We have a new Puppy!
Tasha arrived in December. She was a two month old Maremma, which is a livestock guardian dog originating in Italy. When Tasha reaches maturity, her job on the farm will be to guard the goats from predators. First, we had to successfully integrate Tasha into the goatherd and have Zanne the 6 year old Maremma accept her. Zanne and Tasha were best buddies within a week. They now sleep, eat, gaurd and play together all the time. Zanne was terribly lonely where her sister died last spring. Tasha gives Zanne the companionship of another canine, even though Tasha is a rowdy teenager compared to sedate, responsible Zanne.
At four months old, Tasha barks at everything that moves. Some folks find barking dogs obnoxious, but to this shepherdess it means I don't have to worry about predators. I quickly fall back to sleep at night when the dogs are "working" as I know no coyotes will be dining on goats for their bedtime snack.
Livestock guardian dogs do not herd the goats and sheep. They protect by vigilant observation and thier fierce barking. They travel with the herd when the goats leave the barn to graze. The dogs select a spot that affords them a good view to watch over their goat family. When I am present, guests can come to the barn to see the goats. I praise the dogs for barking as that is their job. Once they accept that the visitors are not going to harm their livestock, they become friendly and like to be petted. If you go to the barn without the shepherdess, well, just know that the Maremmas take their work very seriously. I have seen them prevent entry to the pens of an uninvited guest.
Summer Internship Program 2009
Last summer we reinstated our Internship Program on the farm after a three year break. Things just magically fell into place. The first thing to happen was three women approached me about becoming interns. While pondering the idea of hosting interns again, I was offered a cabin by a neighboring organic farmer. I could have the cabin for free if I could pull it out of the woods and haul it 5 miles to my farm across the highway. How do you move a 12 x 20 foot cabin? You trade a Nubian goat kid to your neighbors who have the connections, equipment and know how to do the job! The rain finally stopped so we could make the big move. The new paint on the cabin floor had barely dried when the first full summer intern arrived. Compared to tenting for the summer, the sweet cabin setting up above the pines was quite an upgrade. New ideas abound for expanding the summer cabin for Steam Valley's 2010 interns; a summer kitchen, an herb garden, improved lighting for after dark spinning. We are on our way for filling our 2010 positions. Contact us for an application if you are interested. Read below the stories about the farm internship experience of our earlier apprentices at Steam Valley.
2005 Apprentice's Reflections on life at the Farm
Steam Valley Mountain Fiber Farm is an entire package within itself...and to take any of it apart would simply be ruining its beauty....but i'll disect a little bit just for future apprentices (to think that there will be others who come after me, i feel like steam valley is just mine)
Hands down the best part of every day was that milking....even in those wee hours of the morning....i was telling my mom that there is something really ethereal to have something depending on you every morning and night.....i loved the fact that those Goats Needed me....so waking up in the morning was much easier than i expected because there was, in effect, no choice....i could never have left those udders and those babies to themselves.....plus milking itself is this strangely intimate experience with the Nubies.....i mean i did have my hands all over those animals.....and i liked watching my hands do so much work...and to see the product of milk every time was rewarding......farm work is ironically rewarding even though its so cyclically eternal....you just have to be content with the daily rewards....like watching the fridge build up....or seeing a full bobbin...or knowing the pen is fully clean....or seeing that the mineral feeders are stocked...or not finding one scouring butt.....they're all accomplishments...you just really have to look for them....
as for the worst thing.....what is a worst thing at steam valley???? even watching infected ears ooze puss because of those stupid ear tags is just a story in the end.....there are no worst things at steam valley....there's just stories
as for the pounds of information i still have to spin in my mind....it truly amazes me how much i learned....from medicinal herb use to how to wash the dishes in a truly Gregory fashion to trimming hooves to naming every wormer God ever put on this earth to naming every parasite God ever put on this earth to yodeling correctly to get those goaties inside the barn to the history of homeopathy.....it never ends....a farm is endlessly knowledgeable...but steam valley is interesting too.....wow.....wow....
But phylleri i have to say thank you for letting me be a part of your family and a part of your life......Star and Sky truly are two of the most amazing young men i've ever known...Star have you been practicing your poem??????.....Gregory--ahhhhh i miss you Gregory----the fridge must be soo full of eggs----oh and MOOOOO!!
Juanita i miss your cookies!!!!!!
Wendell i miss watching you work and your subtleness.....thanks again for the sheepie-i really do sleep with it at night
Phylleri--three months wasn't even enought to learn a smidgen of all the things you know..and yes i will end up getting a degree....thanks for being you!!
Megan
Cal's Review of Steam Valley's Apprenticeship
This past summer (2003) I spent the most amazing 3 weeks of my life as an apprentice at Steam Valley Mountain Fiber Farm in northern Pennsylvania. It was a completely fulfilling, inspiring, and exciting experience that I highly recommend to anyone who's ready for a true taste of life on a farm!
First I should mention that I am a clothing designer who has lived in New York City for the last 13 years. Though I love the city in many ways, every year I find myself more and more ready to go back to a lifestyle more in tune with nature (I grew up in rural Ohio). But I have often wondered if I really could combine my love of fiber arts and design with my dream of living on a farm, and somehow make it work as a means of income (or at least subsistence!). Could I actually physically do the work? Would I enjoy it? Would I ever have time to design and make things? Well, all of my questions and more were completely answered during my stay.
I arrived at the farm in mid-July to meet Phylleri and her other apprentice, Suzanne (who, coincidentally is also a New Yorker!) and set up my tent at the campsite, beautifully situated between sheep pastures and a pine forest. I then joined Suzanne in our first big project: cementing over the troughs in the barn floor (it had formerly been a dairy barn) to make it level and smooth. It was grueling work, but Phylleri had been needing to do it for years to reduce the amount of straw needed for bedding and keep herself and the animals from getting injured on the uneven floor. Finally she had the help needed to get the job done!
Every day began with chores at 6 am; all of the animals needed to be fed and the Nubians milked. Around 8, wed head in with the milk pail to strain and refrigerate the milk and have breakfast ourselves. Then wed head back out to finish feeding and watering the pastured sheep and do whatever other chores needed doing: moving fences, trimming hooves, tagging ears, administering homeopathic remedies, bathing goats for fair. There is always something to do! After lunch wed either get more farmwork done or do some weeding in the incredible garden; the heavy rains made nearly everything grow faster than we could keep up with, especially the weeds. Some of the crops, like corn and tomatoes, never got the hot sun they needed to yield much of a harvest; still, there were carrots, spinach, salad greens, peas, cherries and plenty of herbs. Before dinner was round two of feeding and milking, and then came the best part of the day: one of Phylleri's incredible home-cooked meals. Shes been a professional cook for years and those meals were definitely one of the highlights of the trip! Freshly baked whole-wheat bread with homemade goat cheese, amazing salads harvested minutes before dinner, and always a scrumptious dessert. One day Skylar and Star, Phylleris sons, went fishing and brought back some fish for dinner. And there were always new recipes being tested with the plentiful supply of fresh goats milk: cheeses, yogurt, ice cream... my mouth waters just remembering those meals.
I think both Suzanne and my favorite days were the 3-Days-On-The-Farm weekend when another student joined us and we had fiber classes in spinning, dyeing, and fleece preparation. We all took to the spinning immediately and couldnt get enough from then on. Classes were held in the domed tent and we dyed yarn on the propane stove in the backyard. One of my favorite aspects of my time on the farm was spending nearly 24 hours a day outside; despite the rain we had many beautifully cool, misty days where we could see the steam rising from the valley that gives the mountain (and the farm) its name. Once we learned how to spin, Suzanne and I practiced every chance we got, either in the tent or out on the front porch, or in the house on the stormier days. We also enjoyed accompanying Phylleri to various fiber gatherings where she participated in sheep to shawl competitions (her team won the blue ribbons at both events I witnessed!) while we minded the booth. Selling fiber, hand-dyed yarn, spinning wheels and related supplies is one of Phylleris principle sources of income and it was fun to see how she balances this end of her business with the actual farm.
The farm is on a gorgeous piece of land halfway up a mountain. Phylleri organically raises Angora goats (for Mohair), Jacob sheep (for fleece), Nubian goats (for milk), Angora rabbits (for Angora), and Arucana chickens (for eggs). 3 border collies help her move the animals from one field to another, and round up escapee ram lambs! This fall she added two Maremma pups to the menagerie, to guard over the flock. Suzanne and I were honored to learn that Phylleri and Star named the new girls after us! Star is also a major help with the farmwork and raises several goats of his own to show and sell at the county fair each year.
My visit to the farm was hard work; Phylleris sons could hardly get over the idea that Suzanne and I had voluntarily chosen to spend our vacations doing the very work they try their best to get out of! But the rewards were many and I thoroughly enjoyed the physicality of working outdoors with the animals and plants (and lots of fencing!) I would do it all again in a heartbeat and in fact I just might.
