In his book, Hannah Coulter, Wendell Berry describes how neighboring farmers helped each other do all sorts of tasks in post-World War II Kentucky. Bringing in tobacco, hay and other crops from the fields was labor intensive work that needed to be done in timely ways or the crop could be lost. Yes, some help was paid, while other help [...]
What could be better than a community of friends working and playing together? We are so incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by a group of “old” (and new) friends. Yes many of us are getting physically old and we have known each other for a long time, some for nearly forty years. What has kept us together? I think, perhaps [...]
The land just behind our garden and barn belongs to a neighbor. He informed us recently that he was planning to harvest the large white pine trees from that lot. I had mixed feelings. A clear cut is always jarring especially for the animals and trees; but this cut would bring much needed sun to our barnyard in winter and [...]
It occurred to me this morning, as I was practicing yoga and thinking about biodynamic practices that they have much in common. Like yoga, biodynamic methods bring health to our bodies by healing the Earth. They help ensure healthy plants and animals that provide superior nutrition. But that is just the beginning of a rather deep analogy. Yoga depends on [...]
I really like feeding round bale hay out. Last year after I re-seeded one of my leased hayfield it was clear that I would need to buy some hay. There were just not enough square bales (actually rectangles) I settled on organically certified round bales and have been happy with the quality. Getting them into the barn was quite challenging. [...]
The morning light is just beginning as it creeps through the trees just behind the barn. There is no breeze, but the low clouds are just rolling by. The snow is kind of dusty and crunchy as the temperatures still seems to be hovering from the high 20’s to the middle 30’s. I wish it would just get on and become [...]
One of the reasons that I wanted to get into this farming thing was to engage my hands with my heart and my head. My organization consulting life in the business world was full of working with people with my head and my heart cajoling them to see more life giving ways of working with others. My retirement years continue [...]
This morning at 6:00 I was greeted by Ginger, my 2 1/2 year old heifer mooing vigorously. Is it hunger where she did not get enough hay during the yesterday’s afternoon feeding, or is she in heat? Ginger happens to be a loud child so I am unsure why. A female cow typically goes into estrus (her fertile cycle) every 17-22 [...]
