We cut down on the work load by downsizing the homestead livestock populations. The kid goats were shipped off to Carl Zupin's farm, reducing the herd to a manageable two milking does. And the Weed Quackers (ducks in the garden) were ecstatic about the upgrade to Neighbor Dave's pond.
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| Fencing Work Bee |
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| Reward: May Farm O-Mega Dogs |
May Farm Help Wanted emails and posts went viral. Volunteers were solicited for 1-2 shifts per week. Fencing and barn cleaning work bees were organized. Sign-up sheets were brought to church. A weekly schedule was posted.
In no time the slots were filled.
Homestead chores commence at 6:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. with feeding, watering and milking dairy goats. This is when the barn kitties line up for their freshly squeezed paychecks.
The milk is either brought into the house to be strained and bottled or put aside to "culture". This probiotic-infused mixture is added to non-GMO, local chicken feed for extra nutrition.
A periodic homestead job is feeding and watering 50-75 baby broiler chicks. Multiple times throughout the season we receive a phone call from the post office notifying us when the peeping package has arrived. Like seedlings, the chicks must be "hardened off" for a few weeks before being put on pasture. During that time neighbor Dave Sorensen was the baby chick nursery attendant 7 days a week, twice a day.
Pasture chores include feeding, watering and moving chicken tractors with 50 broiler chckens each. This was 13 year old, Gabe Johnson's summer job. He also fed, watered and collected eggs from 100 laying hens. Gabe lives within biking distance and worked 5 days and 3 evenings each week. However, while Paul was stuck in Ann Arbor he covered every shift, enlisting the help of the Oberski family.
When it comes to the bigger feat of "haying" , watering and moving beef and lambs to a fresh paddock each day, we relied on three "Head Honchos". Charlie McDaniel of Charlie's Natural Food Market had prior experience running his own grass-fed cattle ranch in Africa. Custer Carland would like his own farm someday. Finally our son Avery could usually hoodwink a few of his friends to help out.The biggest windfall was the arrival of interns Frederik Stig-Nielsen and Betsy Mas sent our way via local artist Mike Farmer. After graduating from law school and signing up for the Peace Corps, they wanted to gain farm experience. They turned to relative Mike Farmer for ideas and joined the ranks of interns who showed up on our doorstep before them, including an Interlochen Arts Academy Creative Writing grad, Ann Richardson, yogini-farmer, Karen Storms-Rohn, a horticulture student/musician, and more.
All in all, 15 people shared the chores that Paul did 7 days a week, twice a day before and after his supplemental job helping at the small plant where we process our meats.
I will close with a big Thank You to our farm hands: Custer Carland, Charlie and Wendy McDaniel, Neighbor Dave (Sorensen), Gabe Johnson, John Manrow, Lisa Richter, Renee Herman, Ireland Sutter, Meg Louwsma, Kimm Jayne, Monica Schultz, Al Flory, Joe Frederick, Ann and Norm Holm, Peg and Wayne Dunn, Lorna Mason, Judy Bosma, Jim Olsen, Karen Roberts, Emily Votruba, Anna Sangemino, Avery May, Levi Hubbard, Shayla Soto and other Frankfort youth, Frederik Stig-Nielsen and Betsy Mas families, Penny Nelson, Alan and Gerry Chinavere, Anne Rogers, Leslie Hamp, Julie Laporte, Erik Kinzinger, Dennis Pace, Thomas Hirsch, Jenn Ryan, Kimm and Thom Jayne, Rob Burtch, Robin Willband-Snow, Kelly Luedtke, John and Karen Storms-Rohn, John Vinkemulder, Rob Burch, the Gergosians, Kathy Zalar and and uncountable others.
