ONE YEAR LATER.
Right now, I'm sitting warmly in our cabin. The new kitty is playing below me (with anything and everything), the roosters are crowing, Hannah is knitting, Wendell is barking, breakfast is cooking away on the wood stove––it's a typical morning on the farmstead. But it's a typical morning in a place we could have only dreamed of a year ago.In mid-August of last year we were asked to leave the farm on which we'd been living. And when it happened, we had no money, no farm, and no idea what to do next. So, we turned to you. And twelve months later, we have you to thank for this cabin that shelters us, and this beautiful farm we're planting.After being asked to leave that farm, we knew we wouldn't have a home or farm of our own anytime soon––we knew we'd be lucky to even be farming at all in a year. But the Smiths graciously stepped in and sold us 7.5 acres of Bugtussle. You generously pitched in tons of support and several thousand dollars. And now we don't just have a farm, but our dream farm. Exactly one year after we had absolutely no farm at all.On this unfortunate anniversary you have given us reason to celebrate and we want to take this opportunity, and every opportunity, to thank you. You guys are the best, and we truly, and very literally, could not have done it without you. Sincerely, thank you.- Jesse.
NEED MORE ACRES FARM.
When we first met Michelle from Need More Acres we were lucky enough to be set up next to her at the Kentucky Green Living Fair. But that was decidedly not our first experience with Michelle. The previous fall, she and her husband Nathan had donated all the profits from one week of their market sales to our Cabin Campaign long before they'd ever met us. And we were floored. It was, without a doubt, one of the more generous gifts we'd ever received––to receive such a large amount of money from a farm, and from strangers. So you can imagine how reluctant we were to apply for their Planting Seeds Program, which offered young farmers a portion of profits from the sales at this past week's Heirloom Tomato Festival, to be used for a project the young farmer can't afford. But at the behest of Michelle we applied, and this week they raised a great deal of money, to be dispersed among some amazing people with big ideas.Put simply, Hannah and I are deeply inspired by Need More Acres. They are not only building community, but helping many young farmers along the way. They want to feed. They want to give. And I don't know if they set out to inspire, but they are doing that, too.We can't wait to get to a point where we can give and feed and inspire as they do. It's a goal of ours. It's a goal to join Need More Acres in helping to build community and strengthen Kentucky's small farmers. And it's nice for us, and for Kentucky, to have such a great model farm to follow.Thank you, Michelle and Nathan, your actions do not go unnoticed nor unappreciated.- Jesse.AND - as a PS....Need More Acres do, in fact, need more acres! They are looking for land opportunities (buy or trade) to grow their year-round Bowling Green CSA. What they currently do with just 2 acres is incredible, so I can only imagine how they will continue to grow. If you have any ideas or suggestions, let them know!
LITTLE BY LITTLE.
After nearly every evening move, Eric and I like to take a moment to pause and watch the cattle graze. One such evening, Eric was musing about how relieved he was that he hadn't had the money to buy the livestock he wanted when he first started rotational grazing. He's just now, after over ten years of working with livestock, starting to feel confident in what he's doing. In that time, his instincts for the animals have improved tremendously. He's learned how to handle them, and how to better anticipate their needs. And though he knows he's still got a lot to learn, he said he was glad to have learned what he knows on the motley mix of animals that have always made up his herd.The cows he wanted cost several thousand dollars a piece. And had he started with those animals––shelled out ten or fifteen thousand dollars on a few cows––there would have been a lot more at stake. They easily could have bankrupted him before he knew what he was doing. Luckily, Eric couldn't have afforded animals from good stock when he started. He started with a milk cow named Delilah and her bull calf, purchased from a neighbor for $400. The calf was wormy and died, but Delilah lived, and Eric built from there.Now, he has a Devon bull he likes which he spent good money on, and slowly he's starting to build the herd he wants. "Everything worthwhile takes time," Eric once told me and I'm starting to realize how widely it applies, and how sometimes being low on cash, however frustrating or limiting, can be a gift.Hannah and I have spent the last few months moving in inches. We inched into the forest. We inched into the cabin. We'll inch into the rest of our lives and we'll inch because we have no other choice––we don't have money to move more than an inch at a time. When I think about Eric and his cattle, however, in a way, I feel blessed to have such little mobility. Sure, we want our forest cleared and filled with livestock, pigs, goats and gardens. We want our house set up with running water and a solar system. We want a lot of things, but perhaps, by being forced to only move in inches for the next few years, we'll thoroughly learn every inch of what we're doing. In turn, it will make us better farmers, carpenters and partners, preparing us for the day when we can finally move swiftly in feet––or who knows, maybe even yards––while teaching us to appreciate every step. So right now, moving slowly is quite alright––everything worthwhile takes time-- and we have a lot more time than money, and a lot to learn yet anyway.- Jesse.
CHORE TIME.
"Chores" is a fancy farmer term applicable to any task that must be done daily. Usually "chores" translates to tending animals. "Doing chores" could mean taking slop to the pigs, or grain to the chickens and collecting eggs, making sure your animals have water, food, and shelter. It often must be done every day, if not twice a day. At Bugtussle right now, "doing chores" means moving the livestock twice a day into small paddocks. Last week, I decided to start helping Eric with his evening chores since Hannah and I don't have much in the way of chores for ourselves these days (beyond our Wendell chore, which is more playing than tending).I've always been under the impression that if I have the chance to help someone who knows more than I do––especially on a daily basis––I should probably take it. I like being around the animals, being in the pasture and listening to Eric talk about what he's learned in his years of Management Intensive Grazing, and what he still doesn't understand. Myself, I still have much to learn about the agrarian language, and like any language, immersion is the best way to pick it up. There is no Rosetta Stone comparable to listening to a passionate farmer compare seasons, talk about specific grasses, and admit they know nothing, while simultaneously doing amazing things for his pasture. If that is something I can take part in every day, I'm going to.Our friend Jacob from Sweet Grass Granola once said something I liked, that living one minute away from someone was a whole lot different from living fifteen minutes away. In other words, out here in the country, you are a lot more likely to interact with someone often––to see your friends––if they are extremely close, and if you don't have to get in your car to do so. For this reason, Hannah and I are so happy to have the Smiths, our friends and mentors, with all their knowledge and savoir-faire, right next door. Our next lesson in the farming language is always, literally, just right around the corner.- Jesse.
