Farmageddon - from suburban hell to rural bliss.: September 2014

This post is long overdue and I want to start by concluding the well saga. There will never be enough time, words or blogging opportunities to fully encapsulate the emotional roller coaster of this episode. So I'll be brief in telling you that the well has been drilled, there is a new pump in and it is all working beautifully. I don't really know how to talk about the funding of the project, I'm still in awe and not sure I have fully processed. The well has been made possible by family, friends and the kindness of strangers. We have received donations from $3 to several thousands of dollars; every donation equally meaningful regardless of the dollar amount. Some donations came from family and friends both in Canada and back in the UK. Some from local businesses. Some from the community. Some from those that had benefited from the farm. And all from kind hearted people who see the value of what is happening here, who share our values and who have demonstrated humanity. The experience has been emotional and humbling. I recently read a quote that said "You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you". We can never repay you, the people who gave money, time, resources, support and kind words. But we can continue to 'pay it forward' and use the farm to benefit others. The birth of the new well has meant the birth of a new attitude here at the farm. We always wanted to be a farm that did some community work but now we see the land as a community asset that farms. We are in talks with a number of organizations to ensure that we can continue with work that will support and educate.

In other news from the farm, we have experienced our first losses of livestock. One planned and some not. We took our ram to the slaughter house two weeks ago. This felt like a milestone in our farming journey. We've completed a full cycle with some of our animals now. From newborn babies through to taking a meat animal for butchering. I was surprisingly calm about taking the ram. Of course, I felt some sadness, despite my love-hate relationship with that particular sheep. Leaving him at the slaughter house with all the other anonymous animals made me reflect on this entire process. I had to focus on our values being about how an animal lives that is important. Ultimately, they all die the same way. All the sheep, pigs, cows that were being delivered to that place on that night had different experiences of life but they were all herded into their waiting pens in the same manner. I think you have to be fairly 'cold' about it. We fulfilled our objectives by letting the ram live as close to how nature intended as possible. He had the added benefits of fresh vegetables on a daily basis and protection from non-human predators. It might surprise you to learn that the only regret I had was that we had to take him to that slaughter house. I would have preferred to have done the deed here at the farm and spared him any stress and fear he may have experienced that last night. But it's done now and, from an animal welfare view, we feel ok about it.

Ram-a-lamb

We've had some unexpected deaths. We had to kill our first chicken yesterday. That was hard. I won't share the grizzly details with you but it saddened all of us. Little Jessica was upset but surprisingly mature about it. She demonstrated an understanding of showing a sick animal mercy. It made me feel like we had done our job as farming parents.

The farm acquired seven new chickens on Friday night. We lost one of those this morning and I feel responsible. The ducks have a temporary paddling pool while the pond is dry. The chicken hopped onto the side for a drink and fell in. Unable to get out, she drown. If I had placed some rocks or something on the bottom of the pool, she may have been able to get out. The two deaths so close together certainly hurt us.

This morning we found Bantam chicks hatching. Surprise! The bantams are just pets for Jessica. There are two hens and a tiny rooster. They've been hiding their eggs under the coop and a broody Ameracauna chicken took charge of them. We found one chick on the floor this morning and one just hatching. Sadly, Momma hen did not show any interest in her new acquisitions. We moved them into the chick nursery with a surrogate Australorp hen and are working hard to keep them alive. They are hanging on to life by a very fragile thread at the moment. Although it's not a good time of the year for chicks to hatch, if we can keep them going it will be a lovely reward to balance out some of the the harder losses.

The first Bantam chick, just a few minutes old and hanging on to life in our living room!

With the birth of the new well and new chicks, we should be feeling a bit of a high. But just one year of farming has taught me that the punches keep coming and the fight goes on. As I type this, I have flu like symptoms, a rash across my lower back and pain down one side. Please excuse the self-diagnosis but I've experienced these symptoms before...when I had shingles.

Next week, Ian is going away with work for three months. He'll be home at weekends but as autumn approaches, I find myself faced with the prospect of a long farming winter alone. We will, of course, continue to get up and fight back. The farm is worth it. The lifestyle, although sometimes exhausting, is worth it. I've posted some photos below to remind myself of that. So, I'm off to put on my best farm grimace, a plaid shirt and my boots. No time for melancholy here!