THIS & THAT.
Some random photos from the past week.
Jesse has been finding lots of morels lately! We love mushroom hunting.
A honeybee on an apple tree blossom.
When our milk spoils, we end up baking a lot of corn cakes on the wood stove.
We have been reunited with our chickens - and of course, their delicious eggs!
The black snake that lives in our mulch pile.
Ira and his adopted lambs, Blossom and Bloom.
This little calf is sprouting her horns - and an awesome hairdo along with them.
EATING ANIMALS.
We helped slaughter a lamb last Thursday.That is the only photo I will share of the event, as not to be too graphic. And I don't necessarily want to make any sort of argument for eating meat. We have shared our views on the food we eat before (here and here), but I thought I would talk a little bit more about I why Jesse and I find ourselves occasionally eating animals.When I came first came to Bugtussle Farm two years ago as an intern, I was a vegan. I came straight from Chicago and a diet of no milk, no cheese, no meat, to a farm that was abundant with all three of those things. My very first meal with the family consisted of ground lamb and eggs and raw milk butter. And it was delicious. As I ate, I could almost feel my body telling me YOU NEED THIS - it was clear that something had been missing from my diet, and this was it.And Jesse and I have continued to eat this way - a diet that is full of fresh vegetables, pastured eggs and raw milk, fermented foods and drinks, and sometimes - meat. This is, for us, sustainable. All of these foods are things that already exist around us, things that we are actively growing or creating in order to better the land. And animals are part of that. They are a necessary part of the cycle. The farmers sacrifice their time, money, and energy to give their animals a bountiful and healthy life, while the animals are adding life and fertility to the soil. And as a sacrifice to the farmers in turn, the animals give their life to nourish those who took care of them. This is the way to be self-sufficient, we believe, and completely sustainable.So that means, that sometimes, you have to kill an animal. For me, I still (and hopefully will always) get quite sad in these moments. I always cry as I feel the life leaving an animal, and I think this is OK. Life is sacred and should be respected and honored, and I hope I never forget that, even as I become more skilled and practiced over the years. I know that may seem like a contradiction, to value life and also take it...but that is just the way it is. As Eric and Jesse were recently discussing, death is part of the cycle of life for everyone, whether you eat meat of not.I know this is a highly debatable topic. And I am not saying that no one should be a vegetarian. Or a vegan. I know many healthy people who do not eat meat and get all of the nutrition they need. I also know that our diet is not easy to come by or even affordable in, say, downtown Chicago. We are blessed to be in the business of food and agriculture. But I really do think the healthiest I have ever been is now, eating diversely - and that includes the occasional lamb.- Hannah.
SWARM NUMBER TWO....AND THREE....
On Sunday, I went with Cher and the Bugtussle kids to see a high school production of Peter Pan in Lafayette. While we were away, Eric and Jesse worked on installing the stove pipe in our cabin. While they were taking a break, observing the bees as Jesse retold our story of the swarm, Eric suddenly exclaimed, "It's happening again!" And it was - ANOTHER SWARM. They scrambled together an assortment of old hive parts and pieces of bark and plywood to make a hive. Although the bees didn't seem thrilled about their somewhat bedraggled-looking new home, they haven't left yet! We are planning to move them to a more hospitable location on a cold morning. I truly cannot believe that once again we happened to be walking by the bees as they decided to swarm!We are getting a bit worried, however, about the original hive that keeps swarming....especially because we came upon yet another small swarm of bees late last night (which we did not capture). That is three total swarms, quite early in the season. I am planning on checking in each of the hives tomorrow to make sure all is well. Any beekeepers out there have ideas about this sort of behavior? I know that swarming in general is a sign of health - a sign that the bees are productive and expanding. But THREE seems a bit excessive!- Hannah.