Birth and restoration

As you know, the last month and a half have been pretty rough, between losing our chickens, and being told to get rid of our cows. But God is an awesome restorer of peace. Monday, we presented our case for keeping our cows to the Town and by Wednesday, the Town had received so much mail from folks supporting our cause that the Town agreed to begin revising its livestock code. Following our success, it started to rain, and continued to rain for two straight days. Somehow, it seemed to symbolize a fresh start, and it brought with it some new arrivals to our farm.

Little Oreo was born May 11th in the pouring rain to first time momma, Daisy the Hereford. We obtained Daisy from a friend just 4 weeks before receiving the notice from the Town banning livestock. At time of purchase, we agreed for Daisy to stay at her home until she had her calf, as our friend's son was desperate to see her calf born. It was his success showing the cow in 4-H that had earned Daisy the breeding that resulted in Oreo.

Our new heifer is a big girl with a voracious appetite. As with many first moms, it is taking Daisy some time to get used to the concept that a wallop to the udder by a hungry headbutting calf is the universal signal to share her milk, but they're both starting to get the hang of things.

In addition to the cows, we have started to restore the chicken population. Today we added six 9-week-old pullets and five 2-week-old broilers to the flock, bringing our flock total to 15. I still struggle with the pain of losing all of our chicks, and had a twinge of sadness today when I realized that our chicks would have started laying this month if they'd survived. But the excitement of new hens, fresh eggs and meat is beginning to overtake the frustration and grief.

The hubby is on coop reinforcement duty this weekend, though we haven't seen the foxes in several weeks. The fact that the dogs have been sleeping through the night (and letting us do the same) makes us hopeful that the foxes have taken up residence elsewhere, but as we learned the hard way, it's better to be prepared than be caught with our pants down and lose everything.

I'll be in the garden getting the rest of the veggies planted this weekend. On the list are cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and corn. Plus, I'll be replanting the bush beans and beets that failed to make an appearance. Everything else in the garden is doing well. We've already harvested radishes and will be eating bok choy very soon.

Despite the setbacks, things are steadily beginning to get back on track, and we are grateful for the bounty God has in store.

Government that prohibits citizens from growing food condems them to death

I came across this headline today in my internet perusal:

US meat and poultry widely contaminated with bacteria including superbugs 

In the past when I read headlines like these, I praised God for giving us the inclination and ability to raise and eat our own food. But now, we're in a battle with the Town to defend that right.

When we purchased our property 9 years ago, we recognized the value of owning land that could feed us. Our priorities have not changed: we don't have a 4000 square foot house in a fancy subdivision, and we can't take vacations to Maui twice a year because of this life we have chosen. But if our economy collapses or all of the commercially available meat is found to be tainted (see article above), we will be able to feed ourselves and our neighbors with what we painstakingly cultivated on our land. 

This is our right, given by God, not just to Americans but to every person in the world...from camel farmers in outer Mongolia to goat herders in Pakistan.

In a previous post I mentioned that we received a letter from the Town demanding that we remove our cattle from our property. Though our 7.44 acre property has housed livestock since before the Town existed, the current administrators are attempting to enforce a 20 year old municipal zoning code that excludes any animal you can eat from its list of approved "domestic large animals."

After we rejected the Town's first demand to relocate our cattle, the Town suggested that we apply for a Conditional Use Grant in order to keep our cows. At a non-refundable cost of $100, it holds no guarantee of being approved and can not be transferred to anyone who buys our property. For our family, the thought of paying a municipality for permission to feed ourselves runs contrary to everything our nation was founded on, and is simply not an option. So, true to form, we will stand firm.

We live in weird times. There are people who want the government to provide them with everything, and who live from disappointment to disappointment, perpetually irritated that they're not getting what they want or what the neighbors have. Then, at the other end of the spectrum, there are people who defy authority to provide anything for them, and struggle with age-old challenges to provide everything from food to clothing for themselves. And finally, there are people in the middle--most of America--who are completely indifferent...typical consumers trying to do their part, content to remain blissfully unaware of the struggle around them. Government, is equally conflicted, wanting the role of parent and provider for all mankind so intently that it often cuts off its suppliers to prove its sovereignty. This is the drama that's playing out here in my town.

Town government is not a Homeowners Association. Homeowners may voluntarily enter into a contract with an HOA and sign over their property rights to that private organization for whatever security it offers in exchange. But municipalities may not operate in this way; they are beholden to the Constitution and obligated to defend the rights of the people they serve. It seems that we have become so used to people telling us what we can and can't do with our private property that we've forgotten that it is our our property to begin with. If the Town wants to decide how our property should best be used, it can buy it from us.

 

Perhaps this latest hurdle is our chance to stamp out tyranny in our own backyard, or perhaps this is a lesson to us all about what happens when government is permitted to run unchecked on the taxpayer's dime. It's time we all remembered that it's not someone else's job to protect fundamental unalienable rights, it's mine and yours.