Good Food is Everybody's Business
Since Frisco could cross sheep guards with gay abandon, climb hog panel gates, jump high fences, and probably leap tall buildings with a singe bound, he left the premises repeatedly! When he went I usually found him in my neighbor’s pasture with the cattle.
I had an excellent group of feeder lambs, and planned to sell them at the end of the month. They were on a lush fenced pasture next to the highway with plenty of forage to last through the month. I did not intend to bring them in until just before the sale. An early morning phone call from a neighbor caused me to change my plans! He was on his way to feed cattle on his parents’ farm, and as he passed our driveway he saw a female coyote, along with one pup, sitting just outside our sheep guard, waiting for the chance to grab a lamb.
On rural Whidbey Island in Washington State’s Puget Sound, fourth generation family farmers, as well as a new breed of greenhorns, are recapturing the island’s farming heritage, creating a fresh food culture supported by diverse crops, seed research, market demand, delivery systems and agritourism.
The theme of the conference reflects part of a global social movement response to the enclosure of the biological heritage of humanity by the biotechnology industry – the “Gene Giants” like Monsanto, Dow, and Syngenta – which seeks to privatize ownership of seeds and make all living things patentable.
Farming, especially where animals are concerned, does not allow one to spend a lot of time grieving. After a few days when friends stopped in to help with chores, it was time to get back into my shepherd’s role and do what needed to be done.
Devil’s Club is a deciduous shrub related to the healing herb ginseng and common ivy. It is an unmistakable denizen of Seattle’s wet ravines and unsuspecting hikers regularly fall victim to its barbed spines. The surprise is that its roots and young are rather tasty.
After the chaotic lambing season was over, and the sheep flock was out on pasture, I managed to pull myself together, get my veggie garden in, and pay some attention to my house…which badly needed it! Of course, there were still fences to be moved, and bottle lambs that needed feeding, but life was settling down into its usual routines.
1995 – Early February No sooner had I advertised my bred ewe lambs, than a local veterinarian, who also raised sheep, came to look them …
