Update

Well, I am back from the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society annual winter conference and I am both encouraged and disappointed, as well as a little tired! I know that every time I intend on doing something with Paul Henderson I should prepare myself for some long nights but it's hard to prepare for 4 in a row! This time it wasn't his fault though, when I have the chance to go to a function like that I don't go to sleep or eat, I go to talk and learn, which usually means I don't sleep and I do a lot of talking and listening.
One of the highlights for me was Dr. Paul Dettloff, a natural veterinarian that gave several talks on herbal livestock care and natural methods. I have raised all kinds of animals without using conventional science or calling the vet for about 15 years so it was not all new information but it was great anyway. Before I knew better I had hoped to go to WSU and become a conventional veterinarian but that idea vanished when I realized that college would be a poor place to go, I would probably leave my brain at the door and not pick it back up on my way out. So instead I met a "retired" veterinarian that was "relieved" of his license because he used natural methods and herbs and refused to use the more conventional methods such as pouring vaccines and antibiotics into the animals. I learned from him for about 3 years, we did everything from castrating my stallion to removing a BB from a goat's udder, it would float around in there and more often than not end up plugging the milk so she was really hard to milk. (Don't ask how the BB got there, just remember that boys that love apple trees and have BB guns might try to use them on goats that also love apple trees, in our house those boys also get spankings even if they happen to be an older teenager!) In the fall I would also apply for a position helping the Washington State veterinarian deal with the State Fair, which lasted for 3 weeks and had no lack of animals needing a vet's care. I always got the position because I was the only male to apply, there were 5 people helping and I was always the only guy in a crowd of girls which made me feel a little overwhelmed but I managed ok! That gave me the opportunity to experience quite a bit of hands on stuff like doing cesareans on cats or dogs, giving shots to pigs (just try to hold them down) or the time when all of the Percheron's in the barn (a lot) got colic and died.
It's been a while since I have done any of that stuff so I think I have forgotten a whole lot that I need to recover. My previous employer has asked me to make up a line of herbal vet products so he can have a place to buy them and I am going to be working on that starting now. I just need to get up the courage to walk into a liquor store and buy about 10 gallons of Vodka. I guess they'll think I am the worlds worst drunk.
I wore myself down a little at the convention and that led to me feeling really poor today so I am setting here drinking tea like I mean to drown myself in it, if I misspell anything it means I just had a cup of chaparral tea and I am temporarily seeing stars. Anyone that has had chaparral tea knows just what I mean, it's nasty stuff! When I looked over my supply this morning I realized that I was getting low on several things, chaparral being one of them. I always try to harvest my own herbs when I can, last time I got chaparral I picked it from the mountains in Arizona along with the Brigham tea that I seldom use. Since I haven't been to Arizona in a long time I guess I'll have to call up some friends that live down there and have them pick some for me. With that thought I wonder if it would be possible to get herbs from other places where they grow? I should write out a list of things I use on a regular basis and post it to see if anyone has such things growing in their back yards or fields and could pick them for me. I would rather pay a real person to harvest such things than some Chinese company that ships them in after the herb has been run through an irradiation machine. If anyone has any comments on this or wants to volunteer please let me know!
During the convention I realized that there must be some infiltration going on in the sustainable ag area. Looking and listening made me aware of a lot of stuff that appears to be coming right from the good old USDA and communist agriculture, along with a good chunk from the environmentalists. Now I don't have any problems with taking care of the environment or anything like that, it's a good thing but I must draw the line when it comes to worshiping "Mother Earth" etc. For me it's not a matter of working for the betterment of mankind as a whole, it's a matter of being a good steward of the land that God put me to be steward of and to bring it into a condition that it can produce and flourish and be in better condition than when I got it, for my children. Not wasting resources or raping the land or raising sick livestock, but using resources like they are a gift from God (which means I have to use them wisely) and building the soil and raising healthy animals and plants.
Of course after doing a little looking and asking some questions I think I found where the objectionable ideas are coming from. It appears that when you accept money from someone you have to follow their agenda. That's why I now think it is not a good plan to take money from the government subsidies or from the USDA programs, no grants, no 501-c-3 status and no tax breaks. That's all fish bait and globalism is the hook. You take the money and you are hooked, reeled in and caught by the same crew that is pushing the New World Order and a one world government. It's the communist's dream and the founding father's nightmare. What more can I say?
Kyle and I got a set of videos done by Arden Anderson a few years ago of a seminar he put on in Australia. It's an $800 set but the info is good, we are hoping to get a few other guys who are interested together and we'll do the videos and have discussion afterward. For those of you who are not familiar with Arden Anderson he is a people doctor that also is a soil doctor (to use a technical term) Go to Acres USA to find out more if you are curious. Along with that I would like to do the same sort of thing with the natural veterinary set that I have, I could include a lesson on herbal preparations, how to use them and how to make them.
It's getting dark so I should run home in time to get the firewood in the house before it is too dark to see, tomorrow I am going to be running a booth at a trade show type of thing so I have to get up early and get cleaned up, does anyone know how hard it is to look presentable with no running water? I understand why the mountain man types have beards and long hair!