Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Gone With the Wind?

The Inspector and Soup have had the right idea the past several days.  They've found whatever spot they can where there is shelter from the wind and they've just stayed there.  That just happens to be on the back porch to the farmhouse on Monday.  

Normally, one or both felines will get up and follow the human as he goes to do chores or other projects if we happen to cross paths.  Today?  Nothing doing.  They were both still there - probably amused by my very disheveled appearance after I fought the wind to go water plants in Valhalla (one of our high tunnels).

It isn't at all uncommon for us to see dust from the gravel roads get kicked up when a car or truck goes by.  But, if you look at the picture just above this text, you will see gravel dust that was NOT kicked up by a vehicle.  This is simply gravel dust that is being kicked up by the wind around here.

And if you look at the photo below, you will see how hazy everything has been with all of the dust particulates in the air.  This was during one of the "clearer" moment on Monday.  I never seem to grab the camera at the moment that will give me the optimal photo op.  But, the one time I did have the camera in hand, I lost my balance a bit as the wind hit me.

And, no, I am not joking.  I actually wish I were.


According to the Iowa State University Mesonet, Waterloo had one day in May... ONE... that had a top wind gust UNDER 20 miles per hour.  That top wind gust on March 4 only reached 19 mph.  Yep, that's a real break from the wind, dontcha know?  The top windgusts for March 28 through 30 were 43, 59 and 52 mph.  We're pretty sure we hit the 50s March 31 as well (edit, we hit 52 mph).

The average windspeed for March 29 was 17.1 mph and 20.1 mph for March 30.  And, I'd like to remind you that the wind typically slows in the evening around sunset and is often slower around the dawn hours.  According to my observations we were seeing windspeeds in the low single digits at that time.  Winds from the south typically are strongest during the daylight hours.  It makes me wonder what those numbers would be for average daylight windspeeds.


We were already talking about the winds in our area this year in April.  Mark Schnackenberg's blog illustrated clearly the exceptional winds we had in April of 2022, reaching levels that were last seen in 1984. I wonder if there will be a blog about May winds forthcoming?

In fact, it was just this past year that we got to learn a new (to us) weather term - haboob, which ends up being a good, old-fashioned dust storm.  Having experienced one of these myself, while I was outside, I'm not sure I have a desire to see another one in person.

Several of us who do this small-scale, diversified farming thing have been discussing how it feels like things have been getting windier over the past five to eight years.  It turns out that we are not just imagining things, with average windspeeds increasing around the globe after several decades where those windspeeds had been declining (global terrestrial stilling).  

While we might be comforted that we are not making things up, Tammy and I are finding this to be a small comfort.  There are two conditions that make doing work at the Genuine Faux Farm incredibly difficult - perfectly still days with lots of biting insects and days like these - with the howling winds.  Sadly, when you've got the bugs, you're wishing for even the tiniest breath of a breeze.  When the wind is blowing hard enough that your hens have to lay the same egg three times, you're wondering why you think bugs are so bad (note, it doesn't take much imagination for us to remember).

Oh, and we don't like it when it rains so much that we can't do anything on the farm too.  I guess we're just picky.

Still, this year's winds, combined with the early cold soil temperatures have really set us back at the Genuine Faux Farm.  We could have transplanted some crops over the weekend, but we also know how badly they would be beaten with the dry, hot winds.  We've tried laying drip tape in winds like this before too - and that's not recommended either.

It's sad, because our motivation to get things in the ground isn't there this year.  I suppose you could say it is gone with the wind.

Monday, May 30, 2022

Affirmation by Discussion


The area outside the backdoor of the farmhouse at the Genuine Faux Farm looks a bit different than it has for many years.  We're very pleased to have a new sidewalk that extends from the relatively new back steps.  All of this leads to a drive area that has gotten the first couple of fresh loads of gravel in a decade.

As I looked at this picture from earlier in May, I reflected on the process Tammy and I went through as we made the decisions to make each of these things happen.  I think, in each of these cases, we both knew pretty much what really needed to be done form the outset.  However, we still went through a period where we explored options and considered various alternatives (including just letting it all stay as is).  But in the end, I believe we ended up with what we were initially considering in the first place.

Yet we still went through a process I dubbed "affirmation by discussion."

Why bother talking it out if you already know?

This is a perfectly valid question and worth an answer.  So, I'll give you sort of an... oblique answer.

We've been doing the work and making a myriad of decisions on a yearly, monthly, weekly and daily basis since 2004 with respect to our farm.  As a matter of fact, there have been periods of time where we were making decisions from moment to moment that had the potential for far-reaching impact when it came to the viability of our farm business.   As a result, I think we've learned three things:

  1. You will never know enough to be able to select the perfect solution - if it even exists.
  2. You will never know enough to make the best possible solution if you don't explore.
  3. Once the decision is made, you need to agree that it is the best possible solution for that moment in time with the situation as it stands.

And that is why we often engage in affirmation by discussion around here.  That and, well, it's a thing I think I have often done without realizing it for most of my life - sometimes resulting in some confusion with those I interact with.

The good news is that Tammy and I have figured this out (for the most part).  The bad news?  Well, not everyone else has figured out that I often operate that way.

For example, I have now worked for two years with Pesticide Action Network.  I am honored that the people there trust me to be competent and to do my job well.  But sometimes I get surprised when I offer up an idea or a possible solution - and it is immediately accepted with little or no discussion.

Um... Now what happens if I was just offering up a "straw man idea" so we could talk it through?  Ok, that's not such a bad thing because I can adjust so that I don't offer up those sorts of things without making it clear that's what it is.  But there are times when it would be nice if, after I offer up an idea that I do believe is a good one, we still engaged in the process of affirmation by discussion.

I suppose part of the reasoning is that even a little bit of discussion illustrates that the other members in the group actually listened and understood the suggestion.  "Oh yeah, that sounds good," can be code for "Sure, Rob, do whatever, as long as we don't have to do anything with it." 

But, here's the thing that makes me want to engage in affirmation by discussion.  I've learned a 4th thing:

4. We need to be willing to reverse a decision if new information shows that our best possible solution is no longer a fit and must be changed.

This may be my biggest reason that I like to engage in the affirmation by discussion process.  I may THINK I've got a good solution right now. But, I'd like to avoid #4 if I can.  It turns out that I have a good idea that I do NOT know everything - so seeking out other opinions and thoughts area key component of good decision making.

So, yeah.  I appreciate having the respect that others give when they tell me that they trust me to do a good job and come up with some decent solutions.  It just turns out that I might have to talk it out with them anyway - because that's part of what built that trust in the first place.

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Friends in Need - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to the 93nd entry of Postal History Sunday, featured weekly on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog.  If you take this link, you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with this one (the most recent always shows up at the top).  

This week, in honor of Memorial Day in the United States, I'm going to be presumptuous and tell you to push your own personal troubles out of the way so you can ponder what it means for individuals to serve in the military for their country (it does not matter which country) or for people to be injured, displaced, and terrorized by war.

But, even as we ponder, I hope we can also learn something new and still enjoy as we explore the postal history hobby.  And, if these words sound familiar, maybe you recall some of last year's post titled Unforgotten.  That post received some excellent feedback and may well be worth another read if you feel like it.

This week I am going to leave the time period with which I have the most comfort and look at something a bit more modern.   Yes, I know, World War I might not be considered to be all that recent by many people, but it is about a half century later than most postal history I study.

Before I get too far into the postal history part of this item, can you see why I was attracted to this particular cover in the first place?  Yes, it is a clean enough.  And, yes, it is a piece of mail between two countries (the US and England).  Also, as we shall see, this letter illustrates a proper postal use of the time (1916).  

In my mind, these are all good things if I am considering an item.  Yet it was the address panel that caught my attention.

"Mr. J.R. Little, Friends Ambulance Unit, 8 Weymouth St. London W, England"

I must admit that, while I was aware of the ambulance units run by the Quakers in World War II, I was not aware of their involvement in the first world war.  The gap in my knowledge makes some sense since WW II has received more historical coverage in the US given their extensive involvement as compared to the first conflict.  And, even if you weren't aware of these ambulance units, you may recognize the movie, Hacksaw Ridge, that followed the story of an American conscientious objector who served heroically as a medic in the second war.


The Postal History Part

The post marks on this particular cover tell the story in a clear fashion.  A boxed marking on the front was placed over the postage stamp (so it could not easily be re-used) that reads New Rockford, N. Dakota.  And the markings on the back are as follows:

  • New Rockford N. Dak Registered Jun 7, 1916
  • New York Rec'd For'cn Jun 10, 1916
  • Liverpool June 19, 1916

The postage stamp has a 12 cent denomination and depicts Benjamin Franklin.  You can see, if you look closely that the stamp itself is actually partially covered by some paper tape on the right.  And, if you look even more closely (click on the image to see a bigger version), you might notice in pencil the numbers "138" have been written on the stamp itself.  I will make an educated guess that there just might be a "6" after the "8," but it is under the tape.

What's the "138" thing about?

The numbers in pencil on the stamp aren't something I have noticed before, so maybe someone else who knows more about this period of time and postal history can help.  However, I can do a little sleuthing and point you towards THIS part of the envelope.  It explains my reason for thinking there is also a penciled in "6."


Registered mail of the time from the US to the United Kingdom had a few characteristics that we can spot on this particular envelope.  First, some sort of "registered" marking or label is placed on the front.  A tracking number, or ledger number, is included with the marking.  I do not think it is coincidence that the three numbers visible on the stamp match up with the first three numbers here.

The next couple of pieces of evidence to show that this was a registered piece of mail include the blue cross marking applied with a pencil on the front.  This alerted the British postal service that this item was registered and extra security/tracking was to be provided.  And, all of the dated postmarks appear on the reverse of this envelope, all carefully placed so they overlap the flap - with the idea that it would show that the contents had NOT been tampered with.

But, was this mail "tampered" with anyway?

I find it interesting that some of the processes for registered mail was supposed to provide evidence that the contents had not been disturbed or taken.  However, the paper tape was neatly adhered to the right side of this envelope simply because it HAD been purposely opened and inspected.

This is one way we are reminded that there was a war on.  While it would be almost a full year before the United States entered that conflict, the United Kingdom was certainly very much involved.  As a result, incoming mail was inspected with the intent of checking for contents or information that could either serve the war effort or, perhaps, harm that same effort if it were allowed to be received unaltered.

Once the item was passed by a censor, tape was applied to reseal the envelope.  A censor number "1521" was included on the front side to provide some accountability for the process.

If you would like to learn more about censorship during World War I, I suggest this online article provided by the International Encyclopedia of the First World War.  The following was taken from that site on May 28, 2022:

"In the Allied countries, postal control was also extended to correspondence between civilians. In Britain, all mail was controlled in special censorship offices either in London or in Liverpool, and in 1918 between 4,000 and 5,000 persons were occupied with this... As the blockade authorities controlled all ships, censors opened all letters and parcels between neutral countries as well. As a result, they closely surveyed the correspondence of German agents and even replaced German propaganda with their own."
Needless to say this slowed the arrival of mail, but the absence of a receiving marking in London means this letter will provide us with no evidence as to how much it was delayed.  The Liverpool marking tells us when the letter left the steamship and arrived at the exchange office there.  Based on the description above, it isn't hard to imagine that this was processed by the censors there rather than those in London.

How much did this cost in postage?

Registry mail services cost 10 cents, effective Apr 1, 1879 to Nov 30, 1925, which was paid by the postage stamp.  This leaves us with 2 cents for postage.  But the postage rate for letter mail to other countries was 5 cents for the first ounce of weight (Oct 1, 1907 - Oct 31, 1953).  That certainly doesn't seem to add up now, does it?

Well, maybe this will help.  Here is another letter that was sent in May of 1916 from Utica, New York to Huddersfield in England.  This letter only bears a 2 cent stamp and it is not a registered letter.


It turns out that the United States made some special agreements that provided discounted rates with certain nations, and the United Kingdom was one of those nations.  In essence, the United States domestic rates applied to mail being sent to the United Kingdom beginning Oct 1 ,1908.  This rate was increased to 3 cents on Nov 2, 1917 to help fund the American war effort after they joined the fray.

Mexico and Canada also enjoyed these postal rate discounts from the normal Universal Postal Union rates.  Shown above is a 1918 letter where the 3 cent "war rate" was required.  This envelope was featured in one of the earlier Postal History Sundays and can be found here.

The Social History Part

I started the process by doing some reading on the Friends Ambulance Unit just to get a feel for what I was getting into and found this overview to be worthwhile on the Quakers in the World site.  Rather that try and craft a summary, I took excerpts from the first few paragraphs to give us all a feel for what the Friends Ambulance Unit was in WW I.

"Philip (Noel) Baker appealed for volunteers [and] Early in September the first training camp took place at Jordans, in Buckinghamshire, for about 60 young men. Initially neither the British Red Cross nor the army wanted to involve a group of independent and pacifist volunteers, but the situation changed dramatically when the Belgian army collapsed in late October. The FAU was provided with equipment and supplies, and a party of 43...left for Belgium.

A few miles out they met a torpedoed and sinking cruiser, rescued the victims, and carried them back to Dover.  Setting out again, they came to Dunkirk, and worked for three weeks in the military evacuation sheds, looking after several thousand wounded soldiers until they could be evacuated on hospital ships.  The Unit set up their administrative headquarters nearby, at Malo les Bains. There was a terrible typhoid epidemic that winter, and this led to the establishment of the first of four hospitals, the Queen Alexandra, at Dunkirk.

The FAU expanded as the needs grew, and many non-Quakers joined.  There were two sections:  the Foreign Service and the Home Service... the Foreign Service started on a programme of civilian relief [and] were soon noticed by the French army medical headquarters, and this led to the staffing and running of French ambulance convoys (Sections Sanitaires Anglaises)... In 1915, they started running ambulance trains, and in early 1916 they had two hospital ships.

The Home Service set up and/or helped to run four hospitals in England. Two were in Quaker premises – one in part of the Rowntree factory in York, and the other in a Cadbury house in Birmingham; the other two were in London."

In summary, this was no small operation.

Looking for J.R. Little

It turns out that the Library of the Religious Society of Friends in the UK maintains a site where significant primary resources can be accessed.  It did not take long using the tools they provided to find these cards for J.R. Little.

Little has an index card with a photo, but the contents are a bit less detailed than many.  The reverse of this card provided some additional detail.

James Raymond Little was a member of the initial group that met at Jordans Camp, undergoing - or somehow involved - in the original training for the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU).  The entry for October 30 places him at the "L Office" (London Office).  He would visit Dunkirk for a few days in July of 1915, soon returning to London.  He remained with the FAU until 1919, after the war had concluded.

I eventually found this contemporary history (another edition or copy can be found here) of the FAU during the First World War, which gave me the answer I sought - what was J.R. Little's role?

It is here on page 238 that we find our answer.  J.R. Little, and apparently his spouse, were the constant force that kept the organizational side of the FAU ...um... organized.  If we were hoping for some glamour with this particular piece of postal history, we may not have found it in the direct sense.  But we should have known this would be the case simply by the immaculate condition of the envelope.  If Little had been working near the conflict, it is doubtful that this envelope would be quite so pristine.  

However, let's not belittle the efforts of the recipient of this piece of mail.  Little had sufficient respect for his role that he not only merited mention in the book specifically for efforts at the London Office, but they also provided a plate in the book with his photograph.

And, if further evidence were needed that J.R. Little was among those involved in the FAU from its very beginning, he is among those list in the "Committee of the Friends Ambulance Unit" shown below from the text cited earlier. 

Once again, let me point out that the FAU was not a small undertaking, with the management of several hospitals, ambulance convoys, ambulance trains and hospital ships.  Simply acquiring the needed supplies and getting them to where they needed to be would have been a difficult task.

And remember - the FAU was a voluntary organization.  Its members were not paid, so there was significant turnover as individuals found they could no longer continue to serve as a volunteer.

FAU - Not Safe from Harm

Not all members of the Quaker Friends were in agreement as to the role they should play during periods of armed conflict.  An excellent article by Linda Palfreeman actually explores the debate and differing opinions of the time.  Many felt the Friends Ambulance Unit was in direct opposition the religious tenets that are held by Quakers.  Nonetheless, a significant number of conscientious objectors, not all of whom were British and some who were not Quakers, were involved in providing medical relief to those in need due to armed conflict.

Efforts to provide medical help often put ambulance drivers and personnel in the line of fire and they were not immune to the various illnesses that were prone to be found in less than optimal living conditions. 

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

Thank you once again for joining me as I share something I enjoy.  I hope you learned something new in the process.  

Take a moment or two this weekend and remember those who have witnessed the horrors of war firsthand, whether they were members of armed forces, civilians, or those who chose to do what they could to provide relief to those were sick or injured.

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Way With Words III

 

I got it into my head a few weeks ago to highlight some writing that made me take notice as I was reading.  You can view all the posts on this topic by taking this link, if you have interest.

I have to admit that at least two of the three posts feature openings to books, including this one.  I guess that makes sense because the author is hoping to hook you into reading the rest of the story.  Perhaps more time goes into buffing and shining every single word and phrase until they really shine.  Or, it is just a human thing to keep starting from the beginning with the effort of refining the work.

Either way, this one got my attention:

"[A] tall old castle stands gazing out over a wide bay, a fortress isolated and protected by water, dignified and secretive as a queen who has outlived her royal husband.  She is crowned with magnificent towers, and the patchwork roofs of the lower buildings are her skirt.  A slender causeway that joins the castle to the mainland, stretches out like a bridal train spreading out to make the rest of her city, which lies in the folds of the hills and along the mainland edge of the bay." from Shadowmarch by Tad Williams

I do remember a time when I would not have allowed myself the time to paint the picture in my mind that the words suggest.  I was much less patient with my stories and wanted to get to the action.  I wanted things to happen!

But now, I find myself lingering as a quietly build a skirt of patchwork roofs in my mind onto the castle that already resides there.

Friday, May 27, 2022

Consistency and Commitment


The wind was blowing pretty consistently the other day.  There was not a moment during the daylight hours that the the branches on the trees were not moving as the breeze out of the southwest ebbed and flowed.

Yes, you heard that right.  The consistently windy day had inconsistency in its windiness.  There were moments when the anemometer read gusts that were well over the 30 mile per hour mark.  Then, there were others where it subsided to the low teens.  But, I can say that the wind was committed to making itself known all day long.

The Genuine Faux Farm blog has twenty-three posts in the month of May this year.  Of the four days that were missed, three of them were this past Monday through Wednesday.  What happened to the consistency?  Where was the commitment?

More consistent than you give credit for

What prompted me to ask those questions?  I am glad you asked!

I was musing about how many of us have difficulty with telling ourselves the truth about our own consistency, or dedication, or participation level in so many of the things we do.  For example, my own personal reaction to the fact that I opted not to write and post blogs for the first three days of the week  was actually to feel a bit guilty - feeling an inordinate amount of failure for a lack of consistency and commitment.

However, when I look at the big picture, this is the truth: 

     The Genuine Faux Farm blog has been active since December of 2008.  Since that time, not a single month has gone without at least a couple of posts.  And, since April, 2020 only one month has seen less than 20 entries (this April had 17).

The wind has continued to blow, but sometimes the breeze isn't so strong that it will bowl you over.  There is at least some longevity, even if the level of commitment is not consistent from day to day or year to year.  But, given the whole body of work, I would say there is a fairly strong commitment to this project that has led to some consistent production.

A three day stretch should not be allowed to change the truth of that.


What others see in you.

Then, there are the times that we give ourselves credit beyond that which we deserve.

I had someone contact me about some of our farm produce.  This is a person I had not heard from in some time, but they professed missing consistently getting produce from us at farmers' markets.  And, they were hopeful that we might have something along those lines they could acquire.

This is great - even if we didn't have what they were looking for this year.  But, the way they presented the request made it sound like they were at our table every time we set up for market.  In an odd way, they almost made it sound like it was an offense on our part that we were no longer setting up a table at farmers' markets.  And, yes, I realize they did not intend that, exactly.  But, they did have the tone of disappointment that we were not there for them.

I get that.  I feel disappointment when things I had once enjoyed are no longer available to me.  There are a couple of local restaurants and services that are no longer available to us - and that is disappointing.  But, we are very careful about expressing that disappointment in a way that supports and respects their decisions to move on.  Perhaps that is because we know what if feels like when someone puts that little edge of implied guilt to the disappointment.

The irony is that we see this most often with those who have inflated their own perception of how consistently they patronized us in the past.  This particular individual probably visited us an average of three to four times a season.  But, to hear it from them now, it sounds like they were at our table for every market.

Less committed than you believe?

Now, let's get this perfectly clear.

Daffodils bloom once per year - and that period seems so terribly short to me.  Yet, they do it every year.  That's consistent - and they don't bother trying to say that they bloom every week.  It also means that their appearance is no less wonderful, nor is does it go unappreciated.

A person who visited our farmers' market table once a month for four months was also consistent - and appreciated for the support they brought to the farm business.  And, I would be perfectly fine if they proudly told me and others that they purchased product a few times every year from our farm.  But, to make it sound like they acquired all of their produce from us until - inexplicably - we stopped producing the food they relied on?  There is some story-telling going on here, I think. 

I also tried to tell myself that I was doing pretty well with my cardio exercise program this year.  And, yes, when I take a look at the calendar where I record such things, I've had a few good stretches - and each lasted two weeks at a time. 

Good for me!  I showed some ability to succeed in this particular activity.  But, let's not overdo my own praise for my success.  The other lie I was telling myself is that I haven't gone more than a few weeks without making a specific effort to exercise.  Sorry, it's been longer than that, Rob.  I lack sufficient commitment for this activity to really reap the benefits - and that is the truth of the matter.  So, now I have a decision to make.  Will I make the necessary commitment and consistently follow through?  Or will I decide this on-again/off-again approach is just all I have capacity for right now?

Either way, I'll work on telling myself the truth about my own commitment and consistency.  Giving credit where it is due and finding the energy to improve where it isn't.

Thursday, May 26, 2022

A Thousand Cuts


Many of us like to glorify the efforts of small-scale, diversified producers of quality food.  We like to point to their willingness to work with, rather than against, nature.  Some of us, myself included, actually harbor a belief that this sort of farming (or some version of it) would be a key move towards building a healthier world.  

But, let me tell you a secret - it is a whole lot easier to try to sell that vision when I am not stuck in a position where I have to rely on living that "dream" at the same time I am promoting it.

 

A recent conversation with a respected colleague (and they will probably know who they are if they read this) brought it all home to me once again. 

People who try to raise food on a small-scale, diversified operation are a rare breed that work incredibly hard to put their ideals into action.  They also do it so they can earn, through extremely hard work, a reasonable living.  They stick with their operations because they love what they do - or at least they love most of what they have to do, much of the time.

The work is very diverse with tasks ranging from marketing and story-telling in the effort to sell product to horticulture, entomology, and small-engine repair.  There are many points each season where the job is all-encompassing.  The moments in time where you can feel as if you are "caught up" are rare and don't last more than a couple of minutes.  One blink and the farm once again can feel like it is on the brink of disaster.

And that's how the best of us feel most of the time on our farms.  And you wouldn't know it by looking at us - unless you are also one of us.

There is probably no worse time to be a diversified produce and poultry farm than mid-May to mid-June, in my opinion.  I realize most people are fully enamored with the beauty of Spring and the promise of a Summer of fun.  For me, after seventeen (or so) years of doing this sort of farming, I see this as the time where I die a death inflicted by a thousand cuts.

I guess the saying implies that they are "tiny" cuts - but I can tell you they come in all shapes and sizes.  

I thought about this very carefully, because I want to maintain my integrity with those of you who read this.  I even looked back on my daily farm notes from a few years back.

In a single one-week period, each of the following things happened at the Genuine Faux Farm:

  • a windstorm flattened half the plants in a couple of crop successions
  • a woodchuck ate 15 trays of broccoli and cauliflower plants that were due to be planted that week
  • another storm dropped four inches of rain on already saturated soil, making it impossible to do any field work
  • the Buffalo gnats were so bad that anyone who did not cover themselves completely, even in temperatures in the high 80s to low 90s, were going to be covered in welts from the bites.
  • we discovered that the raccoon parents were teaching their young to pick off members of our hen flock a couple at a time in the middle of the day by creeping through a hole in the fence
  • the early cold season crops were bolting because of some unseasonably warm temperatures
  • the warm season crops were either not in the ground or stunted by wet weather
  • deer ate the hearts (centers) out of a number of our maturing romaine lettuce crop
  • someone missed watering four trays of squash transplants and those trays did not recover
  • the windstorm required some clean-up during days when our task lists were quite full
  • we did not notice a leak in the irrigation inside a high tunnel until a small pond had developed on one end
  • a key tractor implement broke while we were trying to complete work before the rains came
  • we had to work around a contractor who was doing work in the farm house
  • we had to say "no" on several egg orders because we had fewer eggs (see raccoon issue)
  • we cancelled a CSA farm share delivery because we did not feel we had enough to justify counting it as a week in our CSA, opting to add a week at the end and removing a week from our potential Winter shares.

I think that's enough for you to get the point. 

My colleague and friend recently shared their current frustrations with the wildlife making off with the produce they are working so hard to nurture, weather making the process of growing good food difficult, and the issue of limited helping hands adding to the challenge.  

"I must be stupid or a complete failure.  I've been doing this long enough, you would think I could find a way to deal with these problems."

For a second, my heart broke - even if it didn't look like it.  I heard what this person was saying, and I recognized words I had spoken to myself.  And I can tell you that I have often taken these failures (big and small) to heart because it was so very important to me to fulfill my obligations to our customers, to the land, to those who work at the farm, and to all of the other folks who try to grow as we do.  All of that responsibility just makes each little cut bleed a little bit more.

A thousand cuts.  A thousand tiny cuts will make the most dedicated, intelligent, skilled, and capable people wonder - "Why am I still trying to do this?"

This is why I keep pushing the idea that we need to do better at supporting farms and growers like these.

If we like the idea of working with, rather than against nature.  If we prefer to have more people on the land, working on a smaller-scale that is responsive to the needs of the community.  If we see value in local foods.  If we want food that is raised with fewer chemicals and we want growers who hold on to the highest ethics when it comes to treating workers well, being stewards for the land, and being caretakers for a healthier future.

Then we've got to stop adding our own small slices to the ten thousand cuts these people suffer so frequently as they try to do that job that they love.  On the land that they care for.  For the good people they so willingly serve.

I'm going to share another secret.

Our farm survived that "week of horrors" that illustrated all of the natural things that can go wrong on a farm like ours.  I suspect my friend will also move forward and be able to look back on a reasonably successful season at the end of the year (even if it doesn't feel like it now).

In fact, we had a solid year - because we actually were pretty good at what we do.  We just needed a full season to get the perspective we needed to see it.  After all, we DID sign up for those kinds of problems when we took on the job of running our respective farms. Yes, it does get annoying when we lose a crop to rabbits (or some other critter) AGAIN.  And, yes, we wonder how we could let it happen once more.  Surely we must be too dumb to figure it out.  

This is normal frustration speaking.  We're human and it feels this way.  

We also know that the whole equation of our farms are much more complex than "guard against rabbits" and sometimes the most successful strategies for that particular task are not practical for the moment in time that we are in.  

Until the rabbits make us pay too much and we adjust.

The real issue, as I see it, are those other cuts and injuries that could be prevented if we, as a society, were willing to provide remedy.

We need to stop supporting corporate farming and chemical-based agriculture.  If there were more of us out there doing this small-scale/diverse farming thing, we'd have that much more support to get through the rough times.  We need to remove the possibility of chemical trespass from the list of things that can go wrong on our farms.  

We need to be sure those who work on these small farms have appropriate health care.  We need to adopt size-appropriate regulations that don't define "small business" as anyone under $20 million in sales.

And we need to put these small, local producers back in front of the line when it comes to supplying the foods that we eat.

Sunday, May 22, 2022

How Do You Rate? - Postal History Sunday

Welcome to the 92nd entry of Postal History Sunday, featured weekly on the Genuine Faux Farm blog and the GFF Postal History blog. Yes, I will readily admit that I am counting down to number 100.  It's just a silly thing humans do sometimes. If you take this link, you can view every edition of Postal History Sunday, starting with this one (the most recent always shows up at the top).  

This week's Postal History Sunday was inspired by a question regarding postal rates that fall earlier in the 1800s than most of the material I have shown over the past couple of years in these posts (thank you Winston!).   I have been slowly making some headway on that area, but this might push me to look a little more diligently!  However, the question itself reminded me that even for my area of concentration (1850s - 1870s) finding the proper postage rates for a given piece of postal history can be a trial.  The great news is that there are works by others that can make hunting up these rates easier - sometimes it's just a matter of finding them.

In any event, some of this might be review for some, new for others - or maybe dull and unexciting to many.  But, stick with me, I suspect I can provide a little bit of interest so that most of you will, at the least, be tolerant of this week's ramblings!

United States

Here is a folded letter that was sent from the United States to Antwerp (Anvers), Belgium.  The postage rate at the time of mailing was 27 cents, and there are two postage stamps - one with a 3 cent denomination and the other with a 24 cent denomination.  

We get a little help with the origin of this letter since there is this nice preprinted corner card at the top of the lettersheet.  The letter is dated September 26, 1865 and also identifies the origin as New York.

About the resource for foreign letter mail 1847 to 1875:

I've mentioned this particular work once before in the PHS entry titled On the Shoulders of Others.  The 1990 edition of the work by Charles Starnes (United States Letter Rates to Foreign Destinations 1847 to GPU-UPU) has been the postal rate reference book that has been in my library the longest.  This is where I am easily able to determine that the 27 cents per 1/2 ounce rate for letter mail from the US to Belgium was applicable from January of 1860 through December of 1867.  This is good news because this letter illustrates the rate perfectly.

A neat thing about this piece of letter mail

I wanted to keep this blog from just being a list of resources and have a little fun while I wrote it.  So, I figured I could take a moment and point out something I like about each cover I use to illustrate a resource.

In this case, the neat thing is this marking that is on the back of the folded letter.  This is a postmark that was applied in Antwerp (Anvers) and it shows a date of Oct 10, 1865.  The "8M" would be a time of day marking.  This postmark serves an exchange marking and it records the point in time the letter was removed from the mailbag that it had resided in since its departure from the New York foreign mail office. 

Why is this a big deal?  After all, most of the letters during this period between the US and Belgium will have these exchange markings.  And, according to the postal treaty these two nations signed, the Belgian exchange offices were to be Ostende, the traveling post office on the railway from Ostende, and Antwerp.  So, this should be perfectly normal, right?

Right!  But it has been very rare for me to see anything other than one of the two Ostende markings on mail during this period from the US.  It appears that the Anvers exchange office only processed mail from the US that was to Antwerp and perhaps the immediate surrounding area.  The rest of Belgium's mail was processed by the other two offices.  However, I have seen other similar letters to Antwerp and those show Ostende markings too.  So, this one seems to be an exception.

Well, ok.  I think it's neat.  You certainly don't have to.

If you are interested in letter mail from the United States to foreign destinations after 1875, here is a an example of an item that was mailed from Wellesley, Massachusettes on April 16, 1911 to Paris, France (initially).  The neat thing about this piece of mail is the American Express Company label that was placed over the original address.  American travelers could use this company's financial services and avail themselves of their mail forwarding services as well.  

The good news for American Express is that mail forwarding did not require additional postage in 1911, so it just took a little staff time to re-address each letter.  It doesn't seem like a stretch to conclude that most mail would be forwarded from one American Express branch to another, so they had labels created that could be easily affixed over the old address.  If you will recall, redirected mail can get pretty messy with all of the corrections to the address.  The label makes it less likely that the postal service will have to struggle to figure out where the letter is supposed to go.

Ah, but we should get back to the topic at hand! The foreign rate for a simple letter from the United States to another country was 5 cents as long as the weight did not exceed 20 grams in weight.  This rate was effective beginning Oct 1, 1907 and ended on Oct 31, 1953 - a very lengthy period of time without a rate change.

About the resource for foreign mail after 1875:

The fine work by Henry Beecher and Tony Wawrukiewicz titled U.S. International Postage Rates: 1872 - 1996 is the reference most postal historians go to in order to look up a rate for all sorts of mail.  This includes rates for special services, such as registration and insurance, or special rates for printed matter (among many other things).  Beecher and Wawrukiewicz are also responsible for a fine book covering domestic (internal) postage rates from the 1870s to (almost) the present day.

Are you interested in earlier US postal rates?

This document comes from the PhilaMercury site (Richard Frajola) and was created by Steve Walske.  It provides a simplified set of rates for internal letter mail.  The vast majority of postal artifacts that were mailed within the US to a US destination will fit these rates, so this is an excellent quick reference.  You can click on the image to view a larger version of this file.

And, if you want to get further into the weeds, there are more resources on this page of the PhilaMercury site.

France Postage Rates 1848-1916

This time let's take a look at a folded letter sent from Lyon, France to Geneva, Switzerland in 1871.  The postage rate at the time was 30 centimes per 10 grams, which was effective from October 1, 1865 to December 31, 1875 - just over ten years.

About the resources

Jean-Louis Bourgouin has been kind enough to share the myriad of French postal rates for this period on the internet as a resource.  Les Tarifs Postaux Francais Entre 1848 et 1916 has become a valuable reference to me as I explore French postal history to foreign destinations.  Yes, it is written in French, but that is a minimal discomfort considering the numerous free tools that exist to help with translation.

I was first introduced to French postage rates through Derek Richardson's Tables of French Postal Rates 1849 to 2011.  This book is readily available if you want to dig through places like Abebooks or the Philatelic Bibliopole.  Prior editions  simply add more recent rates, so if you're just looking for the older rates, the earlier editions will likely suit you well enough.  But, what you will not find with the Richardson book are all of the rates for mail leaving France for other countries PRIOR to 1875.  And since that's what I like to concentrate on, you now know why I am so appreciative of Bourgouin's work. But don't let that make you think I don't appreciate the Richardson work as well.  Anyone who is willing to wade through all of the primary source materials to put together a reference is worthy of respect in my book.

If someone has a suggestion for a research to share on French postal rates prior to 1848, please send me a note!

One neat thing

Take a moment and look closely at the 30 centime stamp on this cover.  You might notice that there are no perforations on that postage stamp, which would have been commonplace by 1871.  I actually addressed this situation in a prior PHS titled Finding A Hook.  Rather than create the wheel all over again, I'll just pull the explanation that was there for another cover that had a similar characteristic.

"[T]his [stamp] is a depiction of Ceres, a very non-political figure intended to symbolize prosperity.  As Paris was being surrounded in September of 1870, the rest of France was cut off from the supply of postage stamps printed there.  To make the story shorter, stamps based on the first French postage stamp design were printed in Bordeaux (southwest France).  Hence this issue of postage stamps is often referred to as the Bordeaux Issue (we can be so clever, can't we?).  These stamps were printed using lithography rather than the finer engraved printings of the earlier issues."

This stamp was printed as an emergency measure so the rest of the country could have them for their mail.  Certain shortcuts were required - like not bothering to put the perforations on the stamps that made separating them easy to do with out a scissors of knife.  

Ah, the things we have to do during times of crisis!  Separating postage stamps with a sharp instrument was one of them in early 1871.

As you can guess, there are many more resources for rates for many other countries out there.  So, this topic will be revisited in the future.  Because this type of Postal History Sunday is not for everyone, I'll sprinkle them in amongst others that feature shipwrecks, or balloons, or even a little fertilizer!  

Now, getting back to the "countdown" to 100.

Celebrating the Journey to 100

There are 3 ways you can participate (feel free to participate in more than one way if you wish):

  1. Ask Rob a question that he can attempt to answer.
  2. Send Rob a scan of a favorite postal history item and a couple of sentences about WHY this is a favorite item.
  3. Request that Rob write on a particular postal history topic. 

But, there might be a 4th way you can participate!

    Send me a suggestion for a resource that can help others figure out postal rates that I can feature in future posts!

I will feature these questions, favorite items and/or topics in future Postal History Sundays.  If you do not want me to share your name with your input, please tell me to omit that information if I choose to use your suggestion, question, or favorite item.

Questions and topic suggestions can come from people with any level of postal history knowledge. Similarly, if you choose to share a favorite item, it need not be old or super rare or really expensive.  It just needs to be a favorite item that is a piece of postal history.  Your reason for making it a favorite is enough!

Send those questions and suggestions to me at genuinefauxfarm@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't build a Postal History Sunday or two based on them! Have a great remainder of your day and a fine week to come.

Saturday, May 21, 2022

Way With Words II


 The Lady Moon is a common theme that brings out some of the best words in books and other writing.  Or maybe the words aren't so wonderful and it's just a spell that she places on each of us that have observed her on a calm, peaceful night that sticks with us, ready to change our viewpoint as soon as her name is mentioned.

"The moon was out again, but she was lower now, and bashful.  Auri smiled at her, glad for the company now that she was no longer On Top of Things and Haven was far gone behind.  Here on the edge of the clearing the moon showed acorns scattered on the ground.  Auri spent a few minutes picking up the ones with perfect hats and tucking them into her gathersack." from The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

If you have had the opportunity to spend a little time under Oaks, you can picture the fruits of these trees lying on the ground.  Some of them brazenly sitting atop whatever grasses and leaf litter that might be scattered under the canopy of the trees themselves.  Others, cleverly hiding themselves while peaking out from underneath a violet's leaves.

And yes, some had perfect hats, while others showed their loss due to their fall from a great height or the tread of humans with heavily booted feet.

Friday, May 20, 2022

Can You Spot the Difference?


After a small rain shower early in the day, the wind really picked up (again) at the farm yesterday.  Wind is nothing new to us in the country, though it feels, to me, like the number of high wind days has increased over the years.  But, that's for another blog another time - because, there has been a measurable trend that is worth exploring.

Today, I wanted to focus on something else.  Take a moment and click on the picture above.  Look at the field behind the fence line and towards the right of the picture.  Do you see what I see?

Ok, now take a look at the quick video I shot yesterday.  I missed the really, REALLY strong winds that were going when I had to run in and get the camera.  And, I admit I got tired of being in the wind so I missed the one that followed.  But, the wind was strong enough to make a point.  

If you watch the video, I suggest that you turn the volume down.  Wind tends to make a lot of noise with the poor microphone on the camera.


Can you see the difference between the two fields in that video?  One has field residue remaining in the field, but BOTH fields have been planted for the coming season.  If I had got my timing right on this video you would also have seen clouds of dirt and dust being moved by the wind in the first field, and not so much in the second field.

Wind events during this time of year, when so many of our fields in Iowa are bare of cover, are NOT unusual.  Yet this is a time of year when many who raise crops of all types are turning the soil over and preparing it for the plants we hope to harvest at some point later in the season.  Growers need to remind ourselves that the soil is very vulnerable now to wind and heavy rains.  

And, yes, that includes the veggie growers at the Genuine Faux Farm.  We are not immune to this problem.

However, we can all try to do things to mitigate the issue.

Leaving some residue in the soil is one partial solution.  Having more wind breaks and fence lines with perennial woody plants is another.  Prairie strips would be a third strategy.  We can avoid tillage that pulverizes the soil, making it easier for it to move in wind and water.  We can raise cover crops and use intercropping techniques so there are more roots in the soil to protect it.  And, we can have more diverse crop rotations that would include things like hay and alfalfa so everything in the area is not all bare ground at the same time.

I recognize that many of the things we do to raise crops will damage the soil, so it is my job, as a grower, to do my best to minimize and heal the damage I do.  It's called stewardship.  I will do the best I can to turn healthy soil and land over to the next steward when it is time.  It is my hope more of us can hold land stewardship as an essential task, not just a task to undertake when it is convenient or profitable.

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts.  I hope you have a good remainder of the day and a good weekend to come.

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Sniffing Petunias - It's In the Book


My grandparents house (on Mom's side) had a smallish front yard that had the typical sidewalk down the middle that met up with the sidewalk down by the street.  The yard sloped away from the house and was a bit higher than the driveway on the south side.  To hold the soil back from the pavement, there were cinder blocks.  And inside of those cinder blocks was some decent black dirt.

And growing in that black dirt, for every year that I can recall, were petunias.

Usually, the petunias were in the purple/blue range of shades and they were the varieties that tended to have the larger, softer flower petals.  The kind that, if you put them up to your nose and inhaled deeply, they would flop against your nostril. 

How do I know this?  Well, it was the kind of thing that kids do with petunia flowers.  They had a very light fragrance and it was something to do.  What?  You question this?!? Fair enough, look in the manual for kids, there are instructions for enjoying flowers.  It's in the book, page 54.

I am not entirely certain why I remember those flowers so vividly.  Nor am I certain why it is so easy to recall how fragile they seemed - all the while showing they were quite resilient, flourishing in a small bit of soil in cinder blocks that surely wicked the moisture out and magnified the heat of the sun.

I remember being asked to water them more than once.  And I didn't mind doing that, really.  Being a kid, I suspect I might have given the adults a little feedback that I didn't want to do it.  But, that was likely more out of principle than anything.  If you are a kid, you have to do that - it's also in the book - look it up.

Now, we have petunias in various pots on the farm AGAIN this year.  We haven't planted them every year, and I am not sure why.  They are one of the first annuals to bloom - throwing out colorful flowers that are as big or bigger than the rest of the plant.  If you take a few moments to 'deadhead' them, they really get going.

Oh yes, I remember learning about dead-heading at the grandparents too.  I bet they did not mind having the grandkids deadhead their flowers for them.  We knew it was something that needed doing if you wanted more blooms, so we just sort of did it if we were hanging around outside.  After all, the grownups were having their conversations and we needed to amuse ourselves.  And, really, most kids actually don't mind being helpful, especially when there is waiting around to be done - but they have to act like they don't care or they don't like it.  That, too, is in the book.

So, we have some petunias this year.  And I am finding comfort in their presence.  Tomorrow morning, I'll go deadhead some of the plants.  Then, I am going to pick the biggest bluish/purple flower of the batch and I'm going to hold it up to my nose.

And inhale.

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Forty-two Years

On May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington state.  One of the first trips Tammy and I made as a married couple was a trip to see Mount St Helens and I took a moment to scan a few of the photos we took when we were there.

Even then there was evidence that nature was recovering from the devastation that followed in the immediate aftermath of the eruption.  This 30th Anniversary retrospective looks back at the event and talks about the recovery over time.  I have not viewed more than a tiny bit of this, so I can't say how good it is.

And, here is a 40 year anniversary piece that focuses on the recovery of the area.  I found this to be very informative and is worth watching - especially since it is only a bit over six minutes long.  If you want to appreciate the changes since the eruption and invest even less time, take a look at this time elapse by NASA's Earth Observatory.

If you take that last link, I encourage you to watch Spirit Lake.  You can see the mass of floating logs moving to different locations on the lake over time.

If you have the patience to watch a webinar, this one by Dr. Eric Wagner from the University of Washington looks promising.

The photo above is what Spirit Lake looked like during our visit.  From this distance, the logs do not look like much.  But, many of the trees floating in the lake were wider than we were tall.  These were not little trees.  It says something that even in 2016, the last frame of the NASA time elapse, there are still trees floating on that lake from the eruption.

If you would like to learn more about the waterways in the area the  USGS information on Spirit Lake and other bodies of water in Mt St Helens area can be found at the link provided here.  

I still think this last photo is my favorite from this trip.  We hiked down to the edge of the lake from this point and I still remember the signs warning people to stay OFF of the floating logs.  But, more important, I remember just standing at this viewpoint and being awed by the destruction.  Trees that had once been fifty to one hundred feet tall were devoid of branches and laying flat on the ground - except for a few sturdy ones that looked like oddly placed telephone poles amongst a pile of matchsticks.

I wonder if we will decide to walk there again to experience the intrusion of green into what had become a barren landscape in 1980?