I haven't weighed a bucket full of feed myself, b75ut having asked twice in the past week how many lbs of feed that is I was told 25-30lbs.
I'm very curious what Jenna is feeding to fill a 5 gallon bucket with 40lbs of food.
Believe me...if I was filling, lifting into the truck, and carrying 75ish (varies depending on how many are sent to market and age of piglets) 40lb buckets in a day I would certainly be stronger than I am. Mind you I generally work with someone so the load is split but on his days off its all me darlings/son!
Oh those foolish misguided nonbucket lifters. How stupid and pointless their must be. Not that mine is better than there's. It's not. It's simply just more meaningful and marvelous.
Now announcing bucket shop 2014!
Sign up for my bucket shop and receive a lesson on filling buckets, walking with your bucket, how to dump a bucket, bucket storage, and bucket care. Come join the rest of us buckets as we fill 5 gallon buckets with cement, walk up a hill after running around in circles and all for the low price of $75! This is a steal folks...you can't beat this price. And get this, sign up within the next 2 days and receive a complimentary bucket! The perfect gift for yourself or a fellow bucket lover in your life.
If you have ever dreamt of holding, carrying, or looking at a a bucket don't delay...sign up now!
Today is the day to grab your bucket by the handle.
Btw, did she really make this comment....
'I don't have the time, ability, tools or money to cut or purchase a full year in advance right now. When I can or am able, I will. I spend the whole summer collecting and cutting up just enough to get through to spring.'
Does she know spring has not yet arrived which means she should be full up?
...and yes carrying 20 huge logs and balancing a coffee? Id love to see that.
Didn't she buy her truck new? I imagine she took a hammer to the heat to become martyr. Welcome to the real world Jenna...where at some time or another the majority of us have not had functioning heat or ac in our vehicles.
Boohoo, remember the child soldiers? Yeah...so shut the f up about your heatless truck. You are the biggest whiny fragile delicate fake farmer Ive ever had the pleasure of not meeting. Life must be so difficult for you sitting in your truck judging the lives of women you know nothing about.
Perhaps that fancy beautiful woman with her children were in a borrowed vehicle after selling theirs to pay for a childs medical treatment. Perhaps it was purchased with life insurance money from her deceased husband, the father her children will grow up without. A fancy SUV she would gladly trade for one more moment with her best friend.
Give it a rest. You are blessed beyond belief and should be a helping hand, not begging for help with your hands out.
Pathetic.
Heart pounding, breathless...I've always dreamed of learning to haul buckets. You are so inspiring Mere. I'm sooo excited to sign up, I can't wait. But, can you also teach us how to shovel shit? That's on my life list as well.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Seems to me one has only to review the blog to know she does not really spend the whole summer hauling and cutting wood. Sounds like a little revisionist history going on there.
ReplyDeleteAs for your exciting bucket workshop, Meredith, please sign me up! I want to live the dream!
I think she must be talking about a 5 gal. bucket of water, because I can't imagine how feed could be that heavy either. Regardless, her "poor me" posts are still beyond tiresome.
ReplyDeleteWell, I dunno... water weighs 7 pounds a gallon... that would only be 35 pounds.
DeleteGoogle tells me that water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon. Not that I'm defending the Wolf-That-Eats-Poodles-For-Breakfast. Just striving for accuracy.
DeleteWhen I was 9 years old my dad gave me the job of going to get chicken feed (winter wheat) in 5 gallon buckets...it weighed about 40 lbs. that's because winter wheat weighs alot! I'm sure she isn't feeding heavy grain. Thanks, Meredith...I laughed my a#@-off!!! You are on it today. Nice boots and even nicer pigs too. Great pics, thanks.
Deletecarrying a full to the brim bucket of water for any length of time and making it to ones destination still brim full...Impossible I tell you!
DeleteFirst time poster, must admit I fell for the need help line. Always had a little niggling feeling something was off but I'm a softy for the animals. Guess my realization came this week when she announced she's mostly a word farmer. Of course there was the previous incarnations as a shepherd, dairy goats, poultry, rabbits. Should have trusted my gut. Oh well , lesson learned.
ReplyDeleteOh, I can't make it to your bucket workshop! Can you please video tape it so you can help everyone all around the world learn how to carry buckets of super dense food to their animals and whine about it all the time? I can tote well enough, but I just don't seem to have the right intonation when I whine about it... you know, carrying them uphill,both ways? I sure wish I could have help on it... so I can do her proud.
ReplyDeletePriceless!!! :) Anon 1:48
DeleteAnyone notice JW removed the snarky retort to the very sound firewood comment?
She does read us here. So, whose following who?
Ha! I posted on another area of this blog about that snark-attack. She removed it?! I must go look! ROFL
DeleteReal farmers don't mess around with such inefficient systems to care for their animals and such. Good gosh... around our place, when we find something that doesn't work well, we figure out how to make it more efficient and work better. Not just whine about it and all. Can not believe how any one can believe she's a farmer. Farmer of what??? She's worse than a hobby farmer, at least those folks really try hard and want to live the life.
ReplyDeleteYou're so lucky, I don't even have buckets! I have to carry water and feed by the handful out to my animals! Don't you feel sorry for me?
ReplyDeleteKatie...I have an extra Dixie cup you can borrow, but you have to pick it up at the farm. I don't deliver.
DeleteYou are so darn funny, sister of mine. :) I should send you money so you can pretend to buy buckets but really spend it on junk food and wasteful hobbies!!
DeletePerfect...I can quit my job now.
DeleteHilarious
DeleteI'm starting to suspect that many of her readers live in the southern or coastal parts of the US (or elsewhere, worldwide). Or, perhaps they are urban residents who don't venture outside often. Does anyone else feel that way?
ReplyDeleteIt's been below zero for days here, and this weekend it's going to hit - 30 / - 40 with windchill. Huzzah for the Midwest! My house is heated with wood (we don't have a furnace), and this morning I fed 57 animals (poultry, goats, donkey, rabbits, dog, cats).
After chores were done, I - GASP! - got into my car and went to work for the day. If you own sensible winter clothing, cut/split/stack wood months ago, call your neighbor if something unexpected happens.... . This isn't rocket science. I'm sure you all do the same.
Winter should not be crisis season, it just takes preparation and common sense.
Meredith, I enjoyed your posts and pictures from this week. Sensible work during bad weather - and happy memories with family and good company. Stay warm.
~ A
I think it's the latter more than the former--although the general public does indeed freak out when we get snow down here in the south, any rural or homesteading type will know to leave a faucet dripping to keep the pipes from freezing during a cold snap (like the one we're getting now). We laid a network of PVC pipe and frost-free waterers throughout our pastures a decade ago to deal with getting water to the animals in winter, so it's not only for cold climates. I think her amen charlies are just well-intentioned urban folk who haven't a clue how much of a trainwreck her operation is.
DeleteWhen I bought my place the first thing I did was trench for water lines to the barn, gardens and all points in between, more than 100-feet of trenches and pipe. You can't go anywhere on my place and not be within a few feet of a water faucet.
DeleteHauling water by the bucketful from the house or well is not scrappy its STUPID!!
With the money she spends on other non-essentials she could have laid pipe ten times over.
But, in all fairness I didn't lay pipe by myself. My daughter helped dig trenches by hand and lay pipe. She was 9.
I laughed at Meredith's post, and laughed some more at the comments. You're all so funny today.
ReplyDeleteWe have a water source in both of our barns, and we take the hose in at night so it doesn't freeze up. That's all we do, we feed 100 head of cattle, so we aren't in good enough shape to carry buckets around.
"we feed 100 head of cattle, so we aren't in good enough shape to carry buckets around"
DeleteDon't be a poodle redhorse. Get out there and be a scrappy wolf. You can do it!!!
Tongue in cheek baby, tongue in cheek:)
Chuckle. Leave me alone, I'm practicing my eyeliner application.
DeleteOMG!!! ROTFLMAO
DeleteWe have all completely lost it today:)
Is it a full moon????!!!!!!!!! LOLOL
DeleteDamn girls I just spewed my expensive store bought coffee all over my keyboard. Now what am I going to dunk my crap muffin in?
DeleteHilarious and SO true!!!! Well said!!!
ReplyDeleteLaughter is the best medicine- didn't RD write that? :) Thanks everyone, I needed a giggle. She does not, apparently, know what a hose is.
ReplyDeleteAMEN!!! to that.
ReplyDeleteToday's posts are wildly funny!!! I think there is nothing to sum up except WTF is wrong with that girl!!! Thanks for the laughs! My daughter who wrote about not even having a bucket, has a hubs who is away on duty for the highway dept. until the snow and cold snap business is over and she fills her pellet stove, feeds sheep/goats/rabbits/chickens/and dogs and somehow still manages to get to work and put in a full day there. I guess that makes her super human....or at least smarter than a rock! Thanks for the laughs! Hugs, Deb
ReplyDeleteYou totally inspire me! I want to run out and get a bucket just to be like you! Of course I will come to your workshop so you can show me how to use it! And if you write a book about buckets, I will buy 10 copies to support you!
ReplyDeleteBy the extremely low amounts of comments on her blog for the various BUY BUY BUY posts, and the extremely funny and numerous comments here on this blog... I would say she should be just a wee bit nervous... :-) You guys are so funny! I have several buckets here on my farm but I fear that I don't use them to their full potential. I mean, gosh, are you going to give us tips on bucket contentment and how to use them for really in depth things like gathering morning dew or hoping to use them to improve our curvy non-model bodies?
ReplyDeleteLook, Meredith, your offer of a bucket workshop is very tempting, but I'm holding out for the debut of Club Bucket Brigade where I can get a behind-the-scenes look at the realities you face as a celebrated bucket-hauler and modern bucketing expert, the invaluable opportunity to comment on your rambling, nonsensical musings about buckets, how you deal with people who dump buckets of cold, hard truth over your head, and get 10% off all your future bucket workshops. This money in my pocket isn't going to spend itself!
ReplyDelete"Like Like Like!"
DeleteLOL. Gathering morning dew....buckets of cold, hard truth. Y'all are cracking me up!
ReplyDeleteAs predicted, the money-grubbing has begun. A little bit workshop pushing, a little bit poor me, can't pay the mortgage.
ReplyDeleteWill there be an upcoming pay-to-watch webiner on bucket carrying?
ReplyDeleteA subscription you for a year in advance. Now that's an investment . 12 months of valuable bucket know-how taught by an expert.
DeleteSign me up!
I didn't hear anything about that in the wind...... but what I DID hear: she's going to start a Bucket CSA! Yep, that's right, folks! Sign up now, pay yer money, and sometime in the future, when the buckets reproduce, you'll get buckets of buckets in return!!! Orange buckets, blue buckets, yellow buckets. A veritable garden of buckets! Just for the one low price of..........
DeleteThe best part about the Bucket CSA is that you get to watch Meredith sell or give away the buckets you paid for to other people without ever receiving an actual bucket OR a refund.
Delete.... And after all of the buckets you pre-paid for have been given away to the newer subscribing club bucketfans, don't worry! You will (maybe) receive a (partial) refund paid over the next year and a half.
DeleteBut only after the hawk has been trained to fetch and deliver buckets. See, we don't believe in FedEx or mail..... We're scrappy here, and post offices are for POODLES.
~A.
OMG I need an inhaler! lololol
DeleteJenna selling CAF buckets now, just like her coffee mugs! Steal the blog subscription idea from Bedlam Farm, steal the clan idea form the Survival podcast and now stealing the bucket idea form Meredith. And we thought we had the joke, but she's now got a new idea!
ReplyDeleteJust as marketable as any other idea she's stolen.. LOL
DeleteWhy is JW paying over $350 a month for kindling when she could get a cord of seasoned wood for $200, or less? Driving to Stewarts everyday for plastic wrapped wood at approximately $1280 a cord is idiocy, not to mention it is hardly self-sufficient. Are you starting to understand the math Jenna? It's so nice that you have fooled enough people into supporting you that you don't have to spend even one second to consider the best way to use that income. It must be nice to live high off the hog, even though I suspect yours aren't. How comfortable are they tonight? Your animals are the scrappy ones, suffering from privation so you can play out your fantasies.
ReplyDeleteIt is -8 here right now, and I live south of Jenna by two hours. I cannot imagine how bad it is there now. This is serious, and by Monday night it will be worse. There is NO way to keep water unfrozen for animals without a de-icer, so I hope the pigs drink all they need in less than 5 mins. I also hope the rabbits are not too thirsty. I wonder if she has given any additional food for this cold? Doubtful- why would she?
ReplyDeleteShe should sell that camera and buy some de-icers.
DeleteShe may have already sold it.... I haven't seen many Rebel-caliber pictures lately, nor has the camera been mentioned.
DeleteIt would be unsurprising. After all, she used reader donations to buy it instead of MAILING THE CSA WOOL. ugh.
I can't imagine how cold the horses are if they are outside. They have no real shelter (I don't consider that half-completed thing to be worth mentioning), and if she is still feeding them at the fence, that's where they'll be standing. Merlin, her expensive but I will make payments horse, deserves better - as does the other horse.
DeleteI can't believe her horsey pal Patty approves of the way JW treats her horses, out there, on that scrappy hill without hardly a decent roof over their head. They probably don't consider that half-assed roof thing to be any sort of shelter, like you said, they are standing at the gate waiting... it's all they know. And Merlin.... how low the mighty have fallen. Poor thing. And he's not exactly a spring chicken either, as a senior horse, he totally needs decent shelter and warm bedding. I'm sure they don't have enough water, it's surely frozen. So it's, drink as much as you can when the bucket lady shows up and then stand around dry for hours and hours. Just ticks me off. Her priorities are so freaking skewed. Oh, her friends can help build a mews for the hawk but they can't help her to see that her "shed" for the ponies needs SIDES on it??? Hello? Crap. even stapling heavy plastic on the damn thing would give them SOME sort of protection. She's such a fool. And her horses for certain are suffering.
DeleteJust to be fair, we don't really know what Patty is saying - for all we know Patty is trying hard to get things fixed up. JW would never report a negative thing.
DeleteI think she should sell thimbles. These are to put all the wisdom she imparts, and you would still have room to put some Stewarts coffee in.
ReplyDeleteY'all are so funny! First-time poster here, glad to know I am not alone in making my horrified face at the "farming" practice. I stepped off the Jenna fan bus when I sent some money and never heard back a thank you even. I quit her when animals starting dying and celtic fantasy life took over. This post about the woman and her eyeliner? Such a judgmental, woman-hating, elitist, post. And anti-poodle. Standard poodles are brave, loyal, strategic and very, very smart - she should aspire to being a poodle. A poodle would have gotten her wood in last year and not be buying it from the convenience store. Her projections onto this woman, this :otherkin" just sounded like a whole load of middle-class envy. Jenna, seriously, that thing? The thing you know is wrong with you? It is taking over - get help now. You are spinning out of reality. And if you can't do that, then just don't be a hater.
ReplyDeleteThe funny part is that in the beginning of that blog post she says something to the effect of "I'm seeing too much hating on fellow women from women homesteading bloggers" and then proceeds to open up the biggest can of woman-on-woman hate, envy, and disdain that I've ever seen on a homesteading blog.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that was some nasty nasty mojo there in that post. I'm surprised her cheerleaders didn't step back a bit and seriously wonder what the heck goes through that pretty little head...
DeleteCould I please request a shit shoveling workshop? I don't a shovel and I am intimidated to buy one until someone shows me how to use it.
ReplyDeleteJust read CAF blog. There's so much BS shoveling going on there, I'm sure you'll be an expert in no time!
DeleteThis thread has me cracking up. you all are creative and just too funny. I'm sarcastic in nature and satire tickles my funny bone to pieces.
ReplyDeletesorry all, but I only have 19 years of shit shoveling experience and am therefor not yet qualified to hold a workshit, I mean workshop on such a complex subject.
fortunately I will soon be exchanging my apprentice sweeper status for master sweeper and am very excited for graduation. once my broom has been inspected and approved by representatives of the local, state, national and international Sweeping Association I will receive my golden broom along with my license and will surely start teaching workshops. to include proper sweeping technique, broom storage, broom etiquette and more!
Can you believe in 2014 a woman can own her own broom and sweep in public? sign up now and receive Merediths Guide to Sweeping and a sweeping safety kit! don't be left in the dust...come and get your sweep on!
DeleteBtw, one of her horse workshops comes with a curry comb and rubber reins or some shit...how useless and uninspiring. If I were planning such workshop it would include a brush and the primitive red rubber loop hoof picks (put on key chain)...both are seriously useful in a variety off of farm circumstances.
DeleteOMG, this is some of the funniest stuff I've ever read in my life! My dh must have thought I'd lost my mind last night after midnight when I was lol, hard. And it just kept coming. If there is anyway to keep a permanent link to this thread on the front page, I for one would appreciate it, especially when I need a laugh. You people are talented!
ReplyDeleteWell, well... six spots sold at $100 a pop, looks like the mortgage might get paid after all.
ReplyDeleteHey, Meredith... if I buy your season pass to the bucket workshop and now the sweeping workshop, do I get a chance to come and look at your house and like spend an Indy day with you? All for that special $695 bucks? Wow.... I'm trying to sell a kidney, but as soon as that baby is spoken for, I'm in like Flynn! :-)
You are just too funny!! I have to be careful reading this because at my age, I'm likely to wet myself with all the laughing!! Hugs, Deb
DeleteIf you post a photo, you too might get $100 a pop.
Delete"the Clan is a place for supporters of my life - which is my artwork in the world."
ReplyDeleteThat quote is from her "The Clan Thrives" post. It has left me almost speechless since I read it yesterday. The hubris and inflated opinion of herself is astonishing, the fact that other people literally buy into it and support her is unbelievably sad.
When I think of artwork, I think of something created by a person with a high level of skill, someone with a vision and the ability to put that vision on paper or canvas, or to turn an everyday object (cup, bowl, plate) into a thing of beauty. When a small child does a finger painting or scribbles on a piece of paper, most parents will praise them and hang the paper on the fridge for a while. They don't consider it a life achievement. But that's what Jenna is claiming. She's claiming that her scrappy little mudhole, which she maintains 15 minutes at a time isn't a finger painting, it's artwork. Sorry, not buying it.
"You can't be comfortable and want something at the same time. " From "Storm!"
ReplyDeleteSays who? She really knows nothing about life, and even less about people. It's clear to me that she never even took Psychology 101 in college, hasn't read any of the classic literature written in the last few hundred years, and hasn't listened to or understood any of the people in her life. Her mental condition is deteriorating fast. And yes, I hope she reads this, and I hope her fans read it. Something, someone, has to break through her delusions.
I'm waiting for BucketStock, where the very best bucketsmen (and women) show their stuff. I'm not going to shell out my money for just anyone that thinks they can carry a bucket. No sir! I want to learn from someone who has at least ten, maybe fifteen minutes experience with buckets. Then, when I have mastered Buckets 101, I'm thinking of taking Pails, Piggins and Pots, Advanced Slop Hauling for the Modern Homesteader.
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteYou should come to my place. I have a wheelbarrow!
DeleteYou can only learn the complex use of wheelbarrows AFTER you graduate from Buckets 101 !!!
DeleteIs Jon Katz cryptically writing about JW, hoping she might take the hints about her life?
ReplyDeleteIf you read some of his most recent posts it sure seems that way.
I know she has copied him before so I can't help but wonder if a CAF art show will be in her future.
Read between the lines, son. You may find yourself there in the shadows.
I think you're right. I hope it does some good.
DeleteI definitely think that "What Is Safety?" post was directed right to her. Especially this part: "A therapist told me that every single thing I was saying about Rose and Lenore reflected what I really wanted from a human being – love and connection. When I told her Lenore was keeping love alive for me, "she said, yes, now you get it. That's what you want. Go find it, but not just in a dog."
DeleteI thought of Gibson when I read that part.
DeleteI thought it was interesting that he said in the first line... "A writer I know" instead of his usual, a friend or something more well, intimate. A writer seems rather cold, eh?
ReplyDeleteHe's surely backslapping her a bit... the comment about the Lady friend that doesn't need farm animals and hauling firewood to be a hero.... hahahahaha...
Miss J there are a ton of REAL farmers out there that are doing far far far more difficult tasks then keeping a little hobby farm collection of critters alive in the cold. We spent 6 hours outside yesterday preparing our livestock for the coming cold. Not 15 minutes in between coffee and fantasy movies. Oh yeah, and trips to a convenience store for plastic wrapped wood. Oh. My. Gosh.
My respect for Jon Katz rises a few more notches.
I'm sure JK was referring to her, as his opening line referencing the writer preferring to be afraid of her perfect life vs being comfortable in her old life, comes right from her "Storm!" post (next to last par.) Good for him!
ReplyDelete"We live in a time and in a place where a woman can go home to her thriving small farm, cut down trees and haul them home with a draft horse, chop firewood, and heat her house the way homes have been heated long before Edison and Tesla boxed it out. She can raise her own meat for the grill, vegetables for the pot, hitch up a cart and ride via equine locomotion to a neighbor's house for a night of board games and storytelling with home-brewed beer and then tuck in to a sea of wool blankets to wake up and do it all over again. The next day she can string her bow and hunt, herd sheep, write, sew, and laugh. She can mend fences, care for sick animals, birth beautiful new lambs and kids and cry over her mistakes and pain… in the year 2014." Really? Who's thriving farm is that? When since the workshop where she got paid to do this, has she cut down logs and used a horse to bring them in? The electric fake wood stove, that sure ain't back to Edison, or Tesla times, that is from "as seen on tv" times. Mend fences? How, oh, wait, baling twine..Care for which sick animals, care and then watch them die you mean. You could do all of it Jenna, but you should not, because you suck at it. You are the antithesis of a farmer, and caregiver. Go get a job and quit trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. Oh, wait, first, get the wool you to the people who PAID for it, you scammer.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think isolation allows some people to live, and stay, in their own kind of reality, which actually has nothing to do with the normal world you, me and most other people see. And they prefer it that way, thinking WE are the ones who are missing out. Think about the way so many cults live and how they regard non-cult members. When you are isolated from your own family, from a job, and from CLOSE relationships you don't have anyone who knows you well enough to reality-check you. And some people do that deliberately, because they just can't accept the real world. I do think it is a form of mental illness.
DeleteJust checked out the Jon Katz post and it was absolutely referring to Jenna. Also agree with Anon 1:36 that "a writer I know" seems quite impersonal. Not surprisingly, though, as it seems like she's isolating herself more and more from the people who once called her a friend. Maybe she burned her bridge with him after the "amen Charlie" post. I worry for her mental health.
ReplyDeleteMy dd finally had a chance to sit down and find out what all the laughter is about. She especially liked the poodle comment a few posts back. When she finished reading she pulled out her cell phone and showed me a picture of she and her girlfriends from school, then jokingly said, "what do you think of my poodles on parade?". It was a group of fellow farm interns all dolled up and blinged out country girl style. As I stared at the photo and reflected on how I had seen many of the girls on the show circuit I realized female farmers today are neither wolves nor poodles.
ReplyDeleteWe are in fact SWANS--sleek and graceful and tough as hell when we need to be.
We walk between two worlds because we come or came from both and there is no reason to deny either. I don't think any of us are all country or all business. We are a combination of the two because that is the reality of the modern farmer.
The girls in dd's picture represent the best combination of all -- part country, part city, part suburban, but still all farmgirl, and together they manage a 500 acre school farm, tending livestock, growing crops, driving tractors, harvesting, selling and doing office work. And they do it with a style that is all their own, part junk gypsy, part urban grunge, part eddie bauer. But--when its time to get to business they are all business whether its delivering babies, running a cattle auction or competing in a sheep show, they get down and dirty and "git er done". with style and aplomb.
When I first stumbled across CAF I was excited because I thought here is a Gen Xer who is making it work, having a career and living her farm dream and she can be an inspiration to dd. I quickly realized though that was not going to be the case, that JW would not be teaching my dd how to be a modern female farmer, but I was wrong there too. JW has educated my kid, taught her how NOT to do things, given her a keen insight into how dd does not want to live her dream life and what she needs to do now to have what she wants. So, for that I guess I have to thank her.
Today's farm girls come from all walks of life and will bring part of those lives to their farm with a style that it uniquely their own. I see that through my dd. She will never have what is thought of as a traditional farm, or what JW deems to be a "real farm", she can't, her life experiences, the culture and travel she knows are too broad and too varied to be that traditional.
Perhaps JWs narrow view of what is country and what is not is do to the fact that she rarely gets more than 10 miles from home. A comment she herself has made several times. Her experiences are shallow and knowledge limited. If she ran, or swam, with the swans she would have a much better view of life and of the women who are changing the face of today's farming culture. You only have to attend a "good" livestock show to see that.
So there you have it ladies...no wolf packs, no poodles on parade, just a flock of swans paddling gracefully through worlds uniquely our own, hoping we never have to fight like hell to protect what is ours.
BTW Mere, dd won't be attending the bucket workshops. She learned that skill when she was 3, right after she mastered climbing fences.
Amazing post! how old is your Dd?
DeleteShe's 21. It's been fun watching her and her livestock friends grow up. They are so much more mature than most kids her age.
DeleteTaking care of animals does that I think.
I've been noticing the people JW does not talk about anymore, like the Daughtons, that young couple who moved there to start their farm, Brett and several others who were regulars on the posts as helpers and handymen.
ReplyDeleteMaybe friend fatigue is setting in.
That other guy, the photographer is gone too (I think his name was Tim?) He did beautiful photography but is never mentioned anymore at all,nor are his photos featured.
DeleteTo be fair, there could be legit reasons for that. The photographer moved to California, for example.
DeleteAh, well, good for him then. I thought he was very talented!
DeleteThe only one she seems to mention anymore is Patty, who appears to be a partner in her delusions. How long till that friendship wears off?
DeleteI always thought she had a thing for Brett, the way she talked about him. Maybe he's pissed at her for convincing him to buy a pony, which he looked pathetic riding. Seriously, what man rides a pony? My husband and I train Arabians and he feels like they're too small for him to ride, and he's not a huge guy.
Delete-Heather
Bucketheart. A yearning to have my own bucket sloshing as I walk through life. Full to the brim with dreams... Sloshing. Together,arm in arm, let us form a Bucket Brigade!
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I wish I had friends like her. They could do my work. Improve my property. Give me money. And gift certificates for new chicks when 46 get dragged out of my house without me noticing.
And lots and lots of buckets.
Hmmm.... no news from the scrappy homestead for almost 48 hours. Could it be that she's actually busy taking care of animals in the sub-zero temps out on top of her lonely mountain? Hopefully all is well and she's okay... I'm sure we'll learn more soon enough as well as the back up donation pitches for the great Blizzard of '14 and its havoc wrecked upon only her farm...
ReplyDeleteShe's just out spending the loot she got from the last Beg-a-thon. She'll be back when she is broke or has found a new scam.
ReplyDeleteHere's another thought..... the border collie puppy she mentioned back in November is probably getting close to weaning/rehoming age.
ReplyDelete~ A.
How could she possibly afford that dog when she's behind on mortgage etc? I mean, I know she's getting money from the idiots that donate to her, but it can't be enough to cover her bills plus vet bills for a new puppy. OH WAIT, in jenna land it's hobbies before bills. I can't even believe I'm saying this, but I admire Jon Katz for speaking up about her!
DeleteShe's behind on her mortgage because she chooses not to pay it, not for lack of money. I agree, can't believe I read Jon's blog and even agreed a bit...I think Jenna is the old Jon and seeing her personal/financial/business developments unfold(unravel) is eye opening for him. He was on the inside looking out, now on the outside looking in.
DeleteJenna's finances are just fine. I guess someone like her who can afford to buy a puppy for $800, buy convenience store wood, not work for a living, has an I Phone, and is able to beg money on a regular basis, has a right to a bit of time off, all that hard work begging, donchaknow?
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh... Did you see? Jon Katz is doing a kick starter for nine thousand dollars for a fancy camera. Yeah. What is it with these writer types? I mean... Shesh.... Begging for cash for stuff... Just unbelievable. I enjoy a turn of the phrase as much as the next fella but I mean isn't it enough to get paid advances and royalties and for book signings and tours and all? Now they want more money for stuff, hobbies... Yeah he takes nice pics... But like nine grand? Must be nice. He'll probably get it from all his fanatics...
ReplyDeleteWow. Just wow. $9,000? I know two professional photographers and neither one of them owns a camera that expensive. Theirs are about $3,000 and I thought that was incredibly expensive, although they both do photography full-time.
DeleteA professional photographer friend recommended the Canon EOS for non-professional photographers. Great pics and not too expensive.
DeleteI don't consider John a professional photographer, no matter how many pics he takes of his farm and animals.
The newspaper guys I deal with don't even have equip that expensive.
Snob alert.
DeleteTo be fair, kick starter is a program where you contribute a certain amount to help someone get a project started, then you get a "reward", usually a copy of whatever it is they are trying to produce--a book, a print of a poster, etc. so it's like preordering a product before its released, if that makes sense. It's not the blind begging, like Jenna does. I'm an artist, and I've known a few artists who used this system to buy a kiln, etc then sent the supporters a ceramic piece after the kiln was purchased.
DeleteI'm not a supporter of Jon Katz whatsoever, but I wanted to put it out there that kick starter isn't about begging, it's a legitimate system for supporting artists and small business start ups who can't qualify for a loan, etc.
-Heather
Kick starters are great for people who need something and all... But 9 grand? Shesh.... And he just has an Ebook to offer? Sounds more like having your fans buy you a very expensive hobby toy. That is then a write off as well. Just saying.
DeleteA professional can spend tens of thousands on cameras, lenses and gear. That doesn't mean someone else should pay for them.
ReplyDeleteExactly. It's the cost of the camera that flips me out, it's the asking readers to buy it... Wouldn't it be a tool of a trade? I mean common... No body buys my tools I buy them so I can make a living. Give me a break. What is it with these people from that part of the state... Seem to think they are so worthy of all this begging for hobbies.... He's a writer with a photo hobby....
DeleteFrom JK's Kickstarter post
ReplyDelete"There is a big difference for me, my life is not a drama or a crisis, the world does not owe me a living for the choices I make."
Shades of JW again?
OH YEAH! I bet you he had a talk with her, and she told him to go scratch... I bet she has done that to a lot of former friends.
Delete"you can't acquire things you can't pay for, you can't live a life of denial, you can't live in delusion and self-interest, you cannot ask other people to pay for your life" Oh, really Jon? Then what's with the camera? sheesh.
ReplyDeleteTrue... very true.. I think these two give writers a bad name.. I really do.
DeleteIronic he should say that and then kickstart for such expensive equipment for his hobby. A show or two of some pics is not a professional photographer make. And sure, if they help him with his writing, then why wouldn't an interested editor consider helping with a purchase like that in return for the rights to publish? I am getting tired of hearing about whiney causes from able bodied artsy folk. So many really deserving artists struggle.... You can't expect people to long believe that your are a renowned author and broke as well... Which is it?
ReplyDeleteThe ironic thing is, if he lists himself as an author or writer/photographer, he can totally write off the cost of the camera as a self-employment expense. Which potentially means he gets it paid for through donations and then can turn around and write off the purchase on his taxes. Pretty good deal! But I may be speaking out of turn though, because I don't know if these folks have to claim all their donations as some sort of income when tax time comes. Almost all "work related" expenses are write-offs though, that much I do know.
ReplyDeleteJon Katz made over the original $9,000 needed for his new camera. About $7,576 over over giving him @ $16,576. He says he will put the remainder to "good use."
DeleteI suggest he put it towards a REAL barn for his animals. A lean does not appear adequate if winters are going to be as bad as this one. He had major problems this winter.
Now his wife, Maria, is beginning Kickstarter. .
Oh my gosh... It burns! It burns! Picturing her NUDE in a borrowed hottub sipping whiskey or whatever... Argh... Who does that? Invite yourself over to skinny dip in a hottub? I guess.
ReplyDeleteI dunno...I've soaked nude in many a borrowed hot tub before and don't really find it odd at all. I was just glad to see she finally admitted to using "some space heaters." Not just one, but some!! Looks like someone's been reading this blog?
ReplyDeleteLast time I soaked in a hot tub I got hives from the chemicals- never again...
ReplyDeleteJenna, please, ENOUGH about the fire keeping you warm. How about you meet real homesteaders who do not HAVE oil furnaces, and cannot afford or would even THINK to buy firewood from Stewarts? You are using the wood stoves as a crutch to insulate you from the real world. Friends of mine who have wood stoves have them going, some how, magically, I guess.. all day long and for HOURS at a time!! It is a handy excuse to not have to get a job, because you have to keep a watch on your wood stoves- except myriad people DO work all day and keep the stove going. Good LORD. HOW many more posts on wood stoves? GET A JOB AND GET A LIFE. As to you caring about what other people think? Oh, I think we know that train has left the station. Darling, the only person you care about is you, and how to have others take care of you. WOW, some accomplishment...
ReplyDeleteI worked up to 14 hours a day and heated 100% with a single wood stove. You do it right and there will be embers when you come home so the fire will be going again in no time. Total cost to heat my modest home for the winter was about $650.
DeleteI don't get why she thinks it's bad for humans to want to be comfortable? Animals instinctively want to be comfortable. For them, it's survival. For us too, really. We all know it's bad to get heat stroke or frostbite. Why does she consider it "indulgent" for us humans to be mindful of self preservation? We see animals are smart enough to move to the shade when it's hot...they also know where to go to stay warm (in the wild it'd be a den, a tree shelter, etc).
ReplyDeleteFor humans to ignore our bodies' cues and make ourselves uncomfortable (or not try to GET comfortable) is stupid, IMO. It's one thing to be hot and sweaty when at the gym working out, but another thing completely to ignore your bodies warnings and or not try to stay comfortable. Our bodies operate at a certain core temperature, and when we fail to meet our bodies' needs we're being stupid. It can be a matter of life or death with us, too. We've all heard of people dying of heat stroke or freezing to death, even in these modern times.
It's like she equates suffering with being a better person. I just don't get that.
I couldn't agree more! That's what I was thinking as I read her "I'm better then you because I let myself freeze all the time". It makes no sense at all... other then her chance to be a martyr and make others feel sorry for her.
DeleteThe thing is, in this day and age, people like myself who rely on wood to heat can only do so because the majority of the population does not. Can you imagine the result if every single American heated only with wood? No more forests and horrible air pollution in a short period of time. So woodburning is, actually, a lucky indulgence for those of us who use it as our sole heating method, and to act as if we're somehow superior or more hardy for using it is just silly. Not everyone even has the choice.
DeleteIn her mind it makes her better than the poodles.
ReplyDeleteI'm on the fence about Jon Katz's Kickstarter request for a $9,000 camera. I think of Kickstarter as a source for someone just starting out. Jon is an established author. Not only did he make a good income from his writing, but made a lot of money from the HBO movie, "A Dog Year". He admitted he made a fortune, and through some foolish decisions, spent a fortune. I cannot see pitching in to help him buy a camera when I have my own bills to pay.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I really like his writing. I can relate to a lot of the struggles he has had with family, religion, spirituality, panic and sadness. His openness and the sharing of his spiritual journey has helped me along mine. I have purchased some of his books and a couple of his wife's potholders, so I guess that was my way of supporting his work.
I think that's a perfectly acceptable and great way of supporting his work! Buying an author's book has long been the best way of supporting the writer. Not sure when donating money to them on top of that came into the mix, but to me, it shouldn't have. Donate to a child who needs a kidney, or a family whose home has burned down in a fire -- absolutely! Those are worthy, needed donations that are truly helping someone survive. Maybe if Katz wants the camera, he should venture back into his "old world" where he would have gotten it as part of his book advance, which he does mention. Just my opinion though.
DeleteI just talked with someone from the SPCA for upstate NY. She said it is not required by law to provide a windbreak or shelter for livestock. It is ridiculous, and she agrees with me, but she said the farm bureau won't allow it.
ReplyDeleteSo while Jenna lazes around in a hot tub, her animals are probably freezing their butts of without so much as a windbreak. If they were wild, they'd be able to move and find a sheltered spot, like a den or a tree break or something. Unfortunately, her ponies are in a fence and are at the mercy of the weather. I guess since she's not required by law, she doesn't find it necessary. She can choose to be cold all she wants, but it's not fair for her to be neglecting the animals.
Jenna, those animals deserve AT LEAST a 3 sided shelter. It is not fair to them to be out in the weather with no protection. Fat lotta good a roof is going to do if the wind whips right through there. You are neglecting your animals. SHAME ON YOU.
That is a TOTAL AND COMPLETE LIE.. Contact NY AG and MARKETS. We just had a big court case here because someone had horses with no shelter. I shall look up the law and you gvive me the contact info. DOLTS
DeleteI'll look it up and figure out who to call back! I thought it sounded like BS when she told me...
DeleteRight. Like someone else mentioned here somewhere, how much do a few boards cost? Less than all that firewood she's buying at Stewarts I bet. I get TONS of stuff off Craigslist, most of it for free. I have some 2x6 boards (free) in my shed, enough to put some sides on her stupid horse roof.
ReplyDeleteCrap, she could have been harvesting small saplngs from her woods and nailing them up... for free and then getting some river mud or just pig shit and spent hay (which we know she has a ton of) and built a way cool daub and wattle wall on the barn, which would be so cool on her hobbit farm and cheap. Free, pretty much. Or heck, just buy a roll of plastic and staple it to the sides for the season. There are so many ways she could make that very tolerable for so cheap. If she has money for hawk gas, fancy coffee and bagged firewood, she has the bucks for a roll of plastic. Poor animals.
DeleteOK. This from CAF blog in 2011: http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/search?q=barn+roof
ReplyDeleteThe barn roof will last another 3 years, tops. All right, folks. That means she needs a new barn THIS SUMMER.
And look at that nice stall for Jasper. Too bad he (& Merlin) don't have access to it now.
So what happened to the stall? I thought she had stalls built into her barn some time ago. Did the barn fall over or is she using it for something else?
ReplyDeleteWell, we know she isn't using it to keep her wood dry.
DeleteDidn't she turn the barn into goat housing? Maybe? Or maybe it's falling down so much now that nothing can live in it. Anonymous 11:40--you're SO right about Craigslist, or, really, just keeping your eyes open. I've gotten all of my materials for raised beds, chicken coops, etc. simply by watching the curb, checking Freecycle, and using Craigslist. I've even found some very valuable items on Craigslist (like two pairs of Bose speakers--paid $100 for ALL FOUR, sold them for $400 PER PAIR) and "flipped" them." When I moved to my newer place with more land, I was driving around exploring the area and saw a chicken coop sitting in someone's yard with no chickens in sight. I left them a note with my phone number and asked how much they wanted for it. They called and said FORTY BUCKS! I couldn't build 1/4 of a chicken coop for so little money. Within the day, I had a team of strong backs to help me move it and now my chickens have a palace that, with some paint and minor repairs will be perfect. There are so many resourceful, clever ways to get the things you need for little or no monetary outlay. I even found a FREE water heater on Craigslist simply because the people had gotten a tankless model and didn't want to bother with their almost-new one. I went and picked it up and had a practically new water heater to replace my 70s era beast. If you have half a brain, the Internet, and a car, there's no reason to not have building materials, furniture, decent clothes, etc without breaking the bank. As we've determined, though, JW has a martyr complex. She doesn't need help screwing boards to her horses' shelter to give them a better windbreak. A ladder, power drill, some sort of saw (even a hand saw!), and her own strong arms could get the job done. She could do it herself and actually have something to crow about...but instead she'll just cry that she has no time, money, or partner to help her and the horses will go on living with snow on their backs. Maybe she could sew cloaks for them!!
ReplyDeleteLOL A pony cloak! Good one. And yeah, Craigslist is a goldmine. As I mentioned (this is Anon 11:40) I've gotten many "finds" on CL. Even including enough hardwood maple flooring (REAL hardwood, not laminate) to cover my whole kitchen for FREE! CL seems to be good for scrap building materials, which I'm always looking for. If JW had any of the "scrappiness" which she is always bragging about, she'd have those horses under cover for free plus some elbow grease. Lazy.
DeleteTotally agree... Craigslist is a goldmine of cast off and cheap things... heck... pallets are usually free, use them around the whole thing and then wrap in plastic or heck, sew together feed bags, anything to cut the wind and provide something for those poor horses. She is such a fool... she claims to be so clever yet she has totally fallen into the whole spend a ton of money or do without. On our homestead, we use anything and everything to make sure our animals are safe and warm. I love Joel Salatin... he says, your animals could care less if their shelter is made of fresh perfect 2 x 4s and hewn lumber or if it's made from spring sapling poles and left over pallets. ALl they care about is whether they are safe, dry and out of the elements when they need to be.
ReplyDeleteRegarding all the suggestions for sheltering animals on her "hobbit farm" (he he), they require one things she won't provide. Work and effort. You're all right! Any of us could have created better shelter with scraps by now, with all our physical limitations. She supposedly loves these animals, and I bet you dollars to donuts there's a "Me & Merlin" book in the pipes, yet it's still not a priority to provide good care. I haven't followed as closely as some others, but I think her barn must be tiny, has goats, whatever chickens have survived, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were pigs in it. Remember all the posts about her chickens being eaten by pigs in the barn?
ReplyDeleteNothing gets done there unless she can manipulate someone else to do it, pay for it, or provide it. Why do other people work harder on her "farm" (more like feed plot) than she does?
From her blog post today, "Here in Veryork, low temperatures and high winds make for some unpleasant times outside, but it's nothing to fuss about."
ReplyDeleteIs she a moron? Why the hell has she been posting about the cold weather for the past week then? About how cold it is and how hard it is for her to do chores, and how she can't keep warm, etc. I swear she has multiple personalities.
Yes, she is a moron. Was thinking about all this yesterday- from reading her recent posts, do you all get the same feeling that she is beginning to sort of resent the animals? She does not write about them favorably any more- if she writes at ALL about them. She only writes to get more money via sympathy for the work she, ahem, has to do to keep them.. I think the novelty has worn off... I can only hope and pray that these animals find a hole in the fence, which should not be hard, and leave....
ReplyDeleteYes, I've thought that for some time. That's the difference between getting livestock as opposed to all the other hobbies, you can't throw them in a closet and pretend they don't exist.
DeleteOkay Jenna, your new post is great! Let's go over it step by step.
ReplyDelete1) Out in 2 degree weather- so were most of us. Cracking ice for the sheep? Why do they not have a de-icer? Your house is less than 50 ft from the sheep- there are such things as extension cords you know.
2) Ice? Yep, we all are dealing with it. Get some Yak tracks.. most of us know that these are invaluable in icy conditions.
3) I and several friends of mine are up by 5:00 am, and have done what you are doing in half the time, and within another half hour are showered, dressed and heading to work (a job).
Really, is this all you do for the animals? Have you body scored any of them? Have you checked the feet of the birds? When is the last time you checked the ponies' feet? Caring for animals is not about oh, woe is me, it's cold and icy out there, it's staying with them a bit, get to know who's good and who's not well. It can be very subtle, oh, but wait, you don't get subtle. A sheep's got to be near death before you catch on.
Yep, another one here. Up at 5:45, let the dogs out, feed the dogs, feed the sheep,goats,chickens,rabbits (and give everyone fresh water). I don't have a deicer either, I just bust ice and/or bring fresh water. Inside to shower and get ready for work. Out the door for work by 6:40 (ok, 6:50 this morning). It's not rocket science, and doesn't make one a hero. It's just normal routine.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'd love to see what actual shelter the ponies/pigs have. Since you posted that last one directly at us, Jenna, why don't you go ahead and take pics too? :-) You can use that fancy camera you didn't buy.
After reading her switching her stories time and time again, I think maybe she just writes what she thinks people want to hear.
That last post was definitely a response to everything we've said here. She seems to run her posts based on what we point out, seemingly trying to prove us wrong. I bet she checks this website for new comments constantly. Meredith, do you have a website hit tracker on your blog? It would be interesting to see how many times a day someone from Jackson, NY visits your blog.
ReplyDeleteIt must be a sad life for her, having to be constantly worried about what other people are saying about her. But, it is a life of her own creation. I would love it if we were here talking about how great she is, what an inspiration she is. Truth is, she's more of a cautionary tale at this point. Too many hobbies, too many animals she's not qualified or willing to care for, not enough time spent with family/other people, too many Amen Charlies in her life. I really feel like her life started more of a downward spiral when her family went out of the picture. There is something to people who've known you your whole life, and their ability to see what grave mistakes you're making. Jenna, I wish you wouldn't shut them out. Yes, it may be easier to only pay attention to the friends (really, they are foes but you won't accept how they're hurting you) who cheer you on with every extravagant purchase, every unpaid bill. I'm sure your family is hard on you. but for good reason. Your life is a mess, and it's only a matter of time before they have to help you clean it up. Darling, your views of yourself and your life are so distorted. Someday you'll look back on this time in your life with sadness, much like Jon Katz (even though I can't stand him) does. I hope you see yourself in his past mistakes before it's too late.
-H.
Well said.
DeleteI think her family and friends need to have an intervention of some kind. She's totally whack-a-doodle.
ReplyDeleteDon't you have anything better to do than bash Jenna on your blog. I enjoy reading about your pigs and other farm stuff, but I find it makes you look so angry or perhaps even jealous of her because you spend so much of your time bashing her. If you really don't like her why do you keep reading her blog and then posting your sarcastic comments? Please make me understand why you do this. I am sure that people don't agree with everything you do at your farm, but they aren't out there attempting to destroy your reputation. Please make me understand.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't Meredith making the comments. It also isn't Meredith's farm, she works there, so it's her employer's choice how things are done. How can anyone make you understand? If you do, fine. If you don't, no one can make you.
DeleteWe do it for all the animals who suffer under her care, who die lingering painful deaths, who disappear, and who WILL follow suit, and, we do it for those of us who have been scammed out of money.
ReplyDeleteDitto. Those poor animals. And the poor rest of us who have to work, pay their bills, keep their insurance, do their own work.
DeleteAnd... some people just can't stand hypocrites and snake oil salesmen. What about the poor people who don't know better and think that she's an example to follow? A farm is supposed to produce and grow, not just consume and decay.
Her reputation has been destroyed by herself, no one else.
ReplyDeleteWhen you put yourself out there as an author, speaker, educator and a trainer, you are perceived as knowledgeable and you should have the expertise to back that up. If JW is receiving negative comments she has brought that on herself. Farming and homesteading is far more involved than what is portrayed in her blog and we are hoping, trying to save a few unsuspecting souls the anguish of finding out her pretty words don't match the reality. And, of course, as farmer types it angers us to see people neglect her animals.
ReplyDeleteNow she is trying to get free labor! Yes, stay at a campsite, buy your own food and do her chores for her for five days!!!!!! WHO does she think she is???!!! I cannot *believe* her MASSIVE ego. I bet she is drooling at the thought of the people who will sign up, and all those things she can take care of- with her free labor.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, she's tried something like this before. With a pitch that was essentially that you could come and hang out with her, do a bunch of work and she wouldn't even charge you for it. Nice.
ReplyDeleteIt's a "Haycation." I guess if you're a word farmer, you can use words like that. Then, you can get other people to do the real farming for you. For free!
ReplyDeleteWait, you PAY for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You PAY to do her work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah sign me up;)
DeleteYes, every time you think she's reached the outer limit of absurdity, she manages to take it a bit further.
ReplyDeleteThis is something of an industry trend. Many REAL, operating family farms and ranchers offer "haycations," where visitors do cattle drives, or work the farm during harvest to offer them a taste of rural life. Most have comfortable bunkhouses or luxury tents provided for accommodations and offer first-rate BBQ and chuck wagon chow, cooked up in the farmhouse or under the stars! At a real farm or ranch, this would probably be a fun change of pace for more urban types. Bottom line, there are other places doing it a lot better, with more learning (and probably fun and adventure) going on. I could probably do this on my property too, but there's a lot more to doing it than just having some acreage and a few farm animals around.
ReplyDeleteGee, just about every town has some sort of mini-acre overcrowded rural farm zoo that you volunteer to help for the day and it would be local and you probably won't incur a lot of cost for travel, lodging and food,etc. And you would be helping to clean up your own town's weird little petting zoo hobby farm. Oh but wait... you get to hang out with a real AUTHOR... and do her work for her! how interesting....
ReplyDelete