Kindred Spirit Farm

What's In Your Lambing Kit?

2011-03-15T09:18:00.002-05:00

Bronte, one of our Lincoln Longwools, looks as though she could lamb at any time. A couple of other ewes have ever-growing milk bags. So it's time to get serious about lambing. When we first started raising sheep, I'd find myself hauling a large tool box of stuff out to the barn. I'd have to frantically dig through lots of medical supplies to find what I needed. Other years, I'd find myself with nothing or the wrong stuff. That mean trips to the house and through the house with muddy boots. Not good. Last year my son Joe, prepared a lambing kit for a 4-H project, which won him a champion ribbon in veterinary science at our county fair.
He began preparing the kit by brainstorming with me, all of things we would want to have at hand when lambing. Its good to reflect back on previous experience. If it happened once, its likely to happen again. That's how a shoe string made it on our list. The second year of lambing, I had a ewe with twins who were out of position. My hand was inside her, trying to feel the position of the lamb. My other son, Vincent held the cell phone to my ear. The vet was guiding me through. I finally found a foot. She said, "Pull it out, tie a string around it. Then push it back in and reposition the lamb." That's so easy to say and so much harder to do. Especially when I'm not a vet and I never had any intentions of becoming a vet. I didn't have a string and I didn't want to use bailing twine. So the kids ran into the house a got a shoelace. Now we keep a new, unopened shoe lace in the lambing kit.
Next he and I searched the internet for all of the sites that had information about lambing kits. I'm really grateful for all the other shepherds who take time to share how they manage their flock. Its so useful. We compared the two lists and came up with our own. We went for something in the middle - not too much, but not too little.

Hand sanitizer – to clean your hands before assisting the ewe with lambing.
Surgical gloves in a zip lock bag – in case you have to assist the ewe or pull the lamb. The bag keeps the gloves clean and easy to find.
Antiseptic lubricant to put on your hands or gloves if you need to help the ewe. It makes your hand go in easier.
Scissors to cut the umbilical cord.
Iodine – to disinfect the umbilical cord and prevent infection.
Colostrum and lamb supplement – to get lambs off to a good start. We use a product called ‘First Care by Ralco Nutrition that comes with a drench gun.
Stethoscope and rectal thermometer to monitor lamb’s temperature and breathing.
Bulb for clearing fluids out of the lamb’s nostrils.
Hanging scale and sling for weighing the lambs.
Tool for docking tails.
Pritchard Teats and plastic pop bottles or baby bottles in case the ewe refuses to nurse.
Milk replacer in case the ewe can’t nurse or refuses to nurse.
Lots of old clean towels for drying off the lambs.
Flashlight to see in the dark because about half of our flock tends to lamb around 10 p.m. Those little forehead flashlights work well. I also have the flashlight app on my i phone.
Uterine boluses in case we had to assist with the delivery.
Spoon needle, and thread in case we have a vaginal prolapse.We got this from our vet.
Syringes and needles in case we need to give an injection.
Penicillin (regular or LA200) in case we are concerned about infection.
Bo-SE (in case the ewe seems week and needs vitamin E and selenium).
Sheep shears in case we need to crutch the ewe so the lamb can find the teats.
Lamb saver tube and syringe for tube feeding really weak lambs.
Lamb hut – a plastic barrel with a heat lamp to keep lambs warm.
Chart of lambing positions. Make a photocopy from pages 108-114 in Raising Sheep The Modern Way by Paula Simmons.Combine the diagrams onto two pages and insert them into a sheet protector.
String to pull a lamb if necessary – shoe laces work good.
Time table of lambing stages so you know when to go in and assist. I've waited too long and lost lambs.
Your vet's cell phone number saved as a contact in your cell phone if you get cellular service on your farm.

I keep all of this stuff in a bright pink plastic tote. When lambing time approaches, I restock it and place it on the Hoosier by the back door. Its packed and ready to go.

A breeding ewe and ram from Colonial Williamsburg - $800. Lambing pens we spent two weeks to build, $200. A ewe in labor on a bitterly cold Minnesota winter night with a storm on the way.A lambing season with few complications, all live births, no bottle lambs, no orphans, and no losses. Priceless.What’s in your lambing kit?

Fiber CSA

2011-03-05T10:26:00.000-06:00

Do you know where your fiber comes from? Are you ready high fiber diet? Now that our flock has grown to over thirty-five head, we are pleased to announce the 2011 Kindred Spirit Farm Fiber CSA. Fiber enthusiasts near and far, come join us a year-long escapade in raising endangered breeds and receive the fruits of our labors in yarn, roving, fleeces, and dye plant materials.

CSA stands for community supported agriculture. The most common form of CSA's are produce CSA's. But there are fruit, winter, meat, and dairy CSA's as well. Farmers sell shares or memberships to customers. In return, the customer receives a weekly delivery of the farmer's harvest. Usually the highest quality products go to the CSA members and whatever is left goes to the farmer's market. A CSA creates a relationships between farmers and consumers and established connections between rural and urban communities. CSAs provide family farmers, like ourselves with a more stable income and allows us to keep doing what we love and receive a fair price for our products.

The part that we really enjoy about a CSA is that it creates a community. We used to operate a produce CSA and loved delivery days, when folks would come out to the farm to pick up their shares. Our customers would breathe in the fresh air, take in the landscape, play with the animals, and walk through the gardens. They'd head home renewed and relaxed. This year,let that inner farm girl or farm boy in you, come out to play. Romp with the lambs, sit with the sheep, and get up to your elbows in fleece. Our sheep our very friendly. They like to cuddle, take walks on a leash, and listen intently to whatever is on your mind. They especially like being sung to.They look forward to meeting you.

Here's a chance to know where your fiber comes from. Just think, instead of saying, "Ya I picked up this yarn at the local superstore". You will be able to proclaim, "This is Essie's wool. She's a three-year old Leicester Longwool ewe down in Spring Valley. Isn't her wool gorgeous?"As a CSA member you will be helping us keep endangered breeds like the Leicester Longwools going. Its not for the faint of heart nor is it particularly lucrative, trying to bring back endangered breeds from near extinction. But it sure is rewarding and we want to share that with you.

Treat yourself to a fiber CSA share in 2011. If you know someone who is a knitter, crocheter, felter, or spinner a CSA share makes a perfect gift.With a CSA membership you’ll get a monthly newsletter and detailed information about all our sheep. We even provide you with the name and photo of the sheep that provides your wool. In addition, you will receive:

A certificate of membership
Regular farm updates
A monthly delivery of fiber for twelve months
Your choice of fleeces and the opportunity to reserve next year’s fleece
Your choice of natural, colored, or hand dyed fibers
Treats of angora, silk, corn, glitz, and crumbles
Ideas for quick and easy fiber projects
Opportunity to name a lamb
Invitation to join us for special farm events such as lambing, spring and fall shearing, fiber dyeing days, fiber painting, and lamb roast
A free spinning lesson
A 20% discount on our other farm products and Kindred Spirit Farm clothing
The option of using one of our sheep to enter the lamb lead competition at the Minnesota State Fair.

Choose the share that’s right for you.

Shepherd’s Share – receive a variety of our yarn spun locally at a mill on our friend’s farm. Enjoy a range of yarns that includes lace weight, fingerling, worsted, aran, gurnsey, lopi, and bulky. To top it off, we’ll add handspun, hand painted, and art yarns. It’s a mix that will satisfy knitters, crocheters, felters, and weavers.

Spinner’s Share – receive a variety of our fibers as washed wool, locks, roving, sliver, and spinning batts. We’ll sneak in crumbles, glitz, silk, corn, angora, and mohair just to make things really exciting.

Each share comes in three levels: half, full, and double.

Shepherd’s Half Share is $95.00 for a total of 2 pounds of yarn
Shepherd’s Full Share is $160.00 for a total of 4 pounds of yarn
Shepherd’s Double Share is $320.00 for a total of 8 pounds of yarn
Spinner’s Half Share is $95.00 for a total of 3 pounds of fiber
Spinner’s Full Share is $160.00 for a total of 6 pounds of fiber
Spinner’s Double Share is $310.00 for a total 12 pounds of fiber

CSA shares are payable in full via personal check, Pay Pal, master card or visa prior to the first shipment. We realize that not everyone can come to our farm for deliveries. So we will gladly mail the fiber and yarn to you. We are also talking with local yarn shops about the possibility of delivering at their stores. The 2011 season begins with lambing and the first shipment in April. Shipments or deliveries will be made every other month for the rest of the year: June, August, October, December, and February.We limit the number of shares to ensure that each member gets our best fibers.

When you join, we’ll send you a questionnaire about your fiber and colorway preferences. You tell us what you want and we’ll do our best to produce fiber and yarn to your specifications. Its like having your own fiber farm and mini mill. How cool is that?

CSA Share prices include postage via priority mail within the contiguous United States. Additional shipping costs will be added to orders sent to Alaska, Hawaii and outside the U.S.

Please contact us at info@kindredspiritfarm.com is you have questions. CSA shares can be purchased from our website using PayPal, with a credit card from our farm store on localharvest.org, or by mailing a check to

Kindred Spirit Farm

20232 121st Avenue

Spring Valley,, MN 55975

2011 Colorways

2011-02-26T09:49:00.000-06:00

The natural color variations in a sheep's fleece are a sight to behold. Emma and Fergie, two colored romney ewes are perfect examples. Emma's fleece appears soft brown with variations of taupe, oatmeal, and chocolate mixed in. Look at her and you see the sweater or the shawl you've always wanted. Women look at her an gush over her color. Fergie's fleece is a darker, almost charcoal brown with sun bleached light brown tips, that also creates a really interesting look. Then there's the colored Lincolns who have this natural gradation of color that flows from black to charcoal, to medium grey to light grey to silver all along the side of their bodies. It's would make a quilter so jealous. Unfortunately, when we wash and card the wool, the fibers get so blended together that we loose much of the gradation. That's why I look to dyeing and hand painting fibers to create one of a kind yarns.

Choosing colorways for the year is part of the reflecting, planning, and preparing that is winter farming. I spent the better part of a day reading up on 2011 color trends and reviewing color theory. Luckily for me I grew up with a mom who was an artist and color wheels and art books were part of our home. When I was really little I had sets of cake watercolors, but by the time I was in elementary school, my mom supplied me with tube watercolors and taught me how to mix colors on a palette or a plate. Thanks mom! So if you don't know much about colors and color theory and you want to create your own color ways, you might want to get yourself a color wheel. Often they come with basic information about color printed on the back.

Monitoring color trends is important because if we're going to wear that scarf, shawl, shrug, or sweater - we want it to go with something that's in our closet. And we want it to look current. So where do you look for that? When I think of color and design, I think of Pantone. On their website you'll find information on both fashion and home interior color trends.Then just Google terms like color trends and you'll pull up a list of lots of websites that address color and design.

Then I look to nature - particularly the natural landscape of my neck of the woods - a farm, the southeastern Minnesota Bluff Country, the prairie, and the north woods. I also reflect on the colors of the seasons as well as the colors of the sunlight, sunrise, sunset, and skies throughout the year. One of my colorways for 2011 is "Winter Sky" a blend of natural white, soft gray, soft turquoise, and light blue. Every day when I drive to and from work, I see these colors in the early morning and dusky winter sky. Another nature inspired colorway I want to explore this year is "Thunderstorm." Think of the low white clouds you can almost touch and the darker gray clouds above. The lack of sunlight makes ponds look like silver glass. Even the land looks black. So "Thunderstorm" is a blend of white, grays, and black. Numerous trout streams dot the local landscape. "Deer Creek" is one of the darker colorways combining navy, teal, evergreen, olive, and gold. "Pairie" takes its name from the native tall grass prairies of the northern plains.It combines a variety of greens with a little gold, a little peach, a little blue, and a little plum.

Inspiration comes from my daily life. I live in a 1900 farm home, furnished with antiques and family heirlooms. I farm and garden. Colorways like "Hay Rack" (white, yellows, tan, gold) represents the bales of hay and straw stacked in the barn. "Keepsake" (dusty rose, peach, and brown) and the variation "Chintz" (dusty green, peach, rose, and plum) are inspired by fabrics and china. "Summer Garden" (orange, blue, green, yellow) represents the marigolds, calendulas, cosmos, and tithonia that bloom in August. "Earth" combines terra cotta, brown, tan, light blue and medium blue - the colors in hand-thrown pottery we've purchased over the years at art fairs.

How about looking inward for your colorway inspiration? What qualities do you value? Can you associate colors with them? For instance, what colors come to mind when you think of dreams. My "Dream" colorway is a blend of spring green, aqua, and iris. Is there a color combination that seems really playful? My "Playful" color is like a child's party - a combination of lemon yellow, orange, pink and bright blue. Seeing it makes you smile. I'm not quite a "red hat lady" but I do think of myself as a "wild woman." There's a fire of inspiration, passion, and creativity inside me. The "Wild Woman" colorway combines fiery orange, reds, and magenta with just a little turquoise or blue or violet. Wear it around your neck and you feel unstoppable.

Finally, you can always borrow your inspiration from others. When we established Kindred Spirit Farm, we looked for a color combination that represented kindred spirits - two or more colors in combination. We wanted it to be hopeful and vibrant. We knew what we wanted, but we needed an example. One day my husband say an advertisement in a business magazine. He tore it out and exclaimed, "This is what I want." "Kindred Spirit" is a combination of tomato orange, bright yellow, light blue, and bright blue. Its bright, energizing, fun, and spirited all in one. We painted our barn and outbuildings tomato orange and the roofs bright blue! It was awesome. Follow our lead, go through your magazines, take a new look at the artwork on your walls. If all else fails, go to Google and select images. Search "art yarns" or "colorways." Are there any images that you'd like to copy?

Our farming operation gradually shifted from horses and horse therapy to sheep and fiber. Now we use Carolina Blue and vintage pinks to represent our farm. These colors can be seen the design of our website. In many ways, the photograph of Dudley, our Leicester Longwool ram is the inspiration for these colors.But we still keep the original "Kindred Spirit" colorway alive through our yarns.

Once I know my colorways, I cut out pictures or take pictures of places and objects that represent the colorways. I glue the pictures onto 3X5 index cards. I label them. Then I go the the fiber dye color charts to identify the colors of dye I need to purchase. Later this summer I'll experiment with the dyes and blends. I'll write notes and dye recipes on the back. For now, my work is done. I've identified 22 colorways that I'd like to explore. Maybe I'll produce only four or eight this year. The important thing is I have clear options and a plan. I've got my shopping list of dye colors I need. I'll be ready when the time is right for dyeing.

Kindred Spirit Farm 2011 Fiber CSA

2011-02-18T23:51:00.000-06:00

We're offering a Fiber CSA! "What's that?" Community Supported Agriculture (hence CSA) brings farmers and customers together in season-long relationship. Customers by "shares" in the CSA and receive weekly deliveries of the farm's harvest. CSA's are increasingly popular because they provide some financial stability to family farms and they connect customers with local foods. Around here the most popular form of CSA's are vegetable CSA's. They usually operate from May to October. But there are also fruit and berry, meat, and winter garden CSA's.

We ran a small produce CSA on our first farm. While it was really labor intensive, we enjoyed the relationships we made with our customers. It was so satisfying to share our harvest and our farm with individuals and families. One of the things our customers enjoyed most was interacting with our animals, whether is was the horses, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, dogs, or cats. Getting out of the city and stepping onto a farm each week provided respite and relaxation for many of our customers.

My husband and children made it very clear that vegetable gardening is not their idea of fun. They put their foot down and said "No more CSA's." But since then, we've moved toward a focus on raising fiber animals and producing high quality fibers. This year we've decided to once again operate a CSA. Only this time we are offering a fiber CSA.

Fiber CSA's are very new and there aren't many of them around. Our fiber CSA provides a delivery of either yarn or fibers for spinning every other month for a year, beginning in April 2011. You can pick up your fiber at our farm, at the Lanesboro Farmer's Market, or we'll mail it to you. Customers can decide if they want a half share, full share, our double share. Each share includes a certificate of membership, regular farm updates, information on our animals, the chance to name one of this year's lambs, a spinning lesson, and invitations to farm events like shearing, lambing, dyeing days.

Its perfect for fiber lovers who want to buy domestic and one of a kind products. Buying a share saves you 20% -30% off buying individual skeins or fiber by the pound. It helps support the preservation of endangered breeds and a small family farm. CSA's connect people to the land, animals, and small-scale agriculture. They have the potential to revitalize depressed rural economies.

2011 Fiber CSA memberships are now available. We want to share our farm with you. Get all the details on our website www.kindredspiritfarm.com. Remember, CSA memberships make great gifts.

A New Bunny

2011-02-03T23:04:00.000-06:00

Last night Dennis came home with a big cardboard box. He set it on the kitchen floor and pulled out a lovely gray rabbit. Happy Valentine's Day! Yes, it is only February 2nd. Now he's got that out of the way and he can attend to other more pressing things. Back to the rabbit. She is very pretty and very soft. She got all different shades of gray and a black face. So technically she'd be considered a black. She's a German/french angora cross with a lot of German in her pedigree. Our white giant angora, Cotton, was quite interested in a new friend. We look forward to blending angora with Lincoln longwool. The combination could produce some wonderful yarns. I'm really wanting to make sock yarn this year. Increasing the number of angora rabbits allows us to create some exciting blends. Well everyone took turns holding her. Tonight she got to cruise around the house. The question is, what do we name her? Ginny? So we can say we have Cotton and Gin. I've also heard Godiva. Hmmm. Gotta give it some more thought.

Websites and Social Networking Woes

2011-01-30T16:14:00.001-06:00

Maybe I'm too old. Maybe it is our rural satellite internet connection, that is anything but high speed. I know part of the problem is the desktop computer with the frozen fan. Anyway, creating websites, updating facebook pages, and trying to figure out how to link them all is overwhelming to me. I'm frustrated.

January is that quiet, peaceful month in winter when I spend hours planning and preparing for the year ahead. Its the time to update websites and get them working once and for all. Its the time to create a new facebook page and separate out the family discussions from the farm discussions. I'm all for some personal boundaries. Gosh, it takes so much time. UGH!!! I've spent the last two weekends tethered to the computer.

I can't tell you how many pages I've lost because the internet connection has timed out. Here's a news flash for those of you who don't live in rural areas. Folks who live out in the country can't get high-speed internet through the phone service or some other cable company. The service provider we have (Wild Blue) has a fair use policy. So we have two modems and we have to switch them out half way through the month because we've used up more than our fair share of the service. Its expensive, slow, and unreliable. But with all these constraints, I've still managed to put together a working website with the help of WIX.

If you aren't familiar with WIX, I encourage you to check it out at www.wix.com. You can create a website for free if you don't mind their ad banners. I've gradually upgraded our farm website to the point where we now offer e-commerce through pay pal. Wix is really fun and easy to use. It would be so much more fun if my internet connection didn't constantly time out when I try to upload a new page or save changes to existing pages. It uses flash player and it really is as simple as drag and drop. The only downside is that I can't view my website on my iphone because Apple and Adobe (makers of flash player) are at odds with one another. I hope a truce is negotiated soon because I'd love to get an ipad. I can really envision myself working on the website while sitting in a comfy chair by a roaring fire in a coffeehouse sipping a chai latte. Oh wait, there's no place with Wi-Fi in my town and there's no place around here that sells decent coffee. Garrison Keiler's version of Minnesota's small town cafes fails to disclose just how weak and tasteless the coffee in these joints really is.

So I'm at home with my computer and my marketing plan. Maybe that's good because I can walk away when I'm totally exasperated - like this morning when I lost two hour's worth of work. Yes, I know I should have saved it sooner. Since I'm at home, I can wash wool while I'm waiting for a web page to load.

My goal this year is to increase our farm's online presence and integrated our website, facebook, local harvest site, and twitter. As I sit here in the dead of winter with another snow storm on the way, I wonder "Will anyone care? Will anyone read this stuff? Will it help us connect with fiber lovers in our area?" I guess only time will tell. In the meantime, I'll hit the "publish post" button, get up and drain the rinse water in the sink, and hope this blog entry is saved.

A Crockpot To Dye For

2011-01-25T22:32:00.001-06:00

Laurel, my 90 year-old neighbor is trying to clean out her house. When I was over planning our garden seed order, she asked if I wanted an old crock pot that had been in a box of "goodies" she purchased at a local auction. "Sure." I figured I could use it to make a nice warm oat mash for the horses. But its a small one and wouldn't hold enough oats.

We are in the midst of a bathroom remodel. The kitchen, the office/wool room, and the dining room are all a disaster. So many things out of place. On the floor in the wool room were two small bags of washed wool that I had been wanting to dye. The wool is short lambswool that I want to sell as crumbles. It will be good for adding accents and color to felting projects or for cutting up and adding specks to make a tweed yarn.

So I soaked some wool in a 4-cup glass measuring cup of water and a quick squirt of dish soap for twenty minutes. Then I transferred it into the crock pot full of water. I added a teaspoon of dye, gave it a gentle stir, turned it on low, and walked away. A few hours later I had dyed wool. I kept this routine up for a week. Sometimes I'd turn the crock pot on high, sometimes on low, and sometimes I'd forget to plug it in so I let the wool sit in the dye bath over night. It all worked. It was fool-proof. I dried the wool on towels. If it was still damp the next day, I put it on top of the wood stove to finish drying.

It was really a mess-free way to play with color in the midst of winter. I started with my darkest purple. After dying the first batch of wool, I was left with a weak dye bath. Next I added blue to the dye bath so that I got a blend of the two dyes. Then I dyed the third batch blue., I repeated this process over and over, resulting in a wide range of colors and more interesting colors. Very little dye was wasted. Honestly, it wasn't messy at all. That little crock pot on the counter was very inconspicuous sitting next to the toaster. No one complained about mom and her big messy projects that take over the house. Heck, the bathroom remodel took that award. So the next time you come across a crock pot at a garage sale or auction, don't just dismiss it because you already have one. Pick it up and go on your own dyeing adventure.

2011-01-16T20:56:00.005-06:00

Last March we added Lincoln Longwools to our flock. Lincolns are an old English breed that are on the "watch" category because they are endangered. Lincolns are the biggest breed. But when compared to modern and improved breeds that are the size of ponies, they look small. Lincolns are so docile and affectionate. Ours love to cuddle. They can be hard to show because they lean into us and want to be touching at all times.

Adding Lincolns to our flock has caused me to think about our yarn in new ways. With three old English breeds, I've been wanting to explore 5 ply guernsey (also called gansey) yarn and aran yarns. I sent some washed Lincoln lambswool, Lincoln hoggit, and Lincoln fleeces from a two-year old up to Rach-Al-Paca fiber mill in Hastings, MN. Rachel agreed that she should spin it into a five-ply guernsey.

While it was up at the fiber mill, I kept dreaming about lace weight yarn. But Lincoln is known as carpet wool. It is the coarsest of all wool. We've had judges at the Minnesota State Fair blow off our fleeces, because our wool was nothing but "carpet" wool. The same fleeces that one blue ribbons and lots of compliments at the Shepherd's Harvest Festival. Well in my search to learn more, I came across a blog about Lincoln Longwool lace. (Read Beth Smith's blog to learn more.)I knew from my experience with the fleeces, that what she was writing was true. Lincoln wool, especially the lambswool and hoggit (second clip) is amazingly soft. But in addition, it has a wonderful luster that rivals mohair. To top it off, it is so strong. So you can definitely, take this long, beautiful, and strong fiber and spin it into fine yarn.

On Friday, I picked up the yarn. To be honest it didn't spin up like a typical guernsey. It was a flat, five-ply yarn. The lambswool was a bit wavey - it didn't loose its curl. I didn't "full" it. Yesterday, I began to knit it up into a scarf. It is absolutely beautiful.

I took up another Lincoln fleece to Rachel's and this time, she's going to spin it as thin as possible. Will I end up with toad's hair or lace weight? I'll let you know in April.

Memorial Day Surprise

2009-06-01T22:57:00.000-05:00

On Memorial Day I got up early to take Joe to the High School because the marching band was participating in the day's festivities. As I drove in the driveway I noticed Mocha, one of our ponies in the yard. At her side was something small and brown. Was it a goat? No it was a colt! I immediately called Joe on his cell phone and said, "You won't believe what is in the yard." Then I went inside and told everyone else. Of course then we had to run outside, to great the baby and congratulate Mocha. The colt was very new - just a few hours old. He was very wobbly. We kept asking ourselves, when did she get pregnant? Who's the father? After all, we had Mocha at the boy Scout camp last summer.
Just a few weeks earlier, I had mentioned that Mocha looked pregnant. Dennis and Joe responded, "Gnaw she always looks fat." I didn't buy it, but it wasn't an argument I could win, so I let it go. Luckily, the night before, Dennis pulled Mocha out of the paddock with the other horses and made her a small pen in the shaded grass next to the house. It was a nice clean place to give birth and she was safe and sound all by herself.
A few weeks later, we had the vet out to check on another horse and we found out that our gelding pony Minor, wasn't a gelding at all. He still had one testicle. So he's the sire and now he really is a gelding. Mom and colt are doing well and have free run of the farm.

Easter Angels

2009-04-15T22:32:00.003-05:00

We had a warm Easter by Minnesota standards. No snow o n the ground, sunny skies, and a hint of green in the grass. Somehow we managed to get everyone up and dressed in their Easter clothes and to church in time for the 8:00 a.m. service. Believe me, that is a first for us. Tyler wore shorts and Mackenzie wore a sleeveless dress in our balmy 58 degree weather. After the service, the youth group hosted a breakfast down in the fellowship hall. Back home, we changed into our farm clothes and presented the younger kids with Easter baskets, while Joe hid the eggs around the farm for an Easter egg hunt. How fun to actually be able to run around collecting eggs on a warm, dry, sunny day. That just doesn't' happen here very often.

After a lunch of candy and hard boiled eggs, we all went outside. I tilled the garden and planted those fruit trees I wrote about. In the midst of planting a car pulled up in the driveway. It wasn't a car I recognized and I couldn't imagine who it could be on an Easter Sunday. Two men visiting from Kuwait were driving around the countryside looking for a lamb to butcher and they wondered if we had any available. Our new friend and neighbor, Willis, had sent them to us and they probably saw the sheep in the pasture. We don't have any lambs available. And we tried to explain that we raise sheep for wool and because it is so cold here in Minnesota, we don't lamb early enough in the year to supply the Easter lamb market.

I ran inside and got on the computer, trying to find names, addresses, and phone numbers of local farmers who I thought might have a market lamb ready to butcher. While I was searching for information, Dennis and the kids had a nice chat with our visitors. It turns out they had just arrived in Minnesota and were here seeking medical care at the Mayo clinic in Rochester. even though they had only been here a short while, they had already observed that the people in Rochester weren't as open and friendly as the people out in the country. So they liked getting out of town and driving around the countryside. They teased us about being outside and working on a Christian holiday. We responded that the weather was just too nice and we all wanted to be outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. We talked about Halal markets and Muslim butchering practices. How important it is to kill an animal quickly so that it doesn't experience fear and pain, and to thank God for the sacrifice. We offered them some chickens we had in the freezer, but they declined. We said our good byes and they were on their way. What an unexpected gift of friendship and conversation.

Later that afternoon, we packed an Easter plate for our 89 year-old neighbor, Laurel. We included two different kinds of bread, Easter cookies, and some candy. Vincent, Tyler, and I drove down to her house to wish her a happy Easter. While we were visiting, Vincent invited Laurel to dinner at our house. I really respect his kindness and generosity. After taking a quick peak at her dairy goats and laying chickens, we returned home to get dinner ready. Laurel needed to eat by 5:30 so that she could get back home to milk the goats. We cooked a 22 lb. turkey that we'd gotten last fall from another farm, made mashed Yukon gold potatoes and gravy, steamed fresh asparagus, and fresh fruit salad. Pretty simple really. It was fun sharing a meal with Laurel. She's great company and we are all enjoying getting to know her. So this year three unexpected guests shared Easter with us and I have to believe they're our Easter angels.

Seeds and Trees

2009-04-13T19:33:00.004-05:00

Growing up in southern California, we had a yearly pilgrimage to the apricot orchards two hours away. We would pick apricots and bring home lugs of fruit that my mom would make into jams a nd preserves. Of course we would eat apricots until we were sick. When I lived in Northern California, I continued that tradition. I have fond memories of standing on my tip toes in the crotch of the tree to reach just one more ripe apricot. I continued the tradition of making jams, preserves, and apricot butter. I even went a step further and made fruit leather and dried a year's worth of apricots on screens placed on the roof. After almost thirty years in Minnesota, its hard to believe there could be such an arid climate.

So I know a peach tree is not an apricot tree. I want apricot trees. In January, I ordered two very special apricot trees - a new variety developed by Rutgers University that is both sweet and hardy. "Sugar Pearls" is only carried b y Henry Fields and Gurneys (they seem to be the same company). It was in stock when I placed the order. But this past week, we got the notice to go down to the post office to pick up two oversized packages. Gurneys sent the two tomcot trees I orderd. But without any notice, Henry Fields sent two peach trees. They sent two peach trees that aren't even hardy here. I called customer service and talked to someone in India who has ablsolutely no idea how important these trees are to me. He informs me that Henry Fields is all sold out for the year, but they would be happy to keep my money and fufill the order next year. Are you crazy? Then he said they could refund me $69.00 which was the cost of the two trees. I had to point out to him that there was also a $13.95 shipping fee and my credit card had been charged $82.95. The call ended with him stating that Henry Fields would refund my money but that the refund wouldn't appear on my credit card statement for two to three weeks. What are the chances I'm really going to get a refund? I offered to send back the two peach trees. He said keep them. The biggest difficulty getting a new orchard started is getting the stock. Mail order companies can be wonderful to deal with and they can also be terribly frustrating. I am so disappointed. I could taste those apricots.

Luckily, there is a local company that helps make planting a spring garden a truly joyful experience. We now live an hour away from the Albert Lea Seed House. I used to drive three hours for their customer service and the experience. Every time I'm there, I imagine what it must have been like back in the early 1900's to go to town and pick up supplies. When you walk in there's a sign in desk for gardeners and one for farmers. In the past I was a farmer. This year, I'm a gardner. Yes, its busy like the best deli, or meat market, or bakery. You wait your turn. But then you get served.

Some people, like me come with their list all made out. Others wander the isles. There are farmers, amish, and garderners. We all have our favorite varieties. There's a huge chalkboard on one wall, listing the current prices and availability for corn, soybeans, grains, and grasses. Albert Lea Seed House is inclusive. They have conventional seed and they have an ever increasing line of organic seed. They also stock many of the soil ammendments I need. They individually pack vegetable and flower seed varieties in 1/4 oz. to 5 lb. packages. Its rows of seeds, soil ammendments, and animal supplies.

It is so exhuberating to be at a seed store. Look around and you see the farmers sitting on stools at the barrels. This is their livelihood. Maybe their favorite variety of corn isn't avaialable. Do they risk trying something new or wait for the old standby to come in. It is serious business on that side of the store, but there is also time for chit chat. On the vegetable seed isles, I exhange places with an amish man. Everyone on this isle is serious too. In these difficult economic times, these little seed packets will provide our family with most of our food. It's not the year to make many "fun" choices. But I managed to slip in a small packet of Dill's Atlantic Pumpkin into the basket. (They're the giant pumpkins)

Once we know what we want for soil ammendments, Tom tells us what's in stock and Randy pulls the 50lb bags for us, neatly stack them on big old fashioned wooden dollies, and loads them into our car. They are even willing to break those 50 lb bags and sell customers like me, 2 lb. of white dutch clover. There's been years when I've put together my own mix of beneficial plants to edge the garden and they cheerfully oblidged my request for a little of this and a little of that. To top it off, they offer my kids a piece of candy as we leave. This is customer service and this is a company that knows how to change with the times. Bravo!

On the way home, I can't help but notice the empty grain elevators. They're in business, but they're empty. When I call the elevators around us, asking for diatomacious earth, kelp, Redmond salt, blood meal, bone, meal, dolomite, greed sande, and rock phosphate - all they can say is "What's that? I've never heard of it." They only know how to serve the big farmers using traditional methods. Albert Lea Seed House even carries Mycorrhizal fungi. I couldn't ask for more.

Chat and Chew Cafe

2009-03-28T20:07:00.004-05:00

Saturday mornings usually bring a break in the daily routine of getting up early and rushing around to get to work on time. But today was an exception. Joseph and his confirmation class boarded a bus at 6:00 a.m. to drive up to Minneapolis an inner city experience. They'll be working with kids in south Minneapolis, preparing breakfast at a soup kitchen, and sleeping at a homeless shelter. This is my old stomping ground, and even though Joe has spent lots of time in the city, I'm grateful that Pastor Dennis organizes this event. It wasn't just Joe that had an early morning wake up call. Vincent was at a middle school lock-in at the Preston Middle School about twenty miles away. He needed to be picked up at 7:00 a.m. So the alarms were set for 5:00 a.m. and we got everyone up and dressed and out the door to deliver Joe to church and then off to Preston to pick up Vincent.

Of course, when we were half way to Preston, Vincent called reminding us that we needed to pick him up. Dennis loves to tease, so he acted like he was still in bed and had totally forgotten. We could hear the disappointment in his voice, since he thought it would be another 45 minutes before someone would fetch him.

Once we had Vincent in the car, we thought it would be fun to go out to breakfast. We drove to Lanesboro and had breakfast at the Chew and Chat cafe. To my surprise, our waitress was Jessica, one of my students. What a fun connection! Small town cafes are a world all their own. This one was filled with all the good old boys talking weather, taxes, politics, farming, and the rising Red River up north over their morning coffee. It really is nice to have someone else make the pancakes and hash browns.

Once home, Vincent crashed on the couch and the rest of us went to work. Dennis and Tyler in the barn and Mac and I in the house. We washed and packed eggs, cleaned the kitchen and dining room, and got ready to start seeds. Our good friend Andy, drove down from Farmington to spend the day with us. It was good to see him and share a meal together. He and Dennis messed about in the barn, groomed some horses, cut down some dead trees, and got hay.

I haven't been in the mood to start seeds until now. I finally got all receipts entered and the financial records organized so our accountant can prepare our taxes. With that behind me, I am ready to think about Spring. So with some help from Tyler, I started tomatoes, eggplant, and some herbs. Now I need to figure out a schedule for starting the rest of the seeds. And oh yeah, I need to call the sheep shearer - we've got to get the sheep sheared.

The First Day of Spring

2009-03-20T11:34:00.001-05:00

Its the first day of Spring. A fine time to start a farm blog. Don't you think? Most of the snow melted away on Monday and each day since then, there have been more and more blades of grass turning green. The sheep venture out in search of grass for the first time. The laying hens began scratching digging up worms in the horse pasture.This would be hardly noticeable to someone living in a more temperate climate. But here in Minnesota, I am acutely aware of each and every little sign that we are emerging from a long, cold winter. The sun is brighter, the days are longer, baby chicks and five puppies are on the porch, kittens are in the upstairs bathroom, two lambs are in the barn. Even though I know we are likely to get more snow and even below zero wind chills, opening a window for the first time in five months is truly a celebration. Just as the animals are coming alive, I feel my energy and creativity beginning to return.

Kindred Spirit Farm

2009-03-19T22:55:00.001-05:00

Free website - Wix.com