but I promise I'll try harder to keep you all updated in the coming season, and given that our last Ewe(sorry Rachel) gave birth yesterday at ten in the evening, things might be slightly calmer in the coming weeks. Probably not really, though. My schedule involves two full days of farm work a week, and a day of classes and chores. It really is great because I'm allowed plenty of time to work on my own projects. Linda is free with the scrap wood, and her tools and her expertise so I've been doing some building, and anticipate doing much more over the course of the summer. So far I've built some bins for planting potatoes, our new beehive(painted to match the farmhouse in a lovely shade of light green with dark green trim[not even joking]), and just yesterday Linda, Jen, and I finished planking out the bridge over the pond.
Potato Bins:
Bridge Pics:
Our new beehive, which has since been loaded with a queen and her drones:
A little recap, because I'm not sure what we've been over, and what I've forgotten to share. I've learned some really cool things during my weekly field classes. We started out doing Ag building with Linda, and we've all been really excited by any projects we can think of since then. We visited Dick Schneider at RainCoast Farm, who grows tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers, in an attempt to find what varieties work best for the climate here in Jefferson county. He's a really cool guy, with a beautiful experimental farm, and some of the most attractive Ag buildings I've ever seen. He donates all the food he grows in his gardens to the local food banks, and supplies starts for anyone who wants them(obviously farming is not a way for him to make money, but a way for him to give to the community he is so deeply involved with). He taught us about seed germination and transplants. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and so failed to get any pictures of his operation, but I'll be sure to get some next time I'm there.
We also took a trip to
Oatsplanter, where we met Steve Habersetzer who grows seed which is adapted to thrive in our microclimate, and who has a totally different sort of operation from any I've been on before. He's an accomplished word worker, and has built all of the buildings on his farm(a recurring theme around these parts), and the crafstman ship is impeccable. He and his partner farm using as little in the way of gasoline powered machinery as they're able(he showed us his scythe), and his style of building beds using copious amounts of compost and windrows of weeds from the garden was really fascinating. He made us a lunch of produce from the farm, and we helped him plant his greenhouse with chili peppers some of which he'll harvest for seed late this year.
Some pictures, including his kitchen, and the gypsy wagon he built over a decade ago:
Olivia, Tassie, Kay and Steve in the greenhouse, which felt more outdoors than any I've ever been in, although I'm sure that makes no sense:
This, like all the farms we've been to, is a beautiful and happy and exciting place to spend time. Truly inspirational.
This past week we went to Mystery Bay, on Marrowstone Island, where they keep goats and make chevre and ricotta. It was a fine day, which I also failed to take many pictures of, but you can check these ones out, at least:(
a collection of the photos from my phone...I hope). It was another example of a place where people have made a life for themselves, doing something they love in a way that enriches not only themselves but the community around them. Scott and Rachel have ten goats they milk, and another ten baby girls born this year. They practice very careful pasture rotation using movable electric fencing, and in addition to the goats they have fruit and nut trees all over their property, and garden where they grow food for themselves. Within ten minutes of our arrival all of the FIELDies were echoing my sentiments, I want a goat(or ten). So, Miguel, when you're ready to take up cheese making; I'll be ready. We helped out by cleaning out a winters worth of hay and poo, and in return received a thorough tour, and an afternoon in the sun by the wood-fired oven eating homemade pizza, I made a couple with rhubarb compote and their chevre and ricotta which were delicious, and we got to pick their brains on everything from the logistics of a dairy operation, on whether to milk through the winter(they don't), and how to be able to afford to purchase a farm(deal directly with the seller, rather than the bank). It was yet another unbelievably beautiful day(the first truly hot sunny spring day we've had, really). Kay even jumped in the pond. If I have a chance to visit them again, I'll bring the camera along so you can see what I'm talking about.
Each and every farm we visit just gets me more and more excited to find a piece of land and see what I can do with it. If you want a more in depth explanation of what my hopes and dreams are in that regard, take me out for a drink and I'll promise to get all excited and spew idea after idea.
More pics of the farm, and some of the things I've been spending my spare time on:
Bouncy, and bottle, babies,:
Radishes, French and Japanese:
Our garlic crop:
Asparagus(oh yeah, it is springtime):
My llama nemesis(not really, I actually really want the llamas to like me and think I'm cool, but they just ignore me, and then escape, and have to be herded back into the pasture...jerks):
Some pics of my knitting:
A shawl for Mindy:
A hat for mom:
Matt's hat, inspired by the Seattle public library:
Our newest livestock on the farm, a dozen weaner pigs:
Another fun project, helping the conservation district with fish counts, to see the efficacy of the CREP program. Which is designed to help restore the salmon runs. This is especially appealing to my inner five year old boy scout/scientist:
What's that? A baby coho salmon:
This last weekend we had a going away party for my friend Maggie, who has been a huge inspiration to me since I came to the maritime northwest, and I'll be forever greatful for the role she played in bringing me out here, and making me a part of the community once I arrived. Thanks Maggie, good luck on your journey, which I look forward to hearing all about, if you can ever find yourself an internet connection. Her journey makes mine seem tame by comparison, she's off for three months in Madagascar then Malaysia and Thailand, and who knows where after that. I'm really excited for her.
I'm really excited for me, too. I've been in Washington for a year now, and while I'm not certain if this is where I'll stay, it has been a wholly fulfilling time, and I look forward to what the future holds.
So that's a brief summary of the first month plus of my time at Solstice farm, I hope you've enjoyed hearing of my adventures, as benign as they might have been.In addition to the farm work I've been writing everyday(still), and participating in a discussion group about food issues, I know, who would have thought a Strich interested in talking about food? With food in mind I leave you a parting pic, hot salad of pea shoots from
Midori Farms, Purple potatoes from
Dharma Ridge, jerusalem artichokes from Colinwood, leeks from
Red Dog and lettuce from Johnston Farms. MMmmm, wish you were here to share:
Starts, ready for transplanting(which have been planted in the past weeks[and Ellen our fierce, fat, barn cat]):
Steaming hot pizza, fresh from the oven(rhubarb, roasted radish, and mixed greens, with local chevre):
My goats, these two This Goat and That Goat, have been joined by two more, Other Goat, and Ike's Goat.
