Let me re-introduce myself to myself & my friends reading here!
I am a happy shepherdess farmer gal, who comes from the cheltenham/jenkintown area, has been living it up in berks county for 4 years now.
Since March of '08 I have been a proud employee of Wanamaker's General Store in Kempton, PA (www.wanamakersgeneralstore.com). Please check out our super awesome website (created by a local business) which explains the history of the store. I get to talk with all of the locals, all of the visitors from new jersey & new york, the folks who come to bird, and the folks who come to fish in the nearly drained Leaser Lake. We make wonderful deli sandwiches, sell: local produce & local handmade items for function or decoration, toys that rock, bait, hunting & fishing licenses, penny candy, bulk foods, organic dairy & chickens, and most things that you need like shoelaces or lightbulbs. I have worked at the store since the new owners reopened it & I get to work among other fabulous people! Pure JOY!
I moved around a little bit last year - all among good folks & in supportive environments. I moved my sheep as well, but more about that soon! I now live near the base of Hawk Mountain, with my sweetheart, Victor. Some of you may be familiar with Hawk Mountain Sanctuary or the Appalachian Trail. Victor & I live in a sweet home that he constructed on an old foundation that was once a grain shed, upon his fathers land. We garden like maniacs, preparing for winter in june. We have 4 chickens in a movable chicken tractor/coop. They are quite funny & interesting birds to hang with and it is so nice to have just 4 in terms of bonding & getting to know one another. Currently we have my two rams at home, being rotated around to spots that need mowing, with electric netting. We have some crazy crazy stories about the couple of times they escaped when the electric was off! There are lots of flowers and berries to pick, which makes me a very happy camper! And endless amounts of space in which to create new gardens to grow a full variety of annuals, perennials, and succession crops.
After some wild times with rotating 14 of my sheep in electric netting, I began leasing a farm on the other side of Kempton last July. I lease 12 acres, with a big beautiful red barn, electric, a water pump, and everything my flock needs. The land is quite diverse and seems very nice for sheep as they get to graze on pasture, drink from fresh springs, and wander into the woods for shade and to munch on dried up leaves, poison ivy and such.
Lambing season 2009 lasted for 2 solid months! It just ended the other day so I can now announce to you all the wonderful results - but that will wait for another posting. Please stay tuned.
In the winter, I holed up in the house around the woodstove playing board games, drinking tea, spinning yarn on my Louet wheel. I went on walks in the snow, checked on my sheep as needed, watched some movies, listened to books on tape, ran through the snowy yard in just my robe to get to the outhouse (how refreshing!). It was a lovely winter & I was slow to release it and enter spring. Then again the weather has been reluctant to offer us spring and summer too!
I attended two births as a Doula, at Reading Hospital. One was at the end of February, the other 3 weeks later. They were both incredible experiences that I felt so blessed to be a part of and so happy to be able to offer something that I believe is so important. Birth is incredible! I encourage you all to delve deeper into the world of birth on whatever level is right for you. Maybe it is just to watch a few eye opening films : The Business of Being Born & Orgasmic Birth!
In April & May we picked wild morel mushrooms, cooked them up with eggs and fresh spring nettles, sipped Victor's homemade ginger soda, started seeds, and readied our garden for planting. I had a superb birthday party at home: full of cake, friends, food, yard games, and live music. It was a lovely way to fully enter spring; to say, Hello to spring & welcome it enthuiastically!
Today is the first of July and I am still spinning yarn as much as possible, tending the garden, tending to my sheep, working two jobs, making jam, giving reiki to myself & others, and going to bed early.
This is my best attempt to update you all on highlights from May '08 to June '09. I hope it was fun, colorful, and a joy for you to read.
Please stay tuned for more news on lambing season and other things that pop up in the life of this wanna-be-homesteader.
