Spring Has Sprung: A Blog Entry by Jodie

I was going to write my posts on food related topics, however, there are so many things going on at the farm that I have decided to branch out!

Since the turkey deaths and the general feeling of dying during the fall season, spring has brought lots of life back to our farm.  When I say spring, I am really meaning since January!  We arrived back from our Christmas vacation to 100 baby chicks that arrived in the mail.  We are living in the attic of the dorms so the chick’s bulb heated home was directly below our apartment.  Synova and I had so much fun grabbing chicks in our hands, holding them next to our warm bodies and running up to her bedroom to play.  We played games like skateboarding chicky, chicky rides on a school bus and chicky makes a new friend – strawberry shortcake!

Enjoy the video of skateboarding chicky…

Only weeks after the chicks arrived, the goats started giving birth to kid goats.  It was very exciting to meet these wobbly-wet-“Bambi” looking creatures.  Synova and I were able to watch a goat give birth to twins.  The first one came out normally – head and front hooves first but the second one came out breech.  I have a video of the breech birth.  It came out quickly so the video is short and I cut the video off before you can see the little goat get up…oops.

We have a two herding dogs to protect our herd of goats and one of the dogs gave birth to seven puppies.  She was very protective and did not let people go near her young for quite some time.  Once we finally could visit them, Synova fell in love.  She fell hard for the white puppy whose name is Zoey.  She would literally carry this puppy all over the farm.  The funny thing is the puppy totally let her!  One time Synova was running with the dog in her arms and tripped; she fell, the dog went flying and neither on of them made a fuss.  We did however, come up with a new rule of not running while you carry a dog!

The most recent addition to our farm was the arrival of five piglets.  They were just weaned before arriving on our farm and are already approximately 50 lbs!  We have purchased a quarter of a pig and have named him “Pigger”.  I think we will butcher them sometime in July.  So far it has been lots of fun to bring our food scraps and watch them fight over the mush.  Synova cannot decide if she will eat the Pigger or not.

Here are a couple pictures of our baby bunnies and baby ducks.  

Thanksgiving Turkey: a short reflection

Turkeys

How time passes quickly—since all the ‘dying’ of autumn, we find ourselves in the ‘birth’ of Spring.  However, before we can get to a description of Spring’s activities, I must finish the story of the turkeys that started when I arrived on the Farm, and the lack of free time mentioned above has kept me from writing more on the turkeys.  Some friends have noted that Thanksgiving (“American Thanksgiving”) has come and gone with no mention of the two, dark days leading to the holiday feast when 95 turkeys were killed and dressed.  I will try to relay some of those days.

Turkeys in a trailer before "processing"

***Warning the photos below contain images of turkey slaughter***

I have mentioned the amount of time I spent caring for the turkeys.  Each day could be marked by the three times of watering and feeding.  It was wonderful to watch turkeys being turkeys and try to create opportunity for each bird to live their lives like turkeys (as opposed to being a mere meat bird being given enough to sustain it in artificial growth). 

From the trailer, turkeys were placed in the killing-cones

As Thanksgiving approached, I prepared for “processing” the birds (“processing” is a euphemistic term used to describe the bloody, smelly, slimy, and rather unpleasant job of slaughtering, eviscerating, and cleaning the turkeys).  I made a ‘to-do’ list and created a ‘things-to-find’ list.  On the second list were such items as “killing-cones,” knives, whetstone, plucker, eviscerating tubs, and sanitizer, among other things.  In a strange way each item helped prepare me for the inevitable—they would not let me drift off to a world where death was not necessary to sustain life—the end of the turkeys was always before me.

The turkey is soaked in hot water to make de-feathering easier.

The members of the Farm community also prepared for the slaughter.  At our morning devotions, we reflected on death, wrote poems, sang songs, talked freely of life, and tried to make a space to mentally prepare for the two days in which we would process 95 turkeys.

De-feathering a turkey with our "plucker"

All too quickly, the turkey-slaughter days arrived.  At the beginning of each day we would thank God the life of each turkey and asked that we would not take life flippantly, then we walked through the entire process from killing cone, to bagged turkey with everyone working that day.  It was hard.  Each person had a different reaction: some were silent, some asked questions, some cried, some walked away. 

Each of the two days was long.  I started at 7:30am and did not finish until about 6:00pm each night.  During these days, those working realized the significance of music to our ability to work a difficult job.   

Eviscerating

 After nearly eleven hours in the processing building, I was exhausted.  Furthermore, since I was in charge of the whole thing, my busyness had kept me from finding the time to express the emotions bound to raising and killing the turkeys; it came out on the first night as I listened to a band called Explosions in the Sky.  That night, I made a playlist for the second day—the music helped keep the work environment positive while we performed difficult work.  In addition to the music, humour arrived on day two; I think it was a way of coping for many (myself included).

Putting a processed turkey into a bag

Some of the people who purchased the turkeys wanted to come out and see the process for themselves.  They came for different reasons, but many felt the need to observe a turkey moving from alive to packaged if they were to eat turkey.  One man brought his family (with two young kids) to witness their turkey being killed, eviscerated, and bagged.

Turkeys in the fridge

The whole experience, for me, was a strange one.  On the one hand I was sad to see the death of the turkeys for which I had been caring; on the other hand, I am glad to know the life of any poultry, including how they are slaughtered and dressed.  I was able to eat some of the turkeys I raised, and I thought they tasked very good.

Because it has been nearly four months since Thanksgiving, the emotions of those days have mellowed.  I often think about eating meat and how much time, energy, and emotion went into it.  When I look in our freezer, I still thank God for the life of the turkeys. 

When to Work

The work on a farm never really ends.  I have been waiting weeks to have a moment or two when I feel rested enough to write a blog.  I always seem to envision a time of content solitude—it is mid-day and I have a warm cup of tea in my hand while the activities of the past week swirl in my head, ready to receive my attention one-by-one until they have been mentally processed.  This never happens. 

It is more common to find me yielding free time to a lengthy to-do list that occupies the many small pages which are scattered all over—my bed-side table, mailbox, desk, Village Store counter, pockets.  The pages, it turns out, are a good way for me to organize both my thoughts and my tasks.  The scattering of papers are sometimes consulted, but many times they are not (once I write things down, my brain has a way of capturing the item, instruction, or task list such that it will be completed by its deadline). 

But the never-ending tasks create a problem for me.  I am often feel split, and the end result in loss of time and energy.  I enjoy details.  Many friends (and especially Jodie) have mentioned the extent to which I focus on details.  The comments have, of course, been both compliments and critique alike; but as it pertains to taking time, my attention to detail has meant that I take time to perfect the small parts of the task that may or may not be worth the time. 

But I am also very committed.  This trait encompasses everything I do, and I want to give as much energy and time as possible to what I am doing.  At this time, some of the parts of my life (which, by the way, are not actually disconnected—they meld together such that it is often difficult to tell where one ends and another begins) that I wish to give energy and time to are Jodie, Synova, family and friends in Canada, learning, spiritual contemplation (this list, for those who are wondering, is not exhaustive).  Though I know it is impossible to do all these things “full-time,” and yet, I try.  The results have been disastrous: recently, I neglected to calculate the time I would need to complete a project in the Village Store; when I completed the task, I had missed spending the weekend with Jodie and Synova—the very thing I had been looking forward to.  The problem was that I over-committed and felt a strong urge to complete what I had committed to even when it was silly to do so.

It is very good for me to had identified these things now.  I regret that it has taken me four months to recognize these traits, but I can now resolve to keep a watchful eye out for when they begin to take my energy and time.  Furthermore, I have informally enlisted the help of Jodie and many friends on the farm; they will tell me when I am becoming “too thinly spread.” 

There will always be more work to be done on the Farm.  I wonder if the biggest part of my education here will be learning to know when to stop.

Eating in Season and Canadian Thanksgiving

by Jodie

Eating in season

We have been trying to eat what the farm produces and eat in season.  A friend recently asked me why I haven't posted more recipes or updates on food.   Well, to be transparent, we are a bit tired of eating in season.  We were so excited the day that the squashes were ready; sometime during the end of September.  Well, squashes are still in season!  I have added squash to our eggs, squash soup, squash on our pizza, squash casserole etc.  You get the picture, I think I'm ready for the next season...

I did find a wonderful recipe for pumpkins "Pumpkin Curry with Chickpeas":

    •    1 tbsp sunflower oil
    •    3 tbsp Thai yellow curry paste (red curry paste also works)
    •    2 onions, finely chopped
    •    3 large stalks lemongrass , bashed with the back of a knife (unfortunately couldn't find lemongrass in Texas)
    •    6 cardamom pods
    •    1 tbsp mustard seed
    •    1 piece pumpkin or a small squash (about 1kg)
    •    250ml vegetable stock
    •    400ml can reduced-fat coconut milk
    •    400g can chickpeas , drained and rinsed
    •    2 limes
    •    large handful mint leaves
    •    naan bread , to serve

    1.    Heat the oil in a sauté pan, then gently fry the curry paste with the onions, lemongrass, cardamom and mustard seed for 2-3 mins until fragrant. Stir the pumpkin or squash into the pan and coat in the paste, then pour in the stock and coconut milk. Bring everything to a simmer, add the chickpeas, then cook for about 10 mins until the pumpkin is tender. The curry can now be cooled and frozen for up to 1 month. 
    2.    Squeeze the juice of one lime into the curry, then cut the other lime into wedges to serve alongside. Just before serving, tear over mint leaves, then bring to the table with the lime wedges and warm naan breads.

Canadian Thanksgiving

When we first arrived on the farm, we noticed a couple of turkeys in the freezer and this spurred the idea of cooking a Canadian Thanksgiving meal for the entire farm.  Bronwyn sent out invitations and we ended up with 40 RSVPs!  Our menu was printed and displayed at each place setting, it included: rolls with herbed butter, roasted pumpkin soup, garlic mashed potatoes, oven roasted vegetables, apple cranberry stuffing, turkey with gravy, mustard greens with a creamy dressing, raspberry jellied salad, pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  Because we were so busy preparing the dishes we did not have many pictures….oops!

Everyone had a lovely time and we encouraged each table to participate in a Smith Thanksgiving tradition called “Thanksgiving Beans”.  Two beans are placed beside each plate and a small basket is passed around the table.  Each person thinks of two things they are thankful for and then places the beans in the basket.  Lots of fun and so many things to be thankful for.

Let's Talk Turkey

In addition to the year-long village store responsibilities, I will have the shorter-lived responsibilities of raising turkeys.  Eight days before I arrived the young poults were donated to the WHR farm.  These particular turkeys grow quite quickly: by the time Thanksgiving arrives (for those in Canada, American Thanksgiving is in November on the 25.  They will be large enough to sell to the many customers of the farm who want to celebrate in the traditional manner.

Raising 96 turkeys requires a significant amount of time (100 turkeys were initially donated to us, but 4 died in the first week—this is a spectacular number since others expect a 10-15% loss early on).  Each day, they receive fresh water and new feed; each time I eat, the turkeys are fed and watered too.  They also need their bedding raked every few days, and new bedding must be added at least once a week (sometimes more often).  In addition to the tasks mentioned above, the temperature in their pen must be regularly monitored, and it must be controlled when it becomes too hot or too cold.

For the past few weeks we have had them out to pasture.  There they eat bugs and greens (primarily grass).  They also have the chance to be turkeys.  When they are let out of their pen in the morning, they run, jump and flap their wings; and once one turkey starts running they all follow.  Turkeys also like dust baths: they sit in the dirt and use their wings to flick dust onto their bodies.  It has been enjoyable for me to watch these birds exhibit their “turkeyness.”

While all this work is being invested into raising these birds, there has not been much time to think of what end they will meet in November.  It is undeniable—life must be given so that we can eat; but how will I do when that day comes.  By the end of November, I will have put countless hours into raising these turkeys.  I have done it knowing they would become meals, and while I understand the reason these birds are being cared for, how will I feel when they are slaughtered—When I slaughter them.

Occasionally, I have taken the time to contemplate the breadth of the above apothegm: life is sustained by death.  As a result of my studies, I cannot help but think of the ways in which the physical provides a means of understanding the metaphysical.  Just as a part of a plant dies or an animal dies for all creation to continue life, so Christ died that we might have life.  As I think on this, I begin to realize how little I know, how limited the analogy is, and how weak and needy, intricate and hearty I am. 

There is much more to be discussed on this issue; I am certain I will be considering these things for the duration of my life.  Feel free to post any thoughts you may have.

Life on the Farm

This post was written within the first week of September.  Sorry it is just being posted now.


September, 7, 2010

So while I have been here on the farm for a week and a half, questions of weather we discerned well have abated, replacing them are questions of how to care for our family as we re-form life in a new place.  With the arrival of Jodie and Synova last week, things changed dramatically for me.  In the week we were apart, I found myself struggling to appear fine; but now, when our family is once again reunited, the routine here seems enjoyable. 

The members of the farm community have been excellent, welcoming us warmly.  The work has been pleasing, using muscles I never used as a student and creating new opportunity to engage what I have studied at Regent with life outside the books (with people, dirt, vegetables, turkeys, goats, food, and sleep).

For the next twelve months, I will be the Village Store intern.  This will essentially be managing a retail store for fair trade items (similar to Ten Thousand Villages).  I will need to create standard operating procedures for the store, including ordering new goods and monitoring outgoing merchandise.  Furthermore, I will be creating a manual of sorts, instructing everyone on the farm how to complete a sale.  There are many other duties too.  They will be presented in a haphazard way, never having their own blog post.  Instead, they will be alluded to or briefly implied in other posts.

Jodie: Cheese Maker

This week I spent our $10.00 on: two avocado, parmesan cheese, carrots and celery.

This morning Bronwyn and I harvested basil from our gardens because we have an over abundance of it!  Once we had the leaves picked and washed we began separating some pecans from last season and pan roasting them.  Yes, you guessed it, we were having a pesto making fest!  We ended up making 10 cups of pesto.

 

Here is our recipe:

8 cups of basil leaves

½ cup parmasan cheese grated

¾ cup of olive oil

14 small cloves of garlic

1 cup of roasted pecans

I also shared in the making of home made mozzarella goat cheese!  Hannali was the spokes person and I helped. 

30 minute Mozzarella Cheese

1. Add 2 tsp citric acid solution to 2 gallons cold milk & heat
1. In double boiler over medium heat to 88 degrees (milk will start to thicken)
2. Add rennet solution
1. Stir gently w/o overly disturbing forming curds
2. Allow to stand until clear whey separates from curds
3. Heat to firm curds
1. Over high heat to 110 degrees F
4. Drain and form curds
1. Pour gently into colanders and knead into a ball
5. Heat and stretch to achieve final texture
1. Return to whey under high heat (or microwave in 45 sec. sessions), kneading periodically
2. Stretch at higher temperatures (stop at 160 degrees) to achieve smooth texture
3. Add 1 tsp. salt during last stretching session
6. Package
1. Wrap in plastic and allow to cool
2. Best eaten at room temperature
3. When refrigerated will last a week or more

Ingredients:

2 gallons goat milk

2 tsp citric acid dissolved in ¼ cups water

1/8 – 1/6 tablet rennet dissolved in ¼ cup non chlorinated water

yields 1.5 lbs of cheese

Destination: Elm Mott

 September 2, 2010

I had great company on the five-day drive south: the man after whom I was named—Robert W. Smith himself—my dad. As we chatted during our time together, we realized that it had been over a decade since we had spent so much time together. We both were grateful for the opportunity to be in the company of the other.

As we drove South, the landscape surprised us. It seemed more like Montana at times, Merritt, BC at other times. The forest disappeared shortly after Seattle, never really to return in the following four and a half days (there were small patches of forest, to be sure; but they were quite small—taking little time to pass through, and quickly ceding the landscape to shrubs, bushes, and grasses).

The temperature increased the farther South we drove; but in an unexpected way. Instead of being uncomfortable immediately, it increased incrementally; thus the heat never really became an issue until the last two days. Without air-conditioning, I had expected to feel so overwhelmed by the sun and latent heat that we would resort to driving through the night and early morning. Instead, we drove during ‘normal’ times (daytime).

There were many great sights but two that warrant mention are snow summit in Wyoming, and Pueblo Pecos National Historic site in New Mexico. After days on interstate highways, my dad and were looking for something a little more scenic (or at least a little more off the beaten path). We found it first in Wyoming. We wound along a secondary highway into the forest (a rare treat on the route we took) and soon found ourselves near a mountain summit. We drove in freezing temperatures on highway 130 between Ryan Park and Centennial.

Next we chose to veer off the quickest route to Waco to enjoy some history in New Mexico. The detour added four hours to our day.  We found ourselves enjoying a walk through an unearthed settlement with a 1200 year old history at a national historic site near Pecos (http://www.nps.gov/peco/).  We really enjoyed learning about the people, the engineering, and the conflicts at one geographical region.  It was also refreshing to take a break from driving towards our destination.

When we finally did arrive at our destination, we were warmly greeted by the interns, live0in volunteers, staff, and others here on the farm. The drive was enjoyable, but it was great to reach our new home.

Jodie: First Blog Post

My section of this blog will focus on our food and the food systems we are engaging with on the World Hunger Relief Farm. We are given, as part of Wes’ internship, food for this year. It will be a combination of the staples purchased for us as well as bounty from the farm. Our staples consist of the following: white/brown sugar, white/whole wheat flour, honey, red/green lentils, white/brown rice, tortillas, bread, lemon juice, peanut butter, jam, butter, yeast, oats, pasta, black eyed beans, red beans, couscous, oil, spices, pearl barley, baking powder/soda, raisins, prunes, vanilla and cocoa.

The regular food items that come from the farm are: goat’s milk, eggs, animal organs, onions, garlic and any in season fruits or vegetables.

In season this week are: green peppers, egg plants, okra and watermelons.

We are trying to live off the staples and the fruits and veggies in season so we are choosing to limit our grocery to $10.00 a week.

As I spent time dreaming of the farm and wondering how the food systems would work, I imagined that we could eat as much as the farm produced. I was also in the middle of reading Barbara Kingsolvers “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” (which I highly recommend if you love food, gardening or have interest in the current US and Canadian food systems). The operational farm we find ourselves living on works quite differently. All our best produce gets sold to the paying customers. The interns and people living on the farm get the small or irregular produce. Which taste equally as good as the perfect ones but might take a bit more effort to prepare.

I was delighted to find a pomegranate tree just outside our suite. I asked around and no one was interested in its fruit. Attempt number one of picking a pomegranate, I realized fire ants love the fruit just as much as I do. I was wearing flip flops and of course the best fruits are a bit out of reach. I picked the best looking one and came out of the bush with approximately 50 ants biting my ankles. Once I attended to the ants, I looked at what I thought was the perfect fruit only to discover I was not the first to discover this juicy little number. Yes, sadly the ants had beat me to this one too! Attempt number two of picking the pomegranates was much more successful. I wore rubber boots and came prepared with a large container to carry my fruit back to my kitchen. I picked a dozen and started using my finger nails to pry back the tough outer shell. This was clearly going to take me all day! Then I got the bright idea of using a knife to cut them in two and then began to extract the juice-covered seeds. Once all the fruit was in my pot I began boiling the kajeepers out of it. I ended up with 5 cups of juice.

I tried a Pomegranate lentil soup for supper with homemade French bread and watermelons sliced for dessert. Quite yummy if I do say so myself!

Here is the recipe for the soup:
¾ cups lentils (I used green)
2 TB butter
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
5 cups water
1 cup rice (I used brown)
1 tsp tumeric
salt & pepper to taste
½ cup basil
3 cups pomegranate juice

1. Rinse lentils
2. Sauté onions & garlic in butter
3. Add water, lentils, rice, tumeric, salt and pepper and simmer for 45 mins
4. Add pomegranate juice and basil and simmer for final 15 minutes

Living, Discerning, Moving, Discerning, Living…

August 28, 2010

Whether or not we are ready, it is time to move. The last two weeks have included meeting the new resident coordinators, describing the Menno Simons Centre and how it operates, and packing our home. The past seven days, in particular, have been tough. Our home has been turned upside down, and this has significantly affected us.

While driving South I wonder what we are doing. What are we doing? We’re moving 3,726 Km away from what we have come to know. My mind cannot help but fixate on Synova and the possible affect our choice may have. Our decision is removing Synova from the only home she has had, the playgrounds she knows, her Grammy and Papa, her cousins, some aunts and uncles, and many friends. I am asking did we discern well?

The answer comes quickly—no. We discerned well. God has brought us here. We asked, listened, and then made the application. God is at work in Texas, and we have been invited to participate. The question then becomes, what does God have in store for us here at the WHR farm?

I guess this question can only be fully answered once we have allowed some time to pass. It will best be answered after Jodie, Synova, and I are reunited after a week apart, once we become familiar with the rhythms of the farm (and of Texas), and once we have created space to be quiet, meditating, praying and listening.

In the mean time, we will enjoy all we are experiencing: from vegetables, to turkeys, to the Waco zoo, to a new church. God is good!