…and we wonder why the locals think we’re a hippie commune

Nettles!

As Anna and I wandered out onto the overgrown pasture, given a mission to pick two large bins of stinging nettle to make a fermented tea to spray on our veggie crops, I smiled and thought: “and we wonder why the locals think we’re a hippie commune.”

Our southern pasture boasts a huge nettle patch that we have been taking advantage of. They are not only good for the crops, but nettles are also edible and very healthy. They are supposedly a good anti-inflammatory, make your hair silky, and have a huge vitamin load. I have dried some for tea (to drink myself) and we have been eating nettle pesto like crazy. The last time I was on lunch duty, I made a nettle pesto lasagne, which people seemed to like.

I wear gloves when I pick them, and choose just the tender tips.

 

Stinging Nettle Pesto

several (6?) cups of nettles

a generous handful of toasted nuts (I used walnuts)

a couple of cloves of garlic

several glugs of olive oil

salt and pepper

Blanch nettles in simmering water for a couple of minutes to remove the sting. Using a food processor, chop garlic, salt and pepper, and toasted nuts. Add blanched nettles and chop until smooth, adding olive oil as needed. The mixture should be smooth. Adjust spices as desired.

 

Nettle Lasagne

noodles

onion

roasted squash, mashed

1 stick butter

1/4 cup flour

milk

grated cheese

nettle pesto

S&P

Boil noodles. Saute chopped onion until caramelized. Add salt and pepper and roasted squash. In a separate pan, melt butter and add flour, stirring constantly for a couple of minutes. It will be thick. Slowly add several cups of milk while stirring until mixture is milky in consistency, then continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens to a bechamel  sauce. Layer noodles with nettle pesto, roasted squash, bechamel, and cheese. Continue layering, ending with cheese. Bake at 375 or so until hot and bubbly.

Give Thanks For Meat

Here is a great essay on the ethics of eating meat and how the way in which the meat is produced is at the bottom of that ethical debate. It’s a lovely piece worth sharing.

Eating meat raised in specific circumstances is ethical; eating meat raised in other circumstances is unethical. Just as eating vegetables, tofu or grain raised in certain circumstances is ethical and those produced in other ways is unethical.

New Chicks

We just got a batch of chicks in the mail. They will be our new laying hens. They are Black Stars, which is cool, because I am most familiar with Red Stars, which is what I had in West Virginia. It will be interesting to see how they compare. Needless to say, the chicks are adorable.

Bees

Tyson checking on the queen

Tyson has been doing an amazing job teaching us about bees lately. We installed four new hives of honeybees and have been discussing their importance in terms of pollination. Each pack contained 10,000 bees and a queen in her very own special box. The queen cage is plugged with rock candy that the bees eat through. In theory, by the time they have opened the cage, they will have acclimated to her and accepted her as their queen. It is such a fascinating and intricate process.

Bees exploring their new surroundings

We went to check on the bees a few days after we installed the new colonies. Unfortunately, one of the queens arrived dead and that colony did not show signs of accepting the queen we used to replace her. We will have to check back to see how they adjust as the season progresses.

Nathaniel: no sleeves!

 

My favorite part of the whole thing was learning that I really felt comfortable around the bees. I was really excited to learn how to care for them, but I also wondered how I would react to them when we finally got the chance to get close. However, I wasn’t really afraid. They are amazing creatures and I am so excited about spending some more time learning about them. Tyson says that we probably won’t get any honey this year because they are new colonies, but that’s okay. Their company in the apple orchard has already been enough reward.

 

Breaking Rocks into Smaller Rocks

So, I basically just discovered my new favorite thing.

Now that spring is in full-swing, we have been working on a foundation for the timber frame we made in the fall. This means leveling out the ground, laying down crushed stone, and finding large stones to support each corner of the structure. Because each one has to be a certain dimension, this means that we have learned how to assess a stone and cut it into appropriate pieces. Breaking rocks into smaller rocks? Hell yes.

We had one lesson on the stonewall in our North Orange fields and then Josh let me, Anna, and Jason go off on our own to find the perfect stone for what will be the most visible corner of the building. We chose this stone for the naturally square edge. It felt so good to walk out, see this stone, know that it was the one, and have that confirmed.

The first step is to drill holes into the stone, which is much easier than it sounds. Next, you place feathers and wedges into each drill hole and pound on them in a somewhat structured order.

 

Anna taps the wedges until the stone splits. Tappa, tappa, tappa.

You can hear the sound of the stone change as the crack starts.

awww yeah...

Jason uses the tractor to move the stone

 

We set the stone in place and realized that it was just about 6 inches too tall. We could have dug under it a little more to set it in place, but Josh let us try a different approach. He cut thin strips into the top of the stone and let me and Anna chisel out the top. It was not exactly easy, but it’s an incredible feeling when a huge piece falls away from the whole. The feeling that this experience gave me reminded me of the satisfaction and pride one feels when they have just written something really powerful and true. It was exhilarating and I can’t wait to do more of this kind of work.

Josh B. cutting pages into our stone so that we can chisel it level

 

 

60 Pigs

Our first piglets

 

Our Animal Husbandry instructor, Josh P., has had us working very hard to prepare an overgrown section of the farm.

We have been calling that little plot 60 Pigs because that’s just what will go there this summer. We are getting 60 Berkshire pigs in installments of 16-20  until we reach 60 to sell to restaurants in Boston. We got our first “batch” of 16 and moved them into the new pig area, where they seem pretty happy so far.

The veggie growers are nervous because 60 Pigs isn’t that far away from our crop fields. However, we are working hard to make sure the little electric fence between those cuties and the garlic stays hot. I am really excited to see what it’s like to operate this kind of livestock system. The idea that they will be ready for slaughter at different times is brilliant and I can’t wait to see how it pans out as the summer progresses.

The Berkshires are a meaty, solid looking pig, as far as I can tell. They look like little bull dogs with visible hams.

Lambsies

Lamb baby

 

 

Healthy twins just born to my favorite ewe, #27.

 

Our only fully white lamb born this year.

 

One of #27's lambs, already so big.

Moving Day

Josh Buell–half beast, half superman, fully awesome. No, really. Yesterday, we were standing over the angle grinders in the shop and he belted out “Tomorrow” from Annie because he knows me and he has just that much awesome–has been having us prepare for a new endeavor here at the Farm School: the One Acre Homestead. We are embarking on a journey to see how much we can grow for storage/a miniature CSA on one acre of land. We will learn to preserve food and the results will be set aside for next year’s students, in order to put them through winter.

Preparing for this has included space/seed calculations, root cellar prep, seed ordering, and landscaping, as well as the relocation of an outbuilding here at Maggie’s. What was once the trash shed has been moved to our one acre homestead and will now be put to use as a garden shed.

In order to get ready for the move, we have had to do a lot preparing. This included restructuring the road leading to the one acre field, which was joyful work, as one of the first things Cheryl and I did on our first chore weekend was get what we call The Monster Truck stuck in the mud on that lane, so I was glad to work on it. We also had to create a stone pad for the building to sit on, using stones from an old stone wall and truckloads of sand/stone. We had to get the building onto skids using (what else?) telephone poles as levers. It was an incredible amount of work, but it was so worth it to see Josh pull the building down the lane into it’s new spot. One Acre Homestead, here we come.

And then all of us, staff and students alike, gathered ’round for the big move.

 

I believe this building has found its happy place.

Best part of today

My favorite part of today? How can I pick.

 

Making crepes for breakfast with lovely Anna…using every tool in the shop to work on a tractor implement project with sweet Nathaniel…sneaking away to a cool local grain farm with the splendid Cheryl… spreading a wool fleece out on the sunny lawn to clean while listening to the sound of lovely Anna ripping up sod in order to plant raspberries…watching a baby lamb’s first steps…going out for dinner and drinks with good people…

Dear Seventeen Magazine

My pockets hold many things here on the farm. My leatherman. Both bottle caps and acorn caps. Baling twine. Squares of chocolate. My work gloves.

Imagine this: all of Group B (2 girls, 3 boys) is standing outside while our instructor is kneeling over a large tractor implement, explaining how it works what we need to do to fix it. A chilly gust of wind blows and I reach into the pocket of my Carhartt vest for my gloves. As I pull them out, I hear a flutter as something flies out of my pocket. Everyone looks down, so I lower my gaze, and laying at my feet is a perfectly, pinkly wrapped pantyliner. Everyone gets a good chuckle and all I can think of to say is, “nice.”

Things couldn’t  get more typically Amber.