And They Came by Mini Van!

 

Photo by Carrie Aitkenhead

    We have a mini-van. And we've loaded quite a few animals in there, but never an alpaca...yet!

     Above, Jim and Pattey Bleeker, co-owners of Clinton CT's Saltaire Alpacas, arrive at Wakeman Town Farm, alpacas in tow.

     They have donated a mother-daughter duo to live at WTF to share with the Westport Community; "LeMay" (13 years old), and their prized Autumn Joy (10 years old). 

    Their beauty and the hums they sing while checking out new strangers are endearing and silly at the same time.

    We invite the public to come meet our newest additions on December 6th at 4:30 and stay for our annual tree lighting, a longtime tradition of the Wakeman Family. 

Ben's Bells: Ringing with Kindness

Photo by Carrie Aitkenhead

   A discovery my children and I made this morning at the bus stop has truly touched our lives. 

   We had not heard of Ben's Bells, but it gave us a chance to have a conversation about how important it is to be nice to others and help others when we are lucky enough to have the chance. We now look forward to spreading the word! The tag on the bell reads:

At WTF, we strive to spread kindness and a love of animals and nature with our community, and within our own family. More information on the Ben's Bells Project can be found at bensbells.org. Spread a little kindness. I know I will! More info at bensbells.org. Let's keep this ripple going!

How do you spread kindness?

Growing Gratitude: Knowing My Neighbors

"

Lynne Perrigo, Carrie Aitkenhead, and Cornelia Olsen

    One of the best ways to build a community is to get to know your neighbors. I have and I absolutely love my neighbor- couldn't ask for a better one! 

     When we set out to get goats for the farm and began building the goat pen on the side of the farm nearest Mrs. Cornelia Olsen's property, I went to speak to her about it and get her approval on the placement. Her response was "Oh, that's fantastic...Now I don't have to get my own goats!" She is simply a love. 

     So, today, I am thankful for knowing my neighbors, and being part of a true community. If you don't love your neighbors, or perhaps don't know them, I encourage you to bring over a little basket or plate of something, or just go to say Hello! You won't be sorry! 

Re"cycling": Carrie Rides Again!

Dad came over today with a gift after cleaning out the storage facility. 

Though it was many years ago, 1989 to be exact, I'll never forget the happiness, pride, and shock I felt on the morning of my sixth birthday to discover my parents had bought me a bike of my very own. The biggest on the block, a twelve speed.

 "It is big", said Mom, "just like you asked for", with that be-careful-what-you-wish-for tone. 

"You'll fit on it forever", Dad added, smiling, because he would never have to buy another. 

When I was nine, a popped tire at the time of a house move sent this awesome gift into storage. I never asked for another bike, because I knew I had this one, but also never made an effort to retrieve it as I was usually playing sports rather than biking around. 

The 80's are evident in the neon colors, purple and hot pink, my favorites at the time. And I'm definately a bit bigger. But this is the ultimate Re-"cycling" project! Can't wait to fix it up, and ride it around with my kids! 

Now if I could only find my matching leg-warmers! 

Carrie in 1989.

What Season Is It Anyway?

    Photo by Carrie Aitkenhead

   Mother Nature is confused. Flowers are blooming, Christmas carols are playing, temps in the 60's- Is it really November? The last time I saw this kind of confusion was this spring, pictured above. Not that I am complaining- I'll take my warm days whenever I can get them, and the animals love them too! Enjoy this beautiful weather everyone! 

Growing Gratitude- My Plant SuperNanny

     Photo by Sasha McCay

 "Growing Gratitude" will be a recurring post theme, as there is so much I am thankful for this year. Today, I am thankful for our new greenhouse and the generosity of the lovely ladies that made having this resource at the farm possible: The Westport Woman's Club and Robin Tauck. 

    More frosts will be rolling in soon. But I'll have fresh salad on the dinner table at Christmas. I will also be able to provide fresh greens and veggies to Westport's Gillespie Center for months to come, and that makes my heart happy! 

    This freedom greenhouse is truly incredible. It combines green technology with simple beauty, and sure does make raising seedlings a fun and easier job. You set the temperature you want to keep them at, and running off solar power, it regulates to that temperature on its own, opening up roof vents and a side slat when it is too warm, on days like today.

   But my favorite feature are the flood tables. No joke...they water themselves! Just fill the large pails underneath with water, and keep them filled, and the flood tables draw from this source twice per day to fill the tables bottom watering the plants, growing nice and healthy root systems. Then the unused water is sucked back up, recycled for the next watering. 

    This incredible teaching tool allows us to teach the children who visit the farm about solar power, recycling, water quality, what plants and roots need to grow best, and also provides the perfect setting to teach young children how to plant seeds! What an incredible resource for the children of Westport! 

    My bottomless thanks to the Westport Woman's Club, and Robin Tauck for helping to bring me this plant Super Nanny, which gives me more time to nurture my own children and the children of Westport, and for that I am so thankful!

A Chili Day!

It sure was a "chili" day out there today at the Stamford Nature Center! Though our delicious chili did not place this year in the competition, we had a fun day representing the farm with the only all vegetarian chili in the contest! We had a vegan family visit the competition, and we were able to serve them a lunch sized portion each, and we're so happy to have been able to do so! Chef Craig also put smiles on the faces of many young children (including mine!) by offering sample pieces of his honey-cornbread! One mother even came back to our table for seconds saying, "Is there any chance I can take another cup; my daughter NEVER eats vegetables, but she LOVES your chili!". After she walked away, Craig turned to me and said, "Win or Lose, that makes it all worth it". And it WAS worth it. The event raised enough money to buy 3000 pounds of food for the Foodbank, just in time for the holidays!!! Thank you to all WTF community members who came out to help serve or to support the farm! This farmer couldn't be any prouder. 

Does WTF have "The Best Chili in Stamford"?

Last year, Wakeman Town Farm's Veggie Chili was Hot Stuff. Team WTF 

walked away with an award for second place! 

Stop by and say hi to chef Craig Charlton and the WTF crew, sample an array of delicious chilis, including our own WTF award-winner, 

meet the animals at Hecksher Farm at the Stamford Museum 

and Nature Center, and bring your kids for Touch-a-Truck, and an incredible natural playground!      WTF Recipe Provided Below!

WTF Chipotle Veggie Chili 

Created by Chef Craig Charlton

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup chopped red onion

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced green bell pepper

1 cup diced red bell pepper

3 cloves chopped garlic

2 tablespoons chili powder

3 tablespoons cumin

2 28oz cans diced tomato

1 15oz can red kidney beans

1 15oz can black beans

1 15oz can hominy

1/2 cup pureed chipotle peppers in Adobo

Salt and Pepper to taste

Saute onion and carrots in oil over medium heat for five minutes. Add peppers, garlic, and spices. Saute for another 5-10 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice, bring to a boil. Add beans and chipotle, bring back to boil, stirring well. Reduce to a simmer till thick. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!!!

Much content and recipe today provided by Chef Craig Charlton and Christy Colasurdo of WTF!

Holy Creativity, Batman!

Halloween Night 2014. I am so proud of my costume this year. It is by far my favorite costume EVER! I love it so much because my son made it for me completely on his own. The back of the sweater even has a designer tag, which says "I love Mommy, from Ethan". He opened his costume shop from his bedroom last week and decided that there would be a family discount policy. Family members each get the first costume free. He broke policy, when his sister had two made- one for school, and one for trick or treating. "Next year, I will be charging you for costumes", he declared, "Nobody else on Earth has one like this, so that makes it special". Farmer Mike's Batman shirt is also courtesy of our son...notice the scotch tape attaching the fabric! He must not have been able to find it for his sister's shirt, as she sports blue painter's tape to attach her batgirl emblem. He creates something new any chance he gets, enforcing one of our main values, "Make-Not-Buy". Seeing this little guy internalize this value makes me the proudest farm mom in the world! And he is so proud of himself and his skills too! My little environmentalist/artist/costume designer/The Flash is sure something special! I am so grateful to have this "Super" family. And yes, I did stuff a puffy coat under that sweater! It was a chilly out there, but a memorable Halloween for the WTF farm fam! What's your most memorable costume? 

Halloween Sensory Activities - Jack-O-Lanterns and Seed Art

The Night before Halloween is our traditional pumpkin carving night. This jack-o-lantern is made from a pumpkin from the WTF gardens- The sole survivor of the twenty or so we had planted in the back cement garden. Squirrels, Chipmunks, and Stink bugs apparently like pumpkins as much as we do. To appease two kids, this jack-o-lantern actually has another face carved into the back. The kids draw their design, we carve the lid and open it up, ready for the kids to extract the goop, guts and seeds with their hands. They have a blast squishing the orange slime between their fingers and helping to pick out the seeds. Cleanup is not too bad either if you lay newsprint down. Unless you have a four year old, who thinks it's hysterical to fling it across the kitchen on a spoon, her very own mini version of a "Punkin Chunkin" trebuchet.

Here, we've washed and dried the seeds, and tomorrow, they get separated into two piles: Cooking and Planting. The cooking pile will be oven roasted, very lightly salted, and given as a gift to Grandma in a mason jar. The planting pile will be put aside, and stored for winter for planting in the new greenhouse in mid-April. Giant pumpkin seeds can be started a bit sooner if you're looking for a ribbon winner! 

Above, my son creates a work of art with a wonderful sensory activity, seed art, which can be done year round with many different types of seeds. Seeds can form shapes, pictures, mosaics, etc. Let your child be the guide and see what he or she comes up with. Happy Halloween! 

Inspiration From A Chicken, Nugget

       This is Nugget. A tiny bantam black silkie chicken who inspires many children in the Westport community. This animal, smaller than a teddy bear, I believe to be the single most powerful force driving the poultry-keeping boom we are seeing in Southwest Connecticut. She is also often my inspiration, as I watch her adorable antics while I work in the gardens. She is quite the character. Starting this blog, I feel as I imagine she would jumping into a coop filled with seemingly giant Orpingtons and Barred Rocks, who'd been together for years. She would probably get some negative reaction, for having the audacity to intrude: maybe she would have a few feathers plucked out by her new coop mates, maybe she would be chased around and barricaded off from the food by the others. But even worse yet (in the world of blogs, anyway), she could go completely unnoticed. She could get hidden behind the stature of the noble blue egg laying Americauna, Idis, or go unseen next to the flashy, fancy, feathery headdress worn by the obnoxious Golden Laced Polish, Madonna- that poultry diva. Nugget's story might never be told, were it not for her ability to adapt by accepting who she is, accepting her place in the pecking order, and scratching out a niche all her own. 

   What is so endearing to us about Nugget is her surprisingly odd look combined with a relaxed, calm, lovable personality. She loves being held by toddlers and adults alike. She's patient. She's tolerant. She's calm. She speaks with her eyes as well as any cat ever could, but in a non-judgemental way, of course. She ensures her holder that she means no harm and appreciates any attention and soft arms to nap in that come her way. She can appear plain at times...a simple black next to the beautiful zebra-like stripes of the Barred Rock. Yet put Nugget in the sun, and that plain, easy to miss chicken exudes irredescent streaks of teal and regal purple. She is simply splendid. 

    At the farm, I strive to bring the values I see embodied in this little creature to my own two children and the children I teach. Just as Nugget does, be patient. Be kind. Be respectful. Be tolerant. Be humble. Explore, share and inspire. Shine when it is your turn to shine, and give others the chance to do so as well. Admire others, but know that you can be great, too...In your own way...just as you are. If you can't see it, step outside. Perhaps the sun has not shone on your feathers yet.