The acts of selecting seeds, planting them, watering the sprouts, nurturing the plants, and enjoying the fruits, flowers, and foliage are manifestations of hope for the future. Until the last, all of your effort is channeled into something that will happen in the future. Dreams of a slender bean or a bright ranunculus drive you to complete the difficult tasks of working the soil, weeding repeatedly, and living with dirty fingernails.

It is never too late to get started, and it is never too late to make a change toward a better life.

I ♥ Soil

Soil, how could I
Have forgotten you?
You help with the harvest,
And feed the animals too.

Your rich nutrients
Help me grow my crops,
So I can feed my family,
If the drought never stops.

You give homes to animals,
Let them burrow through your layers…
(If you would keep the prairie dogs out, though,
That would answer my prayers!)

You humus gives food
To the plants in the ground,
And was once decomposed
By this worm that I found!

You have helped everybody
In so many ways,
I feel that I haven’t
Given back much these days.

I vow to keep my animals
From over grazing,
Use more contour farming,
And that sort of thing!

To save you, I’ve gone through
Hard work and much toil,
It’s hard going without you,
How could I forget soil?

Not many of our animals have names. Sure, we have named the dogs and cats, but the food animals are a different story. Even at the beginning of our farm adventure, we knew that these animals weren’t pets. That’s an important distinction. We still care for these creatures and respect them for who they are, but we don’t get attached the same way.

In the normal course of life, however, some animals get named. With the pigs, we had Ranunculus, the boar we bought from Pandora Farms. And, there was Number Two, named for his ear tag.

Here, you see a photo of Bad Jr. He has the distinction of being the only chicken who has hatched on Black Sheep Farms. He is the combination of a Sumatra black mother and our Rhode Island Red rooster, Big Bad Rooster. This gives him a beautiful combination of beetle green and feiry red feathers. In his youth Big Bad (also called BB), would chase our boys around the yard, flapping like mad. He was the biggest rooster of the bunch, so the kids started to identify him as the Big Bad Rooster. Clever, huh?

Today, with the first snow of December, Bad Jr. finally moved into the chicken coop. His mother had laid her eggs in a corner of the pig hut, and they spent the summer and fall following the pigs in their rotation around the alfalfa fields. No chicken likes snow – at least none that I know – so he reluctantly hopped up the concrete step and joined the rest of the flock inside. It was a big day for him.

-Brian

That may be my favorite part. Dreaming. Farming is full of possibilities, and every year brings the chance to change, to do something new. The Nebraska winters force us to stop, rest, and consider what we’re going to do for next year. This year, we’re considering what we want to be for next year.

Since we started Black Sheep Farms, we have been concerned with expanding the farm’s production. It looks like this:
2008 – Village Pointe Farmers Market
2009 – Village Pointe Farmers Market plus small CSA
2010 – CSA
2011  - CSA plus The Grey Plume

This year, we have been engaged in conversations about our lifestyle, what makes us happy, what we can handle, our relationships, our goals, and a hundred other things. We have discussed our limitations, our intentions, and our passions. We have focused our eyes on “why” instead of “what.”

We have declared 2012 “The Year of Beauty.” We want our farm to be prettier. Kelly wants to concentrate her efforts on flowers. We want to position ourselves to enjoy the summer instead of feeling crushed by tasks that never find completion. Farming should be delicious to the mind.

And, so, we’re pulling back a little bit. Our CSA will be a bit smaller, our fields a bit smaller and more colorful, and our time a little slower. We’re planning a nice patio outside the kitchen. We will be converting the old raised beds into a flower garden. We will pay more attention to our spaces and how to share them with friends.

In short, we will stop to smell the roses.

-Brian

The price is only $15/individual or $25/couple or family, and we accept PayPal and Dwolla. Class starts at 10am and is limited to 20 people. If there is enough request, we will open a second class.

-event has passed-

These days, we are taking breaks during the hottest part of the day and we swim or play in the water quite a bit.   But even with shade trees and a breeze it’s still 90 degrees inside the house!  Sometimes it all gets to be too much.  Today is one of the those days.  So today you can find me holed up in my bedroom next to the window air unit, dreaming of snow!

Later this week they are talking highs in the 80s!  I can’t wait!

Stay cool everyone! 

We hope to return energized and ready to tackle the second half of the growing season!

The CSA provides a lot of our social life. Each year, we get to meet new people and introduce them to our favorite foods and flowers. Some members of the group are really excited to have the opportunity to pitch in on the farm, and Kelly and I make fast friends with them. It’s exciting to hear their stories of growing up on a farm, their activism in local food issues, or their family’s activities during the past week. I love the shared conversation.

We’re lucky to have so many people who share this farm experience with us. Since we started the farm as a way to discover a new relationship with food and community, we’re grateful to the people who have chosen us as their “personal farm” for this year. Life is delicious with you.

-Brian

When Kelly and I started coming to the farm, the house was under renovation, so we drove from Omaha several times a week. We would unload and tell the the boys, “Mom and Dad are going to do some farming. You can play wherever you want.” Invariably, they would stay within 20 feet of the car, sometimes not even leaving their seats, except to ask if it was time to leave. Our dog, Lexie, was happy to roam, but the boys stayed put.

Things are different now. After a few years, they feel like they have the run of the place. And they don’t know how good they have it. They have the simple freedom to run without constant supervision. They live on a farm that is 450 times as big as their last yard. Their soundtrack is made up of birdsongs and frog croaks, dog barks, and pig grunts. Granted, the soundtrack also includes music from computer games and television shows… but I don’t mind. I’m just glad that they have the chance to be farm kids.

-Brian