Building Unity Farm Sanctuary - First Week of April 2017

In North America, Easter and Thanksgiving are traditionally associated with eating ham and turkey.     You can imagine that a vegan sanctuary is very popular with creatures who want want to avoid being eaten.

This week, we had the great turkey chautauqua .   Every wild turkey in the local forests assembled at Unity Farm Sanctuary for an afternoon of companionship, dancing and gentle conversation.    To put this photo in context, it’s taken from the sanctuary loft - about a football field away from the turkeys.  There are 17 turkeys in just this view.  Yes, the Tom turkey in the middle of the photograph was about as big as a buffalo.  Several guineas joined the party. Amazing

Local press covered the sanctuary activities this week and including some great pictures of the sanctuary animals.

I’ve built many things for Unity Farm and Sanctuary, but never considered building an ark until this week.    The snow has melted at the same time we’ve had 10 inches of rain.   The ducks and geese are swimming in the pig paddocks.  In the female alpaca paddock, water is over a foot deep.   The trails are a sea of mud.   It’s definitely a challenging time to be a farmer.

All the animals are smart enough to seek shelter from the rain and wind.   Even Palmer the turkey has begun to roost with the chickens so he stays warm and dry.

Whenever possible, the humans are attending to indoor tasks.   For example, suppose you want to cook the perfect Unity Farm eggs for Easter.  (vegetarian, not vegan).  Here’s a video about how to do it (note the Unity Farm packaging!)  

We finished the rewiring of the dining room  this week, correcting the sins of the past that occurred when old wiring and new wiring were grafted together in the 1990s.    Now, everything works perfectly.

We finished the spring planting of lettuce, carrots, peas, chard, beets, spinach and basil.   Our organic certification renewal is next month and we’re continuing our pesticide/herbicide free farming methods.

Finally, we began the planning for the trails that will connect the sanctuary with the rural land trust next door.   Their 30 acres and our 30 acres will combine to create an wonderful public walking resource.   I’ll definitely get my exercise this summer building another few miles of trails and bridges.    When we’re done, there will be public entrances on Green Street, Unity Lane and Zion Lane in Sherborn.