Mid February Update

February on our farm is a hustle and bustle time. We are calving and in this cold blustery weather we have to be on our toes. Winchester and Reminton are 18 and 17 yrs. and are our best farm hands. To date we have 14 calves of which two sets of twins and no losses. After last years calving season of too many losses including cows lost in birth, we need a fruitful calving season.
We walk through the cows in the cow yard every hour to hour and a half. A calf born in below zero weather is doomed to death if left out in the elements for more than an hour. Tuesday morning I woke up a little later than usual after Jeff had gone to work and sure enough there was a calf born, standing by it's mother with all it's hair froze....shivering. Shivering is good! I didn't even think to run back to the barn for the sled, but scooped it up and ran for the house. It was a bit heavy for me but I made it to the cow yard gate, put it down to open it and then picked it up again (not an easy thing with a slimy wet wriggling 68 pounder) and made it to the house steps where I put it down again. I ran in the house and screamed (literally) for the boys to wake up. I didn't wait for them, but pulled the calf onto my lap and scooted up the steps on my butt. The calf's mouth was still warm so I knew it would be fine once we got it dried off and warmed up. I put it into Winchester's one piece hunting suit and put the heating pad inside as well and zipped it up. Within two hours the little heifer was trying to get up and trying to suck on the wall.
Whew! I'm not a spring chicken and am pretty stiff and sore. That calf was doing some major struggling while I was carrying it. They are soooo strong it's really amazing.
I'll be posting soon, as I'm sure another exciting incident is on the horizon.

Wishing for a hint of spring in the air!

February 2nd was Imbolc. Also known as Groundhog day. If you are interested in a little history of Imbolc, visit the latest Gaia's Wheel Newsletter that I put together:

http://www.gaiaswheel.com/Imbolc09.html

So I have been busy soaping and creating product like a busy bee. last weekend I made tea blends and am almost caught up with that inventory. This week I have been making Lip Balm. Tonight I start a deoderant stick!
I am slowly updating my website. Go take a visit:

www.cedarhavencreations.com


We are ready for calving. Cow #530 is about ready to pop! We are all anxious and take turns checking them every 2 hours. What fun! I'll post some pics as soon as we have a couple on the ground.

Blessings

Farmer's Market Blues

I belong to the area's "Go Green" Farmer's Market. Originally "Aitkin Farmer's Market" it is 4 years running. At the 2008 planning stages of our market in March we ended up with 14 vendors signed on and things looked promising. We opened it up to crafters. Last year's market was poor and we really wondered how this year would pan out. We thought we had a chance to really make it work.

The first few markets had a good show of vendors. Since then it has primarily been me and Kris. We are so saddened and frustrated. Besides only us two vendors, we are not getting the support from local customers and buyers. We think there are a couple factors; a local CSA and large garden/produce farm in Aitkin, too many local personal gardens...? Who knows...

So that brings me to this dilemma. I will have extra produce. Actually quite a bit of produce. I planted enough cabbage, kale, Kolarabi, zuchinni to feed an army. I am selling some to the Brainerd Crow Wing Coop where I have a wholesale account for my product. A good friend is helping by telling her co-workers about my produce and I delivered a bit today on my way to Brainerd.
So I will be sending out emails every weekend to let friends, acquaintance know what I've got available for that week. Drop-offs will be either Monday, Tues, Wed. depending on where you live. You may come out to the farm and pick up your produce. This must be arranged a head of time.

All of my produce is from seeds I started myself and are heirloom or organic. Everything is natural and pesticide free. It is freshly picked and will be amazingly tasty and healthy.
That's my speal...please call or email me if you are interested and....if you'd like a market basket...here is an offer that is a great idea suggested by my friend Christine. Each week you can purchase a market basket full of fresh vegetables and herbs that are available that week. For a family of (2) the basket is $16, and for a family of (4) the basket is $28.

BTW...I still have 6#'s of yellow beans available that I picked yesterday.
$2 a pound.

Thanks! Don't miss out on a chance at home grown and healthy produce!

Terri

Lughnassadh

August 1st: Irish Gaelic for "festival of Lugh". LOO-nah-sah. Like the other fire festivals, this one too was once celebrated with great bonfires. People gatherd on the sacred hills, and visited the sacred wells. This is time in which connecting with one's personal gods/goddesses is important. Some have mistakenly thought that Lughnassadh was a festival that celebrated Lugh, but in reality it was a funeral festival held for his foster-mother Tailltiu (pronounced Telsha), who had died under the strain of clearing the plain in Ireland that bears her name. The legendary Telltown Races wer held on this plain up until the early modern period. In the spirit of Tailltius' sacrifice fo her life, modern Celtic Pagans will take the time to remember that which has been sacrifices for them. This can be a personal sacrifice that was made for you, or a commulal sacrifice such as the Rainforests, or simply that which has sacrifieced in Nature due to man's greed. Like Bealtinne, Lughnassadh is also a traditional time for hand fasts, engagements, marriages and disseverments of previous relationships.

Make Hay When The Sun Shines!

Our newly planted Italian Rye field is a pain in the ARS!! This stuff is waxy and with this humidity it is not drying well at all. We re-raked the first section today and tomorrow the other section will need to be re-raked. Winchester has been raking while me and Remington have been running back and forth with food and water and checking on the moisture content. We borrowed the Venne's thing-a-ma-giggy that tests moisture for crops and hay. Way coooool! This is really been invaluable for this rye.
Jeff is out baling the first section right now. There is a nice breeze this afternoon, so I hope this has speeded things up a bit in the drying.
Winchester is going white water rafting up near Duluth with the Scout Venture crew tomorrow. Rem and me planned on going but we just can't with the rye needing to be re-raked. Such is life on the farm. Sigh...ya gotta make hay when the sun shines!
OMG are we covered from head to toe with peat. The ground that the rye is planted on is peat. It is itchy and permeates to every nook and cranny on your body. I'm sure this is another reason why this rye isn't drying well. The moisture that peat holds is amazing. Well of course we know that...that's why I add peat to my dirt for starting seedlings. DUH!!!
Ok off to fix something for supper. Then I've got to get out into the garden to weed tonight for a bit. It's getting away from me again.
But that's subject is for another post.
Summer Blessings,
T

Sultry Summer Day Musings

Ohhhhh what a wonderful day of wild crafting. Christine and her kids came over today and what fun! We found self-heal which was like finding treasure in a treasure hunt. We picked lots of nettle, yarrow and some red clover. We found some mullien too. I have the mullien flowers and the flower heads infusing in Sweet Almond Oil. Tomorrow I'll go back and pick leaves so I can dry them. I'm so glad Christine knew about the leaves. I have only used the flowers for earache oil. Maggie has been reading up on herbs and is a wealth of information even at her young age. I can't say it again...what fun! It was very sultry and hot today. It rained for just a short bit early evening, not like the thunderstorm I thought we would get.
Me and Jeff went down to the rice paddies and moved the rakes to the next field I will be raking tomorrow. I won't be going to the farmer's market obviously. But gotta make hay when the sun shines.
Found another tick on me. Ick! That's two today. We are spoiled around here with no ticks. The chickens really take care of all the bugs in the yards.
Bright Summer Blessings

Summer Solstice Musings

Last weekend was Summer Solstice. Me and my family hosted a gathering here on the farm on Sunday for friends of Gaias Wheel. What a wonderful evening! I am so thankful for this group of friends and their families to get together with and celebrate the Wheel of the Year. Potluck, bonfire, pony rides, Faerie house making, egg collecting, etc. etc., made for a glorious time. Here is our website:
www.gaiaswheel.com

Ok the garden is growing. Finally. We have had the sprinkler going for three days now and with the help of some really warm weather it seems to being doing the trick. My boys did some weeding tonight while I was at the SCA business meeting in Deerwood. I have been able to pick a few radishes the last couple days and actually might have some lettuces the next day or so.

Yesterday and today I picked wild rose petals and made Rose Elixar. WHAT FUN!! I can hardly wait to bottle this up and find some guinea pigs...er I mean clients who want to try it.
I have been bottling chive blossom vinegars in decorative bottles. I've made flower essences of; violet and sweet woodruff. The most coveted of all; Summer Solstice Moon & Sun Essence. Tomorrow I will make wild rose petal and borage flower essences as well.
Here is my website for herbal products:
www.cedarhavencreations.com

The Farmer's Market in Aitkin has been slow business. But the worse of it is the wind! I have had one pop-up destroyed and the second new one is bent already! I participated in the McGregor site last Thursday and it was a beautiful day. It was slow up there as well. People drive up and ask, "have any tomatoes"..."have any corn"...geeeeeez we have alot of educating to do on locally grown produce!

Ok here is my art blog;
http://rosarugosa.blogspot.com/
I'll catch up there too one day with photos of my artwork. But I do have a few projects and pictures posted there. So go take a peak if so inclined.

I have begun my studies via correspondence course for an herbalist certification. I finally quit talking about doing it and well, did it and got started. I'll keep you updated as I move along the lessons.

Please come visit us when the local group of the SCA I belong to, known as the Village of Wynandremer host a demo at the Arts In The Park in Brainerd. It is Sunday, July 6th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Gregory Park. We will have Arts & Science Projects and Demonstrations, be dressed in our garb and portraying our personas as well as some fighting. come dressed in your Renaissance garb as friends of the SCA or just come and learn about the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism).
Here is our website:
www.wynandremer.com

Tomorrow morning is soap making time. I am so behind in my potions and alchemy it isn't even funny. I really need to make Goatmilk Honey & Oats, Fisherman's Hand Scrub, Geranium Blend just to name a few. I have a Fruit Slice Fragrance Oil I would like to try for the first time. it smells yummy.

Haying season is upon us and me and the boys will be raking hay tomorrow I'm sure. Jeff was our till after dark cutting in his cousin's field where we have hay stumpage rights. The grass is abundant this year and this is a blessing.

Well, enough musings for tonight. Blessings to everyone.
Terri aka Teralyn
and also known as
SCA Persona "Tanith of Cedar Haven"