River Valley Farm

Summer is finally here! 
 We're harvesting CSa shares weekly and the lambs are weaned. Jenn attends the Farmers Markets Fridays and Saturdays and it seems as if the economic recovery hasn't quite hit here in the Berkshires yet. Meat sales are down by a large percentage from last year and we have been forced to close the Farm Store due to a lack of sales and available labor.
Since we are committed to selling this house (but not quitting farming and leaving the Berkshries) we've been cleaning and tidying like crazy. The chickens are mostly gone and the Javas will be leaving today for a retirement home. I'll really miss the eggs and my morning wake up call.

Since last fall we have been working with our local NRCS office to put in an HUA (Heavy Use Area) adjacent to the barn for our sheep to stand on so they wouldn't have to stand in mud when it rains and we would be able to clean up their manure easily for composting and to alleviate any potential runoff from our paddocks getting into the riparian area of the river or the river itself.

We think this is a great idea, the sheep think it is a great idea, NRCS thinks this is a great idea, the Lenox Conservation Commission thinks this is a great idea, so everyone is on board and we are ready to start work right? Almost.

Because part of the grass filter strip will be in the 100-year flood plain (the grass filter strip is designed to catch any potential run-off from the HUA so the river/riparian areas are NOT contaminated at all)  we would need to provide compensatory storage (ie: retention pond/swale) if there is any net fill (net fill is the amount of dirt you end up with if you add more dirt than what was there to begin with).  We worked out several different variations of the plan, but we still kept coming up with some net fill. This meant we would need to provide a swale or retention pond somewhere else  in that flood plain area to make up for what we have filled in. We can't, our property is just too small.

Yes sometimes, depending on the situation and a town's conservation commission findings,  there are exemptions to be had, but the Lenox Con Comm was adament about "no net fill, no matter what" (even though they all acknowledged what a bad situation we  have with mud and how greatly the HUA and grass filter strip would improve the situation and benefit the ecosystem and the river).  The entire flood plain area we are working with is only about 100x200 to begin with and it is fully utilized  because our property is so small (even though it turns into a big manure/mud puddle during certain times of the year due to the animals being on it). So we have had to scrap the HUA plan.
 
Aside from the benefits I mentioned above, another major benefit of the HUA would have been that we could have enlarged our flock and grown our sales to become profitable (not wealthy, just being able to pay our bills and taxes when they are due). We can't enlarge the flock with the current  mud condition. It is just too unhealthy for our animals and for us to remain this way. So instead, without the HUA we will have to reduce our flock significantly in order to keep all the sheep in the barn from November to May to avoid the mud/manure combination and its subsequent adverse health issues. Honestly, we don't want to have to do this.

So what do we do? Grow more vegetables? Mmmm, probably not. We have a severe shortage of reliable labor in our area and our CSA seems to have tanked. We went from 33 members last yearto 9 members this year.

Wow - what happened you ask? Well, a few things contributed.
 
First off, we lost our main publicity/outreach person - and that person didn't even have the courtesy/guts/balls to let us know they wouldn't be participating this year, we had to find out from a mutual friend - THANKS A LOT MW! With only 9 members, the people pool was diminished and no stepped forward to take responsibility. You know, I can't do it all - my main job is to do the growing and I work part-time off season to pay the bills.
 
Secondly, last year's growing season sucked. The weather was atrocious and things grew poorly or not at all and then we had the tomato/potato blight and lost that crop. There is risk when you join a CSA and in combination with the poor economy I think folks have become a bit risk adverse. 

Third, about a third of last year's  members came once or twice to pick up their produce and then never showed up again - I think they prefer the convenience of the supermarket more than the community connection and freshness and high quality of the products. A certain amount of drop-out is expected year to year, but that is usually balanced by new sign ups. Oh yeah - no outreach person....

Ok - so lets look at what we've got, see what is working right and take it from there.

Is anything working right? We are definitely facing some serious challenges on the sheep side and aside from lack of membership I feel the CSA has additional issues.

Yesterday we had scheduled a Community Day and potluck dinner. We asked our members to come help plant onions and potatoes (real easy work - kids tend to love this kind of planinting as they are always successful at it and then we would all share a potluck dinner after. Granted, notice was short - but farming is weather dependent and this is generally the season to do this type of work  in.

 No one showed up - or even responded to my email about it. Yea, I know there's only 9 members....  But nothing from nobody?  What happened to the community part of all this? JEEEEZZZ...
Jenn and I got the planting done -  there will be potatoes, shallots, onions and scallions to be harvested this season.

So, apparently I have a strong idealist streak in me. I always thought it was well tempered by my mature, realistic yet generally positive attitude but this apparent show of apathy combined with our sheep issues  was really just the last nail in the coffin, for the last working farm in Lenox.   

The house is now for sale and we are looking for a new farm in Berkshire County where we can expand our sheep flock and just concentrate on our sheep business.  I want my farm to be a vital part of my community where we are contriubting in a positive manner and we are recognized and respected for what we do and how we do it. That doesn't seem to be happening here.

The upside to all of this, is that the house really has nothing to do with in-season farming, just overwintering farming.  All of our grazing and crop  land is leased so we will continue to graze our sheep where we always have and grow our vegetables to harvest.

We are not quitting farming, nor running out on our obligations.

We're just changing where we do what we love to do and do so very well.

Historic Gore Place - A HUGE THANK YOU!! to everyone who stopped by our booth and visited with us and our Cotswold lambs today. We had a wonderful time meeting you all and helping you with your new fiber projects. I do hope you enjoy your fiber and please remember to call and visit when you are in the Berkshires. We would love to see you again - perhaps you'll even bring us some of your projects so we can see what you've created. You can also meet all the sheep that contributed their wools to make your project a success!  

If you can't come by and you do need more fiber, just drop us an email and we can get more to you.


CSA Seeding

As you can see above, we spent all of today in Waltham, MA at Historic Gore Place's Annual Sheep Shearing. We brought two Cotswold bottle lambs with us as an educational exhibit and most of our wools from the store. The weather was great and we had a lovely time. The children loved the lambs and the lambs certainly seemed to enjoy the attention and petting.

As the time is now right and the weather has cooperated, I spent most of the previous week seeding and transplanting out in the field. I transplanted lots of herbs and lettuce and seeded kale, collards, mesclun lettuce mix, carrots, beets, turnips, dill and peas. Now all we need is some rain and that is forecast for the next few days. With a few days of rain, our seed should start germinating in about a week or so. Then the weeding begins.... weed seeds like rain just as much as our planted seeds do. I will begin seeding the squashes, cukes and melons in the greenhouse and pot up the tomatoes and peppers. They will all begin to get planted in the field mid to late May weather depending. Feel free to come and help or come to hang out and watch and learn.

First the snow had to melt, then the rocks needed picking (that means you bend over, pick up a rock and place it in the bucket of the tractor - you do this many times and dump the bucket at least three times to call it a successful rock-picking day!), then the manure and lime are spread and then finally the plowing and harrowing begins.

With all the warm weather we've had we've been busy, busy, busy!

Hope you enjoy our new website! Jenn worked really long and hard and helped tweak things a bit.