Bittersweet Farm

Well I've started my semester off on a small farm called Bittersweet in upstate New York, about 20 miles from St.Lawrence University. There are a few ties to the University, but for the most part they are an independent, small organic farm in the middle of nowhere. There are more Amish buggies that go by our house than any other vehicle. Ann and Brian Bennett are great and so kind to let us stay with them and teach us the ways of a fahma. I'm with my lovely little friend, Julia, and we stay in a solar powered cabin that is a five minute walk from the farm. The other night we had a few friends over and played music and drank beer and slept well. It's quite a homey little place!

There is a variety of work on the farm - from making sweet pickles to shoveling poop, it's all quite exciting. At times I get frustrated and I feel tears of exhaustion here and there, but at the end of the day, on my walk back to our humble abode, I get an incredibly satisfied, gratifying feeling. It's small, but important work that is done out here. 

On Wednesday morning, one of the sows gave birth to nine piglets. Julia and I just happened to be at a Sylvan Esso concert in Burlington when she decided to go. The sow, Sassafrass, was having trouble with her milk situation for a while after the piglets were born, so we were sure the six that survived weren't going to make it much longer. But she slowly began feeding them. We tried to keep watch over them, but last night, while no one was looking, Sassafrass sat on all of them. Only one survived.. It is quite unfortunate and everyone is sad at the farm now. It's stressful during pigging time, and this is only the beginning. Sitting in the cold pig pen last night till 4 am attempting to keep the breathing piglets alive was one of the more frustrating and depressing things I've done. Brian made it clear (before he finally went to bed) that he didn't think any of them would survive. Luckily one did and is quite healthy seeming at the moment. Julia is holding her tight and helping her nurse. We've named her Abigail Von Braveheart! She's quite the fighter. But my god, these farmers can be negative people. It is for good reason though. It is a ridiculous amount of work for barely any product. Brian is cynical, sarcastic and negative, but he can usually find humor in every bad situation. It's a tough life these North Country farmers live, and I think they question why they live the way the do at least once a day. But although Brian is usually frustrated, aggravated and totally overwhelmed with the farm, he couldn't live without it. Like I said, at the end of the day, once you have used all of your energy, cried a few times, been exasperated to your maximum, and can barely crawl into the back of a cold subaru to catch a few hours of sleep, you know you did something important. I'm glad I'm getting this "bitter-sweet" opportunity.