Silly realizations.....

Ever have one of those moments where you suddenly realize that something you thought true and defended  was....  Obviously and humorously false?  Well...  I have,  and those moments always bring a smile  of self realization....  And a warning about being too dogmatic about unconfirmed truth. Here is my most recent example of silly realizations....

We now have four chicken coops in the pasture with automatic solar powered lights. Cloudy Winter days do not provide enough solar power to charge the batteries so that ultimately every 2 to 4 days of consecutive cloudiness requires manual charging of batteries.  This is critical since a sudden change of day length by a dead battery for more than 3 days can cause molting and loss of egg production for 2 months!

So..  In Winter I usually glance out our bedroom window every night between 2am and 5am to make sure all four coops are lighted.  If not...  Note to self to charge battery. 

This week I glanced it the  window,  peaking between the shutter slats at about 3am  as usual to see not one but all four coops were dark!  That's odd...  All 4 at once?  Hmmm... 

But then.. This week we have been off schedule suffering from a cold the whole family caught...  So i went out milking later than usual  and so couldn't verify the lights out on the way to milking after 7am. I also never made it out to fix the lights that day.

Next night,  I check again at around 4am and sure enough,  no lights on any coops.  The night seemed unusually dark actually....  Pitch dark outside the shuttered window.  I put on my glades and checked again...  marveling at the depth of darkness outside ...  Thinking it must be the no moon cycle.  But again back to bed.

That afternoon after returned from deliveries tired and still half sick..  I realized  that the lights were now an emergency.  Facing 3 days of darkness could obliterate our winter egg supply.  So I told brenda that,  tired as I was,  I had to go work on all 4 coops.

"But wait" she says..  "I saw two burning this morning at milking...."

How could that be?  My mind was whirling,  trying to find how they could be on at 6am if the batteries were dead at 3am? Could all 4 timers be off?  Could all 4 be suffering from some universal problem?  Doesn't seem possible.

We explored  back and forth but brenda insisted that 2 coops were lit at 6am.  I was baffled... "but that's impossible....  I looked out the window 2 nights in row and see no lights at all...  Anywhere."  I insisted.

A smile creeps across her face.  "the bedroom window?"

"yes..  As I always do "

Silence.... For a moment....

" remember a couple days ago how you mentioned it was too bright in the bedroom for the young boys' afternoon nap? " My beautiful bride starts

" yes "

" remember suggesting that we should block of the window with anything to see if it helps them sleep? "

Realization starts to dawn somewhere deep in my thoughts...  But no...  Could it be?

" well.... " she continues " I fixed it two days ago..  With cardboard in the window "

Ummmm..  Really?  I have been staring at a piece of cardboard in the window,  inches from my eyes,  marveling at the blackness of a starless night?  Sure enough...  I had.

The moral of this story?  I dunno...  Is there a moral?  Maybe some times we are just silly trying to see things clearly when it's just not possible.... Maybe we need to be more careful trusting or own 5 senses...  Maybe it's never as dark as  it may appear.... 

Or maybe there is no moral but to laugh at ourselves and our silly realizations.

The majesty of a winter sunrise

There are just no words to add to such a site.  All i can say is that it is even more powerful in person.

Christmas on the farm

Christmas,  also the darkest and shortest days of the year,  are rest time for us.  Everything except basic chores is put on hold.  This is the time to enjoy family and all the blessings our heavenly Father has provided. 
We wish the very best to all our readers and customers. ... to you.  No matter what your occupation,  your position,  your circumstances.. ... take a weekend to appreciate your own blessings.  As the old saying goes,  stop to smell the roses.

Life is full of good and bad . It is all too east to get out eyes set on the bad and the good fades away.  But the good of life is still there,  in the eyes of a loved one,  in the life of something green,  in the generosity of neighbors,  in the love of God.  Enjoy the good of life.... seek it out,  embrace it,  appreciate it,  cherish it. 
Next week all the unfinished projects will still be there,  waiting for attention.  This weekend,  they are traded to spread smiles and warmth to those we love and those we meet. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours. 
God bless.

The farm on autopilot

Since Thanksgiving the farm had been running on autopilot.  I got hit with a rather tough bout of food poisoning that has left me unable to do anything for almost 2 weeks.  (Don't worry, the cause was sourced to off farm food! )
This does demonstrate a risk of farming.  With any business of small size,  every employee is critical.  Any absence is felt by all.  The smaller the company,  the greater the impact.  Family farming puts the vast majority of responsibility on 2 people!
I applaud Brenda for keeping thing going during this difficult time.  Not only is she a true saint to put family,  but she managed to ensure that everything critical was done.  Friends and family volunteered to help out with chores under her direction,  and she was seen numerous times hauling Feed sacks.  All the whole caring for our 4 little sprouts and taking care of me.  She is truly the strength of this place.

Retiring the old horse trailer

There it sits... outside the tire shop in Grants Pass. After faithful service for a a couple of years the old horse trailer has reached the end of its days. Time to sell her for whatever she can bring.

The story? well.. we were on our way to pick up some additional goats for the farm, north of grants pass. Right when we pulled off the freeway the trailer started bouncing around like crazy. Pulling over we found what looked like a broken belt and a bulging tire.  So far from home, we decided to head on to our destination and see if there was a way to change the tire.

unfortunately  when we got there and looked the tire over, I discovered that it had those tiny lug nuts popular years ago.  I didnt have a lug wrench to fit. The people where we were getting the goats from were kind enough to look through the tool box, and we found a socket that would work, but no extension. It was hopeless.  Instead of picking up the goats we ended up hobbling along back to Grants pass at 10mph on the freeway, found a tire shop to leave it at, and headed home. (this was late on sunday night)

the next day didnt yield any happiness either. Turns out that the rims are 16.5 inches, a size not used anymore. There were no tired in town to fit, and special order would be really expensive.  Fitting new rims and then buying tires was also too much for the value of that trailer.  so at the end of it all, we decided to sell her for what we can get and let someone else find tires to fit.

So, she is gone... sold within a day. Now we are in the market for a larger stock trailer that would fit our needs better anyway. If you have one.. let us know!

Busy Busy!

Sorry for the lack of posting lately.. believe me it is NOT because nothing is happening around the farm. In fact just the opposite is true. There is a LOT going on, so much we can barely keep up. To make things even more busy, we lost our farm hand to a move out of state, so I am maintaining everything myself now. Summer is normally a very busy time, and we have added so many things this summer that its a bit hard to keep up.

It looks like we are finally getting organized enough to slow down a little bit, at least to normal. I hope to be able to post some of the exciting projects we have going. This summer has been a string of success and failures. More lessons learned, and more new things tried. Part of hte fun of running a small farm these days is exactly that.. the discovery and experimentation. There is so much to learn that we have lost over the last century... so much wisdom and knowledge that just isnt available anymore, that every day is an exploration into the cutting edge. Believe me, my background is in high tech computer stuff, and running a small sustainable farm creating organic nutrient dense food is the most challenging and exciting thing I have ever undertaken. Technology is easy, nature... that is something totally different and complex!

Independence Day - America at it's finest

We would like to share this video on this Independence Day. It is so important to remember why we are here in this country, and the price paid by those who created this country for us. It is too easy to make light of the men and women and children that gave their lives so that we might life free and worship free.

We invite you to spend a moment with your children listening to this video, and discussing the bravery, the committment, the determiniation that was required to make America the world's greatest country.

The story behind the Star Spangled Banner

Farm School?

We have had many requests to start a west coast "farm school" where those interested in getting started can come for a weekend or a week to learn the basics of sustainable farming and marketing. This definately fits with our long term goal of making what we do reproducible! Our strongest desire is to see hundreds or even tousands of farms launched from our  and other's examples. That is what this country needs, not bigger farms, more farms!

If you are interested, please drop us an email. We are starting to put some ideas together on how this might work and could use some feedback. Perhaps in the near future I will post a survey here so you can answer some basic questions about what you would be interested in.

I see this as a very exciting trend that America is turning back to sensible food production! Competition is NOT a worry, as it would take hundreds of farms in every area just to supply the needs of a medium sized town with wholesome organic local food. I suspect most cities could be surrounded by farms and there is plenty of business to support them all.

So please go ahead and contact us. We dont claim to know everything but what we do know we are more than willing to share. Each farm will have its own model and process, but there are lots of basics that apply to anyone. If nothing else, getting away for a weekend to concentrate on your future farm might be just what you need to get things rolling!

A cloud of sadness settles over Little Sprouts

Today is a sad day here on the farm. After a long and difficult struggle we have decided it was best to find a new home for Louie, our 3 yr old Springer Spaniel. For a variety of reasons his living here just wouldn't work, and everything we have tried to correct the situation has failed. Before matters get any worse, we decided to say goodbye and find him a more appropriate home.

Fortunately there is a local relative who agreed to take him in so we can still visit him from time to time. Even so, the children's hearts are broken. It seems especially hard on my son who chose Louie as a puppy and has slept with Louie in his room or bed for at least half his life.

Today I find myself feeling lonely puttering around the farm or sitting in my office without  my constant companion at my heels. As irritating as he could be at times, his departure from the farm leaves a hole that will be tough to fill.

This experience reminds me that animals are not so different from us as humans. We can bond with them and they with us. We can have deep relationships without a spoken word passing between us. There is and perhaps always will be a unseen tie between humans and the animals that God put in our charge.

Sometimes I am asked why we take such a strong stance against factory farming. This is one of the fundamental reasons. Its not just about the money, the health benefits, the environment, etc... There is something much deeper. Humans are the highest intelligence placed on this planet, whether you believe that is so by God's creation or by evolution or any other means. We have a responsibility to take care of those that are in our care, those that depend on our intelligence to preserve the earth on which we all live. Factory farming disrespects all those responsibilities and seeks nothing but cash, control, and convenience. Our family is taking a stand that, animals count too. Their lives count. Their lifestyles count. Animals are not machines without feeling, they are not products without thought or breath to be manipulated like a chunk of plastic. They are living, breathing beings that someone has entrusted to our care. Our family is doing what we can to create a world for them that both they and us can enjoy. We will treat each individual animal as just that, an individual member of the world worthy of respect and care.  Every animal in our care here at Little Sprouts is known by us. We watch each to know their personalities, their health, their uniqueness.

Louie will be missed, but in his absence he leaves behind a deeper drive to recognize each living thing on our farm, and our earth, as a unique and worthy member of our world. Every day I hear the silence of his footsteps behind me, I will remember... animals count too.

Anonymous Visitor Leaves Acorns and Oranges

Today some kind soul visited Little Sprouts while we were away, and left some goodies. Upon arriving home late this afternoon we discovered a bag of small oranges, 2 paper grocery bags of acorns, and a large trash bag full of leaves and acorns. There was no note that we could find, just the bags sitting right outside our gate.

If anyone knows who left these, please share! We definitely appreciate the generosity. Acorns are in high demand right now as hog feed, as the local trees made virtually NO acorns this year. We can certainly use any and all acorns we can get. But... I do need to make sure they are organically raised before feeding to the hogs. Most acorns are, but it never hurts to be sure.

So please let us know if you have any information on who we can thank for the kind gift :)

I should add.. if you know of anyone with acorns in southern Oregon area, please please let us know. I would love to find a source of a few tons of acorns to add to our hog feed. Acorn fed pork is often said to the the best tasting pork available, and it certainly is the most natural.

We do offer a big THANK YOU to the kind soul that left the acorns and oranges!

Sunset over Little Sprouts

There is no better time of day to be on a farm than sunset. Here is one of the majestic scenes that really does serve to put life into perspective. What a wonderful way to end a day. 

Satellite picture of Little Sprouts Farm

It seems that high up in space, the satellites that google uses for mapping finally drifted over our farm and snapped a new picture. The google satellite picture up till now was over 3 years old and showed the property with the previous owner. Now you can see what all we have done to the property. All other services I checked still have the old photos up.

One problem yet remains with google maps. Our address shows up south of the actual driveway. If you look us up on google maps or google earth, look directly north of where the address is. Follow the long skinny driveway off dodge rd until you see the house. That is the southwestern corner of the farm.

Here is a labeled .jpg photo from google earth. unfortunately you cant really zoom it but still you can see the labels to get an idea of whats here.

This satellite photo was taken July 20-something of 2010.

Unexpected beauty

Ran across this little guy sleeping under the barn light.