I should have spent my time sewing my costume.

Some 'Awws' for today...

Get your 'Awws' on. I'm directing you to another blog. It's awesome...way better than this one. And I stumbled on a post that is just too adorable not to share.

Super cute farm cakes await.

So about that Halloween interview

I had an interview on Friday and I wore Halloween socks.

I thought a full on costume might detract from my winning smile and thoughtful answers, but I figured I could swing the socks.

Sparkly spiders and webs. It was a good decision.

Talk about sacrifice!

Recently my love for Halloween and my hatred for job hunting hit head on. For better or worse, my sense of obligation won out and Halloween lost.

Here's the play by play:

I LOVE Halloween. Absolutely. It always ranks as my favorite holiday. I spend weeks of my life thinking about it and preparing for it. Selecting a costume, making a costume, encouraging others to wear costumes, planning parties, attending parties, promoting and decorating parties with clever invitations and too much crepe paper. In short, it's awesome. I <3 it.

I HATE job hunting. I find it demoralizing and boring. My eyes hurt from staring at the computer for too many hours in a row. My ass hurts from sitting on it all day. And my soul hurts from the near constant rejection. Plus, I don't have any money and thinking about how I'm going to pay my bills causes me physical pain. This is not my idea of a fun time. It's the opposite of my idea for a fun time.

Thankfully, I've had several interviews. It's a key step in getting the job hunting to stop for a while. Unfortunately these interviews came during the holiday season. This meant that instead of sewing a horn, ears, and tail for the fabulous unicorn costume I had dreamed up, I spent the week preceding Halloween researching and preparing a presentation for an interview. It's just not right.

Despite the neglect I showed Halloween, Halloween showed me a great time. I wore a pirate costume from a few years ago and it looked good if not unique. I went to a birthday party and saw friends I hadn't seen in a very long time. I drank free beer. Ate amazingly delicious mac and cheese. Walked about town with a zebra. Watched Hocus Pocus. All good things.

And I have a sweet Halloween costume idea for next year. Hands off the unicorn costume...it's mine!

Speaking of organic dairying

I absolutely LOVE this.

It's fun, it's funny, it's clever. All good things. Plus it's about organic dairying, treating your cows well, and combines two generally opposing things -country life and hip hop. More good things. I don't know anything about Yeo Valley Dairy (except what they mention in the music video) and I'm not here to shill British yogurt.

I just want to bring a little sunshine to your day.

Here and now.

As you know, I'm back in Minneapolis. I've actually been back for a few weeks now. And things are good.

I'm living with some old friends and some new potentially future friends. Everyone seems very friendly. And I'm loving being back in the city. The buildings are tall, the people are plentiful, and the weather has been fantastic enough that I can get outside and enjoy all of the sights and sounds that Minneapolis has to offer. This could be the start of a great new year.

But it's hard to throw myself into it all. I spend nearly all of my time writing coverletters and that makes for a simultaneously boring and tense life. Thankfully, I've had some success and I've gotten a few promising interviews, but they've been out of state. Knowing that I might be moving away soon makes it seem pointless to put effort into being here. I haven't finished unpacking -what's the point if I'll just need to pack it up again. I can't bring myself to live in the present -all I can think about is the future. And yet, not putting effort into being here and ignoring the present is going to make the here and now a disappointing place to be.

So sue me.

Yeah, yeah. I know you're judging me.

Monday I made ratatouille and zucchini bread. Chock full of delicious farm fresh veggies and organic goodness. It was amazing and there are still leftovers.

Yesterday I made eggplant parmigiana. Chock full of delicious farm fresh veggies and organic goodness. It was scrumptious and there are still leftovers.

Today. Well today, I picked up a $5 pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars. Chock full of things I don't want to know about from places I'd rather be ignorant of. And it was tasty.

So you just keep on judging.

I want to milk your cow.

Seriously. I want to milk your cow.

Now I realize that you probably don’t own a cow. I don’t know many people who do. And the cow owners I do know probably aren’t reading this. BUT. If you do have cow, this is for you.

I’ve wanted to milk a cow for a while now. Mostly for the novelty of it. It seems so quaint and rustic. But I’m sure quaint and rustic don’t quit cover it –I’ve heard it killer on the hands. Now that I’ve lived as a farmer however, this desire has mushroomed. As have my reasons for wanting to do it.

I want to get my hands dirty. I want to meet the cow that is making my food and I want to know the effort required of her and of me needed to milk her. I want to see the process from start to finish –cow to bucket to fridge. That’s right, no fancy milking machines here –that would be too easy. I want my hands to hurt, I want the full experience. I want my hands there when she gives up her food for her baby so that I can enjoy it. If that’s too much for me and if I can’t handle the reality of the experience, then maybe dairy isn’t something I deserve to enjoy.

Also, I want to see where and how the cows live. It’s important to me that they get to lead happy lives and that they have the opportunity to do cow things with their cow friends and families. Being in the sun, grazing, sexing, mothering, socializing. The least I can do to show my gratitude for their sacrifice for my table is to ensure that they have a chance at a decent life.

So, if you have a cow that you will let me milk. Let me know!

Only Happy Cows need apply.

Full Circle

My first week at the farm we spent days in the blistering sun hauling metal stakes out to the tomato field, pounding them into the ground at regular intervals, and stringing the tomatoes up. My last week here we are cutting all of the lines, pulling the stakes up and hauling them out of the field, and ripping up the tomato plants. Talk about a fitting end.

It has been an amazing summer. I’m still hoping to share more of it with you. There is definitely more worth sharing. I met some amazing people, I spent nearly every day outdoors enjoying the summer weather, I worked really hard and amazed myself with the physical capability of my body, I learned a lot - about growing vegetables, about where food comes from, about the importance of sustainable agriculture, and about why everyone should know their farmer or be one. And I plan to take that all with me when I leave. And I’m going to incorporate it into my daily life. I plan on having an amazing garden someday...maybe even get involved with the urban agricultural movement. I’m going to start with a potted herb garden. I can keep you posted on how that goes…hopefully.

As for the near future…it’s hard to think that far ahead. I leave the farm tonight and will spend a few days in Madison before heading back up to Minneapolis to reintegrate myself into the commune I previously lived in. Then I’ll be penniless and unemployed and I’ll spend all of my time writing cover letters or aggressively avoiding writing said cover letters. Which sounds awful and I am not looking forward to it. I am looking forward to meeting new roommates and seeing old ones, having some time to lounge around in my pajamas, and reacquainting myself with an amazing city.

I’ll keep you posted on any changes and in the meantime I should have plenty of time to finally get around to those summer updates.

So Little Time

Farming leaves little time to write posts and the severe internet shortage makes posting posts nearly impossible. I apologize for leaving you hanging. There are so many pictures and stories and experiences I want to share.

For instance...today I saw a free range pig! We have a 450ish pound male pig that was in a large fenced in area. The fence wasn't that secure and he seemed content to stay in his area, so we took the fence down a while ago. Chester didn't leave his area. He likes it over there. He has a creek to wallow in, tone of space to forage, we bring him food there and he has plenty of shelter. Everything a pig could want. Well, today I saw him out and about. He was exploring the farm and walking up the driveway. He found new areas to forage in and tasty compost piles and a soft spot to lay in the sun for a while. Chester is a wonderful boar and I hope he's enjoying his roaming. Most pigs don't get to have that kind of freedom. It is such an amazing site to see him lumbering about the farm on his own.

There will be more to come, but they'll be very delayed. Currently any writing time I have is devoted to writing cover letters...wish me luck!

Until next time...