Thank You, 2024.
As I haven’t introduced myself here yet… Hello! My name is Brittney. Below is what I’ve been up to this past year (my first year) here at Churn Creek Farm in Bozeman, MT. I decided to take some time to recount some favorite happenings “on the farm” in 2024. Things I don’t want to forget, that I had forgotten, and remind me how far we’ve come.
To kick us off, from November 2023 to March 2024 I took a permaculture course run by local teacher Kareen Erbe (Broken Ground Permaculture). She taught important principles and helpful learnings such as get to know your land, work with nature (not against it), agriculture takes a village, manage your expectations (as much as your weeds), and DOCUMENT EVERYTHING… I took all of it and more into 2024 and below is what happened!
APRIL
“Many hands make light work.”
April 21. First work party of the season. Doghouse demo, greenhouse clean out, monkey bar repurposing followed by a meal shared together. I made the decision (thanks to loving nudges from sage advisors) not to plant this year, but instead lay a foundation for a hopeful 2025. Weeds the cat was the best mascot. Actual weeds were my biggest enemy at this stage, keeping me up at night. I have since learned to accept them and work with them (and helplessly remove them when walking by…). Huge thanks to everyone involved here. This was a very big day!
MAY
May 4. Court and I visited Susie and her llamas over on the way to Livingston to gather up some of that primo golden llama poo and learn about the famous Louis the Llama! It was a heartwarming visit with fellow sister Susie that we will never forget.
May 11. Second work party of the season. We dug trenches all around the beds, filled with wood chip as an attempt to prevent grass growing into the garden. Also started to lay pathways with weed mat and wood chip. Rachel filled her tiny car with as much wood chip as possible and dropped off raspberry starts (that sadly never made it)! Very big day this one. Smelly pits.
JUNE
June 11. Francie, a high school student and family friend, decided she wanted to spend some of her summer getting hands dirty (so cool!). I told her Mom I could provide. She fed Smokey the horse, mowed the lawn multiple times, helped lay out all the garden pathways, did some serious weeding (“Francie’s Hair Salon” for bindweed customers) and so much more. I think back to when I was in high school and am blown away by this girls beautiful spirit and maturity. Thank you for all your help, Francie!
In June I was also able to get away for Old Salt Festival (June 21) for the second time and the Modern Homesteading Conference (June 27). On these two trips I learned a lot about soil and conservation, indigenous, ranching and hunting perspectives on the land, cooking (and eating), succession planting and my apparent need for big naps after receiving lots of new information. Some notable highlights were getting to meet Temple Grandin and John Chester of Apricot Lane Farms!
JULY
July 3. Francie and I gave some love to the two remaining fruit trees on the property. Sadly the winter before took about 5. We added llama manure and wood chip and watered them well. Once the apples were big and ripe, the deer came and ate every last one of them! Hence the upcoming deer fence.
I harvested rhubarb and made jam.
July 10. Adam’s goats came to graze for about 6 days in the blazing heat. They really enjoyed the tall grass, and thankfully also the large patches of thistle and other nuisance and noxious weeds on the property. Their milk was as delicious as they were cuddly and giggle-inducing to have around! This was just one tactic I tried in managing my weed situation without herbicide.
I also used 1% Boron as an experiment with my new friends over at Edaphix. Mostly A LOT of hand-pulling and top-popping before going to seed, however. I learned that you want to wait just before the plant has gone to seed to pull or cut tops off, as that is when all of their energy is out of the taproot and up toward the top of the plant! HI-YA, BE GONE (I swear I am working on a positive relationship with these guys)!
AUGUST
In August we said goodbye to a family horse whom my sister and I painted on two different canvases (hers now in my home, mine in hers), I baked a lot of zucchini bread and muffins (it’s amazing how much free zucchini you can find in the valley in August!), hosted a going-away for a friend who has helped so much here and we miss dearly. Ping pong in the garage and planting flowers with my sister were favorite memories too.
SEPTEMBER
Housemate Eliza and I decided to host a housewarming potluck (Labor Day) to make our recent move-in feel really real. We had such a great time with friends, family and neighbors and each dish was so thoughtfully prepared and delicious! Dave, Taylor and Jerry even came to play music, overwhelming us with their talent and soul! It’s a day we’ll never forget. We are so grateful to everyone who came and contributed.
The work continues…
The rest of September watched the maple tree turn bright orange as family generously donated their time and backs to one of the final pushes of the season (grass removal, weeding, broad forking in compost). Christopher helped me build a new mailbox and start on some cedar planters in the greenhouse. Deer fence went in and Wyatt sat on the porch taking in all of the work he didn’t do this past summer…
OCTOBER
Dirty knees, sore back, happy heart! BIG MONTH.
Sacred time with Dad in the garden who helped me transport leaves and plant garlic and flower bulbs! It was nice for him to get out of his office and for us to spend time together in a way we hadn’t before. I continued work on the planter boxes with Christopher (and on my own, if you can believe it), laid some cinder block foundations (like Pippi Longstocking) for upcoming IBC tote/rain catchment and continued topping off those garden beds with my girlfriends.
I was honored to also host one of Kareen Erbe’s famous permaculture potlucks at the farm! Every month she organizes a potluck at one of her students homes where we get to share in food, offers & asks, introduce ourselves and make new and deepening connections. This potluck around the ping pong table and open fire was super fun. Sorry again to everyone who froze their butts off.
This amazing crew tackled the few final projects of the season: collecting leaves for continued sheet mulching in the garden and filling a trailer with yard excess for Pacific Recycling and the dump. Pizza party to say thank you. I have found the floor to be the most inviting place after a long days work.
November and December were lovely months as well, just not too much to report on the farm side of things aside from some gutter work leading to some hefty rain harvesters and Eliza and I’s first holiday market in the garage! More fun events to come in 2025!
FINAL REMARKS
All the people who donated their precious time here this year have my never-ending gratitude and you inspire me. It was a joy to watch you laugh and make new friends, discover you might like dirt under your fingernails, crack open parts of our life stories over brats and salad, go home exhausted (hopefully) feeling like we did something meaningful together.
This past year I discovered how the land connects us, how much I appreciate grocery stores and actual farmers who’ve been doing this for forever, how I’m going to need to start pumping some major iron to keep up with this place. I listened in on a lot of talks, went to many different kinds of events, wrote down all of my ideas and learned a lot about myself.
Despite practically always feeling behind the curve with all my new endeavors, I’ve also learned that being new to something can offer a fresh perspective and it’s by no means a reason to give up. I’ve also noticed, as you can see above, that finding a way to surround myself with (great) people means I don’t feel lonely as much and I can get closer to realizing my dreams.
As I enter into 2025 with some heaviness about the future of our planet, country, state and town, I also feel inspired by the foundations we’ve laid in 2024 for a strong community and (hopeful) bountiful garden. I can already feel the benefit of putting down roots so I can commit to my immediate surroundings and watch unexpected seeds grow. All of this gives me hope for more unity and prosperity moving forward. LAND IS KIN.
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
R.I.P. Weeds who never came back one day and broke all of our hearts. You were the most loving cat in the whole wide world. You will remain alive in this garden as we work in the place you called home for so long. I hope to make you proud. I can’t believe I’m saying this but, I will miss you crawling up my leg to try and get in my mouth.
Wyatt, thank you for being my trusty companion as I work, alternating between sleeping in the cool dirt you dug up or hot sun atop something I don’t want you atop. You might not ever catch that rabbit or that vole, but you serve a great purpose just by existing (like we all do).
Cheers to you, 2024. Can’t wait to meet ya, 2025.
Brittney