It Feels Like It's On Us: Loss in the Barnyard

We've been a little radio silent on the momma pigs and the new little piglets, because it's been a stressful time. Flora farrowed outside, in a beautiful nest of hay (after a galivant around the farm, don't forget) on a warmish winter day, a couple days before a storm. We built a sort of temporary strawbale shelter around her, to block precipitation and wind. During this time we lost one; this is no surprise, it happens. Losing 1 or 2 wouldn't be a huge shock.

When the storm rolled in we moved all the piglets to a shed, for mom to follow.

Then we lost another piglet. And then a couple more. All to her laying on them. She is a very careful momma, we see how tentative she is. She's also the largest sow we've ever had.

By castration and ear notching time we thought we were through the trauma of loss - a heavy week, with a lot of processing. The day after castration we lost the sixth piglet, of her liter of 14. I could have been anthropomorphizing, but I'd check on Flora and she looked sad.

What could we have done differently? Would it have changed anything? Maybe we shouldn't have sheltered the piglets, left her outside in the space she chose specifically for this purpose. We've never co-farrowed before and Fauna being up in her space could be a factor. She chose the little shed, which she moves around in fine, but perhaps it's just a little too small. Many questions floating around in our heads.

It feels like it's on us.

Raising animals always comes with loss, but it never gets easier. Raising breeding animals is a whole other level. We witness miracles and feel devastation. We're witness the intense innate instincts these creatures have, the bonds and communication. We have a decade of experience under our belts with pigs, but we're still learning all the time.

It's a blow, emotionally and financially. It was a hard week processing that, while looking out at the home orchard which has sustained significant rabbit damage this winter. 

While things seem to have leveled out, one piglet is too skinny and needs extra attention and has been brought inside. Fauna looks like she's starting to dry up (too early at 4 weeks) and we suspect her piglets may be competing with Flora's for her milk. Fauna (the jumping pig) is not the attentive mother Flora is. Last night we started bottle feeding Flora's little nugget and as soon as he puts weight back on he'll head back out with his crew. He seems like he'll be just fine, he has vigor. 

Chickens in the kitchen. Pigs in the basement. Things are pretty normal here at the farm.

Photo Update June 22

So, this will be an update for all of June, apparently! As of today we have had 9.67" of rain, the field is more like a bog, but it is what it is. Cruise through the month of June so far in these pics...

Maybe I should grow cranberries in my bog?

Did you catch that worm video on facebook? The mud has provided some fun. ;)

The raspberry patch got an overhaul - well weeded and trellis posts put in. We will wait to string up wire until next year (for one thing it is just too wet right now).

Raspberries are beginning to blush!

For two weeks we did our Spring CSA pick up at the farm, here's what it looked like - a market style pick up where folks select their own goods.

Lettuce, rhubarb, radishes, strawberries, kale, parsley, sage, green shallots and garlic scapes are farm fresh in June!!

Green and red heads of summercrisp lettuce.

Heirloom rhubarb.

Beautiful radishes.

Delicious and nutritious kale.

Parsley and sage.

Strawberries.

We started on our big project for the year! We will be renovating the quonset hut to meet our changing needs at the farm. The inside is all graded, supplies are being delivered and we are getting ready to get the concrete poured.

Tomato plants are blooming and little green fruits can be spotted (same with cukes).

A little evidence of the rain - carrots look okay at the top of this planting, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to replant the back half. The rains are really setting back weed control, as well as some seeding.

Potato blooms grace the field! We have lost some potato plants, due to the water, hopefully these sunny days will help things bounce back.

I just harvested our first pound of basil on the 21st! I love the smell of basil!

Harvesting for Spring CSA and local orders has been a little mucky! Today looks dry all day - quite a blessing!!

I added two new items to our wellness line, two items we use around here regularly, our Cool It and Herbal Bug Spray. Cool It is a blend of essential oils that I use on hot days - spritzing on my pulse points, back of my neck and on my chest to cool off a little. The bug spray is a blend of yarrow and catnip to cleanly and naturally deter bugs; spray every hour, or as needed. Studies show catnip to be as effective as deet!

It's been a real pleasure harvesting fresh food for my community again this spring. The open house we had in May, the Spring CSA and Mini Market at the Farm brought old and new faces - it means so much to connect with all of you.

 Apples are growing! The crop looks really great this year. Info on Apple Shares coming soon!!

Until next time!!!

Orchard Update 2.10.18

Big Changes

Late last season we decided to make some big changes on the farm, what does that mean for our orchards? Well, for one thing, orchard management becomes top priority for us, as we strive for the increased quality for our delicious fruit and for our customers. We have leaned up our farm systems so we can put more focus into the orchard.


What does this mean for you?
More apples! More nutritious fruit, as we focus even more in depth on tree health.
More locations! You'll be able to find our organic, and transitional organic, apples at both the New Ulm and Mankato farmers' markets this season.
More fruit! Time after time folks request more fruit. We have over 20 varieties of apples to offer and our first apricot crop is just around the bend.

The Universe Listens

With the hard decision, a weight lifted and we could feel it was the right decision. And the universe responded, with opportunity. Did I mention "More Fruit!"? Our orchard is ever expanding. Our core orchard - that lit John's orcharding inspirations - just outside New Ulm continues to produce great organic apples; from our first crop, until now, 18 varieties thrive there. At our home orchard, over 300 young trees continue to mature, with a few of the oldest trees beginning to give us modest harvests; when these trees all mature we'll have over 50 varieties to temp your tastebuds. Lastly, the opportunity, our new orchard location, just outside of Lake Crystal, increases our diversity and gives us the ability to transition more land into organic production; having another location also make us more resilient, in case of events such as hail, wind, or frost. It's going to be an exciting year!

Right Now, In the Orchard

John has been busy the last month with pruning. There is some catch-up maintenance work to do in the new orchard. Pruning is so very important for the health and vigor of a tree, and for organic management. John will be leading a Fruit Tree Pruning Class on March 3, to share these important skills.

Sir Renfred Moves on to New Pastures

Sir Renfred Leaves the Farm

It was a bitter sweet day yesterday as Sir Renfred moved to his new home. You can see below that he is eager to get to know his new lady friends (as evidenced by the mouth foam). We are grateful that he has moved to a fantastic new home, with large pastures to roam. We know Farmer Drew, Full Boar Farm, will take great care of him.

Sir Renfred gets a first peak at his new ladies.

That doesn't keep us from getting a little emotional about the change! Sir Renfred means "mighty, but peaceful" and indeed he always lived up to his name. He was our first boar and has been an important part of our pastured pig operation. Below, Farmer John says goodbye. The night before he left we hung out and gave the good ole boy a beer, for old times sake. Good, good pig.

John says farewell.

So what's the story? Why the change? 

We have decided to take a break from farrowing (breeding pigs). We had been discussing this off an on for a little bit. When we, kind of, begrudgingly, made our final decision that was about the time Farmer Drew contact us looking to see if we had a boar for sale. Very serendipitous.

Taking a break from farrowing is like a two year process. It's a little laughable. Now, we have fewer pigs and fewer groups of pigs, which eases the work. The sows, Elsa and Suzy, will farrow in January. Post-weaning in March we will look for good homes for them. All of the weaner piglets (which already have good homes set), except about 3, will move off to other farms. With a group of 3 for us to raise over the summer it will be the smallest number of pigs we have had on our farm. When that trio is harvested in late Fall we shall enjoy a winter without pigs - our "break."

Summer 2017 we have one (or more) large projects going on, which we would like to put our focus towards. Our Deep Winter Greenhouse will be built and next winter will be our first winter growing. It will be nice to have more time and energy to dedicate to this, as pigs do take considerable time to care for (which we love, don't get me wrong). This also gives us great opportunity to rejuvenate the pastures, which really took a beating in the muddy, muddy, mucky never-ending rain this year.

So, while sad, it's all good. Hard decisions need to happen on the farm. It's definitely more difficult with animals that have been around a while. Scroll on, for a little Sir Renny slideshow.

Sir Renfred Slide Show!

 Here he is the day he moved in. He moved all the way from Ohio. Such a little guy!

Renny has brought us much joy.

His first wallow.

Always gentle and sweet.

That boy snoozed hard. Gotta love that nose...and those ears!

He surely produced some beautiful bacon bits and delicious pork chops.

He is a wonderful Dad. Loved the kids to pieces.

He even let them try and nurse him.

What a lover.

Making a Blessing out of Fighting

Eternal mud season. That's what it feels like. Sometimes it seems like we are always fighting. Fighting the mud, the wind, the weather. Fighting time. Daylight. Sneaky chickens. Fighting for organic. Fighting the consumer mindset. Fighting for environmental and good food education. Time. Fighting bugs, disease, loss. Fighting to meet our sales goals. Fighting off exhaustion.

Right now the mud is a downer and it exacerbates this feeling, so pig chores became a meditation on fighting today. As I wrangled the kids hay rack out of one mud pit and into theirs I could feel the frustration (and triumph). (Fighting that fleeting thought that I just want to turn everyone into bacon!) The kiddos were delighted, grateful, exuberant over their alfalfa hay - my heart is full.

Hogs enjoying some good hay, despite the mud.

It's difficult to remind myself that it is a blessing to be able to fight these things, fight for these things. (I'll have to remember this in summer, when I'm trying to sleep with rain and 40 mph winds.) To have choice in these elements I'm fighting, and fighting for. Farming will never be easy, there will always be something to fight against, but we remain vibrant, grow strong.

We have the privilege not to have to be fighting for our livelihood. When there are others out there fighting for their homes, their lands, their water (our lands, our water), who have much less choice.

I think about the mud - the water in our ground. I am grateful that my family, my farm, my farm animals have access to good, clean water. The mud makes me crazy, but it's Minnesota...hopefully it will freeze soon. "This too shall pass." Meditating on gratitude that this is a temporary fight.

Mucking it up with my muddy buddies.

We stand with Standing Rock. We have to keep fighting for our environment, for our children for the next seven generations. We cannot give on this, but keep pressing forwards - each of us where we can.


The Seventh Generation Principle
"This principle states that we should make decisions about how we live today based on how our decisions will impact the future seven generations. We must be good caretakers of the earth, not simply for ourselves, but for those who will inherit the earth, and the results of our decisions. This value is found in the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Great Law of Peace (Gayanashagowa) and is common among a number of indigenous peoples in the Americas." - Woodbine Ecology Center