Seriously, You Can't Make This Stuff Up (Sheep part 1)

Seriously, You can't make this stuff up (sheep, part 1)

Fall of 2009: K3 decided she wanted to show sheep, not just any sheep but natural colored Romney sheep. We couldn't find any locally so we ended up driving to Maine to buy two sheep. Crazy, I know! At first glance sheep seem cute & fuzzy...not always the case. I unloaded Raquel from the truck & she took one look at Carter (our 80 lb chocolate lab mix) and went ballistic. I went in the direction of the barn running along trying to hang onto her while she was jumping as high as my shoulder. She frantically ran into the barn & SMACK! right into the 2 x 4 gate. She was bleeding from the nose & we were both stunned. Welcome home, Raquel!

A few weeks later the sheep  had settled down. Carter was very interested in them & really wanted to play. One day while Mark was in the barn he decided to let Carter in. While, Raquel took one look at him and charged flattening poor Carter. A dazed Carter stood back up & Raquel went to charge again, but Mark stopped her. Guess we don't have to worry about the dog scarring the sheep, we have to worry about the sheep scarring the dog!

Spring  2010 K3 and I needed to catch the sheep and move them to a new pasture. Raquel was being quite challenging running away from us, despite trying to lure her in with grain. I dove for her & caught her around the neck, but this didn't stop her. She dragged me a few feet and somehow managed to step on my hip giving me quite the bruise. Needless to say I was determined and didn't let go, and we managed to move the sheep. This is when I started calling her The Beast!

                                          Dedicated to Raquel a.k.a... The Beast

Sustainability to me

Sustainability to me

In 2009, during my sustainability class @ CCV, I decided to try  to come up with 100 ways to be more sustainable. What exactly does that mean....sustainability?  I came up with my own definition: Ways I can improve the environment & leave the least impact, try to reduce our trash, and our use of fossil fuels. Buy local food, grow or raise food for my family, organic as much as I can, and hopefully increase the health & happiness of my family.

Easier said than done..Try looking at all aspect of food. Is it organic? Is it locally grown or raised? How about how much packaging or waste is there? Oh, and is it affordable? As you can see grocery shopping is not an easy task for me anymore.

While I feel we have done so much & come a long way but....I am far from my goal of 100.

Here's my list:

1. Use cloth grocery bags. (I always have some in my car but...) The other day Mark & I had the truck and we ran in to get a few things, he checked out the groceries. Out of the store he comes with no bags and all the items were just in the cart. I had to laugh! I love him for being such a awesome partner in my cause!

2. We gave up paper napkins (we have a colorful basket of cloth ones on the table).

3. We reuse our towels after a shower. This has been really hard for the K's. I even put hooks on their doors so they have a place to hang them. This is a work in progress.

4. We put our TV's, appliances, and cell phone chargers on power strips that we turn off when they are not in use.

5. Compost! Most gets fed to the chickens. Our compost bin is primarily egg shells & coffee grounds.

6. We traded in my van (2009) for a more gas efficient car. I love my Fusion, although I wish we could have afforded a hybrid.

7.We started maple sugaring.

8.We have layer hens.

9. We planted blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry plants.

10. We made an asparagus bed. Mark & I had a spring full of asparagus pee!!

11.We dry our clothes outside & on a rack....trying to use the dryer as little as possible.

12. No baggies...only glassware for lunches.

13. Reusable water bottles.

14. Energy efficient light bulbs.

15. We heat our water with wood heat even in the summer. We use as many construction scrapes as possible, but no pressure treated boards or plywood.

16. We spray foamed our basement sill & our roof for a much more energy efficient house.

17. I  gave up Pam cooking spray & use a reusable olive oil sprayer.

18. Greatly reduced our takeout pizza, I make my own.

19. No Microwave popcorn we have a popcorn maker.

20. I buy in bulk as often as I can.

21. Re-use paper for notes.

22. Think of creative & reusable alternatives to wrapping paper such as towels & scarves.

23. Rags instead of paper towels. ( I must confess...I do use paper towels for cat puke, puppy pee, and washing mirrors/windows)

24. We don't use garbage bags inside the house. We have a big one outside that we dump into, so we only use one large bag every 2 weeks.

25. Online banking & bill paying.

26. We gave up cable.

27. I grew my own herbs & dried them.

28. Make our own ice cream.

29. Can & freeze a year worth of vegetables,

30. Make our own salsa & spaghetti sauce.

31. Jelly from our berries.

32. Switched to all natural cleaners & detergents.

33. Made all our own hay for our animals.

34. Planted 3 apple trees ( my goal is to plant at least one tree a year).

35. Raise our own beef.

36. Raise our own roasting chickens.

37. Raise lamb.

38. Raise pork.

39. We have greatly reduced  the amount of lawn that we mow, with portable fencing  we pasture animals on it instead.

40. After we split wood we gather all the scrapes & bark in paper grain bags that we then use for kindling. We waste nothing.

41. Most recently, we started buying raw milk. We skim off the cream for ice cream. We use glass reusable jars, it's local, and all natural...perfect!!

I am asking for any ideas from people to help me reach my goal of 100!

Seriously, You can't make this stuff up (horses)

Seriously, You can't make this stuff up (horses)

2003 I finally talked Mark into getting a horse...for the girls  of course! We bought a beautiful Arabian named Deirdre. The first summer we had her we didn't have money for a saddle, so we rode bareback. One day I was cantering around the lawn when suddenly, I Knew I was going over her front shoulder. I hit the ground head first (stupid me had no helmet). K1 comes running over, she was eight years old. Crying & screaming because her horse is loose. REALLY!!! I am literally for the first and only time in my life seeing stars. I take her by the shoulders & tell her to go get her dad. While she is doing this I walk over to Dee who is about 20 feet away happily munching grass. Guess we know her priorities.

Fast forward to 2007, we now have 3 horses (one for each girl). My nephew gets married, and my good friend who happens to be a hairdresser does my hair. When she does an updo your hair never moves thanks to lots of bobby pins & hairspray. We had a great time  & lots of fun with the captain.  6 a.m. the dogs bark, and then the phone rings. Our neighbor  tells us that our three horses just ran down the driveway & were heading  down the road. Guess that's what the dogs were barking at! You can just imagine what I looked like running down the road in my pj's with crazy hair (I removed the 50ish bobby pins before bed, so now it's just a mess) far behind the very fast running horses. Thankfully, it was early & only a few people saw me. Mark is smart & follows in the truck. I finally catch the horses just before they reach Route 30 .Now,  I have one in each hand & the third is following behind. I am walking them through the tall grass next to the road. The grass is very wet causing my bottoms to keep slipping down, but my hands are full. So, now I am the crazy lady with very bad hair, in her pj's, with plumber's crack  and out of breath!

R.I.P. Dee- Dee  (1987 -2010)...we will never forget you, you were the BEST horse!

Weekend Sampling @ Triple K Farm

Weekend Sampling @ Triple K Farm

Get home from work Friday afternoon, and decide to trim adult ewes hooves, all 7 of them. Mark catches  & flips them. I trim their much too long hooves and for this good deed I am rewarded with blisters on four fingers. Next, we load up my nieces two sheep (that have been here all winter) & trailer them home. After dinner K1, K3, and I paint the sign that my awesome husband made for us.

Sat morning we set up temporary fence on the lawn (I think lawns in the USA are the biggest waste of land &  fuel that is used for mowing the lawn) Then we catch & load 15 lambs to transport from the barn to the lawn.

 After the lambs are moved, I go with my sister to plant flowers on Mom's grave (oh...how I miss her). Come home to split sugar wood in preparation for next spring. Now, we take the dogs for a walk @ Mark's parents to check how the hay is coming & give them some exercise. Home to do chores & off to family b-day party.

Go to bed @ 11 while K3 &  friends go to lock in chickens...K3 comes in to tell me she accidentally shut their door when she did chores, so 1/2 were locked out and roosted under chicken tractor...she could not get then in. I was tired & we have forgotten to shut them in many times in the last 2 years since we've had chickens so I said "just leave them." Now it is 1 am & I am woken by a noise...kind of sounds like a distressed chicken so I go to open window & listen for several minutes...nothing,  back to bed. This wakes up hubby " what are you doing?" I explain how chickens were left out & then we hear noise...we jump up & Mark tells me to get flashlight while he loads his gun because he hears the distressed chicken noise & knows it's out in meadow. He  pops out screen and shoots @ a fox. We run outside to evaluate the situation. No fox...two dead chickens. We spend 1/2 an hour getting in the rest of the chickens because we don't want any more fatalities. An hour later we are back to bed...

Sunday a.m. we move chickens (like we do every weekend). 

 K 3 makes us pancakes with (Simond's Sugar Shack) maple syrup for mother's day. I clean the house while Mark cleans the cow barn. We work in garden, hang finished sign, and girls make dinner. Chicken dip, stuffed shells, and asparagus from our garden. Life is sweet!!

Why We Want To Farm.

Why We Want To Farm

For Mark & I it began when we were kids. Mark spent his childhood playing with tractors, playing @ Wilbur’s farm, and knowing he wanted to be a farmer. I have happy memories playing @ my brother’s farm with Christa, and @ LeRoy’s farm.

We grew up and both of us worked @ my brother’s farm. I milked cows for ten years and Mark worked there for twelve. Then we moved on for jobs with better pay & better hours.

In 2009, I took a class on sustainability @ CCV taught by an amazing professor (J. Williams), who opened my eyes to the problems with our food system. I watched Food Inc, read books by Joel Salatin, Michael Pollan, and Barbra Kingsolver. I realized there are many ways to farm other than the traditional dairy farm which Mark & I were so familiar with.

So, here we are....trying to make something of Triple K Farm (named after our three daughters). Our goal is to provide a healthy, happy, and sustainable quality of life for ourselves, our animals, and hopefully others.

We currently sell hay, maple syrup, lamb, and K3 sells eggs. We have hopes for much more in the future. Stay tuned...