Farming in the shade

Nah, guess not.

It takes just 40 days for most Americans to earn enough money to pay for their food supply for the entire year. In comparison, it takes 129 days it takes the average American to earn enough money to pay federal, state and local taxes for the year.

It's amazing how creative kids can be sometimes... The natives are restless. Good thing spring has sprung!

Now Washington wants the power to seize any financial firms (not just banks) that look to be on the verge of failure.  "Besides seizing a company outright, the document states, the Treasury Secretary could use a range of tools to prevent its collapse, such as guaranteeing losses, buying assets or taking a partial ownership stake. Such authority also would allow the government to break contracts, such as the agreements to pay $165 million in bonuses to employees of AIG's most troubled unit." Read more here .  I'd better go read the Constitution again. Don't remember anything in there about this...

Last week when the weather was pretending it was spring, a couple of the kids and I headed out to a nearby park for some fresh air. We are fortunate enough to live within 3 miles of two great nature parks.  We went with the excuse that we needed to check on our letterbox. We also attempted (with mixed luck) to find some other letterboxes. What's that? Don't know about letterboxing? Check this link here. You'll find information about what letterboxing is, and clues for letterboxes hidden (hopefully) in your area. We did find some letterboxes, and took ours in for maintenance (it was missing a pen and some other strategic parts).  While we were out, we enjoyed seeing some wildlife.  I suspect that much of our area looked like our walk in the woods before the farmers came and cleared the land.

Thirty to 40 gallons of sugar maple sap must be boiled down to make just one gallon of maple syrup. This year we haven't tapped our maples at Shady Side Farm, despite the fact that it seems like it's perfect sap running weather here in Michigan. We made the decision in part because of our busyness, and in part because we haven't used up all the syrup from last year. In my dreams, we would get a real evaporator system so that we wouldn't have to boil sap in the house. I have a lot of dreams. LOL!

This week is National Agriculture Week. Go hug a farmer. (Just kidding.) Here are some Michigan farm facts: • Agriculture contributes $71.3 billion to Michigan's economy annually. • Agriculture employs more than 1 million people. That's a quarter of Michigan's work force. • The state's agricultural economy has been expanding at a rate five times faster than the growth rate of the general economy. • Ninety-five percent of Michigan's farms are single-family operated and/or family partnerships. • Of the few Michigan farms structured as corporations, 99 percent of those are family-owned and involve multiple generations and family members. Agriculture is currently the #2 "industry" in Michigan, and despite the rosy statistics, it faces some serious challenges both here in our state and across the nation. At a time when more people are starting to think about where their food comes from, farmers are facing increased pressure from environmentalists and regulatory...

What you lookin' at?!

One of the basic rights that I feel very strongly about (um, yes--I homeschool!) is the right to make decisions about what's best for my children. I am concerned about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which some politicians have promised to bring to the US Senate with hopes of ratifying it. I believe that this would erode not only the rights of parents to make decisions about their children, but that it would also erode the strength of US law. While I am grieved about the many children around the world and down the road who are oppressed and abused, and while I want the people who do evil to them brought to justice, I do not believe that loving, caring, careful parents should be saddled with more legislation and regulation because of those who do wrong. (Side mini-rant: WHY do law abiding citizens have to pay the piper for the behavior of criminals? Have you tried to buy over the counter cold medicine lately? You have to give your name, address, phone number, date of b...

Waiting for the haircuts (no, it doesn't hurt them--it's like a buzz cut): Nick W. does our shearing for us. He's a national-champion shearer who is shearing his way through college: They lay pretty still during the shearing: See how clean and lovely the wool is on the inside? If we do our jobs well, it all comes off in one piece--a fleece! The fleece is spread out on a table so that we can pull off the bits with lots of hay or dirt. These parts are tossed off to the side, and used later for mulch. The best wool is saved for yarn or roving or pillows: Photos courtesy of Paul L. Johnson of pcsphoto. Thank you, Paul! Any questions?

The busy weekend and the head cold that developed afterwards have wiped me out. I'm taking a few days off from blogging (without guilt). We had a great time at Shearing Day, and as soon as I get permission from some guest photographers, I will share some pictures.