As the weather is cooling off, the garden harvest is slowing down.  Yesterday afternoon, Anna assigned Alex and Vicki to pick bell peppers and tomatoes.  The peppers looked so good, that I went ahead and ate one while they were working.  Of course, Amanda decided she needed to eat one too, but she wanted a purple bell pepper.

93% of all statistics are either made up or used in a  way that misrepresents the data.  Think about that for a second.

Opponents of raw milk almost always bank on the argument of public safety and pasteurization is needed to keep us safe.  However, if you ever actually take the time to look at all the evidence yourself, instead of relying on our media’s headlines, you will begin to understand the actual risk you assume when consuming raw milk.  I don’t want to convert everyone to raw milk, but I think people should recognize how much the mainstream media misrepresents scientific data.

Luckily, someone has already done an independent review of the data and added perspective to the statistics.  http://chriskresser.com/raw-milk-reality-is-raw-milk-dangerous

As some of our close friends know, I have been in discussion with my detailer about my next orders.  For the past few weeks, all indicators have been pointing to a move out of Groton.  Luckily, this morning I got some good news – orders to Newport, RI.  I don’t know the details of the job (and it doesn’t really matter), but it is something on staff at the War College (not a student).  This is significant, because Newport is close enough that I can commute without having to move.  Hopefully, I will be able to get a follow on job that allows us to continue to stay in the Groton area.

To say that we are relieved of some stress is an understatement.  While setting up a farm to the extent we have carries risk, we have decided to live the life we want now, instead of dreaming about it for the future.  Therefore, we will continue to farm.  We will continue to fine tune our operation to balance what we want for our family while trying to develop some income for the farm.

Our goal remains, Rob retires from the Navy in 2019 to be a full-time barefoot trimmer and farmer.  Hopefully, that will be in CT, which allows us to build the customer base.  It’s good to have a goal.

Alex has always had an interest in photography.  He started with a Kid Tough camera that didn’t last too long.  Then, we purchased him an actual Kodak waterproof digital camera.  That was great until it got lost.  Then he started using our Canon pocket digital camera.  He figured out how to change it to Black and White mode and is very good at using the timer to stage pictures.  Today, Anna found the missing Kodak camera in the barn, under the pallets of hay (it was gone since last Oct).  Everything still works, so he is back in business.

All of these photos were taken by Alex.

So, Mack has lived with us for about a month now.  He came from a home with 2 working parents and a kid that didn’t do much with him.  Now, he spends time outside running until he is ready to sleep, sleeps until he is ready to run again.  When necessary, we put him on the dog run, but he is pretty good about staying with us around the farm.  He loves to chase the goats, but eventually, they get tired of him, and turn to butt heads.  That causes him to run away.  He tries to herd chickens, and so far, hasn’t eaten any.

Overall, he is a good farm dog.  He is very rough on toys and destroys tennis balls in no time.  Alex and Vicki found a substitute item for playing fetch – tomatoes!  Alex and Mack actually played fetch with a tomato for almost 10 minutes and he never bit through the skin.  He has a very gentle mouth.

Here are some pictures of playing with Alex.

My interests and hobbies are quite diverse, but I am somewhat a Jack of all, master of none.  With our adventure in farming, I have lost the ability to dabble in a little here and there and feel like I was honestly making some progress in each area.  Therefore, I have been taking a hard look at each individual activity and asking, how much have I done that in the last 2 years, how much do I want to do it to feel satisfied, is that possible.  While it seems a little extreme to completely stop doing things, that is where I am at emotionally to dedicate more time to what we currently have defined as important in life.  The current example is fine wood working.  I made the hard choice to sell most of my wood shop that is related to fine wood working (furniture, picture frames, etc).  I am keeping all my basic tools for construction type projects on the farm, but I don’t have time to build furniture with everything else going on.  Therefore, the shop space and money can be better spent elsewhere.  What else will go be the wayside?

Anna and I sat down and figured out our breeding plan for the goats.  We decided to breed all the does to the 2 bucks we bought.  It wasn’t too hard to decide.  However, we did also have some discussions about which baby goats we might keep, which does might get sold next year, and our herd goals.  If interested, view the 2013 breeding schedule and price list.