i'm high on cooking - tomfarmery for all!!!

October 13, 2010 pick a size, any size

what began as an unintentional experiment-piglets being birthed in general population—has turned out to be a great success. the tamworth/berkshire crosses which were born a couple weeks back are not only healthy and happy, but are completely socialized into the herd after just two weeks standing up.

although they still spend much of their time milking and napping with their mother, they also spend part of the day on their own—foraging and mimicking anybody willing to be near them.

they nose around at the slop, sniff the earth, and find choice shady spots. they are learning to be pigs, just the way they should.

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October 12, 2010 kitchen staff, farm staff

after several weeks without taking a day off, i found myself a bit burnt, and extremely tired. rookie mistake, i know. scheduling days off, after years of strictly knowing five on-two off, is a skill yet to be breached, but newly on my radar. with no fuel in the tank, and a short, but important list of tasks, i looked elsewhere to find my motivation.

luckily, it was everywhere.

with hundreds of plants to get in the ground—some for the restaurant to use in the coming months, and some to be over wintered—a few gents from the farm255 kitchen came out to lend a hand and get dirty. over wintering is exactly what it sounds like—putting plants in the ground now to establish root structure, and allowing them to go dormant over the winter, so they’ll have that head start come the spring flush.

these plants are babies, and are to be treated like such. a wide range of factors could cause these plants to die in the coming week.

another wave of inspiration came from a group of uga students who came out to lend a hand on sunday. they were taking part in a global work day (over seven thousand gatherings held in almost two hundred countries) organized by 350.org, with a theme revolving around sustainable solutions.

the event was held on ten/ten/oh ten, and it was exciting to be a part of. although it was a sunday morning work day at the end of a long month, i had a smile on my face and was thankful for so many things. first off, i was farming, which is a personal miracle in itself. but second, to be able to host this work party of young students eager to be a part of what i am now entrenched in was both inspirational and encouraging.

feels good to be a part of something so good.

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October 08, 2010

woah, boys. easy now.

while attempting to introduce our two new bulls to the herd (located several fence lines, over the hill, and halfway to grandma’s away), a lapse in one section of our temporary alley allowed the transferees to undermine the plans. one second they were in the alley, and the next second they were in full trot, in tandem, towards the farthest possible location they could find—the tree line, three hundred yards away.

son of a.

i can’t quite describe what these moments are like. not panicky, as you might guess. and compared to other moments, not really much urgency either. there’s just nothing you can do, besides wait and see what they do. no amount of sprinting, screaming, or freaking will solve your problems now.

after quickly eliminating our options, we landed on the idea of grabbing our trucks, and slowly herding them down the pasture and towards either a) the alley we had them in, or b) the same overnight holding pen they were in last night. either one will do at this point.

and it almost worked, too. after two three quarter way successful efforts, and a whole lot of sprinting, jogging, zigging, and cornering on my end, john ivy politely pointed out that i-between me and the bulls—was the only one getting tired. at that moment, i wished i could have traded all the power under my hood, for one real horse.

so we gave up. the two bulls, at last sighting, were napping in the woodline on the far end of their pasture. we closed off every exit except the one that leads to their holding pen from last night.

like a middle aged man luring school kids into his van with candy and balloons, we laced the holding paddock with a mound of sea kelp, a pile of alfalfa snacks, and the only access to water this side of seven thousand volts. the hope is they will enter, spend the night, and we can try this again in a day or two.

this is where we stand. to be continued.

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p.s. to me, the live action commentary to start the clip is hilarious in retrospect. at that moment i knew nothing. an hour and a half later i was red in the face, and defeated for the day.

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October 06, 2010 article on civil eats

follow the link to read an article i wrote for civil eats. for those who don’t know, it’s a website which promotes “critical thought about sustainable agriculture and food systems as part of building economically and socially just communities.”

my article is an answer to the question: why do i think so many young people such as myself are all of a sudden interested in farming. it’s included in a civil eats series called young farmers unite.

here’s what i had to say: civil eats