In the world of Bare Hands Farm…
Oh what crazy times have found us here at Bare Hands Farm! House concerts, yoga retreats, duck roasts, wedding planning, micro greens, new animals, oh my!
Grove News: The yoga retreat went splendidly! Mindy and I weren’t able to be around for hardly any of it, but it was well attended and the few Talkeetnans that we spoke with who went said it did them very well. Svia mentioned an idea she had for a skiing/yoga retreat in the winter time at The Grove. Sounds great! Probably not this year but stay tuned for possibilities there.
Newborn House Concert: I’ve been in contact with Nick from the band, “Newborn” (members from the locally loved, “Wasteland Hop” out of Fort Collins, CO), who admitted that he was more excited for the show at The Grove than anywhere else on his Alaska tour! I’m really hoping for a great turnout for this young acoustic duo.
Upcoming Events: Emma Hill and Small Souls House Concert on September 10th and we’re happy to announce that the 2015 KTNA Art Auction will be held at The Grove on September 13th! Stay tuned for details.
Farm News:
Duck Roast: Rather quickly conceived and organized is our first partnering with Nate Bryan for feast offerings of our animals and his smoker, to the public. We’re trialing this out with our ducks to see how it goes and may do much more in the future. At any rate, the feast starts at 5pm tomorrow, first come, first served, with the house concert to follow at 8pm. Hope to see many of you there!
Development: The back woodlot is turning more and more into a gorgeously prepared south-facing slope, ready to be transformed into an expanse of food production. We aim to use swales (i.e. long, level ditches on contour, to help us catch water and slowly bleed it back into the landscape). On the downhill side of the swales we’ll be using hugelkultur, or large beds of buried woody debris, to slowly break down and act as a sponge for all of this water and nutrients, fed back to the plants as needed. These are 2 very effective methods for improving fertility and natural irrigation onto landscapes and I think are going to work great on our property.
New Animals: When some doors close at Bare Hands Farm, others open. We’re once again very grateful for the time we had with our ducks and are very much looking forward to our duck roast this weekend. We’re also excited to announce some new members to the Farm – a whole slew of rabbits! There was a couple in Trapper Creek who love raising rabbits, but alas, life was getting in the way and needed to get rid of them. It was the perfect time for us to take the plunge, I do believe.
Rabbits have been on our list of possible animals for the farm for a variety of reasons. Easy management, very efficient means of turning grass and other forage into meat, great taste, wonderful manure, and not to mention, their pretty adorable, as you can see! Let us know if you’d like to come check them out. We’ve got a couple of Flemish Giants, a few New Zealands, and several young crosses.
What animals will be next at Bare Hands Farm?! Eh, I think we need to paring down a bit at some point! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Thank you so much for your support and please contact us with any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions.
– Graham and Mindy