are tested and they are CAE, CL, and Johnnes free.

Ok, I will stop there.  You see my point, right?  It is about learning and figuring things out.  Here it many times takes more then one person to do all the chores and other things that need to be done.  It is the nature of the beast as they say.  So, when we sit down and realize that the projects we are behind in are the most important projects on the farm, it is NOT a good feeling.  Then when we realize that we are loosing money on the farm due to these set backs, it is even worse.  Oh yeah, then combine those feelings and realizations to the fact that it is Dan's job that was keeping him gone 12 hours a day and causing all sorts of havoc, well, then you have a hard choice.  Do you keep your job and know you have money to pay the bills, but everything else suffers for it, or do you quit your job and make everything else, including your family life, better and just work hard to try pay the bills off what you can and will make off the farm?  Knowing that you only have a few months of savings to make sure that bills are paid.  Each family and person will have to make those choices for themselves.  Our decision we came to as a family, which means, no cable tv, no eating out, no extras for a long time, was for Dan to be here.  In order for us to reach our goals, we have to make sacrifices and work hard.  The only way to do that is to do it together every day.

So, our big realization?  Trust in yourself and each other.  There are bad times.  There are good times.  There are hard times.  Always remember your blessing and remember that the trails will pass.  Keep in mind what is most important for you and your family.  Our blessings are many this winter too.  The heifer calf was the first heifer born from a mom that has given us 14 prior bull calves.  She is healthy now, very friendly, and loves the attention.  She will be a great cow to have here.  The buckling is getting meat back on him.  It is hard to keep him in his stall in the barn now.  He would rather jump out and run all over the barn and head butt the girls and show he is feeling better.  We have the go ahead on our milk parlour and are finishing the approvals on our processing building.  And most important.  We have each other.  I realized through all of this that this is really what it is about.  Working, failing, and picking yourself back up to try again until you succeed as a family working towards your future.