50. And Three Years Later…’MERICA!
Yikes. Looks like I’ve let things slip, here.
So it’s been a whopping two years since I entered any information into this space (of which I was reminded at Small Farms Conference at the beginning of the month by someone who was actually reading this slop—Thanks, Jason!).
I’ve been up to about all the same stuff: farming, advocating, learning, trying and failing, feeling overwhelmed with joy and alternately, being crushed by complex feelings of inability, ennui, and hollowness (brought on by a flurry of federal government fuckery that has taken multiple revenue streams away from not just myself, but millions of other Americans and stripping promised resources to many nations across the globe). In short, I am depressed as hell, and pretending like I’m fine.
The only big change on my farm is that I finally was able to access funding from EQIP through the NRCS (Environmental Quality Incentives Program/ Natural Resources Conservation Program) and added some conservation practices on the farm in a bigger way: tons and tons of mulch (literally), tons and tons of compost (also, literally: tri-axel dump trucks delivering loads of up to twenty tons at a time for me to spread across two acres of fruit and vegetable production), cover crops, Pollinator habitats, hedgerows, and (drum roll, please) a high tunnel.
High Tunnel a la Nifty Hoops
This tool has really upped my game. I’ve had harvest-ready vegetables and herbs all winter long, and have enjoyed them on my own plate as well. This year (2025), I plan on getting another high tunnel, adding more geese and chickens (in case you’ve been in a bubble, wide-spread Avian Flu has made eggs a high value item for the first time, and a dozen crap eggs at the grocery store is going for over $6) to meet consumer need, Kune Kune pigs, and hair sheep (the kind that don’t have wool to shear, but instead, shed naturally), to improve the land and to be our friends, not dinner. Additionally, the idea here is that I spend more time farming and less time mowing acres for no reason. The multiple species and intensive grazing plan I have in mind should create a better environment for animals, wildlife, soil microbes, and duh, the people who live here.
Kune Kune piglet
St. Croix ram (note the beard)
In the last two years, I’ve also been hard at work advocating and educating through a job that I really, REALLY liked as a regional soil health specialist for small-scale farms and gardens. Presently, waiting to see if the job will be back online any time soon, and while I am towing the line that I am hopeful because of our impact in the state and yadda-yadda, I am feeling totally forlorn and incapable of action at all. I’ve been out of work for two weeks, and haven’t taken advantage of that at all. Bullocks…Additionally, the LFPA program (Local Food Purchasing Agreement) has also been canceled by the federal government, you know, helping kids and people who can’t afford healthy food continue to go hungry. High fives! But hey, billions of bail out dollars are going to huge egg producing facilities to continue their unhealthy practices and give them lots of money, so they can continue to raise millions of birds in facilities so toxic to life that humans need to wear personal protective equipment and respirators. Sounds delicious!
Alright, here’s the big take away: things are falling apart at an accelerated and terrifying rate, trickling down to the least among us. Sorry, Lady Liberty, your tired, your poor, your huddled masses are being actively thrown in the garbage, deported, and further disenfranchised. Are we great again, yet?