A Full Table

September is almost here…and while that connotes many things – harvest, preservation, weeding – it also means that another round of community food events is about to begin. Yes, it’s that time again: the beginning of a month means First Sunday Farm Feast Breakfast & Open House and First Friday Pizza & a Movie Night. (And just a reminder – Final Friday is Potluck/Open Mic Night!) These events define our weeks and are the texture of our months. Each gathering is a celebration of neighbors and friends, an opportunity to showcase seasonal fare and homegrown taste. Farm-fresh deliciousness and permaculture production define our food philosophy, while these monthly breakfasts, pizza nights, and potluck gatherings build our community through full plates and all-you-should-eat spreads. Abundance is beautiful in the camaraderie of fine company. It is our salute to an agricultural ethic, and homage to local food flavor. What a joy to share a meal in the very place where the ingredients are grown, at a table with those who grew it, knowing the hands that prepared it. Health, well-being, and vitality are all offered in our farm-fresh meals. And this is your invitation to join us! D Acres’ First Sunday Farm Feast Breakfast & Open House is this coming Sunday, September 2 (always the first Sunday of every month, all year long, year after year). A convivial atmosphere of fun and neighborliness, you have your choice of eggs, pancakes, sausage, greens, and potatoes (except in summer). Second and thirds are encouraged! All we ask is a donation, $5-15 sliding scale donation, whatever you are comfortable with. Breakfast is served 10am-1pm; 1-3pm is a farm tour we’d love to take you on – free! Check out our new piglets, the beautiful flowers, the packed gardens, and the quiet of the woods. There’s something for everybody. Farm Feast is barely a memory when First Friday Pizza & a Movie Night is here – this month it’s Friday, Sept 7 (always the first Friday of every month, all year long, year after year). A fun, relaxing, and delicious way to end the week. We spend the afternoon making pizza, gathering fresh toppings from the gardens, grating cheese from nearby Bunten Farmhouse Kitchen, then baking the final product as the evening descends - hot in our wood-fired cob oven! Dinner begins at 6pm, and again all we ask is a sliding-scale donation $5-15 for all-you-should-eat slices! Pizza is then followed by a film screening at 7:30pm, free! Titles are different every month, please check out our website www.dacres.org for each month’s screening. As fall descends, slow down from summer and put us on your calendar! We can’t wait to see you at the farm. Join us at the table for delicious, farm-fresh, seasonal fare. You won’t be disappointed. ~Beth as published in North Country News

Chicken Pioneers

Six of our chickens are feeling quite lucky – without announcement they find themselves in a brand new enclosure full of grubs, bugs, lush vegetation, a variety of grasses, and a natural bouquet of wildflowers. Mulberry trees reign overhead, and rouge berries drop their way to the ground like edible confetti. Shade from the old apple trees keeps the area cool in the morning, while a breeze through the hazelnuts mellows the afternoon heat. Yes, these White Island Crosses may just be thinking they’ve reached poultry paradise. From the human perspective, we’ve wanted to get these birds on new territory for a couple of reasons. The birds’ existing pen is well eaten, with bare soil dominating the topography. In the name of chicken well-being, we want to offer them more verdant habitat. In the name of soil health, we don’t want to exhaust the ecology of the existing paddock. Too, with our farming interests in mind, we are already anticipating the transplanting of rootstock next spring…and we need weed-free areas in which to do so. By placing chickens on this grassy patch now, in the height of summer, these birds will have ample months (now through the fall freeze) to eat this meadow down to dirt. At that juncture, we will be able to prep the area for future planting, applying compost followed by a cardboard & woodchip sheet mulch. This winter we’ll log some of the larger trees to the West, eliminating the heaviest of the shade. By spring we will be ready to transplant fruit trees, nut trees, berry bushes, and medicinal groundcovers into the area. So how did we go about this process of re-housing a portion of our chicken flock? Well, all told, it began with our oxen. See, the luxury suite in which these six chickens live is actually a wooden house atop wheels. We call this a “chicken tractor.” After re-filling the limp tires, this mobile home was hitched to the awaiting oxen, then pulled into it’s new location. A truck could do the same job…but the oxen are certainly more appreciative of the work. From there, postholes were dug for stability and durability of the fence-to-be. Some reconnaissance in our “resource pile” yielded more chicken wire scraps then anticipated – a fence was rapidly patched together, a minimum of five feet tall. Lower than this, and the birds’ sense of adventure may just impel them to fly beyond the enclosure on which we want them to focus. In the coming weeks, as they eat down the vegetation along the bottom edge of the fence, we will need to monitor the fence line for holes or uneven patches – the grass is always green enough on the outside to prompt the next great escape. In short order the tractor house was filled with bedding, a watering dish and food trough were placed inside, and laying boxes were filled with hay. The chickens were officially moved in. They jumped to the work at hand with eager excitement; there was much for these chicken pioneers to do. Anthropomorphic as it may be, they sure do seem content. And that is a beautiful moment to witness. ~Beth as published in North Country News

Chicken Pioneers

Six of our chickens are feeling quite lucky – without announcement they find themselves in a brand new enclosure full of grubs, bugs, lush vegetation, a variety of grasses, and a natural bouquet of wildflowers. Mulberry trees reign overhead, and rouge berries drop their way to the ground like edible confetti. Shade from the old apple trees keeps the area cool in the morning, while a breeze through the hazelnuts mellows the afternoon heat. Yes, these White Island Crosses may just be thinking they’ve reached poultry paradise. From the human perspective, we’ve wanted to get these birds on new territory for a couple of reasons. The birds’ existing pen is well eaten, with bare soil dominating the topography. In the name of chicken well-being, we want to offer them more verdant habitat. In the name of soil health, we don’t want to exhaust the ecology of the existing paddock. Too, with our farming interests in mind, we are already anticipating the transplanting of rootstock next spring…and we need weed-free areas in which to do so. By placing chickens on this grassy patch now, in the height of summer, these birds will have ample months (now through the fall freeze) to eat this meadow down to dirt. At that juncture, we will be able to prep the area for future planting, applying compost followed by a cardboard & woodchip sheet mulch. This winter we’ll log some of the larger trees to the West, eliminating the heaviest of the shade. By spring we will be ready to transplant fruit trees, nut trees, berry bushes, and medicinal groundcovers into the area. So how did we go about this process of re-housing a portion of our chicken flock? Well, all told, it began with our oxen. See, the luxury suite in which these six chickens live is actually a wooden house atop wheels. We call this a “chicken tractor.” After re-filling the limp tires, this mobile home was hitched to the awaiting oxen, then pulled into it’s new location. A truck could do the same job…but the oxen are certainly more appreciative of the work. From there, postholes were dug for stability and durability of the fence-to-be. Some reconnaissance in our “resource pile” yielded more chicken wire scraps then anticipated – a fence was rapidly patched together, a minimum of five feet tall. Lower than this, and the birds’ sense of adventure may just impel them to fly beyond the enclosure on which we want them to focus. In the coming weeks, as they eat down the vegetation along the bottom edge of the fence, we will need to monitor the fence line for holes or uneven patches – the grass is always green enough on the outside to prompt the next great escape. In short order the tractor house was filled with bedding, a watering dish and food trough were placed inside, and laying boxes were filled with hay. The chickens were officially moved in. They jumped to the work at hand with eager excitement; there was much for these chicken pioneers to do. Anthropomorphic as it may be, they sure do seem content. And that is a beautiful moment to witness. ~Beth as published in North Country News

Moving On

So as I am readying for departure from here, I prepare myself to get back to the grind of classrooms and textbooks. I am not leaving empty handed, however, far from it. I have learned incredible amounts and am taking with me every speck of knowledge that I have managed to soak up over the past 11 weeks. What is happening here is quite incredible and very different from what most people get to experience in their everyday lives. It is a much simpler way of life, where your worries aren’t about how much money your making or financial security, its about having what you need around you. Its about growing your own food for the good of the land and having a community of people to depend upon to be working there beside you. It is a model of communal living, not without its flaws of course, but incredible nonetheless. I feel privileged to have been able to live and learn here for the past two and a half months. A very warm thank you goes out to all here at D Acres who have taught me patiently and answered my many questions informatively. This was an experience that I will not forget.

Thank you to the crew of Summer 2012!

The NH Permaculture Gathering

The New Hampshire Permaculture Gathering is fast approaching! This is a chance to gather, to network, to learn, and to skill-share with fellow permaculturalists, sustainability enthusiasts, agricultural activists, homesteaders, small-scale farmers, and homescale gardeners within our state. Hosted by D Acres Farm (218 Streeter Woods Rd., Dorchester) and co-sponsored by NOFA-NH, Greater Seacoast Permaculture Group, & Central NH Permaculture Group, the event will be held Saturday, August 25 9am-7:30pm. The will be choc full with farm tours, networking opportunities, skill-sharing workshops, farm fresh meals grown and prepared by D Acres, and a keynote lunch presentation by Jonathan Bates. Workshop schedule includes Intro to Permaculture, Intro to Composting, Soil Fertility, Intro to Beekeeping, Intro to Urban & Suburban Permaculture, Intro to Handhewing, Bread Baking, Dandelion Wine Making, Soapmaking, and Mushrooms. A full agenda of the day’s events are available by contacting D Acres as info@dacres.org or 603-786-2366. Pre-registration is encouraged; $20 suggested donation includes access to all aspects of the day’s events, as well as all-you-can-eat D Acres lunch. Folks are encouraged to stay into the evening, with live music by The Goodhues Band to cap off the day’s events. The agriculture learning process is a lifetime investment; with the New Hampshire Permaculture Gathering we are intent on sparking interest, community, and support networks to foster the learning journey in which we are all engaged. Whether this is your introduction to the permaculture model, or you are interested in expanding your projects, or are in need of a community in which to share and grow your enthusiasm, this first-time event is an unique opportunity to integrate and network all levels of practitioners. Thanks to our co-sponsors, the event is drawing participants from across the Granite State, representing an exceptional potential for collaboration, skill-sharing, and cross-pollination of ideas. Permaculture represents a lifestyle and a mode of thinking, not simply an alternative style of gardening and building. As such, the New Hampshire Permaculture Gathering intends to unite likeminded individuals and enhance the webs of knowledge, encouragement, support, and agricultural passion that exist across our state. By developing a community of enthusiasts and practitioners, we aim to develop permaculture knowledge and interest for the benefit and growth or our regional well-being. A better world can start here. Join us in our efforts at modeling the world in which we want to live. Connect with us Saturday, August 25: contact D Acres at info@dacres.org or 603-786-2366. We look forward to seeing you at the farm! ~Beth as published in North Country News