ANGELICA ROOT (Angelica archangelica) Essential oils-root Hydrosols-root Herb, root, seeds Essences, elixirs- Flowers When distilled they can use the whole plant for essential oils. This is a must have in your medicine box ! My whole career with animals and humans has been very complex […]
HYDROSOL FOR ANIMALS AND PEOPLE Bay Laurel, is the common name and Laurus Nobilis is the latin name. This essential oil is not in the common mainstream use, as where peppermint and lavender would be. I decided that it might be a good plant […]
I have been spending a lot of time on the internet in the wee hours of the morning so I can get my education on pigs, especially the KuneKune pigs. I finally went to the Kunekune pig association website. The Kunes are considered a heritage breed and folks are really into preserving their lineage.
As you know my husband and I rescued a 2 year old female Kune and like most pigs that have to be rehomed it was due to a complaint by a neighbor and neighborhood restrictions on what animals you can house. You can read about Ginger in an earlier blog I wrote.
In my search for help with behavior and advice on pig husbandry I met a woman on line that breeds these special pigs and was very helpful and honest with her advice. We still email each other back and forth because we have a commonality not only with pigs but we both have farms and are into sustainable farming. Dana Reid of Balanced Earth Farm in Hood River Oregon. They not only raise pigs but have sheep as well and a three acre vineyard.
She told me to reach out to farm stands in my area for culled fruit and veggies because buying produce can get very pricey. So I took her advice and found a great Farm stand in Elma, WA called the Elma Farm and Public market, 617 E Young St Elma, WA 98541. They have a great food and juice bar there. I went in to ask if they had a bag of throw away produce and they said they did and it included the juice pulp from the night before. I felt I scored for Ginger.
I walked out of the farm stand with a big smile and could not wait to sort through the box of rubby veggies like I was in a dumpster. I got three big meals out of the box for Ginger and last night was the first meal. She loved it. Of course I put aside some for the chickens so they can partake in the good food. I have made popcorn, corn bread, and baked sweet potatoes for Ginger. Yesterday with the rain and cold weather Ginger stayed inside her house so I bought her a pumpkin. She took the whole pumpkin and put it in her house and enjoyed every bit of it while resting on her bed of timothy hay.
I keep asking myself, what are pigs good for? As far as I know they make a lot of noise, and make a mess in there pens and, people just eat them. Well, now I have learned that when you have a farm and you want a certain pasture tild up, you put the pigs in that area and they will root up the ground for you. Then when it’s all tiled you move them somewhere else depending on the time of year. The farmers will go back in with there tractor and make the soil even so they can plant crops again. Now this is sustainable farming, the big corporate farmers do not do this anymore. I also have learned that you can train them to the electric fence and move them in certain areas where you want; the Kunes like to graze because they are a grazing grass pig. The noses are shorter so they can not root like other pigs with longer noses. Did you know they can smell three feet under the ground.
Well the horses and other farm animals are getting use to Ginger, so is the peacefulness of the farm showing itself again, except when feeding time comes around. Then Ginger is screaming for her food. I have to say that learning about the behavior and the breed has been very interesting to me. It just gives me another way of looking at life and what has been created in it for us to enjoy. This Ginger kune pig is also teaching me patience and looking for ways to find answers to puzzling life circumstances.
That reminds me, got to find a pig puzzle for her.
Do you have pigs ? I would love to hear your comments.
Blessings
Joan Sorita
For those of you that do not know this breed of dog they are miniature alaskan huskies dogs. They are really a distinct breed of their own and are very verbal and use their body language to talk. Dogs in general use their body language […]
I was going to a friends home to chant with people on a Sunday of Jan. 2019. Before I left we had the kindest man come and put up dividing walls up for our horse shelter in the lower pasture. My husband bid me farewell […]
Bermaga Farm sheep have a very good life and we want to make sure that their wool is used for a good and healthy purpose. Every spring we have our sheep sheared and we harvest the wool that is clean. We will mulch the dirty wool in the garden and the clean wool is used to make dryer balls.
Did you know that wool dryer balls can help decrease the time you dry your clothes and reduce
Static not to mention eco-sustainablity. Our farm cleans the wool with biodegradable gentle detergent and we do not use bleach or harsh chemicals. We than card the wool with combs and shape the wool into balls which are then wash and dried three times. I have done a lot of research on companies that sell dryer balls and a lot of them use toxic chemicals to get them perfectly white. Some companies have gone to petroleum based rubber or plastic type of dryer balls. We support the hand crafted small farm biz way and we want to share this belief with others; spreading the word about wool, organic, and sustainability.
SUPPORT LOCAL FARMERS Like Bermaga Farms LLC in Montesano Washington.
Lulu is the name of our head ewe and we are proud to have her be a part of the sustainability of promoting the wool industry. We do not harvest our sheep for meat and we only keep a small amount of sheep so we can manage what we have. Having a small herd also gives us a chance to connect and have a relationship with our flock. By the way they loved to be massaged.
Tip of the day: If you would like essential oils mailed with your dryer balls just request it.Our aromas includes, Rosemary, lavender, lemon, orange. We have a blend named whisper that is amazing. It is one of my favorites beside orange.
Directions for use of essential oils on dryer balls.
Add 6 drops of essential oil to your dryer balls before putting them in the dryer. If you feel your dryer balls have seen better days, put essential oils on them and place them in your clothing drawers or shoes
Meet the Flockers…
BLOG 15 2019 JAN. Seems like thinking of Dandelion all day yesterday inspired me to write a bit more on the plant that is so hated by lawn grower enthusiast. Funny how us humans love to destroy or put things into extinction because it does […]
Winter, burr, something hot to drink is my mantra. There is a lot of down time when winter hits and for me this year we are making products for spring. It’s a good time to re-think ideas and throw out ones that have no value […]
BLOG 2, 2019
I was excited to wake up this morning, yes, it is winter here in Pacific Northwest and the weather here is that – damp cold that gets into your bones. Sometimes only a hot shower or soaking bath and into bed is the only thing that will warm your body up. This week here on our Bermaga Farm is sunny, although it’s cold in the mornings it’s also invigorating and electric.
I look at each day from a different perspective since my bone marrow transplant. I am here because I want to live life and love life. I still have more to do on this earth and I have a second chance to make it happen.
I love connecting animals to people and guiding people to their inner connection with the animal world and all it’s healing powers. Nature is overwhelmingly a mirror of our creator, a powerful life force that commands our respect. We as people on this earth are guardians of the earth and everything on it and in it. Each one of us can do what we can to support the guardianship with our gifts we have been given.
Our Bermaga Farm is a gift from our family to anyone out there that is like minded. We want to share our knowledge and receive others knowledge. We want to plant our herbs and grow our wondrous Peony and Iris flowers for the essences and elixirs to share with animals and people. Helping people with our gifts of bodywork, herbs and aromatics are a way we can express our guardianship.
I can not forget the horses that come to our farm for rest from their demanding performance careers or the horses that need a retirement spot. Sometimes there are those horses that just need our farm for a transition period. When they are here they are loved and are given the respect; to be a horse. They all have their own personalities and boy do they really get enhanced when they come and stay on the farm for a while. It takes them a good month just to let down their stress and get in to a routine. Even the horses that come here that are shut down mentally, open up and let go. When they have a more natural environment to move in, eat freely in the pasture and are among other horses that do the same their herding instincts really kick in and that is what triggers that inner voice and inner personality of what that horse really is.
We have the horse on our farm that is the greeter, then there is the horse that has to make sure everything is in its place and everyone is accounted for. We have the anxious horse that has been in his stall all his life and has to be outside all the time because it grounds them. There are the older horses that have some senitality issues and forget for a moment where they are but suddenly see or hear their pasture buddies and join up with them for the rest of the day. We get to witness a network of horse communication that goes on all day, everyday here on Bermaga Farm and we definitely receive a gift from it. The gift of connecting with nature and opening up ourselves for learning and sharing from it.
To sum it up, find one thing in nature that you are connected with and really look at the gift it holds. The patterns, the messages and the divine love that is in each little miracle we are a part of. Nothing last forever here on earth, so I am embracing it, are you?
Joan Sorita
It is a few days before the New Year of 2019 and I am always up so early in the morning and use this time to reflect and give gratitude. That sounds like such a mulled over statement these days, almost as if you are […]