True Life: Something Died for your Dinner

Before I begin on the writings I first want to say a very huge CONGRATULATIONS to Allison Martini and her new-fiance Evan!!!!!

Also, in case I don't write before Monday, good luck to all the Cohort 1s heading out for fieldwork . Have a blast- you will do great! The rest of us are right behind you. :0)

Getting back to the farm, the past couple days have held some serious excitement.
Waiting for sorting (Kate Fallon photo)

Shannon Dills caught Dave, baby Sierra and myself playing in the grass before sorting

Thursday, we prepared for the first spring farmer's market of the season by making mini-meatballs for samples and preparing cuts of meat for the jerky making process (yes, make no mistake, grassfed beef jerky.) This meant some of the interns were able to work the meat slicer. Scary and exhilarating, I'm glad I was able to learn to use this powerful machine.

Thursday afternoon held some low-key changes to the typical schedule; we were able to watch farm-managers Michael and Sara sort the herd of cattle. First Michael led them into the pen, using a call to which they are trained to respond. Then, he methodically released the cattle that were too small for this first round of harvest (read: slaughter). This morning, Friday, Michael and 3 interns (my turn is next time) drove the cattle to the processing facility (read: slaughter house). It was here, they were able to watch the entire process from death to evisceration. I am excited for my turn and can go into more details when I actually go myself. What is notable is that this small processing plant only does about 10 cows a day. 10 Cows. This is a big deal, let's talk about it:

Conversely, large processing facilities slaughter thousands of cows a day, even up to 300, 400 cattle an HOUR. Think about that, more cows = greater potential for the spread of diseases and more stress and pressure on the workers to move quickly and "efficiently". These men and women are handling sharp knives and moving fast, it is no wonder manure ends up in your meat. It is also in these kind of environments that ground beef is made, again, from THOUSANDS of cows. Just to really connect the dots, this is how we end up with the endless public health concerns regarding E. coli. Massive beef recalls are necessary (and generally not timely or effective) because when dealing with this extraordinary volume, who can really say where the contamination came from?

Cows that are going are all rounded up (Kate Fallon photo)

Anyway, I found a good blog post regarding small scale operations and the troubles they face when trying to compete with USDA legislation written with large scale operations in mind.

http://www.chewswise.com/chews/2010/05/notes-from-a-slaughterhouse-proposed-usda-rules-could-crimp-local-meat.html



On a lighter note, I pulled this awesome looking radish yesterday.
(Thanks to farm intern Julie and her NEW camera for these great pictures.)


Post carrot thinning, gotta make room for the big guys!!

<3 and thoughts,
Alisha

Peas, Parsley, and Pipe Change

*Kate Fallon Photo


Such an exciting day I had to write in the blog a day earlier that usual! First of all, the Meet the Farmers page on the web site is updated to include yours truly. . .

https://sunriseranch.org/farm/meet-the-farmers/

Second, the (sugar) snap peas are ready and we took our first harvest this morning!!! They are very tasty and I encourage everyone to find their farmer's market and pick up some of this amazingly sweet treat. They should be appearing soon if not already. I have a memory of being at the Newtown, CT farmer's market last season and grabbing a bag of these for the first time, the incredible taste and flavor is heavenly. Like I said, go get some. . after you finish reading the blog post of course.

The parsley is in full force, we are harvesting more than the kitchen knows what to do with! We are making pizza tonight with the interns so hopefully we can make some yummy parsley pesto, anyone have other amazing recipes that highlight this delight?

Pipe change; this is nothing new. I needed a third "P" w42ord. Moving lots of large pipes around is something we do multiple times a day (4 times yesterday between the garden and fields).

Below is a picture of us unloading pipes from the trailer to set up a new line in a portion of the field. Typically, 7 or so of us move portions of the line together forward in the field. Once we reach the end of the field, we separate all the pipes, load them on the trailer and move to the beginning of the field or a new field entirely.


*Kate Fallon Photos

Did I mention we are 97% sure the spider I found in the living room the other day was a black widow? Well yeah, no worries because it is a goner now.

Well, time for a little break before heading back to work. Talk to ya'll soon!

Love,
Bug

Thankful for fathers everywhere!

First and foremost I want to say a very Happy Father's Day to my Dad and everyone's dad! I am thankful for my Dad's insight and role in the person I have become today!

This has been an exciting couple of days. Today, Sunday was a relaxing day. I woke leisurely, attended a fantastic service about love, make some phone calls to the people I love (but not everyone I love so don't be offended, my phone died), and cooked for a potluck tonight. Dave and I also acquired a "mother" with which to make kombucha. We had it sitting all week and finally our first batch was ready! Kombucha is a fermented sweet tea drink with effervescent that makes me think it was the first soda. This tasty drink has loads of historical medicinal value.

Saturday we worked. We took a big harvest of early cabbage (because it was bolting/flowering), thyme, beet greens, lettuce, spinach, green onions, and garlic scapes (the scape is the part where the flower would come out, but since we want the garlic to continue focusing on the bulb we cut the flower part off). We also thinned the onions, leeks, and beets (i.e. beet greens with baby beets) that were planted too close together, this thinning makes me feel better than say carrot thinning because you can still use and eat the thinnings as beet greens and green onions (I used the thinnings to make a scallion pancake for the potluck tonight). Saturday night a couple of the interns had a dish shift in the kitchen. It is nice to be able to learn the inner workings of an industrial kitchen.

Friday we had a half day and spend the morning emptying the greenhouse of the leftover seedlings. This was nice for Dave and I because we were able to complete our front yard veggie garden. We applied some of the permaculture design principles we learned and hopefully will have success. In the afternoon all the girl interns went to a rock climbing gym in Fort Collins where one of the inters, Julie, used to work. She seriously enjoys rock climbing and wanted to share her passion with the group. What a workout! We learned about knots and belaying and climbing. After climbing we went to Avana's. It was her birthday not too long ago and we went to her parent's house for homemade pasta dinner! Yum! It was nice to have some girl bonding.

Friday was also the arrival of a city group with about 10 young adults from nearby cities. This is an important part of farming and community outreach because many times, these kids not only have no idea what food looks like when it is growing or where it comes from, but also don't have access to grocery stores; making a whole food diet impossible. Imagine relying of gas station stores for your grocery needs- yikes!

Thursday morning began with a fantastic breakfast (quiche, bread pudding, muffins, smoothies, juice and fresh fruit) made by yours truly and Dave, then transitioned to classroom. Classroom started with farmer's market protocol and basics of selling our beef. Thursday's lecture wasn't really a lecture at all but a group discussion that quickly moved from ethics of eating animals (original topic) to the food system in general, ethics of judging others for person food choices, fat Americans (couldn't even leave it alone on father's day!), regulations placed on food stamps, and of course (as if this could NOT be mentioned) corn subsidies.

Feel free to think amongst yourself, bring up at the dinner table, or comment below on your feelings relating to these topics or any topic (because lets face it, everything comes back to food)!

Love and miss all,
Alisha

On a Sunny Wednesday

Hi All! Happy Wednesday and Happy Birthday Derek!

This morning has been relaxing, it is beautiful outside and our day off! Yesterday, Tuesday, we harvested spinach and lettuce and did some weeding. With the summer solstice approaching we suspect spinach harvests will come to an end. I learned to use a weed-wacker (or a weed-whip as they refer to them here)! They are much harder to use than expected and my end result was somewhat uneven, but it was fun and a goods skill to learn. In the afternoon, some interns planted various types of melons and others went on thistle patrol. Thistle is a noxious weed and a general pain in the ass. We must thistle patrol the pastures because if the state sees that we are not keeping up with managing them, they can legally spray our fields. This would seriously conflict with our non-certified organic practices. Anyway, last night we went into Fort Collins! We went to Everyday Joes, a coffee shop, which is graciously hosting the Fort Collins Food Co-Op's film series for the summer. We watched Big River, a short follow up to the movie King Corn. After the movie we went to the Goodwill! Apparently Fort Collins has a thriving market for second hand stores and is home to some of the best thrift stores in the area! Yippeee!

Happy Cows

Monday was a very interesting day. We spent the day down in the permaculture garden. This pet project of Patrick's involves the entire communities compost, the chickens hard at work, lots of worms and microbial activity in the soil and specially designed gardens which help with water retention and maintaining the health of the soil. Permaculture design is something I hope to learn more about and apply to my eventual home garden.
I forgot to mention that on Sunday we walked up to the Rimrocks across from the property. They are beautiful and the view is even better!


Garden as seen from the Rimrocks

I have been thinking about something we mentioned in my OT (occupational therapy) lab class. We were discussing general hand strength (pinch and grip etc.). There are tools OTs use to measure each of these (to gauge baseline and improvements in strength) and they come with norm figures for what is "typical". My instructor was saying these figures are not so relevant anymore and that if a client is below the average not to be too concerned. The changes in occupation (factory worker and farmer vs. desk jobs) have decreased people's overall hand strength. I have experiences this first hand (no pun intended). My hands and forearms have been the most sore part of my body. The weeding, hand tools, weed-wacker have all increased my hand strength. Bring on the dynamometer!!

Dave and I are off to begin our garden in the space outside of the trailer (yes on our day off we will be gardening), we are also preparing breakfast as we are hosting the classroom session tomorrow! The class is on the ethics of eating animals. More to come on that front soon!

-A

Rain, Rain, Go Away. . .

Hi All! Exciting happenings the past couple days. . . .

Thursday was our first classroom session. Twice a month, we get together at someone's house (they make breakfast!) and one of our managers teaches a class. This week it was on seeds- the genetics of making new varieties, selecting breeds for your garden and the importance of saving seeds from plants for the next season.

We talked about the the importance of heirloom veggies and heritage breeds of animals (varieties of veggies and animals breeds that have been around for at least 50 years or before WWII). Seeds are amazing, they have stories and historical significance to our own heritages. They should be honored and respected by purchasing, planting, and eating the wonderful fruits of our ancestor's labor.

When people discuss the fragility of our food supply, and how little control or information we have about main stream food these are the kind of matters they are discussing. When a huge (chemical** turned seed) company like Monsanto threatens the integrity of seeds, and is constantly engaging in deplorable acts such as patenting seed genetics (read: patenting life), we not only have violation of anti-trust laws (they own majority of soybeans processed in this country) but also lose control of our food. I could spend the duration of my blog writing years on Monsanto but I shall move on. . .

Friday we had a half day of work per usual so David and I spend the afternoon preparing dinner for our first dinner guests ever (potlucks aside). We had Joe, Laura, and Allie over for dinner. We made a special herb mac and cheese and did so because Laura is our 'welcome host' and has been gracious is finding all the fun kitchen supplies we desire- one of which is a deep casserole pan in which we made some yummy mac and cheese! Friday night it began to rain. This, as you have read previously was unexpected. You see, Colorado gets 12 inches of rain per year. I was not planning on seeing much of it but the last two days have brought us somewhere between 2 and 3 inches! Anyway, I skipped an exciting part of the story. Just as we said goodbye to Joe, Laura and Allie on Friday evening we received a phone call from Michael, our farm supervisor. He told us we were to come in late on Saturday! As the rain was forecasted to continue through the night we did not have pipe change on Saturday morning and were able to come to work at 8:30 instead of 6:30!

Saturday was basically a wash, we did some indoor chores (peeled garlic), worked in the hoop house with the tomatoes and did some tidying in the greenhouse, but generally had a light day. That is farming I guess.

Today, Sunday, has felt like a long day. It continued to rain on and off through most of the day. We woke for breakfast at 7:30 because it was waffles! There is not usually breakfast. But since we have a group here for retreat (called Mondo Zen), they make breakfast. When a group is here, the community is invited to attend breakfast! Mentioning Mondo Zen reminds me of all that I have had the opportunity to experience (farm related material aside). Seeing lots of different rituals and practices in action (chanting, drum circles, sweat lodges) has been an enlightening experience into the many ways one can express spiritual belief.

Off now to have a relaxing evening before work tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Love,
Alisha

You Don't Even Need a Knife!

Hi Ya'll! So I was a touch off about the rain, it sprinkled occasionally and rained a bit Monday and Tuesday. The crops were happy and so were the interns, no pipe change! Have I explained pipe change already? Well basically because of the irrigation needs here in Colorado, we have pipes with attached sprinklers (seen below) that water the crops in the "field" (garden) and the grass in the pastures for the happy cows to eat (100% grass-fed beef people). Anyway, we must move the pipes in unison to different locations so everything gets watered. Monday we "mulched" the potatoes mounds with straw (spread straw over the potatoes) as well as planted more crops and weeded. We have really been on top of our weeding and it looks great! We talked about permaculture and the compost piles out back with Patrick (garden manager, the composting is his project. Along with the chickens! And our summer camp- Patrick is a busy man!) Once I have a better idea of permaculture I will explain further.
Fields of neatly weeded crops

Sunny John, the Composting Toilet!!

Tuesday held more weeding and planting, I learned to use the rototiller in the afternoon! That was fun but we use it sparingly as it requires fuel (boo fuel). I also was able to help Patrick with "farm school". Every once and a while we meet up with the on-site childcare program (children of people who live here and are working during the day, anywhere from 3-7 kiddos). We get together and teach them things about farming. We talked about weeding with them, planting and compost tea (compost and water mixed together to oxygenate the water). They love getting their hands in the dirt and helping out. I am lucky to have been invited to have a more permanent role in farm school (currently one of Patrick's many projects). So I will have to put my thinking cap on for activities (any suggestions?). The kiddos are so cute, when we are in the field working they will call out HI FARMERS, and we call back HI KIDS! Precious, as you can imagine.


Three of our Farm School Attendees. Photo courtesy of Kate Fallon

Last night we went to Victor and Helena's house, another couple here in the community who are engaged to be married in August. There were other community members there and we had homemade enchiladas! Dave and I brought dessert- Dave's newly discovered butterscotch custard with whipped cream and I made a honey ginger carrot cake with cream cheese icing. It was all very yummy!!

Today, Wednesday, is our day off. Dave and I lounged around, went "shopping" in the kitchen, read some and generally relaxed. But the climax of the day was dinner. Have I mentioned the seconds box? Cuts from harvest/slaughter that don't quite make the cut (no pun) for sale to the public go into the seconds box. So we were fortunate enough to get a package of two T-Bone steaks that "weren't quite right", we cooked them up with mashed potatoes and our homegrown garlic with another side of onions mushrooms and spinach (picked yesterday). Naturally, they were fantastic, so good in fact you didn't even need a knife!

Let me have word about cooking grass fed beef. To truly savor in the superior flavor of the beef be aware it takes less time as well as heat, or you will end up with a poorly cooked piece of meat.

For more on cooking grass-fed beef: https://sunriseranch.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/Cooking-tips1.pdf



Well, thanks for reading!
<3 A

Colorado

So some things I have learned here about the great state of Colorado:

- The weather is totally and completely erratic. This is the most difficult to get used to (over the dryness and elevation). You must be prepared for everything! It will be warm, cold, windy, and blindingly sunny all with in one hour (this is only a slight exaggeration)

-The clouds are closer here! Really they seem to be much closer to you, it is neat.

- We have been here since Thursday May 25th and only this afternoon have seen our first sight of rain. Bit huge droplets! I wonder when the next time the rain will come. . .

- People are very active! They are gardening and jogging and generally being active outdoors a lot of the time. Have you seen this interactive map of obesity in the US? Check it out. Scroll down a bit and the map is there, you might have to refresh to see the whole time line.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html#State

-A

Schedule! **updated phone number, updated take2**

Hi All,
Half day Fridays! Horray!!! But full day Saturday tomorrow :0) . The schedule is nice but erratic days off sometimes make it feel like you work all the time when really that is not true, we have some good time off including Wednesdays, Friday afternoons and most of Sunday. I'll talk more about schedule in a second. . .

So I have a phone in the trailer, the number (was wrong previously) the correct number is 970-679-4312. We receive incoming calls for free and now have a working answer machine ;) "When should I call?", you ask? Well, here is my schedule:

Sunday: occasional day for chores
Monday: 6:30-12 LUNCH 2-5:45
Tuesday: 6:30-12 LUNCH 2-5:45
Wednesday: DAY OFF!!
Thursday: 6:30-12 LUNCH 2-5:45
Friday: 6:30-12 LUNCH Off
Saturday: 6:30-12 LUNCH 2-5:45

** Lunch is at 12:00 and Dinner is almost every night at 6:00

More planting today (cabbage and broccoli seedlings from the greenhouse), weeding (onion and carrot beds) today of the carrots. And moving pipes around for the irrigation. We also learned a bit about the composting outdoor toilet down my the garden.

Last night there was ice cream sandwich with the most AMAZING cookies ever!

Connections

Hi All,
Just wanted to make a quick full circle connection to emphasize the beauty of this experience. Here at Sunrise we plant the seeds, water and weed them, love and protect the crops that sprout. When we harvest, we "travel" 3 minutes walking to the kitchen for a wash. The kitchen prepares the meals. We eat meals and compost the scraps which are put out for the chickens to eat. The compost is reapplied to the soil to nurture it and ensure healthy soil for future generations.

This sustainable and simple process is alluded and desecrated at every level of industrial agriculture. Needless to say, I love it here.

Did I mention everyone, community and farm members alike, are all friendly, happy, open, respectful and passionate? It is refreshing.

Time for rest before second shift :0)
*Photos by Shannon Dils*

Sunrise Website

https://sunriseranch.org/

Alas

A blog, finally! Welcome all! Glad you at least have minimal interest in reading what I have been up immediately following graduation. Here's an update thus far (pictures to come or you can check out either Facebook or Dave's blog: http://futurefarmerdave.blogspot.com/)

*Photo by Shannon Dils*
. . .

Finally all caught up! Wednesday June 2nd. Today! Wednesdays are always; except today and we will get to that, a day off for the farm

intern crew. A sacred day with no chores or farm duties (Sundays are off with rotating chores but never Wednesdays). This is a day off unless of course you are new and have orientation, which we had today. Farm orientation and than community orientation (since they can be separate if you wish, your choice. Everything here is your choice with no pressure or guilt**, what a concept!)


Tuesday June 1st, First day of work! As all good days will (everyday), we began with pipe change. Basically, water here is a huge concern and something the farm managers are thinking about all the time. They use irrigation and we must move (change) the pipes to water the grazing fields (for our 100% GRASS FED BEEF!). Anyway, that was a plug by the way for grass fed beef in general, so find some at your local market. So, we harvested weighed and washed spinach, radishes, lettuce and chives for the kitchen. Planted more beans and carrots. Weeded and straw mulched potato beds. It was a good sweaty day. Since everyday here is a party, in the evening we had a potluck at Laura's to welcome the newest and final addition to the farm crew, Julie. :0)







*Photos by Shannon Dils*




Monday 31st, Happy Memorial Day! The day began innocently enough helping Laura to set up the final interns accommodation (room) in the communal housing. Long story short we ended up travelling through the Rocky Mountain National Park with Bob, Laura, Joe and Allie! It was BEAUTIFUL! We went all the way around from Ester Park to Grand on the other side. We were on the highest continuous motorway in the United States, Trail Ridge Road at 12,18 ft (Sunrise is at 5,000. Durham at approx 42 ft). Amazing!

Sunday 30th, work did not start for us until Tuesday, we were essentially in vacation mode still. We went foraging for wild herbs with Sarah (and Sierra of course). She makes salves and tea (amazing.) As a side note I will say here she also makes Kombucha (medicinal, tasty, fermented tea) and we are going to get some of her "mother" to make some of our own! The night ended with a party for one of the community members birthdays (a power couple from NYC with their adorable children who recently moved to the Ranch).

Saturday 29th, We meander around the grounds more, doing a little hiking in the foothills, generally settling in and trying to remember all the names! Saturday night the interns (total of 7) and farm staff went to a rodeo in Fort Collins, yeee hawwww!!!!
*Photo by Shannon Dils*


Friday 28th, Leaving Denver was sad but meant it was finally time for the arrival at Sunrise Ranch! We took a bus from Denver to Longmont, where Sarah (one of the farm managers) and her beautiful 4.5 mo daughter Sierra graciously picked us up and drove us to Loveland. The first day we met people, settled into our own trailer (amazing accommodations compared to the electricity-less yurts we were considering staying in at other farms!), and attended a potluck with the other farm staff, interns and members of the community. We also learned about the
"shopping" we get to do. Our small stipends allow for free housing and food. The food is incredible. Most veggies are grown right here on the farm, others are bought organically. The beef is our own (grass-fed naturally, naturally :0), and everything is just what you want! Anyway, so we get to go into the industrial kitchen (the site also hosts conferences in addition to the 70 or so people who live in the community so they cook for a lot of people!) and pick out what we want, and well that's it! It is a really fun game that I could get used to.

Thursday 27th, Early morning arrival in Denver! A pleasant clean city with friendly people and our first taste of dry air/high elevation. A friend of Dave's, B.J. (also known as Will), picked us up and showed us to his fabulous house complete with beautiful fiancee', Harley the dog and Lucy the cat. We spend the day exploring Denver and just hanging out.

Wednesday 26th, Arrival in Chicago, layover, board and ride overnight double decker train to Denver. The irony of our trip was traveling (to our organic farm) through not only endless cornfields but also grain elevators (for corn/soy) and seeing large rail cars filled with vats of Cargill corn syrup! (we got a picture) Geeeze, we were certainly happy not to drive through that shenanigans. The train was pleasant and easy, I would totally do it again.


Tuesday 25th, Amtrak train left Bridgeport, CT arrival in Penn Station (NY), followed by an overnight train to Chicago (arrive Wednesday). Met "T" a wonderfully friendly turban wearing musician (and vegan) with gardening experience. We also met Heldi, a 73 year old who grew up in Germany during WWII!

Monday 24th, essentially a complete blur but what I think happened is unpacking followed by repacking and a great wild-caught Salmon dinner- yum!

Sunday May 23rd, Pack up and head home to Trumbull (CT), unload copious amount of stuff to lovely parent's attic and home (thanks Mom and Dad!)

Saturday May 22nd, Graduation part I from the University of New Hampshire, horray!