Staying Fit Inside & Out

Being healthy and fit inside and out means the physical plus the food we consume.  Health and fitness means the mind, body and spirit.  Working out - yoga, weight training - hiking, walking, biking.  

Something struck me early on that meat - being the flesh of an animal - was not a loving warm meal to nourish our bodies.  If one does choose meat - including poultry and fowl - it would benefit people to minimize their consumption.  Can you count how many animals your family eats in one year.  The carnage waged on the oceans is no better.  I love sushi but I also feel for the blue fin tuna that is caught and hacked, etc - whenever blood is involved - it makes me think - is the life we are taking really worth that one little meal? - and if so, how often should we indulge?  The world population is estimated to reach 7 billion in 2013!  Imagine how many animals and fish are killed - it is well into the trillions - right?

All this plus occasional cheese, coffee, wine,  pasta, pizza, and eggs which we harvest or purchase locally - what more do you need?  Maybe eating animals and fish semi annually - but always keeping a tally of the animals you consume.

I could not help but feel for these chickens which a nearby farmer raised humanely - they were readied for slaughter the next morning - about 20 of them.  Processed and put in the freezer, they would provide chicken for one year minus the amount they would sell.  Just how many chickens does a typical American family consume?  I am sure it is many many more than 20.  

Think about the number of animals one consumes.  To get some ideas non meat consumption - see my food blog where I post "plant based" recipes.  
http://natlnutrients.blogspot.com/

Kids of 2012

 

Photos of goat kids born in 2012 pictured recently at yearling stage.  From top left
Triton (Nubian Buck purchased off farm); Hebe (goddess of youth - born & unfortunately died 3 mths later), Aphrodite (atop of hay bales in loft),  Aphrodite ( again to the right of her Mom, Khaos born 2011, Muses & Meander, to the right of Hygenia, born 2011); Diana & Ceres (both doe - not pictured);Achilles & Cupid (both bucks), Mercury & Apollo (both withers).

Dogs and the Call of the Wild!

 - several times I have intervened to save one animal from a carnivorous animal.

Just yesterday is was a goose taken down by our Bloodhound - for some reason the goose never took flight.  It was tackled and stared up at me and the hound in shock and disbelief no doubt - or perhaps it's life passed before it.  I grabbed my dog's collar cautiously, not wanting to invoke the territorial instinct around food - Gullah came away easily.  As the goose ran for a new lease on life - the dog was very difficult to contain.  But once the goose wabbled to the river and swam - I knew this dog would not dive in this cold to try again.

I've seen dogs in pursuit at all costs - but not this bloodhound - he had limitations including more respect for our land, less quick to go in for the kill, and comfort seemed to  be favored over goose liver.

Goodbye Blue Skies

Gone for now pristine days of Spring Summer and Fall - I'll miss you clear skies - with your vivid lovely blue - unduplicated anywhere else.  Herein your skies will be cloudy stark icy cold and windy.  Far from the peaceful bliss we see pictured here.  One of our young does, Ceres, they are called yearlings in their first year of life - lifts her head up for the photo with grass hanging out of her mouth.  2012.

Here you see the wild mustangs - Blackfoot and Blossom - grooming one another on a clear day.

Raising Bucks: 2012

Bucks, like many other cattle, battle for dominance at times and at other times simply agree to get along.  Here are 2 bucklings sparring.  This is Achilles, on the left, and Triton, on the right - both born in 2012.  Triton recently purchased- further details below.


Here is a portrait of the bucks on our farm in 2012 and the breeding facts.

Bucks from left to right:

Butler - arapawa/saanen cross
2010
purchased off farm
Arapawa is a small animal found on island of Arapawa in New Zealand

Helios - saanen/arapawa cross
6/2/2011 from doe (Further/Saanen)  Buck (Butler/Arapawa)

Cupid -  saanen/arapawa cross
2/14/2012 from doe(Pearl/Saanen)  Buck(Butler/Arapawa)

Achilles -  saanen/arapawa cross
4/2/2012 from doe (Khaos/ from Sorrelina & Butler) Buck (Helios/ from Further & Butler)

Triton - nubian cross
2012
purchased off farm

We keep our goats as a non kill facility.  We may  be partnering with another family looking to produce goat meet concurrent with our dairy operations.  We are giving it some thought.  For myself, a vegetarian, I find it difficult putting an end to a life that I care for on a daily basis - not from the standpoint of the work that I do or the TLC, tender love and care - but more from the standpoint of really seeing through to the soul of every creature.

That being said I know that not everyone is a vegetarian and that includes some of the animals in my care for decades - notably dogs and cats.  Since I feed them meat, based on the very nature of their food choices.  I witness my cats harvest many mammals from the wild including field mice, birds, chipmunks and rabbits.  I have run to the rescue of many of these animals - preferring to give them a chance at life when I can save them.  That is just my nature.  So how do I reconcile raising animals and also sending them to slaughter.  I will post on this again and continue to ponder on it.

In the meantime we have 4 withers and may not use the arapawa cross bucks for breeding since the offspring are too small for dairy, in my opinion.

Music: Favorite mellancamp song

Back to the Farm: Cheesemaking

Back to the Farm: Goat's Milk & Cheese

Lilac Wine

Garlic Festival

I am sure sales from this festival helps many a farmer pay their property taxes for a year!  For us this year it was a chance to replenish our garlic seed to plant which is in short supply due to freakish  crop losses.  Must be the weather.  Anyway, our garlic is a hardneck rocambole, easy to peel, medium sized cloves and  bulbs, and mild flavor.

Garlic is key to our Italian Farmhouse Recipes and helps ward off garden pests, as well as being really suitable to our UpState NY climate growing conditions.

The festivals that we know of at this time include the Hudson Valley - hvgf.org, one by the garlic seed foundation, another in Vermont at lovegarlic.com, plus another NY festival  www.svgarlicfestival.com/

Nina Prize: The New York Times

We grew up reading one of the best newspapers published.  Their numerous prizes for investigative reporting helped keep democracy free.  The Sunday paper was always a big treat - and I mean big - back in the day before internet service, of course.

I salute the paper - my first Nina Prize - and thank them for all the great reporting and general interest stories.  I've tried to learn a lot from reading this newspaper.

here are some of the journalist excellence  - these items are highlighted in the Times - the list goes on:

"An investigation into how Wal-Mart used bribery to dominate the market in Mexico. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2013.

This series delved into business practices by Apple and other technology companies, showing the darker side of a changing global economy. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2013.

An investigation into unexplained deaths of developmentally disabled people in New York group homes. Finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2012"

Today, it is fashionable to say how the "liberal news media" are co-opting our democracy.  Others state that conservative media misleads the public to further their agenda.

In my opinion, one needs to do research - which means studying many sources.  The many facets of a newspaper such as The New York Times can't be labeled - first and foremost - it is educational.   Intellect can be measured.  And reporters for this organization meet this criteria on every level.  They are one of many sources I use for research.  I invite you to read articles on a subject you know something about - and see why their coverage is top notch!  

POSTSCRIPT:
In this age 2017, when powerful people declare "fake news" and random people publish "fake news" - it is good to have an expert in the field that rises above all of it. Like the doctor you relied on to perform surgery - the one that saved your life - or the other kind - the "Quack" - that made you sicker - the importance of professional journalism should NOT be understated or taken for granted.  The New York Times is that journalism - the organization is not infallible - but they make a strong effort to report the news - to investigate - to be above the fray...and unlike certain persuasions who liken every form of intelligentsia to "liberal" values - intellect is not lost on me - and I hope - not lost on the majority of humans - without it - we do not have civilization at it's best.  

The New York Times has won many many Pulitzer Prizes over the decades!

2017 Pulitzer Prize Winners - 3 for NYT!

Natural Weather: Crop Losses in the Northeast

We, as farmers, go to work each day knowing that our greatest partnership is with Nature - she decides much of our fate.  While the whole of humanity is under the same great power(s), much of our livelihood depends on it being in our favor.  The last 4 growing seasons have really been difficult for many farmers and this post is just a reminder of what has occurred in the Northeast.  So remember, everytime you get to support a farmer you are helping us overcome some of these hardships. 

We are working to form a Horse, Hound, & Farm Rescue - in addition to continue our work with adopting horses and hounds, this non profit will provide assistance to farmers with property taxes when the crop losses have made this a daunting task.

2012 Apple Losses

“Most of the trees in Maine did not fruit this year,” he said, moving over to a table with 57 heirloom apple varieties that once flourished in Maine. “We had 80 degrees in March, so the trees flowered. Then it went down to 10 degrees.” Plummeting temperatures killed the flowers, which meant no apples, though orchards in western Maine, where temperatures remained cool, did flower and fruit. - from the nytimes.com.9/30/12

2012 Corn Losses

Yield losses from a drought during pollination can be as high as 100%.

2009 Tomato Losses

In 2009, a new genotype of late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans, US22, caused a disease epidemic throughout the Northeast killing tomato and potato plants in gardens and on commercial farms in the eastern U.S.Classic symptoms are large (at least nickel-sized) olive-green to brown spots on leaves with slightly fuzzy white fungal growth on the underside when conditions have been humid (early morning or after rain). Sometimes the border of the spot is yellow or has a water-soaked appearance. Spots begin tiny, irregularly shaped and brown. Firm, brown spots develop on tomato fruit.  Late blight is the same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s. It has never occurred this early and this widespread in the U.S. One of the most visible early symptoms of the disease is brown spots (lesions) on stems. - from Cornell.edu  Yield losses caused by late blight and the cost of control measures have been estimated to exceed 6.7 billion dollars annually and the disease is a major threat to food security worldwide.   -from usablight.org

Natural Horsemanship

Natural Horsemanship seeks to work and train a horse using their natural instincts and behaviors to provide understanding and insight to gain respect from a horse to become their leader and trusted ally rather than dominate and overpower a horse into submission.  I got this list from haysisforhorses.com blog.  See his website for more information on natural horsemanship.

These basics is what we must understand in order to work naturally with a horse.  The left brain activity is what we hope to achieve while the right brain activity will generate the problems we need to anticipate and understand.   Through training,  you are setting up some of these right brain triggers - reaction side - in a controlled environment to bring the horse back to the left brain - thinking side. 

This is Blackfoot - one of our wild mustangs - imagine the elevated instincts these animals have from the wild - and you can see here is is looking out - her ears forward - to see that everything is as she knows it should be before stepping out into the side corral.  Or perhaps she sees something unusual?  One thing for sure, she does not look relaxed.

LEFT BRAIN INDICATORS
Licking and chewing with mouth
Blinking of eyes
Level head and neck
Muscles are relaxed
Endorphins are released for calmness

RIGHT BRAIN INDICATORS
Head and neck is elevated
Eyes are wide, showing the white
Nostrils are flared
Muscles are tight and braced
Adrenaline is released for power

PRIMARY RIGHT BRAIN TRIGGERS
Predators (this includes us)
Places (new or unfamiliar)
Movement (of anything)
Changes (anything familiar appearing differently)
Objects (anything new and unfamiliar)

All About June

June Royal

June Royal, a registered quarter horse born 1983 in New Mexico, she has been very good to me as a rider.  Retired now from adult riders, we were able to ride our bridal paths down to the river, just she and I.  She did not "spook" - which is a horses instant reaction to fear - something that may startle them. She was very easy to ride and is able to turn on dime being trained as a reining horse out west.

June is able to give pony rides to children 12 and up

Dairy with Dignity

FOOD
ARTS

Memorable Moments: Beach Day 2012

...a beautiful beach day on Labor Day Weekend - this farmer took to the Jersey Shore! Gene stayed to make hay (while the sun shines) - we are starting the process of the second cutting hay which is a darker green and richer in some nutrients than the first cutting.  Great for dairy goats to support milk production and older horses to afford easier chewing and digestion.   

While I traveled 270 miles away and spent 2 glorious days lounging on the beach, dipping in the ocean, and dining on good food!  I also shared some of the tomato bonanza - juicy beefsteaks that sliced thick make a sandwich all on their own or a tomato salad would make any Italian blissful!  As well as farmhouse pizzas, free range eggs, this season's garlic, green bean pickles, and celery pesto.  Emilia baked bite sized quiche & soda bread muffins. Maria shared her beach house accomodations.  Aunt Angela shared her bounty of ripened figs, dark purple on the outside - maroon and juicy on the inside - a seasonal treat like no other - like tomatoes - both fruits thrive on sun, pollination (one by bees the other by wasps); good soil; and TLC!

and speaking of TLC - that is what I feel around my family - such tender love and care that you enjoy life that much more - spending memorable moments together wherever that may be.  The coastal areas of course being one of the more relaxing and playful settings for every stage of life.  Here you see Danielle and the kids and Marie - young and older playing in the sand!

Pony Rides

One of my favorite Memories of youth and I hope these prevail just as nicely for these beautiful girls - my nieces Anna and Sasha.  Hurry back girls!!!  Starburst and all of us had so much fun with you both and of course your Mom and Dad - hurry back to the farm!

Animal Memories: Hebe

Lately I have experienced losses on the farm - just recently we lost my close dog but elderly BoBo.  The day after that our youngest goat - Hebe - was tragically killed from a tree fall.

This is the tree pictured here. And the deadly one is growing up between it.  Unknown to me - the lil goats must have been playing on this tree again (this photo was from a day I watched them playing on it, without a problem.  As you can see from the photo it is bent in such a way that they can walk on it.  Well Hebe got hung up in the smaller trees shown in the center - and broke her neck.  Gene has since cut the smaller ones.  I had just moved them to the upper pasture and there they stayed grazing happily. It was one of those freakish accidents that you can't predict and probably never prevent.

This is the young goat.  Hebe is the goddess of youth.  She was only 3 months old (May 19-Aug 22).  Her hair was jet black and wavy.

We do not slaughter animals so every loss becomes a sad one.  Sad too for her young Momma - Hygieia  "Undie" - pictured here with Hebe.

Animal Memories: BoBo 2003 to 2012

We had rescued BoBo from the Herkimer SPCA - Gene had saw the ad in the paper and pointed him out to me.  BoBo was my 3rd Treeing Walker Hound after Lucky and Buddy.  They are large hounds with a lifespan of 10-12 years...  He lived on our farm.  Free.  Enjoyed every bit of it.  Some animals you deeply connect with and BoBo was one of them for me.  Since I am naturally drawn toward animal care - most animals are special to me.  But today I cried, burying a dog that had been at my side every day, from house to barn to barn and back again.  BoBo even spent time with me in the fields, and up in the tents!  He was everywhere I was.

It's hard to remember the good ole days when your coming out of the days at the end - when you nurse and comfort them in death - but never enough - it seems you can never do enough for another living creature that loves life as much as you do.     He did not want to close his eyes and leave this world.

He gave us lots of joy, he was a big baby, always wanting to be with us in the house. The house seems empty without him.  He was very vocal if we left him in the kennels -  like no other dog - he had to be in the house.  He enjoyed running and playing with the other dogs, chasing the goats, and coming up to the cats and scaring them away from their food.  He was loveable because he was so playful in a dumb and goofy way.   We named him BoBo after a clown.  Many people warmed up to BoBo.  He will be greatly missed.  We love you BoBo!

Our Bucks

Our boys are gentlemen...they are beautiful and kind...they are strong and butt heads and live harmoniously with each other...all at the same time.  Just don't get in between them and grain - you'll have yourself a sore hand or worse.  Our bucks are Butler, Helios, Cupid, and Achilles.  Our wethers are Aether, Apollo, Mercury, & Meander.

Lots of people comment on how white and clean their hair is dispelling the myth that billie goats are smelly.  When they "rutt" - the term used for the mating season - boys will piss on themselves creating the distinctive odor as the piss dries and causes the off color to their face coat.  Fortunately, that is only in the fall and for now they keep themselves white and clean!  Our wethers, or neutered boys stay clean year round because they do not have the drive to mate.  How we wether our boys is through banding at about 5-7 weeks of age and the band cuts off the blood supply to the testicles causing it to fall off within weeks.  Honestly, this is not as painful as it sounds and the boys go about their living as if nothing has been done to them.  We are currently a no kill facility so all are boys stay on the farm forever!

Another older but goodie...

Reconnecting

Like most families, we have a long beautiful history - so reconnecting with family provides another moment to reconnect with that history and honor our ancestors in many ways.  I always feel our loved ones that are here and those that have passed before us are with us most especially on those days.  And the love that is present in our homes is partly because of this family connection.  It is wonderful to see the next generation enjoy the foundation that was built before them and see the promise of the future through them!

My Mother and Grandma are pictured here.

Our Matriarchs always provided us with good food and good wine and much love - they include our Grandmothers on all sides, our Mothers, our Aunts, and elder Cousins!

We are carrying on the tradition as our reunion featured a feast of  Neopolitan wood fired pizza, antipasto, tomato and cucumber salad, pasta salad, apple turnovers, cupcakes and cookies, eggs and bacon, roasted sausage and duck, barbecued hotdogs, hot peppers and potatoes, and fruit salad and abundant beverages bought by all.  As always, the women worked together to feed everyone and talked while we worked and the men tended the fire, moved furniture, and enjoyed men talk.  The kids helped quite a lot, following in the footsteps of their predecessors, our next generation will be pioneers in their own right ... They helped with pizza making, picking potatoes, and squeezed in a few tractor & pony rides!

Animal Memories: Maxine ("Blackie") & Broken Arrow

We lost 2 more animals this year - one to age and one roadkill. I hesitate to write of only our losses here - because so much of our farm life is about life.

However, there comes along tragedies and the natural passing of time.

Aging, while a fact of life is never easy for anyone. To resign oneself to the end of life is our greatest loss of all because we only get one time around. There may be a spiritual life but it is not the same as what we experience now.

That being said, the animals and loved ones we lose to aging is much easier to accept than the tragic and unexpected deaths. This dog and this cat are one of each - one sudden, the other aged.

Neighbors

Tis the Season

I am always alittle torn this time of year between offering time care and attention to the animals in my care and planting all of my custom heirloom plants that I contract with a local nursery and the tons of greens and lettuce and squash, peas, corn, pumpkins seeds that I purchase with the hopes of putting up frozen veggies and brick oven pizzas in our commercial kitchen IN THE WORKS!!!

I take on alot - sometimes I can't explain it - but the farm is in the process of & set up for milking/ dairy and by products, frozen veggies, pony rides, CSA, specialty produce, baked goods, brick oven pizza, stables, eggs, hound dog rescue, custom woodworking, haying, sawmill lumber, heavy equipment for hire, beekeeping and honey, antique apples, and foraging wild fruits and vegetables.   As of this writing we have 6 hound dogs, a dozen cats, 17 egg laying chickens, 19 goats, and 5 horses (having  lost Smokey Boots this winter to age) and 1 pony.

Here are some photos of the animals at play - something they get alot of and I dont!

Goat Facts

Goat facts

8-10 weeks bucking s/b separated from does or banded

2011 kids bday
Jun 2.  Undie, doe.        Helios, buck
Mar 30. Chaos doe.      aither, wither 

2012
Chaos born mar 30, impregnated approximate aug by lil buck Helios




Further, born 2009, impregnated 2nd time, 9/11 butler




Pearl, 2009 , impregnated 1st time,9/17 butler
Born 2/14/2012
Cupid, buck
Ceres,doe


Clover,2009,imp 9/30, butler
Born
Cashmere, buck, withered 4/27
Mercury, buck, withered 4/6.  Ck 10 days to fall off by banding


Sorrelina, imp 9/25, butler
Born
Diana, doe


Further, butler
Born mar 24 2012

Muses, doe
Meander,buck, withed 4/27

Khaos, butler or Helios
Born apr 2

Aphrodite, doe
Achilles, buck

Undie, butler or helios 
Born may 19
Hebe ,doe blk and white

Goats are A M A Z I N G!

We bought our first goats in 2009. Further and Sorellina - pictured here with her kid Diana.  I find them so much fun and amazing - why?  Well they jump in the air and do a 360 degree turn in midair and so many more acrobatic feats.   They are very into human company and companionship which I experience every time I herd them onto pasture.  Like horses, they dive bomb grain or any other treat so be careful with this in your hand.  They constantly struggle with each other for dominance,  You see it from the time they are kids.  And they are good mothers.  They also are just funny and playful so they will uplift me every time I am around them.

I think more people should have goats as pets instead of mowers - although they choose jumping on trees as much if not more than grass so they may not be right for every landscape.  They have done a number on several of the trees pictured here in the background.  But they can be tied on a long lead rope or fenced to restrict access to areas off limits.

Fencing required is 4 ft redline goat fencing- sturdy enough to hold the weight of them jumping and leaning and restricts their jumping capabilities.  Goats are able to get out of fenced in areas - more so than horses - they are both pretty hard to contain.  Provide a large enough space with varied terrain and grasses, brush, trees - they do not become bored easily.  Be sure to  return them to shelter in hazardous and inclimate weather.  A neighbor lost a cow to lightning - don't think it can't happen.  And bringing them in at night saves them from would be predators.  We bring ours in every night and  most days several times during the day.