Cleaning the Inbox
I decided to clean out my inbox today and came across this link sent to me by Glenn of Maggie Mae Farm. I haven’t started it but next summer I plan to.
Very cool.
Seed Order
I put the seed order into High Mowing today despite temps of 17 degrees with a windchill below zero and lots of snow on the ground.
Lets chant together:
Spring
Spring
Spring
Spring
Spring
Writing Slump
Of late, my dear readers, I’ve been in a slump. A writing slump. You all know that since my readership has dropped off significantly as has my blog reading. I just can’t commit to reading (and commenting on) all the blogs I used to. I feel so terrible about it because I love blogging so very much.
For a while it was work (43 hours in 3 days leaves Howling Hill very tired) that kept me from reading and writing, but now it’s school. It’s taking up every ounce of energy I have. Today I should be studying but I’m so damned tired all I could do was stare at the words in my book, not comprehending what I’ve read.
There is nothing I want to do more than quit my job (20 hours a week now, 2 days a week) and school but to do so would be really, really fucking stupid. We’ve paid off the car and some other little bills. We’re almost done paying on Wolf’s surgery. My medical bills should be paid off by June. Once those are paid off all we’ll have is our mortgage and my student loans. We’ll be able to save when I’m making double what I make now once I finish school in December of this year leading us to a real farm, the life we want to lead!
Being patient with myself isn’t easy so I ask you to be patient with me dear reader. Let me get through this education and I’ll be back to reading your posts, commenting on them, linking back. I’ll be able to be more involved with herbalism and farmers markets because I’ll have more time and some extra money to travel around I may even be able to sell some stuff if we have extra (lets hope for a good growing season this year, unlike the last couple), giving me much fodder to write about.
I miss you please don’t think otherwise.
Imbolc
February 2, 2010
Filed under Beasts, In the Neighborhood, Lets Get Physical, Other Animals, Weatha, Wheel of the Year
Today is Imbolc, the first day of spring on the Celtic calendar. I wish it was the first day of spring here in New Hampshire. It’s still pretty damned cold out there though Sun is getting higher and brighter each day.
I took Athena down to Old Hill for a walk which turned out to be very short for two reasons. First, as we were walking I heard what sounded like a deer in distress (they make this barking-esque chortle noise). I looked over to the Pemi (which is pretty frozen right now) and saw what I thought to be a doe on the ice. I didn’t have binoculars so I couldn’t be sure so Athena and I went back to the car. The second reason our walk was short was it’s so damned icy down in Old Hill walking was pretty trecherous. I fell once and slipped another time and I can’t count how many times Athena’s back legs went out from under her. Of course, her middle name is Grace(less) so I’m not surprised by her slip sliding away down there.
After we got back to the house I called <a href=http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/”>Fish and Game.</a> A few hours later they called me back and confirmed it was a deer on the ice. Seems the coyotes took her down. I’m glad she’s being eaten by coyotes instead of being poached which is what I thought may have happened. I was thinking some idiot shot her and she fell on the ice and the “hunter” left her there because s/he didn’t want to retrieve her. The guy from Fish and Game said he thought about going out on the ice to drag her onto the bank but decided against it because the <a hreff=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemigewasset_River”>Pemi</a> is a relatively fast moving river even when it’s fairly frozen over.
I don’t know when all the snow and ice is going to melt, I hope soon. We did have some nice thawing occur in January and I really, really, REALLY wanted it to continue. Alas, this is New Hampshire and it stays winter here for six months sometimes. It’s this time of year I seriously consider moving out of New England to somewhere warmer, like say, Ireland, the Bahamas, or Connecticut.
Hints of Warmth
So it rained instead of snowed yesterday. This left small patches of earth visible for the first time in months. Whether Old Man Winter admits it or not his days are numbered and Mother Earth will awaken. Spring will be here soon. And I, for one, can’t WAIT!
Howling Hill: Activist
Poached in its entirety from Maggie Mae Farm I wanted to pass these important notices along.
The first bill, HB 1172, pertains to the labeling of GMO’s. If passed, it would require any genetically modified seed or organism to be labeled with the following information:
What a novel and fantastic idea – score one for the home team! I’m a huge advocate of this bill because it puts the decision to use or not to use GMO’s directly in the hand of the grower. It gives us back the power of choice, something I believe is our unquestionable right.
The second bill, HB 1388, is a bit more in depth but also very exciting. First and foremost, the proposed bill provides a definition of genetically modified seeds and organisms that states GMO’s are “any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology… that overcome natural physiological reproductive or recombination barriers and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection.”
To have a definition of GMO’s on the books that includes seeds and organisms is critical. It sets a legal precedent that future petitioners can use as a yardstick. I also am pleased that they are seeking a broad definition that encompasses not just plant life, but all living organisms. This essentially allows for legislation to include genetically modified livestock as well.
The second half of the proposed bill relates to Private Action.
The quoted text in the third bullet point is the actual wording of the bill. This is an amazing point and fingers crossed that it goes through. Gene flow—also called migration—is the natural movement of genes from one population to another that happens all the time. Pollen drift occurs when the pollen (containing the genetically modified material) is transported any distance by wind, water, gravity and insect or animal distribution. Large biotechnology firms have repeatedly and successfully sued farmers for theft of intellectual property when their patented genomes have inadvertently contaminated non-GMO crops through natural methods. However, according to this bill, farmers whose crops have been contaminated with GMO would be entitled to compensation. To have legislation that favors the grower over multi-billion dollar industry is an enormous step in the journey to stabilize our food systems.
Thursday, January 28, 10-11 AM. NH Legislative Office Building (commonly called The LOB) Room 308.
HB 1278-FN
Help NH Farmers provide raw milk directly off the farm!
Seed Order
Wolf and I are a little behind in bills this month. This happens every December/January because we have to register our cars in the months we were born. That’s the way they do it in NH and, with our bdays within 30 days of each other, the State takes what little surplus we have. Because we’re behind we haven’t sent in our seed order yet. I really want to get it to High Mowing but I can’t until the cash comes in — hopefully before February.
Regardless, here’s what we plan on ordering. We’re only putting one order in this year. Normally I get stuff from Fedco too but not this year. No particular reason to be honest…I just didn’t.
The biggest issue we’ve had with our garden the last two years is the lack of warmth in the summer. Both 2008 and 2009 brought us wet springs/early summers with cool temps throughout the remainder of the summer so nothing has grown in abundance (except frustration).
A major part of the problem is the tall trees here on Howling Hill. I know I’ve talked about this before (I’m being lazy and not looking up previous posts) so I won’t go into too much detail but I’m not spending $1000 to have trees taken down. Wolf and I really want to move and in order to do so we need to be able to save. To put aside $1000 would be attaining a big goal and I’m not about to spend that money on trees. After all, it’s a 1000 dollars closer to a house on farmland.
For those looking to purchase seeds from local seed companies, Mother Earth News has this list. of seed companies listed by state. Pretty awesome. Poached from the comments in this post.
