Help = One of the Best Things Ever!

Meet Reed, my 15 yr old helper. He is passionate about the outdoors and gardens, and he has been spending a couple days of most of his late summer weeks weeding, harvesting, and helping me accomplish the things that are just so much easier with more than one set of hands. This summer has been an education on just how important willing help really is. So much less gets accomplished when I insist on doing things alone. (Sometimes, though, I keep trying....). It is almost like a miracle to go run unavoidable errands, and come back to find fed animals and weeded beds (there was broccoli hiding in that grass???). Reed is my first employee. I am his first employer. We are both learning and it is working out well.

Farm Tour of America Bicyclists Arrive at Badger Rock Farm!

Farm Tour of America: 3000 Miles, 11 Riders, 1 Cause. On July 14, 11 bicyclists, a van and a puppy arrived at Badger Rock Farm. Traveling across country to raise money for global food sovereignty via a sustainable agriculture project in Bolivia, they'd bicycled out of Portland, OR at the end of June. As they make their way across the United States, they are staying at small farms and other key players in local food culture, hoping to learn as well as bring attention to food sovereignty.

After rolling in during the late afternoon, we shared a pot of chili made (mostly) from things harvested here at the farm, and they pitched their tents for the night. In the morning, I arrived to a number of thoroughly weeded beds. What a welcome surprise!! I never would have accomplished all of that on my own. It is beautiful what 11 pairs of hands can get done in a short period of time.

After that, they were on their way. Their goal on July 15 was Ingomar, MT and the Jersey Lilly Campground, approx. 60 miles away.

If you would like to read more about this group of bicyclists, you can check out their blog here:

http://bikeacrossamerica.wordpress.com/

New "Replacement" Chicks are Growing Gangbusters!

30 chicks arrived on July 23. Hatched on July 21 at Ideal Hatchery, they include 10 Araucanas ("Easter egg" chickens, lay light green eggs), 10 Welsummers (chocolate brown eggs) and 10 Rhode Island Reds (brown egg layers). When they are big enough, they will join the flock that remains after the end-June coyote predation incidents that caused my daily gathering tally to go from 18-24, down to 4-6 eggs. The good news is that everyone is now happy and healthy, and the egg production is climbing again as the now 5 month old Rhode Island Red and Araucana pullets begin to lay. They're joining the ranks of my Dominique hens that have made up the laying flock since last year.