Monday, July 19, 2010

Futurecast- The year is 2019,

Swarthmore College Approves the Construction of a High Hoop House on Crum Creek Ridge. Tues, September 10th, 2019

After much "sturm und drang", the Swarthmore College Sustainability Committee finally approved a proposal by Dharma Enterprises to allow construction of a high hoop house for off-season growing of medicinal herbs. Dharma Enterprises is an NGO that has been involved in the College's sustainability initiative since 2012 when it was instrumental in pushing through a plan to use goats for brush control on the campus. The college had been plagued by the invasion of Japanese knot weed, growing on the banks of Crum Creek.

Dr. Sarah Chenkin, a psychologist in private practice at the time, began experimenting with raising Nigerian Dwarf Daily Goats in her .45 acre Swarthmore suburban backyard in 2009. In 2010, she was able to get approval for starting a herd of Alpines on College land. The College awarded a small grant for fencing and for purchasing starters for the herd. Chenkin organized a group of students, town residents, and other volunteers to tend the goats. Many members of Dharma Enterprises were founding members of the Swarthmore Transition Town Initiative. Chenkin and her husband spent a year living with the goats in an authentic nomadic herding tent (obtained through mail order from Tibet) to get the herd established, their efforts augmented by stalwart members of Dharma Enterprises. Eventually the college allowed them to establish residence in a part of one of the 18 century historical residences that had been used for farming at the time the college was established.

Within 3 years Dharma Enterprises had a herd of 20 goats and a system utilizing portable fencing that allowed them to effectively rid most areas on campus of invasive plant species. The organization then requested a starter herd of sheep to keep Campus lawns trimmed and fertilized, and two Belgian draft horses along with haymaking equipment to provide a demonstration of how animals could be used to produce hay for the goats and sheep, all without petroleum products. Using these demonstration projects as a springboard, Dharma Enterprises began team teaching Permaculture at the College. Through their hands-on classes, many Swarthmore College students have now completed their college years with valuable agricultural skills as well as a first rate liberal education. Dharma Enterprises also runs a series of hand-on workshops on goat and sheep farming and animal powered agriculture which are attended by interested folks from all over the East Coast.

Over the years of their association with Dharma Enterprises, the college learned of Dr. Chenkin's passion for herbal medicine. During the great recession of 2008, Chenkin began bartering information on herbal remedies and psychotherapeutic services to residents of Swarthmore who had lost their insurance coverage. When petroleum scarcity led to a breakdown of the US transportation system and medicines could no longer be imported from Mexico (where most of them were being manufactured), many residents were already growing their own herbs, which were used in a number of emergency situations to treat college students and staff, as well a local residents.

The approval of the high hoop house will enable Dharma Enterprises to grow herbs through 10 months of the year instead of 5. The college has also made available laboratory equipment for them to use for building a still for distillation and for implementing other medicinal preparation techniques. A class on natural methods of medicinal preparation is now being offered through the College Chemistry department. Swarthmore College is pleased to be spearheading a task force to reorganize health services to emphasize health prevention, make health resources available at more local neighborhood sites, and support farmers who wish to grow medicinal herbs.


(This article was written in April, 2008)

--

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Foraging in the neighborhood

Now that I have so much hay around my yard, I have to compost like crazy. To go with all that hay you need lots of greens and preferably chicken or horse manure. I got the horse manure from a stable that my daughter rides at- just picked it up with my gloved hands and put it in a large garbage bag.

As for the greens, there are lots of weeds from the garden, but not enough for all that hay. Off to the local grocery store,  to beg for old fruits and veggies. I went on Friday and got fruit. Before composting it, I thought I would see if the goats liked it. They ate it all except for half an apple. They seem to really love fruit, which makes sense as they go crazy over animal crackers.

I decided to go to the dumpsters behind the Chinese restaurant to look for veggies. It was 7AM. Nothing but disgusting trash. I headed over to the local produce store, and saw a police car. Then I saw that police car following a huge chocolate lab. I pulled over and got out to see what was going on. The lab trotted across a very busy street, toward me, and jumped in my car! I flagged the police car, and told the officer that it wasn't my dog. He looked at me and said "Better you than me- I would just have to take him to the pound." He drove off, not wanting to discuss the matter further.

So here I was with this 90 lb, somewhat elderly, extremely friendly, lab, in the back of my car with Willow, my chihuahua mix, and Dorje, my chow mix- they were agitated but not alarmed. I was seriously thinking of getting the dog out of my car and driving off, but I just couldn't manage to rationalize that act. I took him home.

He went in the back yard and Shama (the pitbull/border collie belonging to my daughter) proceeded to engage him in a play date. Soon he was lying on his side, panting, too tired to even get up and drink some water. He went inside. I waited for the SPCA to open, to see if they could scan him for a microchip. I took him to see my friend.

Every event is an opportunity. My friend needs exercise. I said, please will you go with me to see if we can figure out where his home it? Maybe he will lead us to where he lives. She reluctantly agreed. We went out for a walk around the neighborhood.

My friend has been depressed lately (she doesn't socialize much), so I said, can you go with me to the SPCA to get him scanned? I thought a ride would help. On the way, I said, "You know I really can't take care of another animal, so I'm thinking of leaving him there." She said, "No I don't think that is a good idea, he is such a nice dog, and someone has taken good care of him, it would be traumatic." I said, "Will you take responsibility for him?" She said, "I can't take full responsibility for him." I didn't say anything. Finally she said, Yes I will take care of him."

From then on, she had a mission. She talked to the folks at the SPCA (where we left our phone number), she decided to drive around the neighborhood again, planning to put up flyers later on that day. Half an hour later the owner called. She took the dog outside to wait for the owner. She talked for some time with the owner and his wife. As they drove off she said "Now that is such a wonderful feeling, to return a dog to his owner- to think you were planning on leaving him there".

Yes, foraging brings many many hidden gifts if you know where to look!

The Vet Problem

-- The Vet Problem

My biggest problem is the dearth of ruminant vets. The closest one I have been able to find is an hour's drive away. A major university teaching veterinary hospital- it is really into traditional, invasive. One of my goats, Violet of course, the dominant one, decided she would snack on some little tiny azalea leaves that came up out of a stump. I wasn't careful enough (not monitoring that stump for new growth, and I paid for it. She way crying extremely loud, throwing up, practically in convulsions.

It was midnight. I went out to the pen. I only had a little LED lantern. Violet looks just like her sister. Neither of them is easily caught. It was hell. I grabbed her sister and put her in the dog crate and then went after her. She was so sick I managed to capture her, and then took her inside the house where she promptly threw up on my daughter's long gorgeous hair (she was, fortunately, trying to help). My husband was up in bed pretending to sleep.

I called the vet to see if miraculously there was something I could do for her myself, but no one would tell me anything except to bring her in. The last time I was there with Violet, she had pyloric acidosis, and it cost me $250.00. I jammed the crate in the back seat of my 1990 Volvo sedan and off I went. I forced my husband to come with me, knowing that there were major financial decisions down the pike.

When we got there the big, Australian, aristocratic male vet (who mostly sees thoroughbred race horses) told me that he highly recommended that I authorize him to do a ruminectomy- which is where they open up the little goatie's stomach, remove the contents and sew her back up. Oh, and yes it costs at least $800.00. Alternatively, you might get away with $500 for the emergency visit and a hospital stay, if you are lucky and there is no way to know what will happen, he says.

"Well, could you give her some charcoal?", I asked, knowing that there were only a few tiny leaves on that azalea, a fact which I relayed to him and which he ignored. We waited for the lab results to show how dehydrated she was, and she wasn't too bad. I begged them to please give her some charcoal.

He agreed reluctantly to treat her "medically" instead of "surgically", which is what they call it- two tracks for treating Azalea poisoning- medical and surgical. It is the most common reason for a visit to the vet for a female goat. For a male, it is urinary blockage. 90% of admissions are for male goats with blockage. Of the remaining 10%, 90% is for azalea poisoning. That got my attention and I will never, ever allow my goats near azaleas or rhododendrons.

I called the next day to talk to the vet. He didn't return my call. I took some time off from work and headed out to the clinic, determined to take Violet home. Her sister was crying pitifully that morning, and I knew that all that noise would not be popular with my next door neighbors who barely tolerate my presence. I arrived disheveled from driving my car (which has no air conditioning) with the windows wide open. It was a very hot day.

Rather dismayed at my arrival and my appearance, thinking me a total nutcase, asking why I hadn't called first (yes I did, but no one called me back), they admitted that Violet looked good, she was eating, drinking and pooping. I asked to take her home, and taken aback (as they expected to keep Violet over the weekend) they tried to be polite, asking me if I was unhappy with her treatment. I didn't want to say that I hate modern medicine for people and goats, and if I had my way, I would never consult a doctor for anything, and would never bring my goat to their center again.

So instead I just politely stated that I was very busy and had limited time, and would they please just disconnect her IV and let me bring her home?

I still haven't found a vet, and I'm not sure I would use one at this point. What do poor farmers do if their goats get sick?

The Rain Problem

The Rain Problem
It rained hard yesterday.  The goats were crying all day, the day after the rain.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong.    Goat Beat friends said that they might not like the wet ground, and/or the hay might be too moist or stale- it had been under a porch roof, but not inside.

It is really hard to get hay in the suburbs. I had one bale of alfalfa hay that I got a month ago from Tractor Supply Co. stored  in a large plastic bag.  The hay I got two weeks ago was infested with chiggers.  I have horrible bites all over from it.  I was reluctant to even touch it.  I gave them the month old alfalfa hay.

Thank god they ate it and calmed down.  Then  it started to rain again- heavy rain.  My husband and I figured out that their dog crate is too small.  They are each 10 lbs bigger than they were when  I got them.  Also, they ate all the weeds in the corral, and so they need lots and lots of hay.  Not much can fit in their crate.

I had to go to work the next day, and work three 12 hour shifts in a row, Tues, Wed, Thurs. and it was Tuesday. Not much time to address their shelter problem in the next three days.  Did I want loud goat calls for three days in my neighborhood?

Tues morning, I went out in the woods to meditate, and after about 30 minutes, the solution was clear. I skipped my yuppie workout and got down to farm business.  It was pouring rain; thunder and lightning.  Fortunately over the weekend I had been inspired to salvage 10 wooden pallets from the local bike store. earlier that week.   I went through my selection, found  one which had the boards close together- my floor- Goat Beat (the source of all relevant goat related information) folks say that goats don't like to get their feet wet.

Wood Pallets are heavy.  I made three trips with two pallets each trip on my wheelbarrow from the road back to the goat corral.  I found some baling wire (I didn't even know what baling wire was two months ago) and my handy Wave combo tool, got a tarp from the basement, and started.  I had 30 minutes before I had to get ready for work.

Goat Beat folks said use your imagination.  So I did-I  used the wire to wire the pallets together with the torquing action of the pliers to make it tight (baling wire is totally awesome, the way you can bend it and it won't break!).  Since it was pouring rain, I could see where the tarp roof sent water down in rivulets, so I used the wire to tighten the tarp in a way to avoid letting water run into the shelter.  I got straw for bedding and hay for food, put them in a garbage bag and ran out to the shelter through the rain.

25 minutes later I was cleaning up and getting dressed- I work as a professional psychologist, so having dirty nails and feet is not good.  I got out my fake hair and used a dremel on my nails to clean them.  10 minutes later I looked just fine.  No one would ever know what I had been up to that morning.

On my way out the door, I glanced in the back and there were the goats, QUIETLY  chewing hay in their new shelter!  One more potential neighborhood disaster averted. 

Goat platform

Posted by Picasa

The shelter

Posted by Picasa