A BLUR OF CHICKENS.
About 5 minutes after arriving at Bugtussle Farm, nine-year-old Ira will start begging you to go and see his chickens. He is incredibly proud of his insane, ragtag flock. And during our last visit, Jesse and I became a little bit obsessed with them, too.Ira has a well established duck egg business, and when he was ordering more ducklings last year from the hatchery, he threw in a "Adopt Me" Bargain run of chicks as well. This is basically the leftovers and late-bloomers who don't make it into the regular chick orders. It is a complete grab-bag - you could get anything from Wyandottes to Bantams to Broad-breasted TURKEYS! And so Ira's flock is a beautiful, random, colorful assortment of chickens and roosters. And we love them.So of course, RIGHT AFTER I mentioned that we were going to focus on our house and not on adding more animals to the mix, we ordered more chicks. Armed with our tax returns and the excitement of our upcoming move back to the farm, we bit the bullet and are expecting our own colorful fluff-balls later this spring. Heaven help us.- Hannah.
JUST IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING.... We still have all of our original chickens as well - Ellen and all of the girls are fine! They are staying with our neighbors until we get back.
ANIMAL ENVY.
At Little Seed Farm, they have Highland Cattle, Ossabaw pigs, an assortment of meat and dairy goats, guineas, chickens, and several Great Pyrenees pups. Oh, how we are longing for all of these amazing creatures! Jesse and I have pretty much resigned to the fact that our first year on the farm will mostly be finishing the house and getting everything ready to be farmed. But I have a feeling, especially after our inspiring visit yesterday, that it will be hard to keep a few new critters from joining the family this season.- Hannah.
*I got to feel a little baby goat kicking inside of this mama's tummy!*
THE BARTER SYSTEM.
One of the best things about being a part of the small-farmer community? The barter system is alive and well. It seems that folks who are in the business of food and labor and livestock and hay are more than happy to use those things as their currency. And we LOVE this philosophy. We love trading bottles of homemade wine for Great Pyrenees puppies, heirloom tomatoes for raw milk, spinning lessons for a new logo design. It make so much sense.And on that note: we had the pleasure of spending this morning with Little Seed Farm. These new friends are running a lovely small farm in Tennessee, working towards many of the same things we aspire to. We had a blast running around with their menagerie of dogs, cows, pigs, goats, chickens, and guineas (more about that tomorrow). Before we left, we had a good old-fashioned swap of wares. Jesse and I came home with some amazing goodies - fresh eggs, homemade cheeses, and some items from the Little Seed Farm Store: Farmstead Milk Soaps (made from their goat's milk) and Herbal Lip Salve, plus some beautiful hand-drawn notecards!So not only did we walk away with a bag full of delicious cheese (which we could barely keep ourselves from devouring in the car on the way home) and Cocoa Stout Soap (made with a locally brewed beer!), we also walked away with our hearts and minds full of inspiration. It is always rejuvenating for us to meet other young people, working hard, leaving behind comfort and convention to try a better way. *So thanks, guys, for a wonderful day and a lot of fun! Good luck with the kidding season!*- Hannah.
EARLY CHRISTMAS.
Jesse, being the wonderful human that he is, gave me my Christmas present early this year - knitting needles and yarn and this book! I have been wanting to learn how to knit for a long time, and since I have had an abundance of free time here in Nashville while he is at work, Jesse decided not to wait til December 25. Bless him.I have only been at it a couple of days, but I love it so much. I am still learning (a.k.a. messing up often and accidentally letting the stitches slide off the needles and having to start over) but I am excited about the possibilities. Besides just wanting to knit for knitting's sake....this is also an investment of sorts. Jesse and I dream of raising fiber sheep (and possibly angora rabbits), and we want to be involved in that entire process: raising the sheep, shearing the sheep, dyeing the wool with our own handmade dyes, spinning the wool, and then the knitting! Whew! It is a dream that seems a little far off, but sitting here with my blistered fingers and my first half-finished scarf beside me - it feels one step closer.- Hannah.