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Jenn Colby


Today’s arrival is a little ram lamb from Gordon
Today’s arrival is a little ram lamb from Gordon (Ramsey). Gordon was named last year by a yurt guest who enjoyed how pushy G was for carrots—a real foodie. 😜 We also had three yesterday, twins from Jeri and a single from Brene. This brings us to 15. It’s starting to look like a sheep explosion now that the number of lambs is approaching the number of ewes… Lamb Open House is Saturday the 17th! 11-1, doors are open by donation. Music, farm strolls, lamb snuggles, and pork & lamb for sale. Bring a picnic and enjoy! #randolphvt #foodfamilyandfarm

#keepmovingforward​​​​​​​​​#succ
#keepmovingforward​​​​​​​​​#success #womeninagriculture #newfarmers #healingagriculture

I know I rarely do bottle lambs, but somehow this
I know I rarely do bottle lambs, but somehow this little fella changed my mind. I think I might wether him and find a home for him. He’s a sweetie. Anyone need a pet sheep? 😜 #foodfamilyandfarm #randolphvt #bottlelamb #hypocrite

I woke up today not wanting to be a farmer. I had
I woke up today not wanting to be a farmer. I had a VERY full day yesterday hosting grade schoolers and doing errands for my mom and going to a Village Idiots (with @chrissargentguitar) concert downtown. I did a lot of physical stuff to get ready, and I talked to a LOT of people yesterday. I also didn’t drink enough water on a 90+ degree day. And I have a bottle lamb 🙄 which I almost always avoid. This morning I felt like I’d been hit by a truck, both physically and mentally. The fun thing about being a farmer—we have to get up and care for the animals, even when we don’t feel like it. I went out and fed the lamb, and moved the sheep fence to a new paddock. Slowly. Yup, dragging, but I just had that little bit to do before heading over to a farmer friend’s place to look at her prospective Airbnb site. One of the rams was out. 🙄 And my bottle lamb walked right through the net after me to follow at my heels like a puppy, because the ewe net was shorted out. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Days when I’m not really into being a farmer, things just seem to compound. Know what I mean? After an hour of setting up new net for the ram (with my lamb shadow following and getting tangled in the net as I laid it out—would have adorable on any other day), and me unsuccessfully getting the adult ram INTO said net, I was really starting lose my shit. After an afternoon nap in the bathtub soaking in arnica bath salts (highly recommend!), we headed to Burlington to see @randyfeltface at the @vtcomedy club. Randy is my favorite Australian-vegan-puppet comedian. 🤣 YouTube him, seriously. He’s brilliant. I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing at one point. Spending an evening NOT being a farmer is sometimes the best way to come back in as a better farmer. After a night of great Nepali food, a couple of fancy drinks, and gasping, eyes-streaming laughter I feel like a totally new person. I’ve got a bottle-date with my lamb at 10 tonight and I’m looking forward to seeing him. ❤️ It’s OK to take a break. Just saying. #foodfamilyandfarm #farmermentalhealth #happyplace

Two more this morning from Joan. This brings us up
Two more this morning from Joan. This brings us up to 11. #foodfamilyandfarm

#foodfamilyandfarm​​​​​​​​​#rand
#foodfamilyandfarm​​​​​​​​​#randolphvt #rootedinvermont #farmlife #womeninagriculture

When I was a freshman in college, I did work study
When I was a freshman in college, I did work study on a project down at the UVM Farm in the back building with the fistulated cows (for those who aren’t familiar, a fistulated cow has a “porthole” into their largest stomach for nutrition research). Our study was a partnership with Cornell looking at the undigested fiber sizes of manure samples. I had to take the samples and run them through a series of filters and then weigh each group. It was kind of tedious and boring, but it was animal science and a job. The Director of Research was a fellow named Ray. He was nice enough, pretty traditional. The Assistant Project Manager was a woman who’s name I forgot. She was super nice, though. I’ll call her D, somehow it seems right. D and I chatted a lot on those afternoons twice a week when I filtered and prepped samples. I don’t remember what we talked about. On the last day I worked there, she came out to me as gay. It was the first time anyone ever told me they were gay. I had no clue what to say or do, so I just smiled and nodded. The thing D said to me that I didn’t understand until much later…”You were safe to tell.” Looking back—that was Fall 1988–it was unsafe to be Gay. AIDS was a huge epidemic. Older generations disapproved of the “choice”. In many places I’m sure it was still illegal. I know now what an honor it was that she felt she could tell me. She said Ray didn’t know. She didn’t know if it was safe to tell him. Many years later, I finally have an inkling of the chance she took, and what safety actually MEANS. To be who you truly are takes courage to live. So many people are frightened about what they don’t understand. Frightened people lash out, and that makes the world unsafe. Safe means home. Safe means true to your heart. Safe means cared-for and loved. For all the farmers and non-farmers, for all of my LGBTQ+ family, friends, kinda adopted (in spirit) children, and neighbors…and loving strangers (for now), I will do all that I can to create a space that is safe for you. This ally sees you and loves you. Love wins. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️💕 #randolphvt #pride #pridemonth #katahdinsheep #foodfamilyandfarm #farmlife #ranch


#new_england_grazing_network​​​​​​​​​#amazinggrazinglands #vtgrassfarmers #choosingtofarmpodcast #nepcgrazingguide #regenerativegrazing

Once lambs are born and start learning at their mo
Once lambs are born and start learning at their moms’ side, it’s a good reminder to me: 🐑 Be patient—learning new things takes time. 💕 What I think is simple and clear is really confusing to someone else. ☘️ Not everyone needs the same things to succeed. 🌟 Patience and humor are priceless. Feels like a good set of life lessons, right? All I needed to know about Life I learned at lambing time. ❤️❤️❤️ #randolphvt #foodfamilyandfarm #katahdinsheep #regenerativeagriculture #ranch #farm #farmlife

Well now, Easter! Also Dulce had twins this aftern
Well now, Easter! Also Dulce had twins this afternoon. More photos of all babies to come in the morning. Suddenly up to 6 lambs, from 1 this morning. 😜 Funny how fast that can happen. #lambs

Another reason I like keeping a few trees around?
Another reason I like keeping a few trees around? Lambing shelters. Easter just dropped Lamb 1, who is super cute. I’m guessing Lamb 2 will be making an appearance shortly. ❤️ #randolphvt #foodfamilyandfarm #lambingonpasture #rootedinvermont #katahdinsheep

#foodfamilyandfarm​​​​​​​​​#rand
#foodfamilyandfarm​​​​​​​​​#randolphvt #rootedinvermont #farmlife #womeninagriculture

Lamb selfies are the best selfies. And the outtake
Lamb selfies are the best selfies. And the outtakes are hysterical. #tortie #katahdinsheep #randolphvt #foodfamilyandfarm

No words, just birds singing…

Save the Date: La
No words, just birds singing… Save the Date: Lamb Open House June 17! #foodfamilyandfarm #randolphvt


Why, hello!
#randolphvt
#foodfamilyandfarm
#lamb
Why, hello! #randolphvt #foodfamilyandfarm #lambingonpasture

I keep a very slow rotation in my pastures (40-60
I keep a very slow rotation in my pastures (40-60 days before coming back), and I don’t clip (at least I haven’t, to date), so we have plenty of successional species coming in to our pastures. Hardwoods like red maple, softwoods like white pine. I know it makes some folks cringe to see open fields fill in, but I’m looking at a more silvopastural system than what we’ve been seeing in farm fields in the last few hundred years. Because of this management approach, we have increasing biodiversity, which is much more important to me than keeping my fields mowed or fence lines straight. One of the cool things I’ve been noticing is more birds, and birds’ nests. And new plant species. This bird’s nest built in a serviceberry tree—the first time I’ve noticed it coming in to the corner of that pasture. It’s so exciting to see what comes next as we watch Nature do what she does. And yes, I do trim some of the older trees to make sure sun reaches the pastures. I just don’t freak out about the seedlings. 😜 #foodfamilyandfarm #regenerativeagriculture

#keepmovingforward​​​​​​​​​#succ
#keepmovingforward​​​​​​​​​#success #womeninagriculture #newfarmers #healingagriculture

#foodfamilyandfarm​​​​​​​​​#rand
#foodfamilyandfarm​​​​​​​​​#randolphvt #rootedinvermont #farmlife #womeninagriculture


#new_england_grazing_network​​​​​​​​​#amazinggrazinglands #vtgrassfarmers #choosingtofarmpodcast #nepcgrazingguide #regenerativegrazing

This is a crusher. 💔

When I was 14, I had just
This is a crusher. 💔 When I was 14, I had just started a Columbia House subscription (13 albums for a penny! Anyone? Anyone?). I had heard a song of two off this album and thought it was cool. I did not have any idea how much I would fall in love with Tina Turner. At first it was just the album, which I recorded through my handy tape deck onto a cassette and sang to every day after school while I washed dishes. Then the Private Dancer concert video came out on HBO. It broke my mind. It felt like she was everything I wanted to be, and everything I wasn’t. She was glamorous with her costume changes and wild hair. She was joyful and passionate and the way she sang flooded me down to my toes with tingles. Her laugh in that concert when David Bowie came out—“Good surprise, huh?”…well I can still hear it today. I was a white girl from Vermont with chunky legs and pale skin and zero confidence in singing in front of other people. I wanted to be her so much. She was magical. And then Mad Max:Thunderdome came out (mediocre movie, epic Tina role and soundtrack), and then Break Every Rule. @chrissargentguitar and I were dating by then, and he knew how deep my love for Tina was embedded in my bones. He surprised me with tickets to a live show at Greatwoods in MA. It was the first time I truly connected with what live music performed by a magical person can do or be. Tina’s gifts felt life changing. As I became an adult, I learned more about her earlier life, and what she’d endured and survived, how she’d found Buddhism, how she created a new beautiful life filled with the things she WANTED in it. She was a hero (we don’t need another), and a warrior, and a gentle spirit. She showed us in the way she lived HOW to live. How to get back up without anger and attachment to what happened yesterday. How to let go and move into the next phase of life. She was in her 40s recreating herself, showing all people in their middle years—you can do it—we can be who we want to be. Always in my heart. Thank you, Tina. ❤️ #riptinaturner P.S. Photo by Dave Hogan, because I hate it when people take tons of time to write a thoughtful post and then don’t credit the artist. 🙄


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