Interview with Kelsey on Her Last Day on the Farm

Tonight we say goodbye to Crazy View Farm's first short-term WWOOFer of the season, Kelsey, whose time with us flew by too quickly. Kelsey joined us about a month ago and tomorrow she sets off to another farm in Taos, New Mexico. Before she departed, we asked her to share a little bit about her experience at Crazy View.

What drew you to WWOOF at Crazy View Farm (CVF)?

I chose to WWOOF at Crazy View Farm for multiple reasons… or, rather, I chose to apply to WWOOF here for multiple reasons. Firstly, I felt drawn to the farm description on the WWOOF site. I seem to remember references to the fact that Laurie and Billy are both artists and musicians, and I know that I feel more at home when there is a lot of music, and music appreciation, in my life. There were also some great reviews from past WWOOFers on the site, so I figured it was worth a shot… which it was! I also applied to work at another farm in Wilsall, Cloud Nine Farm, and I thought it would be great to stay in this area for a good chunk of time, while still experiencing multiple farms. Thankfully, that’s just how it worked out!

Did your experience live up to your expectations?

Absolutely. My experience exceeded my expectations, in fact! I am grateful to have met so many intelligent, passionate, and hard-working people. I am also grateful to have been immersed a bit more into the community of Wilsall than I was during my first two weeks in the area, before I came to Crazy View. I learned so much that I’m certain will be incredibly valuable to me as I continue my travels, and beyond.

What was your favorite on-the-job experience? And off-the-job?

One of my favorite tasks on the farm has been weeding, specifically micro-weeding. I know that it might sound strange, but I enjoy the meditative aspect of it. After you spend a few hours weeding a specific plant, and become accustomed to the weeds surrounding it, the process becomes almost mechanical! This type of works offers me an opportunity to be with myself in my mind, which I enjoy. It is also great to weed alongside another worker and have a real conversation. Once, Sara and I weeded a single bed of dill and cilantro for an entire day – probably six hours total! We had a memorable conversation, learning so much about one another, and laughing a lot too.

I also love market prep days, whether the farmers’ market is that day or the next. I enjoy the excitement, even though it comes along with a decent amount of stress. Not knowing if we will have enough to pick, not knowing how much we are even capable of picking, not knowing if everything we pick will end up being sold… there are so many unknowns! But I feel like we finally got into a groove a few days ago, on the last prep day in my time here. We became a well-oiled machine and everyone played their role wonderfully.

In a non-work related context, I really enjoyed accompanying Billy, Dave and Liz to Muddy Creek Ranch to meet the 8-hour-old foal and to bottle-feed the calf. It was an abundance of baby animals, and in my opinion there can never be too many of those! I also liked the couple of times when the four of us WWOOFers went on little adventures, such as soaking in the hot springs, watching The Merchant of Venice in Bozeman, and… cheating on the cleanse together with gas station candy bars!!! Hehe.

What was your most challenging day on the farm?

The first few weeks of my stay at Crazy View involved lots of tempestuous weather, specifically rain! It was either my second or third day on the farm when we were planting out and covering beds in Garden 2 during a typical rainstorm. That was pretty tricky, and an intense introduction to the potential difficulties of farm work here at CVF! The level of clay in the soil of Garden 2 is so high that, when combined with rain water, it basically turns into play-doh. We all had plenty of difficulty just figuring out how to walk in that sludge, because the clay-soil was getting stuck to our footwear… remember when both of Liz’s shoes become completely lodged in the soil and she had to walk back to the trailer in her socks?!?!? Oh my goodness.

The other major issue for me that morning was with rock collecting for the hoop coverings: in addition to the rain, it was pretty chilly out, and cold fingers are so sensitive that it was quite painful to pick up and transfer all of those cold, jagged rocks. All in all, it was sort of a miserable little while before Laurie told us to escape the craziness… but luckily, it was not indicative of the way the remainder of my stay here would go! And honestly, even if it had been: oh well! That’s the way it goes with farming, and I knew what I was getting myself into. I truthfully appreciate all of the varying weather I’ve been able to experience during my stay in Montana, and even when certain aspects are painful, I always feel an underlying sense of wonder at the power and beauty of nature here.

What was your proudest moment at CVF?

I’ve had a few lovely moments of pride while selling at farmers’ markets in Bozeman, because interacting with people from the community who appreciate our work and our product is extremely gratifying. During my first few days here, I picked a lot of lettuce mix, and I remember thinking a few times, “I’m making someone’s salad!” When I tagged along with Laurie to the Tuesday Bozeman Farmers’ Market the following week, there was one customer in particular who complimented the lettuce mix she had purchased the prior Tuesday… lettuce mix I had picked! That was the first time I really felt a complete connection between the labor I was performing and the end goal of providing healthful, vibrant food to the community. It was wonderful – I really had picked someone’s salad… and she liked it!

I also feel proud when I see the flats I seeded shooting up their little seedlings… even the one that has the rogue cucumber! I am sad that I won’t get to see them grow, but I hope they continue to do so, and thrive after I am gone!

What advice would you give to future CVF WWOOFers?

Well, one thing that I sometimes wish I had done differently when planning my WWOOFing adventure is extending my farm stays. Crazy View is the third farm I’ve visited, and I am now headed down to New Mexico where I’ll make my way to three additional farms! It is a whirlwind tour! I love the fact that I’ve been able to meet so many people, learn so much, and experience so many differing farming methods… but to be perfectly honest, I am quite envious of season-long WWOOFers such as Dave, Liz and Sara. The opportunity to stay with one farm from the beginning of the process to the end is absolutely amazing, in terms of the actual farm work, and in terms of building relationships!

For this reason, one piece of advice I would offer to future WWOOFers would be: plan to stay at the farm/s for a minimum of one month! That is the amount of time I’ve been here at CVF, although all of my other stays have been (and will be) only two weeks. I’m so grateful that Laurie encouraged me, when I was in the initial planning stage, to stay for at least a month… but sincerely, I wish I could stay even longer.

Oh, one other piece of advice I would give to those WWOOFing here at Crazy View specifically is: be a dog lover! There are lots of canine friends around, and I will really miss them when I leave. Especially Jane. Not to pick favorites… but… well… she’s my favorite. Her silly whine/moan when you come inside, like she simply cannot contain her love and excitement, and the way she rolls over onto her back as soon as you get within two feet of her! What a goober. But truly, I will miss them all, and would definitely recommend Crazy View to dog lovers!

How does WWOOFing fit into your career/life direction or goals?

We-eee-elll… I am hesitant to answer this question because I am still so unsure of myself, but I do have a dream of being involved in urban farming endeavors after I move to Chicago this fall. I am very interested in issues of social justice, and my educational background is in Ethnic Studies. I would love to combine my newfound interest in farming with my desire to make the world a healthier place for people of all backgrounds. I recently watched the documentary film Fresh which featured an amazing man, Will Allen, and his urban farm in Milwauke, Growing Power (http://www.growingpower.org/). How inspiring! And Liz tells me that urban farming has become quite a big thing in Chicago recently, so I do harbor the hope of being involved in something that could combine my multiple interests of agriculture and social justice some day. I love that urban farming really makes it clear how producing healthy food really can be, at the core, about caring for people and wanting the best for all people on our planet.

And finally… a question I came up with all on my own! What were your top five meals at Crazy View Farm?

5. Baked apples! So simple but such a great idea.

4. Sara’s many stir-fries/veggie concoctions. I can’t choose one, but they were all yummy, simple and unique. I remember one in particular that had cauliflower and was seasoned with fennel.

3. Quesadillas the night before we began The Cleanse… I think they had cream cheese in them, so yummy! And there was guacamole too.

2. The many incarnations of spring rolls with rice paper, rice noodles, veggies, almond butter, ginger, basil, etc. etc. etc. stuffed inside. I could eat this meal every single day! I love how creative Dave got, wrapping curry veggies (and spaghetti?!?!?) in rice paper!

1. The fried rice, kale, and pea dish seasoned with ginger that Laurie made for lunch yesterday. Maybe it’s number one because it’s so recent in my memory, but it was just delectable!

I want to thank everyone at Crazy View Farm for being so hospitable and helping to bring me out of my shell. Laurie and Billy are awe-inspiring in countless ways, both personally and in terms of the work they do… and they chose amazing season-long WWOOFers, all with very similar qualities! I also want to thank Dave and Liz for maintaining this awesome blog. I’ll definitely be keeping up with it and checking in on everyone.

Kelsey, it's been a pleasure working next to you in the fields, listening to you sing one line of a song again and again, devouring your spicy spaghetti sauce, getting to know what makes you tick and becoming fast friends. You will be missed.  

PS.  Kelsey's Dad: We hope you'll still be a regular reader even without Kelsey around.

Watching the Herd

Mostly another routine day.   Picked and packed for the market.  I think we're getting better at it because it seems to be going smoother.  And our product is so good the dogs even want to eat it.

Mary eating a discarded romaine leaf

After work I tended to a few personal plants.  We've been carting around a Pansy that we got in Fort Collins on Earth Day,  It was a small little stub with one tiny bud when we got it and now it's getting big with many flowers.

As Laurie and Sara were heading off to market Liz and I took Boo for a walk.  We headed out into the fields and were strolling back when the truck was driving out to us.  On their way out the girls noticed that there were a couple of coyotes circling the herd of cattle down the road.  They brought out the .22 and handed it off to me.  So I started to walk out to the cows while Liz put Boo inside.  Fortunately when I got out to the cow field there were no canines around.  Although later Billy informed us that at this point in the year it would be awfully hard for coyotes to get a calf because of how big they've gotten.

So crisis averted we rested easy.  Later on when Liz and Kelsey went out to water the gardens I cooked some pasta for dinner and used frozen tomatoes from last years garden.  Delicious.

Homemade Falafel

Another Tuesday rolls by.  Started the day picking for the market.  The usual.  We ended up finishing rather early though.  Gave us some time to enjoy the beautiful day.  After wasting some of the afternoon on the computer, I decided to make some falafel for dinner.  I checked the cabinets and it seemed like we had almost everything.  We were however out of onions.  Laurie suggested I get some from the garden.  She had planted some last summer and they were still growing.  So I went out and picked some.

Four small onions from the garden

Surprisingly small for having been in the ground for so long, but they were enough to do the job.  So following a recipe I mixed up a batch of dough (I'm calling it dough).  When it came time to fry them I was excited.  Too bad they didn't stick together at all in the oil.  So it was time for the backup plan.  Preheat oven to 375 and bake them.  They didn't turn out as crispy as I would have like but everyone enjoyed them nonetheless.

Boo flies a kite

Our weekend ended with a beautiful day.  It actually frosted this morning though!  We are probably going to lose some peppers and maybe some tomatoes.  Tricky weather out here.  Laurie said the safe plant out day is June 21, so much for that.  But once the sun was out for a while it warmed up quite a bit.  And it also got windy.  So while Sara and Kelsey were busy working (transplanting lettuce) we took our kites out.

We were having a good time and Boo wanted to join in.

After that we headed back to the house to relax the rest of the day away.  Back to work tomorrow.

Swimming, on Doctor's Orders

Posted by Boo

I'm finally starting to feel like myself again.

After knee surgery laid me out for the past couple of months, last week Liz and Dave let me run around the farm off leash for the first time since we moved here. I've been sniffing everything, playing with the other three dogs, especially my buddy CJ, and trailing all the cats around the house.

A week ago, I had a check up with a nice new vet in Livingston who performs the same surgery I had done in Fort Collins. He said I was right on track for a full recovery. I wasn't wild about the physical therapy but I'm relieved it's working. He recommended the best thing for me was to swim in a reservoir (the rivers are too dangerous now) or just wade in the water to strengthen my knee.

So yesterday they took me to Cottonwood Creek Reservoir just a few miles north of Wilsall. It's a long, beautiful reservoir, only a few feet deep across - perfect!

Dave and Liz made up a picnic lunch, grabbed a blanket and headed out around noon. The water was moving at a pretty good clip because the wind was howling but it was a perfectly clear sky with brilliant sunshine all day.

I got to swim back and forth across the res from Liz to Dave, to Liz, to Dave, and back again. Then - my favorite part - shook the water off on their legs!

After a long afternoon (nearly four hours!) of lazing in the sun with them reading, they took me home to relax, eat, and welcome home the other two dogs, Jane and Mary, from their weekend cattle-herding training camp.

I love living on the farm way more now that I don't have to be held up on the leash all the time. Freeeeedom!


PS. I miss all my family and friends and love you.

The Merchant of Venice and the merchants from Wilsall

Friday was our big pick day.  Laurie left instructions on approximately how much of what to bring.  So we all got to work on part of the list.  Aside from a short lunch break we worked diligently until we were finished and had everything loaded in the truck.


After work the girls got cleaned up and I started cooking dinner.  It was a cold dinner that we could bring with us to Bozeman.  Us four WWOOFers headed into town to see Shakespeare in the Park.  We made it to Bozeman with plenty of time to spare.  Which was good because it took us some time to find the park.  The only info we could find was that it was at the MSU grove.  However nothing indicated where the grove was.  It took a couple of wrong turns to find campus and then a couple more wrong turns until we found someone to ask.  By that point we were actually pretty close to where we needed to be.  We found parking and were able to make it to the show on time.   It was a great performance.

Shylock demanding Antonio's pound of flesh

We got home before midnight and went straight to bed because we had to get up early for market.  Cut to 5 am.  Woke up, fed the dogs, got our crap ready, and drove back into Bozeman.  Our first market without Laurie.  We had no problems getting there or setting up.  Once again it was quite chilly inside.  But that didn't stop the patrons.  It was an okay market.  Sales could have been better but we'll take what we can get.  Lots of people asked how we got our lettuce heads so big so early in the season; we said magic and a little hard work.  (The real answer is growing in the hoop house, under cover, AND hard work).

Merchant of Wilsall

Liz and I finally got home around two.  We had a quick lunch and then took a nap with Boo.  A couple hours later we were refreshed and ready to go.  Kelsey had begun making dinner and it was starting to fill the house with a delicious smell.  During dinner it started to rain on us some.  Just as I was finishing up the dishes lo and behold another rainbow appeared.

As we walked the dogs before bed a beautiful sunset appeared that lit the sky on fire.

Our first day on our own

Laurie left early this morning for a dog herding camp with the collies, Jane and Mary.  She'll be gone until Sunday.  So our first day alone on the farm.  Nothing too exciting.  The girls did some weeding and I began planting more tomatoes out but this time in garden 3.

Pre planting

Tomatoes ready for planting

After lunch Liz helped me with the tomatoes and Sara put down some more sheet mulch while Kelsey kept weeding.  We made some progress but the excitement will come tomorrow.  We will have to pick for the Saturday market.  Laurie left us with a list of what we should pick so it should be easy, knock on wood.


Late this afternoon there were a few storms that rolled in.  We got some rain but it didn't hit us too hard.  No rainbow yet.  Time to get rested up for our big day tomorrow.

Weeding, planting, and a surprise package

Laurie decided to skip the market tonight so we can have a better harvest for Saturdays market.  So we didn't have to pick and wash today.  We started the day off weeding a patch in the back of garden 1.  It was mostly tall grass.  The big patch seemed ominous but with all of us working together it didn't take long. 

Throwing the weeds over the fence

We stopped for a tea break after that and then went out to do some planting.  I planted some peppers out in the freshly weeded area and Kelsey planted chive next to me.  Meanwhile Liz and Sara planted lettuce out in garden 3.

Pepper plants with chive on the left

After lunch I prepped some more beds in garden 2 and the girls planted a few of them.  While we were hard at work I heard Laurie call out that I got a package.  How intriguing.  I finished the section I was working on and ran over to see what it was.

A meatday present from Nate.  It has all the fixins to make Chicago style hot dogs.  It'll be the perfect meal for the 4th of July.


After work we put in one more screen on the camper.  Two down, four to go.


I'll close with today's rainbow.

Newborns and an ATV

Tuesdays are quickly becoming the most demanding day of the week.  We start picking bright and early for the Bozeman market and for Crazy View's online orders.  That means picking, cleaning, bagging, packing the truck and, for Laurie and Sara, a long night at the market.


By the time we finished, we had the most spicy salad mix we've ever picked - nearly 40 1/2lb bags, bags of spinach and arugula and a dozen each of the four kinds of head lettuce.  We also had a few dozen fresh eggs care of Dave, who risked pecking to fetch them from the coop.

After Laurie and Sara set off for Bozeman around 3, Billy invited us over to Muddy Creek Ranch to bottle feed a calf and meet the newest colt, born today.

The colt was born just eight hours before.  The momma was a wild horse that the folks at Muddy Creek bought at auction when a nearby ranch with 800 horses went into foreclosure.  She was pregnant at the time and they really didn't know when she would birth - horse gestation is just over 11 months.

Since she's wild, she's never been broke and probably has never been touched.  But they had to keep tabs on the baby colt.  She delivered sometime around 7am.  The colt must stand up and walk within 20 minutes of birth or else it's in trouble and needs to be helped up so they've been keeping close watch. Billy told us that if the colt doesn't stand by then, it'll be behind in development most of it's life and many ranchers will give up or shoot it.

After seeing the baby, we headed over to the barn to help feed the calf.  The calf's mom, according to Billy, is a nutbag.  She's gone crazy and has been trying to kill the calf by headbutting it and hasn't been nursing it.  So they got the calf out of the pen and have taken to bottle feeding it.  Apparently that's not uncommon behavior from a mom that loses it but they can often figure out a way that she can still feed by putting her in a shoot so the baby can still milk or by milking another mom.

When we got back to the farm, we whipped up dinner and then went for a ride on the ATV!  Billy brought the ATV over from Muddy Creek because one of the calves jumped over a fence at Crazy View and was separated from it's mom (there's about 50 head of MC cattle in the pasture here).  So after they did the hard work of wrangling the calf, we got all the fun of driving it around the fields.

We ended the longest day of the year with a lovely sunset over the Bridgers and called it a day.  Happy Summer Solstice!

Pine Creek Falls

After we tried to sleep in some this morning we decided it would be a good day for a trip into Livingston.  We had a few things that needed to be returned to the library and we also wanted to pick up some tickets to a Pinky and the Floyd show on July 3rd.  We also thought it would be a good idea to stop by the Gallatin National Forest ranger station.  So after lunch we headed into town.


While making our scheduled stops we wandered into a small bookstore.  We ended up chatting with the owner for a little bit.  Liz asked if there were any good scenic drives nearby and he basically said that you can't not have a scenic drive in the area.  He went on to give a little more detail about a few.  One in particular sounded cool.  Just south of Livingston is Pine Creek and a miles hike from the road is a waterfall.  So off we went.


As promised the ride out to the aptly named Paradise Valley (the area where Pine Creek is) was stunning.  We found the trailhead at the back of a campground and hiked out to the falls.

After spending a couple hours on the trail we headed back home.  When we arrived back at Crazy View, Billy was the only one home.  As we got out of the car he asked if we wanted to go catch a calf.  Of course we both eagerly agreed.  Yesterday we had noticed a calf in the wrong field and separated from his mother by a fence.  So today we drove out to see if we could reunite them.  However when we got out to the field the calf was nowhere in sight.  The three of us walked around for a bit and were able to notice that the calf was in yet another field.  Although this one at least had some other cattle in it.  Billy decided that it was safe enough for the night and that we would need a horse or an ATV to get the calf into the next field without too much hassle.  So no cattle wrangling today.


By the time we got back to the house, again, Laurie head returned from the store.  She had gone out to get provisions for the next week.  She also picked up a new gun.  The gophers are a huge infestation out here and the state pastime is shooting them.  She put me in charge of pest control.  But she decided that she needed to be the first to shoot the gun so we squeezed off a few rounds.

Then it was time for another delicious dinner.  We stuffed ourselves and chatted for a bit. Tomorrow is an early day because we have a market tomorrow night.  So we all dispersed to bed shortly after dinner.

Wilsall Rodeo and Happy Father's Day

There was excitement in the air this morning when the Crazy View crew arose: Laurie had baked cinnamon apples for breakfast, we're going to the Wilsall Rodeo and Parade, calling our dads, and we're in the last day of week one on the cleanse (tomorrow we get to add rice and nuts to our meals!).


The baked apples didn't last long and after we were all stuffed and had our cups of tea, we got ready to head down to Wilsall for the rodeo parade.  We left a bit early so we could get a good spot among the huge crowd (all of Wilsall's 250 residents) and it's a good thing we did...  Just down the road from the farm, a big herd of the neighbor's cattle had broke loose.  Laurie said, "Well there goes the parade for us..."

Teamwork to get the cattle round up

After checking the ear tags to figure out who's they were, we started the long haul down the road, walking them to a nearby open gate, with Billy and Sara down the road and us up.  The cattle didn't put up much of a fight and after almost a half hour, they were all back in the pasture.


We put it into high gear to get down to the parade route.  It started a few minutes after noon and we rolled up just in time to claim a spot in front of the Wilsall Cafe.  

Crazy Crew at the parade: Laurie, Kelsey, Sara, Liz & Dave

We wanted to share a slice of small-town Americana so we took video of the whole parade.  Southsiders, don't fret - this parade was only ten minutes long! - not two hours like we're used to. Steven, look out for the old fire trucks at the end of the parade - Dave thought you'd like them.

It was a good two hours after the parade before the Rodeo began so we headed back for lunch at home.  A huge salad and some potatoes and we were back in business and Sara, Dave and I were headed back down to watch our first rodeo.


The backdrop was stunning (though we see those mountains closeup everyday) to watch the bareback riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, team roping and, of course, bull riding.  The horsemanship was phenomenal.  They made riding look so easy and graceful even though we all know it's a PITA, literally.  Among the cowboy-hat donning crowd, everyone was happy and friendly and chowing down on burgers and hot dogs that made our mouths water to think about.  

Team roping

A few hours later - and with sore bums from the bleacher seating - we headed home to relax. I took a nap with Boo and then Dave and I took her on a walk. We met the neighbor's horses along the way.

After our walk, we enjoyed the long sunset over the Bridgers from the porch before another amazing dinner Laurie had prepared - homemade tomato soup and fresh-picked salads.  We all talked about our plans and work for the week and shortly thereafter, we headed to bed to watch movies and sleep.




Happy Father's Day! 
We'd like to wish our dads a very happy father's day.  We wish we could be back home to celebrate you and all you've done for us.  We miss you!

Dave's first market and our first town dance

I woke up nice and early Saturday so Laurie and I could head to the market in Bozeman.  The moon was still up and close to full.  I snapped this on the way to Bozeman.

Full moon on the left

We got in to town and arrived at the fairgrounds right on time.  After we got inside we unloaded everything.  I started setting up while Laurie parked the truck.  Shortly after we were all set up and ready to go.

The market went well.  Laurie said it seemed a little slower than it should have been for the first Saturday market.  We still managed to sell most of what we brought though.   We came back home afterward and had lunch while Liz was finishing up some weeding.


I made some notes on the Google satellite image of the farm so everyone can get an idea of the layout.  There is a many fields on the property where the horses and sometimes cattle graze but this is the only areas we farm.

After dinner we all got dressed up for the town dance.  It ended up being really crowded because of the rodeo in town.  We still had a good time though.

Getting into the Routine

Today we were doing the usual pick and pack.  Tomorrow is the market in Bozeman and we have to leave here by 6 a.m.  So we had to get it all ready to go today.  Not much else to say about today so here is a picture of a super bright rainbow in our backyard.

Weeding and our dinner with Jerry

Yet another overcast day in Wilsall.  Since we had no market to pick for our task for the day was weeding.  A seemingly endless job but necessary throughout the season.  So we all headed out to garden 3 to do some weeding.  A simple task that consumed our work day.

We did get a few patches of sun but we also got some light showers.  It was actually a decent day to be out.

After work we had a vet appointment in Livingston, so Liz, Boo, and I borrowed Laurie's car and headed into town.  The vet says that Boo is doing just fine.  She is right on track with recovery.  He also said that the patch shaved for the epidural takes a long time to grow back.  A little reassurance that she won't look goofy forever.

When we got back home from Livingston our dinner guest had already arrived.  Laurie asked her friend Jerry to come and talk to us about bears.  He regaled us with stories well through dinner and for a couple hours after.

It was great to have him over.  We all learned something and had a good time while doing so.  He also turned us on to some good hiking trails.  Thanks again Jerry!!

Early start for the Livingston farmers market

Today we started early.  We had to pick, wash, and package for the market this afternoon.  After breakfast we all headed out and started to pick.  First the greenhouse, then garden 1, and even garden 3.  It was exciting to be picking leaves off of what we planted out a couple weeks ago.

Once the picking was complete the girls washed and packed everything while I planted tomatoes in the holes I dug yesterday.

After lunch Liz and Laurie went to the market while Kelsey, Sara, and I planted out some more lettuce in garden 3.  When we finished that we put some straw mulch around the freshly planted tomatoes.

Just as we finished that up it started to drizzle so we called it a day.  Time to relax inside.  We put on the kettle and I started a fire.

When Liz and Laurie got back from the market a little early.  It began pouring in Livingston and kinda ended it.  They did manage to sell almost everything before the rain.  Way to go girls!!!

Cattle drive on the highway to Livingston

Market prep, diggin holes, The Cleanse

Lovely, if chilly, day on the farm today. Over lunch more then one of us asked if this kind of cold is typical for so late into June (it is).

Tonight was the Livingston Farmers Market so it was pick, wash and pack. Sara, Kelsey and Laurie got a huge head start on Monday picking most of what we needed so while they washed what was ready, Dave and I hit up the greenhouse for head lettuce and mustard greens.

Our big heads of romaine lettuce

The head lettuce are immaculate. And we get to slice them at the root with super sharp knives! Good times.

Then it was wash time. No matter how brightly the sun shines, rinses the greens in frigid water is not pleasant. Meanwhile, Dave dug. His task was to dig the rest of the holes we need in garden 1 to transplant more tomatoes. He dug 30 holes.

Transplanting tomatoes

Then alas, we finished and packed the truck up for Laurie and Kelsey to take to market by early afternoon. Dave and I went for a walk to see the donkeys Ruth and Rachel and all the horses and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon to ourselves.


And in other news: The Crazy View Farm crew has taken on The Cleanse.


We can't pinpoint exactly how it came about (or maybe I can't recall), but one of us picked up Laurie's book If The Buddha Came to Dinner, engaged us all in a discussion about food (it's hard not to talk about our work), how we eat, our digestion, and we were inspired. So starting Monday (June 13th) our crew is on a cleanse.

The concept is simple: If the Buddha (or for that matter, any honored guest) came to dinner at your home, chances are you'd prepare and serve a healthy delicious meal with the best foods. But would you do the same for yourself? The author writes,

"We need to feed ourselves with a sense of purpose, self-respect, love, and passion for lives. We need to nourish our spirits."

For all of us, learning to nourish ourselves better and more diversely (not just eat) was a big reason we came to WWOOF on the farm.

The first step in that direction is a three week cleanse intended to help us figure out to feed ourselves, listen to what our body needs, and get out all the junk we've been putting in there. The first week (this week) we only eat fruits and veggies (though not together), and drink water or decaf tea. Next week we can add seeds and grains like rice and the following add proteins.

Our fruit cache

This would be a daunting task for anybody on their own so we're attacking it as a team.  It takes creativity to figure out what to make - and we have the best advantage by having Laurie's amazing cooking skills on tap.  Like this incredible hearty veggie soup she made:

It could be a rough but we've got each other to commiserate together about all the things we miss eating and drinking.