&
My Soap Box!
Disclaimer: These are entirely my own opinions and I
respect your right to disagree with them. You can click the back
button anytime, or feel free to tell me your opinion, it's your
choice.
- Purebred
Sheep
I am especially interested
in the Horned and naturally colored varieties. I also have
some purebred Suffolk & Dorset ewes, as well as some crossed or
commercial ewes. I look for natural resistance to diseases,
good immune systems ,good mothering instincts, multiple
birthing, carcass conformation and good milk production
traits. I weigh my lambs at 50 and 100 days to compare milk
growth (50 day) and individual production (100 day). There is
no sense in encouraging triplets and quadruplets if the
mother cannot produce enough milk to feed them. I believe
strongly in promoting the "mother - offspring"
bond, and will only "bottle-feed" when the safety
of the lamb is at stake. Often if a mother rejects one of her
twins or triplets there may be something that she knows that
we do not. It pays to analyze why that rejection is taking
place. Keep in mind the laws of natural selection.
I do not raise lambs for
the sake of the meat trade! The function of the sheep as the
engine of my farm is their primary role. They maintain the
grasslands and fix nitrogen and nutrients in my horticultural
activities. I harvest lambs and mutton to husband and sustain
the flock at a size that my farm can support. I look to use
the byproducts of sheep, such as their wool, horns and other
materials as other gifts offered by the creator. Many North
American cultures had a herd animal as the basis of support
for their families. Our family's herd animal is sheep. We
respect and honor these wonderful animals. They have been
part of my celtic ancestor's heritage for thousands of years.
My ancestors raised them in Newfoundland, Ireland, Wales and
England.
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- Organic
& Sustainable Farming
- I have been doing
a lot of research on Organic and Sustainable Farming.
Having worked with very strong chemicals earlier in my
life, I am well aware of the harm that we can do to
ourselves and our environment. I have been keeping
aquariums since I was 5 years old, and established my
first saltwater aquarium in a 15 gallon tank when I was
11. I learned very quickly the toxic effects of over
crowding and over feeding. I feel our immediate
environment is our own aquarium, and we must be careful
in maintaining the eco-balance. To educate my children on
the equilibrium of an ecosystem, I have been maintaining
a 30 gallon saltwater aquarium that contains indigenous
brackish water species as well as Sea Anenomes,
Moonsnails, Minnows and Mussels. The only filtering
system that I use is an undergravel filter that uses both
aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to breakdown the ammonia
and nitrites. I am careful in selecting species that are
robust enough to withstand this harsh artificial
environment. Sustainable farming works on much the same
principle. The walls of my 'aquarium' are my fences, and
the filtering system is the earth and the sky. The
hardest part about establishing a true Organic operation
is preparing a thorough audit of all chemicals that are
presently on the farm and which can come into the farm. I
try my best to keep vigilant track of each and every
chemical that comes onto my farm, but we must realize
that it is absolutely impossible to keep all chemicals
off of the farm. As soon as someone drives up the
driveway, they are emitting NOx fumes, hydrocarbons, and
dripping oil from their engines and tail pipes. Not to
mention the chemicals and pesticides they maybe carrying
on their clothes. Being aware of these things will
prevent you from allowing the sheep to graze in areas
that may have contaminants, and closely monitoring the
plants that they browse and the source and content of any
feed supplement that is used.
-
- The farmer is the
front line guard in ensuring that the end product is safe
and wholesome for you to eat.
-
-
- Natural Herbal
Medicine
-
- So much of our
modern day medicine comes from the folk knowledge of
yesteryear, one would think that humankind would respect Natural Herbal
Medicine a little more than we do. The
bio-synergistic interaction that occurs when organic
chemical compounds work together in a living organism are
almost impossible to duplicate by using synthetically
produced chemicals. This is the magic associated with
"life" that just can't be duplicated in a
test-tube. We need to appreciate the uniqueness of an
organism's existence, it's creation and it's right to
live. As farmers we only plant the magic package called a
seed and through our skills of husbandry we can interract
with it and watch it grow. People who are close to the
earth can get a special feeling of this. My wife and I
view our children the same way.
- Our children are
souls entrusted to our care, for us to husband and
nurture, interract with and enjoy. This is a special gift
of the creator that we can lose at anytime as part of the
bigger truth.
- Our favorite
flower can get a little too much sun one day, or a nip of
frost, and alas it's beauty departs. Our pets get old or
suffer accidents or illness, and they too, depart.
- People that we
meet, know and love move away, grow away, or pass away
and all that remains is their memory.
- Today we can
respect and admire the uniqueness of each creature.
- Today we can love,
nurture and learn.
- Yesterday and
tomorrow are only dreams.
- Today is the
substance of tomorrow's memories.
-
-
-
- Eastern Canadian
History
- "Those who cannot
remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana (1863-1952), U.S. philosopher, poet. Life
of Reason, "Reason
in Common Sense,"ch. 12 (1905-6). William L. Shirer used this quote as
an epigraph in his The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
(1959). The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations
is licensed from Columbia University Press. Copyright
1993 by Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
-
-
- Education &
Aboriginal Issues
-
- I have heard that the
average lifespan of an aboriginal North American is 35
years. This is appalling, yet based on my knowledge and
experience I believe it to be true. So many gifts were
given freely by our first nations peoples to the european
settlers; gifts of medicine and knowledge, gifts of
skills to survive, gifts of wisdom. These gifts are still
given today to those who ask. Our modern society owes the
repayment of gratitude, respect, freedom of culture,
religion, language and education, to not only our First
nations peoples, but to all peoples who have helped to
build North America.
-
If you would like to know more
about our family's native heritage and language you can visit
this site : http://www.fnhelp.com
Closing
thought:
Everyone
who lives in North America today is an Immigrant or descended
from an Immigrant!
This
country has been inviting people to settle, cooperate and build a
nation for 15,000 years, why stop now?
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