Horizontal Snowfall

The warm weather last week had us all thinking very strong Spring-time thoughts - and I'm not just talking about the humans in the room.  Our Farm Supervisory Crew (Inspector, Soup and Murphy) were less than overjoyed by the weather on Sunday that started with strong, cold winds and a temperature that was not much over the freezing mark.  The hens barreled out of their shelter as they normally do in the morning, but they were very much wanting to be inside by the time we got to mid-afternoon, when the winds really got going.

It is mid-April in Iowa, so temperatures and weather like this is certainly not out of the question.  As a matter of fact, I can only recall one season that didn't tease us like this with nice warm temperatures before opening the door for Old Man Wynter at least one more time.

The plants that normally begin to show up in early Spring have been very patient this year - moving very slowly as if they knew something was up.  But, like the rest of us, they couldn't help themselves.  While we were getting used to doing chores outside without gloves and less than three layers of clothing, the Daffodils, Surprise Lilies, Bluebells, Lungwort and other similar plants sprang up from the ground and even started.  We even had one daffodil open up on Sunday morning - in time to be encased in snow and ice.

The wind encouraged the snow to stick to vertical surfaces and wedged flakes in the crevasses that could found in bark and the sides of buildings.  A small hole in one outbuilding resulted in snowflakes fluttering down on me as I was attempting to do work with the mistaken belief that the snow would not reach me there.  It often amazes me how well some strong wind and a little snow can illustrate for me that there are some things that need repair that I hadn't considered to be all that important only hours before.

Even our Indoor Supervisor, Bree, could sense that the winds had changed (so to speak).  The windows that had been open in the days prior were now securely closed.  The temperature in the farm house was a bit lower than it had been for several days in a row.  

All of the signs pointed to finding good places to take catnaps.  If she could take them where the humans were, all the better.  Initially, near the humans was a good option.  But as the day wore on, this changed to being ON the humans.

I guess we said we wanted a lap cat when we brought Bree and Hobnob home, didn't we?

We know from past experience that the Lungwort and other similar plants will survive this cold snap and the snow.  They might be set back a little bit, but they will continue to bloom and the temperatures will rebound.  But, on Sunday (and Monday) they shivered with the rest of us and wondered if perhaps returning to their winter naps might be preferable to what they were dealing with in this moment in time.

Of course, I couldn't help myself.  The reversal in weather conditions after so much of the plant life had decided it was safe to emerge and maybe even flower grabbed my attention and my imagination.  I grabbed the camera and went out to see what I could capture.

Then after a couple of shots I went back in and grabbed my coat.  Yes, Spring often requires that we be prepared to make adjustments.  Even if we would really rather not do so.

The Magnolia blossoms were pretty certain the time was now and they were swelling rapidly last week, only to stall and "freeze" in place as the snow flew.  There was even one bloom that had opened about a quarter of the way.  It was still holding the same shape throughout the snow on Sunday and into Monday.  It was almost as if it heard the March Lion roar and it stopped moving in hopes that it wouldn't be seen and be spared from a mauling.

The forecast is calling for some nicer days in the near future - and by nicer I mean, warmer than this.  But, we won't be going back to 70s and 80s for temperatures for a while.  Perhaps that will be a blessing for us?  Maybe the blooms will unfurl a bit more deliberately and the greenery will reach to the sun a bit slower than it had been doing.  It could actually give us a chance to appreciate Spring at a pace that we can handle, rather than jumping directly to Summer.

Whichever way it goes, we'll do our best to participate and appreciate.

Agroecology: Adapting Agriculture to the Land

 

Over the last couple of months, I have observed multiple changes to the landscape in Iowa and most of those changes have been initiated in the interests of agriculture. For example, a fencerow near one field had all of the bushes and trees taken down and the grasses burned.  A small grove of trees in the corner of another field is now piled up, likely awaiting a calm day for a bonfire.  In another field, I noticed that a grass strip to prevent soil erosion had been tilled and was showing signs of soil loss.  And, of course, farm equipment to apply synthetic fertilizers and pre-emergent herbicides have made their first appearances for the season.

Agroecology is about complexity

Each of these actions is an example of adapting the land to agriculture.  Fields keep getting larger so more of one crop can be grown using bigger equipment and more pesticides.  It’s a vicious cycle and it is difficult for me to acknowledge and write about it.  But we do have alternatives.  We can adopt the principles of agroecology.  We can turn the story around and adapt our agriculture to the land, rather than the other way around.

The more I have considered it, the clearer it has become — agroecology is all about acknowledging, learning about, accepting, and promoting complexity in our agricultural and food systems.  This complexity manifests itself in the ecological, social and economic aspects of agriculture.

Biodiversity on the farm

On our farm, I have come to believe that a successful field is one that I want to be in.  This might seem obvious, but it may not be for the reasons you expect.  Certainly, it is true that part of my appreciation comes from the success of the crops I hope to harvest.  But the key is that this is only a part of what makes a field successful.

I appreciate a field that has diversity in plant life, especially if some of that plant life includes flowers that I (and the pollinators) can enjoy.  When I stand in a successful field, I often observe a wide range of animal life, including birds, insects, snakes, frogs and toads.  The soil itself is healthy and full of both visible and microscopic life.  And I have found, over time, that these fields often produce better than those dedicated only to one kind of plant, where any other life is discouraged.

There is a wide range of tools farmers can use to increase the biodiversity on their farm.  It can begin with a longer crop rotation, and it can be expanded to include intercropping.  A farm can support biodiversity with wild spaces and perennial plantings, including wooded areas, terraces, and prairie strips.  A growing system becomes more diverse with the integration of animals, and soil health can be protected with cover crops.

Complexity results in diversity.  Diversity is health on the farm and in our world.

More, and smaller, farms

Many are attracted to larger fields with a single crop (monocropping) for their relative simplicity.  Till the soil, plant the seed, spray the pesticides and harvest the crop.  Every square foot of the land is treated pretty much the same.  If a portion of it isn’t immediately suitable, it is altered until it can be used.  The number of people who are truly invested in the process of food production is reduced, and those who do the actual labor are rarely given the power to act as stewards.

Smaller farms place more people in a position to listen to the land and adjust to its needs.  More people on the land increases the personal investment our global population has in agriculture and growing food.  

If we wish to promote an agriculture and food system that relies on more and smaller farms, we must also make land accessible to all who would be stewards.  An increase in the number of farms provides space for a broader spectrum of people to grow food and care for the land.  Indigenous farmers can restore or resume cultural food practices.  People of color and people who do not have great personal wealth can have opportunities to stand and work in successful fields, wielding the power and responsibility of caretakers.

 

Peer mentorship and local support

More farmers on smaller farms provide an opportunity to reconnect our food production systems at the local and regional levels.  On the other hand, large farms with corporate or absentee owners have no incentive for cooperation, and their employees are often powerless to make management decisions.  The people that do the work often feel detached from the land they work on.  

In my own farming experience, I have come to value my connections with my peers who operate or work on small-scale, diversified farms.  The farmer-to-farmer exchange of knowledge and the focus on shared success have been critical for our own health and our farm’s resilience.

Similarly, our interactions with the communities that surround us characterize a relationship that goes beyond an economic basis.  Our farm provides the rest of the community with a connection to the land and food production.  The community hears a different story through our farm that creates an understanding and appreciation for complexity.  In return, the community has been willing to provide support when our farm has faced extreme challenges — like pesticide drift or a physical ailment.

Local connections provide support, which makes it possible for small-scale farms to introduce the complexity that supports diversity.  It’s a circle that sustains all of us, and this is an important part of agroecology.

Farm practices and farm research adapted to the land and community

Our farm has participated in numerous on-farm research projects in tandem with other farms over the years.  Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is that every farm is different.  While there might be some “best practices” that we can all adapt to our systems, the reality is that we must adjust those practices as we make our own observations of what is going on where we are.

We participated in a research project that was intended to evaluate varieties of broccoli for production in Iowa.   Several farms reported results that indicated one particular variety was a very poor choice.  That variety was the best performer on our farm for this trial.  The reasons for these differences were uncertain, but they could be any combination of weather, soil types, disease, pest pressure, surrounding environment, or growing techniques.  What it illustrated for me was the fact that we should not expect growing solutions that work everywhere for everyone.  It also encouraged me to participate in more on-farm research.

Simply put, growing food is complex and it is different according to a wide range of factors –  we should treat agriculture and food production in a way that recognizes this.

The balance sheet is more than profit/loss

Large-scale, chemical-based food production measures itself by yield (how much of the crop is produced per acre) and money gained or lost.  Many vegetable producers use black plastic mulch in their growing beds to prevent weed growth in their crops.  From a monetary investment perspective, it makes sense because this is one of the cheapest ways to control weeds in a commercial vegetable production system.  However, the environmental costs of producing this plastic and then disposing of it are not part of the farm’s balance sheet — even if it should be.

Agroecology encourages practices that are efficient – minimizing waste and optimizing energy use. One good example would be the integration of animals into a small-scale farm to provide fertility, rather than purchasing synthetic fertilizers.  This becomes even more efficient if the animals are included in the crop rotation so they can spread their own manure in a field that will produce food in subsequent seasons.

Agroecology is a name for answers we already have

The beauty of agroecology is that it provides room for the successes of many.  Indigenous producers of kalo (taro) on Hawai'i have a place to grow with agroecology.  We could have hundreds of smaller-scale egg production farms in Iowa, stewarded by the workers that currently find themselves working unfulfilling jobs in confinement production.  A row-crop farm could produce a variety of grain and soy crops without reliance on chemicals.  And my small-scale, vegetable and poultry farm  — my home  — also has a place with agroecology.

We already have the foundation for what we need to get started.  The answers reside in known science, inherited and Indigenous knowledge, and in the beauty of complex systems.  It’s up to us to continue to learn how they apply in each place we live and grow food.  It’s up to us to adapt our agriculture to the land, not our land to the agriculture.

-------------------------

I authored this entry originally for PAN's GroundTruth blog and it is cross-posted here.  I hope you found this article interesting and worthy of consideration.

Night Flight - Postal History Sunday

 

Welcome to Postal History Sunday!   This week we're going to take a foray into an area of postal history where I have much less familiarity.  The motivation for this is twofold.  First, I felt as if the large envelope shown above and mailed in 1924 likely had a good story surrounding it and I was interested in beginning my exploration. That is usually enough reason for a Sunday topic.

Second, I find it useful to move myself out of my knowledge "comfort zone."  It's a good reminder to me that many things I see when I look at an item in my area of "expertise" is not always apparent to everyone else.  It helps me to improve my ability help others see what I am seeing if I put myself in the position of not immediately recognizing what is going on myself.

So, let's see how I do this time around!

US Air Mail services in 1924

Biplane equipped with lights for night flying ca 1924 - from USPS site viewed 4/15/23

Air Mail service in the United States was still very much in its experimental phase, but by 1921 it was clear that the service was dangerous (to the pilots) and the time savings for the mail was certainly not enough to encourage customers to pay the extra postage it took to use air mail. The exception to this rule (cost-benefit) was the trans-continental route (completed Sept 1920) that ran from New York City to San Francisco.  A time savings of 22 hours could be achieved with mail traveling on planes during the day and trains at night.

It is important to remember that pilots of the time did not have much by way of instrumentation to help with navigation and had to rely on what they could see on the ground.  To give you an example, the first scheduled flight to carry mail for the US Post Office from Washington DC to New York City in May of 1918 was less than a roaring success.  

The pilot, 2nd Lieut. George Boyle, shook hands with President Woodrow Wilson for a flight that was to make its first stop in Philadelphia.  Taking off with a map on his lap, Boyle ended up heading the wrong direction.  Once he realized the mistake, he landed in a field and damaged the propeller.  The mail was driven back to Washington and taken by train to Philadelphia.  

Now, just imagine exactly how difficult it was going to be to fly mail planes at night.  Unlike the present day, where even large towns have airports with flood lights and every town has streetlights, most of the continent was quite dark when the sun went down.  Add to this the uncertainty of the weather that a pilot might encounter as they traveled from East to West and vice versa.  The National Weather Bureau existed and did what it could to provide forecasts, but there was a great deal of ground to cover.

Beacon light, 1924 - USPS site

Postmaster General Harry S New indicated that the US Post Office was aware that night flying was going to be necessary in his 1923 Report of the Postmaster General, signalling a new trans-Continental schedule that included night flying to begin on July 1, 1924.  Beacon lights were installed along the route from Chicago to Cheyenne, Wyoming every three miles to guide the pilots in the section of the route scheduled to be flown at night.  Pilots and planes were changed six times (Cleveland, Chicago, Omaha, Cheyenne, Salt Lake City and Reno) and the mail would leave in the morning in New York City, scheduled to arrive in San Francisco late the next day.

Other advances of note included the development of altimeters to help determine if the aircraft was climbing or descending.  Could you imagine trying to figure that out if there were heavy clouds or if it was a moonless night?  A gyroscopic needle was also tested to help determine if the wings were level.

This is, of course, a very brief and selective history that I have given here.  If you want more, let me suggest you start with the summary history provided by the US Postal Service.  There are many more pictures in this companion web document.  If the topic area interests you, the American Air Mail Society just might be a good place to learn more.

Using the trans-continental service

Shown above is a envelope that was sent from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on August 15, 1924 (6:30 pm) to San Francisco, California. The back of the letter has a receiving postmark for San Francisco dated August 17 at 7 PM.   This letter likely traveled by train from Fairhaven to New York City so it could be placed on board the plane departing the next morning.  It then traveled via the trans-Continental route to San Francisco.  In other words, this is a solid example of the air mail service working as advertised.

The route itself was broken into three zones.  The western zone (San Francisco to Cheyenne), the central zone (Cheyenne to Chicago) and eastern zone (Chicago to New York City).  The postage rate required to use this air mail service was 8 cents per ounce for each zone along the route (effective July 1, 1924 to Jan 31, 1927).  This letter traveled through all three zones and must not have weighed more than one ounce, so the postal cost was 24 cents (8 cents x 3 postal zones).  

For comparison, it cost only 2 cents per ounce to send a similar letter via surface mail (mail that traveled on the surface of the earth - land or water) from anywhere in the US to anywhere in the US.   The difference, of course, was in how quickly the mail arrived.  The air mail route from New York to San Francisco averaged about 34 hours in travel time.  Surface mail might take 4 1/2 days - or three days slower - during that same time period. 

I suspect the letter shown above might be more of a souvenir item, given the nice (but upside down) design on the envelope.  Philatelists of the time were often keen to create and secure examples of items that were carried under special circumstances, including this new trans-Continental route being flown at night.

Another example from 1925 is shown above.  This envelope is a larger envelope and is an example of a commercial use of the air mail service.  The letter was mailed at the Hudson Terminal Station in New York City and received a postmark at 6:30 PM on November 16.  It was clearly marked that it was intended to be taken "via Air Mail" and it also bore a 24 cent stamp that was designed for the air mail postage rate across three zones.  There were also stamps for two zones (16 cents) and one zone (8 cents).

Since the letter was sent the evening of November 16, it was able to board the departing plane on the morning of the 17th.  This time, the letter got an arrival postmark for November 18 at 11:30 PM.  If you will recall, the prior example arrived at 7 PM.  So, clearly, things did not go quite as well this time around.  Not enough to make much difference to the recipient, who would likely receive delivery the next day in either case.

Now that we have two typical examples of air mail letters that traveled through all three zones and used the night mail service to cross the continent, we can return to our initial item that got my attention in the first place!

This larger envelope was mailed in Cleveland, Ohio on November 17, 1924 at 2:30 PM.  Cleveland was the first location on the west-bound trip where the plane and the pilot were changed.  So, it is my assumption that this letter was ready to join mail that had been placed on the plane in New York City on the new plane that was bound for Chicago (and another transfer to a new plane).

from this USPS site

Cleveland was still in the eastern zone of the trans-Continental route, which means it would still travel in three zones to get to San Francisco.  The cost would, once again, be 24 cents per ounce of letter weight.  But, this time, instead of one 24 cent stamp, we have three 16 cent stamps to pay the postage for a total of 48 cents.  This letter must have weighed more than one ounce and no more than two ounces.

This packet was addressed to the editor of a newspaper in San Diego and the very light receiving postmark appears to be for November 19 in San Diego.  This seems to confirm that the letter came into San Francisco on the November 18th flight.  It then took the surface mail route to San Diego the next day.

 

This is, in my opinion, an excellent example of who might avail themselves of the air mail service despite the significantly higher costs. Perhaps a telegraph message would be faster still, but at a cost of 60 cents for a very short message (maybe fifteen words), this was a bargain.  Consider that it takes almost five sheets of modern 8 1/2 x 11 printer paper to get to one ounce and you can see that a fair amount of material could have come in this envelope.

The sender of this item, the NEA (Newspaper Enterprise Association) Service in Cleveland, was a syndicate that distributed news articles, cartoons and sports features to newspapers.  At about the time this item was mailed, NEA Service was distributing material to over 400 different newspapers.  It is likely that the contents of this envelope were important and timely news stories of that time.  Perhaps someday, I could dig into the archives of the NEA proof books and figure out what might have been important enough to send on the night plane to San Francisco. 

Thank you for joining me for Postal History Sunday.  I hope you found it enjoyable and that you have a fine remainder of your day and an excellent week to come.

--------------

Postal History Sunday is published each week at both the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you are interested in prior entries, you can view them, starting with the most recent, at this location. 

One Size Fits All

 

Incoming!  I suggest you all duck.

Not long after Tammy and I were married, we moved to Madison, Wisconsin.  For those of you who might know a little about the capital of Wisconsin, you might nod in acknowledgement when we say that we first lived on the West side and then the East side and found the culture and environment for each to be distinctly different.

The city looks a bit like two lakes are squishing Madison in the middle, causing it to spill out the sides (east and west).  If you want to get from one side to the other, you either have to go around the north side of Mendota, around the south side of Monona or through the dowtown and area between the two lakes.

feel free to click for a larger image

 Every so often, we would visit State Street, the pedestrian mall (since its conversion in 1974) that was, and is, home to many different kinds of specialty shops.  I especially enjoyed visiting the store that featured music amplifiers, speakers and other sound equipment.

There was a small "hole-in-the-wall" business on State Street that advertised palm reading and other related services.  While this was not our sort of thing, we sometimes would exchange pleasantries with the owner, who liked to sit outside of the shop in hopes of drawing in business.

This fellow was a very short, slightly built individual.  He didn't appear to have any employees and rarely had customers.  We just could not see how he could possibly be making a go of it and sometimes worried that he could not defend himself if a customer got aggessive.  He really was that thin, even to the point of being frail looking.

Well, a few years ago, we heard that this little guy, the proprietor of the fortune telling shop, had been arrested for some "improper business practices."  He was found guilty and sent to a minimum security prison.

More recently, I read an article that said he had managed to escape from that prison!

The headline read:

"Short Fortuneteller Escapes Prison: Small Medium At-Large!"

I wondered if any of the people who had put him in prison were worried about the "wrath of con?"  No?  Not a Trekkie?

Ok, that was stretching a bit anyway.  Have a nice day!  And if you happen to see this guy, he's still on the loose.  That tells me there might be more puns in your future.

2023 Onions at GFF

The 2023 onions were planted weeks ago into trays and they got moved out to Valhalla (one of our high tunnels) this past weekend.  The target field planting time is the first week of May this year (depending on field conditions).  When everything goes according to plan, we seed the onions in the 3rd week of February and then plant between April 28 and May 15.

This year we are growing a fairly modest number of onions.  I estimate we might have around 700 plants to put in to the ground.  For comparison, from 2015 to 2018 a typical harvest was well "north of" 3000 onions sized from 1/3 to 1/2 pound.  There were usually smaller onions as well that we accounted for by weight and not count.  

I thought people might enjoy hearing our selections for our 2023 growing plan.

Gladstone

Because we don't have to have quite as many onions with no CSA, we can actually continue our quest to find some open pollinated varieties and see if we can figure them out for good production levels.  Our selection for a white onion is Gladstone, a variety we have dabbled with in the past.  You can see a picture of what they look like at the top of this post.  Unfortunately, after some searching, I can't verify that these are open pollinated, with Harris seed listing it as an F1 hybrid and others not giving it that designation.  I guess I'll have to do some digging on that!

Sadly, there was an issue with watering the seedlings during our trip to Alabama and the Gladstone and Redwing trays took a fair amount of damage.  So, I'm not sure if we'll get a fair trial out of this.

Gladstone tends to be a bit longer season than White Wing (our favorite in the past) and Sierra Blanca (the back up when we couldn't get White Wing).  They are also a bit more elongated in shape and run a wider range of sizes when they mature.  All things you might expect from open pollinated varieties.

Still, we liked the taste and felt the performance in earlier trials was good enough to see if we could unlock the secret to success with them.  That secret may remain hidden for one more year.

Redwing

This has been our favored red onion for years, though we have tried a few others.  We've found Redwings to be consistent and be decent for storage.  We've tried several other reds in the past (in addition to Redwing) because we're always curious about our options.  That, and one never knows if a variety is going to be taken away as an option.

This year, we were able to get Redwing and decided we didn't want to be experimenting with every type of onion.

New York Early

Our yellow onion is another open pollinated variety that we have grown in the past.  This will be the first year that New York Early will carry the load for our yellow storage onion.  

We've found that they store nearly as well as some of the popular hybrids and they have a milder taste.  That milder taste actually translates well for me since the stronger onions often disagree with me.  The issue in the past is that a smaller percentage of the plants reach maturity than other yellow storage onions we have grown.  On the other hand, all of the New York Early plants that do reach maturity produce a nice, large onion.  

You either get a nice big onion or you get no onion.  At least that's been our experience.  

I have a suspicion that if we pay some attention to them this year, we might unlock some tricks to be more successful with this variety.

Believe it or not, that's it.  Unless you count the dozen Ailsa Craig plants we'll stick somewhere this year.  We'll do our best to report back in the fall.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Comfort

It has been almost nine months since Hobnob, one of our Indoor Supervisors, made her exit.  Bree remains as our lone Indoor Supervisor, keeping the humans in check when they are inside the farm house at the Genuine Faux Farm.

We thought, for a very brief period of time, that we might change the night-time rituals and let Bree have the "run of the house," be we backed off of that idea after experimenting.  It turns out that going to the kitchen for the night still offers comfort to our little black and white cat.  To break it is to sew concern and discord in the household.

Sometimes Bree will require "taxi service" from her human, and other times she will trot down the stairs and directly into the kitchen.  Every so often, she doesn't cooperate, but rarely enough to get us to consider changing things around.

To understand why this ritual is comforting, it might be useful to explain some of their transition to our home.

The farmhouse is large and we knew from past experience that it helps to introduce new cats to a smaller portion of the house so they can get used to that first.  The kitchen had doors we could close, access to food and water, a location for the litter box, and places we could sit to be with our new friends as they transitioned to a new world.

Hobnob and Bree were typical kittens in that they had tons of energy - bouncing around everywhere - until they didn't have energy anymore.  But, unlike some kittens we've dealt with in the past, these two wouldn't just go to sleep when they were tired.  We've watched some baby animals go from full-tilt to asleep in seconds.  Not these two.  

These tired kittens cried and would only calm down when we would pick them up and sit with them for a while.  My technique was to hold a sleepy kitten in one hand and gently and very slowly rub her back until she stopped crying.  Tammy and I tried very hard to take turns with who got which kitten in an effort to let them know that we were both "safe humans."

After a little while the bags under their eyes (just look at the picture) would become blinking, sleepy eyes.  Once they were quiet and showing signs of being moments from sleep, we would set them on the shelf that they had claimed as their spot.

Sometimes, they would be fully asleep and we would have to find a way to set them down as their heads rolled to the side.  But, usually, they were just very drowsy, soon to close their eyes the rest of the way.  There was something comforting to us when we saw them finally relaxing and being willing to trust that the world was "right enough" for them to catch a few zzzzs.

As I recalled this memory I wondered:  Is it better to be comforted or to offer comfort?

Perhaps the answer is that this is the wrong question.  There is no reason for us to worry about whether giving or receiving comfort is more valuable to us.  The real question is why we don't offer and accept comfort more often. 

Now you must excuse me, the Bree cat wants me to escort her to the kitchen for the night.  Oddly enough, I find that comforting.

Murphy Tours the Farm

Murphy made sure that the farmers provided breakfast first, as Murphy always does - each and every morning.  She has learned that an effective Farm Supervisor (cat) must keep their energy up if they are going to keep the farmers on their toes.  

It is becoming clear to us that Murphy is going to be a smaller cat once she is fully grown.  While she is still a kitten there are signs that there might not be lots of physical size to be gained.  We've noted for some time that the tail and the head are a bit small for the rest of the body.  Now her proportions are... well... proportionate.  In other words, she has graduated to the status of "mini-cat."

The weather has become suddenly - and almost startlingly - pleasant, encouraging us to head outside to do chores and other farm tasks without jackets and coats.  We were even able to move onion,lettuce and other hardier seedlings out to the high tunnel over the weekend.  

On our farm, this is actually a momentous occasion that is met with gladness and resignation.  The positive vibes have to do with a growing season that is beginning to look truly possible.  And it's so much easier to care for the plants in the high tunnel than it is when they must be in our basement growing area.   The resignation comes with expanded responsibilities for the humans...  we won't speak for the Farm Supervisors.

Actually, our Farm Supervisors, going all the way back to Doughboy and Cubbie, have always seemed to like having the farmers out and about more often.  It might be the fact that they get more attention.  It might be that they, too, are also appreciating nicer weather.  I think it isn't hard to see how Spring weather might also be appreciated by our feline contingent at the Genuine Faux Farm.

Murphy, on the other hand, is finally getting the license to explore the farm in more detail.  Up until recently, she has resided closer to the farm house - bouncing back and forth between the Poultry Pavilion and the house.  During the worst weather, she's been in the basement of the house, of course.  Otherwise, she pretty much sticks close to our highest traffic areas, which are the paths that lead to and from anything that has to do with the hens. 

Even during those moments when I have taken a walk around the outside of the farm, Murphy has had some self-imposed limits as to how far out she would go.  This Monday was different.  She followed me out to Valhalla when I watered the seedlings that were there.  Then, she went with me to visit Crazy Maurice, the Weeping Willow (you can see her by the base of the pole in the picture above).

Maurice is awake and was actually pleased to meet Murphy.  You can see some evidence that Crazy Maurice is breaking his slumber by the nice yellow color we see from a distance.  But, if that is not enough, we found the buds swelling on his branches too.

According to the Old Oaks on the south side of the farm, Crazy Maurice is a positively hasty tree that is too willing to speak to non-trees - including farmers and, apparently, Farm Supervisors.  Although, there has been evidence that the Oaks are probably more fond of Maurice than they let on - but that's a story for another day.  After all, this post is supposed to be about Murphy - as she just reminded me a few minutes ago.

Crazy Maurice was actually pretty impressed with our littlest and newest Farm Supervisor.  There seems to be a gentle soul inside the body of this zippy, pouncy, little fur ball.  We've noticed it, and so did Maurice. 

Yes, she does take running leaps at Inspector and Soup.  Neither of the other cats like that much.  But, when she does make contact, it is actually pretty tame.  It's the difference between flag football or touch football versus tackle football.  She'll pounce and "tag" the other cat and then bound away.  She'll also back off if either Soup or Inspector turn and tell her with a hiss or grumble that this is not the time for it.

Probably the most humorous interaction thus far has been Murphy waving both paws in the air in front of the Inspector while he put a single paw up and waved it at her once.  Murphy then spun and bounded happily away.  It was almost as if she was celebrating getting the big lug to "play" a little bit.

Murphy is learning to test soil temperature and to determine if soil is workable.  The picture above shows her testing out an area in the plot we call "Middle Earth."  By my test, the soil temperature is still pretty chilly, but the soil moisture is about right to work it if we wanted to.  Murphy's conclusion on the other hand was that this process was interesting for only a moment.  

Then it was time to bound back to me and try to dart between my feet as I walked to the next location on the farm.

Murphy was also involved in this morning's farm tool inspections.  She's still a kitten, so her attention span wasn't really sufficient to complete any individual task.  But, I was pretty surprised by her willingness to involved in the entire farm walkabout.  Perhaps in the future, she'll decide she won't need to accompany the farmer everywhere he goes on these walking tours.  Or maybe, she will.

There's still plenty of cat to grow into.  It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

Three Years - What Have We Learned?

It was just over three years ago that our world changed.  It changed for the two of us professionally, as we scaled down the Genuine Faux Farm and I took a job with Pesticide Action Network.  It changed for everyone as the Covid-19 virus took direct human contact in the broader community away while it also took some members of that community away permanently.  Some are still fighting health chronic health issues from that time, a daily reminder of how a virus can change lives.

We all made adjustments.  Some good people made good things happen.  Other people did things that were selfish and harmful.  I like to think that Tammy and I did our best to be helpful and supportive, carrying our weight as best we could while lending a hand when it was possible.  Yet we are completely aware that we are not perfect, so I am sure we also failed more often than we want to admit.

Our farm blog that had been running since 2009 suddenly became an instrument to reach out.  In prior years, we averaged about 100 posts.  But when the pandemic hit, posts appeared three times more frequently than they had in the past.  Topics expanded beyond the farm and I found myself asking, what could we learn and how could we be better in the face of a difficult time?

It is three years later and I am wondering if we (both the Tammy and I "we" and the worldwide "we") have learned anything?  In a very real way, I felt like the pandemic and all of the struggle that went with it was a call for us all to be better and do better.  But now that most people can go to restaurants for dinner, enter crowded ballparks and concert venues, and basically stop thinking about the spread of a dangerous disease.  I wonder if we're more interested in moving on than incorporating lessons learned into our lives.

So, I thought I would take a moment and reveal some of the things that have changed in the lives of the Genuine Faux Farm stewards.  

Tammy started baking bread nearly every week since that point about three years ago and we have been eating our own honey for the past three years.  Of course, Tammy's skill has increased significantly with the repetitions (it's been at least 150 bread baking sessions!).  And, I can honestly say that one of my favorite snacks has become bread with honey.  Does that mean that we do not succumb to some of our less healthy snacking habits?  Sure, we're not perfect.  But I find that it has become easier to say "no" to some of those things that we habitually found ourselves eating prior to the pandemic.

We've been dedicated to local food for some time - but I think we have re-dedicated ourselves to making sure we provide for ourselves.  When you grow food to sell, you can get tempted to feed yourself less well in the interest of getting more product to your customers.  So, in recent years, we've done a better job canning and freezing so that we have had a more diverse food during the colder months.

Our appreciation for the natural world has increased significantly over the past three years.  That doesn't mean we didn't explore and enjoy these things before - because we did - quite a lot.  The difference is that we slowed ourselves down a bit more to observe and try to understand what we were seeing, smelling, feeling and hearing.  Then we took time trying to learn a bit more about what we had observed.

This is one of the changes that I actually take for granted now.  It wasn't until I made myself think hard about it that I realized this wasn't how we've always been.   Well, ok.  We've always been this way to some extent, but we often suppressed it for any number of reasons - among those reasons is our willingness to let busy lives overwhelm all else.

And yes, as we get busy again, we sometimes fall back on pre-pandemic habits.  The difference is that we recognize it is happening and we work to reverse the trend.

I told myself that I would identify three things we have learned and continue to follow since the pandemic started.  I could not decide on the third one to highlight, so I added some pictures to the blog that we took in April of 2020.  Then it came to me.  And this one is personal to me - I won't presume to speak for Tammy or anyone else on this one.

It was about that time, three years ago, that I fully rejected the idea that the loud, provocative, divisive, negative, and destructive voices made speaking out pointless.  I decided that there is room for thoughtful words.  There is room for realistic observations and suggestions that we can do better and learn more.  There is room for all sorts of people to be and share who they are - and that includes you and me.

It is tempting to give up, become discouraged and disengage because it feels like it is all hopeless and my efforts have no impact.  But, as I said in the prior paragraph, I reject that notion.  There is hope and there is space to say things like...

We did learn some lessons during a difficult time.  We are continuing to do our best to be better and do better.  And I encourage you to do the same.

Because it does matter.

Have a great day everyone and thank you for considering my words.

Coot Parade

 

Tammy and I try to take a quick trip to various parts of Sweet Marsh near Tripoli on a fairly regular basis.  We don't often get out and walk when we're there partly because that's not always the point of the visit.  Sometimes it's a time to just decompress away from work (remember, Rob works at home / at the farm).  Sometimes, we just want to sit and talk through some things while observing nature.  Sometimes the wind is howling and we really don't feel like standing in it but we still want to look at the water, the birds and the trees.  And almost all of the time, it is a very quick break - not long enough to dedicate ourselves to a "walk there again."

So, we decided we could use just such a break this past Friday.  And, of course, we didn't bring the camera.

This brings me to an admission.  It is ok to have cameras on our phones for just such an occasion.  I still reside in the camp that a phone is supposed to be a phone, so this is a grudging admission from me.  I guess there are times when a very select set of additional tools might be ok on these things.

Of course, the phone camera is no match for the camera we have when it comes to quality images.  But, it served to capture the process of a flock of American Coots running/flying on the water.

Yes, you heard me right.  American Coots run on water, using their wings to assist in that motion by lifting themselves up just enough to accomplish this odd task.  If you look at the pictures, you see the splashes where the feet were hitting the water.

Coots do not have webbed feet, but they do have skin flaps on each toe that serve a similar purpose, helping them to be propel themselves on the water.  When it comes to flying, however, they often require a bit of a "running start" to get into the air.  So we were witnessing their take-off ritual.  In this case, they didn't bother to take full flight because they just wanted to get to another bit of water more quickly than swimming was going to take them.  I observed a few of them gliding just over the water for a while before landing on the water's surface.  But many of them just simply ran on the water a ways and settled back down to float away at a more leisurely pace.

We were able to catch some of them on video while in the act of moving from swimming to running/flying on the water.  Feel free to watch the video above if you want to see it.

The Coots were, apparently, not fond of our observing them.  Though we were able to watch for a while until they decided they needed to move past us.  These birds will do shallow dives to get food (plants).  And, like our chickens and turkeys, if one particular bird should surface with something good, other nearby birds will often attempt to encourage the successful forager to "share."  

I don't why it still surprises me a little to observe some of the flock behavior in our poultry being exhibited by wild birds.  Perhaps "surprise" is the wrong word here because I have witnessed such things many times.  Maybe it is simply the fact that we interact with our poultry on a daily basis, so it may seem strange to see similar behaviors in birds that we don't see often.  After all, it was "special" to see a larger flock of a different bird. So, maybe it was jarring to then see something that was so familiar at the same time?

We estimated this flock at a few hundred birds, though it is possible we underestimated their numbers a fair bit.  After all, they didn't really let us get a great view of them before they started exiting stage left.  We tried to tell them we were just walking by, but they wanted to hear nothing of it.

Kip Ladage has a nice photo of a single American Coot (how'd he get ONE to pose for him?) in his April 5, 2023 comments if you want to see a nice image.

I suspect we'll try to go back to the marsh for another chance at the Coots with the better camera.  Except, we know how this will go.  There will be no Coots there because there is an early warning system.

*** warning, Rob and Tammy remembered the camera!  Everyone hide! ***

Have a good day everyone!

Republic to Empire - Postal History Sunday

Welcome!  You've managed to arrive at the proper place for the April 9, 2023 edition of Postal History Sunday.  This is the place where I afford myself the opportunity to share something I enjoy with those who might have interest.  It doesn't matter if you already love postal history, or you are just idly curious.  I'll do my best to make it interesting and accessible to as wide of an audience as I can.

So, put on your fuzzy slippers, find a comfy chair and get yourself a favorite beverage.  Take those troubles and hide them away for a time.  If you're lucky, you won't know how to find them again once we're done here.

This week's article starts in the year 1848 when the people of France overthrew King Louis-Phillippe and elected Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte president of the Second Republic.  Following England's lead, postal reform that made postage more affordable was among the early actions undertaken by this new government.  And as of January 1, 1849, France issued their first postage stamps to show prepayment for these cheaper postal costs.

The postage stamps depicted Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, motherly love, and fertility, reflecting the rural nature of much of the country.  The top of these adhesives were inscribed with the "Repub Franc" for République française.

The folded letter shown at the beginning of this post bears an example of the 20 centime stamp that was most commonly used to pay for a simple letter destined for a domestic (in country or internal) destination.  This particular letter was sent by Gallien & Toupet, bankers in Granville, France, to an individual in Lavaur, France.  The letter was mailed on June 23, 1850 and arrived at its destination on June 26 after going through Paris on the 24th.

The cost of a simple letter in 1849

This letter represents a significant reduction in postage.  Prior to this point, the cost of a letter in France was a function of both weight and the calculated distance traveled.*  The distance from Granville to Lavaur is about 840 km in distance, which would have required 1 franc (100 centimes) in postage, five times the cost required to mail these letters under the new rate structure.

This letter weighed no more than 7.5 grams and qualified for the 1st Rate Level (a simple letter) - 20 centimes in postage.

This rate was effective from January 1, 1849 to June 30, 1850 and followed this rate progression:

*note: calculated distances were approximately equal to straight line distances.  A letter could take a less efficient route to get to its destination and that did not add to the postage.

How did it get to where it was going?

The back of the folded letter includes a couple of circular postal markings that help us understand how it got from Granville to Lavaur.  The marking on the right was applied in Paris on June 24 and the marking on the left shows the arrival in Lavaur as Jun 26.  

The Paris postmark is a "transit mark" because it shows us one of the intermediate points between the origin and the destination.  France usually processed mail and applied transit markings when a letter was transferred to a new mail route.  The Lavaur postmark would be referred to as an "arrival mark" and provides evidence as to when the postal clerk at the destination post office processed the mail to be prepared for delivery or pick up.

The map below can be enlarged if you click on the image.  It provides you with an idea as to where Granville (in the Manche department, Normandy region) and Lavaur (in the Tarn department, Pyrenees region) are, as well as their position relative to Paris.  A direct route between the origin and the destination would be about 840 km.  However, during the 1840s-60s, most mail would go through Paris.  That adds a little to the overall distance traveled and shows how a calculated distance might be different than the actual distance a letter was carried

At the time this item was mailed, there was no railway line near Granville.  The closest rail would have been at Rouen.  So, we can assume that the letter traveled by coach to Rouen or to any point on the rail line from there to Mantes.  The rail line terminated at  Gare Montparnasse in Paris (known as Gare de l'Ouest - which translates to "Western Station"), which was the site for a well documented 1895 derailment.

While that derailment has nothing to do with the cover I have shared, it still adds a bit of interest.  Both the train engine and coal tender broke through the wall of the station and fell to the street below.

1895 derailment from Wikimedia Commons

From Paris it is most likely that the letter rode the trains as far as it could on the line through Orleans, taking the coach the rest of the way to the destination, likely via Cleremont-Ferrand.  A three day transit for this distance where much of it was by horse-drawn carriage seems quite reasonable.

The map below gives an outline of the development of rail in France.  With only a few exceptions, the focus of the development was to create a "star" with Paris at the center.  This explains why many internal French letters during this time would have a Paris transit mark.

What was in that letter?

I am not terribly familiar with the banking forms of the time, however, it looks like Mr. J Naraval of Lavaur had a balance to his favor of over 13,000 francs in his account with Gallien & Toupet.  The tally sheet at the left appears to be withdrawals or payments from the account, which are deducted from the prior balance in the top right table.  

Further down, there is confirmation of a deposit of 3382 francs to the account.

After a cursory look, I did not find a contemporary reference for Mr. Naraval.  I did take note that the Gallien & Toupet firm could be found in a bankers listing for 1870.  After a little more searching, I found images of other letters from this firm dated from 1847 to 1850. 

Backing off of cheap postage a little in 1850

Our next item is a folded letter sent by V Pailhas, a banker in Libourne, France, to a Mr Leurtault in Coutras, France.  The letter was mailed on March 6, 1852 and arrived at Coutras, only 20 km away, on the next day (March 7).

The reduction in postage rates introduced in 1849 just might have been a bit too aggressive and France backtracked a bit with the new rates just a year and a half later.  The first rate (for a simple letter) was raised by 5 centimes and the second by 10 centimes.  Heavier letters remained the same cost.

This letter required 25 centimes in postage for the 1st Rate Level as it weighed no more than 7.5 grams.

A new 25 centime blue Ceres stamp was issued in conjunction with the new rates and was released on the same day the new rates were placed into effect, replacing the black 20 centime value.  This stamp also featured Ceres, the Roman goddess of prosperity.  This subject may well have been chosen as a nod towards the agrarian economy which also avoided making any particular political comment. 

This postage rate was effective from July 1, 1850 to June 30, 1854 and followed this rate progression:

At this time, there were different rates for local letters, but the price of prepaid and unpaid letters remained the same.  Later on, unpaid letters would require a higher postage rate as the French postal administration encouraged its patrons to move towards prepayment of postage.

How did it get to where it was going?

Libourne and Coutras are only 20 km apart and are located to the northeast of Bordeaux, in the department of Gironde.  With that distance, it is possible that this letter could have qualified for the local letter rate for mail within the arrondissement.  However, both settlements were separated by a river, which marked the boundary between two arrondissements - thus requiring the normal internal (domestic) rate structure to be used.

The local rate would have been half the cost (10 centimes) if the letter qualified.

Coutras is bounded by the Isle River to the South and the Dronne on the West.  The Isle flows into the Dordogne at Libourne.  The map is dated for 1865, so the rail lines depicted were not active in 1852.  However, many rail lines followed the the primary carriage roads that already existed in the area - which can give us a good guess as to the carriage routes in 1852.  

There is a road noted from Libourne to S. Denis on this map and it does not seem like a stretch to assume there was a bridge or ferry from S. Denis to Coutras that would have served as the mail route.

As a historical aside - the Battle of Coutras was fought in this area during the 1587 religious wars.  King Henry III's edict that gave precedence to the Catholics and prohibiting Protestantism in France resulted in unrest.  This battle was won by the Protestants (Huguenots), who were led by Henry of Navarre.

Depiction of Battle of Coutras by German painter and engraver Frans Hogenberg, wikimedia commons

The representative of the crown, Anne de Bartenay de Joyeuse was killed while attempting to surrender.  At least one historian indicates that this may have been in response to Joyeuse's history of executing prisoners himself (Mattingly, Garrett (1959). The Armada. Houghton Mifflin Company).

What was in that letter?

The sender, V Pailhas jeune in Libourne, was a banker who could provide the service to buy bonds for various enterprises in addition to standard banking services, such as those provided by the recipients of the letter, Monsieur Leurtault & Fils (Leurtault & Son).  They can be found on this 1858 list adverstising the bond purchasing service:

from Journal des chemins de fer, Vol 17, Feb 6, 1858

Of interest to me is the use of "jeune" after the name, which translates to "young."  I have seen this a few times in period literature and letters and I presume, perhaps incorrectly, that this would be the equivalent to how we use "junior" to indicate the younger individual in a father/son lineage where each has the same given name.

As I was digging for Monsieur Pailhas, I found a few other possibilities that did not match the 1852 date.  Is it possible that his son was a brewer/maltster in 1877 - or did he move on to another job?  And is this his ancestor, getting into trouble in Libourne in 1793 during the first French revolution?  Or this his father or grandfather in 1811, selling drapes and canvasses in 1811?  Given the consistent location in the Libourne area, it is not at all unlikely that there is some relationship between these persons, even if it is not a direct lineage.  Maybe someday I'll figure it out.  Or, I'll just leave at this and someone else can solve the puzzle if it interests them.

Once again, we have a standard ledger format that illustrated withdrawals and acknowledgement of the receipt of money for the account.  I wonder how many people could figure out accounts in this fashion without the help of computers in the present day?

The political winds blow and change French postage stamps

Louis Napoleon III and the National Assembly disagreed with each other more than they agreed.  Napoleon III's response was to dissolve the sitting National Assembly and replace it with members that supported his policies and ambitions.  

We can see this tide turning in France's postage stamps of the time.  In accordance with recently passed law that required all postage stamps to bear his likeness, a new issue with President Louis Napoleon's image was created in 1853.  These stamps still indicated that France was a republic with the “Repub Franc” showing prominently at the top.

Our next postal history item is a folded letter sent by Foret pere & fils, bankers, in Yssingeaux, France, to an individual in Bas, France.  The letter was mailed on Mar 30, 1853 and has a marked arrival on March 31 at Monistrol, which is near Bas.  All locations are in the Haute Loire department of France.

What it cost to mail

The 1850 rate increments lasted for about four years (July 1, 1850 to June 30, 1854), so this item was mailed with the same rate table as our second item.  This particular letter was heavier than 7.5 grams and weighed no more than 15 grams (2nd rate level), therefore it required 50 centimes in postage.

Here is a reminder of the rate progression for the time:

How did it get there?

This is another case where the origin and destination are in the same department (Haute Loire), so the distances are not great.  You might notice that a road runs from Yssingeaux to Monistrol, which identifies the most likely route for the mail to travel.

Also of interest for this item is the fact that there is no receiving postmark for Bas, instead, there is a postmark for Monistrol.  This is a pretty good indicator that Bas did not have its own post office and was serviced by the Monistrol office - making them both a part of the same 'arondissement' or postal district.  To further clarify, if a person in Monistrol wanted to send a letter to someone in Bas (or vice versa), it would qualify for the local postage rate.  But, this item started in Yssingeaux, which was outside of that postal department, so it required the normal internal letter mail rate.

 

What was in that letter?

At present, this folded letter is only one sheet of paper, clearly not enough to require the second rate level that was paid for by postage stamps.  This suggests that there were other enclosures that are no longer with the item.  It could have been individual receipts, money, promotional material or reports.  Or perhaps it held separate sheets reporting on outgoing money / expenditures.  

If you notice some notations in a different hand, it is possible that the information on other sheets were transferred here at some point.  I will never know for sure what caused the letter to be heavier than 7.5 grams - but it can be interesting to consider the possibilities.

Like so many surviving pieces of postal history in Europe at this time, this is essentially another 'banking' account ledger.  It certainly makes sense that this is the type of mail that might have a higher 'survivability rate' simply because these documents were kept as part of the bookkeeping for individuals and businesses. 

Foret pere & fils (father and son) focused on "recouvrements," or the collection of money, on behalf of their clients.  The list in this ledger shows debts collected, including from whom, the location and the amount.  Or perhaps they show amounts to be collected.

It is also noted at the top right that Foret pere & fils also dealt in "escompte," which I presume would be the provision of a payment service as opposed to a collection service on behalf of the client.

As a postal historian, I can say I am grateful for this money transfer system.  Without it, there would be much less for me to collect and explore in postal history.

French Republic becomes French Empire

The coup d'etat in December of 1851 allowed President Louis Napoleon III to continue as president and replace members of the National Assembly with those who would support him.  This paved the road for a later proclamation that France was to become an empire under his leadership as emperor.  

These actions were reflected in the postage stamps used to pay for mail service.  In 1852, it was mandated that French postage stamps should depict Napoleon III and the Ceres stamps were removed from circulation the following year.  The heading at the top of the stamp at that time still proclaimed that France was a republic (Repub Franc).  This time, the stamps would be modified yet again, changing the "Repub" to "Empire."

Perhaps you noticed already, but this new stamp had a denomination of 20 centimes.  This new design was motivated both by political changes and by a new postal rate structure.  The new rates were effective on July 1, 1854 and would remain in effect for quite some time (Dec 31, 1861).

The first major difference in these postage rates is the different cost for prepaid mail versus unpaid mail.  This was an effort to get postal patrons to buy into the idea they needed to move away from a system that collected money at the destination by making that option more expensive.  The postage rates for the first two levels returned to the 1849 amounts and the cost for heavier prepaid letters decreased.

If it hadn't been clear before, it was now.  The labor and time costs of collecting postage from recipients (and the possibility that delivery would be refused for an item) could be significant.  On the other hand, the French Post Office could provide cheap postage rates if mail was correctly paid up front.

To bring today's blog to its conclusion, here is a folded letter that was mailed on March 5, 1859 in Nantes, France.  The destination was a small town outside of Brest which is now called Gouesnou.  The address given is "Goueznou pres Brest" or "Gouesnou near Brest."

The back of this folded letter shows an arrival postmark at the Brest post office on March 7.  The lack of a postmark for Gouesnou tells us that there probably was no post office in town.  A rural carrier most likely provided service in this case. However, I cannot state with complete certainty that this is the case.  Maybe that's something I can track down and confirm at a later point in time.

And here we are!  By looking at some of the changes in postal rates and stamp designs we were also able to look at the broader history of France.  Postal mail was a critical communication tool during this time period, so it makes sense that it would reflect the politics, technologies and economic realities of the time.  

While that's part of the reason why I find postal history and philately (the study of postage stamps) to be fascinating subjects, this Postal History Sunday illustrates other reasons.  Each item can connect you to events that occurred decades afterward (a derailment in Paris) or centuries before (a battle in Coutras).  If there are contents or if the addressee or writer is someone of note, you can get a small snapshot of what their lives must have been like.  

A piece of postal history is surrounded by stories - and as a postal historian, I can choose which stories interest me each time I look at an item.  I can explore each story more deeply, or I can be satisfied with brief description.  But, in all cases, I have a chance to learn and explore - and I value these opportunities.

Thank you for joining me this week for Postal History Sunday.  I hope you enjoyed some or all of this post.  Perhaps you even learned something new!  Have a good remainder of your day and a fine week to come.

-------------------------------

Postal History Sunday is published each week at both the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you are interested in prior entries, you can view them, starting with the most recent, at this location.