SUMMER TIME!

Ahhh, Summer time and the living is easy...Well, not quite. When you live on a farm life takes on a whole new meaning, time seems to fly right past you and you don't even know it- I can't believe it was March when I last posted! I just finished a farm tour of about 12; 7 children and 6 adults. It was nice watching the kids chase our chickens around the pen, they all laughed when the chickens tried to fly. They met our baby goat, Jerimiah, and fawned over how friendly and adorable he is. We also had a cheese making class last weekend of around 20 adults, including my Mom, Aunt, and some of my Aunt's friends. My daughter Brianna's new lab pup is settling in nicely, and today they swam in the back pond together. His name is Sawyer.
Our milking cow Gracie is giving 5-6 gallons a day, and at the moment we have no clue WHAT to do with it all. Lately I've been making Chevre, Baguettes, Mozzarella, Butter, Cream Cheese, Cottage Cheese and Ice Cream! Our chickens are doing well in laying production and our goats are as happy as ever, you could say things are going wonderfully.
-Besides this ridiculously warm weather of course.

An Unconventional Farmer in the 21st Century

It's day break and the sun is coming up over the ridge, it's a clear and crisp 22 this morning. I don't think it even made it to 42 yesterday. Yesterday the whole day was cold and windy not a great day to be outside digging beds. So instead I spent the morning feeding the animals and getting ready to go to the ag show.

As I spent time meandering through the booths and visiting with the local residents who just happen to be my neighbors at the ag show, I had to stop a moment and think. It started as I attended a panel discussion on farming in the 21st century. There happened to be a young woman there who had written a book, her name is Lisa Hamilton and her book is called "Deeply Rooted", unconventional farmers in the age of agribusiness. She herself does not farm, she realized some time ago just how hard and exactly what it took to farm. So instead she writes about it and tells farmers stories.

I didn't get a chance to attend her earlier talk but showed up for the panel discussion with other farmers. As the discussion proceeded one of the older farmers, a gentleman who farms beans, stated "I come from a line of farmers, my father, my fathers father, have all worked the land." As I listened to his story and mulled over what he had to say, I couldn't help but think, I don't come from a line of farmers, and I am not a man, my father was not a farmer. When my daughter grows up, she'll say, "My Mother was a farmer" my grandchildren will say, "Nana was a farmer".

It appears I have achieved the status of the Ultimate Unconventional Farmer in the 21st Century. In 1998 a study was taken by the FDA and 9% of farms were run by women, the organic movement had a somewhat higher percentage of 21%. For a women of Hispanic descent the stats get a lot smaller and are almost non-existent. It appears women in farming and agriculture are very few and far between yet nestled here in the Four Corners area of Colorado I look around and see a few. You have Holly who runs Napier Farms, Judy and her daughter, Heidi, who have Rowher Farm, and then myself and my daughter Brianna own Dragonfly Farm. We all run our own Farm and handle most everything on it. Small operations trying to make our living and living off our land. We are all different with different ideas and farming experience but are all working towards the same goal.

It takes a lot to farm and it is not something for the weak of heart. It is never ending the things that need to be fixed or have to be built and it seems to grow by the minute. There is no time off especially when you own animals because you can't just leave them for a trip or vacation. It takes a dedication, a huge commitment to a certain lifestyle but I think it is well worth it. I have no regrets and I would not change it for anything. It's cold sometimes, hot sometimes, rainy, windy, snowing but when I go outside and look to what I have accomplished myself it is all worth it. I come from a good line of hard working women.

So as I go about my day feeding chickens, moving baby chicks to a new area, feeding and watering the milking goats, watering the greenhouse, I can stop and thank the Lord for my simple success. I am a small farmer in the 21st century who just happens to come from a line of beautifully rich, dark, women of Hispanic origins. They taught me the meaning of hard work, the meaning of family, and showed me how to think outside the box. They gave me a sense of who I am by just letting them be who they were. These are the women I come from, the women who showed me how to make tortillas, tamales, and who I share a common bond with; FAMILY .

March Planting in Colorado

It's been a great week this week; we started with snow and seem to be ending with snow. I'm happy we have had a few days of nice sunshine and 50-59 degree weather, it was beautiful. I'm glad this cloudy weather is today, that way I can head on out to the AG expo without wasting my sunshine.

We were able to get a bed dug this week which is great. It seems to take us at least a day a bed for a 5-10 or 20 area. Deep digging is a lot of work but we are hoping with our lousy soil that it pays off. It requires you to dig a 1 foot trench and then loosen the soil down another foot which becomes extremely difficult in our rocky little enclave. This is what takes us so long to dig the bed which I think normally we could get done a lot earlier if not for the rock we have to deal with after the 1 foot initial trench. The picture I borrowed just to give an example of what it looks like. I need batteries for the camera then we can show you exactly what it looks like.

Dad and I finished the inside chicken brooder area that the baby chicks can go into after they come out of the brooder. We have a lot of work to do on the coop this year as it has been leaking this winter. It could be that we just had so much snow but I want to make sure next year even if we have as much snow it stays drier. Those little ladies are the life blood of the farm as they are now producing about 4 dozen eggs a day. These eggs travel down to the local community grocery stores and are able to be purchased throughout the winter by our local community. No carbon footprint there being they travel a very close distance from the farm to the local store. Sometimes the mornings eggs are that afternoon on the shelf's, you can't beat that for fresh! Currently the little ladies supply Dolores Food Market, Zuma Natural Foods, and Let it grow Nursery.

CSA is still going well and I have bene making my deliveries to Durango weekly, thanks to my steady customer base I survived winter. Some of the days were nasty but all and all it was a great winter and my first winter CSA year. Thank you my Durango Customers for your support and continued interest in our farming endeavours.

-Teresa

Sunny Sunny Sunny

What a glorious morning! It has been two days now that we have been blessed with wonderfully sunny weather. It's nice and crisp this morning coming in at about 20 degrees with the blanket of snow still covering my planting beds. There appears to be some areas up by the greenhouse that can more than likely be dug today and covered before the next storm sets in.

In Colorado during the spring it can be a constant battle or rhythm with nature to get your planting in. I would like to look at it as a balanced rhythm she gives a little I get a little. A constant reminder of how I am not in control of every aspect of life. I guess this could be somewhat unsettling for some but for me I am reminded that I don't need to be in control of everything. Let go sometimes and just let God.

Patience is the virtue that is always needed when you become a cultivator of the land. You can sometimes feel the pressure of wanting to get everything in so you can get to the market just a tad early. It's the patience that should win out in the long run because it is just that you need when those early beds you coddled freeze in June.

So, as I look towards the day today I am thankful that I have been blessed with much. I am going to plan my day keeping in mind the few days I have before the next series of storms hit. I am going to say a little prayer that I can get what I need to get done in between those breaks and enjoy my life as a farmer.

Pea Planting anytime soon?

So I wake up this morning ready to face the day and look at digging my next deep dug bed to find it snowing. Not just a little drizzle of snow a full fledge storm, so I turn on the news to find out what it states and sure enough. WINTER STORM hitting the 4 Corners area. Just when I thought it was safe to go in the water and dig my beds I have been snookered.

Needless to say it does not appear that much pea planting will be done this week. Truly farming in Colorado is it's own unique experience. I guess I will make some soap and cheese this week. Those are always good things to do during our winter snow events.

As soon as spring starts to hit the air it feels time is a wasting. It is interesting I spend winter in somewhat of a languid relaxed state and then as soon as it gets somewhat warm I start to panic. Happens every year like clock work, I keep thinking I have to do this, I have to do that.

So this evening I have Brianna making brownies for us as we discuss the meaning of from scratch or homemade. She is really determined to make things from scratch and not from that lousy box of brownies. Actually it was pretty entertaining to listen to her expound on the homemade versus from scratch methods of cooking.

Cheese Making Room

It is spring and the time for new ideas, so I have been mulling over the idea of a separate cheese making room. I am still in the planning and contemplating mode but I have almost decided the expense would be worth it. Here in Southwest Colorado in my area there is not one for miles only in Durango. Cheese is a big item at the market and it has a fairly good profit ratio especially since I use my own goats milk. I have already filled out all of my information for the Raw Milk Association of Colorado and the state filed paper work for the Raw Milk statement. Which makes me good to go as a raw milk dairy using herd shares. To take the step further into cheese making I need a separate facility to process. It looks like I don't really need too much equipment to process on a small scale but I do need the facility. I had been thinking of converting the garage area to this type of room but wondering if that is the most cost effective way to go or if I should just build and plumb out a new structure. I need to make sure I go with the best but most cost effective idea in order for it to pass Paul's (husbands) inspection. If it does not he will veto the idea....

Spring Time is here

I was thanking my Lord yesterday for spring time and then the fickleness of a Colorado spring started rearing it's ugly head. It had been nice the past couple of days and had been drying up, when all of a sudden I wake up this morning to a light dusting of snow. I have to say I am not happy. I had my whole day set to deep dig some upper beds even though it was still a little wet, but my day has since changed.

Lately I had been planning on getting some soap making done and such, so looks like my agenda has changed. Wait, wait it looks like the sun is breaking through the morning and maybe just maybe it might clear up. I can only hope.

I have a few deliveries to do today not too much but I should finish up early enough to have a little time this evening to plan my work for next week. We also need to start more seedlings for April planting, tomatoes, brocoli, leeks, and others can be started now for planting in the GH in April. Busy Busy Busy once spring hits there is no slowing down for us.