At Home in Nature

Alternative crops are sometimes better.  Who would turn down 19 tons of hay per acre, if it were more nutritious than grass, 10% protein, and required almost no care except harvest? 

Think cottonwoods.  They even have high palatability. 

We are using recycled materials to construct windbreaks, animal pens, animal shelters and more!  Check it out on youtube...

 http://youtu.be/-1sV2PKEup8

In farming and ranching, despite the boasts of science and technology against the so-called inconveniences of nature, there remains a lack of confidence in these powerful tools by those whom they were made. A sick animal can be taken into the barn, given antibiotic and medicine, warmed by blankets and even electric heat, and despite these cares, might still die if the veterinarian failed to either diagnose the correct disease or if the microorganism somehow mutated in adaptation. Fields might be worked with extraordinary care employing the most advanced understandings of soil chemistry to prevent disease, but may yet be eaten by deer. A cat might break into the chick brooder. Thieves and vandals may utterly destroy a farm, and perhaps even killing the husband and wife. A thousand things can go wrong.

But usually they don’t. The agricultural insurance agencies offer excellent rates because, due to the advances of technology and science, a crop failure need never happen except under force of God. Nature, at whom our worthy ancestors brandished bloody axes, sacrificed puppies, or in other ways attempted to placate or intimidate, has largely been tamed and so, in thanksgiving a farmer or rancher no longer needs to bestow great attention to the pantheon of minor deities who once mattered so much to their fathers and mothers, but to the single God who empowered them by knowledge and insight to defend themselves and who reserved the humbling trials of total disaster for some future day.

This Thanksgiving, let us contemplate how we would encounter such total disaster. Against thieves and the ravages of war, we have an honorable fight; against disease we have the patient pursuit of medical science; against floods we may build dams and dikes; we may alter the course of rivers, move mountains and, by powers exceeding those the ancient rites we have given up, aspire to even contemplate the magnitude of our blessings from our God, and catch a glimpse of those larger fields we till but a part of and those magnificent pastures into which we, ourselves, with our cattle, are daily led.

In Elbert County we find many things put to use that find new life and are no longer rubbish.We find many things, brand new, cast away on the roadside like soda cans and lunch wrappers that become rubbish.But the State law is clear: farmers know best what to do for the raising of crops and animals, and should be allowed to employ whatever materials are necessary without the censure of their work being called rubbish.

Prosperous Matheson is home to some of the most picturesque farms in Elbert County where the rolling hills of Agate begin to fall to the plains.The communities are linked by road and spirit, and though you can find the old Agate School bus parked along Highway 83, soon, as Agate fades forever, the two peoples will finally sunder.Yet there too you see rubbish, but of a different sort.Instead of peacefully at rest, rubbish is laid aside for use, and is actively used as soon as it may.This sort of zealous energy for farming is to be admired, and thankfully is encouraged by the protection of State laws.

Down the Matheson Road, a beautiful windbreak for the cattle can be seen out of scrap metal and tires.The tires are falling down in some places, but is still functional! Though our tire walls and pens are larger, we are not proud; we all do what we can and admire and learn from each other’s efforts.Larger is not necessarily better: in the arts of recycling, efficiency and utility matter most.The scenic trash of Elbert County is so because it reminds us of the beauty of utilitarianism, as each work of art speaks of the ingenuity and love for the animals and crops and land bestowed by the craftsmen responsible for it.

Even in prosperous western County where the horses are worth more than most of the inoperable vehicles in eastern County, tires are used as culverts and walls and gardens, and so many other uses besides.Farms and ranches, no matter their wealth, need rubbish to work the land, it is often the only affordable material to choose.State law protects farmers and ranchers in numerous ways, providing special protection and rights to farmers and ranchers who make their own food, who undertake the use of horses, who raise cattle or other animals, or in other ways secure our State’s economy with a dependable economic engine that has outlasted silver booms and busts, technology booms and busts and will even outlast those commuting revenues that Elbert County has in recent times attempted to cultivate.

There is enough room in Elbert County for all of us, and whether on your farm you wear muck boots or sandals, whether you enjoy at the end of the day a hot plate of rice and tofu or beef and potatoes, the diversity of Elbert County’s farming and ranching community stands unified in the practice of recycling materials and keeping hold of things that may one day be again useful.

Here's a contest with excellent prizes for first, second and third place!

Every correct answer is entered to win, but EVERY answer with supporting citation from the law gets a bonus prize.

Does Elbert County's rubbish ordinance apply to

a) Agricultural lands
b) Industrial lands
c) All lands but agricultural and industrial lands
d) All lands, period

Email answers to twointents-AT-gmail-DOT-com, or respond as a comment to this post...  Good luck!

The cactus are in full bloom right now on the Eastern Plains, and what a good year for cactus flowers it is!The prickly pears are especially having a good flower year, as they have larger and more prolific flowers than normal.If you haven’t seen these beauties yet, don’t wait – cactus flowers don’t last long!

In a few short months, the flowers will have turned into wonderfully delicious fruits.One of the best tasting wild foods in Elbert County, prickly pear fruits are normally ripe in October or November, depending on the weather.They are very sweet!Also called tunas, these fruits are usually used for making jelly, but can be used in many other recipes (try substituting them for berries in almost any recipe) or just eaten raw.

If you can’t wait to try the fruit, or just want a seasonal treat for dinner, the cactus pads and flowers are both edible.Watch out for spines (they are best removed carefully with a potato peeler).There are many recipes for cactus pads, also called nopales, and are best to eat when they are young.Cactus flower recipes are harder to find, and they are usually just used as an edible decoration by sprinkling the petals on salads or desserts.