House-Raising

It's been awhile since I've been able to post, but I hope to make it up to y'all. Several people have asked me to publish pictures from our house-raising. Until now, I haven't had the time or the internet.
The house-raising was early in November, just after our church's annual Reformation Day celebration. It lasted three days. We were expecting a few people to help, but more came than we ever imagined. I counted 30 people that Monday. Not only did we have builders, but we had garden helpers too. And still others brought lots of good food for all the workers. It's amazing what we accomplished. We're so thankful for the wonderful Christian community that came to help us with a huge project.

We had a lot of fun those three days. We ended them with a cookout on Wednesday night. We ate hamburgers and hotdogs and drank IBC root beer. Afterwards, we sat around a fire, toasting marshmallows, while Claire and Kyle played and sang some bluegrass for us.

Thanks to everyone! We'll never be able to repay you. May God reward you for your selfless service.

And now the pictures. Drumroll, please...

Mr. M. and his sons did an excellent job digging our basement and pouring the concrete for the foundation.

The M. boys know exactly what to do, even when their dad isn't around. They poured the footings mostly by themselves.

Here's the basement. Notice that black-ish tar stuff. That's the waterproofing. Daddy did that part himself. It was a difficult, nasty job. The tar was super-thick and had to be smeared on with a trowel.

The framing begins.

Ben and Jacob look a lot alike from a distance. People get them mixed up sometimes. ;)

This prelimenary framing was done the week before the actual house-raising.

Mom had a full time job feeding the guys.

The House-Raising begins:

First wall on the first floor

John had his work cut out for him. He had to keep over 20 guys busy at all times, and oversee all the work they were doing. He did a great job. We could have never, ever done it without him.

John has trouble remembering people's real names, so he makes up nicknames for everyone. He's quite creative, and most of them are hilarious.

Ben is "Hot Shot"
Here's a view from the front. You can see the shop on the left.

Here's Caleb. (He doesn't like his assigned nickname, so I might be in trouble if I blog it :)

We had no less than three Calebs on site. We also had a couple Jacobs.

Olivia took some beautiful pictures for us. Maybe I can upload some of hers later.

John's patented Advantek elevator.

One floor down; one to go

"Pocket Hercules" :P
This Caleb came all the way from Indiana to help us. I understand he has a few nicknames; "Boom Boom" and "McLain" being the most popular. :)
Some farmer friends of ours sent their interns to help.

Jacob likes giving orders...

I wonder who he learned it from. :)

Josiah is from Illinois and Henry from Indiana. They both made special trips to be here.

Sam and Chris cutting up

It's beginning to look like a house! Kyle headed up the deck project, and did an awesome job.

Synchronized hammering? *insert Blue Danube Waltz*

I love the porches! Hoss does too.

Here's one I took a few days ago when it snowed.

Look out, Nashville!

Our very talented neighbors, the Howard family assembled a group of friends to create this country music video in hopes of cheering Jacob up while he was sick. We can safely say that it truly did the trick! Olivia is responsible for the artsy videography and design. We have the eloquent Bruce the Bard to thank for the clever lyrics and the....ummmm..."singing" ;0) The rest of the gang just went along for the ride. Obviously, they all had a blast! And they managed to keep it all a secret, too! What a hoot! I reckon' we're the only farm around with our own music video. Eat your heart out, Josh Turner!

A Wee Highland Lassie

Jacob's cow Thistle had a calf this week! She's tiny and adorable. He hasn't named her yet, so you'll have to wait until later for that. We discussed names briefly yesterday. If you want to read the story Mom wrote about how we found her, sign up for our newsletter. Thistle is very tolerant, and doesn't mind if we pet her baby. She doesn't like Hoss getting close to her, though.

She's so cute that I imagine you'll be seeing lots of pictures of her in future.

Here she is with her mama.

-Tricia Ann

Have you ever seen an artichoke plant?

I never had until I grew a few this year. Funny looking, aren't they?!?

Maybe we'll have artichokes in our 2011 CSA baskets!

-Tricia Ann

Farmer's Market Booth Re-design

We have a corner space at the Farmer's Market this year, so our set-up had to be changed. Plus, we needed to make our booth look really nice, so we'd sell more veggies. We now have two "pop-up" tents to shade our produce (the phrase "pop up" is deceiving, but that's another story :). The front is for our display of veggies for sale, while the side/back is our CSA pick-up area. So far it's worked out really nicely. We also made new matching price tags, which we laminated so we can write the prices with dry-erase markers, in case we have changes. I designed three banners so our farm can be easily identified. After they were printed, I sewed velcro onto them, so we could just stick them to the sides of the tents.

All in all, I think it looks very nice and much improved.

We're still under the pavillion this summer...yay! It feels about 10 degrees cooler under there than out in the parking lot.

Microgreens have been a big hit this season.

Here's our CSA pick-up spot

"Hit him on the head!"

"More broccoli?"

-Tricia Ann

Clean-up and Fencing

As I said in the last post, during the flood, we lost all our perimeter fencing in our main pasture. We anticipated that it would take a lot of time to put it all back up...a lot of time that we didn't have because of all the garden work that had to be done. Our CSA season was just beginning. We even thought we might have to sell the cows because we didn't have a place to put them.

But, as always, the Lord provided. We had people come from Illinois, Alabama, and all over Tennessee to help us! Some of them we'd known a long time, and others we'd never met! They cleared all the brush and debris out of the fence-line and helped Jacob put up a whole new barbed wire fence! There were also ladies who prepared meals for us and all the workers; and people who helped in the garden while Jacob and Daddy worked on the fencing. It was a lot of work, but I think everybody had fun. I know I did.

Thank you to all the folks who helped us out...we'll never be able to thank you enough! May the Lord bless you for serving Him through serving us. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful friends.

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

-Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

I don't have pictures of everyone that helped, but here are the ones I do have:

Per advice from local farmers, Jacob decided to attach the barbed wire to the trees this time. Hopefully that will hold up better in floods than fence posts have.

The guys rigged up a clever barbed wire reel.

Here's a section of knocked down fence with mangled high-tensile wire.

We used a lot of staples.

We also used a lot of red cups. :)

-Tricia Ann

Flood 2010

Apologies to all our readers for keeping you so long in the dark. We are just fine, but very busy with farming. Also, our internet has been pretty haywire lately. For now, we'll bring you up to speed with a few posts about the happenings of the past couple of months.

On May 2nd, there was an epic flood, not only here, but in a lot of middle Tennessee. Beaverdam Creek, which is the border of our big pasture, rose and covered the entire pasture. Water flowed through like a river. It knocked down all Jacob's high-tensile fencing again, took out our whole potato crop, washed up all sorts of debris, and dumped large amounts of sand and gravel in our lower garden spot. Thankfully, we got all the animals, and equipment up to higher ground, out of the reach of the water. We were very blessed to make it through with so little damage. Many people around us lost their cows, farm equipment, cars, and their houses.

The power was out for about 5 days, but we were able to use our generator to keep our freezers going and to pump water from our well.

Dad and Jacob walking across the road

Here's our lake...I mean, pasture.

It was a perfect time for Superman to show up. He's standing in a hole that the water made in our driveway.

Here's the fence by the entrance to our driveway.

During and after the flood, we got to meet a lot of our neighbors. Everybody was making sure everybody else was okay. It was really neat to see the community coming together to help each other. Also, lots of people came to help us clean up and repair damage. Stay tuned to see pictures of our clean-up and fencing crews.

-Tricia Ann

Isn't it pretty?

Look at our new tool rack! Isn't it clever?!?

The inspiration came from a picture in Eliot Coleman's new book, The Winter Harvest Handbook. It's made out of cedar boards, which Daddy milled. Jacob and Pop pop put it together. I just love it. Now all our tools are dry, organized, and easy to put away.

You can see the whole thing here. The other side is full of tools too.

-Tricia Ann

New CSA Delivery Location!

We're excited to add a new delivery location
for folks on the north side of Nashville.

Windy Acres Farm - Saturdays from 3:00 - 4:00 pm
5376 East Robertson Rd. Orlinda, TN 37141
615-654-FARM (3276)

At Windy Acres, our shareholders will also be able to purchase many other products including pastured chicken, grass-fed beef and lamb, cage-free eggs, raw milk cheeses, cultured vegetables, and sourdough cultures at the Windy Acres Farm Shop. Windy Acres even offers a Cow Boarding Program for those who want access to farm fresh raw milk!

~Trish

The Meatrix

Here is a really neat video about the rise of factory-farming and the downfall of the family farm.

Produced by Sustainable Table and Free Range Studios, the animated movie The Meatrix spoofs The Matrix while illustrating the problems with industrial agriculture and today’s meat supply. The Meatrix uses pop culture and entertainment to educate viewers about the food they eat and where it comes from. The film features three superhero farm animals including Leo, the young pig who wonders if he is “the One,” Chickity, the feathered family farm defender, and Moopheus, the trench-coat-clad cow with a passion for green pastures. Join the group as they delve into the reality of animal cruelty, antibiotic overuse, massive pollution and destroyed communities.

Check out The Meatrix website to learn more.

Maple Sugaring (or Syrup-ing)

Tapping maple trees for maple syrup has been a big project of late. Dad, Jacob, and some of our neighbors have spent many hours boiling down sap. It takes 5 gallons of sap to make one pint syrup! But it's definitely worth it...It's the most delicious syrup EVER!!!

First, you drill a hole in the tree. Then you hammer some 1/2 inch conduit into the hole. You drill a hole in the top of the bucket, slide the bucket onto the conduit, and hang the handle over a nail to secure the bucket.

After collecting the sap, you pour it into pots and boil it over a fire for a long time. When it has boiled down to a certain point, you transfer it to a pot on the stove and continue boiling it until it reaches about 218 degrees. Then it is ready to be put into jars.

Finally, you make pancakes and enjoy the fruit of your labor.

-Tricia Ann

Greenhouse Pictures