Thanksgiving 2022

Dwelling on the negative seems part of our nature

It’s important though to not only reflect on what didn’t go as well as you would have liked (leading to problem solving), but also what went well. The easiest way for me to pull together all there is to be thankful for from the homestead in 2022, is to look over my photos. Let’s start at the start.

January

In January the High Tunnel was commissioned, and the goats moved in, although the build-out inside the Tunnel was yet to be completed. Winter quarters for the animals, this was indeed a game-changer, and a significant investment. The spot where it sits came together by accident, as we traded some White Pine for clearing of the South Pasture behind the barn; it turned out to be a near perfect placement for two High Tunnels.

In January we also took possession of our first home-grown pork, another watershed event.

This was our first experiment with “large animal” meat production. Of course it didn’t go perfectly, but we learned a lot, and those who bought one of the first three pigs raved about the quality of the meat.

February

The High Tunnel interior build-out was completed in February, and Kenton took us on a tour of his work, which we made video record of in 2022 Feb 24 Goat & High Tunnel Update.

Our first “go” at animal food production was chickens, and the Golden Laced Wyandots continued to lay reliably even in February.

March

Of course March means early spring and pure maple syrup season.

It’s hard to explain, but the power and majesty of draft horses is incredible. I’ve learned that it’s not so much about the horsepower, even in a 4WD truck for example, if you can’t get the power to the ground it’s worthless. And that’s the big advantage that horses have, traction, and lots of it.

I read an awesome book by one of my Naval Academy classmates, Barb Bell, titled Flight Lessons.

Through my experience as one of the first women to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, I learned how leadership and persistence are built one step at a time, and my experiences – the good, the bad, and the ugly – helped me survive and thrive.

Part memoir, part call to action, this book is my way of passing along that knowledge to anyone who’s charting a course for success. Let’s discover how to grit it out, navigate turbulence, earn our wings… and soar.

While I am probably not the intended audience for Barb’s book, I found it very enjoyable and thought provoking. If you know any teen girls embarking on life, this book is a true gem. For me it is another of the ego-checks I seem to get very frequently!

April

In April we picked up the piglets for the 2022 season; 8 Yorkshire/Hampshire cross pigs. They grow out of the “cute” stage very rapidly!

And we received by USPS our first meat birds, a combination of 52 White Plymouth Rock and 52 New Hampshire chicks.

Each experiment, pigs on pasture and meat birds on pasture, revealed many opportunities for improvement. Having said that, I consider both to have been successful.

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

Thomas A. Edison

And spring flowers appeared; peach, Asian pear, and plum, left to right.

Utility trailer stake-sides. This trailer was sold as a “car hauler,” but it satisfies my requirements, and has proven to be very utilitarian.

I designed and Kenton built the stake-sides, the purpose of these is to allow us to haul bulk cargo, like construction debris to the dump, and feed from the store to the homestead. In flatbed mode it has been used for hauling both logs and lumber, pigs to the butcher, and the Polaris UTV to the shop.

May

New life brought to the homestead by Snowdrop, giving birth to a new billy goat that Geri named Spirit.

Something I don’t do often enough; getting together with a couple of my Naval Academy brothers, Sean and Dan, for some fun, training, and fellowship. It was awesome, and something we promised each other to repeat more frequently. If as I, you too are in need of an ego-check, just spend some time with these two men.

Kenton, a young man who helped me so much over the course of several years, graduated from high school; he is now at Miracle Mountain Ranch in Pennsylvania. We hope to see him again when he’s home for the holidays.

Milling with Paul, friend and brother, which I’ve had the pleasure of doing several times since 2016. Rock solid human being.

June

Red and her jet black billy kid, unfortunately he didn’t survive past about 10 ten days. Red went to freezer camp as a result. Regardless, the birth was a blessing, and I have no doubt he would have been a beautiful and badass billy goat.

Pigs on an “unsanctioned outing,” aka, escape to the woods.

This was one of many escapes, and that electric fence netting was the problem. Grass and weeds grow up into it, shorting it to ground too easily. The result is low voltage, say 2500 VDC, and pig escapes. I finally cracked the code, which is to say that I took advice that had been out there all along, and installed 3/16th’s inch “polywire;” one strand ~6 inches off the ground and a second strand at 12-15 inches, which I was able to keep at 8000 VDC no problem. That put at end to the escapes.

The picture is at my neighbor Sean’s camp, his property borders ours on the southeast. Before I figured out that the pigs would come back on their own I actually hauled over food, water and fencing to contain them until we could herd them back. We were very grateful for the help of Sean and his friends, and Leah.

June 13th brought a big storm, and downed trees too numerous to count. The big hickory pictured fell on our rental house next door, two large branches penetrating the roof and damaging roof structure, passing through the attic and the Master Bedroom ceiling. We are thankful that no people or animals were injured.

Temporary repairs were completed within fours days; permanent repairs took over two months. The temporary repairs, sealing the home’s protective envelope, are pictured below; thanks to Adam, Kyle-1 and Kyle-2.

July

A niece and two nephews came for a too rare visit this summer, and we enjoyed their company. Fishing on the lake, preparing the fish and eating the fish were on the agenda, as was a trip to another lake for a day of exploration and pontoon boating.

And I ran my first Spartan race in too long; the 5km obstacle course took place entirely within the confines of Notre Dame Stadium. I was joined by Chris and Morgan, awesome humans who are now on an exploration of the U.S. in an RV with their children and dogs. You can view and subscribe to a journal of their travels at The Foote Ventures.

This is something we are really thankful for; the ability to put together an entire meal from animal and plant foods grown on the homestead. In this case an egg scramble with veggies from the garden, and side pork from one of our pigs.

Geri organized some improvements and additions to our dock, which we were able to enjoy this summer. We need to spend more time simply enjoying the incomparable beauty of nature. I’m guilty as charged of not doing as I say.

August

My Naval Academy roommate and friend Sean Georges co-authored and published a book, On Mission Leadership.

Remember what I wrote above about getting an ego-check now an then? This was another of those times. The book takes on leadership as a journey, and if you know anyone on a leadership journey, which is most all of us one way or the other, this is a great book. I can say for myself that I had never before realized that I was on a journey with respect to leadership, with the result that I likely didn’t learn as much along the way as I could have.

August

We cleared and replanted the south pasture in the fall of ‘21, so this was our first growing season. We were not to graze the pasture in year one, so I mowed it twice.

I am very happy with the results so far. It’s likely that we won’t graze the pasture in ‘23 either, but sheep are in the plan for ‘24. Step by step.

I believe this was the first of our meat chickens that Geri roasted. Since then I’ve used the crock pot for one-pot meals, because I’m inherently lazy!

Our new billy goat, Spirit, climbing. His dam, Snowdrop, is in the lower right. Spirit is climbing a tree that was blown down in the June 13 storm, and eating all the green leafy he can get to.

I just think that’s really cool, and I’m grate for these animals and all that they are teaching me.

And finally for August, we hatched out on the homestead our first Golden Laced Wyandot chick. More new life.

September

This month the fruit and vegetable harvest really starts to come in.

Geri did a masterful job preserving the abundance of food coming off of the garden and fruit trees. It is truly wonder-full food.

And we learned more about how to do what we are doing at the Superb Food Independence Summit in Ohio, from the likes of Joel Salatin and others.

On that trip we visited my Great Great Great Grandfather Uriah Baker’s grave in Fitchville, OH

And in this bountiful month, I had the opportunity to mill for a great long-time customer, Tom Siewert.

October

This month was off to a great start, milling again for Ron Vandergriend; some of his craftsmanship below, utilizing in part wood we had milled on prior visits.

Simply awe-inspiring. Now that’s a treehouse!

And in what was I’m now certain a divine appointment, Geri and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan.

I can’t get enough of that picture, the chapel at Hillsdale. I’m sure that in future posts you will be reading more of this faith and Constitution-based institution of higher education.

That’s the first 10 months of the year. I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down memory lane, and I hope it inspires you to take a similar trip through your 2022. We are exceedingly grateful for all of the abundance our Creator continues to pour over our lives.

All the best, and may God bless you and yours,

John