Dreaming in the New Year

Posted on December 22, 2011 by publisher

My family enjoys making homemade gifts for friends and family. Just for fun we made eatkamloops.org labels for our gifts.

Back in December 2009, I wrote:
I dream about a world where my needs can be met without those needs costing someone else dearly. I dream about food that will nourish the body and community that will nourish the spirit. I dream about producing food for our families in a way that won’t cost “the world”. I dream about a world where our children are surrounded by a caring loving community that thinks about our shared future.

How do we become more enlightened about our behaviors so we can live our dreams? How can we change our thinking so our actions will follow? Maybe we need to just “buy into” a new vision. Of course, this vision isn’t new but very old. Maybe we need to learn how to tame our technology and harness our brilliance. All the answers are out there, we just have to apply them.

How are you dreaming in the new year?

Traditionally, these long nights have been for resting, watching for the signs, and planning the new year. Beyond the action of planning is the action of envisioning. Beyond envisioning is the act of creation.

Many powerful forces have been working on me these dark nights. I cannot say what these forces will bring in the new year, but 2012 looks to be a very special time.

Erika enjoying her Christmas morning. We are still trying to keep Christmas simple.

Here are my projects for this winter:
1. I am working through the ten week program as outlined in The Presence Process: A Journey into Present Moment Awareness by Michael Brown. I sit twice a day and just try to be present.
2. I am working through the Wilderness Awareness School’s Kamana courses. I have joined their 8 Shield Village Online Community which seems like an oxymoron to me, but who knows, maybe it will work. I have found a beautiful “sit spot” near my home in the industrial park. I am spending some nights in my tent getting used to cold Kamloops nights.
3. I am converting my synthetic clothing to natural products. I haven’t been cold since I found a pair of Danish army surplus wool pants. I am learning about weaving, felting and knitting. I am trying to learn the fiber making plants in my bioregion.
4. I am doing research. I am watching the signs which lead my research to sometimes strange and wondrous places. I have found a number of traditional patterns: trade cloth dress, capote, and moccasins. I am reading every book I can find about Tom Brown and trying out wilderness survival skills.
5. I have convinced the family to take three days off each week. We are going to spend the time up in Sunpeaks. I have never wanted to downhill ski but the hill is a great opportunity to get outside in high elevation. The exercise, fresh air, and time off is the salve my family needs at this time.

Lastly, I want to share what has moved me. Occasionally, I go the Birken in Kamloops events. This month Ajahn Sona spoke on making your life into an act of art. (I will link to the dhamma talk when it is available.) I loved his talk. I was moved to tears.

Lastly, I would like to share my sister Christine’s 2011 Solstice Greeting. Rest, watch for the signs, build an artful life and don’t worry if no one notices.

Patty’s Third Birth

Posted on September 12, 2011 by publisher

Here is Shaen getting Patty(Georgia) ready for milking. We just wash with fresh water and wipe her down before milking. Look at that bag! Yarrow is just a few days old.

Patty had an unassisted birth late on September 5, 2011. The calf has a white star on her forehead, four white socks, and a white tipped tail. The calf is a beautiful pure bred Jersey heifer.

We won the lottery this year with both cows giving birth to heifers. Of course, we are not planning to increase the size of our herd and will have to think about what to do with these calves. These two heifers, with a little training, could make fabulous family cows for someone.

For the first few days, Patty’s new calf spent most of her time sleeping in the haylage. She looks in good condition and Patty’s high fat milk is making her gain weight every day. By the end of the week the little calf was running around the pasture with the other cows.

Patty’s bag is enormous this year! As usual, milking Patty has been a challenge. Presently, we are milking her twice a day. The first five milkings are considered colostrum. After that Patty’s true milk comes in.

After a week of milking, Patty’s milk fat is still yellowish orange. Even at this early stage, Patty produces more cream than Olivia. Patty appears to be letting down her milk better for us this year. She is still grumpy about milking. Her new trick this year is to wait until the milking pail is almost full and then she kicks straw, dirt and manure into the milk. Our hogs don’t mind dirty milk but her behavior is frustrating for the milkers. We are considering making up a hobble to stop this behavior.

Updated September 13, 2011: Shaen is away on a short holiday and I have been milking alone for the last few days. I had to hobble Patty to milk her. I used a piece of rope and a carabiner on one end to tie the leg she uses for kicking dirt into the milk pail. I wrapped the rope twice around Patty’s front leg and clipped the carabiner on to the rope. I then tied the other end of the rope to the fence with two half hitches. Patty didn’t like it very much but I was able to get through the milking without Patty contaminating the milk. Hopefully, when Shaen gets back Patty will stop fussing.

Questions About the SCD, GAPS and PD

Posted on July 23, 2011 by publisher

This is a modified paleo burger. Loren Cordain would be horrified to see raw cheese on this burger. Many paleo diet followers are now including raw dairy.

With the Paleo Diet, you’ll be restoring the diet you are genetically programmed to eat. You’ll be eating the diet that every single person on the planet ate only 500 generations ago. It is the diet the modern world has completely forgotten. The Paleo Diet is simplicity itself. Here are the ground rules:

All the lean meats, fish and seafood you can eat
All the fruits and non-starchy vegetables you can eat
No cereals
No legumes
No dairy products
No processed foods

The Paleo Diet is not a fat-free diet, it’s a “bad fat” free diet. It has few of the artery-clogging saturated fats found on the low carbohydrate, high fat fad diets, but there is plenty of low fat protein and good fats – such as those found in salmon and other cold water fish, as well as in nuts and olive oil.

The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain

Recently, I have had a number of people ask my opinion about the Paleo Diet. If you put the three programs on a continuum from least restrictive to most restrictive, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) would be first, followed by Gut And Psychology Syndrome (GAPS), then the Paleo Diet (PD). All these diets are very healing and can cure the incurable. All these dietary programs want you to get off industrial processed foods which may be the major reason why these dietary programs work so well. These dietary programs restrict many of the same foods but the diets have some major philosophical differences. The saying, “the devil is in the details,” is true for these diets.

Here is a tongue-in-cheek book review by Sally Fallon written in 2002 about The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain. I found Sally Fallon’s humorous description of the PD very enlightening. In the past, I used to eat a low fat diet and was very worried about all fats, especially saturated fat. I used to skin my chicken, chop off all signs of fat from my steak, and ate only egg whites. The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain would have agreed with my saturated fat phobia. When I read Sally Fallon’s description of “Peter Paleolith”, I laughed and laughed. After that description I knew the truth was our ancestors would have done anything for fat including cracking bones and skulls for marrow and brains! Sometimes, humor is the only way to break through closely held beliefs.

Loren Condain also does some interesting mental gymnastics in The Paleo Diet. He states, “lean meat is brain food” and follows up this statement with: “At first, humans were not terribly good hunters. They started out as scavengers who trailed behind predators such as lions and ate the leftovers remaining on abandoned carcasses. The pickings were slim: ravenous lions don’t leave much behind, except for bones. But with their handy tools (stone anvils and hammers), our early ancestors could crack the skulls and bones and still find something to eat – brains and fatty marrow. Marrow fat was the main concentrated energy source that enabled the early human gut to shrink, while the scavenged brains contained a specific type of omega 3 fat called “docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which allowed the [human] brain to expand.”

So which is it? Does lean meat build brains or does fat build brains? Loren Condain likely believed the low fat dogma of his day like many other intelligent people. But he becomes disingenuous when he states the PD is a return to our ancestral diet while manipulating the diet to fit modern tastes and quoting current dietary dogma. I would image it was an easier sell to base a diet book on lean meat and vegetables rather than bone marrow and brains.

When I started eatkamloops.org, I had to decide which dietary program best illustrated my dietary approach. The SCD/GAPS program was the best fit but I always used some elements of the PD. I used many PD recipes and found PD resources to be very helpful. I just ignored the fat and salt phobia. At the time, a large segment of the Paleo movement were thinking some strange thoughts, like believing our ancestors ate skinned chicken breasts, didn’t use salt, and ignored the use of raw dairy in numerous traditional cultures.

The PD condemns all grains, legumes and beans. Grains, legumes, and beans are “poisons” for me, but I know many people do very well on these foods if properly prepared. Even though I do well on a low carbohydrate diet, low carbohydrate diets do not work well for all people. Some people need more carbohydrates to function optimally. Micro-nutrient needs are very individual and can change for the individual if activity levels change. Finally, the PD had many views that counter the opinions of the Weston A Price Foundation, an organization I have great respect for. The WAPF got me on a high fat diet, a change I will forever be grateful for.

All three dietary programs completely restrict all grains and their products. The SCD/GAPS does allow a limited amount of beans and legumes. Since I do not eat either of these food groups, I am more of a PD follower in this one area. In the past, I avoided all dairy which is one of the restrictions of the PD and the extreme version of GAPS. Since I found a source of raw milk, I have been able to re-introduce raw cheese, fermented dairy products, and even liquid raw milk. Liquid milk is restricted on all three dietary programs.

I was still scared about eating more fat. It was this book review and other WAPF articles about traditional diets that made me brave enough to take the chance and go high fat with my diet. My experience going high fat was very positive. I “cured” my health problems which included: asthma, allergies, chronic sinus infections, yeast infections, osteoarthritis and epilepsy. For more details please read: Specific Carbohydrate Diet: A Personal Story.

Over the last number of years more research has come to light about the importance of fat in the diet. If you read the link above you will know I identify with the SCD or GAPS but really I am on a combination of all three dietary approaches. In the past, I could not identify with the PD movement because of the Paleo dogma around low fat/high protein, salt, and dairy. Well now I can identify with the PD movement, because the PD movement is realizing that raw dairy, especially fermented dairy, high fat cream, and butter, can be good for many people. Of course, dairy is not for everyone.

The dogma about low fat diets being better is finally being seen as erroneous. I just found a great website about the “modified” PD called Paleo Diet Lifestyle. I have read most of the website and I agree with everything I have read. I also really like Mark’s Daily Apple for great PD recipes and “Paleo lifestyle” information. He has free ebooks for PD recipes and body weight exercises that can be done anywhere without any equipment. Even though I really like Mark’s Daily Apple, I do not endorse his use of supplements. These are not real foods but industrial nutraceuticals. Guidelines from the Weston A Price Foundation recommend eating real foods from a quality source first, and then the use of superfoods, if necessary. Here is my use of superfoods.

Finally, what I like about SCD/GAPS philosophy is that after the person heals their gut the person may be able to go back to eating “some” of the restricted foods. For those people that can tolerate these foods, the WAPF gives good advice on how to properly prepare these sometime troublesome foods. Of course, many of us do not go back to eating these foods because if we do, we get sick again.

The PD would state that these foods are bad for everyone and if we value our health and longevity we should never eat these foods again. The WAPF states many traditional cultures used “properly” prepared dairy, grains, legumes and beans. For many of us, we are too damaged to consume these foods. The question each of us must answer for ourselves is, which of these foods made us sick? My great-grandfather used to say: “If the food doesn’t agree with you, leave it alone.” Good advice for all of us.

One last word about the PD. What I really like about the PD philosophy is trying to image the food and lifestyle of our ancestors. No one can doubt the vitality of these primate people nor that our modern food and lifestyle is not working for many of us. The PD has come a long way from its original form and the lifestyle of our ancestors might hold the key to functional longevity and a sane habitation of our planet.

The “modified” PD lifestyle might be the program for you if you would like to “plateau your aging at a younger age”. Did I say plateau your aging at a younger age? Did I say stop aging? Here is a link to a video about Michael Rose, an Evolutionary Biologist whose research focus has been on natural selection and aging. If you find this video catches your interest, please see the 55 Theses, which explores and expands the ideas in the video.

Sorry, but the 55 Theses are a total grind, but if you live a longer functional life, you will have the time! The author of the 55 Theses is Rob Paterson who maintains a website called Missing Human Manual. Give yourself a few days to read the material. It will be a wild ride. I guarantee it!

Learning About Garden Weeds

Posted on July 10, 2011 by publisher

This is my herb garden looking southwest. When I first planted the herb garden, I used a pick axe to make "pots" in the clay and cobble. Look at how much soil has been built up over three years of ranging chickens and turkeys.

A weed is just a weed until its use has been found.
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In the past, Shaen cared for our household garden. We always had some garden fresh foods and eggs from our backyard flock. In the last few years, Shaen’s focus has been on learning about pasture development and the care of larger animals.

The garden has never been so neglected before. This year I decided that I would take on the work. I would learn about gardening so Shean could focus on more challenging tasks. I’ve learned a number of things about myself this year. I’m not a very enthusiastic gardener. I would rather plant a permanent forest garden or work with pasturing animals. I guess I am more of a herder than a gardener.

This is my herb garden looking northeast.

This is my herb garden looking southeast. The total width of my herb garden is 15 feet and it is right outside my kitchen. Note the clothes line that is illegal in many municipalities. I don't think bylaws like that are very enlightened.

It’s not the work of gardening that I do not like. When I break the surface of the soil for cultivating annuals, I can’t help but wonder what damage I’m doing to the ecology of the soil flora. I notice that the cultivated soil loses its moisture and appears “dead” very quickly.

In Kamloops, mulching cultivated soil is a must. All of these observations have got me wondering how much of our traditional cultivated garden can I convert to permaculture or to a forest garden. If you would like to learn more about forest gardens please read Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops by Martin Crawford. My goal now is to have very small plots of cultivated soil surrounded by large areas of perennial herbs, shrubs and trees. In these small cultivated areas I grow peas, lettuce, beets, carrots, garlic, and onions.

Another area I use traditional cultivation is our hoop-houses. In the winter, the hoop-houses are used for housing the laying hens. In summer, the hens go onto pasture and the hoop-houses are converted to greenhouses. These greenhouses are filled with heavy feeding, heat loving plants like tomatoes, peppers and squash. Every year we move the hoop-houses to new locations to break the pathogen cycle.

I am also trying to make peace with our weeds. Part of this truce is learning about the medicinal and culinary uses of weeds. Some of my new green friends are chickweed, shepherd’s purse, cleaver, plantain, dandelion, and yarrow. The list continues to grow.

I research each new plant that comes into bloom, and more often than not, I find myself adding the weed to my list of friendly plants. I cannot help but marvel at these weeds. They grow where nothing else seems to grow and have an unsurpassed vitality. To the knowledgeable observer, the type of weeds growing in an area can tell us about the state of the soil.

Having animals also makes me value weeds. Animals can take plants I cannot eat and transform them into rich milk, tasty eggs, and flavorful meat. It gets me wondering how many of these “weeds” I can eat or use for my animals.

Part of making peace with weeds is accepting my garden doesn’t look like Butchart Gardens. I have given up my human desire for order and replace it with the chaos of natural system design. It means giving up on one type of esthetic and replacing it with another. This means, along with tolerating the weeds, I am also allowing the “volunteers” to grow up in my garden. Volunteers, are cultivated plants that come up spontaneously and are “naturalized” to the local environment. Sometimes they come up in awkward places. This means I have to use my creativity to work around these plants. I still haven’t given up rows, but I am working on it!

This is my greens garden. I planted beets, carrots and salad greens. I had a fabulous growth of chickweed, dandelion, and nasturiums which are wonderful bitter greens for salads. Way in the back is a chicken hoop house. The chickens live in the hoop house in the winter and go on pasture in the summer.

As you can see, hoop houses are not beautiful but they become fabulous greenhouses after a winter of chicken manure. We grow heavy feeding plants like squash and tomatoes in the hoop houses. Note the straw mulch on the potato patch behind the hoop house. We now alway mulch any bare soil.

This year, we have added four standard fruit trees to our forest garden. We have transplanted over eighty feet of raspberry canes throughout the garden. I have started a program of growing trees from seed for our forest garden. I am growing walnut and black locust trees. The black locust trees have seed pods that chickens love to eat. I am looking at making cuttings of our currents and spreading these tough plants all over the property. My only rule for planting is the plants must be food for my family or food for our animals, including our wild visitors.

Finally, my herb garden has gone wild. I remember only a few years ago using a pick-axe to dig small “pots” into the rock-hard clay. Four years of compost and animal manure has enlivened a moonscape. My herb garden is the new home for some tadpoles. My daughter Erika saved the tadpoles from a drying-up mud puddle. When the tadpoles mature, we are going to use the toads for insect control in the greenhouses and forest garden.

Olivia’s Illness

Posted on July 2, 2011 by publisher

This is Olivia, our Jersey cow. This picture was taken this winter and she has a thick winter coat. She as been very healthy since her illness.

About a month after Cinnamon’s birth, Olivia had a health challenge. Shaen and I came up to milk as usual in the morning. Olivia seemed well. During the evening’s milking, Shaen noticed Olivia’s halter was tight around her face. She seemed to have a swelling under her lower jaw. The swelling seemed sore. Her rumen appeared empty which meant she wasn’t eating. Not eating is a very serious situation for a lactating cow. She wasn’t even sticking out her tongue. She normally would give us a lick. She was also drooling.

When we got home, we pulled out our cattle textbooks. We use Cure Your Own Cattle by Newman Turner and The Barn Guide to Treating Dairy Cows Naturally by Hubert Karreman. The condition Actinomycosis or Wooden Tongue sounded the most like her symptoms. This condition is caused by a puncture from rough forage, wooden splinters, or metal objects.

The next morning her swelling was even worse. Cows have body language. When they don’t feel well, their heads are down like they haven’t any energy. We milked her down. We tried to look at her teeth and she seemed to have trouble swallowing. This explained the drooling.

On June 2, 2011 we called the vet and Dr. Rob Mulligan came down to look at Olivia. He used some very useful tools to handle Olivia since we do not have a squeeze. He used a nose-pincher and a device for opening the cow’s mouth. The vet had his whole forearm down Olivia’s throat trying to find the puncture. He did not find anything inside her mouth. There was a small scar on the outside of her jaw which he probed with a needle hoping to drain an abscess. He could not find the abscess. He thought she had the more fast acting mouth infection called Cellulitis which can be fatal if located in the lower jaw. Unfortunately, antibiotics are the only course of action. The vet gave her an IV of sodium iodide which would help fight any bone infection. We also gave her the first injection of a four day course of antibiotics. By the end of the IV treatment Olivia was eating again!

The biggest mistake we made treating Olivia was not using a three day slow release antibiotic. This left Shaen and I trying to give injections to a 800 pound animal without a squeeze or any of those neat vet tools. The needle was big too. We had to get in 45cc of antibiotics through a cow’s thick hide. Olivia was seriously irritated with us by the third injection. I was really upset too because cows are like two year old children. They can’t be reasoned with and do not understand what is being done to them. They only understand the pain. I was worried we would ruin our milking relationship with Olivia.

By the third injection we had a rolling-eyed cow and only got in part of the injection. The next day, we called in the vet for a second IV of sodium iodide and the last injection of antibiotic. This time Dr. Jason McGillivray came and took a look at Olivia. He had her on the ground, completely immobilized, with a system of ropes and a nose-pincher. Shaen said it was amazing to watch someone handle such a large animal with such skill. The vet thought the infection was old and had come back.

After the second treatment, we milked twice a day but continued discarding the milk. The protocol for antibiotics is to wait 72 hours after ending treatment before using the milk. We waited 96 hours. After the treatment, Olivia seemed well. She still has a small lump on the lower jawbone and she is sore from the injections. She seems to have forgiven us for our treatment and she is milking well.

Later, Shaen called Christine Blake from Wildfire Jersey. She sold Olivia to us. Christine knows all her cows very well and Olivia never had an infection. It appears Olivia picked up an infection since she came to us. We don’t know when or how the infection started. The infection is a bit of a mystery. Dr. Will Winter a vet that hosts a yahoo group called Pastured Livestock Producers stated:

“I would suggest that you look at overall herd health. Obviously you want to get treatment for the sick animal, but I encourage you to look into overall health patterns. Certainly if it is “Wooden Tongue”, an Actinobacillus bacterial infection, then there is a holistic plan of action that will prevent further problems. Wooden Tongue, Lumpy Jaw and Blackleg are all “cousins” of the same pathogen. These pathogens are in the soil in a latent condition on every farm. When circumstances are right, they can infect animals.

You can read about this in Chuck Walters’ great book called Grass, The Forgiveness of Nature. He relates stories from the past wherein they shut down the infectious disease bugs simply by mineralizing the cattle. When all the “immune minerals” were in place there were no infections. Zero Vaccine (vaccine programs can never keep up with the evolving nature of pathogens). Even epidemics were stopped in their tracks. Be sure to check your iron levels in forages or water too, as high iron not only blocks the absorption of the other minerals but it also stimulates many bacteria, including Tuberculosis and Para-TB (Johne’s).”

The supplements we give the cattle are Fertrell minerals, kelp and sea salt. The cattle are on pasture and enjoy eating the Saskatoon Bush leaves (Amelanchier spp.). We supplement the pasture with third-cut alfalfa haylage and hay. Our water system is based off a well with a 3000 gallon old metal holding tank. Normally, we are irrigating so much that the water is clear but with all the rain this spring we haven’t been irrigating. I noticed the cows got a big load of rusty water a week or so before Olivia got sick. Rats. It’s so easy to screw up. We won’t let that happen again. Shaen is going to scrub out the tank as soon as possible. He just has to be careful. Tanks are confined spaces and rust absorbs oxygen.

About two days after Olivia finished her antibiotic treatment, we started noticing that Cinnamon had developed diarrhea. The diarrhea was very liquid and white like scour. We considered giving her a drench of probiotics. We decided to watch Cinnamon’s progress carefully. Cinnamon is a happy, energetic calf so we decided to just observe and not intervene unless necessary. This should be a lesson to all breast feeding women that have had to take a course of antibiotics for some reason. It is very important to watch your baby’s gut health after a course of antibiotics. In the end, on June 23, 2011 we gave Cinnamon a drench of Custom Probiotics. We used four times the normal adult dose mixed with Olivia’s milk. After that one treatment her diarrhea was gone.

Olivia and Cinnamon

Posted on June 25, 2011 by publisher

This is Cinnamon, Olivia's new calf.

On May 3, 2011 Olivia gave birth to a heifer we have named Cinnamon. It is hard to believe it has been just over seven weeks since her birth. In the last update, we were worried that Cinnamon would develop scour, but thankfully this did not occur. We have left Olivia and Cinnamon together. This is not standard dairy procedure. Dairies normally separate the cow and calf at birth. This allows the dairy to control the cow calf relationship and the calf’s food intake. The calf is fed colostrum for the first few days of life. Without enough colostrum the calf will pick up an infection and die. Later, the diary switches over to cow’s milk, or more commonly, a milk substitute. A milk substitute is used because it is cheaper.

Leaving the calf with the cow is a controversial management style. We think it is better for the calf to have an unrestricted feeding schedule. The cow and calf work out a natural feeding cycle. The calf never gets too hungry, having unlimited access to her mother, thus conditions like scour are unlikely to occur. We think Olivia is happier too. I can’t say I know what Olivia is thinking or feeling but she seems like a content cow to me. Some people believe by leaving the nursing pair together the cow will teach the calf how to be part of the herd.

We had some problems when we first started milking Olivia. She had come from a commercial dairy and had never been hand-milked before. She was used to machines touching her, not people’s hands. We had to work on making our touch a pleasurable experience. Shaen and I have found sharing the milking chore made it easier and fun. Since few modern people have ever milked, or even seen a milking, I thought I would describe a typical milking. Of course, things don’t always go smoothly. One thing cows like is routine. When the routine goes wrong the milking can go wrong too. (If any readers of this blog would like to learn how to milk please contact us and we will make arrangements. Milking is an experiential activity.)

Before milking, we get our equipment together. In one pail, I keep 15′ rope with a carabiner on one end, two brushes, a roll of paper towels, and a jar of coconut oil. In a second pail I have clean water for washing. My third pail has the milking treats. When we are ready to milk, we tie up Olivia and give her a treat of soaked grains or peas, haylage, or green forage. I give her a brush to clean off any loose hair and dirt, while Shaen washes her udders with water and dries her off with paper towels. We use coconut oil for its anti-microbial properties and as a milking lubricant. During milking, if I find my hands getting dry, I squirt some milk and rub my hands together. Milk is a great lubricant too. When we are ready to milk, Shaen works on one side and I the other, with the pail between us. Shaen’s job is to pull the pail if Olivia starts moving around. It’s really important to agree on who is going to put the pail! We milk in a full squatting position which is easier on our backs than kneeling or a milking stool. We may be milking anywhere in the pasture so having a “mobile chair” is very convenient. A full squat is very comfortable for milking but it does take time for a modern person to find the position comfortable.

Olivia is averaging 80L of milk per week, plus feeding her calf. When a cow first starts producing milk, the percentage of cream is low. As the calf grows and needs more nourishment, the cream content increases. We are presently freezing extra milk and making yoghurt and raw cheese. Soon we will be making ice cream and raw butter. Buttermilk, the byproduct of butter making, will be going to our four hogs. We use the buttermilk instead of water to soak the grains and peas. The hogs love it!

Olivia has had her first estrous cycle. Last year we got twin male and female calves from Gort’s Gouda Cheese Farm for Patty after Patty lost her calf. In cows, when male and female calves share a uterus, the male is usually fertile and the female is sterile. The female is called a freemartin and will develop more like a steer. We did not castrate the male and he appears to be a fully functioning bull. The bull has shown interest in Olivia. In a few days we will know if she has conceived or not.

Some people might be worried about us having a dairy bull. Dairy bulls are known for their aggression. When we were at Wildfire Jersey, Christine Blake was in the pen with their pure-breed Jersey bull. She had her back to him. I was worried about her safety and she explained that they keep their Jersey bulls for two years. Her experience is that young bulls are not very dangerous. After two years of age the bulls become very aggressive. Since we have bottle fed our bull as a calf, we can handle him safely, but we know the time we can manage him is limited. We intend to use him this year to breed Olivia and his foster mother, Patty. After his task is completed he will go to slaughter.

Healthy Household: Bug Away Spray

Posted on June 19, 2011 by publisher

Greek myth had it that Achilles painted himself with a tincture of yarrow to make himself invulnerable to arrows, everywhere on his body except his heel.
Mountain Rose Herbs

All the flooding this year has been very hard on many communities but all that standing water has created a fabulous environment for many creatures. Normally, Kamloops is very dry and the season for biting insects is very short. But this year, all the extra rain has exploded the mosquito population.

Over the last few months, I have been researching simple herbal remedies. One of my favorite online sources of information is herbmentor.com. This website has a wealth of information and is a great way to stay in contact with the herbal community. I found this recipe for bug spray on their website and have made a few changes.

Presently, I am reading Health through God’s Pharmacy by Maria Treben. This book is a rich source of practical advice and easy recipes for beginners. She goes over about thirty common plants that can be found growing as weeds in the wild or can be cultivated in our medical herb garden. What I really like about this book is that it encourages the reader to go out into their garden or local wild areas and find these plants during blooming season. This gives the gatherer an appreciation of the plant in its environment. Carefully gathering wild local plants is sustainable and cost effective. Gathering your own herbs from the local environment makes the herb gatherer independent from the phamaceutical industry and commercial herb suppliers.

I use a number of books as reference for remedies and identification. A standard practice when learning to identify plants for medicinal use is to use three different sources of information and to cross-reference the material:

A Modern Herbal Volume I and II by Mrs. M. Grieve
DK Natural Health Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier
Prescription for Herbal Healing by Phillis Balch
Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs by Peterson Field Guides
Edible and Medicinal Plants of Canada by Lone Pine Publishing
Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in British Columbia by C. P. Lyons

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is the first plant I have gathered from the wild this year. Yarrow is good for stopping bleeding and healing wounds. Yarrow is a bitter and helps with digestion. Yarrow is considered a woman’s tonic, and is good for younger and older women alike. I found an area near my home where the plant grows in large quantities. Maria Treben recommends harvesting yarrow “in bright sunshine, since the volatile oils and, therefore, their curative quality are greater.” I harvested the flowers and leaves by cutting the tops of the plant with a knife. I did not disturb the roots. I also would take individual plants from large groups of the same type of plant. The plant can be used fresh or dried, in a tea, infusion, or sitz bath. Yarrow can also be made into an extract for stronger preparations or made into an ointment. As an experiment, try a tea or infusion of fresh yarrow. Dry some yarrow flowers and leaves for later use.

Yarrow Extract
2c fresh yarrow leaves and flowers, packed
2c organic vodka
pint sized mason jar
Pack the fresh yarrow leaves and flowers into the mason jar. Leave some space at the top. Make sure all the plant material is covered with vodka. I really like Prairie Organic Vodka which is available in Kamloops. Close the mason jar with a lid. Stir or shake the mixture each day for a week. At the end of the week strain off the plant materials. Squeeze out as much of the vodka as you can from the plant material and compost the waste. Store the yarrow extract in a glass container in a dark place.

Easy Bug Away Spray
1c fresh yarrow leaves and flowers
2c filtered water
recycled spray bottle
Put the yarrow in a mason jar. Boil the water and pour over plant material. Let the mixture sit overnight. Strain and squeeze out the plant material and compost. Put the infusion into the recycled spray bottle. Spray on exposed skin. This spray will not have as long lasting effect as the Super Bug Away Spray.

Super Bug Away Spray
1oz Yarrow extract
1oz Catnip hydrosol
3-4 drops of Catnip essential oil (optional)
2oz amber glass bottle with finger mister or recycle a spray bottle
Take the 2oz amber glass bottle and fill it half way with yarrow extract. Fill the rest of the bottle with Catnip hydrosol. These two ingredients make a very powerful bug spray. If you want a super strong Bug Away Spray, add a few drops of Catnip essential oil which is reported to have the same affect as DEET. Shake before applying to skin. This is an extremely potent bug spray.

For more recipes please see Healthy Household: Staying Clean Safely and Saving Money.

Healthy Clothing: Do you know what’s in your clothes?

Posted on May 29, 2011 by publisher

About a year ago, I started wondering about my long term use of nylon, fleece and other synthetic materials from Mountain Equipment Coop. I started wondering if these petrochemical-based fabrics were safe for use next to my skin and for that matter if the products were environmentally safe. Ironically, MEC is all about enjoying and saving the environment. Unfortunately, their fabric choices might be convenient for a sweaty hiker but the fabrics are made from materials that are not sustainable nor environmentally friendly. Many of these synthetic fabrics are partly recycled but the question I keep asking myself is should we be making the products in the first place and how safe are the fabrics for the wearer or the greater environment? On the positive side, MEC cares about the working conditions in the factories that produce their products. MEC sells very inexpensive 100% organic cotton shirts, 100% Merino wool underwear, and some hemp blend products.

I started wondering about my personal clothing choices and what I would have to do to be more sustainable. I realized that leather, sheepskin and fur are very sustainable products and have a very long wearing life. For example, a leather or sheepskin jacket could last a lifetime. In my vegetarian days, I would have been horrified by such an observation. I guess many people feel the same way. On my Visit to the Killing Floor at Kam Lake View Meats, I learned that hides, once a valuable byproduct of the slaughtering process, are now almost a waste product. The inspector said: “we are close to the day when the customer will have to pay extra to dispose of the hide.” The kill floor manager said: “when I started twenty years ago, the hides were worth $50.00 each. Now they get $5.00 a hide.” This situation seems wrong to me. As a show of respect for the life given for our food we should be using every part of the animal possible. There are problems with modern leather products. Most modern tanning methods use toxic chemicals but this does not have to be the case. Leather can be produced using traditional brain tanning methods which does not negatively affect the environment. If there were enough people that cared about how a hide was tanned, we could have a resurgence of artisan tanning using traditional methods.

Wool is another wonderful material that doesn’t require the death of an animal and is completely sustainable. All you need is the sheep on pasture and the wool continues to grow year after year. Wool can be used for years, and some thick wools will have the same longevity as leather, sheepskin or fur. Again, we are seeing the loss of another traditional home industry. At one time, many sheep farms would have had a method of taking the raw wool from the sheep to a finished product. Now, this wasn’t an easy task. Women spent the winter months working at cleaning, carting, spinning, weaving and knitting. They would make many of the clothes and blankets used by the whole family. Now wool is a waste product. It isn’t even worth the cost to send it to Custom Woolen Mills located in Alberta. I talked with Susan McGillivray from Jocko Creek Ranch about her sheep’s wool. She sends enough wool to the mill for her family’s needs but the rest of the wool gets composted. Here is another missed opportunity for a revival in artisan wool production. If enough people valued high quality wool and were willing to pay for handmade knitting and weaving we could have a local cultural Renaissance.

Cotton, linen, and hemp are beautiful materials and true products of the Industrial Revolution. There may have been cottage industry of these products long ago, but few people would have the production knowledge now. Cotton’s major problem is the amount of fungicides, herbicides and pesticides used to produce the crop. Going organic with your cotton clothing would really help the environment. Linen comes from flax straw, a “waste product” of flax seed and flax oil production. Linen does not require as many chemicals for production as cotton. Hemp is a very hardy plant with its own natural pesticide. Hemp is a very strong and versatile fiber and can be used in building materials, fabrics, and rope. The official story is hemp is hard to get because the material got caught up in a silly confusion during the 1930′s drug prohibition. Some people believe this official story is a fiction to hide the true reason which is to protect the synthetic fabric industry. If we lived in a sane world we would all be wearing hemp or linen. If we bought hemp clothes we could be wearing the same clothes for a decade. We would have to give up making a fashion statement and design styles of clothing that can adjust for weight loss or gain. If we are going to continue using cotton we should use organic cotton.

I just finished reading Killer Clothes: How Seemingly Innocent Clothing Choices Endanger Your Health …And How To Protect Yourself by Anna Maria Clement. I was previously unaware of the chemical contamination prevalent in clothes manufacturing. Manufacturers are now putting some very scary chemicals on your clothes. (The way to protect yourself against these chemicals is to know your producers and make it your business to understand their manufacturing processes. Sorry, no easy answers on this website.) Manufacturers are not required to list the chemicals used on the clothing’s label. These chemicals are used to make the fabric flame, stain, shrink, static, wrinkle, bacterial, microbial, and odor resistant. For example, formaldehyde is commonly used in fabrics to resist wrinkling and shrinkage. Ugh. The author is concerned that we are all “guinea pigs” in a vast experiment without our conscious consent. She is concerned that our clothes are adding to a “total toxic load” in our bodies which can led to illness in the short or long-term. She is concerned that many of these chemicals “are persistent in the environment and bio-accumulative in humans and wildlife.” She is especially worried about what this will mean for the health of our children and grandchildren.

Finally, when we are done with our natural clothing, they can be recycled as rags or made into paper. The rags, when worn, will return to the soil which in turn will service another generation of people. I cannot say that about my petrochemical-based nylon, fleece, or polyester.

Olivia’s New Calf

Posted on May 3, 2011 by publisher

This is a picture was taken about an hour after Olivia's calf was born.

Olivia, our Jersey cow, gave birth to a female pure-bred Jersey calf this morning! It was an unassisted birth. If you would like to learn more about Olivia please read Looking for Another Cow. This is Olivia’s second calf. Olivia’s calf is so beautiful. We are very excited!

It wasn’t easy hand-milking Olivia. Olivia has never been hand-milked before because she came from Wildfire Jersey, a commercial dairy in Armstrong, BC. Olivia has not let us touch her even after four months of daily care. In the past, if we come within touching distance she would always back off. Olivia would show interest when I brushed the other cows but she would never allow me to brush her. Olivia had even managed to partly remove her halter which hung from her neck for months because we couldn’t get close enough to fix it.

Shaen and I spent some time discussing if we should try to milk her now or wait until evening. We knew we had to milk her. Her bag was bursting and her teats were angled off in all directions with the pressure. We knew that Olivia would be uncomfortable with all the pressure in her bag. We also had experience last year with scour. We didn’t what the calf to become sick. We decided to try to milk her this morning. If you don’t know what scour is, please read Patty’s Second Birth for more information.

We took some time to game plan how we were going to handle Olivia. We got all of our equipment ready. We organized two 15-20′ ropes, each with an oval straight gate carabiner on one end. Shaen carried one and I carried the other. We dealt with all the other cows and got their feed ready. We got Olivia’s feed ready and her dairy “treats”. We knew she wouldn’t leave her calf so we used the calf to calm Olivia. One at a time we entered the pen. Shaen checked the calf. He petted and cooed over the beautiful calf. As he was checking the calf, Olivia was watching Shaen, and I clipped the carabiner on Olivia’s harness. I dropped the rope and let Olivia back-up. This was a very important step. If I tried to hold a spooked cow, she would drag me all over creation. I backed out of the pen. After Shaen checked the calf, he picked up the end of the rope and did two turns around a tree. I came back into the pen and walked behind Olivia and Shaen would take up the slack on the rope until Olivia was within a few feet of the tree. Olivia panicked but we got her controlled. Shaen put on another halter. I backed out of the pen and used a low whispering voice to “talk” with Olivia. Olivia was pulling against the tree the whole time Shaen milked her. Because she was pulling, she wasn’t kicking or stepping in the milk pail. The calf slept through the milking.

This is Cinnamon's first feed. The chickens are trying to find any small pieces of placenta that Olivia hasn't eaten. Yes, it is a shock the first time you see a cow eating a placenta.

As I whispered calming words to Olivia, she would turn her ears forward in interest. Olivia looked more and more relieved after we got off some of her milk. We milked out 7L and she was still full. Olivia is going to be a high producer of milk. With this type of production, we will have to milk her three times a day. A cow’s first milk is called colostrum. Colostrum is very special. A calf needs colostrum for survival. People like it for its healing qualities. Here is what Weston A Price Foundation says about colostrum:
Cooking with Colostrum
Raw Colostrum Legal in California

Happy Birth Day!

Slaughtering Lamb & Hogs

Posted on January 8, 2011 by publisher

Early in December we slaughtered one lamb and two hogs. The lamb came from Jocko Creek Ranch. The hogs originally came from Ranfurly Farm but we fed the hogs up ourselves. Our neighbor Joe came over to help Shaen slaughter and process the carcasses. The men killed, bled, skinned and halved the carcasses. Shaen had a chance to use a butcher’s bone saw. He was able to cut each carcass in half very quickly. The carcasses will hang for a few days before cutting, wrapping and freezing.

I was in the kitchen and helped with cleaning and wrapping of the organs and heads. I washed the tripe over and over again. Most of my time was spent cleaning hair roots out of the hog fat. I have never eaten or made head cheese or tripe. I have looked over the books The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating and Beyond Nose to Tail by Fergus Henderson and wondered when I would have a chance to try some of the more unusual recipes.

We didn’t use everything. It is possible to make sausage casing from the intestines but we decided it was just too much work. Joe took the intestines home for processing. I was very sad not to be processing the skin of the lamb into a hide, but we don’t know anyone with tanning experience. I have been doing some research and may give it a try anyway. We gave the remains of the digestive system to the chickens. Shaen could not believe how fast the pile disappeared. The chickens considered the offal very good eating. We also saved certain organs, glands and scraps for pet food. Meadows, our cat, gorged herself on scraps during the slaughtering process. She then disappeared for a night and day to sleep off her feast.

Three days later, everyone got back together to cut and wrap the carcasses. Shaen turned on one of our large deep freezers which has a chill-down setting. This feature is found on some very large older freezers and was originally used by hunters wanting to quickly chill-down their kill. Joe brought his meat cutting band saw, which made short work of cutting up the carcasses. Shaen and Chris worked on the wrapping and labeling table. The men finished the cutting, wrapping and clean-up in about three hours.

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