My Sampson

By Monica on November 29th, 2007

With his insurmountable pride and dignity intact, Sampson left us yesterday after an ultrasound revealed diseases that even his indomitable courage and fighting spirit could not overcome. His quirk and snark were surpassed only by his sense of humor and enormous heart. His constant voice and warm snuggles will be missed terribly.

Farm Sanctuary!

By Monica on October 27th, 2007

At long last, here is the Farm Sanctuary Critter Post! It was terribly hard to narrow down my favorite pictures so please forgive me if this takes forever to load!

Before we get started, here’s my “Iz it can be time go to Farm Sankuary now?” picture. This is Boone, of cat helmet notoriety.

Having never been there, we stopped at Niagara Falls on the way to FS. I’ve been disappointed in a lot of US tourist attractions in the past (cough*StatueOfLiberty*cough), so I was skeptical of this silly waterfall business. However, I quickly changed my mind when we could already see the mist hovering over the city still about a mile away! It was stunningly beautiful and we ended up spending quite a bit of time there getting soaked by the mist and hiking through the state park.

From Niagara, it was only a couple hour drive to FS and admittedly, I drove like a mad woman I was so excited. The scenery along the way rivaled any fall colors I’ve seen anywhere else in the world. It became comical at a point; anywhere you looked could be a postcard. This is a shot of Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen, a few miles from FS.

We finally arrived and checked in. The cabins are adorable and a lot more spacious than you’d think. Of course, pictures of the residents adorned the walls and FS made sure to provide lots of literature on factory farming for guests to read. There was also a journal inside that guests were asked to contribute to. It was touching to read how other guests have been moved by meeting some residents, and entire families pledging their devotion to veganism. Ray drew a picture of his favorite critter and I wrote my journal page on the last morning there while I watched the sun come up over a pasture full of grazing pigs.

But, without further ado, let me introduce you to some of the FS residents we met!

Upon entering the sanctuary, the first critters you meet are the cows. I was quite pleased to have met Maxine and a few others I had read about, but the legendary Annie Dodge was in a distant pasture and unavailable for ear scratching. The ambassador of the special needs cattle herd is Opie, and he was all about ear scratching! I was floored by how big Opie is, easily standing 6 feet at the shoulders and weighing 2300 pounds. Apparently that’s about average for his breed!

Opie was destined for veal, but I think this life suits him a little better.

This is the beautiful Penelope, who was ever so kind to lay still while we petted, kissed, and told her what a nice cow she was. Penelope’s head was soaking wet from being groomed by another cow, but that was not about to stop my niece and I from loving on her.

From there we headed up to the sheep hill. Most visitors don’t go up here because it’s quite the climb, but our tour guide rocked and took pity on me when I mentioned that I didn’t get to see any sheep the day prior. This is the view of the farm from atop the sheep hill.

And here’s one of the critters who grazes atop the hill all day long before coming down for chow time each night. Isn’t he amazing? We also met Dino the goat up here.

Coming down from the sheep hill, our next stop were the goats. I have so much fun with goats; I just love their personality and spunk.

Ray and I have been talking of adopting a couple of goats for years, this may have been the nail in our coffin.

Below is Zoop, Ray’s favorite FS critter. Like all the residents of FS, Zoop has a story on how she came to be there and despite having lost one of her legs, Zoop has an indomitable spirit and even rammed us all a few times in play.

The next stop is the turkey barn. We were greeted by none other than Chicky, who is terribly sweet and affectionate! If you haven’t heard it before, turkeys make the coolest noises!

Across from the turkey barn is the bunny house. The bunnies have a deluxe set-up with bales of straw inside to hide in, and a big grassy enclosure outside. A lot of these rabbits were rescued from the ‘live markets’ in NYC.

Everywhere along our route were chickens, too. This guy liked to hang out underneath an apple tree near the turkeys and was especially photogenic.

From here we got another unexpected bonus from our tour guide. FS had just taken in a piglet, only two weeks old. Rarely does FS get them that young, so this little guy was very special and he was in the hospital room being nursed round the clock. Our tour guide indulged us in a quick visit.

Next up was the duck and goose habitat. They have the best views of any resident, overlooking their own pond and miles of the Finger Lake region.

And then there’s the pig barn, where we probably spent most of our time. My first impression of the pigs: OMG are they huge! We’re told the big girls are about 700lbs.

As it turns out, even these great big pigs are lovers. Amazingly sweet and gentle, we could go right up to them and they would immediately flop over so you could rub their bellies!

They are ever so gentle, and very aware of their size. We were able to snuggle right up with them, and honestly I’m not sure if we enjoyed it more, or if they did. My niece is a pig fanatic and we nearly had to pry her off the pigs when it was time to leave. She chose Truffles as her favorite resident, who alongside her brother Rudy, had fallen off a slaughterhouse transport truck and escaped to freedom.

So those were just a few of the critters we met. Coming away from my first trip here, I am struck by a number of things:

First, they should call this place Human Sanctuary. What a healing experience to be in the company of such inspiring people who work and volunteer here, to be among these amazing creatures in one place on earth where no cruelty exists. I awoke one morning and looked out the cabin window to see all the pigs outside in a pasture grazing and rolling in mud. A simple thought suddenly dawned on me - these pigs weren’t going be slaughtered, ever. They were going to wallow in mud, sleep in deep straw piles, be cared for and loved until their natural lives cease. It was a feeling of calm and peace that I’ve scarcely experienced before.

Second, I was humbled by the ability these animals have to forgive. Mankind has done terrible, cruel, things to them - inflicted pain that I cannot even fathom. Yet they want to meet me. They approach me. They want to be scratched and loved. I only wish I had that capacity inside me, but in that respect, these creatures are far my superior.

Lastly, let it never be said that we cannot make a difference in this world. Farm Sanctuary was a great reminder of that for me. Whatever your cause is, whatever you can do, do something because it does make a difference. These animals are a testament to that.

How to gain 10lbs in 3 days

By Monica on October 23rd, 2007

We’re back from Farm Sanctuary!  While I haven’t had time to go through the 700 pictures we took on the farm, I can muster up pics from the amazing vegan vittles we found in the Finger Lakes region of NY.

Living where we do, a vegan-friendly establishment is really exciting to us. It’s hard to refrain from ordering every item on the menu in a gluttonous “OMG I can eat ALL of this” frenzy.  No side dishes or iceberg lettuce for us this weekend, baby!

Friday night we went to Jerlando’s in Watkins Glen.  Farm Sanctuary said they’d be happy to make us a vegan pizza, and indeed, they were.  Three of us ate the entire thing, after we cheekily decided that eating it all would be more environmentally friendly than using a take-out container.  Here’s their cheeseless veggie pizza, which was delicious:

Despite being stuffed, we waddled ourselves over to the Great Escape Ice Cream Parlor because one is never too full for vegan ice cream.  They had mocha and Oreo vegan flavors, both were fabulous, and their staff was well versed in which cones and toppings were vegan.

Saturday we went to the Crooked Rooster Pub & Wildflower Cafe for lunch.   I wish I could say it was as great as everything else we had this weekend, but it really paled in comparison to the other options in the tiny town of Watkins Glen.  I had the ‘Pasta with Beer & Good Stuff’, which was essentially fettuccine with canned artichokes, canned peppers, and beer poured over it.  Strangely sour, I abandoned it mid-meal to eat some left over chips on my niece’s platter.  She had the ‘Moonrose Ribs’ which turned out to be a plain Gardenburger Riblet thrown onto French bread.  Ray had an average portobella burger and the lunch meal for 3 of us, with two small beers, was $70.00.  Yeah….

Determined not to let that ruin our jolly times, we went back to the ice cream parlor and feasted upon some vegan sundaes which they topped with hot apple cinnamon sauce.

Sunday we ventured into Ithaca due to the rave reviews of Pizza Aroma, who has the only soy cheese pizza in the area.   I had an amazing calzone, aptly called “The Vegan” which was absolutely brimming with spinach, eggplant, garlic, FYH mozzarella, roasted red peppers, and other good stuffs.  $6.50 well spent!

Ray and Rachel split the “Veggie Pizza” complete with FYH soy cheese and it was equally delicious.  We took about half of it home and ate it all the way back to Illinois, the tantalizing smell of garlic wafting through the a/c vents for 700 miles.

Without exaggerating, there were about 30 vegan friendly restaurants to pick from between the tiny rural town of Watkins Glen and Ithaca.  Between all the great eats, the splendor of Upstate NY in the fall, and the haven that is Farm Sanctuary, I think this is about as close to vegan heaven as I’ve ever been.  More to come on the FS critters soon!

The Chicken Post

By Monica on October 12th, 2007

Per request, here are some chicken photos of another kind! It rather fascinates me that whenever guests come over, they are either absolutely terrified of chickens, or think they are the coolest thing ever. And seemingly everyone has a chicken story of their own to share!

Chickens make excellent guardians. Here they are protecting the driveway from insects:

This is Burt the House Chicken; she is a Barred Rocks. Burt is technically a girl, despite her name. A few years back Burt injured her leg and was unable to walk so the others picked on her. So Burt came in the house and lived in the basement until she healed. She’s one of the friendliest hens and loves to sit on your lap and have her ears rubbed.

This is Henny Penny Pudding Pie; she is a Black Australorp. Henny enjoys stale bagels, grasshoppers, and long walks in the soybean fields. She’s very curious and one of the first to greet you when you enter the chicken run.

This is one of my rescued hens, we call her “the Muppet chicken” for obvious reasons. She is a Feather Footed Bantam White Silkie. Her ears are blue, she lays tiny little off-white eggs, and she loves to protectively sit on them. She would make a wonderful mother except that the rooster has no interest in her, so her eggs are not fertile and would never hatch. We don’t tell her that and let her sit on them as long as she wants anyway!

Presenting Seniorita Chicken Butt! She’s a White Orpington, not the friendliest in the flock, but a gorgeous girl.

Baby Peepers the first day I got them. (This is before I knew better and I actually bought chickens instead of rescuing them.)

Roo the rooster. Roo was supposed to be female, but it didn’t turn out that way and lucky for him he was mis-sexed and therefore avoided the woodchipper. Roo tries to kill my brother and barely tolerates Ray. He has chased the electric meter reader out of the yard, and two Jehovah’s Witness’ who were earnestly warned but would not listen to reason. He’s never tried to attack me, maybe because I am always threatening to turn him into Rooster Soup. (He doesn’t know rooster is not part of a vegan diet!) In any case, he’s cool as hell. He’s about 12 pounds and adores his hens. He cackles to them when he finds something good to eat instead of eating it himself. He watches over them while they forage and keeps the dogs on their side of the fence!

So those are them! The original chickens I bought from a hatchery must be about 6 years old now, most of them healthy and going strong! We have lost some along the way to predators, which is very sad, but unavoidable in the country despite elaborate efforts to erect predator proof housing. I’ve learned to accept it as part of the natural cycle, certainly much more natural than ending up in a KFC bucket at 6 weeks of age.

They have a 12×12′ insulated coop complete with windows, nesting boxes, and lots of wood shavings. This opens up to a 99% predator proof 25×25′ ‘chicken run’ layered with gravel that they need to digest their food. This opens up to another 30×30′ ‘chicken yard’ that is natural brush for them to forage through, and dirt for them to dig holes and dust bathe in. They only go out there under supervision right now because we have a nasty hawk on the prowl. Finally, they get free run of the front yard when I’m out there to keep a close eye on them.

As for their eggs, none of my hens (except the Muppet) have any desire to sit on eggs or hatch them, called being “broody”. This instinct has been bred out of them as they were designed only to be laying machines. They lay an egg, jump off it, and never look back. So we collect the eggs and feed them back to the hens, or to the dogs and cats.

Hope you enjoyed my chicken post! Please share your chicken stories or chicken questions; I know you have some!