Burn Out / Winding Down? (2 for the price of 1)

After all the rain we had earlier this summer, August and September have been nothing but gorgeous sun-filled days here in Maine. As you've noticed, if you keep up with my blog, I have not been posting for a while. Today it is raining. Today I was hoping to catch the last day of MOFGA's Common Ground Country Fair...it's an event I've heard about since before I even moved to Maine. Fortunately for you it is raining and I just don't have the energy, the cash or the gumption to drive a total of 4 hours and then sit in the cold rain to learn about bee keeping, cover crops, or weaving with mohair. I don't mean to whine, but I'm tired!

My head swims when I try to sit and think clearly on what exactly I've learned so far this year at the farm.(It swims even more when I think of the things I have yet to learn.) I will definitely need the winter months to process some of this. Then maybe I can form a better answer than the sarcastic one I've been giving lately: Yeah, I've learned a ton this summer...most importantly: Do Not move your farm.

Somehow, the entire month of August went by in a flash and at the end of it, we had moved 40 goats, several buildings, the buck barn, the cheeseplant, everything from the old house and we completed a new giant greenhouse barn to house the goats and the new milk parlor. Then my parents visited for a week, then Scott's parents visited for 2 weeks. And throughout all this, we still kicked ass at market, delivering our delicious cheese to our customers as if it was second nature. Our asses were dragging, but our eyes were bright and we continued to laugh.

At first, I thought this would be a post as an update to what I've been doing for the past 2 months, but I think I'd rather stay current and talk some about burn out. Scott and Jen and various other farmers have shared with me that everyone--Everyone who works on a farm goes through burn out. There's nothing to do to avoid it. When I hit a small patch of burn out earlier in the summer, everyone told me the best way to get over it was to work through it. Not the answer you want to hear at the time...but they were right. I worked through it on auto-pilot and within a few days I was back with a clear head and ready to make some more cheese!

Then there is another type of burn out which I unfortunately hit the week before my parents got here. My mood changed pretty dramatically and I had a terrible temper. I was loosing it on the goats and being a jerk to the people around me. Nothing made me happy and I did not want to be in that cheeseplant or in the barn or even in the house. Of course there is no such thing as an opportune time when working on a farm. Scott told me to take a couple days off and I did. He and Jen worked to cover the gap that I left and we all survived. My parents visit was more stressful than I ever imagined it would be and now, a month later, I feel like I'm finally getting back on top of things with my work. I think the burn-out is behind me for this season and I'm already looking forward to next season.

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Can you believe I honestly thought things would slow down in the fall? We have just as much cheese to make each week plus extra for special events and the holiday season, even though our supply of goat milk is dwindling each day with the sunlight. As difficult and long as the days can be here, I know that I made the choice to be here and I continue to choose this life each day. I went into this apprenticeship looking for the answers to these questions: What is goat farming like? Would I like goat farming? Now I know the answers to those questions, and new questions have formed to take their place: Is this the right lifestyle for me? Do I want to devote my life's work to this?

There are countless things I still need to do and things I need to learn and things I need to improve on. Things that need fixed, things I need to think about and put into practice. Things that will just have to wait till next year, things to do this winter and things that needed done 2 weeks ago. I guess I didn't really understand Jen earlier in the summer when she described this lifestyle as an all out sprint for 8 months and then off for 4. She said she is good as a distance runner, someone who can work a long ways at an even pace. But that she's still not sure if she wants to do the 8 month sprint. At times, it doesn't seem like a healthy way to sustain life, but I haven't made it to the off-season yet. I am very much anticipating a break, a time to reconnect with my friends and time to begin planning for my own farm.

Taking a Bee Break

Every now and then I get a little free time and I try to update the blog. I also try to do other things non-goat or cheese related. Scott knew I was interested in learning bee-keeping and he used to work for a commercial place that had 1,000 hives. So he decided to get me a little side project to learn. A few weeks ago we drove down near Skowhegan and picked up 3 boxes of bees! We brought them up to the new farm in Maxfield where they have fields of flowers and trees to enjoy. We finally got them all transfered into their new hives yesterday. 

All three hives are pretty active and the bees seem happy in their new hives and have lots more room to spread out and store up honey. So far I haven't had the courage to do much when we were working with the bees. I stand by and use the smoker and mostly watch Scott. I'm getting more comfortable being around them, but I haven't been stung yet. I'm too careful and cautious right now. But it's really fun and very interesting to see the bees at work. They are really sweet honeybees. And the more I watch them up close, I think they are very cute little creatures. 

We've had something like 32 days of rain out of the last 40 days here in the Orono/Bangor area...and I think it's like this over most of Maine but I haven't had the chance to keep up much with local (or any) news. I know that it's mostly all that people talk about at farm markets. I've also been assured by several people that this is not typical Maine weather. How are the bees handling all this rain? Well we fed them with a gallon jar full of thick, syrupy sugar water because if they don't have the chance to fly, they still need to eat and they still need something to help them make up for all the lost honey in their hives. 

The bees didn't go through the jar as fast as we thought they would. It took them about a week to finish off the gallon of sugar water. We mixed up another jar yesterday and left it for them to enjoy. It looks like we won't have the chance to get any honey from our bees this year. They will need to store it all up for themselves to make it through the long winter here in Maine. So next year we are hoping to make some Honey Mead. And hopefully by then, I'll be much more comfortable and knowledgeable with the bees. 

To market to market to buy some fresh cheese!

Happy belated 4th of July! 

This week I thought I'd talk marketing now that market season is in full swing! As I mentioned in my last post, we sell all of our cheese at farmer's markets. It's so rewarding and a lot of fun to sell cheese face to face to our loyal cheese customers and to goat-cheese virgins alike. In the short 4 months that I've been here at  Olde Oak Farm, Scott has taught me a lot about marketing. Before I moved here I knew that marketing myself and salesmanship were two of my weakest points. But now I really look forward to markets. Not only does it allow me a little social time away from the farm, but every market also gives me a chance to practice and improve my selling skills. (Right now I'm working on the closing of the deal.) 

I think before I began working here I took a very laissez-faire point of view  towards marketing and selling cheese. I figured it would sell itself. Who wouldn't buy fresh, local, delicious cheese?? I've learned that LOTS of people won't. There are many reasons. One of the biggest reasons Scott has talked about this week is trust. When you go to a veggie vendor, you usually aren't worried about getting sick from the tomatoes or broccoli. Dairy farming is a little different in that way. Not only does the cheese need to taste good, but it needs to be from high quality milk and you need to convince the customer that they can trust you and your product. At the same time, you're giving them a tour of the cheeses on the table, encouraging them to try it, making small talk, doing a little mental math and paying attention to other customers walking by the table and trying to get their attention. 

Farmers markets are a 4 or 5 hour window for us to sell as much cheese and make as much money as possible so that we can continue to break even and afford to feed the goats and run the cheese plant...and even pay the apprentice. :) All the work we do every day, all day adds up to farmers markets. With that said, I'll give you a little inside view into the producer side of things at market that the consumers may or may not be aware of. 

The Olde Oak farm market rules: 

1. No sitting or leaning during market 

2. Say hello to everyone that walks by the stand, whether they are customers or not. 

3. Never say NO. If someone asks if we have something that we do not have. Instead of saying no, we say we'll have it next week or we try to redirect them to something similar. 

Each farm has its own persona and each person at that farm has their own character that they play while at market. These "characters" are really just an exaggerated extension of their true personalities. I'm the excited, new apprentice at the farm. I'm learning how to make all these delicious cheeses and I know you want to taste them all! The persona of Olde Oak Farm looks like a group of happy hippies making cheese and loving their goats. We name all the goat cheeses after the goats. And we make the flavors to match their personalities. "This is Opal. She's the sweetest goat in the herd. Never kicks me when I'm milking her. We made her cheese sweet. It's orange-ginger marmalade with sliced almonds on top." And so on. 

It's cool when you start watching other vendors at market. Where we have the no sitting, say hello to everyone rule, other vendors are much more laid back. The maple syrup guy just sits back on the tailgate of his truck and doesn't say anything to anyone who walks by until they come over and ask a question about maple syrup...then you can't get him to stop talking until suddenly you are taking home a jug of syrup and a little more appreciation for sugaring. 

Scott says that everyone is a customer when they walk by our stand...they just might not know it yet. Scott has a very big persona at market. He talks louder and laughs and knows everyone. Super friendly, "Best day of my life, how about you?" And he is great at gaining people's trust. Jen is a little more soft spoken. She pays close attention to people's kids and dogs. She's great at keeping an eye on the table and moving things around strategically to sell more. 

So next time you are out at a market(which should be this weekend!)consider a few things:

*What is the persona of your favorite farmer/vendor? 

*Why are you drawn in to some vendors/farmers more than others?