In Comes the New Year

Whether we like it or not, the new year has crept in (for me) almost unnoticed.  I think the older I get, the faster each year passes.  Does anyone else remember how time used to pass slower when we were kids?  Summer breaks went on for ever, Christmas's and Birthday's couldn't come quick enough.  Perhaps that's just part of the magic of being children.

So with the advent of the new year, most people are busy making their new year's resolutions.  I will admit, I've never been one for new year's resolutions.  I think you should be able to make resolutions any time of the year, not just January first.  However, I do like to reflect on where the journey has led me, and where I hope to travel in the up and coming.

This past year we saw the birth of our very first alpaca cria, Bramble (aka "string bean").  She is strong, healthy, and independent.  Don't let the fact that I call her a string bean mean she's "lanky," she's a sturdy little thing - just all legs and neck!  If you're curious about what an alpaca birth is like check out this link to our YouTube site. 

The following month we did our own very first breeding while working out at the farm we board our girls at.  It was a success, and we can expect Bracken to deliver another cria next fall.  We are  very excited to see what this year's breeding will produce.  The funniest thing about breeding, is that it is quite literally a herd 'affair'.  All the unbred (and ready to breed) females cush next to the breeding pair.  The little up and coming herd sires 'practice' on all the cushing mamas.  Don't worry, they're not old enough to be successful yet!  Bramble wouldn't keep her nose out of the face of the breeding herdsire, nor would the other little females.  This is all a part of it.  It's a learning experience, so to speak, for the young ones.

I also vended at my first ever fair, the Johnny Appleseed festival in my hometown.  I was delighted and amazed by how well it went and can't wait to do it again.  Perhaps this has given me the confidence to participate in a few other events.  On top of this, I reopened my Etsy site, which has also done well.  It is sort of surreal to know that you've sent your crafts all over the country.  That my baskets and yarn are being enjoyed by someone other than myself.  I started making basket out of necessity.  I needed some place to put all the yarn I was spinning; something 'pretty' and colorful.  But once I started making them, I just  couldn't stop!  They are just so much fun to watch come together.  And while I'm a huge proponent of baskets, I realized that a girl could really only have so many.  So I reluctantly (at first) decided to offer them to others, though I wan't sure how I could bear to sell them.  The reluctance has since passed, and has been replaced with the joy of knowing that someone too will smile at my creations.  My advice to anyone who has always wanted to be share their creations with others - just do it!  Get out there!  You may be completely surprised by the support and encouragement from others.  I know I was!

Here are some of the other highlights of the year:

We hiked...

...gardened...

...canned...

...spun at festivals...

...grew pumpkins...

...learned to dye fiber...

...attended the Mother Earth News Fair...

...supported my sister's purchase of three meat
rabbits at the Mother Earth News Fair...

...found that we had quite the demand for our eggs...

...learned (or began to learn) to cook in cast iron...

...learned to play the banjo...

...learned to weave...

...and taught my sister and nieces how to weave...

...developed a love for blue cochin chickens...

...and ended the year with family (and pets!).

Anachronism

I've often felt like I am a living anachronism.  Out of place in time.  That I should have lived some time ago, when life was simpler.  You worked hard for what you had, and still had little.  Yet those few things you did have were cherished beyond today's worldly comprehension.  My whole life I have been drawn to skills of the past such as sewing, gardening, and animal husbandry.  I remember as a little girl, tagging along to my mother's garden club meetings, and hours spent with her and my grandmothers teaching me how to sew and knit and crochet.  These used to be skills that every little girl learned as she grew up.  I raised quite a menagerie of critters too, from hamsters and ferrets, to chinchillas and lizards!

Today, most I my time is spent spinning, knitting, and sewing.  We have lived down here near Pittsburgh for two years now and have accomplished quite a lot.  We raise our own chickens for meat and eggs, have two alpacas, 5 angora rabbits and a big enough garden to provide some of our own produce.  This is small in comparison to most farms, but this one has BIG dreams.  We still rent you see.  We have been fortunate though, to be located far enough north of the city as to seriously live in farm country.  The house we rent sits on a working diary farm.  But still it's not our own.  Don't get me wrong, we feel blessed for what we have, but are so desperately hoping that we will find our own property soon enough so that our our farm can grow.  We've reached our capacity where we're at without getting ourselves evicted.  But our alpacas have to be boarded on another farm and there are sheep, pigs, and other livestock calling to us.  More like bellowing.  I have such a desire to become more of a farmer that it aches.  I sit at work dreaming about furry creatures, spinning wool, canning vegetables, and yes, mucking out stalls.  While most other girls are reading magazines about fashion and gossip, this girl scours the pages of her Grit and Mother Earth News trying to devise new schemes for building a cold frame, raising meat rabbits, and composting.  I collect buckets, mason jars, chicken wire, and books on homesteading.  I visit other homesteader's blogs trying to glean from their experiences and long for the experience to hold day old piglets in my arms.  Barn boots are not just the latest fashion statement, they are a necessity.

I realize that for most this may sound unusual.  Especially in this day and age.  But this is who I am.  In a day and age of uncertainty, of rumors of economic collapse and instability, this girl wants to be prepared for anything.  And even if these things weren't a possibility, I would still want to be doing exactly what I'm doing.  Farming.  Gaining skills from a lost generation.  And one day, perhaps helping others to learn these skills as well.  There are joys to be found in these simpler ways, and I intend to find discover them!

Garden

Yellow Squash Seedling

We did our garden a bit differently this year.  Other that two tomato plants, one basil, and one cilantro, everything was planted from seed ~ the first weekend of June.  It was a late start but except for the stevia, everything appears to be coming up and doing well; especially the potatoes, onions, squash, and beans.  My focus this year were root cellar crops.  I wanted to plant as many foods that could be stored and used throughout the winter as possible.  Last year we had sweet potatoes in the basement as well as some canned pickles.  I'm hoping to expand that this year.  Baby steps, folks!  That's how it's done.  I have grand ideas for my gardens, I really do.  But can find myself quickly overwhelmed if I try to do it all at once.

I'm pretty proud of what we've planted this year.  We've a 4X8 plot of butternut squash as well as another of a variety of bush beans.  A third plot is split between red potatoes and yellow onions.  A fourth with jalapenos, broccoli, okra, eggplant (which I don't think is going to grow), and carrots.  A fifth with roma tomatoes, beets, and green onions.  And lastly a small strip planted with the basil, cilantro (one plant, the rest seeds), parsley, and stevia.  That's just the garden.  I also planted in a couple of large pots yellow squash and zucchini, and a half barrel of potatoes, and a small pumpkin patch next to my bleeding heart.  Just making the most of the space I have.  I still would like to put in some lettuce but I'm having a hard time keeping the  chickens out of the planter I want to grow them in.  I suppose I could fashion some kind of lid to start them off with.

In the mean time, the weeds have come in along with the sprouting seeds.  Mostly Lamb's Quarters (which I just recently found is edible) and some suspicious red-bottomed leafy plant.  I'm not sure what that one is just yet.  Perhaps it is edible as well.  All I can say is that they came from our compost as none of the 'compost-free' areas have it growing.  I don't mind the weeding that much though.

Cold

It always seems like there are a few days just as the new year gets underfoot that tease us with the thought of spring. I don't mind the snow, I really don't. It is welcome to come in November if it wishes. But once the Christmas and New Year holidays are over, my mind starts to wander towards spring things. And as if Mother Nature is echoing my thoughts, along come a few warm days. Warm enough to melt the snow and make me ready for flowers and life to start popping up out of the frozen ground. We had a couple of those days last week. My thermometer read 67 degrees Fahrenheit at it's warmest. You sure could smell spring in the air, and everyone seemed to have a little more spring in their steps. The chickens absolutely loved it! They hadn't been much for coming out of the coop the past month, but this certainly got them cluckin' around the farm. Even the cows dared to meander out from the barn. Then just like that, before you could say "Jiminy Cricket" it was gone. In it's place were the familiar subarctic temperatures. Once again we are in the throws of winter.

Still it has got me pondering this year's garden. Last year most of my support went to the local garden supply stores. This year I want to get my seeds ordered (soon) and start them inside. If you're into gardening, you're sure to know how buying 'pre-grown' (or sprouted) plants can add up quickly. So this year I start my own! The next step will be to SAVE my own seeds to replant the following year. The progress is slow, but I AM getting closer to becoming more self sufficient. Even if closer comes in baby steps. I wandered across a website that calculates you global footprint today and was shocked to find how many Earth's it would take to sustain our world's population if they lived like I did. I can't even admit how many, I'm so ashamed! And I do so many things to lessen my footprint; I can't fathom how many Earth's it would take if I lived less frugally.

Gardening, Grilling, and a Gorgeous Summer Day

(starting sunflower head)

The past couple of days have been gorgeous now that the heat wave has passed! The mornings are cooler, giving way to the mid-80s by afternoon. It's acceptable, I'll give it that. My perfect temperature is still anywhere between 60 and 75, but I'll take the mid-80s over pushing 100 any day.

The garden is coming along well. Much better than I would have ever thought. The sunflowers and corn are taller than me and already showing flower heads and silk (respectively). I'm very pleased. I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated by the thought of planting a garden this year. I remember helping my mom as a little girl in her garden, but many years went by without one. I inherited my mom's green thumb, but still have never planted my very own garden before. Sure, there's all sorts of science behind it, but it really can be as simple as popping a seed in the ground, watering it, and watching it grow. We've already reaped some of the harvest with fresh zucchini and cucumbers for dinner tonight. It might be small by comparison, but it's thriving despite the heat. Let me give you a closer tour...

(Sunflowers from outside the fence)

(Cucumbers, Zucchini, and yellow Zucchini Squash)

(overflowing tomatoes - hoping to can some)

(sweet potatoes)

(beets and other varieties of potatoes)

(cornsilk, folks!)

We also decided to move the compost pile closer to the garden for easier access and better lawn aesthetics. It was on a small hill just above the chicken coop. The chickens loved to dig through it, making a huge mess that I raked up each evening. The plot that our landlord left for our garden is slightly triangular and sloped. We used the bottom square for the garden and the top now holds our compost. I think it looks much better, and the chickens wasted no time in relocating it as well. No need to worry about their messes here.

(digging through the 'new' compost pile)

(sometimes the chickens get stuck in the garden fence)

(oh, and we finally broke down and bought a grill - that zucchini is from our garden!)

Sheep and Fiber Fest

This past weekend we attended the Sheep and Fiber Fest in Waynesburg, PA. It wasn't a big festival, but you could tell that all the vendors and exhibitors were passionate about what they were doing. We saw various breeds of sheep, llamas, alpacas, and bunnies. And these were only the fiber species. They also had Border Collie herding demonstrations with both sheep and ducks (the ducks were so funny!).

The first exhibitor we visited was a shepherding couple (pictured below) giving a sheep shearing demonstration. It's amazing to watch how they are sheared so that their fleece comes off in one big blanket. We got to take a look at those shears; they are wicked! One wrong move and you could cut off an utter or leave a gouge the size of the San Andreas Fault. Still, I think I would like to learn how to shear. This fella has quite a few years on me (and no, I'm not talking about age); he's been shearing since he was 15. No wonder he's so quick and efficient!

After the demonstration we meandered our way down through the other exhibits, checking out all the different breeds of sheep that were brought for show or sale. My next goal is alpaca, but I would like to raise some sheep as well. They are good not only for fiber, but also for meat. My favorite sheep's wool to spin thus far is BFL, short for Blue-Faced Leicester (pronounced "lester"). It has a great staple length and crimp, making it a good fiber to learn on. Though there are better sheep for fiber, BFL (I'm told) is also a good meat producer, which in my opinion makes it a good breed.

Further down the line we finally ran into some alpaca. Ah, the wonderful sound of their nervous little humming. I must have been mesmerized by their cuteness, because I didn't take any pictures. We did however meet the owners and hope to schedule a time to go and visit their farm. I will remember to take pictures. To date, we have visited three alpaca farms. And each time solidifies how passionate I am about these animals.

In other news, the garden is slowly going in. I would have loved to have gotten it in much sooner, but life happens. All that means at this point is that I will have to buy my plants instead of sprouting them from seeds. We have in corn and sunflowers, which we sowed right in the ground. There are two other 4 X 4 plots ready, and hopefully we'll get 4 more of those plots ready soon. I also want to try my hand in container gardening as well. So many projects! I'm sure there will be a lot of trial and error this summer.

What have I been up to?

As winter hangs on, I find myself with a severe case of 'cabin fever'. I'm desperately ready to get outside and start to garden! I have all sorts of plans for this year (hopefully some of those will actually come to fruition). It never hurts to dream big, and that's what I'm doing. As the ground is beginning to thaw, you can smell spring in the air. Though it is only 55 degrees out today (really a far cry from the -10 wind chill we had a few days ago) I've opened the windows to allow some of the stagnant air out of the barn and the cool 'spring' breezes in. So what have I been up to? I'm always looking for new hobbies, crafting ideas and the such. Usually I have about 5 things going at once, and this winter has been no exception. Along with launching my Etsy site (mountainmud.etsy.com - this has been an endeavor in itself since I'm teaching full time this semester), I've become addicted to spinning! Fibers, that is, mostly wool. I love it! Looking for ways to wind down, relax? Needing therapy? This is it! I've been spinning for about a month now, and I just can't stop! I've been spinning with a homemade drop spindle, made from a 10 inch paint brush handle, small tea cup hook, and two CDs, and a turkish drop spindle purchased from a the new aquaintance that got me started with spinning. Such an easy DIY project, and dyed and carded wool is easy to find through Etsy! Perhaps someday I will afford an actual spinning wheel, but for now, I'm really enjoying the simplicity of a drop spindle. See my before and after pictures above!