Last week I watched a documentary called Flow. It was all about the growing problem of the shortage of water and consequently the privatization efforts taking place worldwide. There was alot about agriculture and how agriculture not only uses alot of water but is also responsible for water pollution. This film focused mostly on pesticide run-off and the resulting contamination of community's water sources. Industrial production of animals also leads to water contamination as well as being pretty water intensive.

Last week I also went to hear my new shero, Sharon Astyk, (www.sharonastyk.com) speak at the New York State Museum in Albany. She was one part of a month long series about living in a small world. I was introduced to Sharon's blog by my boyfriend about a year ago and I have been following her ever since. She is a real peak oil nut and is leading the charge to wake everyone up and start living life differently NOW. She comes from a very feminist perspective, she is a mom, a farmer, she's smart and saucy, and I believe she is right.

Sharon spoke about climate change and peak oil and explained why we need to be thinking about this stuff even when it is alot nicer not to. She lives what she speaks and the thing I love most about her is that she believes in place and working with what you have and with who is around you. She doesn't believe in waiting for the perfect situation and the perfect place and the perfect group of people. She believes in "living like you mean it".

After the movie and her lecture, I thought alot about the choices I have made in my life and about Awesome Farm. I have chosen to farm because it gives my life meaning and I feel great at the end of the day. I have chosen to farm because I believe that what people eat really matters. I have chosen to farm because it affords me a lifestyle where I can produce my own food and know all the other producers and always know where my food is coming from. And, people will always need food and I am gaining skills that many people don't and will not have (slaughtering, butchering, shearing, animal husbandry, creating something from not much).

I believe that Owen and I are farming like we mean it. We both believe in low-input farming and we buy and use only what is absolutely necessary. Some of this is financial and some of this is philosophical. We are using rented land that cannot be used to grow crops. But it certainly can grow grass and weeds and clover and we raise animals that convert that into healthy, delicious food. We hope to get away from grain in the future because it would be very difficult to grow it ourselves, but for now we feed our chickens grain that is both local and organic. We buy it from a farm that we know and trust and where we know the farmers. We are trying to recycle food that is left on plates at the elementary school and at some local restaurants. Couldn't eat all that quinoa at Luna 61? Great, the chickens will eat it. We are cycling those nutrients that would have ended up in the garbage into the chickens who covert it into high protein eggs. We shear our sheep and make yarn so that people can create warm clothing out of local fiber. We use the skins from the butchered lambs to turn into beautiful pelts. We are trying to use all that we have. We are trying to farm like we mean it.

We would like to print a nice, colorful brochure to help get the word about our farm and products. Would anyone be willing to trade eggs for some printing services? We just need color copies on 81/2 x 11 paper, Kinkos quality. Our goal is 100 brochures and we can offer 4 dozen eggs. If you can do a smaller quantity, we will adjust eggs accordingly.
Please email kaycee@awesomefarmny.com if you are interested.
Thanks so much!

This past weekend Owen, Tracy, and I went to Ithaca, city of dreams, for shearing school. It took place at Cornell's sheep farm where there are plenty of sheep available for novice shearers. The shearing literature says, "Shearers are normal people who have trained their bodies to do extraordinary things." Indeed! It was the most physically challenging activity I have ever engaged in. The act of holding the sheep and moving the sheep while shearing it involves almost every muscle in the body. I feel it in my stomach, my inner thighs, and across my chest.

Our teacher was Doug Rathke, a competitive shearer who is amazing to watch. This July he and another seasoned shearer are attempting to set a world record for shearing sheep for more than 24 hours straight. I wonder if that will be on ESPN.

Here is Doug demonstrating on a ram.

From Doug

Here is little ol me giving it a whirl.

From album

Tracy is a natural.

From Shear

It was physically and emotionally challenging, but Owen and I kept our chins up.

From kcowenshear

Shearing seems to be becoming a lost art. Most people who raise sheep have others shear for them. Shearers drive long distances to shear people's sheep and many have trouble finding someone to shear, especially if you have a small flock. The idea of shearing our entire flock is daunting, but I hope that we will be able to do it. I love the idea of learning this skill and being good enough to get the job done. The professional shearers who were at the school to help out were the kindest, most patient teachers. They took their time helping me and reminding me of the next blow, how to hold the sheep, and offered many an encouraging word. I thank them and look forward to being a part of their group.

An added bonus of shearing school was getting to visit Ithaca and stay with Rachel, a friend of Owen's from their shared days at Wesleyan. Rachel, assisted by Chris and Zookie, definitely win 'Host of the Year' award. Rachel had lasagna waiting for us when we arrived on Friday night. She got up at 6 am to make us french toast for breakfast and greeted us after our long first day of school. She showed us around Ithaca, offered delightful conversation, and she and Chris even picked up this oil can for us at her favorite junk store. Thanks Rachel and Chris!

From shearing

Owen, our loyal friend Tracy, and I are headed to shearing school in Ithica this weekend. We hope to learn the ins and outs of successful shearing and hope to show it off on our sheep very soon. Check back next week for a report back.

Our eggs will now be available at the Tivoli Bakery on the weekends. Get there before they sell out.

On a more personal note: My great uncle Larry and great aunt Patsy are two of the greatest people I know. When I was growing up they lived at "the farm", out in the country outside of Tulsa. I spent many a holiday out there and loved going there to spend time with them and enjoy their beautiful land. It has brought Larry great joy that I have developed a love of the farming life. He follows this blog more loyally than anyone I know. He has become a bit of star himself these past years. He was featured on Antique Roadshow with his roulette wheel and he was featured on StoryCorps' blog. He spins a mighty fine yarn. Below is an email that he sent to me. In my own meager and humble way I working for a life that is grounded, self-sufficient, and meaningful, much like the life that he grew up experiencing. I thought I would share his thoughts here.

Patsy and I have so much fun reading about your experiences at Awsome Farm, I just had to write you.
I do so cherish my memories of my Grandmother and Grandfather. I called them Grandma Mac and Paw Mac, their name was McDaniel. They raised eight children, five girls and three boys. My mother Carrie was the next to oldest, so she always felt she raised all of the kids.She always claimed that they had outlawed slavery but that did not keep parents from raising more hired hands. They had forty acres of very rich farm land in the Mississippi River bottom in the South east corner of Missouri. As I remember Grandpa Mac planted 10 acres of cotton, five acres of corn and five acres of oats or wheat. The other 20 acres were woods that furnished all the game of squirrels and rabbits and Raccoons. My Uncles were all hunters and sold hides and they ate the squirrels and Rabbits.
They had two milk cows and a team of mules and a couple of sows to raise a litter of pigs to butcher in the Winter. They also raised a very big garden and canned their food on a wood stove. They raised everything that they needed. They kept the butchered hog in the smoke house which was attached to the back of the house. Grandma would go to the smoke house and slice off some side meat which was the bacon she would slice and cook for breakfast. The hog had ham and pork chops and pork roast. I got to see one hog butchered and hung in the smoke house. I never got to see how it was cooked and smoked. It would last from year to year. I watched my Grandma twist many a chicken heads off and she would pick them up and dip them in very hot water to clean them. It seemed to me that Paw Mac always chopped the head off of the roosters. I remember some of the Rooster would chase us kids and we were always happy to see them get their heads cut off.
Paw Mac would grind the corn for the chickens, Feed whole corn to the cows and hogs.The hogs also got slop which nowadays would be going down the garbage disposal, back then it was feeding the pigs and making them grow. I would always wake up when Paw Mac would start stirring around the house. His first duty was to start the fire in the old wood cook stove. So Grand ma Mac could start breakfast. He always milked the cows in the morning as he went to the barn to feed the hogs and mules.
Mom told me that Grand pa would bring one old mule to the house so she and her older sister could ride him to school. When they got to school they would turn him loose and he would go home because Grandpa would not feed him or the other mule till he got back. It was two miles to school.