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Tuesday, 4:30 pm, after shedding my city boots for my country boots I head back out the door with my egg basket and a jug of water.  Our two livestock guardian dogs by my side we head back to the barn.  In the blink of an eye Baxter and Finca take off in full defense mode towards our hens and the barn.  Baxter takes the front and Finca takes the back.  And, to my bewilderment, a beautiful coyote is flushed from beyond and the dogs follow pursuit.  Wiley coyote hits the frozen lake and the dogs circle.

At one point Baxter (the Maremma who has remarkable speed) over shot the target and ran over the hill; meanwhile Finca (the Great Pyrenees who has might and determination) sat on the damn while Wiley Coyote sat down in the middle of the frozen lake.  I share the detail because I started thinking that this is probably the same creature I wrote about several months ago when we woke to an early morning pursuit between Finca and something (I was without my glasses at 3 am that morning so could not confirm what was circling a perennial bed with Finca in sleepy pursuit .)

That morning it seemed the creature was playing a game with Finca, a certain kind of Wiley taunt. I could imagine the creature thinking, “I can run in circles and wear this big white thing out!” I saw this yesterday; too, when this beautiful coyote sat down and looked at Finca as to say, “I dare you, again, big lumbering white thing!” at this point I am still an interested observer.  And, in fact, Finca did take the dare, and took to his pursuit on the icy lake.  Baxter shows up and the team successfully chases Wiley away.  At one point, even, Wiley literally tucked and turned tail when Finca got close.  I hope that Wiley understands that Finca and Baxter are not to be underestimated! And, I am happy to report that no chickens where involved in the incident.  Knock on wood, please.

Since it all ended well it lifted my spirits a bit; after all the ice and snow and cold and broken limbs and frozen water buckets- I needed a pick me up.  And at that moment I was glad there was all that snow and ice because I had a map to follow and study.  I compared the huge paw prints of the LGD’s and the small prints of the coyote at its various gates.  I could determine that Wiley was not just there yesterday being chased but I could follow the trail all about the orchard, around the berries and asparagus; and, amazingly, the tracks ambled a few 100 feet from the barn where 80 chickens where hanging out and about.

The next morning the dogs give Wiley a run for his money.  andy and I watched as Baxter and Finca chased the coyote about in our neighbors field.  It was a perfect view:  a northern snow covered slope with a brown coyote trying to evade our dogs.  Finally Finca pushed him far to the southern edge of their precieved territory.

So, if I could communicate with coyotes I would ask that they focus on the rabbit population.  Which, interestingly, next to the coyote tracks I followed were indeed rabbit tracks.  So, maybe some outdoor tracking is in your future, too.  Walk about and investigate and you may be surprised what you see left behind in the snow.  Is it a bird, a raccoon, a skunk or opossum? Maybe a fox or coyote is in your midst, too? I am starting to see nature’s designs everywhere I trek in the snow; it is a good winter distraction as we wait for the ice to melt.  And, I will remember that tracking in the snow is more fun than the mud that is to come!

While the winter slowdown has not yet happened it does seem to be around the corner.  Or is that just wishful thinking?  At any rate winter is a time to regroup and plan for another year for the farm.  We have some serious infrastructure planning to do thanks to a grant from Animal Welfare Approved which will allow us to add some fox proof fencing for our free-ranging laying hens; and some improvements to our sheep pastures that will allow for more organized rotational grazing and sorting.  The AWA Good Husbandry Grant is not just financial support but a vote of confidence which really does propel us up to the next level as farmers.  We can build our infrastructure as we also grow emotionally and intellectually with our farming practices.  I know this may sound a little strange but farming is very emotional because at any moment things can go terribly wrong.  I am not suggesting that we have a fatalistic approach to raising animals, fruits and vegetables but for each species there lurks a threat.

We hedge our bets with fencing, livestock guardian dogs, movement, sunshine and rain, and vigilant observation.  This applies to sheep and potatoes alike. Observation reveals a happy lamb or a diseased potato plant.  If we see the happiness we know we are on track; anything to the contrary we need to act accordingly to address the situation.  Yes, we have blown it on occasion and missed the signs of distress but the lessons have never been lost on us.  I try very hard not to make the same mistake twice.

We had 26 lambs born this year, increasing our herd of Katahdins by nearly 100%; over 300 Freedom Ranger chickens made it from our pastures to local plates; and pints of fruit and dozens of eggs went out to our Egg CSA members.  Next year we take another step forward and grow the operation to meet both our desires to farm more and to address the growing demand for humanely raised food that relies on and contributes to our local economy. More eggs, more chicken, more lamb and we plan to try our hand at turkey for the first time.

There are two things that I go back to as I try to maintain a meaningful existence.  First is this idea that individual dependency on the whole reinforces accountability to one another.  We have lost some of this accountability because of the anonymity of the services we use daily.  My customers know where their eggs, lamb and chicken come from so you can be sure that accountability is easy to trace.  The other thing that keeps me grounded is articulated best in a quote from Will Harris of White Oak Pastures, “the way you know you are successful is do you still enjoy watching your animals.” I can say that this is usually the best thing I do on any given day.

Yes, the age old question about which came first springs to mind this time of the year as the stores start to stock the shelves with chicken raising paraphernalia.  We had a total of 130 chicks in brooders in the basement and barn this early spring. It was not a warm season so we were met with many new challenges.  The Brown Leghorns and Araucanas that have joined our other laying hens are thriving after being brooded in the basement; the 100 Freedom Rangers now totals 95 after spending a week too long in the brooder due to 22 degree nights! They content today in the nut grove but it was a season mounting in stress for all of us.  I learn something new each season as the variables of animal and Mother Nature are never the same.

We have turned chicken farmer in less than 5 years from keeping our first chickens.  I had wanted chickens so my friend and neighbor Kay Yount gifted me a dozen of her mature Barred Plymouth Rocks in the spring of 2008; the following spring, on my 40^th birthday, we were brooding our very first batch raised from day old chicks.  How does one go from raising a few chickens for eggs to raising enough to sustain a small broiler and egg business, you ask?

I will attempt to answer that question for myself as we navigate our second year of raising animals for food.  My first thought on the matter is that I really like food and I take what happened to this food before it reaches the table very seriously.  This includes animal, vegetable, mineral, water, worker, environment- the whole lot of what it takes to turn something into sustenance.  Okay, so the second thought (which is only now becoming evident after being engage in animal husbandry) is that the very hard work of carefully raising living creatures is not for cheap and convenient eating but for mindful living.

I have pondered, too, that perhaps our disconnection from the actual processes of procuring, raising and transforming edibles into edibles has left us disconnected with one another.  When it took the collective help of neighbors to get the fields planted, cultivated and harvested we were accountable to one another; we valued each other’s successes because it was a reflection of ourselves.   To help your neighbor was an investment because the favor was often returned in short order.

So, back to raising food for ourselves today:  try it in the garden, with some hens for eggs or a few broilers for the table.  If you keep them alive long enough to reap the rewards you will learn to value food in a way barely imaginable by most who eat with no thought as to where their food came from before the cellophane wrap.  It is so easy to eat today, just go to the grocery and pop it in the microwave?  Drive-thru?  Instead, consider playing a little role in what keeps you alive and healthy.  In just a few weeks you could be planting potatoes and onions; maybe raising some chicks that will give you eggs in 6 months (yes, it is an investment in many things including time and patience).

We are at the threshold of another growing season.  Grow something…animal, vegetable, mineral, mindfulness, horseradish, whatever!