New adventures for Fiberton Acres...Part Uno

Ummm....first...sorry.  I know it has been way way too long since I last wrote.  Life has a way of
taking some turns you don't expect, and let's be honest, I have yet to meet someone who really has their shit together enough to know how to deal with those changes.

But life is an adventure (and believe me, I keep repeating that mantra in my head) and I am definitely on a new journey.  This time by myself, and it is okay.

And in true starting over fashion, I have relocated to a new state and am in the process of taking on some of the biggest projects I have ever put my mind to.  New career, new town, and soon to be, converting the van into my new tiny home!

I have always loved the idea of the tiny home, and circumstances may have pushed that idea to the forefront.  Purchased for a song it back in Pennsylvania, the white Chevy Express van got us back to California. Shortly after, it sputtered out and it seemed that it was headed for the salvage yard.

Fast forward almost a year later (which is now almost a year ago).  Ric and I made the very tough decision to split up.  We spent about 20 years together, with good times and tough times, and while one of the toughest decisions of my life, we knew it was the right decision.

Not knowing how I was going to get myself around, I looked out at the field where the white van sat and came to the conclusion that I was going to get her up and running again. I walked out with keys in hand, unsure of what state I'd find her in.  A few dead rodents later, I inserted the key into the ignition of the vehicle that sat for months on end and turned it over. It started no problem.

With the help of my dad, we figured out that it was the catalytic converter that went out.  I ordered a new one and we got to work. My dad was my hero, loosening rusted bolts and cutting out the old catalytic converter. With a new one installed and a few other minor repairs, she was up and running once more!

Catalytic Converter work...appropriate shoes...?

A few final fixes...

Dad added this on the to-do list...and subsequently marked it F'ing Done!

My mom came over and we packed up the house.  I made the next tough but important decision, I was going to start a new career and in that, start traveling more.  The 'friend-lords' were the sweetest, and supported my decision, and kept the chickens.  The sheep and rabbits found a new forever home, with many tears shed.  And the white Chevy Express van got a futon bed installed and then got packed up with all the essential items I needed.  Oh, and a name.  C.W. for Covered Wagon.

Prepping the van for the futon...

Enough to sleep on when need be!

And all packed and ready for the new journeys!

Then I hit the road.....

~ Ash

PS - A BIG thanks to all my friends and family who have been there for support through the last year's ups and downs.  I am super excited for the next part of this journey so stay tuned!

Life is All About Trial and Error...And it's all about perspective.

I have to say trial and error is, for me, the best way to learn anything. When I started Kung Fu class I sucked. I fell every time I tried a high kick, I missed every take-down, and I couldn’t land a joint lock to save my life…literally. One night after class I was sitting in my car thinking about quitting to save myself the embarrassment of constant failure, when my instructor, Brian, knocked on the window and I opened the door while trying to not look depressed.

“Dude, you have great perseverance. Kung Fu is hard and the only way to know a technique is to find every way that it doesn’t work.” he said. “When you succeed the first time at a technique you only understand how you did it that time, in that situation. If you find every way that it doesn’t work, you are left with only the good.”

That night is when I changed my perspective on failure.

I no longer fail at anything. I successfully find ways that a technique does not work. When my RV wouldn’t start after parking at a gas station in Wyoming, I checked the batteries, they worked. I checked the wires leading to the ignition, they seemed funny and something looked loose, so I attached it to an open spot on the ignition and it almost instantly melted. I honestly thought about giving up…. We’d already replaced the radiator and the sending unit for the temp gauge. But then I thought about how I had eliminated a possible problem.  It wasn’t that loose wire… you know, because of the fire and all.

I called my dad and we walked through the entire ignition situation over the phone, tracing wires and even replacing and MacGyvering a few connections until we got it working. Ashley and I drove off the next morning, not having failed to leave the gas station in under 24 hours but having learned how to rewire the ignition system of a 1986 Winnie.

Every time you lose and fail remember that you learned. If you give up you don’t learn.

Brian encouraged me to take Tai Chi, hip hop dance, and even take up parkour to improve my Kung Fu, and it all helped. I also met some of my great friends because of these side projects. If I had given up that night in my car I wouldn’t have met some of the greatest people in my life. People who see not roadblocks but parkour obstacles to be vaulted over and mastered. 

I want you to remember that you become a master of life only after finding every way that your life doesn't work for you, because all that’s left is the good life.

If you are moving to becoming the you that you want to be, you are a blackbelt at life.

-Ric

Podcast 13- Cast Iron! Third try was a success

After multiple failures we have a success!
Computer crashes, memory issues, and some other things I don't remember made us a bit late on this wonderful episode all about cast iron!

Cast iron is great and wonderful but FYI those wrought iron fences attracts ghosts.

Check out the episode on your fav podcast player, or click right here to listen directly on SoundCloud.

Hobby Farms Cast Iron Article (and other useful links)

Fiberton Acres and New Products

Our Instagram

Our Patreon Page!

Our Email List!

All the Apparatus, our intro and outro music!

Podcast Episode 11 - A Brief History of the Farmer's Almanac!

This week we wanted to talk a little about how farmer's might get ready for the planting season, which morphed into a show about the Farmer's Almanac.  Check out some of the history and our ramblings about the Jackyl song, The Lumberjack at SoundCloud here (or on iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you find your pods!)

Some of the things we reference this week...

Fiberton Acres and New Products

Our Instagram

Our Patreon Page!

Our Email List!

All the Apparatus, our intro and outro music!

Podcast Episode 10 - ¿Como se llama?

This week we talk LLAMAS!!!  Yay!  I want one so bad!  Check out this week's episode here at Soundcloud, or on your preferred podcast player!

Not a llama, but Ric begged me to post this.

Some of the things we reference this week...

Fiberton Acres and New Products

Shorn Store and Shearing Service

Our Patreon Page!

Our Email List!

Keeping Up with the Clampetts Podcast (and previous intro and outro music musician)!

All the Apparatus, our intro and outro music!

We leave you with this....

Llama Cheese...its a thing

What Farmers Want You to Know and What They Need to Hear

Damn...sometimes this farming thing is hard. Okay, actually, most of the time it is. Today was one of those days where I had to keep reminding myself that it is worth the pain, the tears of frustration, the extra expenses and time. Oh so much time.

Ric working on the fence that this guy keeps escaping from.

As I looked out the window to see Rocky, my Shetland sheep ram, hanging out in the yard...the part of the yard that is not fenced, I mumbled under my breath something slightly colorful. The 3rd time today that I saw him doing the same, it was less quiet and a bit more colorful. And after the 6th time, I looked at my phone to realize that a day planned for other endeavors was basically gone. The light was waning. And out of desperation I touched the electric fence to see if it was even working. It was.

Damn it is cold in these here parts.

This post is to illustrate something specific for two different groups of people.

For those that have never had to bundle up in 20 degree weather to walk a fence to find out where the weakness is, those that have never really worried that the hay you just bought is full of crap and can’t be fed to your animals, those that have never lost their entire crop of tomatoes to disease, or lost one of their animals, I wanted to paint a picture of the struggles that the small farmer goes through on a day to day basis. It is just a reminder that when you buy that piece of pizza, that salad, or that knit sweater, of the things that could (and should) have gone into making them for you. I know you know, but sometimes we take things for granted. Not all the time, but sometimes we wonder why that farmer is charging a bit more for that organic carrot, or why that hand spun yarn is $20 a skein. And the sad fact of the matter is, almost never is that a true representation of the time and resources that went into that product.

Take that destructive tomato hornworm. (A parasite laid its eggs on it.)

So you are saying...man, then why do it? After a day like today, freezing pipes, sheep running amok, moldy hay, I had a moment of that, too. But I do it for the same reason so many other farmers and ranchers do. It is important work. It ties us to our past, our heritage, to the food we eat, to the clothes we wear. We know what we put in and on our bodies, as well as our friends, families and our customers. As a society, we have lost our passion and respect for it, and we see that as we lose countless acres of farmland, and as our aging farmers look to retire and don’t see who will take up the reins. But luckily, it also seems like there are some folks going back to the land. More new-to-farming folks, women and young people. And most of us run at it headlong, not really knowing what the hell we are doing. But after doing this for almost 3 years in some fashion or another, it kind of seems like no one really ever does. Sure, you learn a lot, but something new is thrown at you all the time. What farmers are really good at is learning to roll with the punches and make due as best is possible.

I urge everyone to look into the slow food and slow fashion movement. Go down to the local farmers’ market and ask your farmer more about how they grow and the challenges they face. Or just say thanks and buy that carrot or skein of yarn and make yourself a new, cozy hat and some yummy soup.

I made dis. (From shearing to finished piece.)

Wait, who is the other person this is for? For all of you either doing this work or thinking about doing it. I just want to say I am here for you. I am still new, and definitely don’t know it all. But I do know that having others to talk to is pretty much the best thing there is for any of us. And if you are thinking about going into this work, but hesitate because you don’t know much...just do it. It will likely be very hard at first. And even after you feel like you sorta have the swing of things, there will be days that are still very hard. But hands on experience and learning as you go is sort of the only way in this field. And to those that have been doing this a while, those that I have made a panicked phone call to when my ewe lambed the day before a HUGE move or who taught me about natural insecticides, THANK YOU. All of you out there being an inspiration and going through as much, pardon my french, shit, and more than we tiny fiber farmers do, THANK YOU. We all need you.

Ash

New Year, New Hustle...and special 2017 manifesto download!

First...Happy New year!  We hope you had a great first couple days of the year.  Admittedly, 2016 brought a LOT of change for us at Fiberton, and we have had to work really hard to keep ourselves treading water.  But we are also looking forward to the New Year as that marker for sitting down, an figuring our priorities and coming up with a new game plan.

The last several years I have been making a "Manifesto" for the year.  Something nice to look at, that I can hang on the wall, and that reminds me of the things that we want to work toward. Some of the things are just reminders to self about being 'yourself' and others are larger concepts or plans for the business.  These are personal and business goals and aspirations for the year...aka, how we wanna hustle this year:

Here is a pic of it hanging up... (tiny home = awkward photo angles)

I made it 8x10, so I could easily print and then frame it for all to see.  I love sharing, because it creates a bit of accountability, too.

So, want to make your own? We have created a special downloadable blank manifesto for you! Maybe you have been practicing your hand lettering, and want to fill it in by hand?  Then download the PDF version here. Or you want to drop it into a doc or drawing program and make it your own.  In that case, download the png image here, and draw your own text boxes in the spaces. (We used google draw and used their fun open source fonts. Just make sure that you format the page to be a 8x10.) Either way, we hope it inspires you to make some reminders/aspirations for your new year. (Oh, and don't forget to unclick "fit to page" when you go to print!)

Thanks for being our awesome readers, and let's all get that hustle on!

Ash

PS - If you have not had a chance, or you want to hear about the crazy year I spoke of above in our own voices, please check out our podcast!  Just look up Fiberton Acres on your preferred podcast platform. like iTunes, Stitcher, etc, and subscribe, OR you can go direct by clicking here!

Introducing our new podcast!

We are super excited to present our new podcast! Fiberton Acres' podcast is a Humorous History of Horticulture and Husbandry. A fun introduction to what we do, but more than that, it looks at the history of animal rearing and husbandry, agriculture, and some of the fun and funny things that we did, and some of the adventures that we have encountered in our forays into our relatively new farm life. We are also excited to take time with others in the field, other small farmers and ranchers, to see what they do and why they do it.

This episode is looking at a broad history of sheep and the uses of the domesticated sheep.

We found most of our details from:

• http://www.sheep101.info
• http://www.pbs.org/pov/sweetgrass/sheep-facts/
• http://www.onekind.org/education/animals_a_z/sheep
• http://www.famu.edu/cesta/main/assets/File/coop_extension/small%20ruminant/goat%20pubs/Sheep%20Facts.pdf
• http://www.think-differently-about-sheep.com/Sheep%20_Facts.htm

We also want to say thank you to Charlotte Cleary for helping us with our research, and to Lefty5Strings for our intro and outro music!

Make sure to subscribe on whichever podcast player you use, and we will post each episode here! Right now you can find us on Soundcloud, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn!

Thank you to everyone for your support! Head over to our Facebook page to leave your comments! (Or hit us up at Instagram or twitter @fibertonacres!)


- Ash and the Fiberton gang

Final day on the road to Oregon

We rolled into Weed, CA around 8:00 at night and proceeded to Friendly RV Park for the night.

A man met us out front and explained that they only take cash or check. We, being good 21st century folks, had neither. I had to drive the Kia over to the Pilot gas station hit up the ATM for $30 (that the ATM charged $2 and my bank charged another $3). We paid the guy and prepared for the night. The heater in the RV kicks out a lot of heat but is also roughly as loud as a small jet aircraft at takeoff so we couldn’t use it, luckily we had about 1 million blankets to keep us warm.

In the morning, as we were doing the feedings, the couple from the camper next to us came over to say hello. They were an older couple and had both grown up on farms up in Canada. After talking to them for a while we found out he fought in WWII for the Canadian Army and was 88 years old! They like to drive all over and they visit family on their trips. We decided we want to be just like them when we’re 88.

Silly Rocky was not super thrilled to be in the small space.  

Adrian and little baby Pauly seemed just fine in their stall.

After saying our goodbyes to them we hit the road again. This time the RV was squeaking quite loudly for a few minutes causing Ashley a little bit of a panic. “Is it going to explode?” she asked over the walkie talkies we had in each car. “Maybe… but I bet not. It is cold so it should stop once it warms up.” I tried to reassure her. After about 10 minutes of RV squeaking, cats meowing, and Ashley panicking the noise quieted down as the RV motor warmed up.  

After a few uneventful hours on the road we entered into Oregon and then all the way up to Eugene! We exited the highway and navigated some back roads to avoid city driving, and made it to our new place well before nightfall (easily an hour before hehe).  It’s a nice little place with plenty of room for the animals to stretch their legs finally, including our 4 day old lamb, who had spent the majority of her little life in the back of a trailer.

The family enjoying some luscious Oregon grass and stretching their legs! 

Overall, the travel went pretty well for how quickly we had to hit the road and go.  It was a great way for us to do a trial run for the big move to WV later this summer!

-Ric

The first couple days on the road...

Hitting the road on day one involved making the journey all the way to Casa De Fruta… about 100 miles north. I admit it wasn’t a far away goal but it was a way to get some road behind us. I called them to ask if they had a spot open for the night, that was pull through, and that could accommodate a horse trailer with 3 sheep in it… also could we camp there with 3 sheep?

The girl on the phone had to go ask her manager but returned to say it was fine.

Casa De Fruta started as a roadside fruit stand but has become a roadside attraction with an RV park, a model train you can ride on, a restaurant, a carousel, a truck stop, 32 peacocks, and a candy shoppe.

At a previous visit to Casa de Fruta. Just hanging with peacocks.

We arrived after dark and got set up for the evening, clearing off the bed we were using for storage so we had a place to sleep and basically shoveling a path through the RV;  just doing the bare minimum to sleep.

When we awoke we were itching to get on the road again… right after coffee and breakfast. I drove the car down to the coffee shop and get some coffees and pastries, and candy, because why not? We gulped our coffees and downed our pastries (I would be more specific but I honestly don’t remember what they were) and started the RV back up. 

The extremely loud squeaking noise coming from the engine compartment lasted until we exited the park before it began to subside. “What the hell was that noise?” came Ashley’s voice over the Walkie Talkie.

“A loud squeaking noise,” was my super helpful response. 

“Is it broken?” she asked.

“No, just a squeaking belt.” I said, hoping I wasn’t lying. As soon as I said it her voice come over again: “The windshield wipers just came on and won’t turn off!” She was yelling into the headset at this point. “Pull over and I’ll look,” I said.

Once we pulled over I looked under the dash to discover that I didn’t know anything about what under a dash is supposed to look like… I found the wires connecting the windshield wipers via a Google search and disconnected them. “Avoid driving through any rain,” I said, “And you’ll be fine.”

The only excitement for the rest of day two was the constantly escaping cats. Thankfully, Ashley had them in the RV with her so I didn’t have to deal with it. Obi (my cat) was the ringleader of the prison breaks. If I remember correctly they escaped 12 times that day. We eventually moved the cats into one of the hard carriers to better contain them.

Mom...we are literally dying.  I promise.  Let us out.

We made it pretty far that day, deciding to stop just before we got to Oregon in a little town called Weed, CA. We found this little RV park that once again welcomed our little menagerie, and welcomed a nice restful night.

Day 3 soon...

- Ric

Part two of Big BIG changes for Fiberton...

A baby lamb is a tiny bundle of cute that is constantly trying to escape or run around like a crazy person leaping off everything in sight as well as trying to climb on Adrian, our ewe.

Pauly was born on Easter some time late at night. We didn't notice until around noon on Monday. We saw a fluffball running around the field when we were coming home from buying moving supplies.

Little Pauly, our Easter baby

“Uuum, what is that?” Asked Ashley. “Is that a baby?”

“No, not everything is a baby.” I said snarkily, mostly because this was the 5th “Is that a baby?” in the past 3 months.

“Then why is it running around?” she continued.

“Balls! That’s a baby!” I exclaimed while jumping out of the slowly moving car.

Normally a successful baby lamb would be just another day on the ranch, but being that we were embarking on a three-day move up to Oregon the next day, it was causing a little stress (understatement).

“Should we call Christy?” Ashley asked, only slightly panicked. Before I could even say “Yes,” she was already on the phone. Christy and Mike were there within an hour, with oats, vitamins, and inoculations in hand.

After they gave us the ok to move her we went back to packing, we were leaving in less than 24 hours after all.

So little and cute! 

Our Friendlord came over to help us finish cleaning and packing for the move so it would look good when she came over to inspect it later (she’s cool like that.)

Pulling out of that driveway was hard, not only because we had a horse trailer being pulled by 26 foot Winnebago, but because we were already missing all the amazing people that we knew there.

JB loaded in the car watching Ash in the Winnebago in front of us

Leaving the driveway of our awesome little farm in San Miguel.
We were super lucky to have such a great place, with such wonderful Friendlords and
friends in the area.  Thank you all for everything!  

Part three with the road trip will come along soon....

Big BIG changes for Fiberton...Part 1

“Well, I guess we’re moving to West Virginia,” I said to Ashley after receiving the news, “I got accepted to Wheeling Jesuit University’s Respiratory Therapy Program!”

I should introduce myself, I’m Ric! Ashley has probably mentioned me before, but now she’s working like crazy (I’ll explain on what later) so I’m picking up the slack with my superior talents :-)

I am the hubby that Ashley keeps talking about. (On the right.)

As I mentioned above, I got accepted to Uni halfway across the country in a place I’d never heard of, let alone been to. I needed a change of career, or a career at all really. I have asthma and have been in hospitals quite often my entire life (I find them comforting… I know, weird, right?) and I have always wanted to be in a medical field, but didn’t want to be a doctor or a nurse. I honestly had forgotten that respiratory therapists existed until I had a bad day at work and was looking for something better to do with my work life.

I decided to get the full BA degree, so I looked at schools that offered it, there were about 48. And the top five were Ivy League and/or prohibitively expensive. But WJU looked right up my alley, so I applied. Not only did they accept me, but they gave me scholarships!

After we had decided to move there at the end of summer one of Ashley’s old friends called from Oregon and offered her a job on a campaign, it was a city council race that was highly contested and the candidate needed the best campaign manager that Eugene has ever known (I’m tooting her horn for her) and they asked her to come back to the Eug for “One more race.”

“.......... Should we?” Ashley asked me.

“Why the hell not? I love adventure, and excitement.” (That’s why I’d be a bad Jedi.)

After about two days of me convincing her that we could pack up 6 rabbits, 2 sheep, 2 cats, and an incredibly old black lab into Oliver (the cool name we’ve given to our 1986 Winnebago) she caved.

Oliver, our trusty Winnebago

It was official, we had less than a month to pack up and get to Oregon. We discussed it with Ashley’s parents and after they helped us decide it wasn’t a ridiculous idea, we began telling people with “The Friendlords” (our friends who also happened to be our landlords) and then Mike, Christy, and their friendtern (their intern who also happened to be their friend) Tiffany, and lastly our jobs. We began frantically packing and doing dump runs in between our last shifts at work. 

We pulled Oliver around near the house and bought a 2-horse trailer made sometime in the ‘60’s to haul the sheep (Ashley’s dad Dean drove her, like, 4 hours north just to pick it up because it was SUPER CUTE and also half the price of any other ones we saw online). We started overhauling Oliver and converting the pullout bed into a full time bed and putting in the new entertainment center and bookshelf that I had built. (I just learned how to build stuff recently, so I’m bragging.) Once I had hooked up my Playstation, NES, Atari, Genesis, Super Nintendo, Wii, and my computer I was ready to go. (Unfortunately, we still had a whole house to move out of, hehe.)

The adventure will continue...

Time flies when you are....

Having fun?  Homesteading? Knitting, crocheting and spinning?  Playing with silly animals? How about all of the above?

A quick check in.  I promise I will return to my Granny Chic series very soon, but in the meantime, here is a little of what we have been up to at Fiberton!

In the business and crafting side of things:

Ric made me this adorable felty friend!  I wool always love ewe. little felty friend!  We will be releasing these in out etsy shop in the near future, too!

These lovely custom knitting needles are shipped off and on their way to their new home...

 Three more sets of dryer balls dropped into a lovely customer's mailbox this week!

And we are finishing one of these awesome pom pom rugs up for a customer as we speak!

On the animal front:

This guy got an awful haircut.  He would not stop fidgeting!  But he feels sooo much better!  (One person told me it looks like I glued cotton balls on him! hehe)

Rocky and Adrian (and Ric and I) are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a little lamb...

See?  Can't you see the excitement in Rocky's silly little face? (Oh, and mine...)

Then of course the house animals have been keeping us entertained, too....

Silly kitties!  Sister love...

I couldn't help myself but try for another animal selfie.  This time with the old guy.  We took a little drive in the '63 Comet and boy did he enjoy it! 

 And on the volunteer and business front:

I am on the Board of the small Chamber of Commerce in the area, and we put on a Business Expo this week.  I helped with planning and outreach, as well as had a table there.  It was a great success all around!

Whew!  Now that several big projects are off the plate, expect us to get back on the ball with posts!  Hope your February was filled to the brim like a tub full of good stuff! 

Ash