Farming in the shade

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these faithful shearers from the swift completion of their appointed work. Shearing will happen tomorrow, as scheduled, from 9 - noon. The only variable is that our faithful shearers are coming from a distance. We have never rescheduled a shearing, and don't plan to reschedule tomorrow's. But if there is any news of canceling, it will be found here and on the facebook page. I will not have time to return any more phone calls today.

When I chose the name for this blog, it was partly a play on the name of our farm--Shady Side Farm. It was also partly a statement on the decline of farming in America--that somehow a cloud has passed over the sun, and we work on while worrying what is to come. I just finished reading a novel by Wendell Berry. In his Jayber Crow, he traces the lifetime of a small town barber in Kentucky. In the excerpt I've included here, the barber speaks of the state of farming in his small town probably somewhere around the 1970s. I found much that spoke to me: And the farmers, some of them at least, were worrying. They knew that farming was in decline, losing diversity, losing self-sufficiency, losing production capacity. A sort of communal self-confidence, which must always have existed, had begun to die away. You could hear it in the talk. Elton Penn, say, would come in on a Saturday night for a haircut, and then another good farmer, Nathan Coulter maybe or Luther Swain, would come in, a...

Please forgive my quietness... I'm busy on the farm front and at the day job, both. The timing couldn't be worse for our shearing day and a big "deadline" at work. So maybe I will repost a few things from the archives this week. Maybe. If I don't, you'll know I'm even too buried to do that. Click here for the details on the shearing day. We're doing things a bit differently. We think we have enough help, but if on Saturday we look a little frazzled and you feel like checking with us to see if there is anything specific you can do to help (we won't ask you to shear, we promise), it'd be appreciated. As always, there is no admission charge for this event. We are excited to partner with the Critter Barn, a local edu-farm. You can read more about their mission and work here. They will be with us to help educate folks on Saturday, and if you enjoy your visit and would like to, you can donate to this non-profit. Your donations will help to house an...

A typical cow weighs 1500 pounds and produces 70 pounds of milk per day. A cow converts roughage and grains not consumed by people into high-energy foods. One day's production is equivalent to: 3.3 pounds of butter, or 8.1 gallons of milk, or 7 pounds of cheese. One day's consumption is about: 35 gallons of water, and 20 pounds of grain and concentrated feed, and 35 pounds of hay or silage. --American Farm Bureau Federation's Food and Farm Facts

What do farmers do in the wintertime, anyway? Pay taxes. Fill out organic paperwork. Order seed and nutrients for the spring planting. Attend commodity and board meetings. Rest a little. Take a vacation (unless you're an animal farmer). Milk cows for other farmers while they take a vacation. Knit socks. Weave rugs. Go to year-round, indoor farmers markets to sell food and fiber. Fix and rebuild broken things. This morning, as we left a breakfast meeting on social media (yes, really), The Farmer got a phone call. He tossed me the keys, and I drove home so that he could talk without distraction. You see, The Farmer is a mini-expert on composting. And people get to know that, and call him. And all the things that he's learned over the years, he gives freely to others. This morning, as I drove, listening quietly to him tell an Amish farmer why windrow composting would probably be his best option (it was because of the straw bedding), I was grateful. All those people who poured know...

A local vocational school has a couple of our ewes "on loan". Today, one of the ewes gave birth to a very tiny ram lamb. He's got some unique coloring and some mighty cute ears. We don't usually name ram lambs. But if we did, what would be a good name for this one?

The production of pure maple syrup is the oldest agricultural enterprise in the United States. Forty gallons of maple sap are required to make one gallon of syrup. Michigan ranks fifth in maple syrup production. Only about 1% of Michigan's maple forest resource is used for syrup production. Maple syrup is classified as one of nature's most healthful foods. Maple syrup is one of the few agriculture crops in which demand exceeds supply.

From another Ag Blogger, Chris Chinn: Last week I traveled to Washington, DC to testify before the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade (Subcommittee of the House Committee on Small Business) on behalf of America’s farmers and ranchers about the Department of Labor’s proposed rules regarding Child Labor on farms and ranches. The Department of Labor has proposed new rules that would restrict children under the age of 16 from working on a farm or ranch. The list of tasks youth would not be allowed to do is astonishing to me. For example, milking cows would not be allowed, and neither would building a fence... Read more here . This is very important to farm families, and I'd appreciate you becoming aware of the issue.

Did you know? More than half of America's agricultural producers intentionally provide habitat for wildlife. Deer, moose, fowl and other species have shown significant population increases during the past several years. Much of this habitat is in the form of conservation buffers--small areas or strips of land that improve soil, air and water quality, and create scenic landscapes.

This is a photo taken about a month ago. In West Michigan. Part of the Great White North. It was a lovely day--don't remember the exact temp, but it was warm enough for kayak fever to hit. A year ago, these guys were heating the workshop and working their fingers off to make their kayaks. But this year we've had several more really warm days since that January day on the river. Notice the snow in the foreground of the photo above. It isn't that it doesn't get cold and snowy. It does. But then it's warm again. Really warm. In a normal year, we'd have days that got above freezing occasionally. But to have so many warm days? And some of them really warm? It's weird. I'm not really sure what it will mean for our upcoming growing season. But I think a lot of the retired Michiganders have wasted their money going south this year.