Summer Morning in the Market Garden
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Looking north across the market garden. Photo by Jenna Rice.
The Winter Wren
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There is a Winter Wren holding forth at the top of Cobb Hill. He's the 3.75 inch guy who weighs a third of an ounce and has the pizzicato presto series of trills and chirps given every minute or so.
Read MoreRadishes in the Kids' Garden
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Caitlin and the radish harvest!
Protecting Soil and Water
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Recently our Natural Resources Conservation Services pasture specialist dropped off a 48 page bulletin from the Vermont Natural Resources Conservation Districts titled: Conservation in Vermont--Best Management Practices for Farm and Forest Owners. The guide outlines state-of-the-art practices that promote water and soil conservation on farms. Of the 18 practices listed specific to farms we are implementing 13:
Read MoreTruck repair, Vermont style
/I took the [community-owned] truck to Meunier's to look at the bent flange on the right side hinge of the tail gate. A very large man ripped off the tail gate, got a hammer and beat the rear end good. After a few more tries and pries it works better than it has in several years. He was quoted as saying "you can fix anything with a big enough hammer".
Cost - I bought the crew a round of coffee tomorrow.
--from an email by Alan K.
Sheep Escape
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How long does it take for a crowd of neighbors to arrive to help round up a flock of escaped sheep?
About 5 minutes, it turns out.
This evening we looked up from dinner to see the llama strolling across the road with the sheep moving swiftly, not far behind her. Then we saw Hal, jogging in their direction pretty swiftly himself!
Read MoreThe Pope's Encyclical
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I was in tears two paragraphs in. I strongly suggest that someone at Cobb Hill print a copy and people begin reading it. I would like to convene a discussion group when I return in August. He is a leader for our times and I am so grateful that he is using his pulpit to create “a conversion” of those that have been dallying on the sidelines watching. I have never believed that the Pope is a Divine selection by God. I have scoffed at Catholics who buy this story. Tonight as I read, I am doubting my own doubts. I am now thinking that there might be such a thing as Divine Intervention. What I'm realizing is that we need to continue to keep up with the New Story that is happening at Cobb Hill in order to claim anything around our values of sustainability.
Read MoreMilestones
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First, during our monthly community meeting we took a moment to celebrate Alan Keitt’s 80th birthday. We stopped to remember some of Alan’s many contributions, including well painted buildings, the concrete floor in the machine shop, a detailed and evolving birds of Cobb Hill inventory, and much more.
Read MoreAn observation on our electricity use
/Typical Vermont house electric bill is $96/ month. The monthly bill for the trailer (fairly low use situation) is 75/month.
Our electric bills come out to be about 55/household, due to our commercials rate and investments in energy efficiency. With cow power, our bill is about 66/household/month.
That means that with 100% renewable energy (and the double climate win of cow power where we also reduce methane emissions) our electric bills are still just 2/3 of the average home in Vermont.