As the year comes to a close, the members of Star Gazing Farm want to thank all of you for your support, donations, enthusiasm, laughs, and hard labor this past year. 

Here are some highlights of 2004 (warning: this looks suspiciously like an annual report and you'll have to hunt and peck to find tidbits of humor):

COMINGS AND GOINGS

First on the list is the fact that we acquired no new goats this year.  This was a major accomplishment and one that ought to be celebrated widely throughout the DC metro area. (Everyone repeat now, "no more goats, no more goats!")

Those Who Came:

Bello (Dutch Warmblood/Hanoverian horse)
Otis the rodent-hating cat
Parsnip (Columbia/Romney sheep with foot issues)
Kramer the rooster, man about town
Spinner (goose) and his best friend Quackers (Pekin duck)
Jane-bo (Appleyard duck)
An unplanned nestful of Tati's baby Pekin ducks
Betty Boop, a foster rabbit for DCAC (having come from a horrible domestic abuse situation), who fell in love with Andy rabbit and decided she ought to stay

Those Who Left Us:

Miss Lucy, beloved horse, best friend of Dee Dee donkey, the leader of the pack. No one was as gentle.
Many ducks, sad casualties of the local fox den: the Thugs, the Babes, Deano, Oprah and Winfrey.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown, a rouen duck who had been purchased for hunting dog practice - retrieved half a dozen times before the buyer decided to spare her. She was attacked by a fox in the summer who killed one of the Thugs and fractured Molly's neck, but with a lot of care she eventually healed from this.  However, too one early morning in November Bello opened up the duck pen and Molly was taken away by a fox.  She was a little fighter and she will be sorely missed, especially by George.
Betty Lu, 4 day old lamb who was born without an anus and ended up having to be euthanized

May they rest in peace

Those Who Came and Went:

Charles Harrison (Hampshire Pig) - picked up by PG animal control, and fostered here for 2 months before he went to his permanent home at the Mini Pigs Sanctuary
INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS
  • Barn roof sealed and painted
  • No Goat Zones I and II constructed (allowing for planting of vegetables, flowers, and fruit trees)
  • Addition made to steel duck pen (allowing for quarantining of new ducks and/or separation in cases of injury)
  • Water hydrant at barn installed
  • Replaced office door (bashed in by Newman)
  • Replaced back storm door (ditto)
  • Replaced window in barn (ditto)
ADMINISTRATIVE (yawn)

Star Gazing Farm is now incorporated in the state of Maryland. We are currently filing application for our 501(c)(3) status. Many thanks to Lawyer Laurice for pro bono legal assistance, and to board members Gardener Dean and Carpenter Mike. We look forward to being able to join the ranks of other venerable Maryland charitable institutions and subsequently be bombarded with paperwork.

Financial: We (ahem) don't know how to present a proper financial statement (any accountants out there??) but these are the gross figures for 2004 (these do not include costs for the house insfrastructure including well, septic, and electrical problems that occurred. These also do not include costs for overall maintainance of the farm including mortgage and insurance.):

EXPENSES:

  • $2500 - feed and hay
  • $2800 - supplies (fencing materials, bedding, tarps, sheep clippers, etc.)
  • $3600 - veterinary services and medications
  • $330 - farrier services
    _____

TOTAL: $9230

DONATIONS:

  • $500 - Cash donations at events
  • $360 - Lucy memorial fund
  • $400 - Animal sponsorships
  • $550 - horse blankets
  • $2100 - Unrestricted donations
    ______

TOTAL: $3910

ACTIVITIES

We held two open houses this year:

May 16, which featured:

Ongoing demostration of humane and safe sheep shearing and hoof trimming
Activity scavenger hunt for children
Horse grooming demonstrations
Educational displays
Vegetarian refreshments

October 17, which featured:

Crafts exhibitions of local artisans
Short demonstrations of sheep shearing and hoof trimming
Scavenger hunt for children which involved some hands-on activities such as barn mucking and horse grooming
Educational displays
Vegetarian refreshments

Private tours:

We gave many private tours to individuals and small groups. To request a tour please contact us at (301) 349-0802.

Outreach:

We participated in the live nativity pageant at Faith United Methodist Church in Rockville, MD on Sunday, December 12 with sheep Rachel and Madison, and Dee Dee Donkey. Afterwards we visited the guests of the F.A.R.M. (Farm Animal Reform Movement) holiday party in Bethesda, MD. See http://www.stargazingfarm.org/projects/pageant2004.php for photos of the Christmas pageant.

Written and Web Materials:

We redesigned the Star Gazing Farm web site this year to better organize information on our farm and to present useful information on farm animal care in general. The email news bulletins "The Chronicles of Newman and Other Stories" continued as there were many events both provoked and unprovoked which warranted the retelling. See http://www.stargazingfarm.org/news/chronicles.php to read previous accounts.

Networking:

We particpated actively on the MetroPets-run DC-Farmrescue@yahoogroups.com list, whose subscribers include local animal control officers and owners of local farms and animal sanctuaries interested in helping to place unwanted and stray farm animals. Many animals were placed in loving homes because of the active attitudes and open pocketbooks of the generous people on that list. If you are interested in joining the network, click here: http://www.stargazingfarm.org/contact.php
VOLUNTEERS
 Many volunteers came out to help at our open houses and on several other occasions, but there are three volunteers who really stand out in their regular visits and unceasing help to the farm: Gardener Dean, Carpenter Mike, and Kate, a junior in high school who did an internship with us last summer (and who took some of the wonderful photos in this edition). Volunteering means holding unruly goat horns while their kicking feet are being trimmed, doing manure patrol, and getting more intimate with bugs than you ever imagined possible. But at the end of the day, it feels good (or at least a hot bath and a beer do in comparison). We are so very appreciative of people who are willing to sink up to their ankles in mud and pitch in. Starting in the new year, anyone who wants that rugged farm experience can come any Saturday between 9 and 1. Boots and gloves are advisable!
PLANS AND WISH LISTS

Projects for 2005:

  • Construction of a new fenced area for ducks (to replace the vegetable garden, used ad-hoc last year after fox attacks)
  • Beautification of the No Goat Zone I (alias vegetable garden) which was first ravaged by ducks and then by the ditch witch in the process of installing water hydrant)
  • Preparation of ground for an orchard
  • Construction of midway fence in large pasture in order to start implementing pasture rotation practices
  • Repair of fencing in back pasture
  • Re-painting of all white pasture fencing
  • Replacement of side barn door (bashed in by Newman)
  • Reinforcement of lower front barn door latch (ditto)
  • Clearing of much dead wood and branches
  • Leveling and grading of 8 foot wide path and laying of gravel from driveway up to barn
  • Cleaning out, levelling, and re-seeding of lower large pasture (many deep holes due to water buildup and heavy horse hooves in the mud)
  • Production of a 2006 calendar
  • Production of greeting and thank you cards with farm photos
  • Other, as suggested by volunteers!

Wish Lists:

  • Materials needed for above projects:
    • 3-5" 7-8' wooden fence posts
    • white paint and primer (exterior)
    • other painting materials
    • 48" high 2x4" 12 gauge welded wire fencing rolls
    • Gravel (larger stone and crush and run)
    • landscaping cloth
    • Use of tractor and roller
    • Use of harrow
  • Other useful things:
    • Muck rakes
    • Lawnmower
    • Hay or corn elevator (need not be higher than 12 feet)
    • Water troughs/buckets
    • Sheep shearing stand
    • Heavy duty fans for barn
    • 4WD truck (doesn't matter how old or ugly)
    • Good lead on a reasonably priced used tractor or Bobcat
    • Stock trailer (will depend upon truck acquisition!)
    • Microsope and slides kit for doing in-house fecal checks
TILL NEXT TIME!

Farmer Anne
Star Gazing Farm
farmeranne@stargazingfarm.org

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