Happenings on the Ranch

Our experienced momma goat, Onyx, had two new babies this past Friday … in the middle of a snow storm, no less.  That’s her usual M.O. – wait for the worst weather or when we are not home to have her kids.  Thankfully this time we were home and got to sit with her the entire delivery.  Two more beautiful babies, one boy and one girl (whom we’ve named “Blizzard”).  Onyx typically has very big kids and her two newborns were born the same size as our other two babies who are 2 and 1/2 weeks old!  Momma and babies are doing very well and the kids are exploring the world.

One of our young rabbits, Feifel, had her first litter of kits on Saturday.  Three little ones are now nestled snuggly in their nest box with their young mommy keeping a watchful eye on them.  When they get a little bigger I’ll snap some pictures and post them.

And a wonderful surprise today!  Just after Chrismas we lost our breeding rabbit buck, Elvis.  We had been breeding him to our bi-colored doe, Tigger, hoping to have some striped babies that looked like their dad and some tri-colored calico babies.  Tigger seemed like she was bred and had dug a nest in her outside pen, but we never saw babies.  She covered the hole and we were disappointed that Elvis wouldn’t have any kits to carry on his legacy.  Much to our surprise this morning, Tigger opened up the hole she had previously covered and little noses started sniffing out!  Lo and behold, we have six kits!  Three calicos, three black and white and one of them looks just like their jailhouse striped daddy.   They are all healthy, beautiful babies and seem to be a few weeks old.  Three are busy exploring their world with their proud momma watching over them.  The other three are still deep in the nest.  We are so excited and very impressed with Tigger’s inherent mothering abilities since she is also a first-time mother.  What a sneaky little girl!

 It’s been an exciting couple of weeks around here.  Until next time.  ~Karin

I was going to post this when the show actually aired, but time got away from me.

Oprah recently had author Michael Pollan on her show and I made a point to watch.  Anyone that follows the sustainable food movement knows Pollan as the author of Omnivore’s Dillemma, In Defense of Food and other books touting the importance of knowing where your food comes from and promoting the sustainable production of our food.  He is also a proponent of the humane treatment of livestock used in our food supply.

Oprah made it very clear that she was presenting Pollan, and the recent movie Food, Inc., so that her viewers could make an informed choice about their eating and food buying habits.  “You can decide that for yourself. Isn’t that wonderful? Because we live in America and you can do that,” Oprah says. “But for me, it boils down to making more conscious food decisions. That is my opinion. I saw the movie. That’s how I felt. But you need to see it for yourself and make your own decisions because I believe you have a right to know where your food is coming from.”

Unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to see Food, Inc., although I intend to.  I do know, though, where a lot of our food comes from without having to see the movie.  Factory farming, which is what this documentary focuses on, is something I have made a conscious effort to stay away from, both as a farmer and a consumer.  I believe it’s important for people to understand the true differences between the food we eat today and the food our families ate only a few generations ago.  I don’t think we can ignore the correlation between how our food is produced and the rise in obesity, allergies and other illnesses compared to just 60 years ago.  We’ve been on this earth a long time and been farming our food for centuries.  Why now, in such a short period of time, has the human race become so unhealthy?

Granted, we can feed so many more people for so much less than we used to.  Commercially grown chicken is now grown to twice the weight in half the time.  That’s a great engineering feat in may respects and makes meat more affordable.  But in order to do this on a large scale, producers are forced to feed these animals large amounts of antibiotics to keep them from getting sick in their cramped quarters.  I’m convinced that if you eat these antibiotics consistently they won’t work for you when you need them.  Again, you should form your own opinion.

If you look at the grocery store shelves they are lined with processed foods that contain things that I can’t even pronounce.  My husband knows first hand that there are just certain things he is not to buy and expect me to eat.  Like yogurt with more corn syrup, sugar, and “unpronounceables” than actual dairy.  These products make up what Pollan calls the “Western diet.” “It was really invented about a hundred years ago. It means lots of processed food and meat, lots of added fat and sugar,” he says. “Lots of everything except fruits, vegetables and whole grains.”

So, take a close look at what you’re eating.  I know, it’s hard.  I have a cookie that has been a favorite of mine since I was very young.  And even though I can pronounce all the ingredients in them, I know that every time I eat one (or more) that I’m eating something very processed and not so good for me.  I think the key is moderation, making smart decisions about what we eat and paying attention to where it comes from.  Buy produce grown locally and without pesticides, if you can.  Buy meats that are humanely raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones.  I know it’s more expensive but if we go back to filling our plates with the lesser expensive fruits and vegetables and eat meat as a once- or twice-per-week part of the meal, I can’t help but think we’ll all be just a bit healthier for it.

Until next time.  ~Karin

I am happy to announce we have two new baby goats on the farm.  Our youngest doe, Bambi, gave birth to her first kids on Thursday; one boy, one girl.  They are both doing well, although the little girl has needed a little help.  Our older doe, Onyx, is due any day now.  I just love having babies on the farm!  I’ll try to post pictures of the new little ones this week.

The mud I was commenting on last week has now frozen due to the drop in temperature this week.  I would much rather have frozen mud than the boggy mess that was out there before and now the sun is out so some of it should dry up soon (fingers crossed).   And, surprisingly, our chickens decided to start laying again last week so we have several dozen eggs available if anyone is interested.  Which is good for us, since I refuse to eat store bought eggs and was going through a bit of a withdrawal on anything made with eggs!!

Of course, the sun coming out reminds me that spring is just around the corner!  I am so excited and all geared up to start planting.  I have to pace myself, though, so I don’t get seedlings started too early and not have the right weather when they are ready to go outside!  If you haven’t signed up for our 2010 CSA program yet, you still have time.  Get your share of the harvest each week for 24 weeks from May through October.  It really is a good deal and your early payment really helps with our farm budget in the off-season.

Speaking of off-season, I’ve begun freelance writing again for some additional income.  I write articles for clients who need advertising or informational articles for their blogs or websites.  I also edit, update and search engine optimize web content.  I decided to put together a quick website and blog specific to my writing; the site is www.karinvelez.info.  During some of my research time for a recent project, I came across a pretty good article site called TreeHugger.  The authors and articles all focus toward Sustainable Living which we, of course, are a proponent of.  There is a pretty wide variety of subjects on this site, but most of them pertain to green living, sustainable lifestyle and alternative energy and can be a pretty good quick read.

Until next time!  ~ Karin