Hello! Hello! Warm wishes to everyone from Hoppy Mountain Farm! Today I'd like to talk a little about who farmers are.
Last week, I happened to catch a glimpse of a cartoon my child was watching. It depicted a young boy who lived on a farm. He was depicted as dirty, poor, and uneducated. I found myself thinking how horrible it was to teach children that this is who farmers are! So, I made a last minute decision to bring my spawnlings with me to my farm visit this past weekend to Moose River Farm. This isn't the first farm we have visited, but it is the first one since this horrible pandemic started.
We arrived early, and were greeted by Ann and her turkeys. She calls them the welcoming committee, and sure enough they surrounded each new vehicle upon arrival. It wasn't long before other children joined the turkey party. After a short wait, we all introduced ourselves and began the tour. Ann showed us around and we got to interact with most of the animals on the farm - from her two beautiful donkeys (Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra), to the duck and goose besties Cappuccino and Latte (Cappi really took a liking to my youngest), to horses and goats, to finally her llamas. Each animal has a story and a personality and Ann took the time to teach and answer everyone's questions. The farm is well managed and beautiful. Ann and her husband created Moose River Farm from the ground up in the middle of the Adirondacks, and they've been at it for 17 years now. Ann also offers Llama trekking, which we were fortunate enough to join in on. It really feels amazing to be able to bond with and help care for an animal even if it is only for a short time.
Ann isn't a dull-minded middle aged man with a slow thick drawl, wearing mud smeared pair of overalls and a patched straw hat, living in a dilapidated shack in the middle of a wheat field, who drives a tractor day in and day out. This trope has got to go! Today's farmers are as diverse as the locations and types of their farms, and I encourage everyone to visit a farm in 2022 if you are able.
And now to talk a bit about Hoppy Mountain Farm!
We've gotten a few good snows, and Mandy has absolutely been loving it. Sophie and Panda on the other hand spend the bulk of their time seeking out the warmest and coziest napping locations. Floof and Storm have regrown their coats and are back to their fluffy glory. They spent some quality time together the past couple of days. I suppose now all we can do is cross our fingers and wait. Now that it's colder the bunnies get most of their exercise in our main living space which meant I needed to do some re-arranging and bunny-proofing. So far so good I think.
I heard back from another breeder who had some lovely advice and shared some wisdom with me. I'm hoping to develop some good farm networking in the months to come. This week we are going to try to enjoy some down time and have a nice quiet holiday. Next week we will explore some marketing ideas with Annie's Project. I am very much looking forward to that.
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Hoppy Mountain Farm.