2/13/2023 0 Comments Rue: A TributeLife is fleeting. Seasons come and go, different interns rotate through the farm, change is ever present. Some changes can be tough to accept, especially when they come suddenly.
We have just been faced with a major change at Third Way that has all of us heartbroken. Our little lamb, Rue, has just passed away. For the last two weeks he seemed out of sorts, staring aimlessly into the distance, not coming over with the rest of the flock when we brought out hay, and ultimately just not being himself. With this drastic change in disposition, we knew something had to be seriously wrong. It was important for us to keep a close eye on him; however, it was tough for us to see his health continue to go downhill, especially for Michelle and Muriel. Rue was sadly rejected by his mom when he was born, which meant he had no one to nurse off of. So Michelle and Muriel bottle fed him multiple times a day for many weeks. They both formed a strong bond with the little guy and gave him a new nickname, Baby, to exemplify the love they had for him. Last week the vet came because Rue was not seeming to improve. They suggested that they take him to the animal hospital since there was not much they could do for him on the farm. Now, from a business standpoint, we wouldn’t normally take an animal to the vet simply because of the steep cost. But Rue was more of a pet for us due to the bond we all formed with him. Without going into too much detail, Rue was in pretty critical condition. He had a hernia that had created other complications which would have unlikely been successfully corrected with surgery. Ultimately, Rue was put down. We lost a friend when we lost Rue. And again, it was an especially tough loss for Michelle and Muriel. This is just another reminder of how fleeting life is. We don’t know what’s coming our way and we cannot predict the future. It is sad to face loss, but it is also something we need to expect as farmers. Unfortunately, we are facing another challenge with one of our pigs. He has been very lethargic for the last two weeks. I noticed him one Monday morning when I was doing the daily animal chores. I walked into the pig paddock and was bombarded by all but one of the pigs when I came in with their breakfast. Seeing that this little guy was not interested in the food I immediately knew that something was not right. I let everyone in our farm group chat know that this pig could be sick and to keep a close eye on him. When he wasn’t getting better or eating much by the afternoon we got worried. The vet came the next day and she thought the pig had a respiratory infection due to the changing temperatures we have been experiencing. Apparently this has been a common issue with pigs this winter. After that visit, we thought the pig was improving because he started showing a bit more interest in food, particularly apples. He was up and moving a bit more and we were hopeful. Sadly, he is regressing and we will take further measures to help him out. He is still struggling and we are praying he gets better. May you all as our loyal readers, customers, and friends please join us in our prayers for Rue and our little pig as well as the rest of our animals so that they remain healthy and strong. God reminds us on these tough occasions that life is short and to stay grateful in the present moment. We never know what challenges or good fortunes may come our way. Until next time, Kate
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12/1/2022 2 Comments Tis the SeasonThe holiday season is upon us. I know, I can’t believe it either. The year has just been flying by and we are already approaching the end. It’s now the season of slowing down, visiting with friends and family, and reflecting upon the countless blessings that abound. But there is something about this time of year that I personally grapple with. That is consumerism. So much attention is directed towards scoring the best deals at the mall, making wish lists, and buying everyone in your life a materialistic item they may not even need or use. The culture around the holidays, especially Christmas, feels stressful and overwhelming to me. So I am working on shifting this paradigm, starting with myself and hoping it will spread to my family and friends, and trickle out into my community.
The first step I have taken, and have been practicing for a couple of Christmases now, is alternative gift giving. This is a simple first step because it does not deviate too much from the norm. It still involves the giving and receiving that people are used to, but it shifts the focus away from the fleeting trends that color the usual exchange of material items. This way, the spotlight is on the thoughtfulness of the gift and how it can help cultivate a deeper relationship between the giver and receiver. For example, I spent numerous hours over the summer canning tomato sauce and dehydrating herbs for my parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings. On Christmas they will open a thoughtful, homemade gift that they know I put much love and care into. Now they can taste the freshness of Summer in the dead of Winter. If you ask me, there is not a much better gift to receive than that. In this day and age, everything is at our fingertips. If we decide we want the newest Iphone or a popular new outfit, we can access it very easily without even having to leave our houses. With the advent of online, same-day delivery shopping, how can we expect to get someone a gift they will love, appreciate, and not already have? Honestly, it's a struggle for me. Which is why I make farm goodies as gifts because it's personalized and unavailable at the store. I know my family will love whatever I prepare for them because it's a reflection of my passion and eagerness for farming. My free time is limited, so when I spend multiple weekends over the Summer in my kitchen with mason jars all over the counters, tomatoes coming out the wazoo, teary eyes from all the onions I’ve chopped up, stove tops going all day, and overall just making the biggest mess imaginable, I’m bound to finish with a delicious tomato sauce made with love that will absolutely bring smiles to my family’s faces. If you're not confident in your homemade gift making skills (even though anyone can find something they are good at making. Look up a recipe for Christmas crack and all your relatives will be begging for more), supporting small, local businesses is a great option. The farmer’s market always has cool vendors selling things like candles, jewelry, and specialty food products like olive oil. This is great because you are connecting with your community and not just buying gifts that are from a big box store. Other alternative gift ideas include giving someone an experience rather than a material item. This could be going out to eat, purchasing tickets for a concert or a day at Longwood Gardens, for example. This will create memories that people can cherish forever, a wonderful gift. Another way to shift the modern mindset regarding the holidays more towards one of community, love, and friendship is simply to spend quality time with your loved ones. Now that I am older and on my own, I have to make an intentional effort to devote time to seeing my family. And when I do go home I want the time we have together to be meaningful. This holiday season I have been and will continue to extend an invitation to my family members to join me at church. We were all raised Catholic, but my twin sister, older sister and I are the only ones who continue to attend mass regularly. This is a great time of year to remind people of the beauty and peace that comes from cultivating a relationship with God. When we take the time during the holidays to be thankful, it's hard to forget that God is always with us. Even when we face tremendous obstacles, God continues loving us and being with us through those lows. Expressing my own faith and helping my family rekindle theirs puts the focus on the true meaning of Christmas, which is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. On Thanksgiving, my siblings and I all went to church together. It was such a nice occasion. I pray my little siblings especially develop a deep devotion to their faith as us older sisters encourage them on this journey. I urge any of you who are practicing Christians to offer this same encouragement to your friends and family and reignite the sacredness of Christmas in their hearts this holiday season. Lastly, giving to charity and volunteering in your community is an exceptional way to unite all the suggestions I mentioned above. It is an opportunity to give to those less fortunate with a gift of the materialistic kind such as food, clothing, or a toy for a child; or, it may be simply a gift of your time, which we all know is often limited in our hustle and bustle lifestyles. Giving your time to someone else is also an experiential gift for yourself and the receiver. Whoever you are supporting in your volunteer work will be thankful for your efforts and happy to see a welcoming face. You may also choose to bring your family along and create the space for developing new friendships within your community. This is especially valuable if you have young children as it will teach them the importance of doing things for others. Finally, volunteering your time to a worthy cause is a reflection of the ministry work of Jesus Christ. Walking in solidarity with those who are struggling is what Jesus calls us to do. What better time than the season we celebrate Christ’s birth is there to carry out this mission? All in all, giving back to the community reminds us of all the blessings in our own lives and spurs an attitude of gratitude within our hearts. I hope you accept my invitation to challenge the status quo this holiday season and try out one or all of my suggestions. You definitely will not regret it! And if you want to support us on our calling to feed our community nutritious produce, eggs, and meat consider donating to our Pay it Forward Program. This is a project of ours we have started to get our customers involved in helping distribute food to those who cannot afford it. You can make a one time donation or recurring ones, whatever you are willing. We would greatly appreciate your support. And thank you to all who have been supporting TWF this year and years past. I have only been here for 10 months, but without all of you I would not have the opportunity to work in such an amazing place. I hope you all enjoy your holidays and spend lots of quality time with friends and family. Until next time, Kate 11/1/2022 1 Comment Life at Third Way FarmIt has been a few months since I have been writing blog posts and hopefully you have a good understanding about our approach to farming. Now it's time to give you all a complete picture of exactly what it is like to be an intern at Third Way Farm (TWF). Not only do we work hard all day and get lots done, but we also have tons of laughs and plenty of silliness! The farm also cultivates a strong sense of community, which has allowed me to grow tremendously as an individual since arriving. So please come along with me as I take you through my amazing experience as a farmer here thus far. It includes lots of learning, delicious food, and good times that I will cherish for the rest of my life!
I got to TWF in February when it was still freezing outside. Many of you may be thinking, “Why on earth did you start working on a farm in the dead of winter? Isn’t there not much work to be done?” And that is a common misconception I hear from many people. There is still plenty to do on a farm in the off season. During the winter we still have to take care of the animals. We continue to rotate their paddocks because if they stayed in one area they would completely destroy the pasture, creating lots of muck. And because the forage is not as optimal in the winter months, we practice bale grazing with the ruminants. This simply means we feed the animals hay to ensure they get all the nutrients they need. Another major task in the winter is harvesting, which may seem strange since it's cold and things don't grow as readily. However, we have been thinking of fall and winter crops since July to ensure we have a bountiful off-season harvest. These crops include all the greens that go into our spring mix, spinach, arugula, brussel sprouts, turnips, radishes, kale, swiss chard, collard greens, cilantro, parsley, and a few more. We also rely heavily on storage crops such as beets, carrots, kohlrabi, parsnips, potatoes, onions, garlic, and winter squash (which unfortunately did not do so well this year and we already used up our stock of this). So we sow seeds and plant seedlings for the off season harvest in late summer and early fall. We keep those crops alive throughout the winter by employing several different techniques. These include covering crops with row cover to keep them warm, sometimes with double layers. We also rely on the caterpillar tunnels and high tunnels to protect a large amount of tender greens. These crops also get covered with row cover. It is very important that we utilize this space as efficiently as we can because it is the most optimal growing space in the winter as it is protected against the elements. Other winter tasks involve washing eggs, fixing infrastructure, feeding and monitoring the worm compost system, and clearing overgrown areas in our driving paths. The barn store is also still open so you can continue to shop local all winter. As we approach the end of winter we start sowing lots of spring crops in the basement with grow lights. Finally, the winter time is a great opportunity for us farmers to continue learning and also plan for the upcoming season. Online courses are a fantastic way to further our agricultural knowledge because they are readily available to us and we have a little more free time during this time of year because of daylight hours. For example, Michelle is taking a flower course and I am taking a cheese making course. We are always wanting to learn and can’t wait to start our classes. Tommy and Michelle will spend time planning where and when each crop will be planted next growing season as well as grazing plans. This takes a lot of mental energy because they must consider crop rotation, estimate how much of each thing we will want to have, order seeds, and so on. It's hard work. I hope to spend time with Tommy and Michelle this winter and they can show me the ropes so I’ll be ready to create plans for my own future farm. Overall, fall and winter are wonderful times to be a farmer. We have the chance to slow down a little bit and reflect upon the endless blessings we encounter everyday. Right now it is the constantly changing palette of oranges, reds, yellows, and browns. Just the other morning, I was working with Jason mulching the garlic beds. I looked up for a moment and found myself immersed in a cloud of beautiful yellow leaves falling all around us. I love farming during this time of year! The summer time is also a blast! There is so much work to be done but it is so rewarding! We spend most of our time in the vegetable field. There is lots of bed prepping which includes cutting out all the old crops (which we feed to the livestock), potentially tarping the bed for a few weeks, adding fertilizer and compost, and sometimes adding a landscape fabric with holes for planting. There is always lots of weeding, irrigating, sowing, harvesting and processing veggies. But the best job on the whole farm is planting! I love doing this task because it becomes very meditative when I get into a good rhythm. I aim to be as fast and efficient as I can when planting mainly because we have lots of seedlings to get into the ground in a limited amount of time, but also because it is fun to see how quickly I can plant. Since getting to Third Way Farm I have gained agricultural skills and knowledge that I did not have before, and I am thankful for this expertise. However, what I am most grateful for are the relationships I have developed with the other people on the farm. Tommy and Michelle have been excellent role models for me regarding how I want to approach my future farming endeavors. I love that they incorporate ministry in their work and honor this land as God’s Creation. Their love and respect for one another and us interns is unmistakable. They also help me realize my potential as a farmer. To be honest, I am very hard on myself and struggled when I first started my internship. Despite my prior farming experience, I felt like I was incapable of bringing any value to the farm. Tommy and Michelle, however, disagreed and began to help me feel confident in my contribution to the farm. They now ask me questions about farming plans they are considering and valuing my inputs. Most importantly, they have been excellent friends to me. Peter and Colleen have also been great friends and mentors to me. Without them, I would not have been able to realize my dream of getting a dairy cow. It has been a challenge for me to get to know Mildred and understand how to make her feel comfortable. Thankfully, Colleen and Peter are extremely supportive and we are working together to try to figure out how I can bond with Mildred. Other than our bond through Mildred and Louie, Peter and Colleen are such kind and loving individuals. I love hearing their perspectives, especially because they are both educators. They have a knack for understanding other people’s personalities and helping them understand themselves. They lent me a book about the enneagram, which is a personality model with nine different types. I have learned I am a 3, an achiever. This helped me understand myself and give myself grace when I can’t cross off all the tasks on my to do list. I have also made friends with the other employees and interns on the farm. Jason and Hailey have taught me a lot about strong work ethics. They are constantly working hard and efficiently. Tom is our newest addition and he has an open mind to all new things. He is hoping to work on various different farms, dairies, and maybe some retreat centers to learn different skills. Finally, Muriel has been a great friend to me. We complement each other’s silliness and have made so many great memories together. There are some other people who come to the farm often and help cultivate a strong sense of community. We all have community dinner every Wednesday, which is a great time to get to know each other. It is also a fun opportunity to cook with all the delicious food we grow and raise on the farm. It's a fun time to be creative. Other community activities include bonfires, game nights, and days out to the Renaissance Faire. We have built a strong community here at Third Way Farm and with that comes the freedom and safety to be yourself. I have definitely come out of my shell since getting here. Most of the time I am laughing so hard I can’t even talk. You’ll hear Tommy saying, “You’re going to have to give her 5 minutes before you can understand what she’s saying.” I just love all the joy running through the veins of this amazing place. I couldn’t have asked for a better environment to learn and grow as a young farmer and as an individual. Because of this I am staying here for another season! I look forward to the laughter, friendship, and education to come next year! This farm does not just stay within our little community. I encourage you to invite your friends and family into our space by joining us at the Barn Store or market and cooking with our fresh veggies and meats. Don’t underestimate the power of bringing people together with food grown and prepared with love and care. I in fact went home this past weekend to visit my family just outside of Philadelphia. I came bearing gifts: lots of veggies and most importantly, Mildred’s milk from the night before. Me, my dad, step mom, and four of my siblings all took a shot of milk out of Phillies World Series shot glasses. It was a lovely way to share my farm life with my suburban family while also celebrating our home baseball team. It was a fantastic bonding experience. Our TWF community is boundless and can extend into your homes just like it has with mine! Until next time, Kate |
The Return of RobinhoodNestled into a hidden woods on Robinhood Road, in Havre de Grace Maryland, exists a picturesque farm community; a place of green pastures, beautiful woodlands, and colorful fruits and vegetables. And in this thriving place, a place called Third Way Farm, there is also a community on a mission to build a better world through a holistic and regenerative approach to agriculture; a mission grounded in our faith and our belief in a world where all have a place at the table. Where, when we give back to the land, and to one another, all of creation thrives. Archives
January 2024
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We are farming on land that was once inhabited by the indigenous peoples of the Piscataway and Susquehannock tribes. We recognize that this land was unjustly taken from them without their permission. We hope our lives upon and care for this land will honor their legacy and wisdom in living harmoniously with this place.
Third Way Farm, LLC
Barn Store Hours
Tuesdays 3-5:30pm
Fridays 3-5:30pm
601 Robinhood Road
Havre de Grace, Maryland 21078
717-669-1351
Barn Store Hours
Tuesdays 3-5:30pm
Fridays 3-5:30pm
601 Robinhood Road
Havre de Grace, Maryland 21078
717-669-1351