From the Sisters' Perspective

Hello Friends!

This is Eric's sister Laura. :)  I have been given permission to hijack the blog and write about my and Anna's visit to Polyface this Spring.  (Ok, I guess if I have permission it wouldn't be hijacking. :)

Our time at the farm was amazing!! It was so much fun to be with Eric in his 'natural habitat'. :)

When we arrived, temperatures were in the 60's. It was a lovely change from Chicago's 30 degree rainy days. However, the beautiful weather was short lived as 2 days after arriving we got 6" of snow!  Hmm, maybe we brought it with us. :)

It certainly was beautiful!

Projects:

We always think it's great fun to help with chores on the farm.
The first major one was feeding hay at the rental farm where most of the cattle are wintered.

Loading up

 

On the wagon

 

Out for feeding

Each day we gathered and crated over 200 dozen eggs.
Yes, that is a total of 2,400 eggs!
Pretty Eggciting. :)

Are those colored eggs I see?  Must have been Easter Sunday :)

 Eric is responsible for feeding the cattle located on Polyface's main farm.

 Up...

...and over!

~Fun Times~

Eric took us out for dinner on his birthday. Zanendoa is a really nice restaurant with excellent food. (What can I say - their meat is from Polyface. :)  It was a fun sibling time.

Afterwards we met up with some of the Polyface team and went bowling

 The Fans

Eric's birthday celebration with the farm team

 

It was fun to see the dynamics of the "farm family".
They are all interesting, exciting people to be around.

Easter Sunday

 Dinner at Grady and Erin's home

Our little host, Ralph.  Isn't he adorable?!?!!

~Random Fun Things ~

One day we took a fourwheeler ride up the mountain.  Sorry, there are no pictures of the ride.  I wanted to protect my camera from the cold mud and water puddles we went through on the 3 mile ride. :)

View from the mountain top

  Zooming in on the farm quaintly nestled in the valley

We were able to squeeze in our favorite "Barth waffle breakfast"!
(Recipe complements of Eric's diligent search, 10+ years ago)

 Eric's new housing arrangements in progress

 And what would be a ride to the airport without a drive on the
Shenandoah Parkway and some fun pictures? :)

It really is hard to summarize our trip.
It was the perfect way to shake off our winter cabin fever
and get energized for an amazing spring and summer.

Eric, thank you for letting us come and visit!!

Can't wait to see you again! :)

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow.....

Sounds like Christmas doesn't it?  Well, I will say that early March seems rather late to be singing that tune, but it happened last week.  Tuesday night the snow started falling and it didn't stop until about noon on Wednesday.  We got almost a foot and a half of heavy snow! The scenery after it was all over was simply amazing.  Snow covered everything.  Thankfully, not much was damaged under the heavy weight and the animals were all safe and comfortable in their winter housing.

I am so thankful for the Lord Jesus whose blood covers our sins like a blanket of snow, never to be brought up, remembered, seen, or used against us, EVER again. (Isaiah 1:18)  Praise the Lord!!

Enjoy the pictures and have an awesome day!

I think I should make this picture into a post card.

Pretty comfy I'd say

Jonathan and Ben having fun being pulled on grain shovels.

Cool formations coming off the roof as it melted.

Filling Big Shoes

Life on the farm is going well and it seems spring is just around the corner.

Joel and Daniel recently returned from Australia where they were speaking at agricultural seminars and hosting workshops. During their absence the rest of us were left to keep the "farm fires burning" and  make sure that work went on as usual.  I am happy to report that we were up for the challenge!  I am so blessed with the awesome team I get to work with every day. They are the best!!

One of the big things that happened while the bosses were away, was the hosting of a two man TV crew from France.  They came to see the how and why of the Polyface operation.  Their main purpose for coming to the U.S. was to learn about, and capture on film, a sustainable way of farming in contrast to the conventional confinement style of operation.  This film trip was spurred on by the recent happenings in Europe where horse meat was found in industrial ground beef.

With both Joel and Daniel gone, the role of being one of the main "Polyfaces" fell to me.  Though a lapel mic is not part of my everyday work attire, I think I pulled it off. :)  We all enjoyed the learning experience and had a lot of fun with our guests from France. Can't wait to see what they put together!

Below are a couple shots of the "ever present cameras".  Unfortunately, the only documentation I have of our time together is when we fed pigs.

Most recent "sugaring".  I harvested 23 pints of syrup from this batch.

A cool, night shot of the steam coming off the pan.

Finishing Off -- Sweet!

The sap is flowing well and we have made over four gallons of syrup so far!  I think it's exciting to go out and gather sap from the collection buckets every couple of days ...one of life's simple pleasures.

Having a safe system for boiling down the sap water is extremely important and I've found some great resources around the farm.  The most critical piece of equipment is the evaporation pan.  The pan I'm using is the one Daniel had for his maple syrup production some years ago.

These pictures are from last Saturday when I made about two and a half gallons of "sugary goodness".

This is the set-up I have for boiling sap.

The pan is full and starting to heat up!

We boiled off about 75 gallons of water the day I took this picture.

Steam coming off the pan with the firewood in the background.

 I finish the syrup inside on the stove where I have more control over the temperature.

Two jars filled with the final product.

The day's work yielded over two and a half gallons! Pancakes here we come!!!