Thaddeus Acres

Our farm started with a small backyard chicken flock in 2012 and has since grown to include heritage breed, chickens, Saxony ducks and Nubian goats. In 2013 we moved into our former horse property where everything needed work and fixing. We haven't stopped moving forward with the farm since then. Below you find all about our livestock and growing practices. For more to our story please see our website. Livestock Practices We love our non-human animals around here and as such, we treat them with love and compassion. All animals are given plenty of year round outdoor time with plenty of access to shelter when they so desire it. Of course feed and water are also readily available. Goat Feed Our goats are either grazing on open pasture in the spring, summer and fall. During the winter they are fed organic hay. They are supplemented with organic goat food. recently our feed supplier went out of business and are now transitioning to blending our own goat food made from organic grains from Natures Grown Organics, black oil sunflower seeds and organic kelp from. The grains used are oats and barley. In addition to this our goats are also fed free choice minerals. Chicken and Duck Feed All of birds are fed organic feed from Natures Grown like our goats.   The chicks and ducklings are fed a starter/grower mash until they can transition to adult layer.  In addition to the layer, adult chickens and ducks are supplemented with diatomaceous  earth to insure proper calcium levels. Produce Growing Practices We take great pride in what we produce around here on the farm. We apply a healthy dose of blood, sweat and seldom tears to grow our produce. It's all done for the love of food, the soil and the land in which it grows in and on. Of course all of this hyperbole may not be enough detail for you, so below you will find a much more detailed description of our growing practices, including plant and seed sources. Certified Organic? We do not grow organic produce. Organic certification takes a long time and costs a lot of money, which in turn also increases the price of a farms products. We take every step possible to prevent Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) plants from being grown on our farm. Seeds typically are saved from the previous years crop or they are purchased new from Seeds of Change. All seeds that are saved or grown are organically derived. We are in the process constructing a green house to start those plants that cannot be sowed directly in the ground, such as Tomatoes. Until the greenhouse is constructed we must buy plant starts from growers. We stay with growers that at the very least do not grow their plants from GMO seed stock. Typically we will buy plants from small local organic or non-GMO growers. However if we cannot find what we need, we only buy starts from suppliers that sell plants from Bonnie. We have to take Bonnie on their non-GMO word. Pesticides and Herbicides We don't use them. Biodiversity, predatory insects and hand picking help to keep the pests at bay and weeds are kept at bay weeding and a paper and straw compostable weed block. Techniques, Fertilizers and Everything Else Your plants and produce is only as good as the soil that it comes from. Hence we do our best to build quality soil for all of our plants. This starts with doing as little tilling as possible to preserve the complex ecosystem that exists at the microbial level. All fertilizer used is simply the quality compost that our animals and vegetation produce on our farm. Another goal of ours to grow as much produce on as small of a space as possible (similar to permaculture), thus preserving pasture space for our grazing livestock, scratching places for our chickens and forage for ducks when they need a break from the pond. This doesn't only benefit our animals it also preserves critical open space and dense early succession forests as wildlife habitat.