Cold. That is the word that comes to mind today as I sit inside our toasty blue farmhouse and look out on to the world. It is hovering somewhere around zero today, but luckily there is little wind, and (sadly for me), little snow.
We are gearing up with some big plans for the year ahead, and are excited to include all of you in our vision. [There are some sign up forms at the end of this post to order beef, get more info on work and other exciting things - so read on!]
First, and perhaps most exciting (and time consuming), there is a "barn" in the works that will include an apartment, a loft for a farm office and a commercial kitchen. The idea is to hold classes in the kitchen: whole animal butchery (including deer for those of you who are hunters), sausage making, and maybe even a pie class or two (I am hoping to recruit superstar pie maker Beth Howard among others). Other classes might be more focused on our farming and perhaps there will even be a writing retreat or two. Farm dinners are also on our horizon and we eventually hope to rent out the kitchen to others interesting in selling their "value added" food products legally.
The apartment will be primarily for my bad ass mom who, at 76, still enjoys coming to the farm to help with the cattle. But it will also be for rent when she is not there, and can of course house you when you come and visit. We are also making the Airstream more comfy and cozy, and plan to also move the Tiny House closer to our house next summer. In other words, there will be a lot of spaces for visitors.
But there will also be space for those who want to come and farm with us. We are talking to some Universities about offering internships so that students can get a feel for farming, and we even made a handshake deal with a wonderful young woman in town who wants to work for us this summer, 20 hours a week. This means we might actually be able to get much more done than we have in the past, and can start to really actualize the creation of a community around farming this land.
This is an element to reGENerative farming I have just realized is the most critical: you need GENerations to work the land in order for the farm to become truly "sustainable." All the time and energy left in our short lives could be spent on planting trees and rotating cattle, but it will mean absolutely nothing if we have no one to farm it after us.
We are going to be starting some mailing list for those interested in learning more about working with us, this summer or years from now. Please email us if you would like to be on that list. And we are also gearing up for cattle sales for the year - CLICK HERE to see a list of our locker dates through the fall and to sign up for one. We would love to have people signed up way in advance for each of the dates so that we have a little more financial security in knowing what we are going to sell and when. There are also GOATS that will be available in the fall, and you can sign up IF YOU'D LIKE TO VISIT so we get your dates on our calendar.
Thanks always for all the support!
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