Farming in the shade

Today we were told, yet again, that we were not "a good fit" to sell at a nearby farmers' market. Unlike other times, I pressed in. "But why?" I asked. "We are full-time farmers, deriving most of our income from farming. The wool products we would be selling are from our own sheep." And more. I'm afraid I did not make the market mistress like me very much today, due to my persistence. And I got nowhere. I LOVE farmers' markets. But I think they should be renamed to "Food Markets".

Duke dropped a shoe a couple of weeks ago, so last week we had the farrier out to put them back on. First he had his hooves cleaned and trimmed: Then each shoe was shaped to fit the hoof: Then it was nailed on. The ends of the nails were nipped off and filed down. Or was it the edge of the hoof that was being filed? Probably both... Skittles had her hooves trimmed at the same time. Both behaved pretty well. I asked the farrier the standard questions that I always ask when the kids are around and listening: 1) Do you like your job? 2) How did you get interested in this? 3) What training did you need to get to do this? Most of the time, people seem to enjoy answering these questions. I usually explain that I'm doing it for the kids' sake--to help them know what goes into choosing a good job. The farrier emphasized that it was important to choose a job that you love AND that pays well enough for you to live on. One without the other is not enough. I love it when people help me hom...

The other day we had an opportunity to drop our schoolwork and run outside for a peek at some wildlife. I don't know the exact type of bird this was (a heron, perhaps?), but it sure was neat to see it perched atop one of our feed bins. We watched it for perhaps 3 or 4 minutes before it flew off.

Over the past month, I've been working to dejunk an upstairs room to make space for our homeschooling activities. I had a couple of organizer ladies come and make suggestions. We took many of their suggestions and implemented them. The kids and I spent the better part of Labor Day week sorting and sifting. I had to ask for help from several of my family members who have certain gifts. The end result is a lovely homeschooling room/library on the second floor of our house. I am EVER so grateful to the organizer ladies for starting me on this journey...

Today is the beginning of a 2-week challenge to eat local. I can't begin to write constructively about the need for us to "eat local" since so many have done it so well already. Read more about local foods here . We are personally interested in the eat local campaign because we see that it helps with the economic sustainability of small farms. If you buy direct, at farm stands or markets, the farmer gets the majority of the money and may approach a living wage. If you buy at the large box store, generally you are supporting corporate farms. There is a time and a place for corporate farms. America cannot be fed by small farms exclusively. But the small farmers cannot compete on the same playing field as the corporate farms, and are going out of business at an alarming rate. Would you please do ONE thing during this 2-week challenge? Visit a farmer's market you haven't been to before. Buy and try a new veggie at the market. Click on the map at Local Harvest to see ...

Even now, when most of the garden has been tilled under and seeded to oats, we harvest food for our supper. Onions, broccoli, carrots, and squash all add color and flavor and FRESH nutrition. I understand that in our area, this Friday is a celebration of eating locally. Can't eat much more locally than walking out to the garden in the late afternoon to pick food for supper.

Today we started school. We raced through the basic things to be able to spend time organizing. The organizer ladies who came to help me with my mess (see earlier posts) suggested that we use our upstairs library (a.k.a. storage area for anything and everything) as a homeschool area. We spent quite a bit of time over the weekend purging and sorting. Today we worked hard, and were finally able to see the walls and floor. These bookshelves had to be emptied so that we could move them (and vaccum and mop, while we're at it). Here's a very small part of what needs to go back on them. The girls decided to number the piles so that we didn't get confused about what went where. Tomorrow we hope to put the rug back down, move a table up there and put the books back where they belong. Then I have a good day's work finishing organizing the homeschool closet. Yes, it looks neat now. But what you don't see is the card table still in the middle of the living room, with all the bi...

Work on our farm seems never to be done. But we try to do something different on holidays. Today we spent quite a bit of time in our upstairs "library", decluttering and getting it ready to be our new homeschool area. The "organizer ladies" took about a week to make a plan, and this was a large part of it. The living room will be a living room. The library will be where we homeschool. We got a lot done (though there is much more to do), and while the kids and I were working up there, The Farmer attended to some home repairs that have been neglected. After lunch, our oldest daughter came home for a short visit. It's S.'s birthday today, and it was nice to have the family all together for the birthday supper. When S. blew out the candles on her cake, I wondered what she wished for. Always, she has wished for a horse. Now that she has TWO, I can't imagine what she could come up with. Before supper, The Farmer and A. decided to ride. Here are A. and S. saddl...