Miolea Organic Farm

Our second flock of layers has a broody chicken.  She's actually gone broody two times this year.  Although breaking them of broodiness is not that hard it is still a change to all concerned.  You need to isolate them and make sure they have plenty of food and water.  The most important thing after that is to make sure they don't have an egg to sit on.  A broody hen will not lay eggs while brooding so you don't have to worry about her.  Isolating her makes sure other hens don't take advantage of her broodiness by dropping eggs in her nest. 

We took Broody out of the nesting box in flock two and placed her in the hospital pen setup in a stall in the barn.  The isolation process can take anywhere from five to ten days.  When a broody hen starts laying eggs you'll know that you have broken them of the broodiness and it is time to introduce them back to the flock.

In the past we've let the hens acclimate themselves.  We'd open the barn door and let her come out when she choose.  Sometimes it would take a couple days but eventually they come out preferring the outdoors to the pen.  The last two times we've done this the hen actually went back to her flock on her own.  This time however, Broody would come out of the barn but at night she would return to the hospital pen.  We thought, ok, she's confused and doesn't know to go back to her flock.  We seem to always rationalize their behavior but we never ask them to confirm our suspicion.

We then decided that she was going to have to be re-introduced to her old flock.  From the start we encountered stiff opposition from her mates.  When we put Broody in the pen they just started squaring off and no amount of yelling or screaming seemed to break it up.  I found that I needed to get physically in between them in order to settle them down.  Our first day of re-introducing Broody to flock two (her original flock) went something like the chicken version of a gang fight. Only Broody was a one hen gang.  I was in the pen for about an hour staying between Broody and the combatants.  I was getting tired of standing there and frustrated by all the fights so I gave up and took Broody out of the pen and let her roam the grounds.

At dusk she went back to the barn and settled into the hospital pen.  This went on for another two days.  I decided to try again but this time put her in with flock one.  It is the smallest and oldest of all the flocks so I figured there were less hens and being more mature would not cause trouble.  I took Broody in my arms and went into the pen.  I walked her around so the other hens could see her.  The whole time I'm saying shish to calm them.  I set her down and before I could get out of the pen the pecking order was being strictly enforced.

This time I decided to place the trouble makers out side of the pen and let them roam.  Much to my surprise after two hens were ejected the flock was at peace.  The two banished layers stayed outside the fence and foraged far and wide.  For the rest of the day there was harmony among the flocks.

As dusk took hold the hens started heading to bed.  I knew I was going to have to go looking for the trouble makers so I went out to search before day light vanished.  I went to the barn first to see if Broody was on her perch.  No Broody.  Okay, she's probably out back.  I left the door open and went to close up the closest flock.  We usually count the hens before locking up for the night and the second flock was all accounted for.  I try to get them to count off but they just refuse. 

Flock three was all accounted for and I headed to the last house.  At this time I'm starting to worry, Broody is no where in sight and I can't hear a sound from the banished.

I look in the last house and shine my light on the roosting polls.  The two banished hens came back from exploring and were quietly perched ready for sleep.  On the other end in the corner to my surprise perched Broody.  Everyone was settled in and ready for the night so I closed the door.

That was three days ago.  At night she sleeps with flock one.  During the day she flies the coop, roams and lays her egg in the barn. At night she goes back into the coop to sleep.   We're trying to figure out how to break the egg laying habit but we figure one change at a time.

 Buy Local - From a farmer not a chain hard selling the fact!

I heard a farmer once say that cutting grass is one of the most useless chores on a farm.  At the time I didn't really understand what he meant and he didn't explain and I didn't question.  I made a living cutting grass and that is what helped pay my way through college.

It was seasonal work but it was lucrative and the hours were flexible.  I would target my advertising to more affluent neighborhoods and those enclaves that had professionals.  My rational was that they wouldn't be home enough to cut the grass and I could charge a premium for my time and effort.  I have always been a type A who strives to do the best job I can.  As the saying goes, "If a job is worth doing it's worth doing well."

I hold myself to a higher standard and that has proven to be a problem when dealing with our employees.  I try to make sure they know what a great job they are doing and how much we appreciate their help.  First time mistakes are tollerated but also used as learning experiences.  The work is grueling and in the worst of the heat.  We make sure that they get plenty of water and rest breaks.  We often feed them at lunch if they haven't brought anything and sometimes we'll cook a light meal. 

For me once I get started in the morning I don't stop, I'll work through until 4:00 or 4:30.  I stay hydrated all day but I don't break for a meal.  I hate stopping mid-day to eat, it makes me sluggish, weighs me down but most importantly I never seem to have the appetite.  To me its like working out in a gym and stopping for food and then continue the work out.  It's just not done.

The jobs on a farm are broken into tasks and those tasks that generate revenue are most important.  Those tasks that don't generate revenue must be done but are done begrudgingly.  Like mowing the lawn or trimming the edges or draging the stone driveway.  These are the tasks that are the biggest waste of time and are fruitless in their endeavor. 

What once paid my way through school has now become a bane to my summer routine.  I know what that farmer meant when he said mowing lawns is a useless chore.  You spend time on something you can't sell.  Once you cut grass the darn thing just grows back until you cut it again.  I'd love to have an astro-turf lawn but I think it would run counter to our entire ecological mission, but then again maybe we need to re-think the whole goat thing.

BUY LOCAL - from a farmer not from a chain advertising "Local"

I read that more and more of us are starting backyard chicken pens.  If you've ever had a fresh egg you can understand why.  We read a lot about raising chickens, specifically layers, before we actually took the leap.  As I've lamented before mortality bothers us and was one of the main reasons it took us so long to incorporate hens into our farm model.

But I have to tell you it has been an experience that I wouldn't change.  We've had some sad times but the hens have brought us more joy than sorrow.  We've picked up veterinary tips and tricks and have become quite adept at handling situations as they arise.  One on the most important things to know when raising hens in your backyard is what to look for in terms of health and how to detect unhealthy situations as quickly as you can before the problem spreads to the entire flock..

We had never thought of chickens as being happy but I guess like most things you are either stressed or not stressed.  If not stressed then I guess you could consider the bird to be what we would call happy.  You can tell signs of stress and negative stress affects taste if a bird has been stressed for extended periods.  Anything subjected to long periods of stress is going to have problems.  That's why cows, pigs, chickens or any animal raised on these confinment farms are pumped up with anti-biotics, hormones and other synthetic substances.  They were not meant to live that way.  Evolution has prepared them to be grazers, hence the term ruminant.  Not in confinment yards where they stand and sleep in their own excrement laden pens with no hope of getting on grass.

First and foremost you must know what signs to look for in chickens and you must be able to compare it to what a healthy chicken looks like.  The first signs of any problem with a layer is that they will not be themselves.  We have learned that if we see any anomally whatsoever we need to act upon it.  Meaning if there is the slightest change in the bird, isolate her from the rest of the flock and give it a health check.  You should always have a hospital pen available.  This is usually an enclosed area that has food, water, a nest and a roost.  I've seen a little 2 chicken box setup for this purpose.  The last thing you need to worry about if you have a sick chicken is where are you going to put it when isolated from the flock.  Even if you do not have a special place at least know what you will do if isolation is needed.

We've lost a chicken or two because when we saw a problem it didn't look like a problem to us.  Like counting 11 chickens when there should be 12.  Then the next day counting ten hens when there should be 12.  Then coming outside on day three in the morning and seeing the neighbors dog in the pen.  Or you see a hen in the nesting box that doesn't sound right.  They normally are vocal when laying but this is an agitated kind of squawking.  I guess the rule of thumb should be if in your mind you question ANYTHING then do something about it.  Isolate the bird and examine it.  This action also protects the rest of the flock.

A healthy chicken will be active, pecking and scratching and chasing anything that flies within its eyesight.  However, they are not constantly active and you will sometimes find them taking a dirt bath.  They will scratch up the soil making a nice indentation in the earth which has all of this fluffy dirt they just created.  They'll sit in it and roll and flap there wings and just have a grand old time.  When they get up watch out, much like a wet dog they will shake and a mini dust shower come's extruding from their body.

Healthy birds have clear eyes, beak and nostrils.  There should be no discharges dried or otherwise.  Their combs and wattles should be red.  There should be no limp or what's known as bumblefoot in their gate.  Their vent should be pink and the feathers around the vent clean.  If the feathers around the vent are dirty then she could have diarreha.  Food intake varies by stage of development, weather and species.  I've found the following site to be very helpful; http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/poulsci/tech_manuals/small_flock_resources.html  

During the winter chickens eat more because eating helps them to stay warm.  It seems water intake is constant but in warmer times it does go up.  It is important to note that they should always have plenty of water and food.  The last thing you want to do is promote competition in the flock. 

There should be plenty of roosting, nesting and roaming space.   If any of these things are lacking you will promote competiion within the flock and only the strongest will survive.  If there is plenty of room( a good rule of thumb is at least four square feet per bird inside (at night) and eight outside), water and food, your entire flock will be happy and even the runts will get enough to eat and drink.  Productivity, in turn, will be higher if the bird is happy.  You'll get more eggs and tastier meat.

If you are raising meat birds there is a strong belief that a bird rasied in a stressful environement will not taste as good as a bird in a stress-free environment.  If you don't believe me do a taste test yourself. buy a store bought chicken and a free range chicken.  Prepare them identically and give your family and friends a blind test taste.  You will pay more for a free range chicken but know that it cost us more to raise them.  But a free range chicken will be free of hormones, steriods, anti-biotics and other synthetic substances that do come with chickens from the industrial food complex.

See what your family and friends say.  Let them vote and then send us the results.  We'll compile and post what we get.

Buy Local - from a farmer not a chain hard selling the fact.

The farm house we live in was built in 1837 by David and Richard Specht.  David was the original owner.  He bought the land from Charles Caroll a signer of the Declartion of Independance.  They built the house with clay bricks they made by hand from materials dug on the property.

The floor joists are solid trees with the bark still attached.  On the second floor one room has the ceiling exposed to the roof.  When you look up you see they used wooden dowls to secure the wood in place for the attic floor joists.  The wood itself has hand honed marks on it where you can see they smoothed it out. 

Each room has its own fireplace which are very shallow.  We were told that's how coal fireplaces were designed. The rooms themselves have ten foot ceilings.  The walls are covered in horse hair plaster, no lattice work just plaster slapped up against the brick interieror of the house.   The house exterior itself is made three bricks deep and has widows sills that are almost a foot and a half deep. 

My wife started researching the history behind the house and found that among other things that the brothers Specht had a run in with Union soldiers.  It seems when the Union was getting ready to attack the Confederate Army at Point of Rocks, Maryland they tour down fences in case they needed to retreat.  Well the Specht brothers didn't like having their fences down and their cows running free so they built them up.

As it turned out the Union did have to beat a retreat from Point of Rocks and when they came upon the Specht property they  did not like that the fences were restored.  In his book The History of Carrollton Manor, 1928, William Jarboe Grove surmizes that had the Union had any ammunition left the brothers would not have lived to tell about it.

Another little bit of written history was the demise of David Specht himself.  It was written that he went out during a bad storm to check on the house when a brick fell and hit him in the head.  Since Mr. Specht there have only been six owners of the farm house.

So when it came time to renovate the house we were advised that the cheapest and quickest way to accomplish what we wanted to do was to tear the house down and build it from scratch.  Knowing what we knew about the house we just could not bring ourselves to make that decision.  It did cost more and it did take longer to fix.  But, you can't replace history, you can't replace the kind of hand craftsmanship that was put into this house and you'll never replace the hopes and dreams that first built this house.

We are mere stewards, keeping the place up so that hopefully generations from now, someone else will read the history and decide that the house is to precious to tear down and build from scratch and will want to preserve it for as yet unknown generations.

Buy local - from a farmer not from a chain advertising "Local"

We were talking about getting goats, milk goats specifically.  At least my wife was.  I can only see the negative with goats so it was pretty much a one sided conversation.  I'm sure she's right; she was right about the farm, the chickens, the fruits, the eggs, the marriage....

I don't want to offend anyone, I know goat people and I respect people that have goats.  But I've heard goat people talk about goats and it usually ends with a story about one of the goats getting out and eating everything in sight.  Or goats getting out, roaming and eating the neighbor's expensive plants out of their yard.  Or goats getting out and you can't find them and when you do, you can't get them in the truck.  Or goats getting out and eating the neighbor's Harley Davidson.   Let's just say my issue is goats getting out. 

I know a lot of people with goats, they are great people but they tell me stories and inevetably one will be about their goat getting out.  I've been to seminars and presentations where other farmers are talking about how great goats are, but someone will have a story about the time their goat got out    So I asked the question, how do you keep goats in?  Strong fences I’m told.  Strong fences! 

Problem is I've asked the person that has told me the story of their goat getting out.  So, the answer is a strong fence, that’s the recommendation I’ve gotten from the extension office, from farmers and from goat herding friends.  Does anyone see a problem here?  The same people that have told me about goats getting out are the ones recommending strong fences.  Hummmm.  Was the escape before or after they installed strong fences?

I have found that there is a special electric fence for goats, sheep and chickens.  I read the website It is designed specifically for goats and sheep. The advertisement reads "Keeps your goats and sheep in and predators out."  Yeah, but I don't believe it. 

Once you buy the fence and then get the goat you’re done.  The gig is up, there is no turning back.  The goat will get out, they always do.  I'll end up having to give my neighbor free vegetables for a season.  Or worse while trying to corral the goat it kicks me in an area not meant to be kicked.  To me, goats are Mother Nature’s way of teaching us that ruminants are suppose to roam. 

Then I start to think of the benefits: they can clear brush and eat grass.  I learned of a type of pygmy goat that I found to be quite comical.  There is a goat called a Fainting Goat, and as its name implies when this thing gets scared it faints.  I saw a video of it, and all most spit my milk out from laughing.  So I waited for the right time and told my wife if she gets a milk goat then I wanted to get a fainting goat. "What's a fainting goat?" she asks.  "A pygmy goat," I respond. 

I get a quizzical look but I avoid her eyes and quickly change the subject.  I ask what kind of food would we need to feed the goat.  She starts to rattle off the list of things she has learned that a goat will eat and by the end of the list I'm  thinking she missed our next door neighbor's roses and the Harley. I know she is holding back.

I can tell she is pleased that I've started to ask questions about the goats.  "Ya know," I say "we'll have to think about this whole goat thing".

BUY LOCAL- from a farmer, not a chain advertising "LOCAL"

When a chicken lays an egg the shell is covered with a protein outer covering known as the "bloom".  The bloom quickly dries and seals the egg from pathogens from the outside world.  This is a good thing especially if the egg is going to be incubated or remain fresh.  Because the egg is sealed nothing penetrates the shell and gets into the inner part.  However, before you sell them you must wash the bloom off.

The logical question that comes to mind is why do we have to wash the egg's protection off creating a permeable shell?  If the bloom keeps pathogens out of the albumen (white) and yolk why would we remove that protected coating?  Not only does it keep things out it also does not allow the inside to dry out, keeping the egg fresher longer.  A commercial egg left in the refrigerator will slowly dry from the inside.  It will also absorb the odors that are in the ice box too.

An egg that has not been washed can remain unrefrigerated for up to three months.  Wash the bloom off and the egg cannot last a day with temperatures above 45 degrees before it starts to develop salmonella and other bacteria harmful to the digestive tract.

There has been a fight to get egg producers to date stamp individual eggs, this is required in the UK but not herein the US.  I saw a news show awhile back that did an expose on egg producers recycling old unsold eggs back into the food chain.  If you've ever bought a carton of eggs and get them home and crack one open and the white is very cloudy you've probably gotten one.

When you buy a fresh egg the albumen should be clear with the exception of the chalaza.  The chalaza is the strand that anchors the egg to the shell.  This strand will be solid white.  The yolk should be standing tall and proud.  The yolk color from a free range or organic egg will be dark orange, hence the high beta carotene content.   Its commercial counter part will look yellow to pale yellow if it has been recycled.  Because the shell is permeable the egg white can be smaller do to shrinkage and the egg can take on the properties of what it has absorbed.

If eggs were individually date stamped then they couldn't get recycled the way they are doing now, creating a safer egg supply.  Let’s get this straight; people get sick because of bad food in the industrial food supply.  Other people point this out, document the abuses and lobby their leaders for change.  What happens is people with more money hire insiders or just give money directly to campaigns and our leaders end up doing nothing.  Sure there are counter arguments that they will point to and the will of the people is of utmost consideration, they'll say.  Yet this is the same group that says we must wash eggs before we sell them.

Why?  Because we as consumers can't be trusted to safely handle the eggs and we'll contaminate ourselves. In the interest of objectivity an egg does come from the chicken's vent.  The vent is used to expel everything from the chicken.  So the outer shell of the egg is contaminated when it comes out.  This is important to note, the outer shell is contaminated not the inner shell or the albumen or the yolk.

Sometimes our eggs do have particulate matter on them but because of the bloom it does not come in contact with the inside of the egg.  Can an unwashed egg make some one sick if not handled correctly? YES, it can.  Will it make us sick if it is handled properly, NO. Is it hard to safely handle an unwashed egg, no. Wash the egg and your hands before use and your fine.  Chicken itself can cause more cross contamination and illness than a dirty egg but I digress.

I'm sure I'll wrap my head around this someday but until then I'll keep raising chickens for their eggs.  For the record we are a registered egg producer and all the eggs we sell are washed per regulations.  The eggs we keep for ourselves are not. 

Eat safe fresh vegetables purchased from a local farmer, not a chain hard selling that fact.

We have been at this farmer's market for about six weeks.  There is a mix of vegetable growers and other stands that make up the total market.  Foot traffic is good, not great but good.  There is a grower a couple of stalls down that is young and sells mainly corn, tomatoes and melons.  I don't pay much attention to the other vendors because I read my insect book or am taking care of customers.

The day was beautiful, sunshine, light breeze, low humidity and we were seeing more and more repeat customers.  One told us that the jam she purchased last week was the best she had ever tasted.  At the same time another repeat customer was buying two more jars of jam based on his last purchase.  We said thank you and I slowly patted my wife on her back.  It was her idea. labor and her mom's recipe.  It was turning out to be a good day. 

We were selling organic eggs, our carrots had started to come in, the string beans bounced back and our raspberry plants started producing.  So our offerings were diversified and plentiful.  At one point in time I spotted a customer coming back to us with a box of our eggs.  My stomach dropped because the look on her face was not pleasant.  I was dealing with a customer so I got my wife’s attention and motioned for her to check out and see what the customer wanted.  She had gone home, went to put the eggs away and realized she had only received nine.  Of all the mistakes we make and have made, this one was the most embarrassing.  Once I realized what had happened I excused myself from the other customer and immediately started asking her what she liked that we had.  At the same time my wife was getting her more eggs.  I asked about a couple vegetables and got to the potatoes.  She said she didn't have potatoes so I gave her a pound of the German Butter Ball and apologized profusely.  She left, hopefully satisfied and maybe to return.

Then at closing the young farmer from a couple stalls down came up to look at what we had.  He asked about the German Queen tomatoes, we were selling.  These things are huge weighing between 1.25-1.75 lbs each.  They are by far the biggest we've grown.  The skin is thin, seed pod small and flesh is sweet.  As I'm telling him this I'm looking into his eyes and seeing sadness.  We all look tired and worn down, that is part of the job.  It is physically and mentally challenging.  Your mind is always ready to give up before your body is but you know this and go on to the next chore.

I use the term heart-wrenching a lot when describing things on the farm because those words invoke a visceral reaction.  We all know what heart break is in all its forms.  But to use those words makes one understand the physical and emotional toll taking place within the person.  What I was seeing and hearing from this young man was heart-wrenching.

He is at his cross roads.  He works full time on a dairy farm; he grows five acres of vegetables in his spare time.  He is having trouble making ends meet.  He doesn't know if he'll be able to pay off all his bills by the end of the growing season.  As he was standing there telling me his young wife came up and put her arm around him.  I asked, "How’d it go today?" He started to grouse but his wife pulled his arm and he shifted some and kicked the dirt and said "not that bad".  A customer came up to their stand and his wife went to take care of them.

I had stopped tearing down and was just talking to him.  I could tell he was in despair and was looking for some sort of guidance or a kind word or words of encouragement.  He told me that other people he talked to told him to stay in it that things would change.  I didn't tell him they were right or wrong.  I just said that this is an incredibly hard thing to do and not many people really understand the sacrifice and toll it takes on us.  That he wasn't alone in his doubt and his struggles.  The last time I stopped breaking down and talked to someone my wife got livid, at least at that time we had help.  This time it was just her and I was torn.  Should I cut him off and help her or should I do what many have done for me in the past and that was to lend a sympathetic ear and maybe some advice and encouragement.

She could hear the conversation and knew the plight of the young vegetable farmer.  I empathized with him and told him about the MD Small Farm Co-op.  I told him by joining he would meet people like us who pull our resources and are able to buy in bulk thus cutting down on overall costs.  I gave him my name and number and told him if he had any questions to call.  This all seemed woefully inadequate but it was the best I could do.  For my wife's part she continued breaking down and when he left I helped finish up.  She didn't say a word.  We packed up and headed home.  What should have been a pleasant trip after a good day selling was just silent.  It seemed both of us were thinking about the young man and his wife.  

It was a good day for us but when you see the pain, self-doubt and struggle that someone like you is going through you can't help but question why is this so hard and why doesn't everyone else know?

PLEASE-buy local, find a farmer around you, go visit them, try what they have for sale.  If you don't like what you got tell them that and tell them why. Vegetable farmers live on feedback.   If there is something you'd like them to grow, tell them.  It can only help with their future plans.  The more sustainable farmers we keep in business the healthier the environment and all of us will be in the long run.

We have a hen that has taken to, let me see, how to say this so I keep a "G" rating.  We have a hen that has taken to being the rooster.  I kid you not.  She has taken on the roll of the fertilizer or pretend fertilizer.  I've said before we've only been raisng hens for three years going on four.  So I might think I've seen it all, but apperantly that's not true.   My wife read a book that said hens can change gender but we never took it seriously.

We thought it was one of those things, except we have this chicken that doesn't really fight the other hens as much as she gets on their backs.  A rooster when he is in procreation mode will grab a hen by the back of her neck holding her down so he can do what a rooster does.  My wife said she thought she saw this behavior in one of our hens, but me being me, I wouldn't believe it until I saw the event for myself.

We were all eating lunch one day sitting outside in the shade and enjoying a slight breeze.  I was facing the pen of the second generation hens.  Their numbers have dwindled due to a neighbor's errent dog, but the ones that survived have rebounded and they are pretty good layers.  It was a Saturday and we had picked corn for taste testing.  We feed our help most times and its always a good time when breaking bread with them.  No matter what I cook they always seem to like it.  Of course when you work on an organic vegetable farm you tend to work up a big appetite.  Male or female they can all put food away.  So I cooked the corn for everyone and we were sitting there enjoying the sweet taste and the respite.  

If the hens start fighting or going crazy I usually yell at them which startles them and is enought to return the flock to some sort of harmony.  I heard a commotion and looked up to see a hen on top of another hen biting and holding her down while seemingly girating like the rooster does.  I looked at my wife; she gave me a look and just shrugged.  I yelled, then got up to get closer and yelled again.  That broke the hovering hen's concentration and her captive scurried away.  So, once again I think I've seen it all.

We kid ourselves by thinking we've got a handle on things.  Then we discover that the learning curve just seems to keep bending upward. But, these are things that nature brings.

Buy Local - from a farmer, not from a chain that advertises "Local" 

It’s the third week of August and flock three of our Rhode Island Reds have just started to lay eggs.  They are so small you can hold half a dozen in your hand.  This is a big day for us, a day we've been looking forward to ever since March 19th, 2009.  They have made it this far healthy, happy and vigorous.  The one rooster we got (by accident) has grown to be quite the leader.  His problem is he is too big and the hens are smaller, thinner and faster. 

Here they are at a day old.

You spend a lot of time with them making sure they are ok, that they don't get Coccidiosis, that their pen is clean and water free of foreign objects.  If you look closely at this picture you will notice that the feed trough does not have bird droppings in it.  That was an anomaly; as soon as they got enough strength the crap hit the fan.

They are energetic, inquisitive and love tomatoes.  We have them outside and they can't resist flying the coop and raiding the garden.  We know this not because we caught them but we started noticing peck marks on the reddest tomatoes.  We have these huge German Queen heirlooms.  They weigh in about 1.5 to 1.75 pounds each. These are bigger than the Mortgage Buster we had a couple of years ago and they are tasty.  So the new chickens have found out too.

We finally figured it out when we saw an egg sitting in one of the rows between tomatoes plants.  We packed up the electric fence and moved the house out behind the barn so they wouldn't be tempted, for all the hard work seeing a picture of them at a day old and seeing them now full grown you can't help but feel a sort of elation at the accomplishment.  .

 I am by nature a pessimist with a type A personality, I'm ok with that.  But it is times like these that make me a laid back optimist.  To have nurtured them to this point is time to celebrate the good fortune. But being a farm you don't want to crow too much because good times are not always around the corner. 

Buy Local - from a farmer not from a chain that advertises "Local"

For the first three years of selling we were at a farmers market that was trying to rebound.  It was located in a stayed community of old houses and income levels.  We didn't learn this until later but it didn't matter.  I liked being part of nostalgia by trying to bring back the old farmers market.

We were learning how to grow organic on a large scale and also learning about farmers markets.  Each market has its own personality, procedures and clientel.  Our enthusiasm and drive were not lacking, but week after week foot traffic was minimal and we often wondered if we were in the right place.  It certainly was not making copious amounts of money.  Slowly we started to build up a clientel and we were bringing in fruits and vegetables that were coming into season.

For six years my wife and I were the only ones doing the work.  As with most small farmers we too had full-time jobs.  We both gave up our weekends and evenings.  In the off season we would plow through insect, plant identification, pasture management and animal husbandry books.  We attended lectures and classes on small farming and other specialties.  We belong to the Maryland Small Farm Co-op, the Pastured Poultry Association, CASA-Future Harvest and the Maryland Organic Food and Farmers Association.

Each of these groups have specific functions but all are setup to gather, trade and disseminate information with most of the emphasis on providing education to there members.   These groups are great for getting started and networking.  It doesn't matter who you are or what you know, or if you've been farming for years there is value to joining and participating in the events. 

It is in these groups were you find kindred spirits, market stories, working knowledge and moral support.  The first three years selling was hard for us, we were putting in maximum effort but were getting little if any return on our investment and time. 

We kept hearing one phrase over and over again at the market.  There was a point where we could identify the person that was going to say it.  We heard the phrase in English, Spanish and German. We couldn't tell what they were saying but the body language of some of the Asian customers spoke loud enough.

It was always the same thing, different languages but the same facial expressions, "Is this all there is?".  We tried not to take it personally but weekend after weekend it did wear on us.  I would often engage the people and ask sincerely what they would like to see.  Mostly the answer was more vendors.  We would pass this information on to the market manager.

What struck me as odd was we had plenty of a variety of fruits and vegetables, we were transitional organic and our prices were a dollar.  We joked that we were the other dollar store.  Cucumbers 4 for a dollar, tomatoes dollar a pound, onions same thing, berries they sold at a premium.  Everything else went for a buck.  Because there wasn't a big vendor presence most people just turned and left.  There were days when we ended up giving more food to our local soup kitchen then what we sold.  Giving to the soup kitchen had its own intrinsic reward and helped us gain perspective with the days events.

It was hard but we made the best of it and made some really good friends that we still have to this day.  The market provided us with a way to sell our vegetables and have fun.  Besides, without the market how would we learn?

Buy Local - from a farmer not a chain advertising "Local"

We are learning, we have learned and we will continue to learn.  Our knowledge comes from reading, talking to others, working and observing.  Like on Saturday we observed that Broody was back sitting in her nesting box.  Then we observed on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday the same thing.

This is a natural occurance for chickens sometimes they go broody.  We've only been raising hens for three years so we don't have a lot of experience.  However, we have faced broodiness before so we sorta know what we are doing.  In all the books that we've read I don't remember if they talked about a broody hen going broody twice in the same year.

I did observe something I hadn't noticed before.  When a chicken is broody the last thing you want to do is let her sit on an egg.  Everything that we've read says to take eggs from her.  You don't want to encourage the behavior so taking the eggs gives her nothing to hatch.

Chickens will lay one egg every 25 hours, give or take, on Sunday we took the egg from under her.  Monday when we checked she was in the same nesting box but there were two eggs.  I took them, my glimer of hope was the two eggs in the box.  She had laid one (broody chickens do not) and she was out of the box long enough for another chicken to lay her egg.

Getting a broody chicken out of our nesting box is pretty hard due to the design of the nest and access to it.  So, we put off getting her out until we were sure she really was broody.  Tuesday when we checked she had three eggs under her and we took them.  She was still in the same box though.  Wednesday morning I looked in the box for eggs and saw two under Broody and one in the middle box.  Broody was still nesting in the third box farthest from the opening.  I thought once again she had laid, gotten out of the box and another hen laid her own egg.  I went about the day's chores and kept the chicken pen within site.  The day progressed with no sight of Broody.  By late afternoon I had decided to check the nesting boxes again.

I looked in and Broody was still in the third nest facing the back.  Yet, she had another two eggs under her and it dawned on me.  She wasn't laying and she wasn't getting out of the nest.  The other chickens must know she is broody.  They are nesting in her box and laying their eggs for her to hatch.  Four eggs on Wednesday and three the day before that.  She hadn't left the nest at all and she wasn't laying.   There is no way a chicken can move an egg in our nesting boxes.  The floor is on a decline from front to back, with a back wall high enough to let the egg roll underneath and in a holding area.  These were all under her front wings.

We decided that it was time to get her out of the nesting box and into the barn.  This is not a stress free process for the bird or us.  I eventualy got her out and headed for the barn.  While we were walking I took the liberty to feel her abdomen and lower fluff by the vent.  No hard object or abnormal feeling of the large intenstines.  She was just broody again.  Broody is in he barn digging holes for nests and sitting on non-existant eggs.  She's got plenty of fresh water and mash to eat.  So far she's still in the barn, day seven and counting.  We'll let you know how it goes.

Buy Local - From a farmer not a chain that advertises "local"

When we first started to talk to our family and friends about buying a farm the reactions were mixed but predominately quizzical.  Why?  As if something was wrong with us.  How come?  As if there was some force pushing us into something we weren't ready for.  Are you sure? As if we hadn't spent enough time debating and talking about the move.  Then there was the big one. What are you going to do with a farm?  As if the question didn't already have the answer in it, FARM.

We are city folks, my family is third generation urbanites.  Our friends were of the same ilk.  So it wasn't too surprising that we were met with their concerns, doubts and skepticisms.  I guess all of them thought that gardening was fine but large scale gardening was border line psychotic.  I know they liked our tomatoes, peppers and herbs but we wanted to try other things, lots of other things.

Besides, I never told anyone what my childhood dreams were.  To do that would jeopardize the possibility of achieving them.  So no one knew that I wanted land, horses, a big garden and a pool and they probably thought that it was something that we just started talking about.  But when word got around that we had placed a contract on a farm everyone weighed in with thoughtful words of caution, limited encouragement and counseling referrals.

When you come from the city, gardening on a large scale is for people established in the farming community.  In the city you're supposed to grow a couple vegetables as a hobby, you certainly don't make a living at it and you'll live in relative obscurity if you try.  They all made perfect sense- farms have been on the decline ever since we've been alive.  Farm-Aide started when we were teens, and the scenes depicted of families losing everything, having to stand by at auctions and watch their possessions sold off was heart-breaking.  It was real and it was tragic.  People don't choose to be farmers; they are born into it, at least that was the prevailing feeling we got.  You don't invest money and time in a declining industry.  Yet we were on the precipice of doing just that.

So while all the concern was being directed at us we were slowly moving towards purchasing the farm house and the property.  The house was built in 1837 on land once owned by a historic figure.  As part of the purchase we had the house inspected by a family friend.

Before he was done he took both of us aside and flat out said you don't want this house.  It would cost us more to fix it up than the structure was worth.  We'd be better off tearing it down and building from scratch.  When he was done he had over eighteen pages of notes and things wrong with the house, barn and milking shed.

We had twenty four hours to decide to back out or continue forward.  My wife and I are very deliberate logical people, fiscally and environmentally conservative and socially liberal.  We are not the fix-it-up types.  There were so many factors telling us not to buy and move on that it seemed like a no brainer to anyone looking at all the facts.

There was just something about the place, I think had we'd known we would pull 68 black snakes out of the house maybe we would have went in the opposite direction.  As it turned out we didn't and there has been something akin to a spiritual journey taking place ever since.  We are religious people, we believe in a higher calling and that we are on this earth to help make a difference no matter how insignificant it may be.

The first six months in the house were arduous and filled with snake encounters.  My wife called it luxury camping.  We added living in the house as part of our prayer routine.  During that time we had what I call our fetal position moments: we cried, we had great doubts and we had buyers' remorse.  But we kept praying not really asking for anything but the strength to continue.  One day a cat showed up at our door, I scared it away but we'd see it again and again.  We found that it was living in our barn which was fine with me but my wife wanted to bring it inside.  I resisted and gave a cogent argument as to why not.  "It's feral," I said, it turned out not to be and was already spayed.  After a two foot snow fall the barn cat was introduced to her new home.  She was aptly named BC and she was the first cat to adopt us.

The snow thawed and with spring came snakes.  Except these snakes were showing up dead.  We were finding them all over the place.  It didn't take long for us to realize that BC was the one killing the snakes.  She was the answer to our prayers.  BC could care less for mice. I saw her once watch a mouse eating out of her food bowl.  She was sitting by the woodstove and just watched as the mouse ate away.    She didn't flinch, but if it was a snake that was a different story.  We could tell when she had spotted one as she never moved but waited for her chance at the slithery creature. 

That was the start of the turn-around for us.  We are now part of something bigger than what we had expected.  There was a time when it was just meat making people sick and being recalled.  Recently, more stories of vegetables like spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and even peanut butter have been contaminated.  We are part of a greater community of people that are providing safe, fresh and tasty food to our neighbors and friends.  As bad as the past has been moving here,doing what we have been doing seems right.

Before every game legendary coach Marv Levy, of the Buffalo Bills, said to his team "At this moment in time, where else would you rather be, than right here, right now?"  I would not want it any other way. 

Did you know that you are not suppose to shuck corn at a farmers market?  It's one of those unwritten rules.  As soon as an ear is even partially opened, it begins to go to starch.  As a child I remember the Arraber coming around and he would pick the corn for you.  Depending upon where you were on his route you either got thirteen good ears of corn or a mix.  

That's another thing - whatever happened to a baker's dozen?  People seem actually surprised when we give them another ear of corn or put 13 into the bag.  That use to be standard operating procedure.  When the industrial food complex came into the picture you bought the corn pre-packaged or by the ear.  Please don't get me wrong.  We are a capitalistic society which is built around the principle of making money.  I think it's a wonderful idea but my frustration comes in when I see people cutting corners, ignoring safety, using techniques and tactics that are harmful under the guise of the bottom line.  Besides I'm also jealous that I don't make tons of money or even pounds for that matter. 

I know that when twelve people buy a dozen we lose a dozen. But we also sell by the ear and I learned long ago the smaller the quantity for sale the greater revenue.  Meaning, if 72 people each baught two ears of corn revenue would be greater because the per ear cost is higher.  So we look at it as a wash.  The goodwill it generates for our customers and then back to us surpases the pain of losing a dozen.  In the past six years we've lost more than 90 percent of each year's corn crop due to multiple factors.  So we're kind of use to losing corn.

Seven years ago we were selling at a farmers market, and we had corn that was raised organically but was not from organic seed.  It wasn't being sold as organic but it was local and it was picked hours before.  I was working with a customer when I saw an elderly lady go over to the corn and start to shuck the ears.    I looked right and saw my wife looking at her.  I kept talking to and taking care of my customer, but I noticed my wife's body language and non-verbal cues change.  She was getting agitated.

A minute goes by, I'm trying to finish with my customer but he has questions about cooking. Every so often I take a right peripheral view to see how my wife is doing.  At that time, I don't know why, I can't put my finger on it but my wife's reactions are catching my attention.  I follow her gaze and see the woman is still shucking her way through the corn. 

My customer asked about making a zuchinni recipe, we have adapted from "Chef's Illustrated," and I'm telling him about it and describing the nuances.  I feel my wife walking behind me towards the woman shucking corn.

My wife is one of the most intelligent, kindest, caring, level-headed people I've ever met.  She is the conotation of grace under fire and who you'd want to be with when trouble strikes.  But don't shuck the corn at a famer's market in front of her. 

Buy Local- from a farmer not from a chain that advertises "local"

p.s.  no one was hurt in the actual events or the retelling of events.

Part 3 of 3