Rick Bio Update

Here is a fun introduction to the characters around the farm.

Rick Misterly, farmer, goat herder, gardener and more. Rick maintains he retired to farming at the early age of 22. Raised in Los Angeles California you will hear him drop names of places like Malibu, Hollyweird and Topanga. He claims that twice during his teens he was given a ride, while hitchhiking, by Burt Lancaster. He dreams of someday being picked up by a UFO.

Rick is a complex character schooled by the world of hard-knocks; he is a fool for people who speak with a foreign accent (dangerous when telemarketers ring from far off call centers) He has been around the world twice. He once had to make a speedy decent while trekking on the Northern slope of the Himalayas when his breath extinguished the eternal flame of Muktinath and he feared what the natives would do. He didn’t stick around to see if the flame was reignited. In his old age he hopes to write a book of his travels titled Youth in Asia.

It is unclear whether his goats love him more then he loves them. He has helped most of them into this world, nurtured them through-out their lives and ushered some of them to a speedy beyond. If you find him in the barnyard with the herd you will see them all gathered round him appearing to ask for a touch, his blessing, strokes under their chins, as if he were the Pope of Goats.

A friend once described him as “one of those guys where you can actually see the years of hard work on his face and hands. And, while a nice guy, is the type where you feel you have to earn his respect. He isn’t just going to give it up without seeing what you are about first.”

He cleans up well and if he is wearing sunglasses, has been mistaken for Actor Bruce Dern.

Run when you hear him say “It’s totally safe.”

Rick didn’t know any better then to get into farming.

Fall and the Farm Virgin

The end of summer is the culmination of our warm weather projects. Here in the inland northwest it is a time of processing and storing foods for winter.  One of our projects is butchering the pigs, it is a big job that calls for helpful and skilled hands.

Late October, when the days grow cool, our close friends visit the farm to help us with the pigs. Animal harvest is a solemn anchor to the season, yet a time of celebrating another year with our friends who have been joining us in this fall ritual for fourteen years.

Ten years ago Chef Greg Johnson came along for the autumn pig butchery. Greg has generously shared his story with us. Lucky for us the weekend was also documented by Gary Moogk. Continue reading “Fall and the Farm Virgin”