Busy busy at the farm (notice we haven’t blogged in a while?). Wrapped up a first-cutting of hay with the neighbors (1100 square bales for our steers, heifers, and dry cows over the winter), but we’ll still need winter hay … Continue reading
‘Tis the season – for pork, that is. Still following a tradition of starting piglets in the spring and early summer (raising them through the warm months, and finishing or fattening them on the abundance of fall), many local Adirondack … Continue reading
Way way back in the beginning of the beginning with Woven Meadows our goal has been cheese (with some bacon and eggs thrown in for good measure!). This is the most complicated part of our farming goals as it involves … Continue reading
It looks like this out of the dining room window: And this is what it looks like at our dining room table: Seeds are ordered and we can’t wait to start tiny seeds that grow into beautiful plants that offer … Continue reading
Yesterday was -15degrees when we went out to do chores. This morning the bed was really toasty and it was so tempting to just sink deeper into the warmth of the bed. But there might be a calf. Shadow was … Continue reading
So there is something Good in grazing. Which animals to graze? Cattle, sheep, and goats each have their merits, in terms of feed efficiency (yield of meat and milk in relation to amount of feed consumed), choice of forage (grasses, … Continue reading
Our farming activities and decisions are driven by the questions “What ought we do?” and “How ought we do it?” This is an ethical, moral “ought,” not just an economic “ought,” one which reaches beyond ourselves and our self-interest to … Continue reading
So we were going to farm. So we made plans. Plans about how to shift the dairying, gradually, to more and more a pasture-based operation. Plans to introduce some other farming enterprises, like pastured poultry and a market garden, and … Continue reading
Happenstance brought another glimpse into the ethics of both farming and eating. My younger brother, in his first year of college, was assigned and had read Fast Food Nation, and shared the book with Sarah and I. Reading this clarified … Continue reading
I grew up on a dairy farm, and I did not want to be dairy farmer. Yet that now (though in different ways) is what I’m setting out to do. My predominant childhood experience of dairy farming was of my … Continue reading