The fate of Mrs. Dennises, and other farm lessons.

My drove of pigs met their ultimate fate this week, on Wednesday. The process was much as I expected it to be, but the things that I found most fascinating about the process were how quickly it went, and how it was neither gory, nor grisly, but seemed perfectly natural. I could, and this seems odd, see myself doing it(one pig, though, not eight) myself, if I had the proper tools, and a few friends or relatives to help. I'll not describe the process in detail, given that there are children who read this, but suffice it to say that it was efficient, relatively humane, and it didn't turn me into a vegetarian. If any of you want a more in depth description of the process, or just a discussion of my thoughts on animal husbandry, I'll be happy to yammer at you.

Christie asked me if it was sad, that the pigs were gone, and I told her that it was, a little, and it is, but only a little. I cared for them as best as I was able, and I believe that they led happy lives, and were treated with the dignity and respect that they deserved, and I was there with them right up until the end. I witnessed the transformation from pig into pork, and I emerged fvrom the process a little wiser, impressed with the abilities of the pair of men responsible for slaughtering, and cleaning the animals, and amazed that they did the job with a twenty two, a hacksaw, and a pair of five inch Forschner lamb skinning knives. Of course the ones they were using were so well worn the blades we only half that size, from being sharpened so many times.

Aside from slaughter day we've been doing the same farm chores, harvesting for market, and preparing the ground for the winter. I worked market on Saturday by myself again, and had a pretty successful day. It's quite satisfying to be able to see the farm work to it's inevitable conclusion, and to receive the acknowledgments we worked so hard to earn. It's always satisfying to be thanked for what you do, and when a perfect stranger, pleased with her baby beets says "Thanks for what you do. It's important." It's good to hear, because what we're doing on the farm IS important. Support your local farmers boys and girls. They're the future, and they need your help, and it may be more expensive or require more of an effort on your part, but trust me when I say it's worth it. Without them developing the alternatives to the petroleum based farming of the last hundred years, we'll find ourselves in serious trouble in future. Enough hippie-flavored soap-boxing. Sorry. Not what you come here for.

Here are the before and after shots of the market:


These are all photos I've been taking with my phone, so the quality isn't what it is with my camera, but they'll have to suffice for now.

I'm going to have the opportunity to kill a small flock of ducks in the not-too-distant future, hopefully. They're not making eggs the way the homesteaders who own them would like, and you can't afford to keep feeding unproductive livestock, so they're destined for...wait for it...confit party. I know Papa Miguel got that one right. I'm really meeting some incredibly cool and inspirational people out here, and sometimes still can't believe how lucky I am to be a part of this place, and the overlapping communities here. Last night, at a party for one of Maggie's friends and co-workers it was said, in reference to me, "he's not a science nerd", which is fantastic, because I've never had the opportunity to be part of a group, where I'm not the science nerd. The OPI staff are particularly ecologically nerdy, which is great for me, because they're constantly teaching even when they don't realize it. It's just in their natures.

I love it here.

Have I mentioned that lately?

Still working out a path for the future, and still enjoying every minute of the present, even the ones that are uncomfortable, or physically difficult, or forcing myself to do unpleasant introspection about my own short-comings.

Hope y'all are well. NanoWriMo starts tomorrow, and I'm flitting back and forth between the idea of starting a new story, and maybe re-writing my first novel, which story I like, but which prose if just atrocious. We'll see come Monday, I suppose.

November is here, and with it comes reduced farm hours. Starting this weekend, I'll have a five day work week, until the end of the season. How great is that? I'll let you know.

Much love to all of you. I have errands to run, books to read, yarn to knit and purl, and baking to do. Have a happy Hallowe'en.

In which there is a reunion, between man and machine...

It's funny how as soon as you give something up for lost, it will show up again. Thank you to Kay for finding my camera, and returning it safely to me; I hadn't realized how twitchy it's loss had made me, until it was returned.

I'm doing well, although the lack of a job is starting to become a concern. All I really need is something to get me through the winter, and once the spring rolls around again, finding something to do, shouldn't be a problem, it's figuring out what to do until then, that is proving to be a challenge. That being said, I'm curiously unstressed by the fact of my pending unemployment. Part of it must be that so many of the people I'm surrounded by are doing jobs of a similarly seasonal nature, and we're all in the same boat, right now. The park season ends this coming Thursday, and this will leave essentially everyone I know, who isn't farm folk, unemployed.

It's a fascinating dichotomy in this part of the world. There are park folk, who are here because of the park, and they are liberal, progressive twenty-first century people, MY people, and there are the locals, conservative old-fashioned people, and oddly enough, they are MY people, too. It's weird because to them the park is nothing special, it's the background of their world, but to those of us who came here because of, or have chosen to stay for the park, it's the center. Enough pontificating...my thoughts on the subject haven't gelled yet, but they keep circling around my brain, and there's something there, although I don't know what it is yet.

I've written a couple of short stories I really like, lately, and I've got a couple of cool ideas in my head, waiting for characters to give voice to them. I think one of them might be a novel, but I can't say for sure, yet.

I went to my first Country(pronounced Contra) dance last weekend. I was assured over and again by the girls that it wasn't a square dance, but there was spinning around, and changing partners, and a man giving instructions(not to mention several square dances), which I would say qualifies. It was, and I still can't really believe I'm saying this, a lot of fun. Some days I wonder what has happened to me, and others, most of them, really, I'm just enjoying it.

As for life on the farm, it's good. There are still many crops to be harvested, and although the hot-weather crops aren't really performing to expectations, there isn't really much we can do to change the weather. The age old lot of the farmer. It has been gray and rainy for most of the last week, with only a day or two of even partial sunshine in the forecast, which I love from an aesthetic point of view, but from the perspective of a farmer just hoping for the tomatoes to ripen, it's not so nice.

We started going to the farmer's market in Sequim this week, in addition to the one in PA, and we're all excited about that. It's great to have another chance to sell some of the produce we've all worked so hard to grow. We harvested our first brussel sprouts this week, and we've been picking apples and pears for a while now. It's autumn, there's no more denying it. The leaves are changing, and combined with the misty atmosphere it allows for moments of peacefulness, anytime I pause, and look around me.

Now for the picture posting portion of our post(You like that alliteration? Pretty good, huh?), I'll start with a couple of shots from my last trip up Storm King. I really love that hike, and it presents surefire proof that a summer of working on the farm has left me more fit than I began. I almost made it to the top of the mountain this time, but realize when I got about three quarters of the way up, that I was free climbing in my sneakers, without a buddy, and without anyone having any idea where I was, and prudence won out over the desire to say I did that.

The view from the lower peak:

A view of the upper peak, from the lower peak(see if you can figure out how high I made it based on the pictures from where I stopped climbing):


A view taken while hanging onto a rope on the trail(well, techinically after the end of the sanctioned trail, but there's a rope, so it's a trail of sorts):


Le Sage, from across Lake Crescent:


The chicken coop, which we spent a day cleaning around this week, and extended the fence to give our ladies more room:


Our pigs have a new home, which I've been calling the Sty-stead('cause I'm a nerd), pretty snazzy, huh?:

Flowering parsnips:

Canadian thistle(our weed nemesis), and another, altogether more pleasant thistle(did you know artichoke blossoms smell fantastic? Me either, until now.):



Weird looking mushrooms:



Some views of the farm in the gray:






Pickles - onions and watermelon rind:

Harvested lunch yesterday:

I think that will cover me for now. I'm going to go bake some bread, get some grub, and take a hike. I probably won't do another post until after I get back from Rachel's wedding, so I'll probably see most of you before I write another one of these. I can't wait...

In which there was meant to be an update, but instead there will just be a new post cause I'm felling lazy...

I think that was rather a fine explanation. Not much to say, just posting some pics of what's been going on about the farm.

The display garden, freshly weeded, and with a whole mess of new beds for planting summer crops, and lots and lots of onions.:

The potatoes are in bloom:

Two rows of wheat(Polk), with a row of blueberries in between:


The few tomatoes that will ever see the out of doors(they don't look so hot, but we're optimistic that they'll be alright, assuming the weather holds):

The winter squash:



The pumpkin patch, courtesy yours truly, and my co-intern Ruth:


My pigs:

And since there haven't been any food shots yet, a pre-grilled cheese sandwich(comte, dijon, fresh pepper, on oatmeal sourdough):

Enjoy, boys and girls, and I'll be back to share my further adventures, whenever I have a chance(and something interesting to report). Love y'all.

My what a shocking afternoon...

No, really. I was trying in vain to get the pigs to eat from my hands, and I accidentally bumped the electric fence. If there had been anyone watching I have no doubt that they would still be laughing at me. I must have jumped three feet straight back from the fence waving my arm above of my head, and dancing back and forth from one foot to the other. Not sure why, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

Ever since i realized that I can get WiFi on the Johnston's gazebo, I've appropriated it as my spot, and when I got out here this afternoon I found that Christie had kindly put out a table and a chair for me. She's so sweet. It was a beautiful day, sunny, and seventy. I've been working hard, and the farm is starting to look really amazing. Fields are being tilled, produce is going into the ground.

Here are some pictures from the Dungeness Spit, where I took a hike last Sunday, my day of rest:


This tree trunk was over one Tom in diameter:



Still turning out loaf after loaf of bread, despite the difficulties of cooking in the trailer's oven, I'm achieving respectable results. Take a look:

What have we been doing, farm work? Do we do that? Oh yeah, peas, trellised, lettuce transplanted, and a compost pile built. I did the construction. Using tools. I know, it seems unlikely, but I was there. It happened. Proof:


Our compost to be, this pile is over six feet tall, and about thirty five feet long. I built the pipe system used to blow air through the pile:


The veggies we started the other day have sprouted. Squash, or as they say around these parts sqaursh:


And field corn; this stuff seriously looked liked pomegranate seeds, gorgeous:

A view of the new cupola atop the barn:

And to finish up off for the evening, how about a produce shot? Some cutting celery, shortly before being finely diced, sauteed and added to an omelet which was so yellow it was hard to believe:

It's late now, and I'd best leave you for now, but I'll reiterate all of my salient points. I love and miss you all. I'm having fun, working hard, eating well, getting my writing done, baking bread as much as ever, and I imagine none of that will be changing anytime in the immediate future.