Casey O’Neill is a farmer and owner of Happy Day Farms in Laytonville, Calif. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mendocino Voice. If you’d like to write your own column for The Mendocino Voice, send your idea to info@mendovoice.com.
I love being in community because we show up for each other. Laytonville has always been great at gathering to raise funds for a cause, and it feels good to see people, to catch up and be in fellowship together. Yesterday we held a benefit for the Senior Market Match program that doubles purchasing power for food-insecure seniors each week at the Laytonville Farmers Market. This program is in addition to the grant-funded Market Match that doubles EBT ($30 from the EBT card provides $60 in Market Bucks).
These programs help make local food accessible to more community members and, in these hard economic times, may make up as much of half of my sales at market. This boost is crucial for our farm, and it is critical to building local food security and production capacity within the local food system.
Local farms donated food and time to make a farm-to-table meal for the benefit, so it felt similar to the farmers market each week, but in a more celebratory way. I got the chance to play music with Dennis Hogan, and the whole experience was sweet and joyful. We raised just over $1000, which will help backstop Senior Match along with the weekly fundraising at market through the sale of baked goods donated to support the program. Big shoutout to Beth Hogan and Gloria Harrison for instigating and running the event, and to the volunteers and all the folks who came out for a meal!
These days there are fewer dollars in pockets with the crash of the cannabis market, and we’re all working to figure out how to manage in these new circumstances. Coming together to gather and share the joys of life while pooling our resources serves as a cogent response to economic downturn. The more we can work together and support each other, the more we can thrive.
I feel lifted in my work as a farmer by so many people who purchase our vegetables and come to help with the work of the farm, and I think of the need for give-and-take in that support. Each of us is working on the project of our lives, and the more that we affirm each other, the happier and better our lives will be. I am reminded to make the effort to care for and support others as I too am cared for and supported.
Much of the farmwork this week has been focused at the ranch as we’ve had the blessing of four new lambs. But that’s been joined by the tribulation of mastitis in one of the ewes and brutal winds ripping across the ridgeline. It never ceases to amaze me how different microclimates can be within a few hundred yards; the ranch is often 10 degrees colder with an increase of 10-plus mph in wind speeds than it is at my place just two parcels over. Blue Rock and the top of the west-facing ridge create a funnel that whips the cold north wind down upon the ranch with a chilling ferocity.
Two nights ago the winds shifted one of the sheep huts, leaving a tiny lamb cold and wet outside the hut without her mother. Fortunately, brother Ben went out at 1:00 a.m. and got everyone back together in the hut. Early the next morning I moved mama and babies into the barn and got them situated and comfortable for the continued cold and winds that came yesterday and last night. I felt bad for not having moved them already, reminding myself to listen for the little voice that says “You should do a little extra today to save heartache tomorrow.”
Daisy is the ewe with mastitis, and her lambs almost died before we realized that her teats were not able to provide milk. Lito brought both little boys to our house on Monday morning, and one was on the brink of death and the other was struggling. After several days of bottle-feeding, and being with Daisy to nurse and encourage her milk flows, the lambs have been named Bummer and Strugs, and they are healthy and happy. We’ve been working to get Daisy able to nurse; one of her teats is operational and we’re hoping the other will be functioning again ASAP.
One of the hardest things about raising livestock are the lessons that you learn when things go wrong. Last year we had beginner’s luck and all four lambs were born and raised with no trouble or assistance from us, which gave us enough confidence to keep going with raising sheep. Had these difficulties happened last year, I think we might have given up and stuck to the easier (thus far) process of raising pigs. It feels terrible when an animal in our care is suffering, which makes me want to try to do better in the future.
The winds increased yesterday and flipped a hut onto its roof and then back onto the 2×4 frame that it sits upon. We anchored it down with stakes and turned it 90 degrees so that the cover wouldn’t catch the northeasterly wind so badly. Whenever the wind comes out of the north, I know to be prepared for cold weather up here on the ridgeline. These are the kinds of lessons that add up over years to the sense of context and practice that define farmer and farm. One learning experience at a time, one day at a time. As always, much love and great success to you on your journey!