Last Monday my farm girlfriends, Suzanne & Scout came to my home for tea.  Now you have to understand, that I was a tomboy as a child.  Much to my mother’s chagrin I played Cowboys and Indians and would have nothing to do with dolls and tea sets.  So when my friend Scout suggested with get together for tea to celebrate our mutual birthdate at my home I jumped at the opportunity.  Now at the ripe age of 66 I could fulfill my mother’s dream of her daughter having a girly tea party.  So I got out my good china and served tomato basil bisque in pretty tea cups along with a pedestal tray offering feta cheese(which I had made), a vermont made tome (a hard aged goat cheese, an English Weyansdale cheese, walnuts and raisins.  I also offered a Cheddar Bread which I had made that morning and taking center spotlight was the tea.  This particular tea was given to me by my daughter-in-law Julie.  It is a large bud which is put into a glass teapot and then hot water is poured over the tea bud and as it steeps the bud opens into a beautiful flower.  The flavor was a peach infused green tea.  It was perfect!!  This was all set out on my table decorated with pretty napkins and place mats artfully arranged by my friend Suzanne.  And guess what we three ladies talked about while indulging in this feminine ritual…..Tractors, Farming and developing our School to Farm Initiative!!!  What a rip!!!!!  We had the best time!

So on my way to fulfilling my dreams I was able to fulfill one of my mother’s dreams..how special is that…dreamin’..Irene

So what is a girl from Brooklyn doing with a farm in Vermont?….Living a dream and enjoying every minute of it!!!!

However when you are enjoying what you are doing time just has a way of running off.  I can’t believe it is already February.  The end of June we brought home our 3 Southdown Baby Doll Sheep lambs (Uncle Wetherby [a wether is a castrated ram] and Molly & Dolly) who were just fuzzy when we got them but are now really woolly, fat & pudgy looking.  Labor Day weekend we brought home 2 Nubian kid does.  They were 6 mos. old and we named them Annie & Sophia.  So we now have 4 Nubian goats and one LaMancha goat.  In addition that week my order of 25 day old chicks arrived.  The order consisted of Barred Rocks, White Rocks, Buff Orphington, Black Star & Hampshire Reds.  You might ask…What are you going to do with so many chickens?  Well, you see when I called the hatchery I thought that I could order 10 chicks, but they told me I had to order a minimum of 25 since they keep each other warm in transit.  So, I did!  It just so happened the day they arrived (they are delivered directly to the post office) we had been invited to have dinner at friends who also have a small farm.  So, what’s better to bring as a house gift?  You got it…12 one day old chicks!!!  Can’t do that in Brooklyn!  So these chicks are now chickens and laying their first eggs which are so small and perfectly shaped.

So last Weds. I noticed that Shirley (my LaMancha goat)  had come into heat.  I called my friend Jennifer, who owns PolyMeadow Dairy Goat Farm and asked her if I could breed Shirley with her new LaMancha buck (his name is Pearl Buck, get it).  She said I should have Shirley there early Fri. morning.  So Ed & I got up at 5:15 a.m. so we could do our barn chores and get Shirley into the SUV for her trip to meet Pearl before Ed went off to work.  Shirley traveled well in the car & I arrived in Shaftsbury by 8:00 a.m.  Got Shirley out of  the car and Jennifer got Pearl & we introduced them.  Poor Shirley it turned out to be a lousy date…Pearl rejected her.  Shirley was so embarassed she jumped right back in that car as soon as I opened the hatch.  I had to console her the whole way home.  So I guess there will be no kids this July..oh well!

Saturday, Feb. 12th I went to Burlington for a NOFA (Northeaster Organic Farmers Association) conference at the Univ. of Vt. (UVM) mainly to attend the workshop on School to Farm Initiative.  You see, the next part of my dream is to have kids come to our little farm to learn about where the food they eat comes from and how to treat animals and the earth with respect.  I went with my new friend Suzanne who is a teacher (her husband is the headmaster of the Mountain School which is located right near our farm).  It was tremendously helpful and fun as well.  We were both very excited!  The great thing about such workshops is that it stirs one’s creative juices.  On Mon. my friend Scout will be coming here for tea. She has already helped some schools & farms to come together and has said she will help lead us through the process.  How great will that be!!!

Right now it is snowing.  We haven’t had a good snowfall since Jan. 8th.  This snow is really needed and welcomed….Keep on dreaming…

Welcome to Cold Moon Farm!

What’s a nice girl from Brooklyn doing in Vermont with a barn, chickens, goats and sheep?  Through this blog, I hope to share my story and what I’ve learned along the way.