Well, I'm officially finished with my internship! We're off the farm and moved into our new house in the city. I'll have a little more time to spend on other things and plan to start blogging regularly again. Last week I was reading through the top stories on NPR and noticed several were about farming. The stories were incredibly multifarious; from bees in Minnesota to mushrooms in Montana to overtime in California. But seeing these stories together reminded me of one of the major lessons I learned this year during my internship: the problems in contemporary agriculture are varied and growing rapidly. There are rarely easy answers to these problems but I believe it's important for everyone … [Read more...]
When it rains, it pours. (It has literally been pouring rain for days).
So, things got a little crazy. My partner here on the farm finished his internship and moved on and the intern who was supposed to take his place wasn't able to come. So it's just me in charge of the livestock now. Which wouldn't have been that big of a deal except spring is the time for baby animals. Of which we have had many. Kidding season started in February with three kids from a sweet Nubian goat named Amaretto. This was my first kidding experience and I was fortunate to spot the signs of labor early and so be present for the births. The first kid came out breech and I had to help just a little to guide him out. Since then, we've had six goats give birth for a total of twelve, … [Read more...]
Industry and agriculture: Does beauty matter for the modern farm?
I recently visited the poultry research facility of a large agricultural university. I’d been excited about the trip because I naively thought this place would be researching different breeds and growing environments. I was giddy thinking about large fields where every heritage breed of chicken and turkey grazed happily (I love heritage livestock and love to see animals on good pasture). Instead, the facility researched modern industrial techniques so I only saw warehouses filled with meat birds and warehouses filled with egg birds. These buildings weren’t hellish. Terrible conditions certainly exist and are shamefully common in contemporary agriculture. But those conditions aren’t … [Read more...]
Preparing for the Liturgical Year when Preparing for the Liturgical Year Stresses You Out
When my wife and I first began participating in the Liturgical year and all of its feasts and traditions, we felt like we were exploring a gigantic and brand new world. There was so much to learn and do and it was all very fun and exciting. As we added new practices, our experience of the Christian story and faith deepened. All of our celebrations were joyful and never blemished by feelings of obligation. Of course, we’ll never run out of practices to learn or saints to celebrate. But, as the “newness” has faded, there are times when celebrating has become a lot like work. Aside from the major feasts, seasons, and Holy Days of Obligation, we have baptism days, name days, favorite … [Read more...]
Hotline Bling, St. Augustine of Hip-hop, and a Twisted Desire to be Desired
One happy consequence of living on a farm is that I’m a little less connected to pop culture. So I only recently got around to listening to Drake’s pervasive single, “Hotline Bling.” The song is undoubtedly catchy (although this is mostly due to the samples of D.R.A.M.’s “Cha Cha” which is really good and you should check out). But once I finished doing my own little Drake dance and actually listened to the lyrics I began to wonder if the song was a parody. The feelings Drake describes are so unhealthy and his demands so emotionally hurtful they border on abuse. For those of you who have somehow managed to avoid hearing the song, Drake’s ballad is sung to a former fling. I say … [Read more...]
A day in the life of a livestock intern
One thing I love about living here on the farm is that each day is so different and I'm learning new things all the time. Still, I'm learning a kind of daily rhythm. Here is a typical "day-in-the-life" from this week: 6:00 Good morning! We're still settling into a schedule here but usually get up between 5:30 and 6:30. Sometimes I try to get breakfast going or clean up a little. Other days I'll read or just sit around with the kids who get up early. 6:55 Joined the mad rush for breakfast. All of the interns end up in the communal kitchen to grab toast, oatmeal, or a few eggs so we can take our breakfast to: 7:00 Devotions - Every morning all of the interns meet for a short time of … [Read more...]
New Roots
We made it! We've been at the farm for a few weeks now so I thought I'd give a little update on what we've been up to and what it's like here. So the farm is 40 acres and its primary purpose is educational. Part of that involves teaching people about agriculture and poverty issues. Another part is the internship program (that's me!). Interns live here for a year and take on one of the farm enterprises. Some interns work with school garden programs. Some interns manage our one acre garden. And some are in charge of livestock (that's me again!). Right now we have chickens, goats, sheep, rabbits, pigs, and cows. The chickens are mostly for eggs. The goats are milked … [Read more...]
The End of the Road
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” - JRR Tolkien On to Sequoia! While the TALLEST trees in the world are the redwoods along the California coast, the BIGGEST trees in the world by volume grow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. So that's where we went. We spent two nights at Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks (the two are right next to each other and are jointly administered). We saw lots of really cool wildlife including fearless deer, black bears, and fighting tarantulas. And, of course, the largest living thing on earth: General Sherman. Next we drove … [Read more...]
Into the West
The first part of our trip was planned out with more detail than the later weeks. Mostly this was because we knew things would start to come up as the miles added up and we didn't want to be locked into reservations we couldn't keep. And, sure enough, as soon as I published the last trip update, we ended up having to stay an extra night at our hotel because Benjamin got sick. But he perked up and we were on our way. Driving through Wyoming was so interesting. I loved the plains and was fascinated as the mountains rose up and changed from tan to red to the deep blue-grey of the Tetons, our first stop. We stayed there for one night and then went on to Yellowstone. There is just so … [Read more...]
The Road North
So, most of you probably know that our family sold our house and are moving to Texas and that we're taking an around the country road trip on the way there. We're three weeks into the trip now and so far it's been great. Busy though! So I haven't had time to write about it. If you want to follow along, I post on instagram regularly @danielbearman. You can also follow the hashtag #crosscountrycarrots We drove up to visit a friend in Atlanta and then went to Great Smoky Mountains where we tested out camping as a family. Next we stayed for a while in Beech Mountain, North Carolina where Haley's family has a reunion every year. After that was Mammoth Cave National Park, … [Read more...]
