Story Time at Clatter Ridge Farm

Weaning Time

We have been weaning our bottle-fed lambs, which is a long, loud, and annoying process. We have them in the pasture closest to our house so we can keep an eye on them and make sure they are making the transition okay. The lambs happily go about their independent lives until they hear our voices, or see us walking by, then the bellowing and the hoof stamping begins. They clearly have no intention of being weaned. Watching their histrionics, we could easily be convinced that they were on the verge of starvation - if only we hadn’t just witnessed them happily racing around the pasture playing and spending hours contentedly grazing by themselves. When I can, I walk the long way around our house to avoid being seen and stirring up their thunderous complaints. The front of the house, though, has been taken over by a robin who built a nest on the transom over our front door. The porch roof provides her with excellent protection from rain and predators, but she now takes issue with us using that door. She has two hatchlings, of which she is understandably protective, so we are constantly being divebombed and scolded by her unless we remember to use a different door. Our bluebird hatchlings in the back yard are doing well, and we do our best to not disturb those parents as well. Happily, we have a third door, which is out of sight from the lambs, and far enough from the robin, and bluebirds that we can use it unmolested and guilt free. We do however have to be sure to keep that screen door firmly latched since one of our more demanding chickens has discovered that if it’s open, she can often find me somewhere within. It has been an absolutely wonderful spring, and we are so incredibly lucky to live somewhere we can watch it unfold all around us. However, we are running out of doors, and it is quite possible that if this summer is a continuation of this spring, we will soon be climbing in and out of windows just to gain access to our house without disrupting the clan. Thanks for reading Clatter Ridge Farm! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clatterridgefarm.substack.com [https://clatterridgefarm.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Hope Springs Eternal

The poem begins “Hope springs eternal in the human breast”- but really, it’s springtime where hope truly dwells. · A pregnant ewe heading to the barn, looking for a quiet place to lamb. · A handful of seeds scattered in the wind - searching for fertile ground. · A honeybee coming out of our empty hive, perhaps scouting it out before a swarm. · A broody hen sitting on her nest, threatening me whenever I dare walk by. · The serenading of lovesick frogs, desperately looking for a mate. · A clutch of eggs in the robin’s nest by our door. · Our boisterous bottle-fed lamb - on the verge of being weaned. · A pair of bluebirds, and their hatchlings getting ready to fledge. · The return of the swifts nesting in our chimney yet again. · Our sow looking more and more pregnant every day. Everything is in a holding pattern, waiting perhaps for a gentle rain, the warmth of the sun or just the right time, to bring it all to fruition. Springtime, indeed, holds eternal hope within a farmer’s soul! And where there is hope, there’s comfort and joy. Thanks for reading Clatter Ridge Farm! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clatterridgefarm.substack.com [https://clatterridgefarm.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

A Nice Place to Live

Despite my very best efforts to get out of it, last week I found myself talking to a large group of third graders about “Sustainable Farming.” I was pleasantly surprised by how well it went, but then again, my expectations had been rock bottom. When I asked the kids what sustainable meant to them, one boy said, “It’s having a nice place to live.” I agreed and said “Yes, in a way it is. I think that planet Earth is a very nice place to live. In fact, I feel lucky to live on such a nice planet and I’d like to take good care of it so when it’s my time to pass it on to you, it’s just as nice as when I found it - if not better. And I hope that when it’s your time to be in charge of this planet, that you take good care of it too.” I told them that my definition of “sustainable” is the ability to keep doing something. I explained “After I get a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast, I’m full of energy and can work really hard and get a lot of stuff done. But by noon I start to slow down and if I don’t get lunch, I stop being able to work very well. I just get more and more tired until I completely run out of energy. What I’m doing is not sustainable and that’s how I think the planet is feeling right now. It’s getting very worn down and adults need to start taking better care of it. Someday it will be your job, so I am glad you are learning about it now because when you are older, you’ll have lots of choices to make, everyday kinds of choices.” I said “My friend Timothy cares so much about planet Earth and about you kids, that he sold his car and now he either rides his bike or walks wherever he wants to go. He knows that driving a car creates a lot of pollution, so he stopped driving. Can you imagine how much energy he saves and how much pollution he isn’t making? I think he’s amazing - but I can’t do that, I have too many places to go and I’m always in a hurry. I think that it’s a wonderful choice for him, though, and I’m very proud that he is my friend.” I asked the kids what town they were from. They said “Vernon”. I asked “Did you all ride your bikes here?” “No” they said. Did you walk? I asked. “No” they said. I asked, “How long do you think it would take to walk here from Vernon?” “11 years” one girl said definitively. I allowed as how I didn’t think it would take that long, but it would definitely take a long time, so riding the school bus was probably a really good choice. I said I try to farm in such a way that I create as little pollution as possible. That’s why I have grass fed sheep – all they ever eat is grass. I have to take very good care of the fencing, and pastures to keep them safe and to make sure there is always enough grass for them to eat. It would be a lot easier if I just kept them in a barn and bought food for them from somewhere else, but it would have to be brought to the farm in a big truck – and that causes pollution. I said “my friend Carol has sheep and doesn’t have enough grass, so she feeds them grain that’s grown in Iowa. It takes a lot of driving to get that grain to her – and all that driving causes pollution. My friend Timothy would probably ride his bike to Iowa to pick up the grain if he had sheep - but I think I found an even better solution. I found a home for my sheep at Hill-Stead, where there is a lot of grass. They have so much grass in fact, that if my sheep don’t eat it, someone has to mow it! So, I think I made a very good choice, and Hill-Stead is very happy.” I said as adults we all get to make choices about the way we live, and farm and my hope is that when they are adults and in charge of making the decisions – that they think about what they are doing and make the best choices they can. I have no idea what the kids took away from my talk - if anything at all. They were unusually quiet, which I took to mean they were either thinking about what I said or plotting something nefarious. Either way I left feeling proud of the way Anne and I farm, and the choices that we’ve made. Somehow, by taking the time to explain myself in overly simplistic terms to a group of children, it became that much clearer to me as well. Indeed, it really is about having a nice place for everyone to live and about leaving it better than we found it for the next generation. Thanks for reading Clatter Ridge Farm! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clatterridgefarm.substack.com [https://clatterridgefarm.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Lessons Learned (or not)

Everything I know about fashion I learned from my mom. She wasn’t a stickler for rules, and she was really good at letting us find our own way, but I can still hear her voice gently guiding me, “the seams go on the inside, and the tags belong in the back.” To this day I do my best to heed her advice, but I’m a farmer, I wake up before dawn and when I get dressed in the dark, I figure I have a 50/50 chance of having the tag where it’s supposed to be - the seams though pretty much do what they want. But surely the most important lessons I learned from her were the ones she never taught. She never preached about being a good, ethical and kind person, she just was. She never instructed us on how to be a good neighbor and a responsible member of society, she just lived it. She was kind, honest, and true and we learned from watching. Our chickens, on the other hand, are anything but kind. They can be very judgmental, and anything even remotely out of the norm, they chase out of the coop, beat up - and kill if given half a chance. Baby chicks pay attention and learn how to stay alive. The moms scratch at the ground and when they uncover something absolutely delicious like a slug or a worm, they step back and let the chicks polish it off. Having observed their mom, they quickly learn to scratch at the leaves themselves, uncovering all the food they need to survive. Sows are extraordinarily patient with their piglets; I’m often amazed at what they put up with – but only if it doesn’t involve food. They are, luckily, very predictable and straightforward, and the little ones catch on quickly. Moms eat first; piglets beware. Mother ewes are in general extremely attentive, although first time moms sometimes forget they are moms and need a little reminder. Fair enough! The older ewes often lamb on pasture, or in the corner of the barn and don’t need any help from me. But I lock the younger moms up in our “maternity ward” with their lambs for a day or two until the bond is solid. Ducklings are born knowing how to swim, but they need their moms to groom them in order to spread the oils that waterproof their new feathers. All the moms in the world, however, can’t teach a male duck to quack. They are born unable to quack and remain quackless throughout their lives. I am certain, though, that if I were born a male duck, I’d figure it out. Because what’s the point of being a duck if you can’t quack? This Mother’s Day, as always, I’ll make an extra effort to honor my mom. I’ll give the pigs extra hay to nap in, the ducks some fresh lettuce (or kale!) to eat, and I’ll do my best to be a good neighbor and friend. And though I know she really didn’t care at all - I’ll look in the mirror as I head out the door just to double check that the tags and seams really are exactly where they are supposed to be. Thanks for reading Clatter Ridge Farm! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clatterridgefarm.substack.com [https://clatterridgefarm.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Good Friends

This past week has felt like a reunion of long-lost friends. Our bluebirds moved back into the nesting box outside our dining room window, and yesterday, I watched as they defended their nest from a starling. My first impulse was to go help them, but as much as they may look like helpless eye-candy, they both very aggressively and successfully defended their nest. I cheered as the starling left, and now I know they clearly don’t need any help from me! The robin is making a halfhearted attempt to build her nest once again on the transom over our front door. So far, she’s not added any mud, so all the twigs and straw she gathers slide off the ledge and end up in a pile on the porch floor. The builder in me wants to put up a shelf to help her out, but I’m sure she’ll eventually figure it out and I just need to let her be. A finch has made a tiny teacup sized nest inside the wisteria vines that I never got around to pruning last fall. She made it with hay from our pasture and pieces of wool from the sheep shearing. It’s a fine home, and I’ll happily wait a bit longer – at least until her fledglings have left before I finally trim back the vines. On a quick venture out to look for morels today, I hurried past the spot where the apricot-scented chanterelles never fail to pop up in the heat of summer. I greeted them as I walked by. “It’s just me” I said, “go back to sleep.” Our massive volunteer asparagus plant is emerging from its usual rocky spot which, for whatever reason, it happily calls home. Garlic mustard is popping up everywhere, and our little patch of ramps is finally spreading. The comfrey outside the pig fence is filling in nicely and the honeybees are busy checking out everything that is now in bloom. Welcome back my friends, I have missed you so! Thanks for reading Clatter Ridge Farm! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clatterridgefarm.substack.com [https://clatterridgefarm.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]