This weekend we harvested the first of our own pigs since 2013. Gosh I missed them. These piglets were born in Washington, Vermont, just about 30 miles away. They rode in a hay-lined truck to Randolph, and spent the rest of their lives rooting and snoozing and companionably sniping at each other over the food…
OK, I’ll own it. I’m a sucker for lambs. I wait every year to see what colors they’ll be and how many each ewe will have, and how strong and amazing they’ll be (they stand in minutes and often jump around within hours…it’s awe inspiring). Lambing season isn’t all sunshine and roses, despite the pictures…
It’s been more than eighteen months at the new farm, and there is much to share. After the emotional roller coaster of finding and making the right location happen, we spent the fall of 2016 rushing around to get ourselves and the animals settled before winter. And then we mostly collapsed. Most of our friends…
The sheep are getting a snack again. I have a view from my office window and have been working at home a lot this Spring. This affords me a clear view down to the sheep pen and coincidentally a front-row seat to who’s visiting today. There are Martha and Emily, two neighbors with short-legged, big-personality…
Since we are in Poetry Month and Mother’s Day is right around the corner, here’s a poem that I wrote about my mom after visiting her one day last spring. She doesn’t know that I wrote this. Love you, Mum. –Jenn Spring Afternoon Carefully She picks her way Her deliberate pace Not the…
Poetry continues. Not trying to bury the lead, but our aged canine fellow Vaughan recently had a stroke. Before you read this and freak out (family), he’s OK. We had a little “is this it?” time, but he’s recovering well. And wow, what an amazing dog he has been and continues to be. –Jenn …
Recently, I had the opportunity to read some of my poetry at The Black Krim in Randolph along with a group of other farmer-poets. So amazing and humbling to hear how other people see some of the things that I see and write about, and how they choose to express it. Some of the poets…
Somehow we turned around and now it’s February, 2016. For those keeping track (and wondering what the heck we’ve been doing), we’ve been busy. Seriously, it’s looked a lot like this (and no, this is not our farm). Since last June we’ve written our business plan twice, had a farm under contract then terminated it,…
Have you ever written a business plan? Currently, I am working on the third one of my career. The first was for my undergraduate class in Ecological Entrepreneurship. It was fun; a plan for an edible landscaping business called The IncrEdible Yard (I dare you to use that name!). I knew nothing about edible landscaping,…
Yesterday, we submitted our paperwork to the funding sources we’ll be depending on to help us buy the farm we want. I am tingling all over with the thought of it. My emotions are running deep, with what is probably 60% excitement that we’re moving forward, and 40% fear of what we’re getting ourselves into….