Idyllwood Farm is our temporary home. We live in a funky, German-design house built in the 1890s. It is beautifully rustic, comfortable, and in need of love. We have given it a fraction of the tender love it needs and have appreciated every day we have called it home.
Our box of a house
Beautiful stained glass on our backdoor
The house is separated into 2 stories of quadrants, each of them approximately 12x12.
Downstairs quadrants:
1. porch, stairwell, and front door.
2. kitchen
3. living room & fireplace
(our roommate Adrienne/Idyllwood intern)
4. random room with the stereo, a chair, & clutter.
One must walk outside and up the outdoor stairway to get to the upstairs bedrooms.
Upstairs quadrants:
1. porch and stairwell
2. our bedroom
(we’ve taken to sleeping on the floor, which has been great for our backs)
3. & 4. two adjoined bedrooms
A bathroom separates our room from the other rooms.
The bathroom has a tiny shower and sink.
We take our serious business 50 feet up the hillside to our outhouse.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not terribly unbearable to poop at 10 degrees.
What we’ve been keeping busy with:
We are doing a work trade for rent.
We have done some work on the house.
One of the projects was to build a small dam/spring box which is our houses water source
We’ve done some plumbing work on the house and will be replacing some windows and doorframes.
The other week we planted 600 Christmas trees between five people (Christmas trees make up 50% of Idyllwood Farm’s income).
We did another tree-planting job and we will have more jobs in the next month. Sharon (of Idyllwood Farm) plants trees every year at this time. She plants for reforestation projects, for paper mills, for lumber companies, etc. She and a small crew plant tens of thousands of trees every year. A skilled planter can do more than a thousand trees in a ten-hour day (10 cents a tree). I swear every time the hoedad hits the ground I hear “Cha-ching”.
We’ve been doing a lot of hiking:
This property is gorgeous. It sits on 200 acres, has four houses: the house that George and Sharon (owners of Idyllwood Farm) recently built themselves, the one we live in (formerly Sharon’s home, and more recently home to her daughter Erica’s family), and two yurts (constructed by Blueridge Yurt Company, Sharon’s other business) occupied by Erica and Chris, founders of FloydFest.
There are probably 50 acres linked by hiking trails surrounding the houses and farm plots. The other 150 acres are wilderness with no trails.
Hiking in Virginia has a few primary differences from the hiking I’m used to in coastal California:
1. It’s cold here, often below freezing. I have an irresistible urge to throw rocks at the iced over creeks, to pull on snow covered limbs as Cole walks beneath them, and to make designs in the snow while urinating.
2.The forest is also filled with deciduous trees that leave a carpet of leaves on the path, ankle high in places. Walking on them creates a delightful crunch (like amplified cereal eating) with each step that echoes throughout the forest. It takes away from the serenity that normally accompanies hiking, yet it is enjoyable in its own way. While loudly walking, I can't help but think of the third major difference...
3. Hunting is commonplace in these hills. Deer and turkey are hunted on this property. I recently ate bear that was killed a couple of counties over. It’s hard to walk through the forest without thinking about hunters. I wear a bright yellow jacket that makes me look less like a deer than my normal brown attire.
4. I never saw a tractor tire filled with the remains of a pig in the forest in California.
So here are some pictures taken from hikes around the property:
This spot is at the highest point around, equipped with a campground
The same shot after 10 inches of snow
The campground
Down below this is an abandoned house that is hard to explain
There is a trail that leads down the Stoney Branch (the river fed by the creeks that begin on this property), through forests of Rhododendron.
Apparently you can walk this trail to Sugar Grove, some 20 miles away.
From this trail there is another side stream that leads to two waterfalls
I’ve walked up to the farm plots a dozen times to watch the sunset.
There are three fenced plots, about 2.5 acres total, with Christmas trees planted in between. It is hard to believe, but these few acres carved out of a thick forest were once surrounded by sugarcane, 40 acres of it. This area is on the ridge above the houses, a short hike away. There is no irrigation set up, which was fine up until recently, now drought presents a challenge. I hear time and again of farmers that are struggling without irrigation and deer fence, which was not a big issue less than a decade ago. The deer population has skyrocketed in recent years. “Once you never saw deer. At least not in the broad daylight, or in large packs like you do now,” the locals tell us. Along with the rise in competition for produce (deer), for the last three years, drought has hit farmers hard. George, 65, tells us he’s never seen the creek on the property where he grew up run as low as it did this year. Last year the spring that supplies our house’s water dried up for the first time since Sharon has been here (over 20 years).
On the first two days of March we got 10 inches of snow.
I did a three-hour hike around the property, enjoying our new climate.
A few weeks ago, when it was much more like Spring, we hiked to the top Buffalo Mountain (elevation 3,090)-- the highest spot in Floyd County. The mountain is only a few miles from our first Floyd house (see previous blog entry).
We did a lot of hiking around our old property too:
Last week we drove an hour out of Floyd to hike a portion of the New River Trail, beginning in town of Fries (the “New” River is the world’s 2nd oldest river, 2nd only to the Nile)
On the drive home we saw this barn…
When I think of Obama quotes, or that of any prominent figure, I think of abstract, philosophical thoughts, of generalized messages of hope and change. This quote could not have been any more regionally appropriate (we saw a trailer flying the Confederate flag a few miles back). If any quote was to reach the average rural Virginian, this was it.
Here are some shots of our 30-minute commute to Floyd from our current home, in Pilot:
In the 30-minute drive we’ve never passed more than a dozen cars. There are many routes that’ll get us there and we have enjoyed exploring gravel roads along streams and past rolling farmland.
Other things we’ve been doing:
We’ve been eating VERY well.
Cole made some wonderful bread…
She also made a huge batch of granola, honey roasted peanut butter, and almond butter.
I made a ton of butternut squash (from the UCSC Farm) raviolis topped with marinara (canned at the UCSC Farm). We have already made up 3 dinners from these, with lots left in the freezer.
Canned blueberry jam, applesauce, ketchup, pickled garlic, dilly beans, etc…
We have been enjoying pork sausage too, from pig slaughtered here at Idyllwood Farm.
We’ve been enjoying the cold:
…well, appreciating its beauty at least.
Our farm buddy Steve, during his cross-country move from California to Massachusetts, came to visit us on one of the coldest days we’ve experienced. Here we are cuddling for warmth:
(this is the property we’ll be moving onto, see end of post)
What else?:
Apart from hiking, we’ve spent the majority of our time sitting on the couch in front of the fire, sipping tea, and reading.
Thanks to the newly renovated Floyd library we’ve been up to our heads with books, movies, and CDs.
Some highlights include:
*I just finished Omnivore’s Dilemma. This book is incredible in its exploration of the various avenues of the American food systems.
Allow me to elaborate:
The first food system discussed is the conventional agro-industry. Associated with this food system are pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, monocrops, factory farms, pollution, antibiotics, growth hormones, genetic engineering, artificial flavors, artificial colors, preservatives, a long list of unpronounceable additives, fossil fuel, and thousands of miles between farm to fork. This food system results in economic, social, and environmental devastation. Farmers at home and abroad suffer from government/tax payer incentive to overproduce corn, which results in the cost of corn being significantly less than it costs to produce it (so much for the free market). The large quantities of subsidized corn are bought up by processing corporations and turned into food with little nutritional value. The rest is dumped onto developing nations (at an artificially low price they cannot compete with) which puts farmers out of business, creates dependency, and often results in famine. While other countries suffer from malnourishment, America has become plagued by obesity and preventable chronic illness (not to mention the destruction of the environment).
To quote the equally enlightening book that Cole has been reading, tilted "50 Secrets of the World’s Longest Living People":
“The U.S. Surgeon General recently said that of the 2.2 million deaths in America each year, 1.8 million are diet related.”
Omnivore’s Dilemma goes on to contrast the factory-farm/conventional food system to that of a local and ecological sustainable one, where the health of the earth and that of its inhabitants are inextricably linked, as is the economic well being of farmers and the health of the consumer. Many see this form of agriculture as “boutique farming” and consider locally/sustainably-produced food as too expensive (often 2 times the price of conventional food). Yet the expense of conventional food is infinitely higher when the external costs are added up; the cost of health-care related to diet and a toxic environment, as well as the damage to the environment, including global warming and toxic pollution of our soil, waterways, and airways (which in turn poisons us as we eat, drink, and breathe), the cost of supporting our nations corn farmers with subsidies, etc. The alternative food system described in this book offers a way to become healthier, to support a local economy, to offset environmental degradation, and to become connected to the seasonality of our specific regions.
Other books we’ve been reading:
*Deer Hunting with Jesus, a portrait of our countries redneck population and why they hate liberals (thanks Jerry and Leslie!)
*2012. Which offers philosophical, scientific, theological, anthropological, and environmental perspectives on the Mayan prediction that human society will be forever changed (apocalyptically through destruction and/or culturally through enlightenment) by winter solstice of 2012, when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align marking the end of their 5,000 year calendar.
*Far Appalachia: Following the New River North… a bad read, but regionally informative (we just hiked a portion of the New River)
*and a handful of books about local wildlife, fungi, trees and plants, history, and culture.
Movies:
*The Band’s Visit- An Egyptian police orchestra gets lost in rural Israel and is forced to mingle with the locals. This movie was slow but hilarious and very creative.
*Cold Mountain- An amazing tale of a North Carolina/Appalachian town torn apart from the Civil War. It also has a wonderful bluegrass soundtrack.
*We’ve been watching a series called “Into the West”, a portrayal of early relations between Whites and Native Americans, and the subsequent plight of the natives. It is an intriguing history that is not told with much detail in our history books.
*We’ve started the Ken Burns Civil War documentary, which is incredible.
*I’ve been enjoying reruns of the Simpson’s third season. Some of the episodes bring me back to the 5th grade when they were originally aired.
10 albums I’ve recently discovered and have listened to over and over:
*Tim O’Brien-Chameleon: In my top five favorite bluegrass albums. Amazing banjo pickin’, clever lyrics with good political commentary.
*Aretha Franklin-Spirit in the Dark: Perhaps not her best album ever, this is her eighth album in the first four years of commercial success and the first to not break the top 20. Yet, there is not an unspectacular song on this album. To the contrary, every song is quite spectacular. Here we watch gospel morph into R&B, blues, funk, and soul.
*Van Morrison & The Chieftains-Irish Heartbeat: This one will make us all wish we had just a little more Irish beating in our heart. Van Morrison wails on this one.
* Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Mark O’Connor-Appalachian Journey: The second release from this string trio (fiddle, bass, and cello). Classical music meets bluegrass. An epic clash.
*Saul Williams-Ngh Wht-The Dead Emcee Scrolls: Slam poet/conscious rapper Saul Williams reads from his poetry book “The Dead Emcee Scrolls” and is backed by The Arditti Quartet. Hip-hop meets classical. Profound. (Only available online)
*The Black Keyes-Attack & Release: Somewhat similar to The White Stripes and Audioslave, this is straight up rock ‘n’ roll. This album was produce by Danger Mouse, which ensures head bobbing beats.
*Grace Potter & The Nocturnals-Nothing but the Water: Soulful, but rockin’. This chick wails like Janis Joplin
*Carolina Chocolate Drops-Dona Got a Ramblin’ Mind: Three piece African American bluegrass band, old-time music by some youngsters.
*Alvin Youngblood Hart-Territory: This album jumps between blues, rock, and old-time New Orleans jazz.
*Boubacar Traore-Kango Magni: Perhaps my favorite album ever. Malian blues/African desert blues, accompanied by harmonica and accordion.
A look into the future…
So I realize that we have yet to inform many in our blog reading community that we have been hired by a Floyd family farm. The couple is Dennis and Tenley, who run Full Circle Organic Farm and Good Food-Good People, respectively. They are completely separate operations on paper. Basically, Full Circle grows the food, Good Food-Good People sells it. I will be employed by Full Circle, running an established 1-acre garden, while Dennis develops the infrastructure on a newly purchased 25-acre plot. Cole will be working for Good Food-Good People, organizing and executing the vegetable CSA (Community Supported Agriculture/weekly box share), this being its first year in operation (as an addition to the long-standing 250 member fruit CSA). Good Food-Good People markets and distributes for Full Circle, as well as 30 other area-farms. Tenley also sells at farmers markets, to restaurants, to local grocery stores, and through the Greens Garage, a 24/7 self-service convenience store where one can find everything from toilet paper, to locally-spun yarn, local produce, local meat, local bread, and locally-made cheesecake.
Also…
We purchased our first home -- a 24-foot travel trailer! Beginning when the weather warms up in April, we will be parking it on our bosses’ (Dennis and Tenley’s) new property and commuting to work from there; a 10-minute walk through the forest for me and a 5-minute walk down the hill for Cole.
Toodles!
