The times, they are a changing

This year has been full of many changes and July has been no exception. As the last day of July I figure it is pretty safe to say that this month has been pretty eventful. We started out the month with a rainy, cold 4th of July weekend and were greeted by our first set of WWOOF'er roommates. Adam and Jessica, a couple from Oregon, stayed on the farm for about two weeks (one of which was while we were visiting SLC). They did most of the work on the new, extra fancy chicken coop then when Jake and I got back from our vacation Jake did the finishing touches including the roof, roosts, nesting boxes, trim, and put the back wall up.

 Working on the nesting boxes for the upcoming egg production...

 Jake is so proud of his farmer's tan :)









Our second set of WWOOFer roomies came into town from Colorado on Wednesday. Chris and Allison are WWOOFing to find a place they want to buy land and experience organic farms along the way. I have been extremely lazy and drained from the heat since we got back last week so my contributions have been pretty minimal...which brings us to our next change...and the reason for us leaving the farm this week. Our plans were to stay until the end of August/first part of September, but as the title states, "times are changing". We will be driving back to SLC with the intention to stay there for a few days, determine what we want to keep or toss, then move up to Portland by next week or so.

We have defiantly learned and experienced a lot in our time here on the farm. It is been an opportunity that I wish more people could experience...

I will try to keep this blog updated with the continuation of our adventures, wherever they may be :)

Summer in the (Salt Lake) City

Whew...we made it back from a week long 'vacation' to Utah to visit family and friends. All together it felt like a fast and furious trip but it was great to see everyone and eat lots of good food! My sister and her kids, who live in Portland, were visiting Utah at the same time so we were able to visit and have a picnic for my side of the family...then had a dinner with old work friends...then picked up Jake's sis, bro-n-law, and their baby from the airport and visit with them, and finally we ended the visit with a camp-out with Jake's side of the family.

We ended up leaving Eli with my sister and her kids (who took him back to Oregon with them) since he isn't enjoying the Wyoming heat too well and also since we will most likely be moving there after our time on the farm is done. It was a sad moment to see him go, but I know he's in great hands... Happy on the other hand wore herself out this week and took a nice 9 hour nap on the way home.

Rusty nails and cow bones

This past week we have been working on the de-construction of an old barn which Mona was hoping to make into a chicken coop. After looking over the condition of the building/supports/rotting wood Adam, another WWOOFer/carpenter decided it would be better to tear it down and rebuild using the existing, salvageable wood. So...it was the boys job to take down the barn and the girls job (mine and Jessica) to take remove the old, deformed, rusty nails out of the wood so it could be re-used. Lemmie tell you, it was pretty exciting ;)

Oh, and there were all sorts of random animal bones under the barn...hmm...

 Starting the new foundation.









Today the foundation was completed. That is after we mixed (by hand) 24 bags (80 lbs each) of concrete. Whew, that was fun...I'm pretty sure I did the least amount of work out of everyone though so....I can't complain too much.

The adventures just don't end

It's almost 10 PM and I've been up since about 5:30...it's been a long day. So, here's how it went...well, in reverse.

Now- go to bed, I'm tired.

10 PM start talking to Jeannie online, start blogging

8:30 PM Go on bike ride with our new WWOOFer roomies Adam and Jessica.

7:30 PM Eat (cow from the farm) Steak, dill potatoes, and fresh garden salad made by the roomies (we alternate nights to cook :) )

6:30'ish Build a make-shift fenced area for the 4 turkeys (who are getting pretty plump) and 7 chickens. Herd chickens in, chase them around a bit, grab turkeys and get them tucked away for the night and hope that the raccoons can't get to them. Finally get home from working...talk to Wendy while our dinner is prepared.

1:30 to the end of the work day... The guys decide to tear down and rebuild rather than try to remodel old building for chicken coop. We begin taking boards down and getting the nails out of them when Mona comes over to tell us Steve is ready to take the coop across the creek....here it goes:

attaching chains and realizing that the coop is just too big to pick up and move.

Dragging it works..

and it floats pretty well too

Jake navigates us over on the boat

and we finally get it set up for the guinea hens. Yah!!!









Noon'ish- LUNCH...yum! Chat with Jen and find out they'll be in SLC for the annual campout- yea!!

10 AM- noon  Babysit Guinea hens across the creek since they escaped last time we took them over...oh, and weed a bit. Try to wade across the creek since the boys took the boat and left us stranded...water is too high and swift for my liking so I try starting an old 4-wheeler that I have yet to get started...magically it starts and we drive over to a point where we can yell across the creek and get Jake's attention...

9-10 AM Clip Guinea hen wings... 3 simple words sound so easy -but- have you ever clipped a wild bird's wing?? Catching them was the first challenge, luckily they were still in the coop but they are still ridiculously difficult to catch, then when you do catch them the freak out and make so much noise that you'd think you were killing them...then after that comes the clipping part, then getting them into a box, then getting them across the creek in a boat...

7-9 AM pick, wash, and pack tomatoes, onions, lettuce for the Buffalo CSA. 

5:30 AM I'm awake, and ready to get up...usually this is too early for me, way too early but I need to get some breakfast and coffee in me...it's going to be a long day.

 

Well, we are just about 3 months into our Wyoming adventure, which puts us halfway through our season here on the farm. Jake and I were talking while weeding this morning about what we’ve learned and how we’ve changed in the short time that we have been here...well, here’s what we came up with:

•     Wherever we live has to have trees...as much fun as it is to scald in the sun all day I’d much prefer the availability of shade

•     Farming defiantly isn’t the simple life; although it’s true that things are simpler here (less materialistic, more concerned about things that actually matter, etc) this is not a lifestyle for someone looking for quick money or an easy job

•     Weather plays an immense roll in farming life...living in the city you take that for granted (yes, you do...until you’ve run out to cover crops in a freak blizzard or save a 100 ft. tunnel in near tornado winds you take it for granted).

•    Just because your working on a farm does not mean that you’ll lose weight...I did for the first month or so but have gained it all back...damn that licorice and ice cream

•    There is a natural order to things, a delicate balance in nature and everything we do to the land has immeasurable consequences, so the less impact we have on the land, the better

•     The difference between one’s ideals and reality often comes down to money, which, is a sad truth

•     Our dogs can be naughty puppies when left to their own device in the country

•    We actually like working together, despite the occasional day of annoying each other we get along pretty well

• It is almost impossible to keep a trailer or house spotless (or even ‘clean’) when your working in dirt, mud, and plants all day.

Guess that's about it for now...