fire last night

hi friends,

I've been meaning to write a farm email update for a while, but I kept waiting until we got our whole winter schedule sorted out. At this point, we still haven't totally figured our schedule, but there's a lot of news and info to share, so I'm writing this email and will follow up with more info soon.

In this email:
1. upcoming Swap on December 8
2. Advent candle making and where you can purchase them
3. news about the big stover fire adjacent to the farm
4. we are still collecting leaves - call Nate if interested 515-231-2002
5. . rough draft of winter events.

1. We are planning a SWAP for the afternoon of Sunday December 8th. We'll send out more details soon, but we wanted to give you a little time to gather things to give away.

2. We have been making advent candles and they are lovely. We sold candle sets after mass this past Sunday at Sts. Peter and Paul and they were very well received so we are making more this week. They are hand dipped tapers, and made from recycled liturgical candles. If all goes well, we plan to sell them this Sunday after mass at Sts. Peter and Paul and St Cecilia. If you are interested in helping make candles or learning to make candles, we can use the assistance of 2 or 3 people either this Friday (tomorrow) or Saturday afternoon. Please RSVP if you are interested. (978-471-8414)

3. Yesterday afternoon, the 10 acre corn stover piles next to the farm caught fire. There were strong winds and by evening the majority of the straw was ablaze. Unfortunately, with such high winds and huge amounts of fuel, I think it was impossible to put out the fire and the practical goal was containment. Nate and I were very tense, and we were concerned about the fire spreading into our prairie (and then quickly across the farm) or across the road to the woods or other farms. There were firefighters here from numerous nearby towns - I think Story City and Gilbert, and they've been doing an amazing job. They were kind, calm, smart, courageous, and good at their jobs. They set a backfire in the prairie to make a firebreak between the stover and the farm, and kept the fire contained all night. We had numerous rains during the night that helped stabilize the situation. Unfortunately, we were informed that this pile might continue to burn and smolder for weeks. If you haven't seen one of these giant stover piles, just try to imagine 10 acres with giant windrows of straw bales, 20ft high and 30 ft wide, all ablaze. There's a huge amount of smoke, but the wind is not yet blowing it towards us. My heart goes out to folks in California who have been dealing with even more frightening situations.
smoldering this morning:

5. winter events:
There's a lot still to figure out, but we are planning on having a series of craft workshops - still to be confirmed
Sunday Dec 8, 3:30-4, Swap
jan 12 - farm team meeting
Saturday Jan 25: afternoon workshop learning how to spin wool into yarn, followed by potluck and discussion
feb 9, farm team meeting
Feb 8 or 22 - craft tba
March 21 - craft tba

Thanks everyone for making it through this email, for being our friends, and please keep the farm in your thoughts and prayers while this fire is still burning so close by. If you are coming out to the farm, it might be good to check beforehand about the fire and smoke situation. (text alice 978-471-8414)

thanks
alice mcgary