High 55   Low 37   Overcast with deep darm clouds. Light showers. 

It’s that time of year again. It’s when people from all over the world decide to WWOOF or not to WWOOF. WWOOF’ing is an acronym for Worldwide Workers on Organic Farms.

People from all over the world experience travel, community life, family life, farm life, and for some their first shot at adult life. Last year we enjoyed the company of three WWOOF’ers whom were young, energetic, interesting and eager to learn from our experience. It can be a truly win-win situation for both us and them.

From January through April we are pretty busy answering emails and phone calls from the many folks looking to learn how to live more self sufficiently. Most are looking to learn to grow food, some are interested in livestock and others are interested in living in community. Most of the WWOOF’ers who contact us are interested in permaculture.

We have limited spaces available so we spend a fair amount of time talking, asking questions and reading the resumes and applications that are sent to us. So far, we have three full time apprentices and two others that live locally that will come by once a week to work along side us.

Although we are a small family farm, we are able to meet the needs of interns by finding out what their interests are and designing projects and educational experiences to help meet their needs. Because we have experience from running the SongCroft School, we are well prepared to give the WWOOF’ers hands-on experience along with the dialog that brings it all together for a good learning package.

If you are thinking about doing something different and worthwhile this summer, you might ask yourself, “To WWOOF or Not to WWOOF?”

WWOOF’ing on SongCroft allows for time to connect with nature and yourself!

To support our family farm, you can purchase products through www.songcroftnaturals.com Thank you!

Summer has been a little different for us this year on SongCroft. The sun has only shown itself enough to make us remember what we’ve all been longing for, the rain barrels were only empty for a day or two, local hay has not been able to be harvested because of the weather and I have experienced the worst seasonal allergies of my life.  Climate change is no friend of mine.

After a lot of discomfort, I am finally able to function at an almost normal level but have spent much of the past month trying not to let my face swell up. I wont go in to the gory details but lets just say that I was so swollen and red that even local folks didn’t recognize me.

On the upside, we have had the most wonderful experience with WWOOF’ers.  Our little farm has been blessed with three young people who have come to share their enthusiasm, energy and talents with us. It has been a blessing have these folks join our family, share our meals and be a part of our life here on SongCroft.

We have room for more until Sept. 15th.

We take turns with many things including meals, animal care, garden work and cleaning up. We are all committed to living light. This is more of a relief than one might imagine as it can be really hard to find folks who will commit to using a clothes line, looking to the gardens for food before the pantry and who can work together towards goals like getting everything in for a productive Fall and Winter harvest.

The interns sleep in tents that are out on the land and use the cabin for showers and a community space. They are welcome in the house but can use the cabin for their own quiet space as well. This creates a great balance as one intern is currently studying for a class at Evergreen State College. The cabin also provides space for daily yoga, mediation and an occasional movie.

Our family thrives on the presence of community in our lives. We enjoy cooperative living and we love WWOOF’ers!

High 33   Low 20

Snowing with high winds!!!Whoohoo!

(If you want to learn even a little of what you are reading here, our apprenticeship program starts Jan. 15th. Last call for registration!)

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/

Folks email me all the time saying they get tired reading the list of things we do. Well, you might want to grab yourself a cup o’ tea and kick your feet up ‘cuz this is going to be a long one because I’m going to give a summary of 2010!

All in all, it was a good year in many aspects. We accomplished some of our goals and completely failed on others. Okay, failed is pretty harsh. We just didn’t get everything we wanted to get done done. I am sure we got more accomplished than the average bear since both Brian and I are ‘Type A’ Capricorns.

Our apprenticeship program filled up and we had 3 teens all year!

We had a successful Fish Camp here in conjunction with Wolf Camp.

We took a few camping trips as well as went to our favorite seasonal gathering.

The things we didn’t get done were due to a matter of lack of weather, money, time or energy. The early part of Spring was very wet.

When we went on a camping trip, the chickens got out and scratch up much of our garden beds. I replanted and got things under control, so I thought, and one of the kids didn’t latch the gate so the chickens rearranged everything again. It is amazing what they can do with my tidy little rows in an hour! Of course, they left the forest garden alone since it would’ve taken more effort to walk over there.

We lost part of our duck flock, we think to neighbor dogs, so we are down to just three. Our son was heartbroken when he found his pet duck “Blackfoot” dead in the field.

We sold lots and lots of eggs all Spring and Summer. That was a nice supplement to the family budget.

We also sold a few goat kids too. We got a lot of milk and enjoyed the cheese.

Brians workshop was built and we will finish it in the Spring.

Our cabin was transformed in to a classroom and manufacturing facility for our SongCroft Naturals Personal Care product line. (The ingredients are so safe I can use them on my babies!)

We grew a good garden that is still providing us with fresh vegetables. We had tomatoes until early December and ground cherries too!

I “put up” lots of canned meat, fruit and vegetables, pickles, kim chi, as well as dried fruits, herbs and vegetables too.

I caught two bee swarms and hived them.

We put in the forest garden in April and it’s looking good.

We are one year closer to harvesting asparagas!

So, to the coming year. What are our goals? Well this is what I have settled on:

1. Finish Brian’s shop!
2. Enjoy our apprentices
3. Launch SongCroft Naturals our all natural Personal Care Products and have a Farmers Market booth.
4. Grow a bountiful garden that is well and truly chicken proofed!!!
5. Have more of the family’s help with harvesting more often so our production stays up and our waste in minimal.
6. Preserve more foods and herbs than last year.
7. Learn to smoke different meats.
8. Clear the spot behind the cabin so I can plant new beds. I haven’t decided what to plant there yet though.
9. Plant an evergreen edible hedge on top of a berm to create privacy as well as more perennial food.
10. Plant an evergreen privacy screen near the road.
11. Make more soap than last year. We ran out and I got too busy to make more.
12. Plant more trees for firewood.
13. Which reminds me, reinforce the goats browse area.
14. Fix all of the little jobs like greenhouse door handle, hinges on the compost bins, etc…
15. Re-design the lower part of our land.
16. Build new hay storage.
17. Build a new rabbitry.
18. Expand the summer chicken yard from 16×30 to something like 30×30.
19. Host Farm Camp.
20. Host Illumina Girls Camp.
21. Host Fish Camp.
22. Camp more, play more
23. Sing more.
24. Dance more.
25. Breathe more consciously.

I hope you enjoyed reading our summary of 2010 and being witness to us setting goals for 2011. Somehow it makes it a little more of a commitment if others know that the goals are set. (Maybe I should mention the 10 pounds?)

Oh, and if you come by for a visit, feel free to roll your sleeve up!

Thanks for reading. Your comments are welcome. Please do share our blog with others that you think might be interested. Happy New Year!

HIGH 34      LOW 22   Clear sunny day with ice and a bit of snow still on the ground.

It’s two weeks until the new apprenticeship program begins! Marilene posted a special in honor of her birthday. We only take registration until January 15th. After that, you’ll have to wait until 2012! Look at our facebook page for the special offer only good on January 6th!

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/#skills

Breeding time is an exciting time of year. This year seemed to come later than normal be cause the girls were just not showing strong signs of being in standing heat. Although we had a nice cold snap in November, which often gets the ball rolling in regard to breeding season. My girls were just not in the mood. It very well may have come from the stress of having coyotes on our land.

The coyotes never got a chance to make a kill but they visited several times in the late fall and even stood right out our backdoor yipping and making a fuss. Our goats were scared, as they well should be, and remained still as statues.

We got snow just after Christmas and fortunately one of the does went in to heat. I brought her over to a neighboring farm where I bred her to what I do believe is the most beautiful buck I have ever seen. He comes from amazing bloodlines so the union should result in lots of milk and cheese!

It might interest you to know how I get my girls over to neighboring farms. I do not have a truck with a canopy. I have a Subaru wagon. The does jump up in the back, sometimes with the encouragement of a banana peel or other such treat.

I grew up with a family pet goat that used to ride around in the car like a dog. (Really) We lived out on the coast in a small town of about 80 people. Things were real boring at times so my dad would take Amber for a ride just to get folks gossiping and making a fuss. This was one of his more minor spectacles!

In about 5 months from now, right around Memorial Day Weekend, we will have kids born. I will be back to milking and the rhythm of the seasons will take another turn towards abundance.

I can already taste the chevre!

Farm Tour

High 54                        Low 34

Yesterday was a really fun day. Nancy Chase from Camano Island organized a tour of fellow permaculturists. There were 12-14, I think. Nancy is a natural at organizing things like tours since she is the owner of http://www.livewellventures.com, an adventure travel company.

There were five farms scheduled on the tour. We started at Wise Earth Ecological Land Trust in Maltby http://www.wiseearth.org/home.html. Wise Earth is a fun and interesting place that my family has enjoyed visiting over the past few years. Albert Postema has been at the visionary behind saving this piece of land from being cleared and creating a special environment for education. The forest is being cared for and maintained and huge Hugelkultures have been built on the land. Wise Earth is also the home of cottage industry. They are raising oyster mushrooms and produce for market.

After Albert’s we visited Ravencroft Garden in Monroe. http://www.ravencroftgarden.com Ravencroft is a great example of what can be done on a small piece of land. It is in the midst of suburban landscapes and only minutes from rural properties. Eaglesong, owner, herbalist and gardener extraordinaire raises chickens and goats on her small parcel. She showed us how she planted for coppicing (cutting and bringing) food for her goats and spoke of the importance of biodiversity. Eaglesong is a good friend and neighbor.

Our next stop was to SongCroft where I showed the group the land. Shared our vision for perennial food sources as well as season extension so we can harvest year-round. They are ground cherries from the greenhouse and walked the trails. I was able to tell them about out classes and courses offered and also about our summer camps, like Farm Camp (that’s the summer camp we have for families.)

We ate lunch in the cabin around a nice warm fire. It was good to have the time for people to connect and get to know each other.  After lunch, introduced our cottage business, Blissfully Natural, a personal care product line. We finished our time at SongCroft by walking the trails and visiting the rabbits, goats and poultry. We hope that our visitors found something here that inspired them.

Our next stop was Alderleaf Wilderness College where Jason and Kerry Knight run a nature education center and wilderness survival school. http://www.wildernesscollege.com Okay, I can admit it, I wish I had their land. They have a big creek and lots of room for their outdoor classrooms, gathering areas, food production and livestock. It is a sweet set up. They showed us where they teach different topics from flint napping to tracking, We even saw a bear print while we where there.

Our next destination was Gil Schieber’s place in Snohomish. http://www.borealislandscape.com/home.html It was getting dark yet his massive number of apple trees, table grapes, evergreen huckleberries, and aronia berries that he has been propagating was impressive. He has a lot of potential there for interns and a huge space for growing food. Gil has a gift for grafting as some people have a gift for music. I wonder if I stand next to him enough, some of that magic will drift over to me through osmosis?

It was a long day. I had been up by 5am and did my chores by headlamp. I watched the sun come up as I fed the ducks. The day was cold and I ended up outdoors for the better part of 13 hours on a cold damp day but when I’m on the land the time goes by fast. It was a good day.

Thanks for all who participated!

HIGH 52       LOW 47          Heavy Rain after 4pm

http://www.lucandthelovingtons.com

http://www.omculture.com/

The rain falls heavy outside. The darkness comes early and stays late. This is the week of the reversing the clocks. We adjust our clocks to leave daylight savings time and “fall back” an hour.

Now is the time for inside chores that make the house smell so good. Applesauce will be simmering on the stove by Wednesday and little noses will be scrunching up to get a whiff of cinnamon in the air. The kids love applesauce. I anticipate putting up about one hundred jars as it is a family favorite.

I am spending much of my time organizing the curriculum for the upcoming Self-Sufficiency Course that starts in January. A new syllabus and hand-outs are all underway. We are planning this year with a lot of excitement!

Our personal care product line is awaiting labels so we can get them on the market. We have natural food stores already waiting to carry our line. We are excited to get there all natural, fragrance free products out there. As someone who suffered from severe chemical sensitivities for many years, I know that there is a serious need for products that are truly safe! After formulating and making them on a small scale for a small number of clients and spa’s, I am glad to be able to offer them in stores and online through our soon-to-be Blissfully Natural website.

While it is true that I am taking care of responsibilities, I am also having a lot of fun!

Our family has been enjoying more social time. We have been out dancing several times. We feel truly fortunate to have the opportunity to have access to places that encourage families to dance together. Family dance is a great activity to start the kids with while they are young. They tend to continue to enjoy dancing as they get older, they tend to feel comfortable in their bodies during those awkward teen years and they tend to connect “fun” with family time. Also, unlike activities that they grow out of, dancing is something they can do their entire lives. An added bonus is, even if the power grid is out, you can throw a family dance for your neighborhood and have a great unplugged time!

Also, it create memories that the entire family can cherish. For example, I will always cherish images of my 13 yo dancing with her girlfriend- twirling, spinning, hugs and a dip. These are the times that life is about. Unplugged entertainment.

One of the places that a family can go to is Om Culture in Seattle, where we danced to Luc and the Lovington’s. Live music and dancing with children! Whoohoo! It’s a great place.

We hope that all of you are enjoying these darker, slower times. They are times for gathering, reflection and a little good ‘ol hibernation!

High 74     Low 49        Humidity-99% and overcast

http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/

Click the link. Find out about our programs and classes!

Things have been busy here. There has been a lot of food preservation happening. We have hundreds of jars of tomatoes, peaches, pears, jams, salsa, chili sauce, saurkraut, pickled beets, and a large variety of pickles cucumbers and kim chi.

We will be putting apples and root vegetables in to cold storage very soon. The milk flow has slowed a bit but is still coming. The chickens are molting and laying a bit more sparse but are on their way back in to full swing.

The Apprentices from 2010 had their last class and are off to all sorts of things. There was a big canning party put on by some of the alumni! When the apprentices are organizing community canning events, I’d say that my time teaching was well spent!

I added a photo of them with their certificates of completion. Aren’t they cute!

I will be spending more time getting ready for the 2011 apprentices and transitioning to a new year. Registration has just opened for the 2011 program. People are already signing up. We’ve filled up for the past two years. If you want to take the course, now is the time to get registered!

I attended the Cascadia Transition Network Summit and the Northwest Permaculture Convergence. They were two very inspiring events with lots of “Cultural Creatives” in attendance. It gave a great opportunity for building transition networks.

One of my highlights of the weekend was spending time with a young man named Tim. He wasn’t actually attending the event. He was working there. We had some wonderful philosophical conversations and I got to teach him how to propagate herbs for his culinary explorations. I hope he caught the gardening bug!

Tim, if you read this, I hope you will remember our conversations. I hope to hear about the beautiful story you write for your life!

Among the many things happening in our lives is other transition of the cabin in to a learning center. We are opening our cabin up as a classroom for SongCroft and as a space for event rental. This will give us the ability to take more students as well as have more space for activities. We have hosted Doula trainings and other day events. This is a valuable and rare space to hold intimate sized classes in a rural setting.

We will also be making our products in the cabin and will soon have an online store. This is big news and quite the transition!

Thanks for stopping by. Please let us know how your Autumn is going. Please do let other folks know about us. We would love to hear from more folks!

High 61 Low 45  Drizzly but warm. ( Our seedlings are loving this!)

Farm Camp

http://songcroft.com/index.php/farm-camp/

This month has been busy with all of the usually Spring chores of getting the cover crops turned in, garden planted, pullets out to forage, hens in their Spring/Summer home, goat kids birthed and settled in, does milked, cheese made, rabbits bred and the post-construction landscaping started, all the while enjoying the flush of green that has taken over our land.

Although these things have me excited, it’s Farm Camp that has been on my mind. In August we will be opening SongCroft up to those who would like to live and learn about how to run a family farm. This is so exciting that I am finding it hard to concentrate on other projects. We’re going to have a lot of fun!

You’ll experience instruction on dairy goats, chickens, ducks and rabbits as well as growing your produce year-round and preserving the harvest. Mushroom logs, the basics of permaculture, food forests, alternative energy and home arts are all part of the program. It’s great to read books and dream about living a more self-reliant lifestyle but it’s a rare opportunity to be welcomed on to a farm where you are able to learn and try things out for yourself!

Checked out the Farm Camp page. Tell us what you think, what you would most like to learn and if you intend to enroll don’t wait because space is limited.

It’s that time again. We are opening registration for the 2011 apprenticeship program. The 2009 and 2010 programs filled up super fast and we are anticipating the 2011 class to be full within a couple months.

SongCroft School empowers our community by providing one and two year apprenticeship opportunities in self-sufficient living, real-life examples of permaculture landscapes, community connection and cottage industry development. We assist our apprentices to be better equipped to deal with changes in their lives and environments.

If you are concerned about current changes in food and fuel prices, if you want to actively supplement your grocery budget, if you want to hone your skills while reconnecting with nature and it’s rhythms or if you long for a strong community enroll in our program!

You can check out more about the program at http://songcroft.com/index.php/the-songcroft-school-of-self-sufficiency/#skills

Spaces fill up fast so don’t delay!