Miolea Organic 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

 

This is the first year and time that we have created a farmer’s market.  "We," are four producers who met each other last year at a Farmer's Market run by a profiteer.  The market board consists of one fruit grower, two vegetable people, one baker and a beef person.  We added a fifth producer in order to avoid ties when voting on issues, procedures and so forth.

Born out of frustration and our mistreatment at the benefit of the first market owner, our market took shape.  As I said, the peasant farmers rose up against the wealthy landowner and started our own market on public property.  For being the first year of the market, we have done some remarkable things.  In our State, it usually takes two years to get a Farmer’s Market certified by our Department of Agriculture.  Because of our diligence, organizational structure, consistency and promotion the market was granted certified status as of August 16.  All of us that organized this market are thrilled, not only does it allow us to accept Women, Infant and Children (WIC) coupons but senior coupons as well.  It is a coveted prize because the State markets and advertises certified farmer's markets in all of its publications and we are allowed to submit grant proposals and marketing proposals for funding requests

This journey has not been without some bumpy spots, bad feelings and controversy.  When our small group setout finding a place for the new market, we also discussed being a producers only market and what that meant.  Knowing what we all were growing and how some of us are still getting various fruit trees going we would not be able to meet all the needs of the buying public.  As a board, we decided to allow vendors to bring in local fruits and vegetables sourced by local farms in the area.  As long as local farmers supplied those fruits and vegetables brought in, it was allowed.  Meaning someone could bring peaches, apples and other things that take years too establish on your farm, from local farms already established.  The caveat was that the public would be notified and you had to source the food by farm name and contact.  All we wanted was a sign that said these peaches came from X local orchard or farm.

What we started getting was vendors going to vegetable and fruit auctions and bringing them in and selling them at reduced prices, the infamous Huckster that I have mentioned before.  When you have a growing year like we have had in Western Maryland it tries your patience, resolve, energy, financial stability, sanity and confidence.  We had infestations of the Marmarated Stink Bug and the Rough Stink Bug.  We had the greatest number of days over 95 degrees, the longest periods of no rain and some of the warmest temperatures at night that one can not help but question the validity of anti-global warming arguments.

We have been growing tomatoes and peppers organically for twenty-two years.  In all that time, we have never faced what we have this year with the bugs, blossom end rot and just plain looks of the tomatoes.  We planted four varieties totaling one hundred and twenty plants.  We have had four customers for the last five years that have bought bushels of Roma’s for canning.  We had to call them and tell them that we would not be able to fill their orders.  We pointed them elsewhere but I do not think the people we sent them to have had any better success.

So, it has been a hard growing season, even the big organic people in our area were having problems but, that is farming.  Some years are good, some are bad and then some are very bad.  We all take that risk going into this business.  I have said it before, I heard once that there is no mercy on a farm; I think that there is there is just no mercy for the farmer.

Week after week, we go to the market with the things that have survived the onslaught of nature and try to put on a good face, despite our dismay.  When you look across the isle and you see that there are hucksters passing themselves and there wares off as a local farmer a primal instinct emerges from within me and I find that my wife is talking me back off of the nuclear reaction I am about to have.  The WIC program specifically states that you can only accept WIC for what you produce, period, yet the same hucksters do not follow that regulation either.  Okay, I am Polly-Anna but integrity is part of the program. 

We want this to be a producer’s only market because the community deserves to have fresh, healthy, safe, locally sourced food.  That is how the market is advertised and that is how the by-laws were written.  We are addressing the situation and we will take care of the hucksters.  There are plenty of farmer's markets to attend if you are a huckster, not all of the markets are certified and most are not "producers only".  It is really too late in the season now but next year the hammer is coming down on those that do not meet the standards that the rest of us locals hold ourselves to.

In the mean time, we continue to encourage each other, discuss the latest news on stink bugs, irrigation techniques and other issues we face as producers.  The market foot traffic has increased, our landlord, if you will, has requested that we commit to a long term agreement, coupled that with certified status and we really have nothing to complain about.   

Buy Local: If the fruit and vegetables look too perfect then chances are you are dealing with a huckster or are in a grocery store.

 

There are things we grow that are not the best looking when compared to local conventional farms and definitely not the Industrial Food Complex.So when we take our heirloom tomatoes to the market we have to really sell them (convince the consumer that the taste is better then the look).

Then something magical happens, we get a repeat customer that by-pass all the beautiful looking, perfectly round, no blemish tomatoes and stops at the stand to not only buy ours but proceed to tell us how wonderful the tomato tasted.I cannot help but say, “Thank you,” and then tell them, “That is the taste your grandparents had when they were growing up”.

Sometimes, I get a quizzical look so I will explain genetic engineering and chemical usage and adulterations, which conspired to make the common tomato transportable and last longer.I will explain how they pick green tomatoes to ship across the country and while in transit spray the tomatoes with ethylene to turn them from green to red.Notice I did not say ripen them. I said it turns the tomato from green to red.Pick one of those tomatoes up and give it a gentle squeeze, oh heck squeeze hard.You will not hurt it.Pick up a tomato out of your garden and try the same thing.You will see, feel and smell the difference.Then there are the trace amounts of ethylene that stay on the tomato and you got a green hard sphere that is perfectly red.

I know I should not, but I do take it personally when I hear how ugly the tomato looks and the person does not stay long enough for me to sell the tomatoe's virtues.I will watch the consumer go over to a huckster and by the perfect looking tomato they can get their hands on.Some one said, “There is no accounting for taste,” at the time I thought it was because the pink house was painted pink.However, then again the same applies to the human palette.

We just keep hoping that more people learn so we can make enough money to cover our expenses.We will still treat the land as the precious resource it is and relish our chance to nurture it back to health and make a little dent in reversing the Industrial Food Complex (IFC) deplorable use of all of our scarce resources.

I know all that has been written about the egg recall, the one thing that struck me was a picture I saw.I wanted to use the photograph, that a news agency published, of the man behind the egg farms .There he was coming out of his office with his crisp white shirt, smartly tied necktie, sharp lines on his pants, shinny shoes and clean hands and fingernails.Then I wanted to put a picture of myself or any other local farmer against his.The caption would capture what I have been writing about the IFC for years.  From whom would you want to buy your food?The man in the suit or the man or woman holding food raised for the family and community.

In the mean time we will keep growing healthy, organic fruits, vegetables, eggs and maybe chicken meat.

Buy Local:You are the ones that can make a difference

I wake up at six in the morning.  If it is a weekday, I get up, let the chickens out, and go to the profession that pays for the ability to grow vegetables, fruits, eggs, grasses, implement soil rejuvenation techniques and integrated pest and nutrient management practices.  When we get home, we put in about two and half hours on farm related activity.  This ranges from hand watering to using the drip tape, weeding, assessing the environment, looking for signs of anything that is not right with the animals, vegetables and high tunnel.  Then address whatever the situation, pests, weeds, watering, feeding, isolating sick chickens and then evaluating them, you get the idea.  If it is the weekend, I get an hour to rest and relax before the work starts at seven.

The weekend workday starts with doing the most physical task right away before the days heat kicks in.  Then the next hardest task and then the next hardest physical task, interspersed with breaks for hydration and back to the next most physical task.  As you are doing the tasks, the temperature is rising and the humidity is reaching into the eighties and nineties.  Your body is fighting the heat by perspiring, which leads to your eyes stinging from the salty water.  You stay hydrated in order to maintain fluid levels and maintain stamina. 

Because we grow mainly vegetables and fruits all work is done outdoors and during some of the hottest parts of the day.  It is a grind but work takes place in order for the plants to produce.  If we are not hand weeding an acre and a half of gardens, we are moving the chickens and their fences, or collecting eggs, we are tracking insects, and trying to protect what is in the ground from the flora and fauna.  We are planting or watering, or cleaning out the chicken trailer and checking for lice and any indication of an anomaly, or watering and feeding the chickens, laying drip tape, setting up new irrigation, or mowing the fields and the grass, or harvesting produce, or checking on broody chickens or sick chickens.  Saturdays we harvest early because we are delivering to our retail markets.  We give tours so some days I have to turn the staff lose to work on their own chores while I walk groups around explaining what and why sustainable farming practices are needed and justified.

Sunday we attend the one farmers market we can make.  The day starts with harvesting everything that is ready to sell and feed the chickens the ugly stuff not good enough for sale.  This farmers market happens to be on asphalt and starts at twelve noon.  By the time, you get there and setup the tarmac has had a couple hours to heat up so you have to take precautions with your produce, the same produce picked that morning.  You are always outside and at the mercy of the weather, rain or shine, you are sweating, you need sun/rain protection and at times bug protection.  You work until you no longer have the stamina or the sunlight whichever comes first.  You eat, sleep and repeat.

Along with the physical aspects of growing, you have educational pursuits in order to learn what bugs are beneficial and which are detrimental, what viruses and bacteria are present and what combats them.  You learn about different soil types; reading soil analysis charts for nutrient levels, familiarize yourself with the Ph levels for different fruits and vegetables grown and that nitrogen-fixers help the soil fertility.  You find out about crop rotation, green manures, nematodes, and rhizomes and cover cropping.  There is the learning curve that has spanned generations in farming families, but you have to pick them up in an extraordinarily short period in order to be successful.  You will spend years reading and learning from every mistake you make and you will make mistakes, they will be innocent at first and may be overlooked until they take crops from you and you find there is no hope of recouping even basic expenses associated with the crop, forget profit.  This year it was using “Winter Rye” as a cover crop for our corn.  We found out why Winter Rye is such a good green manure too.  Winter Rye when it gets to a certain stage sends out particles that stop the germination of other plants, thus helping itself propagate and survive.  Another problem or benefit, depending on how you use it, is its capacity to get to water.  This is great if you are trying to rid the field of weeds.  It is not so great when the sweet corn you planted is not pollinating properly and you are facing drought situations.  If you cannot harvest it, you are not going to be able to generate revenue.

I think the people with animals have it worse, we are still learning how to take care of chickens and we are in our fourth year.  Animal husbandry is a discipline unto itself.  Each animal has its own problems and although some might be the same between species, most animals have specific issues to deal with.  Chickens have Coccidiosis when they are day-olds and H1:N5 (avian flu),  cows have bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow) goats and sheep have Johnnie’s (pronounced Yonies), they all have some virus or bacteria that is prevalent in their species that they are susceptible to.  You have to know this in order to keep everything healthy, growing and vigorous.  Feeding animals is another issue that needs attention.  In the chicken world layers, get a different feed than broilers (meat birds).  One major difference is the calcium requirement, layers get it broilers do not.  Then there is first level medical care.  You need to learn how to assess the condition of the animal and what precautions or protocols to administer.  Is it something a vet should address?  You have to decide to cull the animal or choose to nurse the animal back to health.  If you choose, the latter you will need more in depth knowledge.

What we love most about all this are the people that cheer you on, caringly give you their time and expertise and champion your actions.  We do optimistic planning based in reality, so we plan contingencies.  It seems daunting when you read all that needs accomplishing in a day, a week, a month and a year.  It is doable, remember not to long ago we were an agrarian society it was not the easiest life and it still is not, then again nothing good ever came from something easy.

Buy Local:  Feed yourself safely and support your community

 

I do not want to offend anyone but I know I will.  It is like passing the scene of an accident and you do not want to look, you know you should not look; you should be paying attention to driving the vehicle undistracted.  As you creep along with traffic these thoughts go threw your head.  You are not going look that is all there is to it.  Then there is an instant, it is less then a second, something takes over and your head turns, and you look.  You did not mean to, you intended not to, you had all the best of intentions of avoiding it but there it is, against your deepest thought, it happened.

Well someone is going to get offended so let me apologize up-front.  Please remember these are just observations that I have made over the years of living in a suburban and rural environment.  I officially have more years living out of the city than I do living in the city.  Although my observations may be born of naïveté, they are just observations.

We talk about food and how certain foods (vegetables, fruits, nuts) whole foods, mainly, are good for your health.  You can read how our meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables are grown makes a huge difference in the eco-system and on all our scarce resources.  There are huge conglomerates spending millions, if not billions, on chemical, biological and physical ways to change, alter, elongate, preserve, extend, affect appearance, stop infestations; the list for what they want to do to whole foods is endless.  Even though the research might show evidence of serious negative affects on the human body or the environment, it can be squelched and the product can be introduced into the industrial food chain. 

Think back to GMO corn and how it was not suppose to be in our food supply.  Then in the early 2000’s a woman has a seizure triggered from eating a taco shell made out of GMO corn.  Is titanium dioxide here in the US or not (see GRAS and Nano-Tech)?  If so, what products use that nano-technology?  It has been found in Great Brittan; of course, it took an independent study to find that fact.  At least the European consumers are being made aware of this additive.  The IFC knows the extent of the degradation of the earth and our resources and they act to minimize or out right cover up those facts and introduce the product into the food chain anyway.

Bisphenol A, (BPA’s) Titanium Dioxide and Diactyl come to mind because these are the things we know, there have been news reports, independent scientific analysis and medical research pointing to the ills of the these two food additives and the third in plastic containers. Even with the knowledge they were still introduced in the worlds food supply

We are woefully under armed and overwhelmed from the sheer size of the other side.  It is us against them and our side is slowly getting bigger.  Each year consumers get a little more educated about the ills of industrial farming practices and as more recalls take place the question of food safety becomes more important to the consumer. 

As a small farm we get a little bigger each year, plant a little more, add a few more chickens, and get more land certified organic.  The Industrial Food Complex is not doing the present and the future any favors.  Think endocrine disruptors, food alergies, e-coli outbreaks, feminized bass and castrated bull frogs..

This brings me back to insulting someone.  We live on a small farm, surrounded by other small farms.  Our house sits in the middle of fifty-five acres.  On our left is a farm, on our right is a farm and behind us is a farm.  In front of our house is a flood zone.  Our smallest buffer zone is about a thousand feet from all of my conventional neighbors.  National Organic Procedures call for twenty-five feet of hedgerow or buffer zone. 

Our neighbors grow grains, hay and forage for their animals.  Therefore, there is all this food being grown around our little two acres of fruits and vegetables.  I mean hundreds of acres surrounding our vegetable and fruit gardens.  Yet with all this GMO food growing for animal feed and other applications the wildlife pick our gardens to raid.  Ground hogs will leave the protection of the edge of the tree line to raid the garden, raccoons, turkeys, our own chickens, rabbits and deer.  We fight them all to get the food to market.    

With signs advertising certified organic we sit at the farmers market with our offerings and people will pass us by to go to the huckster to buy vegetables.  The Maryland Department of Agriculture defines hucksters as those people that buy and resell fruits and vegetables.  The vegetables just look better I admit that, but we know they did not grow it, they cannot tell the customer what farm it came from or what chemicals are on it.  At our house the wildlife has hundreds of acres of food to choose from yet they choose to find ours and what that tells me is even wild animals know what tastes better. 

Buy Local- From a farmer you know and invites you to visit the farm to learn more.

p.s. Yes, it has been a very hot summer, we are suffering a drought and a stink bug infestation that is wearing on me, if you are reading this you are already informed and knowledgeable about fresh local foods, so please don’t take offense and thank you for letting me vent.  If you are not reading this then......

This growing season has been brutal in our part of the country.  Nevertheless, I knew we were in for a problem back in the winter.  Over the course of my life, when inquiring about a problem, situation, function, example, question or any other unknown or known occurrence, I have heard in essence the same meaning, repeatedly, when talking to experts or professionals in their field.  It is not always the same words and there are different phrases used when the person is describing their perspective or knowledge.  However, the out come is always the same they are genuinely stymied and do not know the answer.

It has been phrases like, "I've never seen that before," or "This is the first time I have heard of that," or "It has never done that before," or "In all my years this is the first time (fill in the blank)," or "No, I have not come across that before,".  It is not complex things, I do not deal with things of unearthly origin or advanced technological solutions.  At work or at home or growing I have heard these comments in different situations.

Sometimes we joke about my ability to be in a place when something completely bizarre happens.  One of my colleagues long ago tagged me as “Schleprock” a character on the Flintstone’s. I'm not saying this is always the case because, I consider my life to be very blessed and I have been able to do good things that help family and community.  But, there is that other side, a small side, but it is a part firmly in place. 

We had a soil professional on the property; he spent his entire life in the farming community and learning about soils.  I took him to the end of the high-tunnel where we had so much trouble putting in the footers (see This is no Easy Project).  I picked up a piece of the soil and gave it to him to examine.  He looks at it, rubs it between his fingers and says, "Huh, I have never seen this before.  It looks like it has been fired or was part of a building".You figure the odds, out of fifteen acres; I was able to select an area that may be on top of an out-building used in the 1800's or earlier.  

This brings me back to my point on this summer’s drought.When the two water tanks arrived, I made sure to have them placed and hooked up for the early spring rain.  The reason we got them was that in past years we would lose water after the two three thousand tanks filled but the rains kept coming.Then there was a part of me that thought, "With my luck we'll have a drought this year".   

I know there is no correlation between me buying water tanks and the rain not coming, but it does not surprise me.  I am use to people being surprised when I ask for explanations and they should know the answer but it is the first time they have encounter the problem or situation that I am in.  I am an optimist, heavily cloaked in a thick layer of pessimism.

It came as no surprise the first time I bought water this summer that it rained the next day.  It did not rain enough, but the fact that it rained at all was surprising.  It was not predicted and it was a quick moving front.That was all the rain we got for the next nineteen days.  That is until I bought another four thousand gallons of water.  It sprinkled while the water was being pumped from the truck to the tanks but it was not enough to make the grass wet.I could not help but still see the irony however, slight.

Things are coming in slow, everyone is complaining and we are doing our best.  The corn is failing and the chickens are down sixty percent in laying capacity.Each year growing has seemed to have unique characteristics or personality and this season is turning out to be just brutal.

Buy Local - From a farmer supporting your community, health and environment

It is Monday night at 7:30 pm we are to take our spent layers to be processed Tuesday morning.  We will take the processed chicken to the soup kitchen with a big sign informing them that these birds need to be stewed in order to tenderize the meat, so that patrons can eat them.

What the note will not impart is the emotional and therefore physical and mental toll that their demise has caused us.  I have no appetite or motivation.  We have taken off of work this week in order to take the chickens up, celebrate two birthdays one 50 years and one 80 years. 

So we have planned how we will get the birds in the cage and take them. We have selected the second flock and the rooster from flock four.  We are taking eight chickens up to be processed.  It has been awhile since I've had such a low point but I am emotionally drained and morally conflicted.  Growing up in the city, decisions never had a life or death outcome.  Who you would pick to field your side of a team was the biggest decision I had to make.  Now we had to select those chickens that needed to be culled and their life ended.

I know hundreds of thousands if not millions of people process or get their chickens processed but, we have fought off this decision for six years.  The anguish associated with it has been painfully documented on this forum.  We are not profitable enough to keep spent layers for their natural life.  As much as we tried, we are operating in the red when it comes to our layers.  The business side of this is very plain, the emotional and anthropomorphized association is stronger yet intellect has to rule over emotions in this equation.

Say what you will, think what you will; we have gotten too emotionally close to these birds.  We need to temper or navigate a better relationship but make sure we stay as a humane farm, and at the same time keep the hearts we had when we first started in animal husbandry.

It is 6:45 am, Tuesday morning and we are gathering strength to go out and pack the birds up.  I can not take flock one.  There are three left of the original six and they lay about a dozen eggs a week, but more importantly when you approach any of these chickens they kind of squat down and let you pick them up.  They trust us enough to stop what they are doing and position themselves to be easily scooped up in your arms.  I cannot take these birds when they show so much trust and security in us like that.  I am not going to easily pick them up, put them in a cage and send them off to their demise.  I just cannot do it.

I have been fighting tears, depression, and low motivation and down rite malaise.  Like everything on a farm we must learn how to be stewards, humane and sustainable.  Last night we discussed stopping the practice of using chickens in our nutrient and pest management practices and let the rest of the flocks run their course.  We will have to see after today how that discussion plays out.  For now I have to get going in order to make our appointment in Pennsylvania.

We got the birds and placed them in the carrier.  The hardest one was the youngest rooster.  He was chosen because he was an unknown.  The current rooster is predictable, not aggressive and crows loudly so having people on the farm with a rooster that does not attack is a good thing.

The drive out was okay, I still have know appetite and I'm in this daze almost like I'm in my body but I don't have control of my body.  I'm an automaton, driving a package to be delivered and I need to wait to take the package to the soup kitchen.   

We get there and we do not know what to do, "take the cage around to the dock," an Amish woman in full length dress and bonnet tells us. I walk it around and there are about ten cages with various birds in them.  I place our cage down and I wait.  A young Amish man comes out, he's blood spattered from head to toe and he asks me about them.  I can't really hear him, I just tell him we need them processed for the soup kitchen.  

I think he might have asked it we wanted any of the innards.  I said just the chickens please and that was it he was gone.  I walked back to the truck and we placed the cooler in the front of the store. We walked outside found a shaded place to sit and started reading my bug book.  As time slowly ticket by I was painfully aware of every sound coming from the back of the building.  Time past and they called us, "Your cooler is very dirty, do you have bags or do you want us to put them in anyway".

We thought they would bag them for us but they didn't.  Luckily I had brought bags with us that I had intended to use in order to leave them at the soup kitchen. We placed them in the bags, threw some ice on top and took the cooler out to the truck.

I'm sorry to be cliché but it was surreal, I only knew what I was suppose to say, which was either "yes, no, you have to ask my wife".   Then the woman said something that woke me up.  She said "all of these chickens were sick", "What do you mean sick?" I asked.  "They stunk inside and their livers were diseased.  There still good for soup though" she added at the end.

It was at those words that my mood, outlook responsibilities and culpability in their demise came full circle.  They were sick.  By divine intervention we forced ourselves to make an emotionally steeped decision to the benefit of the birds and to the people they will feed.  The deed has been done and lessons have been learned.  

Some farmer I make, it is what it is, you can take the boy out of the city but so far the city has not come out of the boy.

We applied for a USDA research grant through NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) to evaluate high tunnels.  The research entails reporting to the USDA what and how much we plant, amendments used on the soil and what our yields are, each year for three years.  We have read about high tunnels, their limitations as well as benefits so this gives us a leg up.  Because we are new farmers (under ten years of farming), we qualified for a 90/10 split on costs.

We received word that our application was accepted and that we would be in the first round of funding.  Theoretically, it was a 90/10 split in costs.  Actually after everything is said and done, it will be about a 70/30 split which still isn't bad but we are absorbing the greater of the two numbers.  What is bad is that these things are sold as being easy to set up.  I swear, we were told it could go up in a week and just about, anybody could build them.

Now, I have documented on these pages what skills I have when it comes to building (see, Why I Should Stick to Growing).  Nevertheless, this was an opportunity that seemed to good to pass up.  First great thing we did was call the general contractor that worked on our house.  In order to budget we had to find out his costs.  He gave us a period where he would have a window to fit the project in.  He said he needed to add another person and that would be an additional cost to the one already quoted.

Here is where the first major mistake took place.  I decided that I had the ability to follow orders and could quickly learn what needed to be done in order to   a.)  Help, b.)  Not be a hindrance and c.)  Learn how this thing was constructed for future reference.  The second major mistake was when Bob, the contractor, decided to use me as his help.

From the beginning, things were hard, starting right out of the gate with the delivery.  I knew it was coming in a tractor-trailer and that eighteen-wheelers cannot make it up to our barn.  Fortunately, there is an area in front of the driveway were we can accept deliveries like 3,000 gallon black water tanks and high tunnels the size of a football field.  The day the tunnel arrived, I was prepared to take delivery.  The driver gets out of his truck looks at my tractor with pallet forks and says, "You going to use that to carry this thing?”  "Well, yes I do or thought I was".  He asks, "Do you know what this thing is?”  I wondered, does he often have customers that order things without knowing what they are getting, sort of the adult version of grab bags? 

"Yes," I answered "Of course", while my anxiety is hitting new highs; he is opening the back door.  I guess I forgot to mention the high tunnel is 12x35x96.  I do have a small tractor, a John Deere, and it is a workhorse.  Slowly but surely we got the thing off the truck, piece by piece.  Now the tractor almost tipped over a couple of times but it was brief seconds of terror interspersed with sighs of relief.

It took me all of three hours to unload the truck and move the pieces up to the staging area.  Add another four hours to unpack and inventory everything except for the missing parts.  They would come later on after a phone call to the company.  Bob told me when he would be available and I took off work for that week.  The company told us, it would take about a week to put up.  I forgot to ask if that estimate was metric or decimal, I remember a NASA mistake like that once. 

We were basing the work estimate and people needed on the information from the company.  DO NOT BELIEVE THEM.  IT IS NOT EASY TO PUT UP AND YOU NEED MORE THAN TWO PEOPLE.  I will not go into details mainly because of heat stress related reasons and I forgot allot of what went on that first week.  Temperatures ranged from 85-96 degrees with heat indexes rising as high as 110 degrees. 

I do remember drinking a gallon and a half of water each day, being too tired at the end of the day to do anything other then shower, drink water and sit in front of a running fan.  I remember day four, it was 96 degrees and we were drinking water every half hour.  We were digging wholes were the motorized post whole digger would not sink into the ground.  In that, 35x96 foot print the soil ranged the whole spectrum of grades.  You name it we ran into it, sand, clay, loam, silt.  We hit sand stone.  When you would hit the sand stone with the digging bar, it had the timber of hitting cement. 

We quit at 2:30 that day.  I went in the house and sat in the shade on the front porch.  I had a big jug of water and I started noticing that my vision was getting hazy and I had stopped sweating.  I realized these to be signs of heat stress so I headed up to the shower to get a nice cold drenching.  I took a prolonged shower and started feeling refreshed.  I got dressed and went down stairs to sit in front of a fan.  The house is air-conditioned but that was not enough.  Before I got down the stairs, my muscles started cramping all over my body, my legs, my fingers, my stomach muscles and back.  Because of various reasons, we have a bunch of those blue ice packs in the freezer.  I was placing ice packs and ice jugs all over my body and forcing water down my gullet.   

I kept ice on my body and kept drinking water.  Had I gone to the emergency room that was all they were going to do so I saved my self the trip.  Slowly the muscle spasms abated, my vision got better and I started going to the bathroom.  All good signs, so I just kept up with what I was doing.  When my wife got home, she asked how things went and as I was explaining, she asked, "What is wrong with your voice?"  I was tired, my energy was at a low point, and I told her so.  Last thing I needed was for her to know I was suffering heat stress.  There probably would have been an over-reaction and she would not have let me out to play the next day.

"What are all the ice packs for?"  She is observant, "muscle ache.”  I said.  She was okay with that answer and she went on to change clothes and take care of the chickens.  I was no good, usually I work two hours a day on farm related activities, after getting off work but I could not do it.  Once I was inside that was it, I was getting ready to go to bed.  Time of day did not matter getting my energy back for the next’s day work was the point.  My wife said that she has never seen me sleep as I did that first week.  I do not know that for real I was sleeping, so I could not tell.

Well, one week stretched into two.  I worked the weekend to catch up on the farm stuff.  By the second week I had to go back to work on Thursday.  Monday was Memorial Day, so I had that off and did more farm work.  I worked with Bob on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I was never so glad to get back to my real job, as I was in my entire life.  I do not see how people in the construction trade do it.  I thought for as hard as I work growing for six months and during the cold months cutting down dead trees and splitting them for firewood that I could keep up.  I was close but I was wrong.  I have always had respect for people in the trades especially those craftsmen that take pride in their work, like Bob.  It was great working for him and I did not want to let him down but in the end, I had to give it to him.  I was ready to go back to work and glad for it.

The high tunnel is completed and we have planted tomatoes in it to see how far into the winter they last.  We are going to try to grow throughout the winter so it should be interesting.  I know this thing is going to be great!  How do I know this?  Because, nothing good ever came from something easy and this was no easy project!

Buy Local - From a farmer you know, it's better for you and your community

   

It is unique how we use euphemisms to describe the human condition.  Like "No good deed goes unpunished", means usually you sacrifice your good time for being dumped on and spend more time working even though you were trying to help.  There is, "Don't let the screen door hit you on the way out," meaning you cannot get out of here fast enough for my comfort.  Another lesser-known one is "Off farm income,” that's the euphemism for “works two jobs in order to pay all the bills associated with small farming and living”. 

Off farm income is a category tracked by the USDA along with tons of other data associated with agriculture.  However, when you look at the numbers in small farm income it screams anemia.  As of 2009, small farm income as a percentage of total farm-household income is projected to be a whopping 8.7 percent.  Down from the 11.1 percent it was in 2008.  That means that for every dollar of income a farm brings in, 91 cents is from "off farm income".  As in "farms and works another job to earn enough in order to sustain an existence".

Okay, so I am late to the party, but is this normal?  I mean, I know it is reality but is this normal for any industry.  Let alone an industry whose main function is to provide a basic form of human sustainability.  Maslow's paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" points out the hierarchical needs of humans.  The paper was accepted in academia in the forties and is still being taught today.  After air and water, food is at the level that everything else in human life builds upon.   

Food, water and air are what sustain human life.  Would not small farmers producing food for human consumption be allowed to focus all their energies on producing that food in an environmentally sustainable way, be healthier then forcing them to use practices that are detrimental to the environment and humans because it saves time?  Should not the person growing your food be able to spend the time learning new technology and methods in order to use and preserve scarce resources like soil and water?  If the economics of the medical profession were such that outside employment was necessary in order to pay all living expenses our society would not stand for it.  As a doctor, In order to ply your trade, you must earn ninety-one percent of your income doing something else besides the practice of medicine.  That would never fly these days.

You can very easily be mired in the economics of this argument but my point is to explain yet another hurdle that small farms face as part of being a sustainable, safe and eco-friendly operation.  Small farms, as defined by the USDA, are those farms with net-income of $1,000 to $250,000 in gross sales.  Small farms represent about ninety percent of all farms in the United States but make up only twenty percent of all gross farm sales.  

Within the small farm category, there are two sub-categories, those that make fewer than 10,000 dollars and those making 10,000 to 250,000 dollars in gross sales.  Sixty plus percent of small farms makes less than 10,000 dollars in gross annual sales.  Thirty percent of small farms fall into the other category of gross sales over 10,000 dollars.

I am not saying that farming is the only profession in which people have to work two jobs in order to maintain some standard of living.  The term “standard of living” is very subjective when it comes to the individual consumer.  Economic compensation has always been disproportionate when you look at the value added to society from a particular profession.  Teaching comes to mind, for instance.  We put the weight of the world on our future generations but the people that are there to teach and prepare them for that burden are grossly under-paid.   

The men and women that risk their lives whether in the military, law enforcement or other hazardous jobs face the same inequities.  On the other side are those people that can put together complex derivatives and manipulate hedge funds such that they topple the economic stability of an entire country and they are valued economically at grossly astounding figures.  Money does not feed a nation food does. 

There is no wonder small farming is so incredibly hard when you see those numbers.  The deck is stacked against you from the start; it is an uphill battle that most people would not think of taking on.  As I tell our staff, “you all are very unique people, first off very few people choose to work such a physically demanding job and of those that try most cannot do it".  We have a great staff of hardworking conscientious people.  They never cease to amaze me with their eagerness to learn, there ability to understand, ask deeper questions and how they carry themselves. 

We also have a business plan, one portion is strategic the other dynamic.  Our long-term goals quite simply are to be sustainable both environmentally and economically.  Our dynamic goals are geared more towards revenue generation and expenditure controls.  The two are symbiotic but it is the strategic plan that we have the greater concerns about.  Without the ability to be totally, sustainable we are not going to be in business long.  At least ninety percent of small farms face this dilemma.  When you find out that only nine cents out of every dollar is earned from farm activities you start to question the sanity of why anyone would get into a business like this (see Who in Their Right Mind).

We work full-time and I can attest to those numbers about outside income.  We are a small farm and the total income from farm related activities, in a given year, has not been enough to cover just farm expenses, let alone what living expenses there are.  Yet we persist, because each year we do a fraction better in terms of revenue, knowledge, our customer base, our reputation and our ability to expand yet keep the food safe and tasty.  For us, it is important to do the right thing, to not shy away from hard work or impossible tasks and to help those that need help because that was instilled in me when I grew up.  Growing safe, fresh food is as much a part of me as “off farm income”.

Buy Local:  From a farmer that grows it not hucksters claiming they do

 

You never stop learning, I guess that's the good thing, but why does the learning process have to be so expensive?  For instance, it took six years of different mistakes before we got great corn, the one quote we got was from a repeat customer. The quote was "This is the best corn we've ever eaten".  My first thought was "Damn, they are old as dirt, they've had to of eaten a ton of corn in their life time!"   Then a wave of heat flushed my skin, and I was embarrassed.  Not for the thought, that was pretty funny, but for how that comment made me feel emotionally.  I was stunned, I felt victory, I felt sick to my stomach, but then it all led to a deep humbleness.  All this happened in a few seconds, but I managed to say, "Thank you, that was very kind."  We actually heard that a couple times, each time humbling and reaffirming.  

The corn happened because we strengthened our defenses.  We had chicken wire all round the bed and it was buried.  Then we had problems with birds, ground hogs, raccoon and deer.  After years of fighting the flora and the fauna we opted for a couple of high tech approaches and low tech as well.

For the birds, we used what's called a Bird-X eye scare.  Hang a couple up and they will help scare the birds away.  Something we found to work at night was a little solar powered flashing red light.  Deer see it and think it is the eyes of a predator.  It needs to be moved so the deer don't get used to it, but it does work in the dark.  Deer, however, graze in the morning and early evening as well as night. Then there is deer netting.  We've used it in various ways with great success in keeping the rest of the deer and other critters out.  When used with wire hoops you can keep a wide space to protect the crop. We will on occasion lay two or three layers in an area to make sure the vegetable is secure.  I think "an ounce of prevention is more things to sell at the market" or something close to that (it is hot and I can't be held accountable for every quote....).

Buy Local: If you don't then who will?