money bag

https://www.gofundme.com/austin-road-adventure

Wetlands are significant partly because of the WATER PURIFICATION and HABITAT they provide.  

According to the Ramsar Convention:

The economic worth of the ecosystem services provided to society by intact, naturally functioning wetlands is frequently much greater than the perceived benefits of converting them to 'more valuable' intensive land use – particularly as the profits from unsustainable use often go to relatively few individuals or corporations, rather than being shared by society as a whole.

Please describe the current condition of each piece in the adventure:

  NE:  open areas in permanent pasture with abundant & varied trees, wooded areas intact,

 5 acre wetland, 2 small and 1 large pond established  

  SW: open areas in permanent pasture (not currently grazed) with occasional, varied trees, 

wooded areas intact,  wetland established, 10 acre permanent grass hay field harvested twice a year  

  NW: open areas in permanent pasture (not currently grazed) with occasional, varied trees, 

 northern most field planted into trees, wooded areas intact

  SE:  open areas in permanent pasture with occasional, varied trees, 2 wetlands established, wooded areas intact 

   10 acre permanent grass hay field harvested once a year, northern most field planted into 200 conifer trees  

How many times does the St. Joseph River flow through this adventure?

  Twice

Please describe the condition of land surrounding the Austin Road Adventure:

   open areas plowed crop fields, sprayed with chemicals, rare trees, open areas and wetlands tiled and drained, wooded areas continuously logged, multiple active small (50 - 250 animals) CAFO 's (Confined Animal Feed Operation), fresh manure spread regularly on limited acres, frequently near surface water ditches  

What is meant by “permanent pasture” and why are these areas significant?

    Land in “permanent pasture” was plowed one time, planted into pasture (diverse mix of grasses and legumes), and has since been allowed to thrive.  It has not been and will never be plowed again, under the current stewardship.  

Pasture is not always an accurate descriptor since much of the land here is not currently grazed by farm animals. 

 One could use the word meadow to describe “permanent pasture” areas.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meadow

A meadow is a field habitat vegetated by grass and other non-woody plants (grassland).^[1]

Meadows are of ecological importance because they are open, sunny areas that attract and support flora and fauna that could not thrive in other conditions.  They often host a multitude of wildlife, providing areas for courtship displays, nesting, food gathering and sometimes sheltering if the vegetation is high enough. Many meadows support a wide array of wildflowers, which makes them of utmost importance to pollinating insects, including bees, and hence the entire ecosystem.    

As mentioned above, the “permanent pasture” areas are significant because they provide HABITAT for plants and animals.

The significance of “permanent pastures” also lies in the natural formation of TOPSOIL that occurs in these areas. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsoil  

 Without topsoil, little plant life is possible.  Conventional agriculture encourages the depletion of topsoil because the soil must be plowed and replanted each year.  The United States alone loses almost 3 tons of topsoil per acre per year.^[10] This is of great ecological concern as one inch of topsoil can take between 500^[11] and 1,000 years^[12] to form naturally. On current trends, the world has about 60 years of topsoil left.^[12][13]

What is meant by wetland and why are these areas significant?  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetland  

A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem.^[2]  Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, carbon sink and shoreline stability. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life.

As mentioned above, wetlands are significant partly because of the WATER PURIFICATION and HABITAT they provide.  

According to the Ramsar Convention:

The economic worth of the ecosystem services provided to society by intact, naturally functioning wetlands is frequently much greater than the perceived benefits of converting them to 'more valuable' intensive land use – particularly as the profits from unsustainable use often go to relatively few individuals or corporations, rather than being shared by society as a whole.

iaN

https://www.gofundme.com/austin-road-adventure

80 acres

When was the first piece of property acquired for this project?

  November 1979  (NorthEast 120 acres)

What years were the other 3 parcels added into the adventure?  

   Mable Moss’s or SouthWest 100 acres in Spring of 1983

Albert’s or NorthWest 80 acres in 1987

Jake’s or SouthEast 80 acres in 1999

Please describe the condition of each piece at the time it was included into the adventure:

  NE: open areas plowed wheat fields, rare trees,  large gravel pit area, wooded areas heavily logged the previous year,  no wetlands or ponds 

  SW:  open areas plowed wheat fields, rare trees, wooded areas recently logged, wetland drained

  NW: open areas plowed wheat fields, rare trees, wooded areas continuously logged

  SE:  open areas plowed crop fields, rare trees,  wooded areas recently logged, wetland drained 

Please describe the current condition of each piece in the adventure:

  NE:  open areas in permanent pasture with abundant & varied trees, wooded areas intact,

 5 acre wetland, 2 small and 1 large pond established  

  SW: open areas in permanent pasture (not currently grazed) with occasional, varied trees, 

wooded areas intact,  wetland established, 10 acre permanent grass hay field harvested twice a year  

  NW: open areas in permanent pasture (not currently grazed) with occasional, varied trees, 

 northern most field planted into trees, wooded areas intact

  SE:  open areas in permanent pasture with occasional, varied trees, 2 wetlands established, wooded areas intact 

   10 acre permanent grass hay field harvested once a year, northern most field planted into 200 conifer trees  

WWOOFusa.org - maK

education center

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcBuV7viEaw&feature=em-share_video_user

 EDUCATION ACTIVITIES

 A ] Hand milking cows -

Etiquette, cleanliness, technique

 B ] Fresh cow care -

Differences in animal behavior, detect and resolve problem quarters, amount of milk to take on days 1 thru 7, monitoring for postpartum complications

 C ] Newborn calf care - 

monitor for temperature, nursing, stool, umbilical cord

 D ] Care of Milk -

Cleanliness, filtering, cooling, storage, allowing cream to rise, skimming cream  

 E ] Knife sharpening - 

technique, frequency  

 F ] Butcher -

Confine, kill, move, skin, gut, cut in half, hang, proper use of remains    

 G ] Pork processing -

from hanging carcass, identify and harvest various cuts, cure bacon, season and grind sausage, render lard, proper packaging and storage

 H ] Beef processing -

from hanging carcass, identify and harvest steaks, roasts, hamburger, tallow, proper packaging and storage  

 I ] Beef jerky -

Identify proper cut of meat to use, thin slicing meat, marination, dehydration, packaging

 J ] Cheese making -

time, temperature, pH and bacteria management to curds and whey; pressing and rind formation  

 K ] Cheese maintenance -

daily temperature and humidity management, weekly salt wash and oil rub, crack butter plugs  

 L ] Butter - skim cream, set up and clean electric 8 gallon churn, determine correct churn time, drain, rinse, and squeeze butter, proper packaging and storage  

 M ] Kefir - Grain function and care, time, temperature and volume adjustments

 N ] Maple Sugar - 

Tap maple trees: Identify maple trees, use of hand drill, correct tap location, homemade Elder wood taps

Boil maple sap:  fire safety and maintenance in the woods, 50 gallon sap pan management, correct sap depth and strength of boil, determine time to stop boiling 

Make maple sugar:  monitor and identify different stages of sugar bubbles, maintain correct heat to stir ratio, determine correct time to remove from heat, maintain stir and determine adequate granulation

 O ] Apple harvest & Cider pressing

use of ladder to pick from tree, collecting from ground, proper storage   

wash, chop, press, cider packaging and storing, use of remaining pulp  

 P ] Raw food tasting -  

kefir, milk, cheese, beef, egg yolk  

 Q ] Fruit dehydration -

Harvest and preparation of pears, peaches, apples; dehydration time and packaging

 R ] Cooking on a wood stove -

various heat locations, baking in the oven, adding wood, monitoring fire, water reservoirs  

 S ] Animal husbandry -

cows: approach, distance, reading behaviors, offering assistance and affection, halter training, moving single animals and large herd short and long distances 

lambs: halter training, natural behaviors, offering assistance and affection  

chickens: natural behaviors, dust bath, aggression, egg collection, noticing problems and offering assistance

Pigs: approach, feed and watering, pasture and fence maintenance

horse: approach, maintaining safe boundaries, reading behaviors, offering assistance and affection, moving short distances  

 T ] Fire wood - identify tree type, quality, safety, loading, stacking, splitting  

 U ] Natural material harvest and building project

 V ] Nature walk

 W ] Bird Identification

 X ] Tree identification

 Y ] Fence maintenance

 Z ] Wild herb and wild edible identification, harvest   

 AA ] Gardening  

 BB ] Discussion topics     

what i want

That's a lot of meat!

A young man lived and labored here with us for 10 days and one day we were moving some food around between freezers.  He held the lid of the extra large chest freezer as I sorted something out.  Shayden was 18 and ours was the first farm on his journey west.  "That's a lot of meat!  That's a lot of meat!"   His sincere astonishment helped me reflect on something that I have come to think of as a normal part of my life.  

I know what we are going to eat for the next year. 

This life is so different from what I knew before.  I lived in a particular culture for 36 years and then it seems like I plunged into a different world.  There was no reason to think about what food there would be to eat in 12 months, or 6 months, or even in a week.  It was an unconscious belief that food would be available for purchase at the grocery store and at the restaurant.  

There was a slight shift when I started shopping regularly at farmers markets.  The food available for purchase became more limited due to my personal commitment of buying and eating what I could find at markets.   The “staples” were still purchased at the store under this commitment, things like sugar, crackers, rice, cheese and butter.  This shift also introduced me to the idea of seasonality.  One of the first dishes I made that will always represent a turning point to me involved cooking onions, apples, and potatoes until soft and mashable.  It was delicious, sweet, and very satisfying.  Those three foods were readily available at farm markets in the late fall.  My confidence and enthusiasm for the commitment was growing.  It had turned into a fun and delicious challenge.

Around two vegetable seasons later, I got my first job working as labor on a vegetable-garden style farm.  Working one day a week from 6am to noon meant I took home an entire “share” of vegetables every week.  The share included what was meant for a family to consume, not one person living alone.  This provided another exciting challenge.  Use every bit of it before the next load arrived in my kitchen 7 days later.  This introduced the beloved idea of preserving food for non vegetable season.  I fell in love with freezing.  

This is Wilbur with his mother, over two years ago.    As of today, all of Wilbur now resides in freezer camp.  I don't have words to express my appreciation for the partnership that feeds my family.  

Food has been my favorite hobby since I can remember.  These new ideas about eating what was available locally and seasonally changed my life in significant ways.  Eating out at restaurants and shopping at the grocery store became nearly intolerable for me.  Some of my friends drifted away as we learned that our friendships were largely based on food activities like eating out and cooking together.  They found following a commitment to local, seasonally available foods intolerable.  Diversity is what keeps the world alive and so we stayed with the ideas that felt most comfortable to us and moved on with our lives.   Watching this happen in my life affirmed the idea that I desired a lifestyle instead of a job.  Having a job and hanging out with friends at a pub was something I could let go of.  I had always been the awkward one anyway.  I had fallen in love with the lifestyle of making food the center of my life.  Food the way I choose to experience it.  Food for me had become something to know intimately, to participate in, to revere and commit to.

A satisfying knowing began to settle in and it felt like I was returning home.  A home that felt grounded, secure, true, and familiar in a  saturating way.  

Once again this season, the three chest freezers are completely full and I can still see Shayden's face as I was reminded that this is an extraordinary, abundant life.