17 July

Big Day In The Country. Sweet Corn. $5 a dozen.

by Jon Katz
Five Dollars A Dozen
Five Dollars A Dozen

It is a big day in the country when the first sweet corn goes on sale, it is usually  during the first two weeks of July, this year complicated by all of the rains. Corn stands, dormant for most of the year and built on the edge of many farms, are opening up with their handmade signs and “trust” slots. Some people take the corn and don’t pay, and they are held in low regard and God help them if they get caught in the act but most people put their paper money through the slot and come by several times a week.

17 July

Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude.

by Jon Katz
Gratitude
Gratitude

It took me nearly losing my life to love my life.

Every day, I awake with gratitude.

I say these words when I open my eyes and see the light coming through the window:

Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude.

I can be thankful for what I have,

or mourn what I have lost.

I can appreciate the time I have,

or regret the time I lost.

All around me, I see the beating hearts

and shining souls of the many good people in the world

working so hard to live their lives, find happiness and love,

take another stab at life, even as life sometimes takes a stab at them.

For all of this, for every day, for every day.

Gratitude, Gratitude, Gratitude.

17 July

Update: Renting Bedlam Farm

by Jon Katz
Renting Bedlam Farm
Renting Bedlam Farm

How curious life is. When we put Bedlam Farm on the market, I expected a flood of interested buyers, but that didn’t happen. Until yesterday, when we announced we were willing to rent it. And we have a flood of interested  renters. Kristin Preble said her phone (518 854- 7888) has been ringing off the hook all day, some of the calls very serious. It wasn’t that people didn’t want the farm, rather few people were in a position to buy it at this time. A different story.

So we have to figure out the rental thing. Kristin ([email protected]) is sorting through the calls and e-mails and she and I are talking a lot about what kind of renter we would be interested in. We would have to figure all of this out, we haven’t sorted through the details yet. My wish would be for a serious renter, a multi-year arrangement is fine with us, and I feel strongly the farm should be rented by someone with a keen interest in animals – sheep, goats, horses, Alpacas. The farmhouse is spacious and comfortable, but there are four restored barns, several fenced in pastures all with water and two or three well fenced dog runs (parks really), plus a mile-long path in the woods. Those all speak of animals (hunters, too.)  I especially like people who have had farms, they appreciate Bedlam Farm and get the issues involved.

Some renters are looking to rent to explore life in the country, others to begin or continue a life with animals already in possession. This feels good, there are lots of good people interested and I will keep you posted, while protecting the identity of the inquirers. The delay in selling with buy us the time we need for the market to recover and for the farm to sell at a fair price.

We are not interested in running retreats for rescue animals, need people, writers, artists or photographers. Not what we do for a living. Bedlam Farm is ready for it’s next incarnation, whatever that might be. For anyone seriously interested, feel free contact Kristin, 518 954-7888, [email protected].

 

17 July

Loving A Flower

by Jon Katz
Dahlia Garden: Loving A Flower
Dahlia Garden: Loving A Flower

I’ve never been a gardener, never known much about flowers, then I started taking photos and that was a different story, but I think I loved flowers for the pictures as much as the flowers. Until the Dahlia. We dug up a Dahlia garden and this Latin flower, the national flower of Mexico, is very happy in our humid, sticky and wed heat wave, this is what the Dahlia loves, it is a sensuous and passionate flower and I have fallen for it, it is like doing the Tango in a ballroom with a beautiful woman.

17 July

Video: Sharing The Bounty: Open House Peek at Red’s Work

by Jon Katz
Open House Preview
Open House Preview

Some people will be able to make it to the farm for Sunday’s preview, but most of the people reading this will not be here, so I took Red out with the sheep and recorded a three minute video so those of you who can’t come will get a sense of what will be going on here and won’t miss out, and those of you who can come will get a preview. Red is in top form, we work together every day and I hope to do three our four short herding exhibitions Sunday afternoon. The weather is supposed to be cool and clear.

Come and see Red strut his stuff. He is teaching me something every day. I didn’t work him hard or long today because of the heat, but you can definitely get a sense of his skill and responsiveness. Enjoy it.

 

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