Talk About Procrastinating
So this post is almost exactly two years over due. Geez. Sorry. Talk about procrastinating. The thing is, this sad thing happened on the farm and I didn't want to write about it because, well.... then you would be sad too. But farms are all about life and death, every week an animal is born and an animal dies. It's just life.
I found my farm notes the other day, too. My farm notes were these quick notes I would jot down at night before I dropped into bed, so that later, when I sat down to write this blog I could remember all the crazy stuff that happened that week. Then, upon logging in to this blog for the first time in two years I found a draft of my last entry (the one that made me sad that I decided to not post). Below you'll find my half completed entry and my farm notes, exactly as I left them (because honestly I can't remember what they mean and they're pretty interesting on their own. It's like reading someone else's diary.).
Farm Notes:
10/13 Market closed today due to rain. More tractor training from the boys - they're great teachers. I finally know what the clutch does. Cute family came by to buy baby chicks.
10/18 Harvest day. Finally stopped raining but the whole farm is soggy. A pig died in the wallow and she was so huge the boys had to pull her out with the tractor. An image I will never forget.
10/19 Went to Beau's farm to help out - it was slaughter day. We processed 270 chickens. I don't think I'll ever get this smell out of my hair. Gavin's birthday is today. We went down to the local bar (the only bar in town). Lots of cake and whiskey.
10/20 Farmer's market. Nap. Dinner. Night time chores were closing up the chicken coops and hoop house.
10/22 Andy visited the farm! I had so much fun showing him around. He got to help me with my morning rounds - we spent a lot more time than I normally do playing with all the animals. Will even had him help us herd a pig into the truck for the butcher.
10/26 Farmer's market today. Combined young chicken coop with adult coop at night - horrible chore of moving dozens of sleeping chickens. We have to combine them slowly over time so that they have time to get acquainted and don't peck each other to death.
10/27 Some of the chickens aren't sleeping in their coop at night so after it's dark we have to find them and put them in the coop. Unfortunately for us, most of them are trying to sleep in the trees. We spent an hour climbing trees to retrieve sleeping chickens.
10/28 Helped Will vaccinate the rabbits. Cleaned windows and screens in prep for closing up for the winter. Had to move chicken coops across farm through several pastures. I almost wrecked. Everyone is OK.
10/29 Harvested so many peppers. SO MANY.
11/1 Finished cleaning out the chicken coop. Made a few repairs too. Added bedding to pigs shelters. Night time chore was combing chicken coops again. I hate moving chickens.
11/2 Helped Will catch 42 roosters to fix the male to female ratio. We're supposed to have one rooster for every ten hens. If there are too many roosters they might kill the hens with too much sex. It really happens. Painted the chicken coop later in the day.
11/3 One of our farm dogs died today, we found her in the pasture. She was really old. We held a nice little service for her in the morning. Picked up bales of straw from a neighboring farm. Moved pregnant mom pigs into the barn so they're warm. Moved rabbits inside too.
11/4 Installed new floor for chicken coop. Moved more chickens at night.
11/8 Harvest day.
11/9 Farmer's market.
11/10 Piglet proofed the pastures in prep for weening.
11/11 Learned how to determine the sex of a baby rabbit. Moved goats and sheep to new pasture. Organized barn. Prepping for winter.
11/12 All three male breeder pigs broke out of their pasture, climbed (yes climbed) over fence into pasture with females. Now one of them is pregnant. Great. She'll have a litter in the middle of winter, not ideal. Winter proofed coops. Long, cold, windy day.
11/15 Harvested all veggies outside. Transplanted lettuce into hoop house, too cold even with fabric.
11/16 Freezer quit working.
11/17 We all split the morning chores so we could go to breakfast together. Repaired and winter proofed more coops.
11/18 Bred rabbits. Covered veggies in hoop house, frost is burning them. Had to put down one of our main breeding rabbits.
11/19 Really sick pig. Woke up to Will walking across the farm with a gun to put the pig down. They're taking it in for an autopsy to see why it was so sick.
11/22 Harvest day. Delivered veggies to restaurant. Went to neighboring farm to help process chickens, turkeys, and ducks.
11/23 Harvest again. Added extra straw to pigs' beds.
11/24 Starting making tags for fruit trees
11/25 Horrible pregnant pig disaster. All but three of her new born piglets died when we found her. She wasn't near her due date so we weren't watching her as close. Two more piglets died soon after. Only one surviving piglet. Really bad day.
11/26 Finally finished fruit tree tags. Cold rainy day. Helped moved shelters for sheep and goats. Half day for Thanksgiving.
I found my farm notes the other day, too. My farm notes were these quick notes I would jot down at night before I dropped into bed, so that later, when I sat down to write this blog I could remember all the crazy stuff that happened that week. Then, upon logging in to this blog for the first time in two years I found a draft of my last entry (the one that made me sad that I decided to not post). Below you'll find my half completed entry and my farm notes, exactly as I left them (because honestly I can't remember what they mean and they're pretty interesting on their own. It's like reading someone else's diary.).
Will and Kent were gone all week leaving the interns to keep things running. I thought what could go wrong, things run so smoothly here. Then I remembered its a farm and shit is always hitting the fan but usually Will and Kent fix the fan, and clean up the shit. Now they're gone.
They hadn't even been gone 24 hours and I was already in a full panic. Friday night we load the truck up for the farmers market on Saturday. I went out to move the truck and it wouldn't start - I turned the key and nothing. Nothing. OH NO!! I wait half an hour (because somehow I thought the truck just needed some alone time or something). Again, nothing. I try jumping it off. Nothing. It's 9 PM, we leave for the farmers market at 6:30 AM the next morning. Did I mention it's raining the whole time. Like really raining. And it's cold. Farm neighbors are the best. After a few phone calls we had a yard full of people trying to fix the truck. Unfortunately the yard full of people decided the truck was doomed and suggested we find a mechanic. So, we stuffed two cars full of tents, tables, and produce and showed up to the farmers market looking like the Beverly Hillbillies (you know, that scene where they have everything piled on top of their car).
The next day we notice Clark is walking funny. He's not using his back legs. And he seems lethargic. I call Kent immediately. Clark has a hernia. Hernias, as I've mentioned before, are genetic and are rarely fixable. Kent tells me Clark needs to be put down. I've put down sick animals before, mostly chickens and one rabbit. It sucks. It really sucks. I remind myself every time that it's better than letting them suffer but on a scale from one to sucky, it's pretty damn sucky. When I told my fellow interns (who have lovingly teased me about how attached I am to Clark) they immediately volunteered for this horrible chore so that I didn't have to be the one who put Clark down. They also insisted they needed me to run a dozen odd errands for them, which would keep me away from the farm for an hour or so. I presume they didn't want me to accidentally see anything gruesome and were giving me some alone time (which is seriously rare on the farm since we all work and live together). You know that movie where Tom Hanks says "There's no crying in baseball!" well I'm also pretty sure there's no crying on farms. Instead I cried in the car, and at the post office, and then at the grocery store. I usually pride myself in my WASP like superpowers of never crying (at least not with an audience present) but that day all of Emmitsburg was witness to me losing my WASP card.
Farm Notes:
10/13 Market closed today due to rain. More tractor training from the boys - they're great teachers. I finally know what the clutch does. Cute family came by to buy baby chicks.
10/18 Harvest day. Finally stopped raining but the whole farm is soggy. A pig died in the wallow and she was so huge the boys had to pull her out with the tractor. An image I will never forget.
10/19 Went to Beau's farm to help out - it was slaughter day. We processed 270 chickens. I don't think I'll ever get this smell out of my hair. Gavin's birthday is today. We went down to the local bar (the only bar in town). Lots of cake and whiskey.
10/20 Farmer's market. Nap. Dinner. Night time chores were closing up the chicken coops and hoop house.
10/22 Andy visited the farm! I had so much fun showing him around. He got to help me with my morning rounds - we spent a lot more time than I normally do playing with all the animals. Will even had him help us herd a pig into the truck for the butcher.
10/26 Farmer's market today. Combined young chicken coop with adult coop at night - horrible chore of moving dozens of sleeping chickens. We have to combine them slowly over time so that they have time to get acquainted and don't peck each other to death.
10/27 Some of the chickens aren't sleeping in their coop at night so after it's dark we have to find them and put them in the coop. Unfortunately for us, most of them are trying to sleep in the trees. We spent an hour climbing trees to retrieve sleeping chickens.
10/28 Helped Will vaccinate the rabbits. Cleaned windows and screens in prep for closing up for the winter. Had to move chicken coops across farm through several pastures. I almost wrecked. Everyone is OK.
10/29 Harvested so many peppers. SO MANY.
11/1 Finished cleaning out the chicken coop. Made a few repairs too. Added bedding to pigs shelters. Night time chore was combing chicken coops again. I hate moving chickens.
11/2 Helped Will catch 42 roosters to fix the male to female ratio. We're supposed to have one rooster for every ten hens. If there are too many roosters they might kill the hens with too much sex. It really happens. Painted the chicken coop later in the day.
11/3 One of our farm dogs died today, we found her in the pasture. She was really old. We held a nice little service for her in the morning. Picked up bales of straw from a neighboring farm. Moved pregnant mom pigs into the barn so they're warm. Moved rabbits inside too.
11/4 Installed new floor for chicken coop. Moved more chickens at night.
11/8 Harvest day.
11/9 Farmer's market.
11/10 Piglet proofed the pastures in prep for weening.
11/11 Learned how to determine the sex of a baby rabbit. Moved goats and sheep to new pasture. Organized barn. Prepping for winter.
11/12 All three male breeder pigs broke out of their pasture, climbed (yes climbed) over fence into pasture with females. Now one of them is pregnant. Great. She'll have a litter in the middle of winter, not ideal. Winter proofed coops. Long, cold, windy day.
11/15 Harvested all veggies outside. Transplanted lettuce into hoop house, too cold even with fabric.
11/16 Freezer quit working.
11/17 We all split the morning chores so we could go to breakfast together. Repaired and winter proofed more coops.
11/18 Bred rabbits. Covered veggies in hoop house, frost is burning them. Had to put down one of our main breeding rabbits.
11/19 Really sick pig. Woke up to Will walking across the farm with a gun to put the pig down. They're taking it in for an autopsy to see why it was so sick.
11/22 Harvest day. Delivered veggies to restaurant. Went to neighboring farm to help process chickens, turkeys, and ducks.
11/23 Harvest again. Added extra straw to pigs' beds.
11/24 Starting making tags for fruit trees
11/25 Horrible pregnant pig disaster. All but three of her new born piglets died when we found her. She wasn't near her due date so we weren't watching her as close. Two more piglets died soon after. Only one surviving piglet. Really bad day.
11/26 Finally finished fruit tree tags. Cold rainy day. Helped moved shelters for sheep and goats. Half day for Thanksgiving.
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