Blueberry Hill Farm

The latest happenings around the farm include:

• building a new hoop house.  This is my biggest yet at 20' X 50'.  I have three 3' wide beds plus 4 walkways.  My friend, Randy, completed the ends last night.  (Randy is a master carpenter, among other things, and a perfectionist at his craft and I'm sure these ends will not fall down!)  I am excited to say that into this new hoop house will go strawberry plants that I will harvest in November and December.  Imagine having fresh, organic strawberries in the late fall and winter!
  
• re-plastic-ing two other smaller hoop houses.  Spinach, lettuces, cauliflower, Swiss chard, beets, carrots, and anything else I can squeeze in will go into those hoop houses.  The snow we had last March did a number on my back hoop house and broke the ridge pole, which in turn tore up the plastic.
• setting out broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and a host of other fall veggies

Yesterday I picked up a gallon of raw milk in Gaffney, SC.  This milk came from Milky Way Farm, located in Starr, SC.  I have been so excited about this and have waited very impatiently for over a week to get the milk.  Having just read the book "Real Food:  What to Eat and Why" by Nina Planck, I have been invigorated to become more conciencious than ever about eating "Real Food" , "real" milk being among the list of the very best foods to eat.  I had my first glass of real milk last night and it was about the best stuff I've ever had.  Milky Way Farm tests their milk every other day so I was assured that there were no "things that go bump in the night" kind of bacteria in the milk and -- low and behold, I did not get the least bit ill after drinking the milk.  Amazing to drink milk just like my mother and daddy drank all of their growing up and young adult years.  I plan to churn some homemade butter, which will lead to bread making, which will lead to cooking, which will lead to -- who knows what else!!  I used some of the milk in my morning's smoothie and it was YUM!

On Monday I decided that I was tired of trying to keep our two boys, MO and Sal separated.  After all, most alpaca farms run all their boys together, so, after talking with one of the country's leading alpaca farmers, I decided to put the two boys together, being pretty sure that, after the first few fights, things would settle down.  WRONG!  MO lives to fight.  It's all he wants to do.  Sal is a LOVER, not a fighter, and it's not been a pleasant week.  MO will not leave Sal alone.  So, last night, I separated them again.  What is it about some guys . . .

There you have it -- from hoop houses to alpacas and some things in between.

I just read an article by Joel Salatin, one of my favorite personalities, and there are a couple of quotes that stuck a chord with me as they so articulated my feelings.  I'd like to share them with you:

The fast-paced, frenzied urban life disconnected from the ponds, the trees and the pasture never held much allure for me.  Go away?  Why?  Where?  I think I was planted here.  I think God tends my soul here.  It's not for everyone, but it satiates my soul with wonder and gratitude.

The biggest obstacle is emotional - over-coming the cultural prejudice against splinters and blisters.  That is why I talk about economics and marketing, along with the mystical, artistic elements of the farm.  Yes, it's a lot of work.  But what a great office.  What a noble life.  What a sacred calling.

To which I can only add a hearty AMEN!