Miolea Organic Farm

The industrial food complex (IFC) is faced with another study showing the ills of atrazine on the human body, specifically the female anatomy.  There seems to be more evidence showing reduced levels of estrogen and other abnormalities. 

I read this in the Environmental Health News article. It started with this paragraph: 

Women who drink water contaminated with low levels of the weed-killer atrazine may be more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles and low estrogen levels, scientists concluded in a new study. The most widely used herbicide in the United States, atrazine is frequently detected in surface and ground water, particularly in agricultural areas of the Midwest. The newest research, which compared women in Illinois farm towns to women in Vermont, adds to the growing scientific evidence linking atrazine to altered hormones.

In early 2010, another published study revealed atrazine was castrating and feminizing bullfrogs.  Before that, it was the feminization of bass.  Both the bullfrogs and the bass are known as predictor species.  That means their organs and other internal workings are much like that of humans.  What happens to them is an indication that it can happen to humans.

Ask yourself, how long and how many of us will have to suffer because the IFC continues to make profits off the demise of our environment and to the detriment of our bodies?  Do not forget we have still yet to hear anything about Nano-Titanium-Dioxide.  I cannot help but think it is here and in our food supply.  Just as we found out about GMO corn, my bet is we will find out about NTD the same way. 

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I read in the Chicago Tribune that there was a study on the existence of GMO's in the human body.It was about an article written in "Reproductive Toxicology" by Canadian researchers.  The researches simply looked at blood from pregnant woman and then blood from the umbilical cord.  What they were looking for was if there were any GMO's in the blood. 

The Tribune article went on to say, "genetically modified crops differ in that the plants grow from seeds in which DNA splicing has been used to place genes from another source into a plant.In this way, the crop can be made to withstand a weed-killing pesticide "Think Atrizine- my words" for example, or incorporate a bacterial toxin that can repel pests.  Canadian researchers this year reported that the blood of 93 percent of pregnant women and 80 percent of their umbilical cord blood samples contained a pesticide implanted in GMO corn by the biotech company Monsanto, though digestion is supposed to remove it from the body".

 It is the "removed from the body," that is unsettling.  Here we go again with those annoying trace amounts.  This is what the Industrial Food Complex (IFC) and their equally huge lobbyists want everyone to believe.  The article points out that trace amounts are okay as defined by the FDA, EPA and USDA.  I use Diacetyl, again, as one of those chemicals that left trace amounts, but were supposed to be, processed out of the body.  Instead, it caused lung cancer when a man consistently ate microwave popcorn.  OHSA required workers that made microwave popcorn to wear masks that filtered the Diacetyl while they breathed.  Why?  Diacetyl, a known carcinogen, caused lung cancer when breathed consistently.  Research said it was safe in trace amounts but not in the concentrated amounts that workers faced.

If you have the money, you can buy scientific studies.  DDT, Asbestos, Agent Orange, Atrizine, Nicotine throw a dart.  The cigarette industry proved for decades that their products were not addictive.  Only until consumer advocacy groups and the ethics of a scientist, proved otherwise, but at that same time millions of us suffered through the loss of a loved ones linked to one carcinogen or another from the 316 plus chemicals in cigarettes.  The tobacco industry and lobbyist had thousands of studies to document the safety or their product.  Have corporations turned a leaf and have they become more ethical both environmentally and with what they sell us to keep our bodies healthy.  Not when the bottom line is the goal, they are not. 

Not only is research purchased the statistics can be manipulated based on a few factors, like standard deviation or the amount of data collected.  It is like the banking industry and the housing market.  The banks created categories of loans, bundled each one separately then sold the bundles.  Then they bet against the bundle holding its worth.  The bankers get rich, homeowner, takes the loss. 

 I realize that I am using a scientific study to justify the ills of GMO's.  I am not missing the paradox.However, when you learn what DNA splicing is and how it is accomplished, you do not have to be a scientist to know there will be problems.  I would rather error on the side of caution,   especially when you find out that in order to get the corn DNA to accept the foreign DNA gene, and anti-biotic strain needs to be spliced in to the new DNA helix.  There are stories of super bugs that have bacteria resistant strains.  This does makes me wonder if there is a correlation.

The article failed to mention how we, as consumers, discovered GMO's in our food supply in the first place.I think it was in 2004 that a woman ate a taco shell made with GMO corn and had a bad reaction to the food.  It was eventually determined GMO corn made up the taco shell.  In European countries, regulations make the food industry prove that the changed chemical or genetic make up of the additive or preservative is safe for human consumption and cause no ill affect.  In the US, it is Caveat Emptor, think of nano-technology and titanium dioxide. 

I would bet that it is already in our food supply, we just have not found out about it yet.  It is not as if the IFC was fourth coming with the whole GMO thing.That is another strong argument for buying organic as the article points out.  It is against organic regulations to use any GMO anything.  However, if GMO corn that was planted in Colorado shows up in a Mexican corn field you really wonder what chance does any organic farm have against cross pollination.  Could it drift into organic production fields? 

You bet your sweet @$$, it can.  In the US organic requirement, you need to have at least a twenty-five foot wide hedgerow or buffer zone.  Most of our buffer zones are greater than one hundred feet.  However, when you find the same strain of GMO corn planted in Colorado in Mexico does a buffer zone really matter?

We need better labeling on our food.  That is the only way we as consumers can make the industrial food complex clean up their act.  When they are hit in the pocket, they will take notice and they will take action.  Right now, their action is to fight against new labeling requirements. 

If you want to buy GMO food, have at it.  If you do not want to buy foods made with GMO products, the only way you can do that is to buy organic or have the label indicate that GMO is in the food.  The industrial food complex is fighting hard to stop regulators from requiring new labeling that identifies GMO in their products.  I wonder why?  It would not have anything to do with the profit motive, do you suppose?  Get active write your federal officials in favor of labeling GMO products as such.

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Camping made up most of our vacations as I grew up.  Living in Maryland, we had the choice of traveling west to the Cactoctin Mountain range or head east to the water.  I lived in a camping family and each summer we would head west to what we, in Maryland, call mountains.I do not know what constitutes a mountain but the ones I have seen in Colorado or other states makes ours look like hills.  Maryland is relatively flat when comparing sea level heights. 

Camping took us out of the city and into the hills.  Once there and setup our father would inevitably find a farm near by and purchase what ever they had.  The larges might serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  I remember the smells most of all, walking into a horse barn to ride horses or passing a field that was being fertilized.  When I inquired, I was told it was fresh air that I was smelling.

It was a different smell than I had experienced in the City.  Except when the Arabber would come by and the horse would leave fertilizer, which my father was quick to get for his own garden (see "A City Boy's Education"). 

Their answer about fresh air made sense to me.  Having had my olfactory senses assaulted as we pass the waste disposal site on a summer day in Baltimore or passing a brewery or other manufacturing plant, you could quantify their answers.  I think that because of their answer I always associated manure smells with fresh air.  It is an oxymoron for most people I admit that, but there is a speckle of truth too.

Being outside and away from suburban and urban settings the air was different.  Yes, I was smelling manure but at the same time, it was associated with fresh air and fun.  I point to that time as the beginning of my education on manures.  When fields are spread with manure I can tell you, what kind of manure it is by the smell.  This skill will get me nowhere and it is not something that is discussed at cocktail parties or family gatherings.  Are there cocktail parties any more? 

I digress, of all the manures; horse manure is the best smelling to me.  That goes back to my youth and riding horses.  The worst of the worst is pig manure.  I am sorry to all my swine friends but that is how I feel.  When we first started looking for a small farm, we stopped at a pig operation.  I still shudder at the thought of that experience.

I love pork, bacon, sausage, chops, ribs you name it, except for the more exotic stuff like feet and snout, I will eat pork.  That manure smell though is polar opposites of horse or cow manure.  Even chicken and turkey smells better and poultry manure has an ammonia smell. 

Like I said, this skill will never amount to anything but it is a just another link in a chain that has led me here.  Besides, everyone knows manure smells.

 Buy local:  Tens of thousands of us are growing for your health and the environment. 

We closed last year’s books and, as was documented here, it was brutal.  Just like investment portfolio’s we have to diversify further.  I do not think the average American understands how difficult being a small farm can be.However, I cannot help but think agriculture is in everyone’s blood.We were an agrarian society not too long ago.  How else can you explain a billion dollar home gardening industry?Whether you are planting annuals and perennials around your house or plant a vegetable garden you are working the soil.For the longest time I introduced myself as a large gardener.I still have reservations about the moniker of farmer because I have too much deference for those that do it full-time.

When you have invasive species, (BMSB) that destroy crops being small makes losses greater,.  You need to diversify in order to protect overall income if you are a small farm.  However, being small can magnify your losses when you suffer damage in those diversified crops too.  We thought by adding fruits, jams, honey and cooking classes that we were diversified enough to avoid the devastation of this past year.  We have learned we were not.

There is a tremendous unmet demand for humanely raised, free range, organic chicken in our area.  Given that demand, we have decided to get into the meat bird market.  We will start with about fifty total.  We tried to diversify with fruits, vegetables and eggs but last year taught us that true diversification is not just different fruits and vegetables.  It is animals, vegetables, fruits, nuts, eggs, honey, cooking classes and agra-tainment.  Using the financial portfolio analogy it is mixing risky and non-risky activities to offset down turns in one or the other sectors.

Humanely raised free range, organic chickens seem to be one of the ways to augment the fruit and vegetable side.  It has taken us nine years to get to this point.  It has been an arduous journey and emotional roller coaster.  I am not proud of this decision; I make it knowing that we need to survive economically.  I know what I have written before and I do feel like a hypocrite.  However, I did put my money, energy and time where my mouth was but we have no options left if we are going to be economically sustainable.

We grow the best we can, and price so that we get a small profit after expenses.  If we had 100 acres of corn and the BSMB attacked the outside perimeter closest to the tree line (according to current research), we would have harvested more than sixty percent.  However, because we had less land, the bugs overwhelmed what we did plant and left us with nothing.  Sales in spring crops and late fall crops helped us lessen the loss but we ended up with a net loss for the season.

Polling took place of our customer base asking if humanely raised free range organic chickens would be something they would consider purchasing from us.  The response has been overwhelmingly positive.  The cost/revenue analysis looks promising once we reach the break-even point on startup costs.  We are not going to process them we are taking them to a humane processing facility.  I do not know what to say or what to expect.  I told my wife I would try this one and see how it goes.  I look upon this next step as part of my own maturation process as a small farmer.  Nevertheless, there is this small voice still inside me screaming to fight to remain a viable vegetable operation and leave animals out.  Given what we have learned of the BMSB they are here to stay and either, we fold or role with what we are given. 

In order to sell to markets and restaurants, we need certification for on farm processing.We have to submit, plans, process flows, contamination points, process controls and measurement frequency rates and other actions.Then during the day of processing do everything you said you would do in the documentation.There is great demand for free-range chicken and rabbit meat.Each will meet certified organic status.Our processing certification covers both animals.It is a fundamental change but one that will keep us sustainable.In the mean time:

Buy Local: Support your community farmer or start a garden, even if it is two vegetables, it will be worth the satisfaction.

Part of our plan all along was to get a working dog when we went to farming full-time.  My wife, being a dog person, did the research to find the right breed and personality for chickens.  The reason for waiting is that dogs, especially working dogs, need training and attention during their first year of apprenticeship.  This is the critical time in development when the dog learns what is and is not acceptable behavior, where its boundaries are and what its jobs are.

If we got a dog now, our fear was that we would end up with a wild animal because we were not able to spend enough time with it upfront.  Working dogs are a special breed unto themselves.  Because of the decline of small farms, some working class dogs are almost near extinction.  The English Sheppard is one of those rare breeds and is known as America's farm dog.  Given that all of our losses have come during the day, it made sense to have a working dog to protect and keep the chickens in their individual pens.  Locked away at night, the chickens are protected and do not need tending.

We found two breeders in our state.  The one breeder is three miles from our farm.  Small world or not, it is just another one of those links in a chain of events that you had know idea you were even forging.

We went to the breeder’s house and looked at what was left of the litter.  You know how things just fall into place and you find yourself making a decision that (up until that instant) you believed otherwise?  A decision already made but with the exception of a series of events; one after another then another until you realize one link follows the next.  At times, I believe it is created by divine intervention.  We were walking the farm with Carol (the breeder) and I conveyed my concern for the dog and not having the time really needed to train due to my work demands.

We continued to walk the property and watch the mother and father work the farm animals and teach the pups.  They were very impressive working dogs, quite intuitive, aware and communicative. The parents would frolic with the pups, but kept an eye on the farm animals.  I explained to Carol that I could take two weeks off to train the pup but after that, I would have to go back to work.  I explained that I would spend two hours a day (at night) with her during the week and all day on weekends.

However, I still did not think that was sufficient time for a working dog, so young.  Telling her I really wanted her approval or better to be wrong and her tell me that.  I know what it takes to train a working dog, especially a young one and I was concerned.  At one point, I stated directly, “So, you do not think we should buy a dog?”  Her answer was what I had expected.  She said “No”. 

The tour continued.  Watching the parents was amazing.  We have been to dog trials before so we know what working dogs are capable of, given proper training.  This was not our first time around working dogs.  At one point in time, she said, “You know, because you are so close, why not drop the dog off during the week for a few days and come back and pick it up for the weekend”.  She went on to say we should spend the first two weeks with the dog bonding.  After the two weeks, she was willing to take the dog back and continue to train her during the week.  We would then pick her up on Friday and work with her over the weekend. 

We finished the tour, which in and of it self, was impressive.  Carol is strongly entrenched in bringing back nearly extinct heritage breeds.  You name the animal type she had a heritage breed she is raising.  Her farm and animal husbandry was just amazing to us.  We thanked her and went home to think about the decision; we still had some apprehension about being able to meet the dog's needs.Then this past Saturday I twisted a knee trying to catch an arrant chicken. 

See what I mean about things taking place in the right sequence and at the right time, linked one after the other?  Before you know it you have a complete chain and the last link is whether you decide to accept these signs or you stick with the original plan.  A friend reminded me of a saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans”.  Well, we decided to purchase a female English Sheppard and we named her fer Coadee.  This is her stretching before morning workout. 

fer Coadee is Scottish for protector, which is fitting because her main job will be just that.  English and Scottish sheppards brought these dogs to the new world.  An animal as noble and hardworking as an English Sheppard deserves a dignified name.

 

She will end up being called Coadee but she will always be introduced as fer coadee "the protector".

Buy Local: The more you source your food the healthier you will eat.

 p.s. today we found one of the 15 lost layers, from two weeks ago, a live.  Coadee has paid her first dividend.

We have to tear down the high tunnel and get four hundred strawberry plants in the ground, then fifty plus blue berry bushes and then half-acre of lettuces and another half-acre of potatoes planted.  We had hoped to have half of the lettuces and some tomatoes already planted in the tunnel but when the tunnel came down everything stopped.  We were getting ready to plant inside the following week.The Tuesday before planting it snowed, which in and of itself was not bad.  The fact that it caved the roof in was.

We now have a four ton twisted mess of steel to safely disassemble and pack into a roll-off trailer.  The operative word is “safe” given the different stress and tension points in the structure.  The high-tunnel was put together like an erector set.  There are thousands of bolts, nuts and screws to un-tighten.  However, there is the inherent danger of someone getting hurt if we are not careful when working around steal that has stress pressure.

Much like bucking a tree and cutting it up, you have to be aware of what part of the tree is under tension and where that tension is coming from.  Is tension coming from the top or tension pushing up from the bottom?  The way to cut each type depends on knowledge and the will to live a long life.  While cutting you can bind the saw or worse have the force of the wood under tension released towards you.  Basically, hurting or killing you, I do not know of any other options when that occurs.

Given the fact that we have to plant spring crops, we will have to split the crews with two planting and three tearing down.  I need to till the area for planting, at night, draw up the plant location and turn our most senior worker loose with her own help, while the rest of us safely bring down four ton of twisted metal and cut it up to fit in the roll-off bin.  The goal is to minimize air space and fill the bin, as tightly as possible with metal.  

At this time, you are probably thinking about insurance and if it was covered or not.  Yes, it is covered, they sent out the adjuster, and then a structural engineer and now the go-ahead to start de-construction has come.  No matter, we will suffer a loss because we insured the thing for less then it cost us to put up.  Do not ask I would just come out looking bad in the end if I answered.

If you have read our exploits, you know deconstruction is my forte.  Nevertheless, to do this crushes dreams we had.I mean we were really looking forward to using the high tunnel to get the first tomatoes, or corn, strawberries and other crops earlier.  We were eating fresh Maryland tomatoes in  December so, we know what is was like to extend the growing season.  When the structure came down it brought with it a lot of plans and things we wanted to test.  Tomatoe for instance and rain.

My hypothesis is that acid rain would leave chemical residues on tomatoes and leaves outside (duh!), while tomatoes, using drip irrigation in the high tunnel would not.  The true evaluation for me would have been what is in the tomato itself.  What I really wanted to know is when compared do the tomatoes themselves have any levels of chemicals in them.If so, what kind and how do the levels compare from the control group to the experimental group. 

The control group gets overhead watering naturally (outside) while drip irrigation at the base of the experimental plant (inside), comes from one of our four three-thousand gallon rain collection barrels.At least that was the original test plan.For now, we will table the idea and get to it at another time.In the mean time:

Buy Local:  Food is life sustaining and growing is sustaining life.

I understand adoption from a human perspective.  The older human elects to take responsibility for a baby or young child -a child, an innocent, open sponge for education, be it emotional, intellectual, spiritual or just plain surroundings and environment - in essence, a long-term commitment to the betterment of this being.

I would never have said that an animal would adopt a human.  Everything living eventually becomes aware of their surroundings; from there, Darwin's theory takes over.  The strong and smart do survive and adaptability is the key to long-term establishment. 

While living in the city I can say at no time did a dog, cat or any other animal come up to the yard and just hang around or choose to live there.  So far, since we moved to the farm, two cats have adopted us and several dogs were "maybe's" (unfortunately, their owners responded to our call).  The first cat, BC, was found living in the barn on the President's Day Blizzard in 2003 and was unable to hunt for food.  We started feeding her and then named it BC,  for our  first "barn cat. " We are not the most sophisticated people when it comes to naming things.   

I had not come across this phenomenon of having animals walk up to you or your house as if they belong.  I never came across this little fact while reading farming books either.  Two years ago, we had a cat come out of the woods and walk up to my wife, sitting on our front porch, talking to her or ME-OWing as he approached.

My wife stopped what she was doing and waited for the cat to come to her.  talking in smooth tones, encouraging the cat with the sound of trust, she put her hand out and the boisterous cat darted toward her, then backed off, but returned to rub against her and meow.

After some time, he would walk over to the shade and lay down.  From that point on he would show up when we were outside working.  His actions were the same, you would hear him talking as he was walking to you.  Once there he would walk and rub against your legs, seemingly demanding to be pet.    Adoption number two took place that July.  Like BC, we took him in to our vet, and got him fixed , and he started to adjust to life in the house.  BC taught him who was tops in the feline hierarchy and he took to his new position with no issues. 

Almost immediately, we started noticing Woody sleeping in peculiar positions.  So one time I took a picture and sent it to my niece (who had fallen in love with our newest cat) and a hobby was born.  It was too easy to pass up, I do not have time for a hobby nor interest, but I have a camera phone and it is with me all the time.  I walk in: Woody is sleeping between the arm of the sofa and the table, so I take a shot.  Then upload the picture with the rest of them.Follow the link below to see the different pictures.We hope you enjoy.

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WOODY SLEEPING Press the play button when you get there.

Judge not, lest ye be judged, as the saying goes.  Just as you cannot tell how good a book will be by its cover, you cannot judge a reasonable person from a one-chance encounter.  I have always been aware of how people pronounce the word ricotta.  The national mispronunciation of this cheese bothers me more than the incorrect pronunciation of our farm name.  I think one out of a hundred people will pronounce the name of the farm correctly.  I am okay with that, it is any body’s guess whether the vowels are long or short in our name, Miolea, which comes from the previous owners and represents the beginning name of the son – Mike, mother – Olive and daughter Lea. 

The farm name is a confusing mix of potential enunciations and inflections.  We pronounced the name wrong when we first visited and a couple more times after that.  When we took stewardship of the land, we decided to change the name of the farm in pronunciation to invoke an Italian theme.  We changed some vows to long while others were changed to short.  Over the years, if a customer mispronounces the farm name we have given up on correcting the mistake.They can pronounce it anyway they like if it helps them remember us, all the better. For some odd reason I care more about how to say ricotta, this creamy-sweet, beautiful sheep’s milk cheese than I do our farm name.  For the record, My-Oh-Lay-a, is how the farm name is the way we pronounce the name.

I grew up in a predominately-Italian household with my grandmother being the last generation to speak Italian.  Her children and grandchildren did not learn Italian from her as much as we learned the Italian emphasis when pronouncing words.  Much like the way we pronounce words from other cultures, with their own intonation and enunciation, we as an American culture do not pronounce Italian words with an Italian articulation.  I can think of Chinese - General Tao and Mexican - Fajitas as two examples of how people will use the correct pronunciation when saying these words.  In Italian "P" is pronounced like a "B", so pasta would sound like "basta" in our family and millions of other Italian households.  This leads me to my pet peeve.

As a nation, we had no problem pronouncing words from other cultures.  My best example is Fajita.  Nationally the pronunciation of that word with the correct Spanish enunciation happens all the time.  Take Chinese, French, Greek and Indian culinary delights, we order these cuisines and generally pronounce them with the correct intonation, cadence and inflection.  I feel that Italian cuisine is getting a short shrift in the "foodie" world when it comes to pronouncing Italian words correctly.

To that end I present these facts, most people pronounce fajita correctly, and most people pronounce ricotta wrong.  Italian, much like Spanish has its different inflections and dialects.  I do not know where we missed the boat on pronouncing ricotta correctly but it is almost universal.  Pasta, okay, I will concede pasta instead of basta or managot for manicotti.  Nevertheless, a sheep’s cheese as noble and diverse as any of the best cheeses known to humans deserves the foodies reverence relegated to other delicacies such as Foie Gras, or the more mundane like Tortilla.  

Fajita is the example I use to draw my conclusions, however misguided.  I have never heard, okay I once heard, a person ask for a (FA-GEE-TA), in a Hispanic restaurant.  It is most always pronounced (FA HEE TA), The "JI" has a "hee" enunciation instead of a "jee or ji".  You do not order FaGEEtas or Fa-jI-tas; you order faHeetas, when asking for the delicate flour tortilla.  I bet you pronounced the last word of that sentence like (tor tee a) not (tor till a).  You are starting to see the pattern of neglect Italian pronunciations suffer.

In my family when talking of Italian things the letter "C" was pronounced as a G (ga), the letter "P" came out as "B" and there were other slight variances.  I did not get all the Italian variations, which is why I can only be the least bit indignant.   

However, ricotta, pronounced correctly with the proper inflection, tone and dialect would sound like Ri- Gaw-ta.  The "i" is silent the "C" sounds like "Gaw".  When we hold cooking classes, if we are using the cheese I make a point to pronounce ricotta as part of the class.  It is just because it sounds so much better pronounced correctly. 

Rigawta is used in main dishes as well as deserts.  It is a bit nutty with a creamy texture suitable for Tiramisu or in delicately stuffed ravioli.  I am not asking for much, just a simple “g” when saying the word rigawta.  As far as the farm name, pronounce it however, you see fit.

Buy Local:  It is not just a fad, it is real.  

Are you still considered a humane farm if you shoot your neighbors’ dog for eating your layers?  We lost two of our newest layers on Christmas Day and two from the second youngest group, two days later.  It seems that the attacks are from a dog and because we live in a relatively populated area, our thought is that it is a neighbor's dog.

Once again, the hens that stayed inside the pens were not hurt.  We had one layer from the newest group that would fly out of the pen but would not fly back in at sundown.  When we got home from our real job, I would walk out in her direction and this hen would start walking towards me.  When we met up, she would just hunker down I would scoop her up and put her in the crook of my arm.She would just be cooing away as I walked back to the pen and house.  She was content to have the ride and body warmth.  Once in the pen she would then go into the house and I would close the door.  I no longer have to look out for her; she is one of the missing.

We have already gone through a dog attack and nursed four injured birds back to health and laying eggs.  We had to take them out of "organic" status but it still made us feel good that we could nurse them back to health.  That time when I saw the dog, I got my gun and had the dog in the cross hairs of my scope.  I just could not pull the trigger and when I did, I aimed in front to scare the dog.

I shot so that dirt would kick up and startle the dog off.  We knew who the owner was but we had not really met these people.  I went and stopped by their house to talk to them.  I introduced our farm and myself and told them how I had seen their dog with one of our chickens.  They were very apologetic and offered to pay for the chickens.  Problem was I did not really know how much we spent on the bird and what revenue loss it represented. I had the statistics just not the costs.  If I focus on cost  much, it gets discouraging.  Therefore, I did not know how much we were out, so I told them that it would not be necessary but that I only ask that they keep their dog on their property.

I explained that County law allowed me to protect my livestock and that I had had a chance to shoot the dog but chose not to, “this time”.  We as humans exhibit micro-expressions.  These are our true feelings coming out as expressions on our face before our brain takes over and governs how we are to react in any given situation.  Nevertheless, there is that split second where you can see the persons’ true feelings, if you are looking.  My statement had the effect I wanted it to have, mainly fear.  Then anger took over and the husband started to get aggressive.   

Remaining calm was my secondary objective; my primary objective was to make them aware and understand the possible consequences.  I wanted them to know that there was a possibility that if they let their dog out, to roam free, it might not come back.  I explained that we are a humane farm and shooting an animal was the last thing we wanted to do, especially knowing it could be a family pet.  As an aside, I said “Each hen lays about eight-hundred eggs in a life time and that we sell a dozen for five-fifty each.  That does not count the cost of feed and care associated with the hen," I added.

This situation was one of those that we had not planned for or thought of way back when we talked about farming.  Like so many other aspects, you just do not know until the situation presents itself.  I flashed back, to a time when I was living in the city.I remember one Thanksgiving Day, I was sixteen and someone knocked at our front door. The person turned out to be the owner of a car that had hit my dog. He had stopped his car, after he hit the dog, to render aid. He saw the address on his collar realized he was close, came to the house, and told us.  My dog, which was still a puppy, was lying on the lawn five or six houses down.  I went to retrieve him, picked up his soft lifeless body and brought him to the back yard.  I got my dad’s shovel and started digging.  Tears streaming down my face, I lost track of what I was doing because after some time my father came out.  He asked if I was okay. He knew I was not but seeing what I was doing, he asked if the hole I was digging was deep enough.  At the time I guess my thought was, as long as I kept digging then Chevy would still be with me.  He was under my care and his death was squarely on my shoulders.  He had gotten out underneath the fence where the rainwater culvert was. I wrapped him in a blanket he used to sleep on and gently put him in the ground.  I carefully put one handful of dirt at a time over top of his small body.He ended up being the last dog I ever owned.  I did not tell my neighbors this. I just wanted them to think there was the possibility that their dog would be shot if he was caught poaching our chickens.  We have not seen the dog since. 

The indications from the four we lost recently are that of dog attacks.  The rooster had tail feathers missing (which we found on the ground) and what looked like a bite mark.  We found one dead in the pen, which we think was injured outside, but was able to get back inside before she expired.  With hawks, you usually find bunches of feathers and little else.  With a dog you usually find an injured hen or four with more missing.

When presented with the decision before, I could not kill a dog. If I see it, I will try to catch it to find its owner. This time I will know and accept compensation.  If I cannot catch the dog and I do not recognize it as being from around here, I will have to face that bridge when I get to it.

 Buy Local: Help build a sustainable, environmentally sound small farm

At first. some people flinch when they hear the price of our eggs. Even when compaired to local organic eggs the price is still high.  However, it cost us four dollars and fifty-four cents to produce one dozen eggs.  We are small and do not have the economies of scale that would help keep cost down and allow us to be price competative.  How we raise and treat our layers is not conventional but more in synergy with a balanced eco-system for soil health, pest management, fruit and vegetable production and environmental sustainability.

Organic Hairy Vetch seed, when we first started buying it in fifty-pound bags, cost twenty-eight dollars.  That was four years ago, today that same fifty-pound bag costs one hundred and twenty dollars.  Organic winter rye has gone up about forty percent.  Organic chicken feed cost fifteen dollars for fifty pounds, now it is twenty dollars for the same fifty pounds.  Diesel prices went up and never came down as well as, everything else that we need that is delivered to us, via freight or is made from petrol derivatives.

Add insurance costs, fees for certification and licenses, egg cartons, labels, boxes for bulk delivery and more.  You need a license to sell eggs; the eggs must be weighed, dated, and graded.  The scale you use to weigh the eggs needs a license and is inspected.  We need to document how many eggs are layed each day, any bird losses or gains per year and we are suffering losses again.  We think it is a neighbor's dog.  Under State and County law I am allowed to shoot the dog and still go after the owner for economic losses.  Here is one of those philisophical mores being tested against the almighty dollar. I will have to explore this one later.  

Each chicken cost about one dollar as a day old peep.  Because they will be organic, you need to spend the first three weeks of their life keeping them from getting Coccidiosis.  Until that time, their immune system is under-developed and cannot protect themselves from their own fecal matter.  This labor and all labor associated with their daily and long term maintenance is charged at eight dollars an hour.  

Next is tilling and preparing plots of land for the chickens’ new home.  This is a year round function, below is a piece of land that was used to grow corn in 2009.  We tilled and what you are seeing is hairy vetch, some winter rye and some brown leaves. 

We will move the chickens onto this field eight feet at a time.  The electric fence gets moved, then the chicken house winter set up and all goes with it.  This brings me to another cost, electricity for heating the water buckets and a heat lamp when temperatures drop below freezing.  Another interesting note is that the land that has hairy vetch and rye freezes last.  When we move the fence, each post has a spike to go into the ground.  If you are outside the perimeter of the seed mix, the ground is frozen solid and impenetrable.  A few inches into the mix and the spike goes in no problem.  Eventually even the best grass is frozen solid but until it does, we use the fence when moving the pens.

What you see below is the soil after the chickens have been on and moved off.  It looks bad to the untrained eye, but what you are seeing is some of the greatest naturally developed soil a farm could ask to have.  The layers eat the vetch, a legume, and the rye, which in turn affects the taste of the egg.  At least that is what we think our customers are talking about when they say, "These are the best eggs we've ever had".  A humbling statement that makes me blush but the fact they are repeat customers is what really confinced us to stick with this particular production model. 

The ground is fertile, devoid of weeds, most subterranean and low flying insects, good and bad are gone, and there is a natural tilth and humus.  The ground is soft and on relatively flat land.  Other parts of the farm we change the model a little bit in order to stop soil erosion.  

The layers eat all the grasses, scratch up the soil and leave nutrients behind.  At the top right of the picture is our Rooster and two-three of his companions. In the spring I will come again, surface till and lay down hairy vetch. red clover and rye.  If need be we can put chickens back on it but we have other areas that need attention too.

This is a cyclical process; we plant vegetables, and then let the soil rest by planting nitrogen fixing grasses and winter rye that develops a deep taproot making the soil expand.  The layers are moved on, and then off to another plot of lush fresh green garden.  We then use the land that has been resting the longest to grow the season's vegetables.  While the other three pieces of land are naturally recouperaring the nutrients and minerals helps us reduce our fertilizer needs.

Then there are the costs associated with medical supplies to take care of wounds and do examinations.  It is not much but it is a cost.

After most all of the costs are added up for the month we then take the total dozen count and come up with our revenue.  Our last calculation came out to $4.54 a dozen.  When laying production drops, there are fewer eggs to sell and that cost number rises.  You still have the same amount of layers eating the same amount of food; you just have less revenue potential that makes the loss greater.  Did I mention that I graduated from business school?  I have said we are in it for the health but I even wonder if I need to get a check up from the neck up.

By Local:  It is not just a fad anymore.

We arrived at the Virginia Tech, agricultural center and headed into the building.  We signed in, went into the room and saw about one hundred  people.  We met many of the researchers that we have communicated via email, saw some conventional people like Bob Black from Catoctin Orchards, and met Eric Rice who is an organic orchardist in Western Maryland.  The meeting came to order and the head entomologist started out with all the media attention that BMSB was getting and that this was an unprecedented variance in their daily routines.  When you think about it unless you are into growing or entomology these people are relatively unknown to the world.The work they do however has greater impact for all of us and they are truly unsung heroes.

I sat in the room feeling like an imposter; here were all these people that have dedicated their lives to understanding and documenting all that "bugs" us.  The subject matter is immense and their are specific specialties which makes it even more awe inspiring. We were very fortunate to be part of this event.  

Dr. Leskey had said that never before has so much attention been put on a single bug and entomology.  She then showed clips from news organizations featuring accounts from cities, counties and finally farms.  Then they started to discuss updates from the previous meeting.  They were speaking in Latin for the most part but we had read ahead and could track a little.  At least we knew when they said Halyomorpha halys we knew they were talking about the BMSB.  When they referred to Pentatomidaes,they were talking about all stinkbugs and other similar insects.

Then they started to talk about the spread of the bug and pheromones that were working to attract the BMSB both male and female.  This is when my ears started cropping up and I was writing furiously spelling the words phonetically.They talked about spray cycles and infestation patterns within orchards, under study, where the greatest concentrations of the bugs were in the orchard.Each University presented their findings and all pointed to the different types of damage to fruits and crops and a continuing presence of these bugs.

After the updates the farmers started addressing the groups, there were three large conventional orchards representing 200+ acres each and two organic farms, Eric Rice’s and ours.The conventional people were talking of the devastation and of their spray patterns and the different types of chemicals used.It was dismal, one after another talked of the devastation.They spoke of seemingly good-looking apples being put away only to find internal damage when taken out of storage.We lost all of our apples, persimmons and raspberries but being so small the loss was not as great as the others’ were.Each farmer pleaded for the groups help and stressed the importance of getting relief before next growing season.

Then I got up after the three conventional people and looked out at the large room.I thanked Dr. Leskey for the invitation and said, Hi, I am Brian my wife and I own and operate Miolea Organic Farm.Then I blurted out, “We are screwed”, I know it was not appropriate but after hearing what I just heard and knowing that there was no organic method to control them that is how I felt.The audience took the statement in the jest it was meant.  There is however truth in jest..I then went into what we faced, what we did, what we had observed and how we tried to control them.I noted that our cherry tomatoes were untouched and other vegetables that had not been affected.I thanked them and stressed the fact that small organic farmers were going to be the hardest hit first.  I also volunteered the farm and said We would be willing to work with anyone including being a sponsor for funding from OREI.

There is nothing like facing your fears and over-coming them.Do not get me wrong, I was sick going to, sick before speaking but was not as sick after speaking.  What buoyed me most was meeting these people and hearing what research they are involved in and what is planned.  I left the meeting with a strong sense that from this group that it is just a matter of time.

Buy Local: Now more than ever, find a small farm to support.

My wife and I met some incredibly talented and gifted people this past week.  We attended the regional BMSB workgroup meeting and met the professional people that have dedicated their lives to the pursuit and understanding of insects and the insect world, also known as entomology.  The USDA-Agricultural Research Services is coordinating the efforts of the University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, Virginia Tech., Rutgers University, University of Oregon and many others, in the fight against the BMSB.  We were invited to attend and speak about the hardships and challenges that we faced this past growing season with the bug.

It all started with Congressman Bartlett rounding up his colleagues and writing a letter to the USDA and EPA asking for emergency assistance.  As the news played out, we kept hearing stories of how hard the conventional orchards were being hit and how nothing was working on the BMSB.  Having lived through the summer, we started to get concerned that “Organics” was never mentioned in any of the news stories; not online, in newsprint or television.  In Frederick County, where we live, we have the most organic farms than any other county in the state of Maryland.  Congressman Bartlett is our representative.

I wrote his office and asked if he could make sure that organics would be included when the USDA and EPA were doing research on the problem.  At the same time, I posted a cry for help on this blog, asking people to write their representatives stating the same.  Not soon after, Congressman Bartlett’s office wrote and put me in touch with the lead scientist on the project.  I called her number and left a message.  I introduced our organic operation and myself and told her about the devastation the bug caused on our crops.  I then asked that she please keep organics in mind as she conducted her research.  I felt good that I was able to leave that message and that the head researcher would hear it.  Do something about, might be a different story, it may or may not be within her power.  I at least felt I did my best to give organics a voice.

 A couple of days later I received an email from Dr. Leskey (the head USDA researcher) asking if we could arrange for a phone call.  We did and I talked to her over the phone.  She assured me that organics was in fact part of the discussion and research.  She then had her own request, would I come to the next workgroup meeting and address the researchers?  I did what I do in any situation were I am not sure, I told her I would think about it and get back to her.

I do not have a problem with public speaking; I have spoken to groups both large and small at farm conferences.  We give educational tours around the farm.  I am not shy when it comes to speaking about my passion and the ills of industrial farming.  This however was a different audience.  These were PhD’s from renowned Universities and prominent USDA/EPA research labs.  I was intimidated.  What could I offer these folks but anecdotal information?  These people have spent their adult life in entomology.  They are the ones we write to when we reach the end of our knowledge and they are the people who have the answer to our questions.  Except for the BMSB, they have answered every other question we have asked.

I talked to my wife and told her all the reasons that it did not make sense for me or both of us to go.  The meeting was too far away, we would have to take off work, what information could we bring to the table that they have not already heard.  I had a ton of reasons but I never brought up that I was intimidated.  I called Dr. Leskey back and explained that we would not be able to attend that we had appreciated the invitation and were comforted by the fact that she did have organics on the radar screen.

 At about the same time the USDA announced that the National Organics Standards Board (NOSB) had appointed a new member and that member was a local farmer I knew.  He is Nick of “Nick’s Organics”.  The NOSB is the governing body that approves what can and cannot be used in growing, handling and production of organic consumables.  I called to congratulate him.  As part of my BMSB campaign I had sent Nick the same email I sent o everyone I knew, imploring all to contact their representatives.

 As the conversation was ending, he thanked me for my congratulations and asked if I had any traction or movement on BMSB.  I explained to him how I did get to talk to some folks, about how Dr. Leskey invited me to speak but I declined the invitation.  I told him the same stuff as I did my wife and Dr. Leskey.  Nick however, did not let me off as easy as Dr. Leskey or my wife. 

I do consider Nick a mentor even though he is mainly an organic meat person, I look to him for counsel.  He has been in organic farming for more than twenty-five years.  However, this relationship did take time to develop.  When we first called the State to discuss organic certification they gave us Nick's name because he had been organic farming, for years, near our farm.

The discussion got around to what we were going to be getting certified.  My wife told them vegetables to start then fruits.  Our Department of Agriculture is one of the best government run agencies I have ever dealt with or have read about.  They did not try to discourage us, but, they did say what they see is that people start out with organic vegetables and fruits and then turn to animals.  They then gave us Nick's name and told us to talk to him.  They said he had been around awhile and done what we had done.

We knew of Nick from attending farming conferences and educational seminars.  After hearing what the State said, I avoided him as much as possible.  I understood what they were trying to say and I see it sometimes in the people that work for us.  It is a great thought that you are not harming the environment and you are growing the freshest, safest and tastiest fruits and vegetables.  It is also a romantic thought and one that a lot of people have, do good for society, the earth, yourself and your community.   You work out in the fresh outdoors under blue skies with nature all around you.

Within the first couple of months after starting work or starting a new season reality sets in and slaps you cross the face.  Romantisisim rockets out the window in 100 degree heat and you are left with the facts that this is hard, dirty, sweaty, tiering, exhausting, dangerous, relentless, frustrating, untammed and at the total mercy of mother-nature kinda job. 

I knew all of this, I had grown organic tomatoes and peppers for twelve years for ourselves and family.  We walked into it with our eyes open and a ten year business plan.  If we are not profitable by year eleven then I will have failed and I will have to close up shop and go back to growing for ourselves again. 

In my addeled brain my thought was I did not need people to tell me why I should not grow organic fruits and vegetables, I needed to find people who know how to grow organic fruits and vegetables.  For the longest time I avoided Nick except for the occasional hellos at different functions.  But, then we started buying hairy-vetch seeds and chicken feed from him.  I slowly started to see him in a different light, he was supportive, energetic, extremely knowledgeable and raised some really good tasting beef.

As the years past we talked more and for longer periods of time.  It was sometimes about esoteric things like the time I told him to cook his beef on a cherry-wood fire or him telling me how to pronounce edamame.  Other times it was about the problems we face as small farms.  When we read the news of his appointment we were excited for him and called to congratulate him on his selection.

The conversation wound down and he asked me if had any traction on the BMSB issue.  I told him about the workgroup and that organics was being considered and I told him of the invitation that I had declined.  In Nick's own iniminable style he explained the relative importance that had been bestowed upon me. 

He explained that what I had to say and share with these people might be anecdotal but that they had to hear from the people that were on the front lines fighting this bug in order to make a living.  The scientists needed another perspective he said, one that I could provide and could translate to all other organic vegetable and fruit operations.  Having lost all the corn, tomatoes, peppers, apples, persimmons and raspberries we did this year, I could not refute his advice. 

He gave me the name of a local organic orchard owner who he said could also speak to the need for organic research.   I wrote the name and number down, thanked Nick and congratulated him once again.  I hung up with sort of a sick feeling growing in my stomach.  I followed through and wrote the orchardist an email and explained the situation.

In the mean time, I called Dr. Leskey back and asked if both Eric and I could address the audience.  Her answer was quick and unequivical, yes it would be appreciated.  Weeks later we got the agenda, we were to speak at about 10:20a.m.  We also got to see who and what was being presented before and after we were to speak.  To say I had beads of sweat would be an understatement. 

To be continued.......

My admiration and adulation goes out to all of those farmers that have big animals and do it humanely.  To me, anything bigger than a chicken is a big animal.  Well, maybe except for pigmy goats.  The knowledge big animal farmers have to possess and dedication is daunting and to do it all humanely amazes me about them.  The dedication alone makes me think what I do is just playing.  I know I am not but by comparison, I am a babe in the woods. 

When you choose to be a humane farm, in my opinion, that choice is made from one of two motivations; one is reason the other is emotion.  Reason looks at the facts of animal production and takes into account, taste, productivity, health, environmental impact, total cost, rate of return on your investment and workload.  Then there is the emotional decision.  You take into account the health of all the animals, you anthropomorphize to a certain extent and you want to make their brief existence on this earth as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.  Unstressed animals taste better and they need no or minimal drugs because of the healthy environment.  No matter what motivation drives the choice, both ultimately benefit, people, animals and the environment.      

I think when reason comes into play there is less angst when dealing with mortality.  Having talked to colleagues and reading posts here, I know there is grief no matter how slight.  I can see it in the words we all use when describing the loss, be it to slaughter, age and illness or shear economics.  Even with reason your heart is in it, because with reason comes compassion and with compassion comes some amount of strings attached to the heart that will be tugged.  

I am not a mental giant but, I can clearly claim I fall into the emotional category.  Mortality was and still is my biggest hurtle.  I did not want any animals, at all, because I knew that the mortality, for whatever reason was going to fall on my shoulders.  Whether it was just to bury an expired animal or having to put one down to relieve its misery or worse yet taking the life because of economic reasons, I was against the notion.  We did eventually get into animal husbandry as has been chronicled in our blog.  As I age and mature, in my new role, I can say that my heart is not hardening but that I am getting less unsettled when dealing with mortality.It still takes a toll and I am reminded of Dr. Temple Grandin’s statement thatordinary people “can become sadistic from the dehumanizing work of constant slaughter.”  We fall way short of anything close to that but the thought is there.

I will tell you we currently have four pet chickens out of the forty we have.  These four are the oldest and no longer produce eggs.  I cannot bring myself to take them to be processed.  What got us through the first culling was we knew that the last thing the chickens would do was feed the less fortunate and homeless (see Spent Layers and Humane Farming).  These four I just cannot do it, they trust us to keep them safe.  I know what I just said, but when you walk up to most chickens they are going to run from you.  With some if you can get a hand on them they will squat.  I have been told this is an instinctual act dealing with reproduction.  Having observed the rooster in action, I can see their point, but the rooster has to catch them first and get a good grip before the submissive behavior takes place.   

With these four, when I walk up to them they squat and wait to be picked up.  Even if all I am doing is bringing them food or water.  If I come into the pen and one is around me she raises her shoulders out from her body and lowers her body closer to the ground.  To me that is an indication of trust.  If a chicken runs from you, we would associate that behavior with fear.  If they stay and let you pick them up would we associate that behavior with trust?

When we take a tour of kids around the farm they are my go-to girls.  I can walk up to one pick her up and let them see a chicken up close and personal.  The hen stays calm without throwing a fuss and lets the children pet or touch her.  I will talk about the hen and point out the waddle, comb, beak, nostrils and ears.  I skip the vent unless asked “where do the eggs come out?”.I will then point to the hen’s ear and tell them that is how you can tell what color egg they will lay.  I usually get responses from the parents at that point in time because it is a fascinating tidbit.  Education is a big part of our mission.

No matter why a person decides to be a humane farm the practice is good for the animal, good for the environment and healthy for the consumer.As for the farmer, I think that the practices make us all feel good.Once again that giving back aspect makes a person feel good.By providing open spaces, natural grazing and comfortable living conditions we benefit from production, the animals thrive and the environment recovers naturally.

 Buy Local: Type your zip code in and find a farm near you to visit it.

We have all heard the tenants and arguments of nature versus nurture, or environment versus genetics in human psychological development.  There are also the formative years, the first ten years of a human’s life that set our core values, mores, emotional and behavioral thoughts and responses.  Whether the human condition is pre-ordained, by environment or genetics I have no idea.  With me, I know it was a combination of both.  There are genetics involved but I am also a compilation of people that have passed through my life and left an indelible mark on my heart, personality, thoughts and feelings.  I am what I have experienced and pieces of those who have touched me. 

I was reflecting on how there has been subtle changes that have taken place in me that makes me a totally different person from the one whom left the city back in 1990.  Events that individually would be innocent yet turn into something that could challenge your existing belief structure (like having to take the life of a living creature) or are mere distractions (like a chicken in the tree) or having to deal with a rat living near the chickens and feeding off their feed.  We did dispose of the rat and turned the den over frozen ground and all. Rats and chickens make a bad combination and a recent egg recall would bare that out. 

When I step back and look at the bigger picture, I realize there has been a major shift in most facets of my life.  From my business dress (at my full-time job) to my outlook on any given situation, be it dangerous,  personal, risk, weather, infestation, bee or wasp stings, snake removal, having to put chickens down you raised from a day old, or even the physicality’s that I encounter with tasks (unloading a ton of corn gluten, one fifty-pound bag at a time).In case you have for gotten a ton is two thousand pounds.I am vested in today and what it may bring.I plan for the future, but today is the only thing we really have.How often do we look back and say “remember the good old days?” well today is that day.The past cannot be changed and future cannot be manipulated, but today, today we can do something about.

I learned that life can take a turn and you find yourself navigating the curvature barely able to control, when grip loses out to inertia and you think for a split second the worst.  Yet, you find miraculously you navigate and stay the course in order to react to what comes next.  Three years into our stay on the farm, my wife almost lost her life.

It was not farm related but the strenuous work did not help her either. I learned in Psych 101 that it takes a "significant life event" to change the behavior developed in the formative years.  Her illness qualified as one of my life changing events. 

When she got ill, nothing in my life mattered anymore.  I know it is cliché’, but it is true.  My only other concern was if the cat was fed (we did not have chickens yet), other then that I focused on what I needed to do to get my wife past this.  I just wanted to get her healthy and out of the hospital, that was my single-minded goal.  From the time she entered the hospital until the day after the operation I was at her bedside making sure she was getting the best care. 

While we were waiting for her operation, I was told of the dangers and risks associated with the surgery.  The hospital then informed me that I had to get a will, power of attorney and other forms signed and notarized in case my wife passed away during the operation.Because I have a friend that is a lawyer, it was not as hard a task as some people would have had.  I was forty-four and I had to prepare for what might be the demise of the most important, influential, supportive and loving person in my life. 

The night before surgery we had to sign all the documents with witnesses and the notary.  While I was explaining the documents to my wife, she was signing and then I would sign then the witness and then the notary.  The hospital room was filled to capacity yet at that time I have never felt more alone and scared.  I was stead fast in my outlook and support while facing my wife.  “We are going to get through this”, I told her as the room emptied.  I ended up sleeping in her hospital bed that night.  For all I knew this might be the last time in my life I could sleep with her.  I know I dozed sometimes but when you sleep in a bed made for one you do not sleep.

It all started on a Sunday night. Two hospitals and eight days later, after life threatening surgery, I was loading my wife gingerly into the car for the trip home.  That time and watching my wife healing has changed me. How I look at things and react has changed.  I see that life is precious and way to short.  That being a good person matters, being a good corporate citizen matters, helping your community and giving back matters.  Not all the money in the world is going to make you feel better about yourself.  You think it will, but it does not, look at the millionaires’ and billionaires’ over the years, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Soros, Gates and all the others that have amassed huge fortunes only to give most of it back to society in the form of social philanthropies.  Why do most of them do this?  Because, giving makes you feel good.

What matters to me now is that each day I get another day to spend with my wife and show her how much I love her.  That I give back, whether it is taking our spent layers to soup kitchens or to grow the freshest and safest food we can grow, or to simply educate people about the perils of the industrial food complex.  We get to show how sustainable farming is going to protect us today and into the future. In the mean time, we all should enjoy today.

BUY LOCAL:  Support the poor judgment, of those of us, who toil to grow you safe, fresh, healthy foods.

In an attempt to reach out to our community, and get help for the farm, I called the local high school and talked to the student-advisor of the “Future Farmers of America" club.  I explained that we were a local organic farm and wanted to know if any of the students would want to work on the farm.  We would pay for their labor and they would be able to satisfy school requirements.  At the end of the conversation, the instructor said she would announce the opportunity.  "But", she said, "you know how kids are today,” Yes, I knew what she meant; the majority of our youth spend too much time with electronics and social networking and little time experiencing their environment.I also knew that most of the kids that want to be farmers today see themselves in air-conditioned cabs on large tractors and combines.  I do not have a problem with that, as long as they still want to farm.We of course do not work in air-conditioned anything.So, as it turned out, no one from the high school called.That year we hired people from off the street.   

Not to be deterred, during the winter, I researched the offerings of our local community college.  They did not have agronomy or animal husbandry but they did have a culinary arts program.  One of my thoughts was, "wouldn't it look good on a new chefs' resume that they worked on an organic farm".  So I called the community college, spoke to the head of the program, and sold my idea of an intership.  She then passed me to the head Chef.  

I talked to the head Chef and set up a time to come in and address his class. He agreed to setup an internship and I agreed to make sure they (the perspective students) met the requirements.I had a twenty-minute presentation that ended with a technical look at eggs.  Specifically, the difference between store bought and free-range, organic eggs.  I made arraignments with Chef to have eggs available.  The last part of the presentation was going to be "show and tell".  I had brought a dozen eggs and had planned to open their egg and my egg and let them see the difference.  Then they could take the rest of the eggs and compare the tastes of both.I talked about the difference of both on a fat, vitamin, cholesterol, omega three's and mineral level.  Then I opened an egg from the school onto a plate.  I then took my egg, opened it up and poured it out of the shell onto the other plate.   

There was an audible gasp from the students when they saw the color of the two yolks.  Then I started getting questions about if there was a difference when cooking with the egg.I thought, "I got them" and I explained how the free range organic egg would give more lift because of the protein and how they would need to adjust bread recipes because of the fat or lack there of.  I also explained how hard fresh eggs are to peel once they are hard-boiled.  I taught them about the bloom and why an egg can stay fresh for three months without refrigeration.  Then I hit them with this line, "As a new Chef, whose resume would look better, one that has an internship on an organic farm or one without?”  

I thanked them for their time and left.  I felt good; my expectation was that I was going to get help for the coming growing season.  I had left our email address and phone number.  It was just a matter of time before I had help.  They earn college credits, money and experience with growing organic food in a sustainable environment.  The requirements were two days a week for three months.  Therefore, I felt good that night and waited for the calls to come.Oh hell, you know where this is going so I will beat to the chase.  Let us just say I had inordinate expectations.

Buy Local:  You can help save the planet, think global, buy local.

Of the plethora of problems we face with our chickens, one is that the biggest group of layers tends to be too "free-range".  I know that might sound counter-intuitive, but any situation that invariably leads to, or creates problems is not good.  The layers are supposed to be in a concentrated area so we can maximize their fertilizer potential.  Flock three thinks that free-range means they can go wherever they want.  We have seen some chickens at least a tenth of a mile from their house.  I have read (from multiple sources) that when layers roam they tend to hang around their shelter or within the immediate area.   

Flock three, apparently remembered last year when they were by the barn and must think that the grass tastes better or something.  We moved them to newly certified land behind the barn.  They were on fresh winter rye and hairy-vetch.The trailer is at least seven hundred feet away from the barn and down a hill.  They cannot see the barn but, they fly over the electric fence and walk up the hill to the barn.  The barn is but one of many stops they will make in the day, they walk around the barn, then past the barn to the house, they walk around the house, then head down the hill in front of the house and into the old abandoned railway.  I found this little fact out quite by accident.  I was driving up to the house from the street and I see this lump in the middle of what we call the “causeway,”   My first thought is terror in that it looks like a small dog.  We have already had one dog attack and it was not pretty or easy to deal with.

The causeway is an old railway bed that separated one side of the property from the other.  As I got close and had a better look, it was three chickens, probably the three stooges, but I did not check, come to think of it, we never did go after them.  Sometimes you get into a routine and the unusual goes forgotten.  Nothing happened to them and they did find their way back.  When we close the layers up for the night, a head count takes place and the numbers were correct.  Predation is a major issue for free-range farmers as is when hens start laying outside the nest.  When that takes place, you have an old-fashioned egg hunt on your hands.  We learned it was vital to get them into the routine of laying eggs inside a nest before letting them really roam.  With flock three, the first year of their life, they stayed inside the electric fence without a hint of flying the coop.  Today, they epitomize the term free range like none other we have raised.  They roam everywhere, as long as they are near the woods, they are relatively safe from hawks, other hazards not so much.

I see things from the layers sometimes that make me think they have memories, decision-making capacities however slight and some have their own personalities.  No, I am not anthropomorphizing, as much as pointing out that some of them act different from the others and they remember where they have been.  Then sometimes their behavior just has me shaking my head and mumbling to myself.  There are now twenty-one hens in the trailer with the rooster and ten nesting boxes.  The rule of thumb is two to four hens to a nest.  You would think that there would be no waiting when it comes to nesting boxes but for some strange reason one layer will always pick a nest already occupied.

There would be nine other empty nests, but the best nest was the one with the hen inside.  When that happens, they start to cluck at each other.  I am standing there watching the one hen outside the nest clucking, while the one inside waits until the first one is quiet, then responds with her own.  This goes on for a bit until the one on the outside goes to another nest or the one on the inside lays her egg and leaves.  Sometimes, one will just go into the nest box even though another hen is there.  This is especially true when you have a broody hen; the other hens sense it and lay eggs in her nest.  I do not know this to be a rule but when a hen gets broody, we often find most of the day’s eggs are under her.

Memory is another thing.  Periodically, we have had to place birds in quarunteen or the hospital pen.  It is a stall inside the barn with a window, food, water, nest and roost.  I've written about the three stooges and their penchant for staying inside the hospital pen.  We have had to have the doors closed at all times this summer because these things just refuse to stay out.  Henrietta, as she is called, has some magical gift of hearing.  She will be no ware in sight, as soon as I open the front barn door, she appears.  That would be fine, but she insists on getting up on my work bench, kicking most of the light stuff off and lays her egg on the wood shaving by the mitter saw.  She has also become territorial, she believes her place is in the hospital pen and she is determined to lay claim.

She did spend time in there when we were trying to get her to stop flying out of the fenced area. But that was over ten months ago and she still thinks that is her home.

We do have a very social and inquisitive group of hens, which is great when kids visit, not so great when a worker is here and the bird gets in the van to check things out.  We have gotten into the routine of asking people to check their vehicles before they leave the farm.  It saves them an unwarranted re-visit just in case.  

Buy Local:  find a local farm and support your health and your community

Our County promotes a weekend each fall celebrating farms and farming.  Frederick County holds Family Festival on the Farm.Family’s, that sign up ahead of time, get a CD with a map of all the participating farms and each farm has its own unique look, activities and practices.

Be it conventional or organic, farms are open on this weekend for the education of the public.  It is government expenditures at its best.  Our local government coordinates and markets the event and helps any farm that wants to participate.  

It is an event that we have been involved in the last three years.  However, our participation is unique, we pack up and go over to Nick's Organic and cook his organic beef on a cherry wood fire.  We get to cook, promote our cooking classes, sell our other stuff and preach to the choir.Each year the crowd grows, questions become more in-depth, the stories of backyard escapades intensify and what people are doing still surprises me.

I had one of those re-affirming moments on the second day of the event; I know my views are somewhat anti-establishment in the farming community so I am often careful as to what I say and when.We are a humane farm and we keep our hens for four years.Even organic practices allow hens to be processed within two years of their life, which is their peak laying time.As I have exposed before this is a hard process for us.I guess I am chicken when it comes to processing them. I think they should get to live at least until they stop laying completely. Then we get them processed and take them to local soup kitchens.

The festival was winding down the last day of the event the farm manager, Nick and some of Nick's friends were standing around the grill.There were mostly farmers and some mechanics that had come to fix the picker on the combine,  They were hanging around and eating sausages and hamburgers.I was out of my league; here are all these people that have spent their lives in the fields and on farms.I have always been leery of being called a farmer because of these people.In my eyes they are farmers, I am but a large gardener.Well, we were all standing around and the topic turned to chickens.Nick innocently asked me what I do with my spent layers, I thought a bit.I knew everyone around me has processed beef, pork, goats, lamb, chickens and turkeys.Squeamishness is not a feeling that is prevalent in the farming community.

Do I act tough in front of these people and say something that I think everyone would expect?  Or on the other hand, should I tow the party line and admit we keep our layers for four years before we get them processed, and then take them to the soup kitchen.  So, I said just that, “We are a humane farm and we keep our chickens (at this time I can feel my face flushing) until they stop laying and then we take them up to Berry Blossom for processing and then to the soup kitchen so their last act is to feed the less fortunate”.I expected jeering but from one to the other each passed on their admiration for that act.Who knows they might go back and say, I just met this nut that gives away his chickens.If so, who cares, if it inspires another person to do a similar act then great.

Either way I am glad I stayed true to our beliefs and ego be dammed.I am sure they are scratching their heads and asking how we make money, as do we.  But in the end it us that have to live with our decisions and as I have said before we are in it for the health not the wealth.

Buy Local:Support a local farm so it can support you and your community in the future.

For those of you south and west of us get ready for an invasion of the Brown Marmarated Stink Bug (BMSB), if it hasn't already been introduced to you.The bug has become incredibly out of control where we are in Maryland.We lost all of our corn (250'X60'), they lowered our tomato yields 90% and now they are invading the home.

We sealed the inside of our windows in late August and any crack we could find inside the house and out.  If I may indulge you, when the insulation can says to wear gloves they mean it.  It is a different and embarrassing story so I will just keep it to myself. The directions also tell you to wear goggles and some other stuff, which are all important.But, the gloves yeah, you need the gloves.

The stinkbugs are in every nook and cranny under everything that has a flat surface and an edge.We have seen them pilled and packed so deep onto each other that they look like part of the building.You would have to take a second look to realize that what you are seeing is a living caulk of stinkbugs.

They like South-West facing buildings but, because there are so many of them to fit, you will find them all around the building.I read they are attracted to white. What I have noticed is that the greatest concentration of these bugs has been on the southwest sides of the house, barn and milking shed. It was in the middle of September, we were putting the tractor away in the barn mid-afternoon the sun was out but it was cooler than usual.I am driving to the barn and the paint job looks horrible, sometimes when a large group of birds fly over we have found our house or barn have been used for precision target practice by the flock.At first I thought that might be the case again but as the tractor came closer to the barn I could see the specks moving.I knew what it was but I had never seen the amount that I was now looking at.I called every body from what they were doing in order so that they could see this sight.

There had to be thousands of bugs completely covering the back wall of the three-story barn.It was just one of those moments when you have a flash of lucidness and you think “What the @#$% am I doing here?”Nevertheless, it is just a flash so I ignored the unsettling sight and got everybody back to work.

It is the same way with the house, which is white also.I read in our local paper that quoted an EPA scientist as saying in essence if something is not done about this quickly these bugs have the potential to put Integrated Pest Management practices back thirty-years.We lost our corn and tomato crops, local conventional orchards are losing between twenty-five and thirty-percent of their harvest.  This cannot be allowed to happen.

Moreover, these bugs are moving.BMSB was first found in Allentown PA., in 1998, they are now all across the United States and they are causing damage and failures like ours.All of the farmers around me are trying things and we are all sharing ideas and results of our own testing but so far, nothing has come from our trials and the authorities are trying to find something for conventional people.As with every problem, we will adjust however or whatever is needed.In the mean time,

Buy Local:your support really does make a difference

 

I count myself fortunate to be able to experience the change in seasons.  Not that there is anything wrong with living in a mono-climate but, a change in seasons thrusts you into changing or makes a difference that has you either looking forward to the coming weather or mourning the passing of your favorite season.  I love to grow fruits and vegetables but my window of growing is limited.  Now we may be able to keep growing through the fall and winter.  Thanks to a research grant funded by the USDA through the National Conservation Resource Services (NRCS).  That is the good news. 

The fact that the High Tunnel cost us three times more to install (we had to pick up that tab) but it was built on top of some of the worst ground on the property making that factoid icing on the cake.

We got the soil test back and it just confirmed what we had guessed.  Even having come from the city I could still tell what good soil looked like.  I played baseball on many of the city's fields.  There were some that where lush and green with soft spongy soil, while others would be hardpan, infield and out.  The soil in the high tunnel is bad and lacking in minerals and what is known as tilth (in essence fluffiness of the soil), it is low in PH and micronutrients and it is mostly sand and clay on probably fifty percent of the entire inside of the 96x35 foot print. 

In July, we had planted some of the cherry tomatoes inside the tunnel once it was finished.  They have turned out to be hardy plants.  We had to feed them organic fertilizer because the soil was so bad and then watered them periodically.Periodically, in this case, meant that the plants where forgotten and watered incidentally. 

To my surprise, after forgetting about them longer than usual, I walked inside the tunnel expecting crispy critters and found them alive but stunted.  They were about a foot and a half-tall, straight stem with small leaves.  Two plants actually had small cherry tomatoes on them.  We have since watered them more frequently and gave them another side dressing of fertilizer.  They are still growing but growing slowly.  In the mean time, we are hauling in topsoil from around the farm and will take the compost pile and spread that throughout the tunnel.

Next comes planting seventy-five percent of the high-tunnel footprint in Hairy-Vetch and Winter Rye and then setting up the irrigation (we have decided on overhead sprinkler for this year).  Once the grasses are established, we would turn the chickens loose and let them work their magic on the soil.  We had to get a special exemption for this but the Natural Resources agent actually liked the idea, especially after showing him the sandstone that was in the south-west end of the tunnel.The cherry tomatoes are not growing like any tomato that I have ever grown.  They are all one stalk towering straight up. 

We planted the same kind outside and they grew nothing like these are growing.  I know neglect, bad soil and lack of moisture has everything to do with it and is interesting to see how the plant is adapting to such a bad environment.  It is going to be interesting watching these things grow into the winter and see how far they get before the chill really gets to them.  We will also get a feel for how efficient the high tunnel is at keeping the tomatoes living late into the season.  We have since planted spinach to also keep track off and experiment with. 

In the mean time, we have some serious work to do before we can plant anything of substance in the tunnel.  The PH needs will be raised to get it to at least 6.0 if not 6.5 and to do that we have to add lime and in this case water.  The micronutrients concern me more and that is where we need to focus our efforts.  Being organic has its limitations and it takes time to bring soils back to a healthy state, naturally, so we know that we will be using fertilizer in the short term.  We need to meet the requirements of the program so there is some pressures to do something other than grow grass.

For nutrient rich soil we have found that we really need at least two years of planting cover crops, chickens, tilling, planting cover crops, chickens and so on, for at least four times in those two years.  Our chickens are moved to new rye and vetch when their occupied ground has been devastated.  Really, devastated, has the wrong connotation in this case.  What the flock leaves is a fluffy, nutrient rich little specimen of Mother Earth; the soil is aerated and devoid of insects, weeds and grasses.  There is this cyclical event with putting on nitrogen fixing grasses and keeping chickens concentrated in order to maximize their own nutrient potential.  At least two out of three flocks stay inside their fences, which helps us with our nutrient calculations. 

I am hoping that we can take flock three inside the high tunnel and keep them there in a feeble attempt at breaking their free roaming ways.  So I get to grow into the winter.  After this terrible season with the drought, marmarated brown stink bugs and high heat level it might actually be enjoyable to see how things turn out.  We will have to see.  In the mean time,  

Buy Local: Emeril does.

 

Growing up in the city in early summer we had what was called carnivals.  There were rides like the swinging chairs (a wooden chair suspended from a disk by chains, that then rotated), ponies (get on and walk around in a circle, a small circle at that) and "stands of chance" where you could win dolls or toys by throwing something or knocking something down or popping a balloon.  I remember the State Fair being advertised, but we never went, so I had no frame of reference of what a “Fair” was compared to a carnival. 

My first visit to a county fair was not until I was nineteen; it was a sensory experience that is hard for me to describe; the smells, sounds, sights and feel was new and exhilarating.  The main feeling I had at the time was that I was in a new world but an environment that I felt comfortable with a world of vitality, of aspirations and anticipation simple in its basic form and premise.  Only later would I learn of the true complexities associated with the different facets of farming.

Everything was in sections.  All the farm animals that the 4H’s were showing, the cows, goats, horses, pigs, poultry and sheep, all had their own houses.  Children had sleeping bags in the stalls with their animals or next to their animals.  Then there were different crafts that people made: furniture, picture frames, pictures, art, clothing, the baking section, canning section, jams, jellies and preserves.  Anything that a person could make from hand was displayed and judged against others. 

Our County Fair is going full tilt and I live in a household where one of us enters things into the fair's competitions.  Late summer, early fall I go through the same ritual.  My wife and I go to the fair and she enters her jams.  This has been going on for a little over four years.  She has never placed in all of her attempts but, God love her she keeps trying.  This year was no different; we took the entries to the fairgrounds and entered them.  

A few days later, we will attend our fair the Great Frederick Fair and see if any of her entries received any ribbons.  What makes this situation worse is that our nieces and nephews have won various Blue ribbons for their cakes, cookies and other items at the Howard County Fair so the bar has been set.      

Each year we go ready to take a picture of my wife near her winning entry.  It has never worked out to be that way but it is still fun and exciting to go and see if she got a ribbon.  She has been making jams and jellies with her mom for a bit and her jams sell well at the farmers market.   

This year she decided to go to the Fair on Sunday with some of her family.  The farmers market is still taking place so I went to the market Sunday instead of to the fair.  As I was driving to the market, I had a fleeting thought, “Watch, she’ll win a Blue Ribbon this year,”.  The farmers market went well, we had Mesclun mix that had come in looking beautiful and presented very well. 

I got home, unpacked, put everything away and headed upstairs to clean the days grime off.  My wife came home exhausted but elated.  She did not get a Blue Ribbon but four of her six jams placed third.  After the year we had with so many downs and a few ups’, it was poetic justice or maybe karma or divine intervention you be the judge.  All I know is that it is the small things like family, friends, and little ribbons that make all the difference in the world once you come through the other end of a very challenging season.

Buy Local:  You will find that your decision does make a difference to the environment