Per request, I am making some materials available for agreements, goal setting, and assessment. I a mentor for a student from Metwest High School. They have an impressive internship program there. Apparently the coordinator is very nice and likes to talk to others about creating internships so he might be a good contact. In conversation with the teacher adviser I am coordinating with I learned the difference in the grade and expectation is not so much the goals but how exacting the internship project is. I am working with a 9th grader. For 10th grade she might be expected to complete a project that takes four months, for 11th grade she may be required to lead a community based project. In 12th grade they had thesis projects that will complete their year. These are a culmination of the skills they’ve been learning and involve research, community engagement and are long term projects.

Ok, to the examples for a high school level:

A mentor agreement

An intern agreement

Consequences & evaluation

Learning objectives

Performance assessment

Daily assessment log

I also worked with college interns at Urban Sprouts. San Francisco State University has an intensive program with a great manual that goes into depth about the program. Perhaps if you are looking more to work with twenty somethings, this may be helpful: Intern Manual.

I mentioned last week that I’ve started an apprenticeship where I learn to care for and milk dairy goats. I’m doing this at Pineheaven Farm nearby. That’s going great. My hands and forearms are sore and I am learning how insubordinate goats can be (but my reward was an amazing cup of goat chai). I am also learning about the variation in milk production and flavor. Fascinating. I encourage anyone flirting with the idea of keeping urban livestock to sign up for learning opportunities at a local urban farm.

That said, I also encourage urban farmers to put some thought into structuring an apprenticeship or internship so others can learn from the unique resource of an urban farm in their community. I recently started working with a local high school to train an intern. We just formalized the internship goals and expectations. The school has a great listing of developmental and work habit skills to focus on that are age appropriate. This is very helpful. As is my past work experience with the San Francisco based Garden Education program, Urban Sprouts (they are awesome by the way).

I am thrilled to serve as a mentor. The intern, JH, and I recently completed our first project. We built a temporary shelter for the feed containers.

We’ve also spent a good amount of time discussing compost and animal care. This unseasonably warm January weather may also signal a good time to start seed boxes  we’ve got our work cut out for us!

I went to my first goat-together, a gathering of a great group of local goat owners. As I’ve mentioned, I am gearing up for owning dairy goats. Hence I am learning to care for and milk goats at Pineheaven Farm and attended this meeting to find out more about the trial and tribulations (and cost) of dairy goat care. It was quite a treat. We met at the fabulous Indigoat Farm. The hosts, Nicolas and Susana, and attending goat owners brought an abundance of home made goat milk goodies. The resulting spread included, two variations of St. Maure cheese, feta, drunken goat cheese, cajeta, peanut butter ice cream, a refreshing ginger whey beverage and a variety of pickled and savory goodies.

The focus of the gathering seemed more to orient everyone with each other as goat owners and discuss common issues. The question of Oakland ordinance came up. The Oakland Municipal Code apparently directly mentions “goat” five times: 1) to define all things “dairy”, 2) to state that the sale of meat and meat products is prohibited if unpermitted, 3) to define an “animal”, 4) to state that your feed and animal shelter needs to be protected against disease vectors such as rodents and insects (and some criteria for certain types of shelters, and 5) to state that your goat cannot be at large (unleashed, unharnessed, or otherwise loose and roaming).

Other codes affecting keeping goats include code for sanitation and treatment of animals, sick animals and the burying of animals. I posted about this a few years ago.

The group also touched upon methods of fly control. Methods included permethrin spray, fly predator larvae from Spalding Labs ($20/mo), ducks, which apparently enjoy eating flies and their larvae. I’ll add to this an electric fly swatter (can be found at CVS).

We did briefly discuss cost.  It seemed like a low average was about $10-15/week for two goats. Maybe $15/week if you include cheese making equipment. This is after the start up costs for mangers, shelter, water cans, feed containers…etc. This is pricey. Kitty at Havenscourt Homestead is working on a tally for 2011 which will be great as it will also help assess the value saved or gained from the dairy products.

This may rival the Snuggie®.

A highlight of the conversation of Nicolas’ demonstration of his Shepherds Crook with a broom attachment which he carries across his back so his hands are free to walk his herd.

Other great info- citrus and plum leaves are an abortifacient for goats. The authority on natural goat care is Pat Colby. The group also struck up a conversation about Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis (CAE). This sounded like a very serious disease and there were strong opinions about whether an infacted goat needs to be put down immediately or not. Most felt not. For someone considering getting goats, this is clearly a disease to learn more about.

Photographer Lori Eanes is working on a project called Bay Area Backyards. Looks like it is going to be a fun and beautiful book. She came by (thanks to Kitty I should mention) in December to check out Pluck & Feather Farm and snap some shots. This one I quite liked because it is what I do everyday, sometimes even dressed in heels (very carefully) when I am on my way out somewhere.

To see more of her collection on urban farmers, go to her website www.lorieanes.com and click on “Projects.”

Don’t forget! This Saturday is the Bay Area 2011 Golden Gate Chapter Scion Exchange.

WHEN: 12 noon to 3:00 PM
Saturday, January 22, 2011

WHERE: First Baptist Church
4555 Hilltop Drive
El Sobrante, CA

For those of you not in the Bay Area, let this serve as a reminder that this is the month to prune and graft your fruit trees! Its also a good time to find deals on bare root fruit trees.

Blimey! I lent a book out about three months ago and now I can’t recall to whom. If any of my lovely urban farmer friends nearby recall, do let me know. It was a gift from my husband. The book is an over-sized paperback titled “County Wisdom & Know How.”

I have been excited to see internships and apprenticeships developing around urban farming. Inspired, I have agreed to be a goat apprentice to learn the ropes before making the commitment. Goat care has seemed to have greater possibility of complications. So I decided to exercise caution this time before just jumping in, my usual M.O.

I have three training sessions then I am let loose to work on my own. I am grateful for the time to ask questions and observe how to handle a large goat. These goats are full sized varieties (La Mancha and Oberhasli) weighing in at about 150lbs. I am to lead them to the dairy with a leash. The idyllic image of leading a goat down a hillside in the early morning, perhaps hugged by a misty fog, is a sweet one.

The truth of it is that they don’t particularly like being on the leash. They have excellent footing on that hillside and should they choose to assert their will, they weigh considerably more than me. Turns out the goat “Riley” is also a bit ornery but I won’t think about that.

In addition to learning about these amazing creatures, an apprentice gets paid in the form of half the milk from their shift. That is quite an incentive! One milking led to about 1.5 gallons of milk. This tantalizing fact inspires me to learn to make Mexican cheeses, especially as I am continuing my resolve to practice cooking regional cuisine. With that, I found this online Guide to Mexican Cheeses and some recipes. I recently needed a queso asadero for some Enchiladas de San Luis Potosi so I’ll start with that (Disclaimer: I have not yet tried this recipe).

Queso Asadero

Equipment & Ingredients
1 gallon raw milk
Double boiler
Thermometer
¼ tsp rennet (animal is best) in ¾ c. water
Cheesecloth
Colander
Kosher salt

Instructions
1. Heat milk in the top half of a double boiler to 145º F for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to 95º F. This pasteurizes the raw milk.
2. Stir in the rennet. Cover the container and let it sit undisturbed for 40 to 60 minutes, until curds form.
3. Cut the curd into walnut-sized pieces (about 1 inch square). Rest the curds by letting them sit undisturbed for at least 10 minutes.
4. Line a colander with cheesecloth and pour the fluid containing the curds inside. Allow the watery part of the mixture, called whey, to drain through. Keep the drained curds.
5. Immerse the curds in hot water. Knead them and stretch them into long strings. Braid the strings for an attractive presentation.
6. Apply salt to the outside of the braid. Alternatively, you can submerge the braid in brine.

For a recipe for queso fresco and other Mexican cuisine, take a look at Mexico in My Kitchen. Also, check out more on Mexican cheese varieties and their history.

I went hunting for the first time! I went with an in-law, Justin the Texan. His family has owned a ranch in the TX “since it was part of The Republic.”

I could think of no better person with which to hunt for some wild hog. I wish I had a super exciting story of tracking, drop at first shot, and carrying home the reward of a year’s worth of fine meat. However, the truth of it is that while I did go hunting for the first time in my life, I returned home empty handed. I did learn much from the experience though. A few nuggets of knowledge: hunting the morning after a full moon is not a good time. It was such a bright and active night, the animals are not out. In nearly 6 hours of walking around, I saw two squirrels. That’s it.

I learned hiking boots suck for hunting as they make your step noisy. I should have brought my Vibrams. Though the below photo suggests I was snooping through the forest being “veewy veewy quiet.” I was not. I was ducking under a spider web when Dipak took this photo.

I also learned that I need to know a lot more about tracking to be successful as much of the signs we saw were likely billboards of activity which I could not interpret. Turns out I already have a book by the authority on the topic (from my high school days), Tom Brown. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I learned I can shoot a 30-30 Winchester without dislocating my shoulder or breaking my nose but I definitely need a scope. Shooting without a scope is really hard.

I am now very eager to take a gun safety class and proceed with my hunting career.

My biggest inspiration in life is my grandfather Francisco. I don my muck boots and head out to clean the animal pens and pull weeds out of responsibility. I cook fresh tortillas out of love. I learn my cultural history out of pride. I paint for beauty’s sake. I forgive to live in peace. I do this because it is what he has taught me.

He was the first urban farmer I ever knew.

I miss him dearly.

One of my favorite food blogs featured an article about Farm Food Connect. Click on title to check it out:

Food Farm Connect: Building An Urban Agriculture Database