Farming in the shade

Not a lot of time to blog, but I am very concerned about the proposed changes to the child labor laws having to do with farms. As I understand it, if these changes are made, we would not be able to employ our own children on our farm, much less any other teens. Younger kids will not be able to help run the sheep into the chute for sorting, worming or shearing. Nor will they even be allowed to be involved with 4H, as it puts them in contact with animals. Too dangerous, I guess, to show a lamb at the county fair. Here's a link to another blog post on the topic. And here you can read about and comment on these proposed changes. The comment deadline has been extended to December 1. Back to the sweatshop (where we regularly ask our kids to use dangerous tools like felting needles and sewing machines)...

Did you know? Wool absorbs moisture. Although the outside of the wool fiber repels moisture, the inside of each fiber can absorb a lot of moisture. Wool can absorb as much as 30% of its weight without feeling wet to the touch (compared to only 8% for cotton and less than 5% for synthetics). Thus an inner wool garment can absorb perspiration without feeling clammy--the wearer feels less chilled in winter and more comfortable in summer. A very interesting characteritic of wool is that it actually liberates heat as it absorbs moisture. A single gram of wool gives off 27 calories of heat every time it goes from dry to wet. Wool actually helps to warm its wearer!

This has been the year from Murphy in many ways, as just about everything that can have gone wrong, has. Maybe you've had a year like that. Downsized? Medical issues? Relationships strained or broken? Gratitude is a decision. Habakkuk, an ancient prophet, had some nasty circumstances, too. Here's what he wrote: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior." Join me as I give thanks, will you? Sometimes it helps to say (or type) it out loud. I am thankful for... ...food in the cupboards ...farmers' markets and the new friends we've made there ...freedom to worship as we choose ...family, near and far ...forgiveness offered and received ...farming What are you thankful for?

We've only seen a few flakes of snow so far this year. That's okay--I'm willing to wait until closer to Christmas for the stuff that sticks. In the meantime, can you guess what these snowballs really are? Last Saturday we sold out of wool dryer balls at the Kerstmarkt. We've been scrambling to make more for today's West Michigan Co-op drop off (had orders for them, and can bring extras for impulse buyers). And of course we'll need more for Friday and Saturday's Kerstmarkt. So we've been working on dryer balls. What did you guess?

I know. It's Sunday, and I'm a day late. Better late than never. Here are more of my favorite etsy sellers from West Michigan: Sara of BySaraLynn offers handmade accessories and home decor, including this cute embroidered perpetual calendar, kanzashi fabric flower magnets, and picnic placemat sets. Sally of SallyManke offers amazing art quilts, table runners, coiled rope tote bags, and flower pins made from zippers. Jennifer of OneHauteHostess offers handmade wirewrapped coffee scoops, cake servers, letter openers and more. Maria of MomNMiaQuilts makes more than just quilts. Keyfobs, carseat strap protectors, burp cloths, totes, hair accessories and art buckets are just some of the items in her etsy shop.

Cranberries are grown on 280 acres throughout Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula, the nothern part of the lower Peninsula, and Southwest Michigan. Michigan chestnuts are sold fresh, peeled, frozen, sliced, or as flour. Chestnut flour is a gluten-free alternative to wheat flour.

I know I'm neglecting my little blog. Please forgive me. Here's a run down of our recent activities. Signed up for West Michigan Coop (our first food drop off date is next Tuesday) Wove a couple of rugs for an upcoming wedding Wove more rugs for the Kerstmarkt Took a kazillion photos of socks and mittens to list on the etsy shop Did some shopping for our family's upcoming Thanksmas holiday Bundled, tagged, labeled and prepped items for the Kerstmarkt Sold yarn and roving at a little knitting retreat in the next town over Checked out FarmLink Had a great day at the Sweetwater Local Foods Market on Saturday--Best Day Ever Put the rams in with the Polypay ewes Set up booths for the Kerstmarkt (sensing a theme yet?) Picked up new yarn and socks from Zeilinger Wool Co. , our favorite wool mill Put out fires at my day job The Kerstmarkt starts this Saturday, and the blog may continue to be a little neglected. If you're in the West Michigan area, please come out and see us

This is another in a series of posts encouraging you to buy handmade or buy local for Christmas this year. Julie homeschools her children and in her spare time makes temari, a traditional Japanese embroidered ball. She's incorporated the design into handmade pincushions in teacups. You can find both pincusions and temari of many different designs here . In her other etsy shop, Julie features handmade gadget covers (ipad, kindle, itouch, etc.) embellished with a variety of materials. She also offers fiber art for your walls. I have one hanging in my kitchen that reminds me of Psalm 23. You can find her gadget sleeves and art here .

Did you know? Wool is water repellant. The surface of individual wool fibers are covered with tiny scales, which combined with the natural oils or lanolin produced by glands in the skin, repel liquids. Wool keeps the sheep dry and is used in outer garments to keep us dry.

We own quite a large seed cleaner that is very good at cleaning large amounts of grain or beans. But the behemoth came with only a couple of sets of screens, and each new set of screens costs $750. You need a different screen for each grain/seed/bean. Ouch! We needed something that was a little more managable--something that could do small batches, and something that came with a variety of different screens. Where do you turn when you want something very, very specific and nearly obsolete? Ebay, of course. A couple of weeks ago, we drove to middle Indiana to pick up our prize--an A.T. Ferrell Clipper Model 1B seed cleaner. It came with 14 screens and was in working condition. After we ran the beans through the screener, we still had to hand-pick out what didn't belong. But it saved so much time! This batch of mixed beans was particularly full of extra stuff. Most of the beans are now cleaned and ready for sale. We are surprised at how fast the heirloom varieties are selling. Maybe

Since we are entering the season of gift-giving, I'd like to encourage you to buy handmade or at least local. Not everyone is going to be happy with handmade or locally-made items in their stockings, but if we can start to move away from buying absolutely everything from overseas, it might help our economy. We have several items suitable for gift-giving in our etsy shop . We will also be selling locally at the Kerstmarkt in November and December. Watch for more Handmade Saturday posts featuring other artists and their handmade goods!

Did you know? The United States uses over 3 million bushels of wheat each day. More foods are made with wheat than any other cereal grain. There are over 400 varieties of wheat grown in the United States.

After the delivery truck leaves, it's time to push the sawdust in, out of the weather. The Farmer starts making a ramp by going up and down the pile of sawdust repeatedly. It takes a while, but eventually, something like a ramp starts to form. Then The Farmer starts scooping up the dust and moving it way back in there, using the ramp. He tries to keep it away from the connecting door (to the right of the skidsteer in the photo) between the sawdust holding area and the main part of the compost facility. It's hard to open a door that's got a large pile of sawdust against it. In the interest of safety (since I don't want anyone to worry), The Farmer is in a skidsteer with a rollcage. He's got a seatbelt on, and even ear protection. He's as safe as he can be, considering what he's doing. Farming has long been in the Most Dangerous Jobs list, and we don't intend to add to the statistics.

Every month or so, we take in a load of sawdust. Sawdust is an integral part of our compost production, and so we purchase it from a local pallet manufacturer. They have to truck it all of 4 or 5 miles to get to our farm. Can't get it much closer than that! The trucks they use to haul sawdust come with a walking floor. Slats on the floor move back and forth to push the sawdust out of the box trailer. The trucker pulls ahead a little as the load comes off. When we first built our compost facility, we had no concept of hauling in sawdust by the semi-load. At that time we were getting wood flour from a local furniture manufacturer by the dumpster load. Quite a bit smaller than semi trailers. But the truckers are good, and can maneuver very well even in tight situations. A quick sweep job (might as well get everything you pay for!) and the delivery part of the job is done. More later about what happens after delivery.