Farm and Soap Updates

I am not a great memorizer of quotations or poetry but there are a few turns of phrase that really do stick in my head. At the moment it is this: “There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.” - Aldo Leopold Currently there is no heat (or hot water) coming from our furnace, so consider my spirit in a place of safety. Luckily, it's not all that cold out and the wood stove does keep the...

Autumn comes early most years in Vermont. We had our first very light frost yesterday, can you see the tiny frost crystals on the grass? As someone who raises livestock on pasture in northern Vermont, frost heralds the coming transition from rotational grazing to stationary housing. This far north, it's an often untalked-about reality that farmers raising pastured livestock need to be just as good at keeping livestock stationary and indoors, as keeping them on grass. By the end of October, the laying hens are tucked away in their winter quarters and the cows have finished up the available grazing....

This is the face of a dog who deeply regrets her choices. Farm Dog Caraway got sprayed directly in the face by a skunk a few days ago and didn't realize how many baths would result. I'm hopeful she's learned her lesson, since immediately after getting sprayed she started frantically wiping her face in the grass, clearly the smell was not an enjoyable experience.  For those who might need to deskunk a pet in the future, I can recommend "Skunks Etc." enzyme wash as the most effective treatment I tried. It still took several rounds to make her even remotely...

Vermont has been in the news lately and not for a great reason. Our county has seen worse flooding than during hurricane Irene and many towns and farms have been hard hit. We are fortunate enough to be a hillside farm, so while we have seen minor washouts and truly impressive volumes of moving water, our animals, plants and home are safe. Here's what is normally a small creek on the farm. Even though we've escaped the worst of the flooding, we are dealing with saturated soil in our pastures, which means making mud pits is a real danger. It can...

Solid dish soap is a great way to reduce plastic waste in your home and is also quite economical. I always keep a bar by the sink with a dish brush for hand washing (please don't try to use it in your dishwasher!) As with most cleaning tasks, hot water works best. I wet the dish brush and then scrub it over the bar a few times to load it up with soap. Then I scrub the dirty item as I normally would, rinse and put on the drying rack. If you prefer the sink or basin full of soapy...