R U A WWOOFer?

Are YOU a WWOOFer?

WWOOFers provide an invaluable service to small farms

WWOOF is an acronym for "World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. This organization makes it possible for people of all ages and all walks of life to make a real connection with farms around the world. Most enthusiastically roll up their sleeves to assist farmers to tend land using earth-friendly, organic practices. We have had the opportunity, through this program, to connect with some absolutely 'sterling' people!

Between 2010 and 2012, The 3-Bell Ranch has hosted dozens of "WWOOFers" and with their help, we accomplished oh-so-much. Our hats are off to these fine people.

This summer we begin yet another shift.

Rather than accept people who are looking for a dude ranch, or a play-on-the-farm sort of experience, we are inviting people here who want to learn and stretch and make a huge difference not only here, this summer and fall, but in Life. We hope they will leave with sentiments similar to those one of our guests expressed in a letter to me after she left the ranch:

"As I grow older I am discovering that the best experiences are those you hope never to end, and the best mentors are those you count among your friends. 3-Bell not only allowed me to come alive in a way I had forgotten was possible, but it (and you) provided me a glimpse of what is possible when a person takes this life and dreams big. I look up to you in so many ways--your courage, dedication and heart-- and I cannot thank you enough for all you've shared with me the past couple of months..."

So this year I am working to forward my life's mission: to inform, inspire and empower people to join with me to heal, nurture and defend this little blue orb we call Earth.

And the best way I can think of to do this is to invite motivated people here to see what is real, to feel the earth, to know the effort that goes into restoring health and vitality. And having seen this, felt it, worked at it, these people do reflect on what they Know; they challenge the status quo.

Another of our guests wrote to me after he left. In his letter he made the following observation:

"[A] city dweller lives in the dark. If you gave me a cow to butcher and eat six months ago, I'd be at a loss. How

WWOOFer, Mike, working very hard to build rapport with the farm animals

Regan sheep walking

does one fit a cow in the microwave anyway? Food is the stuff wrapped in plastic and cardboard. All the essentials are made available with the flip of a switch. heat, water, light, and shelter are... just... there. Only a few know where it comes from. We're babes suckling on milk and we'd hate to be weaned..."

I offer you the opportunity to travel a road that will change you. It will challenge or confirm your beliefs. It will open or shut doors. I invite you to go into the fire with me-- to make a difference in the life of the Earth and her inhabitants.

2013 Goals (Oops: repeated below)

Hay

Irrigation (how to turn on/ off; how many lines; what to look for with regard to coverage; what to do if the ground's not wet; what to do if the ground;s too wet)
Irrigation (how to repair lines, risers, sprinklers, valves)

Gardens

Planting

Companion planting
Location for plants and reasons for those locations
When to plant what and when to replant it again (cilantro, lettuce, spinach for example)
Water conservation strategies (mounds, buried organic material, living mulch, drip irrigation, keyhole garden, etc.)

Cutting hay (forecast, ground moisture, wind; protecting risers, raking hay, moisture of hay before baling, baling hay, bucking hay, storing hay, feeding hay...)

Horsemanship

Hoof trim (See Secrets of Soundness)
Clicker Training
Other non-coersive means of training
Natural Horsemanship strategies

Goals for the horses: move toward being an "anyone can ride you" horse

Goals for the mules: 3 Bells each

Special Projects

Build a vermiculture outhouse
Build a solar powered shower
Last of the grounds clean up- longhouse cabin, spreader bars, and a few piles of Terrible Things
Tool shed
Permanent perimeter fences
Cold Storage

Animal Care

Moos will have calves from May through June
Sheep (have had their lambs already)
Rabbits are rabbiting now
Chickens & ducks... Yikes! I'd better get on ordering a collection of meat birds. The layers are currently working on a batch of chicks
Dogs-- special needs for Wil... He's still pretty bashful with strangers... only he has a Bouvier slant on "bashful"

2012 Accomplishments

This is visitors first view of The 3-Bell Ranch.

We installed the grand arch-way gate last winter and added the four-rail fence, which now encloses the yard.

We raised 200 then butchered 200 chickens. This year, we offer "reservation only" sales of chicken, duck and other fowl.

We raised a few dozen rabbits... and butchered a few dozen rabbits.

(We did not eat the Easter Bunny, lest you worry.)

Moos like massages. This is Hercules. He is a 2000 pound doll.

Every cow had a healthy calf. One had twins-- on November 30. We were NOT expecting that!

Most moos prefer not to be ridden.

Last year of the Pig and the
Colossally Huge Market Garden

As we are committed to feeding our animals grass, hay, produce and (for those of them that eat it) grain that is non-GMO and free of herbicides, pesticides and other toxins, we found pigs were frightfully expensive. We fed them organic grain, gave them our 2.5 acre alfalfa field (which they trashed) and still our feed bill was over $4,000 for the year. We grew a huge garden in 2011 and 2012 hoping to be able to raise enough produce to feed them. Alas, 100 lbs per day was merely an appetizer. They considered their alfalfa field a salad bar and wanted grain on top of all that!

One ton of grain did not last them the summer

It is safe to say, this was one of the saddest days we have ever had on the ranch.

When they announced that the did not consider their accommodations adequate and started busting though fences, we gave them an ultimatum: Stay in your allotted 3 acres or get thee to the freezer.

How to build a corral

First you cut down some "dog hair" trees.

You peel the bark off the part that will touch the fence post.

Then you cut them into 12 foot lengths and buck them off the mountain.

In your ideal world you would peel the whole log.

So now that you HAVE your corral, what do you use it for?

Well, you could send your tailor to do a fitting for your very special moo... she can have her very own stanchion. Cows, by the way, are very intelligent and kind people.

We put up hay... over 100 tons... Good thing we didn't have to do all that in one day!

Teamwork... and farm shots

2013 Goals

It's difficult for people to picture the land and buildings as they were in 2005 when I bought this property. Every building was hip-high or higher in junk... old engine blocks, dead washing machines, bent bicycle frames, broken or worn out ... well, you name it, it was probably among the rubble.

It took us a year to remove most of the junk.

Then my then 70 year old friend, Betsy, and I began working on getting a fence up so we could bring the horses over here. Able to stay for longer periods of time, we got the house camp-able, and set about to fence 15 acres in which we installed permanent set irrigation. The next year we completed the entire 30 acres-- fenced it, installed irrigation...

Slowly we have created a respectable looking ranch. But we're not done yet.

2013 is the year of the grounds. We have our irrigation in, fields fenced and cross-fenced, hay fields planted, animal populations established, systems for seasonal meat crops (rabbits and chickens) in place, gardens scaled down, and the front yard fenced. Now it is time to tweak a few of the existing systems:

Create vitality in the new, scaled down vegetable and melon garden
Re-fence a chicken yard that will be long-term/ permanent
Re-fence some cow-zones to make calf-expeditions a thing of the past
Create a third sheep-grazing zone

But the main theme of 2013 is a focus on beauty:

Clean up residual "orchard" debris
Plant flower gardens (this will require an irrigation system to support plants)
Repair and paint the cabins
Clean up the "old dump" site behind the Longhouse cabin and seed it with drought- resistant vegetation
Pathway through the garden
Permanent gazebo as well as shaded benches located in quiet, secluded areas

Finally, we do have 4 important projects that need to be completed:

Research, design and construct a vermiculture outhouse
Research, design and construct a solar-heated, outdoor shower
Construct an African Keyhole garden
Research, design and construct a cold-storage cellar

Horse goals:

Our senior "A-Team" horses are no longer in service (See the Chapter: Hoof Form and Why it Matters, in my new book: Secrets of Soundness : A Manual for Natural Horse and Hoof Care). The rest of the herd has not had the time-- both in terms of training and miles-- that Gandalf, Sierra and Ellie have had. Ironically, Quincy is our best horse right now. Stormy is closing the gap, but she needs skills and miles.

This summer I'd like to see interested guests work with one of the horses using clickers and the round pen as primary tools. Saddle work will be based on the horse's progress and the volunteer's aptitude. The goal is to build confidence and skill on our junior horses. It his highly unlikely our guests will be allowed to work with our junior mules, for as Pat Parelli once said, "If you can train a mule, you can train a horse; if you can train a horse, you may not be skilled enough to train a mule."

Quincy: 18 year old TN Walker

Ironically, we consider Quincy our best riding horse at this time. He is an "honest" horse and a patient instructor for people learning ground work.

Gandalf: 20 year old MFT

Ganny fractured his pelvis Feb. 2012. We have yet to find a way to repair him.

Stormy: 13 year old TN Walker

A brood mare until she was 8, Stormy was eager to become my Partner horse. She's come a long way, but needs skills and miles.

Sierra: 20 year old MFT

Sierra is suffering from Cushings which is likely the result of toxin build ups; we are seeking ways to detoxify her... if it is even possible.

Pippen: 16 year old Welsh Pony

This little imp is green broke. You'll see photos of him drawing his cart. Under saddle he's a little fart-- dumps his rider when he gets fed up or forgets he has a rider and does some goofy thing like making snow angels...

Ellie: 22 year old grade mule

Ellie has debilitating ring bone. She is comfortable at a walk but is not usable at this time.

Cisco: 9 year old Kiger Mustang

Wild caught, started his life with too many green people, Cisco has zero trust. He needs hours and hours of mind therapy-- trust, confidence building-- before we can consider using him for any horse-human task.

Young mules:
Ernie and Bert

Junior members of the equine team-- These characters are not offered as trainees to guests.

2012 Goals

Tonasket Farmer's Market, 2011

If we have a crew of ambitious and strong people we will attempt one or more of the following projects:

build a cold storage bunker (similar to the Taj Ma Hog Pig Palace
build 1-3 "African Keyhole" gardens
Renovate the long house cabin (or part of it)
-Paint buildings

The plans for the Ranch this year include the typical tasks:

-weeding
twice per day changing of irritation lines (as simple as turning on and off valves)
putting up hay and other crops
farmer's market

The Taj Ma Hog Palace, finished, save the roof

The other ongoing project is to educate our young mules who will replace our senior horses in farm work. I orchestrate training through a variety of strategies that include the fundamentals of Natural Horsemanship (most people recognize these as the methods prescribed and taught by trainers such as Buck Brannaman, Pat Parelli, Mark Rashid, Clinton Anderson and GaWaNi Pony Boy; yet I strive to integrate non-coercive methods such as the liberty work taught by Brandy Woorley and clicker-training as described by Alexandra Kurland. Our guests are encouraged to "adopt a project horse" for the duration of their stay here. Their project horse will be the horse they learn horsemanship skills with. It is not a "given" that we will ride. The senior horses here are getting too old to do the mountains around the ranch and the young'uns are too green for beginner riders or riders who are unaccustomed to riding green horses.

We need to review the 2011 goals with regard to unfinished/ tabled projects. Additionally, we need to evaluate the success of our 2011 endeavors. We'll use this information to inform 2012 projects with regard to scope and sequence while reserving the right to table them for yet another year.

Here are some proposed challenges for 2012:

Get Bert & Ernie "in harness" -- i.e. teach them to drive and to assist with farm work
Take one more shot at creating a garden that will feed the pigs for a year. (Raising pigs is unbelievably expensive -- and if we cannot come to a workable solution, then butchering them will be a fall project.) This may entail transforming the front pasture/ hay field into a corn - growing region.
Increase our "pasture- raised" chicken operation to meet demand (by "Coasties" primarily)
Videos on a variety of topics, for example:

Who's Your Pig? (Alas; The subjects are in the freezer)
Silly skits using the ranch as a setting and the animals as characters
How to...
The making of Horses Out West calendar

Now for a little pictorial sampling of 2012 projects:

There are on-going projects (like weeding and moving net fences)

... and short-term projects (like building baby-chick pens)

It goes without saying: opportunities to build those biceps abound! ;)

... And there are lots of things to learn. For example:

... operating equipment...

... and repairing equipment;

restoring old buildings...

... and building new.

... There's gardening and animal care...

... from the time they're born...

... until we butcher them...

If you've an interest, you can learn natural horsemanship skills as well as barefoot hoof care.

[above] Bonnie's left front pre-trim April, 2011

[Below] Same hoof, post-trim on Jan. 2012

2011's Amazing WWOOFers

Many hands make light work! We have accomplished much this year:

planted another 11 acres of hay fields
repaired moo vandalized irrigation system
built the Taj Mahog Pig Palace
planted three pig gardens and one "truck" garden
crossfenced pig's pasture and horse/cow pastures

restored the old barbed wire fence
put in a few more gates
finished the roof on the barn addition
reroofed the long-house cabin
reparied moo-vandalized risers
took produce to the Tonasket Farmers' Market
butchered chickens, a cow and some rabbits
successfully A.I.ed Izzy (11 piglets were born in July!)
put up a dozen tons of hay
constructed mobile chicken grazing pens for meat birds
weeded gardens
repaired irrigation system demolished by moo eco-terrorists (oh; I mentioned that already, didn't I?)
put up the gazebo
did a little horse training and a little hoof triming

Sam-- Our right-hand WWOOFer-man!

Cindy-- with one of her "bottle baby" goats

Ginger

Kate (right) with dog, Lucy (behind Kate)

SASS: Betsy

SASS: Drue (Tara's Mom)

Googie and Jaime with Foreman, Dean

Our good friend, Jean-Philippe who bikes over from Winthrop now and again

So, looking forward to Spring, what is there to do?

This year The 3-Bell Ranch will continue to focus on the restoration of the land, particularly that which has been fallow for the past 8-10 years.

Toward this goal we will be plowing up the land designated for hay fields and planting various hay crops. We'll break ground as soon as it's thawed enough to work. Usually that's the first part of March.

As the weather warms we'll be putting in gardens-- both for human and animals. Last year Forrest, Megan, Danielle, and Adriana created a fall forage garden for the pigs. This garden complex was a great success, but it was too small. We need to expand it as we incorporate plants that will provide natural parasite control for both the pigs and rabbits.

Our goal to use our horses in farming is still on the docket. It appears to be one of those "sure looked easy in the movies" sort of projects.

March, 2011 (Update: all completed, save the greenhouse)

Research and commit to fertilizer strategy for field restoration [DONE]
Review previous year's seed choices (grass fields as well as human/ pig/ chicken gardens) [DONE]
Select, order and plant seeds [DONE]
Construct a greenhouse [ABORTED MISSION]
Field restoration process:

- clean up remaining debris from upper pasture region and the pasture gone to clover [DONE]
- prep land for planting [DONE]

April, 2011 (Bits and pieces of each completed... T'was a bit ambitious for one little month)

Field restoration continued: fertilize, plant [DONE]
Household and Animal Garden planting [ALMOST COMPLETE]
Repair irrigation system (winter freeze and moo damage) [WOULD BE COMPLETE BUT MOO-ECO-TERORISTS KEEP US ON DAILY REPAIR SCHEDULE :( ]
Create removable riser system (to minimize moo eco-terrorism successes) [1/2 ALFALFA FIELD COMPLETE]
Put up cross fences & pig/ chicken net fences [ONE TO GO!]
Put in gates [ONE DOWN THREE TO GO]
Design and implement temporary irrigation systems for Animal Gardens [DESIGN COMPLETE; IMPLEMENTATION STAGE NOW]
Assess feasibility of building a WSDA certified kitchen [HA HA HA!]

May, 2011 (Okay, so we're behind now... )

Plant tender crops [DONE]
Weed gardens [STILL PLANTING]
Finish painting the house [HA HA HA]
Paint the cabins [HA HA HA HA HA]
Re-roof long house cabin [DONE]
Demolish inside of long-house cabin [4 ROOMS DONE]
Paint (house and cabins) [HA HA HA HA AH]
Carpentry (cabins) [MOSTLY DONE]
Construct Pig Bunker and Cold Storage outbuildings ["Taj Mahog Palace" IN PROGRESS]
Butchering rabbits, chickens, possibly pigs [NOT YET]

June - October, 2011

Any of that stuff in the spring lists that did not get finished
Help with haying (baling, bucking bales)
Butcher rabbits, chickens, possibly pigs
Food preparation for the Farmer's Market

Vending/ sales and outreach from the Farmer's Market with food bank donations

canning, freezing, drying and long-term storage strategies

Ongoing Projects of 2011...

Submit periodic blog posts
Meal preparation and KP duty
Horse training and trail riding
Horse driving and training
Hoof care, trimming
Painting buildings
Extending the corral fence
Weed control (pulling, burning, composting)
Picking up debris left over from the days of the orchard
chores (feeding animals, switching irrigation lines, milking goats and/or cows)
Keep things tidy and in good repair

-- tractor maintenance
-- baler, swather, and other equipment maintenance

Fun Projects for 2011

Create How To videos on Ranch-related topics which might include:

        -- irrigation repair
        -- irrigation installation
        -- running and maintaining equipment
        -- hoof care
        -- horse training
        -- goat breeding, birthing, and care
        -- pig breeding, birthing and care
        -- etc.

Photoshoots (with the horses, of course!)

WWOOFers of 2010

2010 Projects Tackled by WWOOFers

With the permanent set irrigation systems complete, we turned our attention to the restoration of the land. Forrest and I sat down day after day and poured over Internet sites, books and videos to learn as much as we could about soil testing, fertilizers and poly-crop grass production. We took our list to Monte and Laurie of Ag Tech in Okanogan. Monty accepted some of our ideas, while rejecting others and suggesting fertilizers and seed stock that would achieve our objectives.

When it came time to plow, disk, harrow then fertilize the fields, Dean used the ASV while Ben operated our little 2010 John Deere. We created the most beautiful hay I've ever seen! It passed the equine and moo Taste Test with flying colors!

Forrest painstakingly restored the cabins to cute little guest houses.

Betsy led the attack for the early spring weed clean up.

Forrest and Dean ripped out the rotten canvas from an old Coleman Pop-tent Camper then constructed a lovely Mobile Chicken Unit.

A 42" Premier 1 electric portable fence kept the chickens contained and the predator.

(Forrest feeding his charges... See Aurelie and Megan pulling the wagon in the background?)

Dean operated the ASV 4810 while Ben spread fertilizer with the John Deere 2010.

Forrest and Ben work on the fertilizer spreader.

Forrest broke ground for the Animal Garden and then planted corn and soy beans.

Megan and Danielle tackled the arduous task of prepping and planting the pig's fall garden.

This year (2011) we need to be more proactive with regard to garden maintenance.

Ben tackled weeds around risers, valves and under fencelines.

The ranch house got quite the face-lift thanks to the leadership of SASS member, Margaret who led the Late Great Paint Project (right). Robin's carpentry skills came in handy to replace siding where a flicker had pecked a hole in the wall. (See patch above? There's no longer a patch job-- It's done correctly!)

SASS, Margaret, and WWOOFer, Megan primed with great meticulousness.

The house is now a lovely shade of pastel cantalope with sage accents; the front pasture is in grass, and the round pen reconstructed.

SASS Building Director: Robin, coached Forrest on the importance of solid foundations.

Robin returned in the fall to complete construction on the north wing of the barn.

It's difficult to estimate the number of miles of net fence put up, taken down and put up again over the spring, summer and fall...

Thanks to Ben, Forrest and Dean we now have one solid corral made of wooden rails harvested from Betsy's Diamond T Ranch.

Left: Aurelie and Forrest sexed rabbits.

Above: Megan transported a rabbit (or two or three) to new quarters.

Above: Danielle taught Aurelie to skin a rabbit while Adriana observed a time or two before diving in too.

Right: Adriana caught the snake that ate one of the baby rabbits.

After Aurelie, Megan and Forrest erected the net fencing over approximately 2 acres, Izzy-pig was elated!

Although Izzy, Forrest, Aurelie and Megan tried to convince her it was safe to come out, it took Daisy a week to screw up her courage to go explore the new territory.

Dean taught Adriana to operate the John Deere 2940.

Dean supervised Adriana and Helen who drove the JD 2940 with the swather in tow.

Adriana and Daniele built window screens for the cabins.

Eleana made a rack to keep the tools organized.

Rabbit stew! Thank you, Aurelie!

Dining outside (before we put up the gazebo!)

SASSes, Robin and Margaret & WWOOFers, Megan, Forrest and Aurelie (with Molly-cule in foreground).

Breakfast: WWOOFers, Adriana, Eleana, Helen having breakfast with SASSes Drue and Betsy

Jeremy and Christina harvested squash from the Animal Garden. They also harvested "tender crops" from all gardens just before the first hard freeze!

Craig, Jeremy and Dean thinned 2.5 acres of "doghair" fir and pine forest.

2009 Projects

In the summer of 2009 we installed another 15 acres of electrobraid fences, and we put in 13 acres of permanent set irrigation. Pictured here is an aerial image of The 3-Bell Ranch showing the 13 acre portion we got into irrigation this summer. You can tell it has been many years-- nearly ten in fact-- since the ground saw more than rain water.

On the lower portion of the photo you can see the irrigation pipes on the ground beside the trenches.

This aerial photograph was taken before they were glued together. Shortly after each line was glued together, it was set into the ground.

The top of the photo shows the sage brush steppe that makes up the west 45 acres of The 3-Bell Ranch.

In the very middle of the photo, you can see our alfalfa field which yielded around 5 tons of hay.

The video, below, shows the scope of this project and contains aerial views of The 3-Bell Ranch.

Our horses drive, pack and ride (hence the name of the ranch, The 3-Bell Ranch).

Their driving skills allow us to use them to help us move rabbits, mow hay, and pull carts around the ranch.

We have several riding horses that we share with WWOOFers who have an interest in riding. The riding in the hills above the ranch is spectacular.