October 01, 2010 gorgeous fall day

today i went to work in this monet painting above.  finally, a month after it was expected, fall has arrived.  the pastures out on fowler farms made it through the long hot summer, and with the recent showers they are ready to POP.

three steers came home from the sale barn today, and made a smooth transition onto the property.  they gathered in the corner of their gorgeous grassy pad (with a view), and poured one out for their homies.  nameless soldiers that just last night stood hip to hip, cheek to cheek, and face to ass with them, are all in route to feedlots and factories—but not these three. 

how do you think they’re doin’ right now? 


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September 29, 2010 baby piglet photo gallery

if cute baby piglet pictures could be used as currency, i’d be the richest man alive.  i’m the lebron james of cute baby piglet pictures.  i’ve resorted to storing my undocumented plethora of piglet pictures—under an alias, of course—in an offshore bank account in barbados, to avoid domestic taxes.  i wake up in the morning, uncle scrooge mcduck dive into a giant swimming pool of cute piglet pictures and backstroke it to work. 

in case you haven’t gathered, they enjoy milk, piling on top of each other, and piling on top of each other while asleep.

this character, despite his brother’s nosing, fell asleep—standing—at the tit.

and he’s out.


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September 27, 2010

this is some footage i shot of cnn shooting footage of us.  the crew took several hours of footage at both farm burger and at fowler farm, so clearly a lot of action was cut out to make the final product. 

in this clip, farmer j is explaining our use of temporary electric fencing and rotational grazing in the context of how the great wild herds around the world evolved to graze. 

the fences mimic predators—always lurking on the perimeter—and the predators cause the herd to graze in a tight formation. 

this mob grazing has long term and exponentially beneficial effects on the pasture through an even distribution of both grazing and hoof impaction by the herd.  furthermore, the biggest, strongest, swiftest, and smartest of the bunch will avoid the predators most effectively—grazing in the center, and pushing the weak to the edges to their likely respective deaths.  natural selection at work.

in attempts to mimic this system, a good grazier will identify these instincts in his own domestic herd and cull—slaughter, removing from the gene pool—to improve overall herd quality.

nature is our instruction manual.


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September 27, 2010 raindrops keep falling on my head

for the first time in what feels like forever a substantial rain has fallen.  in mid summer it seemed like the rain would never stop, and then just in time to get what we wished for, it hasn’t rained since.

bed rows at the vegetable farm are cracked over and crusty.  pork chop hill has a dust cloud swirling over head.  and the grass.  well, let’s just call it thirsty.

all day today, the crack pop of thunder and the drip drap of rain lulled the town to a hushed pace—singing lullabies with the wind and painting the sky a heavy grey.

today made me recall a quote i once read in a piece a friend recommended.  “to know a place, first get out in all weathers.  walk the land at least; at best, work the land.  in this way the subtleties of place become familiar.”  words by brian donahue, from reclaiming the commons—words that deserve another read. 

so i did just that, and i walked.  the cow pasture came alive with the sudden reappearance of water, it’s once familiar companion, and for the first time all month the ground gave a bit as i squished out to check the cows. 

just another day at the office for these boys, though.


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