We are not the only ones waiting for the arrival of spring! Our bison spread out more and more across the pasture munching on the old grasses where the bare earth is showing through. They seem eager for something different than the hay which has been their mainstay through the winter. We are still a few months away, but it doesn’t seem too long until the fresh green of new growth emerges and with it the anticipation of new calves. I suppose our lack of snow this year makes it seem like spring is around the corner even though it is only February!
I have started a window box of lettuces in our pantry where the sun comes in strong and where we have a grow light to encourage the seeds. They have begun to sprout and we are eager to watch them grow to harvestable size. By that time we will have started many of our seeds in the basement under lights. One of these days we will have a greenhouse, but for now, Ted has set up a great spot that has worked very well.
We have just finished reading Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan and watching Food, Inc. They were both so enlightening as they brought forward things we hadn’t previously known about our food industry. They also offered us affirmation that we are on the right track with raising our bison and the natural produce that comes from our garden. They are worthy books to read, if you haven’t done so already. Good for us and for our planet.
Doretta
There are chores for everyone on the farm and sometimes that
means stepping up to the plate to do whatever is needed. Fortunately, our
washing machine is more updated than the one Ted’s grandfather, Charles Hersey
was using in the photo. Ted named it “Matilda” because it waltzed across the
floor as it washed the clothes. We are still trying to figure out where in the
house that picture was taken, not that it really matters. We are just having
fun piecing it all together.
It is wonderful living on the family farm so steeped in
memories. There are so many questions we would love to ask – what varieties of
apples are growing on some of the old trees they once planted here? or how did
they make their root cellar successful? or what pasture rotations did they find
worked well for their dairy cattle? The list goes on. Occasionally, we catch
the glimpses of answers in old books we have discovered tucked away - pages
marked, columns written in – telling a story, eluding to a concept worthy of
note – and in them a window into the lives of those who farmed this land long
before we came along.
As we attempt to fill in the blanks to our questions about
the farm, our bison are equally intriguing to watch and learn from. As the
sun’s rays get stronger, there has been a noticeable shift in their behavior.
Dry old pasture grasses exposed by the melting snow draw the bison to the edges
of the fields to nibble the memories of summer and the promises of coming
spring. They no longer stay huddled around the hay laying on a bedding of the loose
stuff they tossed out of the halo, finding security in their source of food. We
have witnessed them romping through the snow, swinging their huge heads back
and forth as if to shake off winter. Even though it is still only February and
the forecast of snow is on the horizon, their posture tells us that they know
it is not that much longer until the fresh spring grasses return.
Our orphaned calf, Little Warrior, is seen here experiencing
his first winter on one of those bitter cold and snowy days. He is doing well
and always happy to see us when we stop at the gate on our regular rounds.
The snows can and no doubt will fall and the frigid cold
winds blow, but like the bison awaiting the fresh new grasses of spring, there
is a satisfying warmth that fills me as I work up the planting charts for my
vegetable garden and berry patch imagining already their tasty rewards.
Doretta
It has been an entire year since we have owned the Bison
Ranch at Beech Hill Farm and what a ride it has been! I am always amazed with
what one year in our lives can bring, for that matter one day, even an hour,
but those meanderings are for another time. As long as we are alive, change is
inevitable and while we have seen change on the farm with the birth of calves
and a growing business, the alteration I am thinking of right now is of a more
personal nature.
A year ago the burly beasts that roam our pastures scarred
me, Doretta, to the extent that if they approached the fence, I carefully
backed off. Ted, however, has had more experience than I having helped his
grandfather with the dairy cows that once grazed on these same fields. As for
me, never having grown up on or near a farm, I’d like to say I have always had
a healthy respect for animals, especially big ones like bison. Okay, to be
honest that healthy respect is just nice lingo for - fear. It is like the time
a friend walked me out across his fields among his cows. There wasn’t even a fence
between us. I was terrified and they were cows! Now, we are talking about
bison, the American Buffalo, the largest land mammal in North America!
As I began noting at the beginning of this blog, it is
astonishing when we can step back and notice our own growth over time. When it
comes to raising and managing our bison herd that growth surprises us, our
family and friends, too. “Bison,”
they can be heard saying with an upward twist at the end of the word so that it
becomes more of a question than a statement. Eyebrows raised and heads cocked
sideways - “bison?” “Yes, bison,” we reply and today with far more confidence
than a year ago. The fact that our
bison graze naturally on our pastures and provide an excellent healthy source
of meat gives us cause to feel good about what we are doing, as well.
In addition, we just arranged for new arrivals to come in
early May. Not more bison, but chickens! As we strive continue developing a
healthy, more sustainable farm, these new arrivals will bring much needed
nitrogen back to our pastures, help control parasites and flies, not to mention
the fact that we are looking forward to the abundance of fresh eggs.
But, for now the snow is falling and the arrival of our day
old chicks seems eons away. Nature is dressing our bison in a new blanket of white
and we, having completed our chores for the day are sitting beside the fire
with a cup of steaming cocoa in hand.
Ted & Doretta