Sweet Harmony Farm

Today's post is written by my friend Val of Crown Point Alpacas.  Thanks Val!

There in the field was a little treasure. Adorning the green, green grass of spring, was this beautiful bright blue birds' nest. It had fallen from its lofty throne, sometime during the winter months when the last of the winds blew the last leaf off the bare branches, leaving only silhouettes of trees. I thought about that little nest as I picked it up. It was so beautiful. It had been carefully and thoughtfully constructed by a master at the art of recycling! The main part of this blue nest was an old tarp that had been covering some wood.  This little bird had used the blue tarp as her main weaving material. And then there was a fishing string found from a nearby brook. And then I saw the ribbon; it was the ribbon from a child’s balloon. I imagined that perhaps it was a child who'd had a special day. The balloon had floated away as the child watched, soothed by loved ones with gentle words, and a hug that the balloon would find a happy home.

Little did they know that the ribbon would weave a home, safe from winds and storms and give a family a chance to soar.  As I held this tiny little nest in my hands, I then looked into the nest, and there inside the nest was a thickly felted layer of alpaca fleece! Soft, and felted to perfection! I imagined how the nest was at first lined with fluffy fiber which swaddled the tiny eggs, and kept the little bird warm while she warmed her eggs. Then as the eggs hatched and the tiny little bird feet started to pitter and patter when mama brought them their food, they felted the nest! Teeny, tiny baby bird feet felting away!!  This little nest had been a wonderful home, protected them from harm and kept them warm and safe till they were ready to fly.

This nest is a lot like our lives; we weave it together. Our relationships, some like the old tarp, some the fishing string, some the ribbons, and our families, they are like the felt. We keep them close to us. Sometimes things change, sometimes our lives take turns, but the stuff we are made of, and what we choose to weave into our lives, gives us all the chance to “soar.”

The other night Dan and I went out to the barn, excitedly chatting about the day’s events.  As we entered the barn, the alpacas all ran up from the pasture, knowing full well that it’s dinner time.  I opened up the tack room door and reached inside to turn on the lights.  As I turned around, Arlo was walking into the pen.  And out of the corner of my eye I saw a rather large mouse, a very large mouse, crawl up and over the pen wall and run back down.

I screamed so loud that I’m sure our neighbors up in Canada heard me.

I’ve always been a lover of all animals.  But to be totally honest, rodents just aren’t at the top of my list.  This is especially true with rodents that could be categorized as very large mice.  I’m usually a sensible 40-something woman, but at the sudden unexpected sight of a very large mouse I lost all control, screamed bloody murder, and shut myself into the tack room.

Dan is normally calm, but my screeching really irks him.  I was all but hyperventilating trying to explain to him what I saw.  He kept reassuring me that it was indeed just a very large mouse, harmless, it’s gone, so it’s OK to come out, and please stop screaming.  Good idea, as my throat was now hoarse.  I slowly opened the tack room door and stepped out.  Dan looked rather annoyed.  The alpacas hadn’t moved and were staring at me with that ‘Where’s our dinner?’ look.  Even the barn swallow that’s been living in our barn hadn’t left its nest.  I had only scared away the very large mouse.

Now in the evening Dan always enters the barn first, waving the flashlight around all the edges, tells me the coast is clear, and turns on the lights.  I peer in slowly checking all the edges myself, before I come in.  For several days there were no new signs until one morning when there was a very large hole dug against the tack room wall, right next to the water spicket, which seemingly went under the tack room into the abyss.  I was good and didn’t scream, but had to run back up to the house to get Dan to inspect it.  He thought I was panicking again and reluctantly agreed to come out; then he saw the size of the hole.  He quietly said, ‘Hhhmmmm, I guess you did see a very large mouse the other night.  I’ll get the traps.’  He returned with mouse traps large enough to catch a small squirrel.  I figured it was best not to ask why.  He set both on either side of the tack room and now we wait.  It’s been several days and no signs yet that the very large mouse has returned.

A barn cat is looking better and better, after the barn swallow is done nesting.

I’ll keep all of you posted, loudly I’m sure.

Warning:  Pardon me for stating the obvious, but please be sure your alpacas or any of your livestock cannot access mouse traps!!  And please, no poisons!!!

Alpacas are curious and they certainly will inspect a mouse trap.  One trap is set in the pen which is attached to the tack room, and we’ve secured the pen door shut.  The other is set under the tack room from outside, with rocks around the opening and I pulled out the few blades of grass nearby.  This side of the tack room is also in the area that had been sectioned off.

It’s springtime so it’s time to work on the pastures again.  Dan had done such a good job last summer, york raking up the ground to smooth it out for us to plant grass seed.  They say the best seed for alpacas is orchard grass, but we planted a horse pasture mix which includes orchard grass and many other grasses.  Alpacas are browsers while they graze, and isn’t variety the spice of life?

The grasses did come up again this spring and after a long winter of just hay, the alpacas are loving it.  Pastures are continual maintenance, and the healthier the pastures, then the healthier the alpacas.  First things first, we separated the east side of the pasture in half with a zig-zag.  We used some temporary sheep fencing, those plastic poles, and 2 strands of wide electrical tape.  There’s no need to electrify the fence as it is just temporary, to divvy up the pasture for resting and re-seeding.  We’ve also used this fencing near the main gate, separating off an area of about 10 x 20 feet, as added assurance when we enter and exit that no alpacas will suddenly decide to wander off.  It’s worked just fine.  Until now!

Last weekend it wasn’t very windy and with on again, off again showers it was perfect for adding lime.   Dan spread about 40 pounds of lime onto that separated, little pasture area.  I’m sure we could probably use a ton more on our clay soil.  Lime is great.  It helps to alkalize the soil, the first step in growing good soil and healthy grass.   In another week or two, we will re-seed, and keep the alpacas off until the new grass is in and several inches tall.  Already the grass on that side is greener.  Alpacas generally respect fencing but two things will get them to find a way to the other side:  open females, and greener grass.

Arlo is still small for his age, but he’s a brazen little dude and all personality.  One day doing barn chores I realized that he wasn’t with the herd.  A quick look around, and there he was, just on the other side of the temporary fencing.  I couldn’t figure out how he got over there.  The fencing hooks up to the barn wall with handles so I undid the handles and walked over to him.  He kept grazing.  I put my hands on him and coaxed him gently, ‘C’mon Arlo.  Let’s go back with your brothers.’  He wouldn’t budge!  I continued to coax him and with every couple of steps, he’d take another bite of grass.  We were only a few feet away from the fence line but it took me almost 5 minutes to get him back!

Coaxing Arlo out of the fenced-in side is now a daily ritual.  Although now, instead of staying up by the barn, he obstinately goes right into the middle part of the pasture.  And he’s a spunky little guy!  He does the same thing with Dan, takes a few steps, takes a bite, takes a few steps, takes a bite, and then he scoots under the lower tape, doing the limbo.  So that’s how he’s getting in!  We’ll have to put up a third strand of fencing or the new grass won’t stand a chance.        

Back in March of 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska and dumped approximately 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into the sea of this pristine and remote location.  The incomprehensible, devastating damage done to the sea life, shoreline, and local communities and economies was insurmountable and continues until this day.  Exxon has denied responsibility continually and has appealed every verdict regarding this issue.  At the time, the environmental activist in me joined the millions of others as we all went into full activist mode, writing letters, calling elected officials, signing petitions, donating money to cleanup efforts through environmental organizations, and my personal favorite:  mailing little baggies of oil to Exxon’s headquarters.  The legal wrangling has spanned 20 years, and so has my complete refusal to buy gasoline from an Exxon station.  I choose to run out of gas first.  One of the saddest outcomes of this tragedy is the fact that our legal system has done literally next to nothing to get the spill really cleaned up properly, nor to compensate and assist the communities that were affected.  And to top it off, hardly anything has been done to switch our country over to clean, safe energy.

Here it is now, 21 years later, and another devastating oil spill is happening in our beautiful Gulf Coast waters.   I cannot believe that once again I will be working in some capacity to clean up yet another major oil spill.  This time, an explosion occurred on April 20^th at a deep sea oil rig owned by BP.  As well as major environmental devastation again, many lives were lost due to the explosion.  I pray for those families.  It is now 19 days later and oil is still gushing out.  BP is denying responsibility and says they’re not accountable.  Supposedly our government is doing ‘all it can.’  Is it?  When will this leak stop and who will clean it up?  And what does all this have to do with alpacas?

Alpacas are ‘green,’ very green.  Their fiber can literally absorb oil and allow clean water to pass through!  As history does tend to repeat itself, it will be we concerned citizens that initiate clean up efforts before the ‘officials’ step in.  The alpaca forums are already buzzing about a group that has been mobilizing.  Alpaca farms are banding together to mail alpaca thirds and unused alpaca fiber to collection sites.  Booms are being made with alpaca fiber stuffed into nylons as well as felted alpaca mats.  Once the oil is absorbed, oyster mushrooms are applied to break up the oiled booms and mats, and then earthworms finish up the job, turning a harmful substance into glorious dirt.  Please visit this wonderful organization’s website, www.matteroftrust.org to learn all the details of this ingenious oil spill clean up method.  And fellow alpaca farmers, send in your unused fiber!  Recycle those empty grain bags!

 If we citizens don’t take action to take care of our environment, who will?  And where would we all live?      

Here I am, all these years, writing letter after letter to my elected officials, begging them to think of the environment first and pass appropriate legislation.  Who would've thought my love for animals and natural fibers, being outside, and gardening organically, would have brought me to a place in my life where I'm raising livestock that is not only ‘light on the earth’ but also is instrumental in cleaning up an environmental disaster.  What a feeling!

Today is Mother’s Day.  Hi Mom!  And while we’re all thanking our Moms please, please remember to do something thankful for everyone’s ~ human, animal, bird, fish and sea creature, reptile, insect, and plant ~ mom, Mother Earth.    

This past Thursday was our first shearing day here on our little farm.  We have agisted our alpacas for about 2 years so we are familiar with the whole shearing process, and our shearer has sheared our alpacas in the past, but everything is different when it’s being done on your farm for the first time!  This is still our first year having the alpacas here, so everything is a new experience.

Pam was here (thanks Pam!) to assist and also to sort the fleeces, and another nearby alpaca farmer volunteered to help and stopped by too.  Thanks Janet!

Everything went surprisingly well.  On Monday the weather forecast was calling for rain for a few days, so late that night we had to lock the alpacas into the barn.  With a run in shed, that means putting up tarps!  Dan had just finished making a gate which we’d thankfully hung up on Sunday; now we had a way to enter and exit the barn easily.  So one stall had the gate and the other three had tarps.  Even though my 5 boys had 6 stalls and are wimpy about rain, they really dislike being locked in the barn for days!  I got spit on more than once (thanks Guinness).  But my reward for green slime on my face and in my hair was dry animals on shearing day.  Dry, clean fleece is imperative for shearing a usable product.

I had enticed the boys into the pen with pellets before everyone arrived.  Funny how they fall for this every time!  They were all humming quite loudly watching us while we set up mats and extension cords, bags for gathering and separating the fleeces, and flattened cardboard boxes to kneel on. 

We decided to shear our boys from darkest to lightest in color, because our fussiest boys are the darkest.  Our shearer is extraordinarily kind to the alpacas; we wouldn’t have it any other way.  Still, I’m sure the alpacas are a bit frightened even though it’s ‘all over with’ quickly.  Julio, being bay black, was the first.  Our tough alpha male screeched like the dickens the entire time!  When he was done we scooted him out to the pasture, where he stood up on the dirt pile near the fence to watch his herd mates.  Guinness, then Coty, then Arlo, were next and all accepted their fate quietly, albeit reluctantly.  Bo Jangles was last, and we went through several rags cleaning up his mouth from all the spit. 

The alpacas sniffed each other for hours afterwards, as if they were all different alpacas.  And they stayed out in the far pasture all day.  It was a sunny, cool day with a strong wind and I know they were cold.  When they saw us in the evening they did come running in to the barn without being called.  They all ate their pellets in record time, and dashed off back into the pasture.  Yikes boys!  We weren’t going to lock you up in the barn again!  A few minutes later, in the dusk and growing darkness, all the boys began to pronk around the pasture, led by little Arlo.  It was a glorious sight.

My fluffy, teddy bear-like alpacas now look like Dr. Seuss characters, or aliens!

I’m back!  For the past couple of weeks I’ve had the privilege of serving as a juror for the US District Court.  It was a wonderful experience, but it’s nice to be back to the routine of our daily life.

I had to be out of the house first thing in the morning, so Dan was tending to the alpacas.  Cell phones are not permitted in the Federal Building so I’d leave mine in the car in the parking garage, a few blocks away.  I had to wait until the end of the day before I could quickly walk to my car to call Dan and bombard him with questions:  Did Arlo greet you at the gate?  Did Julio sniff your head?  Did Guinness let you scratch his neck?  Were Bo and Coty so excited to see you that they started neck wrestling?  Anyone give you alpaca kisses?  These are all regular morning happenings for me and I was surprised that Dan responded with “Uhhhh ....... nope” for each question.   Ditto after Day 2.  By the third day I barely got to say hello before Dan said ‘Mo, I think the alpacas just like you better.’  I don’t want him to feel bad, so I told him I think it’s just that they see me more often. 

Dan is still concerned, so now he fills his pockets with Ziploc baggies of baby carrots when we go out to the barn in the evenings.   This is probably Julio’s and Guinness’ favorite snack.  Those great sniffers know there are carrots somewhere, so they follow Dan around as we do the nightly chores and sniff at his pockets.  Dan makes them wait until they eat all of their pellets before he gives them their carrot dessert.   Julio will at least chew his carrots, but Guinness can eat a whole carrot in one big snort.   The other alpacas, the ‘little boys,’ are curious as to what’s happening and watch this scene intently.  They too sniff at Dan but when offered a carrot they turn their heads.  For some reason our three younger alpacas have never liked carrots, so I put a little extra pellets in my hands to distract them.  Wet alpaca tongues tickle my hand as they cheerfully eat the pellets, and sniff at me for more.  The two geldings stand around Dan, poking at him with those long noses and sniffing him until they’re certain that all the carrots are gone.  Dan laughs as they sniff the top of his head over and over.  After a few minutes Guinness or Julio notice the little ones getting pellets for a treat and they quickly stomp over to me for their treat too.  Within seconds I am showered again by the geldings in alpaca sniffs and kisses. 

So nice to be back to the simple joys of our alpaca life......

I would love to have all summer days just like yesterday - mid 80’s with lots of sun and a gloriously strong warm breeze.  Stella has been chasing butterflies, running like a puppy on too-long legs.  When she gets hot she finds a cool spot in the dirt under my car or in the grassy shade from the trailer.  Daffodils and forsythias are blooming.   I can see the daylilies all popping up, their tips a deep green.  Birds are everywhere this time of year, singing cheerfully while they gather up supplies to build nests.   This morning I could hear the familiar rubbing noises on the outside of the logs here in the den.  That noise is a mama robin, building a nest on the criss-crossed corner of our log cabin, in the shade of a large maple tree.  Lately we’ve been seeing a smaller bird flying in and out of the barn also carrying grass and such in its beak.  This type of bird built a nest in the barn last year, up in the ceiling peak near the light.  It built a smaller nest in the next light to watch over its babies’ nest, and it would often perch on the fence nearest the barn to watch Dan and me.  It’s not really gray yet not really green either, but never stays still long enough for us to get a good look.  Anyone have any idea what type of bird it could be?

I wouldn’t be concerned normally about the alpacas on a very warm day like yesterday but they are still in full fleece.  Shearing Day isn’t for another few weeks.  They must be roasting in those wool coats!  My feet were definitely toasty in my Muck boots (time to get those purple clogs!)  I checked in on them again at noontime and everyone looked the same as any other day so that’s good.  I put out another bucket of cold water from the well pump for them.  Not that I really think 5 non-breeding male alpacas would drink 10 gallons of water in an afternoon, but I felt better!  I was going to put ice cubes in the water too but then I know I’d be concerned that they would swallow an ice cube whole and choke, thanks to my wild imagination, so an extra bucket of water it is.

The boys are still not too sure about their new bale feeder, except for Guinness, always except for Guinness, aka ‘Grumpy’ on our little farm.  He’s never shy when it comes to being fed!  Guinness will gladly munch and munch from the hay feeder, and fuss loudly and sometimes spit when another one of the boys comes over to eat too.  Even Julio walked away today, too hot to fuss back.   Eventually Guinness will walk away too; then the others will approach.  The bale in this new feeder is going down, down, down, so I know it’s not just Guinness eating from it, even if it seems that way sometimes.  This new feeder is in the barn under the awning in the shade, so I was happy to see them eating hay in the shade while the afternoon was so warm.

One of the many fun things with having a farm is that you get to utilize those hobbies of yours.  For Dan, my very crafty husband, he gets to use all of his woodworking tools and skills.  He just made this beautiful hay feeder for the alpacas which holds an entire bale of hay!  The feeder sits along the ground so the alpacas are able to eat their hay as they naturally do, right at ground level.  No one is pulling hay out overhead, so no hay will fall into beautiful alpaca topknots belonging to the shorter creatures, i.e. Arlo.  The top frame is made up of smooth wooden dowels so no alpaca noses will be injured.  The frame rests on the bale and drops down with the bale as the alpacas eat.  The doweled frame keeps the hay in the feeder; otherwise my fleeced friends would at times be able to pull out a large section of a flake and race around the barn.  Don’t laugh ~ sometimes as I’m carrying a couple flakes of hay the boys will come up and eat from the flake, and yes they’ve taken it away and ran!  Silly, silly alpacas, they’re always finding a way to make us laugh.

Of course introducing the new feeder is a different story.  Alpacas are very curious creatures, and rather cautious about anything new.  To their horror, we wheeled away their bright yellow wheelbarrow.  They eyed us intently.  And then we walked in the new feeder.  They eyed us intently still, but no one moved.  Even after we ceremoniously brought over an entire bale of hay and plunked it in, no one moved.  I pulled up some hay through the dowels to entice them.  Nothing.  We stepped back towards the tack room, and waited.  We watched and waited while they stretched their necks, sniffing loudly, and we watched and waited some more.  Finally, a brave alpaca soul approached.  And who was the first alpaca, the bravest alpaca, to try it out?  Guinness of course!

Today is pleasantly warm with a soft breeze and the sun is shining brightly!  It is so wonderful to see no clouds in a gloriously blue sky!  We’ve seen robins here and there, and daffodil tips are peeking up along the foundation to the house, sure signs that spring is on its way.

The alpacas had been romping around the pasture early this morning.  There’s still some snow covering most of the ground and with all this quick melting there’s also plenty of deep puddles and mud.  Thankfully my boys hate to get their feet wet so they hop over the puddles and quickly walk through the mud.  The sun has dried the straw that we’ve put out in the paddock for them to cush on.  They’ve been basking in sunshine for hours.

Arlo greeted me at the gate as he usually does although today he’s totally covered in straw.  Apparently, he’s been rolling!  They’re so funny when they roll.  First they sniff out an area like a dog would, probably to be sure it’s ‘clean.’  Then slowly they will cush, and suddenly they kick out their feet as they roll onto their side, and kick and kick while they slither on the ground.  Then they’ll go back to a cush, spring up, and shake.

As I went about my chores, Coty came into the barn and started sniffing the one stall with no straw, just the stonedust.  Next thing I knew, he was dropping and rolling!  After rolling in stonedust, Coty’s rosy-fawn fleece looks kind of gray.  Guinness had been cushed near the hay feeder so he just flopped over on his side and rolled away.  He too was covered in straw as he sauntered over to the water bucket.  I turned around to see Julio coming into the barn from the tack room side, sniffed at the straw, and he too dropped and rolled.  During all this rolling, Bo had been quietly eating some of the fresh hay that I’d just put into the wheelbarrow.  He only had straw on his legs from cushing.  I let him know that I had seen him rolling out in the paddock from the window this morning.

I guess all the alpacas have spring fever too!

Last Thursday, New Hampshire, and most of New England and New York were hit with yet another seriously strong storm.  The weather forecasters talked about it for days; you’d think the apocalypse was coming.  They’ve been pretty wrong quite a bit lately so I didn’t think too much of it.  In the afternoon the heavy rains and wind started up, the back of our cabin started to leak in odd places, and I knew that this time their forecast was correct.

In the past 3 years since we’ve started our farm, Deerfield and the surrounding towns have been hit with record rains, flooding conditions, collapsed roads, record snowfall, a tornado, a severe ice storm causing extensive statewide damage, power outages lasting weeks, a phone outage (due to flooding) lasting a month, etc. etc.  This last windstorm once again caused extensive property damage, downed power lines and trees, flooding, impassable roads, and power and phone outages for days.  This is getting all too familiar.

The power went out late Thursday night.  The winds were so loud we couldn’t sleep, the strongest winds coming about 1:00 a.m. Friday.  We were curled up on the couch all night in front of the woodstove, bleary eyed.  We heard the most god-awful noises but with no power we couldn’t turn the outside lights on and it wasn’t safe to go outside.  At first light, around 6:00 a.m. I ran out back and started calling out to the alpacas, who were all huddled behind the tarps we put up.  Within seconds they all came running out looking excited to hear my voice!  All were fine and the barn appeared intact.  We did have minor roof damage to the house, branches down all around, and trees down in the woods.  And, oh yes, no power nor phone, again.  The Governor declared a state of emergency, and told us to plan for an extended outage, again.

It’s easy to become despondent and anxiety ridden, and I was on the borderline.    As Dan and I drove around looking for somewhere to get water for the alpacas and saw all the damage around town, we quickly changed our spirits to all that we were and are thankful and grateful for.  We continue to keep thinking about all that we are grateful for.  Gratitude keeps us focused on the important things.  In the big scheme of things, nothing really bad happened to us.  We are just fine.  We have neighbors and friends and co-workers who were not as lucky as us. 

We are so happy and grateful that we were not injured, nor were any of our animals, we are grateful that our house and barn and fencing were not really damaged and that no trees fell on them, we are grateful that no windows broke, we are grateful that we had supplies and daylight to repair the roof quickly, we are grateful that our cars and trailer and tractor were also not damaged, we are grateful that the house stopped leaking (it stopped raining), we are grateful that no power lines fell on our property, we are grateful that the sump came within three inches of the top (i.e. it did not overflow!) and that the cellar stayed dry, we are grateful that we have a friend who offered us water for the alpacas, we are grateful we live in a town that has water available for livestock in emergencies (how great is that!), we are grateful that we’ve always enjoyed heating our home with a woodstove, we are grateful that the right situations fell into place and an electrician was able to come out to wire the house properly for a generator, we are grateful that we finally got said generator running, and we are grateful that the phone and internet service were up within 3 and half days. We are very grateful that we were out of power for only 48 hours this time. 

We will always get a good laugh at how the power came back on less than 5 minutes after we got the generator running!  Now that we have a properly installed generator for such emergencies, we’ll probably never lose power again! 

We are grateful in advance for that.   

I just love to go barefoot.  In the warm weather, the sun on my toes and the feel of grass or beach sand beneath my feet is such a relaxing sensation.  I’ve always hated to have anything on my feet except for wool socks in the winter when I’m in the house and my feet are cold.  I only put slippers on to run down cellar or going onto the porch for wood.  When I come into the house, whatever is on my feet I quickly kick off.  Dan even has a family friend who does go barefoot in the winter, even outside!  (Hi Jeff)  My mom often reminds me of the Easter day when I was 2 years old and cried all day.  That evening when she took off my new little shoes, my feet were covered in blisters, and I stopped crying.  I imagine I’ve hated wearing shoes since then.

I do have to have something on my feet to drive or walk or get around so in the warm weather you’ll usually find me in something like Teva sandals or Birkenstocks.  I can easily take them off before I start driving.  If I’m hiking in the woods I will wear proper hiking boots to protect my feet.  I wear the hiking boots for getting around in the winter too.  And somewhere I do have men’s type work boots for safety when we cut and stack wood, move rocks, and other yard chores.  And now we have livestock, so another boot beckons.  It just wouldn’t be healthy for me to be barefoot in the barn and pastures!  Dan on the other hand, has no shoe issues and always prefers to wear something on his feet.

So what’s a barefoot loving girl to do?  She wears boots from a company appropriately named The Muck Boot Company!  We are lucky enough that the feed store here in town carries them.  We were looking for a boot that would keep our feet warm while doing barn chores in the snow and wind and we tried on their ‘Artic’ boot style.  Oh my!  The sole is quite cushy but also has arch support and while walking around the store, my feet were actually comfortable!  They come up almost to my knees which keep out deep snow, but they also fold down so I can easily tuck my pants in, and then roll them back up.  How great is that!  They are rated to keep your feet warm to 40 degrees below zero.  And may I dare say, my feet have never been cold while I’m out in the barn!

During those weeks of below zero temperatures and fierce winds, all I could think of was Elaine on a Seinfeld episode when she was writing for Peterman’s catalog:  “Thank goodness I was wearing my Muck Boot company’s Artic zone boots!”

Last weekend at the feed store Dan was showing me some clog style boots for spring and summer.  Lucy, the owner, quickly opened the catalog to show me that they also come in purple.  Purple!  How can I resist a boot that comes in my favorite color!  Come summer folks, you will probably find me about the farm not barefoot, but in my purple clog-style farm boots.

Jenna Woginrich blogs on the Mother Earth News as the Happy Homesteader.  She recently posted a fabulous entry she entitled ‘Yearning to be a Farmer.’  Many readers have commented that her term ‘Barnheart’ will be this year’s ‘locavore.’  I’d have to agree.  I am relieved to hear that many people share my affliction.  If you have a chance you can read her blog post here.

Barnheart is essentially the heartfelt, intense longing for the outdoors, of growing our own food, building our own shelters, and raising our own livestock for food and clothing.  It’s our longing for self-sufficiency and breathing fresh air while we live our conventional lives, working in our windowless, stuffy office cubicles.  It’s that calling we feel while discussing average percentages and quarterly reports with co-workers.  That longing for a quiet and peaceful life based on simplicity and nature is what wakes people with Barnheart up at night.

I have had Barnheart all my life and now it has a name!  I grew up in suburbia with its developments, soccer games, traffic lights with congestion and honking, and strip malls.  On paper my hometown had a wonderful school system and safe neighborhoods.  During and after college I continued to live in suburbia for years.  But I longed for large open fields of lush grasses and wildflowers.  I longed for large expanses of land that beckoned to be hiked in solitude from crowds.  I longed for that smell of fresh air.  I longed for hearing nothing but birds singing and the wind rustling grass and leaves.  I longed for that life where joy is found in pulling up that first unperfect carrot grown from the soil you created and rainwater, baking bread from grain you grew, upon finding that first egg in your coop in the springtime, vases filled with flowering weeds, attending to animals in an old barn, and running your hands through freshly sheared wool.  I longed for wearing wool from animals I raise and care for.  I longed for working my land, for having dirty hands and knees and unbrushed hair and for that to be my fashion statement.  I longed for starry nights that can be seen from my porch, my land, my homestead.

I longed so much and for so long and now joy is here with my little farm.  The longing never really goes away, yet with each step forward one’s smile becomes wider.  For all of you with Barnheart too, may you find your joy soon and may that joy bring you peace. 

My name is Mona and I have Barnheart.               

Oh what a gorgeous spring like day today!

Yesterday’s storm was rainy and yucky but not at all as horrible as predicted.  The little road to the barn is very muddy this morning but most of the ice is gone so I could walk down quickly, not inch along like I’ve had to do.  The pathway in the paddock is still pretty icy and the mud is slippery but at least it’s just a short path to the tack room.  It’s warm enough today that I didn’t have to lug jugs of hot tap water.  I just used the water pump in the barn, wow!

And the alpacas are enjoying this burst of warmth too.  Dan had put some straw down on one end of the paddock for the boys to cush on a few weeks ago and the sunshine today has dried it up nicely.  Straw from the barn has also blown out, so now there’s a really large cushing area for them.  They seem to be basking in shifts.  This morning Guinness, Bo, and Coty were all out for hours, and now it’s Julio and Arlo.  Last night their fleeces were all wet and muddy with hay and straw stuck all over them.  Today they all look so much cleaner.

The rest of the paddock is an absolute muddy mess and this is where they’ve now decided is their poop pile of choice, all of it!  Better than inside the barn.  Last year when figuring out how to deal with the mud (i.e. drainage), it was suggested to us that the paddock area be considered a ‘sacrifice area.’  A sacrifice area is where no grass is grown and instead just stonedust or cement blocks, etc. is used.   It sounded like a great idea and clearly worked for that farm.  So what did we do?  We brought in loam and planted grass!   Once spring is really here we will move all that loam and bring in stonedust.

There’s so much still to learn!  But having a great time ..............      

Oh what an absolutely beautiful day today!  The sun has been shining and not a cloud in the sky.  The sky is so blue, blue, blue making this weeks’ additional 1 foot+ snowfall look so white, white, white.  Best of all it’s been just above freezing this afternoon, about 34 degrees, and the snow is really melting, running down off the roof like a stream.  It feels like Spring!

We thought it would be a good idea this weekend to clear out a lot of the snow from around the barn and the house in preparation for the upcoming rainstorm headed our way on Monday.  It’s supposed to be a little warmer with ‘significant’ rainfall.  We want to be sure the rain and melting snow are directed away from the barn and pasture and our cabin.  A warm and rainy Spring in New Hampshire, and especially Spring-like weather in January, could easily mean flooding due to all that fast melting snow.  The weather people are probably doing the usual ‘doom and gloom’ forecast, but this is our first experience with our little alpaca farm and rain with melting snow and we just don’t want to take any chances.

Our tractor has been good to us for working on our pastures.  We’ve moved rocks and roots and stumps, and leveled the loam for seeding it.  We’ve dug swales and made berms for drainage.  Now we have come to realize that it is an invaluable tool for moving snow!  Having the bucket in the front and the blade in the back allows us to move snow much, much more quickly than using just a snowblower would.  Watching Dan play (oops I really mean work) with the tractor today, I am so happy we purchased it while setting up our farm.  We’re using it more now in the winter than we did in the summer. 

Dan cleared out the entire paddock (again) and made long paths through the pasture (again) for the alpacas to pronk.  And pronk they did!  They romped around the tractor.  They all ran up and down the paths.  Coty wrestled with Arlo for the first time!  Bo managed to find green grass in the paths to graze on.  Guinness did his signature ‘rolling’ in front of the tractor.  When he finally walked away, Arlo laid down and rolled too.  Copycat!  And such a cute copycat he is.   We’re so happy that he’s finally grown enough to ‘play with the big boys.’  It was great to see them out in the sun after days and days of staying in the barn with snowstorm after snowstorm.  When they tired of pronking, they all went into the barn for a good hay fest on the fresh hay I’d just put out to distract them so Dan could work.  Julio instead stood near the hayfeeder, eyes glued on Dan working.  The path out of the paddock leads over to the main swale through the pasture, so runoff is directed right to it.  There’s a bit of an indent in the snow where the swale runs down the pasture to the back fence.  We’ve created huge snowbanks in the front corner where the fences from the 2 pastures meet and the swale begins.   

When Dan was done with the paddock, he cleared an area alongside the tack room end of the barn.  This will now direct runoff from the path to the barn, past the tackroom and over to a narrow swale under the snow.  This swale runs on a diagonal away from the back of the barn, under the fencing, and into the woods. 

Phew!  We’ve had so much snow already that we’re running out of room to put more.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we’re done with snowstorms for this winter!!