Whew….there have been lots of ups and downs, comings and goings at the farm already in 2022. Some anticipated, others not. Here is a quick run-down for those interested and it’ll explain a bit about why we have been out of touch & didn’t hit our original goal of re-opening the Farmstand in May.
January was quiet and bookended by some expected and unexpected losses and sadness for the farm and farmers. Some of you already know that we said our goodbyes to Uno, our first farm dog, at the end of January. As you all know, the elder farm statesman had been declining and while goodbyes are never easy, it was a gift to ease him out of his pain. We adopted Uno in the farm’s first summer, and we all grew quickly into being farmers together. He left a beautiful impact on this farm, which many stories, memories and pictures capture. We made a Farm Uno card game that honors so many memories with him, you can check it out in the farmstand.
Shockingly, Dosa died 4 weeks prior. Our beloved little farm terrier Dosa likely had a rare negative reaction to the anesthesia at the completion of her spaying surgery. She packed so much joy, love, curiosity, and energy into that little body and shared it all so generously. In a year and a half she made a deep mark on our lives and this farm and we miss her deeply.
Mari’s hip replacement surgery went smoothly and she is healing well, the healing was a bit slower than anticipated, but she made steady progress through the Winter & early Spring due to her diligent work. Now she is better than ever in some ways, but still noting there is rebuilding work to do. But she’s been doing amazing bed prep for plants, transplanting and equipment work with much less pain, so all is good there!
Donna got Covid in late January as part of the Omicron wave, and while her initial symptoms were notable, but not worrisome, she had quite debilitating fatigue, brain fog and headaches for more than 3 months, that really put her out of commission for not only the farm, but much. Thanks to some probiotics & studies out of the UK she is now on the road to recovery. Hopefully, permanently, but jury is still out. It is so nice to see some brightness back in her.
Continuing on that positive note, we have ruminants back at the farm! A mixed age flock of Katahdin sheep joined the farm in late April and we look forward to welcoming some additional lambs from our friends at Willow Pond Sheep Farm in June! Many of you may remember Carrie Abels, former editor of Local Banquet and a farm volunteer, who now owns/runs Willow Pond with her husband Brent Wasser. These will be primarily for meat and it is lovely to watch them turn plants (grown by the sun!) into meat already as they graze and grow.
Shortly after the arrival of the sheep, we welcomed a pup to the farm. Risør , is a Maremma, a livestock guardian breed, who will ultimately live in the pastures and protect the various flocks and herds from land and aerial predators. We anticipate bringing a terrier and probably a herding dog back in the mix as well at some point but after we lost 10 hens to a fox during the day in April, we decided that perhaps a Livestock Guardian Dog was the first new working dog we needed. For now she is learning her manners and the farm. You may meet her when you shop, but we will ask for calm greetings and at times no greeting as that is not to be her ultimate job and we need her to learn that folks at the farmstand are not her responsibility.
Risør? It is a small town in Norway, where Mari’s grandparents both grew up on farms. She had an opportunity this Spring to visit her cousins who still live on her grandmother’s farm, celebrating the “young” cousin’s 80th birthday.
So Small Towns is the 2022 naming scheme, so send in your name suggestions as there are sheep, and piglets to name already.
The first batch of piglets were born this week. Poppy and the crew are doing well.
We’ve been tending the orchard and getting annual crops in the ground as well. One hoophouse is recovered and filled with peppers & tomatoes, the other got covered this weekend to be ready for sweet potato planting next week. The garlic is looking great, brassicas are in the ground and potatoes will follow shortly. May is an exhausting month for farmers, especially in these Northern short growing season locations.
On the collaboration front, we joined the new Land Care Cooperative and received a grant from Vermont for a ripsower, which will be a key piece of our effort to rebuild our land, deepen our topsoil and cycle carbon. We will be sharing it with other farms in the region and learning together with farms throughout the state. (more on this soon!) Mari has been helping prepare Vermont to host the International Workshop on Agritourism at the end of August and we look forward to being part of the mobile workshops. Check out the invitation video for more information.
We are thrilled to be continuing and deepening our partnership with Hannah at Field Stone Farm, but like many (perhaps most) business & organizations both farms are understaffed. We are adapting to still deliver a great and diverse mix of healthy food. Due to this, there will be some changes and limitations, so like many entities are asking, please be patient and work with what we can offer. We’ve added one teammate each, both of whom are really amazing! But after a long recruitment process, others resigned before even starting. While the 3 Farm Owners (Mari, Laura & Hannah) are digging deep to fill in all sorts of gaps, there is a limit to how much we can do.
So much more was packed into the last several months as well, and we hope you have managed through this time with generally good health. We look forward to seeing you back at the farm and providing nourishing local food.