week 3: plenty o' room for the chooks

This week went by in a flurry of food, parents, hiking, and soaking in our last few days with wwoofer Hannah.  Sean and I only worked 4 days this week so that we could have the weekend off with my parents.  In those few days, we successfully finished up a couple weeding projects, harvested and processed a bunch of food, started on constructing a new greenhouse, and finally got the chickens outside to free-range.


Food Processing
Canning tomatoes
There seems to be no shortage of tomatoes on this farm.  I can go pick every ripe tomato I see, and then a couple days later there is another round of bright red, ripe, delicious tomatoes begging to leave the vine.  With only 5 of us at the moment, we couldn't possible eat them all fresh.  Time for canning!  I had never done the process before and Sue needed a hand, so it was a perfect opportunity to gain a new skill.

tomato grinder

Tomatoes should be very, very ripe if you're planning on making sauce.  We chose the reddest of the red and sent them through a juicer.  It grinds up the tomatoes, spits out the pulps and seeds on one side, and juice flows down another side.  We collected juice for about an hour, which gave us a yield of a couple gallons.  Not pictured is the process of cooking the sauce down.  Sue added basil, oregano, salt, and pepper to the juice and let it simmer for a few hours.  It cooked down to about half-volume into a delicious, thick pasta sauce.  I wasn't around for the actual canning process, but Ken has a pressure cooker that he uses to vacuum seal the lids.  You can use a simpler system of putting the cans in boiling water, but Ken prefers the former.

the final product

The Koerbers do a lot of canning.  The yield is so high (beyond their consumption) in the summer, but come the cold and snowy winter, they don't get much fresh produce beyond a bit in the greenhouses.  So they very much rely on their food storage to limit their trips to the supermarkets in the winter time.  Sue does jams, jellies, pickles, tomatoes, sauces, peach and apple pie fillings, and favorite, grape juice.

Drying tomatoes
Everybody knows that sun-dried tomatoes are delicious, but not everyone gets the chance to try them homemade.  We used an electric dehydrator, but you can still technically call these sun-dried.  In the summer the Koerber's home is run off of electricity generated from their solar panels.

Juliette tomatoes cut in half

in the dehydrator.  Juliette on top, and orange cherry tomatoes on the bottom

dried!

dried cherry tomatoes (legitimately taste like candy)

dried Juliette tomatoes

Drying herbs
More drying!  This was extra exciting because we were processing weeds that would otherwise be unused.  Ken and Susan planted lemon balm and mint in their "kitchen garden", but the mint got totally out of control (as mint does).  As we were weeding the kitchen garden, we put the mint aside rather than throw it in the compost pile.  This variety is called "Chocolate Mint" because it has a somewhat chocolatey aroma, but the mint flavor itself is extremely strong.  My eyes would water occasionally as we were weeding it.

weeding the kitchen garden.  Can you spot Paisley?

"Chocolate Mint" saved from kitchen garden

We laid the mint out on baking sheets and put them out in their "drying room"  which is basically a greenhouse attached to the side of their house.  24 hours later and we had dried leaves.  We simply packaged them up and plan to use them for mint tea going forward!

Greenhouse prep

Land preparation
Despite Susan's cries of disapproval, Ken is marching forward on his goal to build a new greenhouse.  All of the building materials came this week, so we are in the beginning phase of construction.  First, we had to clear out an area that was filled with 5-year old potted plants that Ken and Susan gave up on.  They needed to be relocated to open up more space for the greenhouse.  These potted plants successfully rooted deep into the soil, so it took a lot of grunt work (mainly from Sean) to pull out the pots and set them aside.  Ken was out there helping us.  As he picked up a stack of empty pots, he mentioned to be mindful of wasp nests, as they like to nest in the space between empty pots.  Not a second later, we heard a "YEOOWW" erupt out of Ken as he got stung in the face by a wasp.  He took it like a champ and luckily his body didn't react too angrily.  No photos because I was too busy being paranoid about wasps.


Next, Ken wanted to get an idea of how sloped the land was.  Depending on the shift in elevation, he may have to do some dirt removal or fill in areas that are low.  To discover this information, he put us to work with a fancy laser beam that was supposed to quickly and efficiently give us elevation over the entire length of the field.  But, of course, it stopped working right as he brought it out to us.  Luckily, there's always the old-school method.  In the photo below you see Sean gazing through a contraption of sorts.  Hannah is in the background holding a giant ruler as I mark down the height as Sean reads it off to me.  Hannah moves up and down the field, and Sean looks through his level contraption and gets a new reading each time.  Ken hasn't looked at the data yet, so we're not sure what's next.  Now I know what those people on the side of the roads are always doing with their tripods and markers!

Assembling frames

The first step in actually constructing this greenhouse is to the make the upper frame (the bendy part).  Sean, Hannah and I spent a couple hours hauling the metal piping and piecing it together.  I'll remember this as the time the three of us talked about how much we appreciate getting great exercise as part of our daily work.  That conversation then turned into us all venting about how modern culture causes so many people to sit all day.  Then they "go work out" and use up a bunch of energy towards lifting weights and exercising on machines... energy that could be put towards a positive change on our land (Can I vent?). We're all grateful that we can move our bodies in a way that aligns with our goals for the planet.  It starts to make us question the ecology of movement; the effects that our daily movements have on the world. Check out the book "Movement Matters" by Katy Bowman if any of that resonated with you.

Weeding
If there's one thing I've learned here, it's that there is ALWAYS weeding to be done on a farm.  This week we just about finished up weeding the one section of "The Wonderland" (flower greenhouse).  We spent the first two or so hours each morning in here, and I'll remember it as the place where we got to hear a lot about Hannah's life.  It's so encouraging to meet people our age who felt stuck in a job that they weren't passionate about, but made the bold decision to leave it behind in search of something more fulfilling.  It's worth it!

She never helps us weed

Liberating the Chickens! (Relocating chicken tractor)
The chickens have been closed up in their coop for the last couple of months, as there wasn't a proper outdoor enclosure to keep them safe.  Foxes are known to hunt during the day around the farm, and Koerbers weren't taking any chances after their last flock got killed by a bobcat.  In order to prepare an outdoor enclosure, Ken first needed to relocate the entire coop.  This involved a lot of clearing weeds, pulling up old netting, and cutting down a big willow tree.

"decimating the willow"

moving the coop

setting up netting for the outdoor enclosure

We were all so excited to finally open up their door.  Imagine being kept indoors for months, and then at last a door opens and fresh air rushes in.  You'd think the chickens would bolt outside, eager to get sunshine on their backs and grass under their feet.  But, alas, the unveiling of the new outdoor enclosure was pretty anticlimactic.  None of the chickens wanted to come out; they were too freaked out.  So, we left them alone, and within a few hours some of the braver hens decided to venture out.  A few days later and they're all wandering around outside, eating bugs and enjoying the fresh air.


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We went to Rumney twice this week.  Rumney Rocks State Park is known as the best climbing area in the Northeast with over 400 bolted routes and tons of bouldering.  It's just about an hour north of us, so it's a perfect way to spend an afternoon after working on the farm.  Sean's leading pretty much everything, but I finally got around to leading a 5.7... baby steps!  So far we've only explored two areas... the "Parking Lot Wall" and "Armed and Dangerous Wall".  It's been awhile since we've climbed on granite, so my hands are getting torn about by the sharp rock, but it feels good to be back to this style of climbing.  Rumney's routes really play up the natural features, so even some of the super easy climbs are fun to do nonetheless.

When Sean and Paisley look like they want my Chipotle

Mom and Dad drove aaaaall the way up here just to visit us!  Thats over ten hours in the car one way.  But we did our best to make it well worth the trip.

Lonesome Lake Trail: Franconia Notch State Park

Franconia notch is probably the most visited natural area in New Hampshire.  As you drive further and further north on route 93, the hills get bigger, eventually turning into mountains.  When you enter the notch, you're on a highway nestled between towering mountains.  The Lonesome Lake Trail is the most highly trafficked trail in the park, meaning that it's got some great views.  It's 3.3 mile "lollipop" trail; you walk a mile and a half uphill, level out and walk around Lonesome Lake, and then come back down the same way you came.  The first 30 minutes or so seemed really busy on the trail, but then it quieted down and the rest of the walk was quite peaceful.  Lonesome Lake was absolutely gorgeous; high in elevation yet surrounded by taller mountains.  Paisley enjoyed cooling off by splashing around in the water and swimming up to a crowd of ducks.

Cannon Mountain

We went the lazier route with Cannon Mountain and took a tram up to the top.  When Mom and Dad visited me in New Hampshire two years ago, we all really wanted to take this tram ride, but due to lightning it was not available.  We were determined to get up this time.  The cable car ride took under ten minutes to reach the 4,080 foot summit of Cannon mountain.  We only had about a half hour to look around once at the top, so we booked it up an observation tower and then headed back down.  We actually got the last ride down of the day (5pm), and were warned ahead of time that if we missed the 5pm ride, our options were to either walk down or sleep under a bush.

Bear Brook State Park
After a long day of hiking on Saturday, we allowed Sunday to be a bit more relaxed.  We bopped over to Bear Brook (Sean's and my old stomping grounds) for an easy stroll through the woods.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Chanticleer Gardens (the farm I'm working on).  Mom and Dad got the grand tour followed by an even grander dinner with our lovely hosts Ken and Susan.


Goodbye, Hannah! :'(
Sunday was Hannah's last day on the farm.  As a wwoofer, I meet a lot of new people and work with plenty of fellow wwoofers, but some of them really leave their mark.  Hannah is such a kindred spirit and has an incredibly bright future ahead, I'm sure.  She fit right in with the four of us at Chanticleer and quickly became a major part of the family.  We'll miss her bright smile, positive outlook, and delicious baked goods.  It's always hard to say goodbye to new friends, but we're all just grateful to have connected.  I hope our paths cross again!

'til next week...

week 2: the week of extracurriculars

Week 2 is coming to an end, and we've packed a lot in.  A new WWOOFer named Hannah showed up on Sunday and will be here for two weeks.  She just left her full-time, long-term gig at a bakery in Jacksonville Florida to travel and get in touch with local agriculture.  It's great to have an extra pair of hands and someone to chat with.  With the three of us working, projects (particularly weeding) seem to fly by.

Our hut's window view

This week's projects

Created garden bed
Ken laid the foundation of cardboard on the grass, upon which we threw a bunch of soil.  After working the soil into shape, we planted about 35 lavender seedlings.

Planted in stone garden
The stone garden that we weeded out last week was looking pretty blank, so we planted some Astilbe.  This is a perennial with showy flowers and waxy fern-like leaves.  It's more of a late-spring/early summer bloomer, but Ken is hoping for a second bloom within the next week or so.

Harvesting
Garlic

cutting the stem off

This year was extremely prolific for Chanticleer's garlic.  Ken planted 1,000 cloves and we pulled up roughly 900 heads, which took around 3 hours.  To harvest garlic you simply pull up on the shoot.  The garlic head comes out of the soil with a satisfying *pop!*.  You snip off the shoot, and if there is a seed pod at the top of the shoot, save it for future use.

Garlic is typically grown from a clove (asexual reproduction), but it's good practice to save your seeds anyways.  Some people like to grow every new round of garlic from seed (sexual reproduction), but it can be more difficult and take a longer time to mature.  Growing from clove ensures that you have a uniform crop since you're essentially cloning your last plant, but over time you lose genetic diversity and adaptation is highly constrained, which puts your crop at risk.

Brussel sprouts

I don’t think I had ever seen Brussel Sprouts still on their plant.  They’re kind of strange looking.  The sprouts are picked directly off of the stem, toward the bottom.  We found that slugs are very fond of sprouts, so we spent some time opening up the florets and picking out the slimy slugs.  Later that night we roasted them with green beans from the garden, bacon, and balsamic vinegar.  Mmmmm!

Flowers

 As usual, we harvested flowers a few times this week and practiced arranging them.  We’re all starting to get the hang of it, but Sean seems to have a particular knack for it.  His arrangements are definitely the most popular among Chanticleer’s customers.

Elementary School Garden
The Dunbarton Elementary School has a large garden for an after-school "garden club".  The kids actually apply to the program, and due to so much interest, some students get turned away.  I hope in the future, all the kids at Dunbarton with an interest in gardening can participate... it seems a shame that they don't have the opportunity.

lettuce, sage, oregano, dill 

strawberries, tomatos, beans, pumpkin

In the summertime the students take a break from the garden and the responsibility falls onto the parent volunteers.  Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of volunteering this summer, so Ken asked us to go do a "blitz weeding" session for an hour.  We only got about half of the garden done during the first session, but the three of us really wanted to see the finished product, so we went back the next morning to complete the project.

Shaker Village garden 

Yet another one of Ken’s volunteer projects…

I had actually never heard of the Shakers until Ken brought them up, so taking a little field trip to the village was quite enlightening.  As our tour guide said, “The Shakers are most influential group of people you’ve probably never heard of”.  They are a Christian sect originally formed in the 18^th century England.  They called themselves “The United Society of Believers”, but were known as “Shakers” due to the crazy dancing and ecstatic behavior during worship.  The Shakers came together under a mutual belief in communal ownership, equality (yet separation) between sexes, celibacy, and simplicity of life.   They believed that living a celibate life allowed them to reduce distractions and devote their entire self to spiritual focus.

Canterbury Shaker Village dates back to 1792 and was active for around 200 years.  Nowadays most of the buildings are open for tours, and many of them have a museum-like feel.  What stuck with me the most about the Shakers was how organized they were.  Everything had labels – buildings, rooms, and cabinets/drawers/shelves.  Every single item, from tools to cooking supplies, were labeled with their corresponding drawer or shelf (1A.14 would mean building 1, room A, shelf 14).  The community members were rotated through various jobs (washing clothes, cooking, cleaning, building, gardening) so that nobody got bored.  The jobs gender-specific so that males and females didn’t spend too much time together.  Once a week, however, there would be a “social hour” in which every male would be paired with a female.  They would face each other sitting in chairs about 6 feet apart, and talk for one hour.  The elders would oversee and watch for any special connections or chemistry happening.  If they thought any interaction got too flirty, those two people would never be paired together again for social hour.  

Tucked behind the village buildings is a very large garden, and Ken is in charge of the herb area.  The goal is to showcase herbs that were beneficial to the Shakers and are still used today.  Weeds had started to take over some of the plots, so we spent a couple hours cleaning them out.  A big beautiful mulberry tree shaded the area, and at the end we snacked on the delicious berries.  I’d never had mulberries before and was amazed at their sweetness and flavor!  I wonder why we don’t eat more of them since the trees are very hardy and grow well throughout many climates.  After lunch we got a tour of the village from a man who used to live in it.  Fun field trip!  I left my phone behind, so no photos.

Old Home Day: Basket Making

Saturday was “Dunbarton Old Home Day” which is the annual town fair.  Its name comes from the fact that many of the people who moved out of town come back one day a year to get in touch with their roots.  There’s a parade, music, food, and lots of artisan tents where you can learn traditional crafts.  Ken is always on the Home Day Committee, and he was in charge of putting together demonstrations for spinning wool, basketry, and rock work.  Us WWOOFers volunteered to do basket making, so we spent an afternoon practicing since none of us had ever done it before.  Ken and Susan have collected a bunch of reeds of varying width, which were then soaked in water to prevent breakage.  Ken decided a simple rounded basket was the easiest prototype.

my first attempt

so much focus

Once at the fair, it was obvious that spinning wool was the most attention-drawing.  Ken’s granddaughter, Hadley, is a pro at spinning and brought all of her toys to play with.  The easiest way to get started spinning wool is to use a drop-spindle, which she brought to let people practice with, but she also brought her wheel to demonstrate the more advanced version.

spindle-spinning wool (poor example)

Hadley with her wheel

Only one kid was interested in making a basket, but he did a great job!  Meanwhile Sean, Hannah, and I practiced our own skills and I started on a square basket.

Hannah and Sean demonstrating basketry

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On Monday we met up with three fellow Bear Brookers (Christie, Marissa, Ethan) for a mini reunion-hike.  We did the Welch-Dickey loop which is on the south side of the White Mountain National Forest.

And, of course, we made it back to Ilsley's Ice Cream for another round of delicious cow-to-table dessert.  The cows were out in the pasture right next to the ice cream stand this time, so we watched the cows grazing as we waited for our dessert to be served.  I snagged a quick photo as one cow meandered away from the herd and toward the fence, and later realized that the name tag in her ear read "Renee"!