Cows

Find Your Peace in God
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Find Your Peace in God

Among the rose bushes, and the apple trees, as my family picks from the wild apple trees, my mind wanders on as it usually does. I can’t help but consider the current events, as I weight as measure just how grateful I am for this piece of the earth that my family owns. Perhaps with consideration of the future, perhaps not, this land was obtained 5 generations ago for me, 6 for my children, and it will continue to serve us with provisions, and a safe haven in a wild world.
My heart mourns and aches for the ugliness that my children have to grow up in. Politics notwithstanding, the human species has evolved as a whole into something that is largely dark, and devoid of empathy. Empathy has been weaponized, only to be used on people who your beliefs align with as a virtue signal. We are allowing the fake internet world to intrude on our real world, and distort our vision. We have to reclaim our human condition, and use it for good all that we can. A kind word, or gesture online or in person goes a long way.

Satan has used evil people of this world to drive a stake between us, and our God given emotions. We are to steward our emotions considerably, keeping them in align with how God has called us to use them. The #1 way I can think of, is in loving our neighbor. Even if we don’t agree with them. I’m sad that we are in such a place that I fear for my children’s lives in small town Maine, nevermind to mention trying to travel with them. The enemy used to be afraid, and lurking in the shadows, now the enemy is brazen, and frolicking in delight of how twisted up we have gotten as a society, calling good evil, and evil good.

I’m grateful for this farm, a place of solace, and survivability when it comes down to it. A place to thrive in an ugly, ugly world. Where we can pick our wild apples, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Raise cattle, chickens, pigs, goats, and ride horses. I pray for the wisdom, and discernment to keep a strong hold here for future generations of our family as the world becomes less, and less a place to be. 

Whether you have your own safe haven away from it all, or you’re living in the midst of it, I encourage you to be the good. Do not let yourself be worn down by every piece of media that is highlighting satan, and his evildoings. Take heart in your Bibles, God’s promise of victory. Hope in the gospels, there is nothing new under the sun. God didn’t ever say life here on earth would be easy, that is why he has given us boundaries in commandments, and hope in His word. We are his children after all, and He does steward us well if we listen to Him, and not the world.

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Wow A Whole Season Went By

The farm is silhouetted by this beautiful line of tall pines that catch snow, and sunlight perfectly.

I didn’t mean not to write all winter. When I first started this, I really thought I would write weekly but as it turns out I am not that disciplined in this area. I have been writing off the cuff of an idea, and when your idea is that winter is way too long, and you’re angsty about other things in your life, well it just doesn’t feel very inspiring. All that aside, I hope everyone had a great winter and found joy in it. Though it is our longest, and most tedious season here in Maine, we are a hearty bunch and usually do find our way through it with some pleasantries. We mostly got by this winter and welcomed the changes it brought, sometimes reluctantly but the blessings shone through, nonetheless.

Bone-in Ribeye, Ninja Foodi’ed to perfection.

Starting around October our family really started eating mostly meat, and we’re on the journey to quit sugar. After exposing our kids to sweet treats, we are still on the slope of not totally depriving them of their wants, but also redirecting them to better alternatives for enjoyment as well as health. This newfound way of eating really made me look at the families business in a whole new light. If the grocery stores all closed tomorrow, we have a pasture full of the perfect food for the human species that can convert grass into protein, and fat. The bioavailable nutrient profile on grass fed beef is quite impressive. If you’re interested, compare it to your favorite vegetable(s) to see how they measure up to each other. I may come back to this topic another time, but for now, onto other happenings.

Sunsets are always a peaceful time of day, all else goes quiet for a moment.

The cows fared well this winter, grandpa got back in his tractor, in his trusty John Deere’s, and back to his trips to Vermont in his trusty old Mack to ensure his herd was fed well, along with other folks’ animals in the area. Grandpa has spent much of his life toiling away at one thing or another, and it is quite a hard habit to quit, so on he goes, here and there, checking things off of his mental to do list. He got elastics, (a way of turning a bull into a steer if you know what I mean), on the oversized bull calves as they were weaned from their mothers, in preparation for another season of calving. There is always a few days to a week long stretch even when the mothers and babies are wailing back and forth to each other. As a nursing mother with a nursling currently, I can sympathize quite well with their troubles. But after all they are cows, God has given us as man dominion over his creation of animals, to steward them well, and weaning is just a part of that.

Though she wasn’t much into farming so maybe it’s strange to mention it here but, my great grandmother went to her heavenly home just before she was to turn 102, the day before to be exact. She lived here on the farm for 6 or 7 years, I believe in my grandparents (mostly Mimi’s), loving and comprehensive, full time care. So, her passing quite changed the family dynamic, she was loved and cherished up to the very last moment she was here on earth, and her going on was certainly a celebration of life. As Mimi, Grandpa David’s wife, is an integral part of grandpa’s life, and supporting his farming, it surely feels appropriate to give credit where it is due and include her in the picture I have been painting of Whites farm on the hill. Anyway, my grandparents now have their home, and their marriage back to themselves and are finding new ways to enjoy that togetherness as they go on about their work as homemaker and farmer in retirement.

My mother has caught a bug, its quite contagious I hear, it’s called “IfellinlovewithawildmustangandI’mneverlookingback”. So along with her daily chicken chores, selling meat, and hay, being a grandmother, and playing golf with her rather needy blue heeler Millie, she has another hat to wear, of horse trainer. I’m looking forward to watching that play out this summer. She also had to say goodbye to a longtime friend of hers, her old morgan horse Dakota. After 25 years caring for an animal, it is quite stark facing the world the day after they are gone, but she handled it all with grace. My dad continues his endeavor’s, of semi-pro-amateur league golfing whenever the weather will cooperate and he doesn’t have a project for Kara due, as well as being dedicated to his work at the PSNY.

Empathy, and a hand written note from a small person just hits ya differently.

As for my family and our little portion of this hill, well I suppose that will be for another post… Thank you for reading this if you’ve made it to the end. Thank you for supporting our small family farm. As with most things the unknown of the going-ons of others can be quite mysterious, but at the end of the day we are all much more alike than we know, no matter the work we are doing.

Be Blessed,

Lorin

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When The Going Gets Tough

The old coyote, aka Grandpa David, doing what he does best, feeding the cows, farming grass.

The tough get going. That’s how the saying goes and that is what has to be done when you’re farming. The cows don’t stop eating, the grass doesn’t stop growing, the barn doesn’t stop needing to be cleaned, no matter what is going on in the lives of the humans running the show. So the family comes together and does what needs to be done, with the equipment needed to do it, in the way that we can when the leader is missing. I know, I know, lots of generalizations but in this very personal family that is how we roll.

When you get our family together, the ones that still live around here anyway, it’s always somewhat awkward. We all have this deep connection but it goes unspoken largely, and it’s often times difficult to find things to discuss. I’m not sure if all families are this way or if we are just weird, but anyway, if there is one thing that brings us all together it is the farm, White’s farm on the hill. Grandpa David has always been quite the quintessential farmer, gruff, tough, hard working, leaves a lot left unsaid, and never asks for help. I know this is out of the goodness of his heart because he never wants to make anyone feel like they have to do the work that is “his”, but we all want to do it anyway. So in recent times boy has there been a chance to.

Justin and Jonathan making their first hay.

Jake, Grandpa’s son, and his two sons, Justin and Jonathan, have come to help finish up the hay season with my mom, Kara and my Dad too, actually. It was fun to watch the boys intuitively pickup the controls of Grandpa’s tractor from their experience using other equipment for logging and excavating. There were a few late nights, and surely a lot of lessons learned, and I can’t wait to see what can be done next year when Grandpa is back in his tractor, or back in the hayfield anyway. It will be so neat to see him have the chance to pass on his decades of knowledge on how to make good hay. It is a science, and it is an art, and it takes years to procure the methodology that leads to a nice mold free crop that the animals will enjoy. Since being back on the farm it has been so interesting to see just how little to do with the animals there is to do, and how much to do there is with everything else! Fences to mend, maintenance to do on barns and equipment, butcher appointments and arrangements to make, the customer facing side of things, making sure there is enough food for winter for the animals, making sure everyone has water, the list goes on.

God does always have a plan, and although it is so hard to be patient enough to watch it play out and find your role in the waiting, His plan is always supreme to our own. Thankfully my mom, Kara, Grandpa David’s daughter, has been Grandpa’s shadow for the past two years as they have worked closely to sell beef, pork, and hay together. My mom has been able to dedicate the majority of her days taking care of the cows, keeping them fed, and trying to plan the events to come to make the wheels keep rolling on this small family operation. This time without Grandpa here, has provided a looking glass of sorts into the future as well, thankfully short term, because it has revealed that Grandpa is very much needed as a leader. In fact he needs to step into his role as a leader even more, by being the teacher I have talked about in past posts, to enable the success of future generations of farmers in our family, to continue his legacy.

Garden times, 2022 she has upgraded to the big John Deere tractors now for the work that needs to be done, but she still hasn’t upgraded her shoes….. hehe

It has been a beautiful thing to witness three generations of farmers come together to tie up loose ends and get the farm fields ready for winter, mowing and baling the last of the fall hay. There is much to come though, moving cows off of their summer pasture, getting elastics on the bull calves, putting up hay equipment for safe keeping, mending fences, dealing with bulls, weaning calves. It is all a labor of love, and it is all a labor of passion, and all farmers might be just a little crazy for loving such a thing, but thank God for all of them. After all, the food doesn’t grow on the shelves of grocery stores.

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Sweet Summertime

Wildflowers from a walk with Mimi, perfectly imperfect.

Summertime in Maine, although full of rain, has been much more abundant and joyous than I remember. Year after year, as I get older and my husband and I mature in our marriage, we watch our children grow, and life looks different. Whether it be a ride to the pasture on the buggy to watch the cows, an afternoon with the slip and slide, or a family trip to the beach, I find myself trying to savor each moment fully.

As I have grown as a woman, I have been in the pursuit of improving myself, and not through the lens of some self-help book, although if that is your thing carry on, but through my Bible and relationship with God. In that I have been blessed so fully and so greatly. Each day is an opportunity to find something to be grateful for as well as a fresh chance to serve and honor my family. Are those days full of mistakes and face palm moments, why yes of course, but without the notion of conviction to do what is right and just by the Lord I wouldn’t have the self-awareness to enjoy life fully. What does this have to do with farming? I’m glad you asked.

Tucking the girls in after late night chores.

We have recently gone through a bit of a situation, with the potential to move off of the farm, and build a house right down the road. With this we were looking at sacrificing being here on the farm every-day and maybe even giving up on our first year of milking our girls. Went it got right down to it, and I mean right down to it, we couldn’t do it. My husband hasn’t told me but I know he came out to find me in the barn one morning and peeped a scene of me giving Daisy a kiss on the nose as I was finishing up chores, headed into the house to see how I could be of any help. I know this tugged at his heart strings and by the end of that morning we realized what we would be giving up was not worth a shiny new house.

Now for us this way of life is a gift from God and, also from hard work by my Grandparents to keep the farm going. Even now we couldn’t be doing this without their giving nature. For others this way of life is achieved through their own hard work and sacrifice. For others still this way of life may not be anything they would want, but something is. Have a vision for yourself, or for your family. Go after it. Do what you have to do to make it happen. Be all in. Don’t compromise.

Already looking forward to growing more of these next summer.

I have this saying, God takes you through the steps you need to go through to get where you need to go, and He definitely did that with this. He lit a new fire in our lives, a brand-new conviction all of our own to be all in, here at White’s farm. Even if you haven’t met God yet. Start noticing the beautiful little things in your life, that you take for granted. Notice the way stopping to check in with your mood and set your heart on joy and gratefulness can change your entire day. Notice the things that you’re going through that are terrible even, and see where they lead. Think back on your life on these things, not with self-pity, but with a heart of strength and vigor, forgiving the hurts and embracing what all the experiences have made you into.

These days I have less room on my plate for vegetables, and more for the meat raised here on this farm, and organic dairy products raised locally here in Maine. My heart is sometimes all twisted up at the mere idea of not knowing what the future holds, but it comes untangled so fast when I take a deep breath and take everything into perspective. We will talk again soon; until then fill your plate with a ribeye, or some savory slow cooker stew beef to welcome a new season.

Be Blessed,

Lorin

Welcome The Discourse

Daisy; bad trait of hers, if you give her half a chance, she will eat your shirt.

Meet Miss Daisy, she is a certified organic A2A2 Jersey! Daisy and I have gotten close over this past week, coincidentally I must add. She was recently bred for the first time, and we are hoping she is due to calve April 2024 so we can begin our milking journey together. Her and her 1/2 sister Rosie, are the first dairy cows on the farm since the government bought out the herd of Holsteins in the 1980’s, but that is a story for another day I suppose. Along with the commercial aspect of the farm, selling beef, chicken, and eggs to our thoughtful customers, our family has a mind for self-sustainability and homesteading. Daisy and Rosie were a welcome addition to provide us with A2A2 raw milk, and whatever other dairy products we commit to making from our harvest.

So, Daisy had to have had a false pregnancy, and much to our, and the vets surprise, actually started producing milk. This provided an opportunity for bacteria to enter into her udder and create an infection. This went unnoticed until her udder was too swollen to miss and I went investigating. I decided to try milking the rear quarter that looked large, and out came some milk and some strings, a sure fire sign of mastitis. I called my grandpa David, I had just heard his truck pull in from his long day of hauling hay, and I asked him to stop by to confirm what I was seeing to be true. He agreed on the symptoms seeming like mastitis, so I put a call in to the vet. After some deliberation we decided that just stripping the infected quarter 5-6x per day, for a week’s time should be enough to starve out the infection so it could clear itself up. At first he recommended a course of antibiotics but since the girls are organic I really wanted to try the natural way first.

Day 1 – infected rear quarter.

Along with stripping Daisy I treated her with 2 doses of Vitamin C, one she ate the powder spread out on some apple slices, and the next higher dose we made an alfalfa pellet mush with a little honey on it, she gobbled that up too. Yesterday made a week and there are no more signs of mastitis. I am grateful of that, even she seems to be feeling better. When I turned them out to their pasture last night she was jumping and bucking and picking a play fight with Rosie, she hadn’t been doing that for a couple weeks.

Now when I first discovered the mastitis I immediately, once the kids where in bed, started researching mastitis, and came across some interesting studies that have been conducted recently. To summarize, the findings of mastitis’s antibiotic resistance are off the charts. When I asked the vet about this, he said he usually treats with 2 or 3 different ones at a time to increase the chance of getting the treatment to match the strain of bacteria causing the infection. When I asked about a natural way he didn’t blink twice before he recommended just keeping her stripped. I had also read a clinical study, to match the findings of a farmer’s experience, with high dose vitamins on livestock for treatment, specifically vitamin C. So, I decided to add this to the regiment, I’m not sure if it helped but I do know the infection is gone, and nobody is harmed by some extra vitamin C in their life. Also, interestingly enough, the antibiotic resistance is driving clinical studies of treatment alternatives from God’s green earth. Things such as vitamins and essential oils, which if we had just done in the first place we wouldn’t have the resistance occurring, and would could reserve the antibiotics for dire circumstances. As it sits, only 50% of mastitis even needs intervention at all.

This experience, like most others, had me learning and growing in things that I was unprepared for and was not expecting to face just yet. There are a few things that really helped me be successful. The first one being, doing my own research. We live in the age of information and most all scientific studies that your Vets and Doctors have access to, well we do too, so arm yourself with information. Be prepared to advocate for yourself or your animals, don’t just accept the status quo. The second one, being a mother and having had nurslings gave me a unique perspective as her caretaker. It helped me to tenderly, and somewhat more personally, tackle this situation to help her back to health. Three, after your toolbox is full of what you can put in it, through your own knowledge and research, see what others have in their toolbox. I called my grandfather, my mom, my cousin MacKenzie, who has experience from working a commercial dairy farm, and finally a vet, who did in fact welcome the my discourse and offer me practical advice on how to go a natural way. It won’t always go this way, and people won’t always welcome discourse, but I think as a society we would be much better off for it. After all, you can’t know what you don’t know.

In a study of development of health advisory service in organic herds, the dialogue between farmer, veterinarian and agricultural cattle advisor changed the treatment pattern markedly during a period of 6 months. Among important future challenges for veterinarians in organic farming is pointed at the constructive, open, and critical interaction with the single organic farmer as well as the organic animal husbandry system in general.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11995391/

Daisy girl, she grew fond of our routine in just a short week, and was always looking for a reward for her cooperation.

Thank you for reading and be Blessed!

Lorin