tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11261021411621526102024-03-13T20:11:25.245-07:00Dunn Creek Organic Farm PEI, Canada"From life in the city to living in the country"John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.comBlogger140125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-76500019491392428382014-07-25T19:41:00.002-07:002014-07-25T19:41:21.718-07:00A Few Words From the Farm Before Bedtime I'd love to write the full story of how we finished haying, but I just can't in one sitting. I will share some of the highlights. The rest will just have to perk in my mind until I can pour you a strong cup of memory brewed from the experience. Maybe some winter day when I'm half crazy from being locked in by the cold. The details would curl your hair, involve compassionate neighbors, a divine intervention and two 14 year old boys driving my Ford pickup full of hay bales without adult supervision.<br />
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For now my story will focus on the old hay baler I named Senora. Senora is probably as old as I am. An antique as farm machines go. But she's still game to bale a field and has a language all her own.<br />
The problem is, I don't speak her language fluently. Yes, we've worked out a few things over the years but she has secrets nobody really understands. And the men who know how to translate are getting harder to find. Senora glided through about 4 acres of hay field that was neatly cut and raked, missing a bale about one in a hundred. <br />
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Now what you need to know is that Senora picks up the dry, raked hay from the field, sweeps it over into a plunger that compacts loose hay into a square, cuts the ends off with a knife and squeezes each section she picks up into the bale. At the same time she pulls a length of the baling twine that wraps around the bale and, get this, ties a knot and cuts the twine for each bale. Except when she doesn't.<br />
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Talk to any farmer with a square baler and you can go on for ours about the knotters. These are the twin mechanical features that must simultaneously tie a knot and cut the twine. This is mechanical voodoo. You can't do it in hand and the mechanics are baffling.<br />
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Senora had it down until she choked near sundown with a hundred bales to go. <br />
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So I called a neighbor. "Hey Adam, you remember when the pickup reel on your baler got jammed and you had to clear it? What did you do?" Adam said, "I'll be down in half an hour".<br />
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Mean time my wife had seen the delay, called neighbors and the kids in and they were picking up bales off the field and pitching them up into the barn loft. The 14 year olds were delighted to be given a pickup truck to load with bales in the field and return to the barn. Yeah, and dad learned to keep his mouth shut as junior learned to back the truck down the lane to the barn. Both outside mirrors are still intact.<br />
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The neighbors who dropped everything on their own farm came running to help and loaded our loft. <br />
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And then Adam drove up and took Senora in hand. You can't know all the tricks of an old farm machine. And you can't know what a farm hand knows about desperate repairs with hand tools. I learned a lot from the local hands in a few hours about how not to be beaten at sundown with rain on the horizon. It was pretty damn impressive.<br />
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All told we got the hay in. Not as much as we wanted. Not with the ease we expected. But we won. When we were stuck, people came and helped. Not because they had to, not because there was money in it. But because we needed them. We might be poor in hay this year, but we're rich in friends and neighbors. What a blessing. <br />
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You might wonder about Senora. Well, she did her best up until she broke a drive chain on some heavy clover hay. That's alright. We'll get her a new chain and we'll pick up a few more bales another day. And like I said. she's got her own language. She hums though a light windrow of dried grass, and when we hit the heavy cutting she complains, "There's no Room. There's no Room. There's no Room."<br />
She might be an old thing now, but she once was a dream in red paint and I named her after a 1961 hit by Harry Belafonte. This link below should explain it all.<br />
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John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-31470759254719079312014-07-20T20:24:00.002-07:002014-07-20T20:24:55.813-07:00A few Words From the Farm Before Bedtime. Some notes. <br />
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The sheep have grazed their way through ready pasture. Yesterday Susie wondered where to put them. I pointed to the front yard. Our shady lawn was looking shaggy and the weeds are up under the cherry and the apple trees. Today the view from the kitchen is of sheep grazing on the lawn and dozing in the shade and there isn't a weed to be seen under the cherry tree. One of our regular customers came to get a box of farm produce with her daughter. She laughed when she noticed the sheep were mowing the lawn. I said, "The John Deere runs 'till it's empty. The sheep run 'till they're full."<br />
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I started cutting hay yesterday. I have a formerly broken but newly reformed cutter bar mower, older than I am, to do the work. It won't do on a modern farm. To small, too slow, too fussy about ground speed and the angle of the bar. Unlike today's machines this one is full of secrets and peculiarities a man has to know if he wants hay in the barn. But it's nimble in small plots of grass and clover, compact enough to get down an over-grown lane and forgiving when a turn at the end of a row doesn't go just right. I hooked the end of the bar on a thick stand of weeds and the built-in mechanical precaution of a friction bar released, a design included to prevent damage when striking an obstacle in the field. Push as I might It would not go back into place. I drove home with the mower on the tractor, reversed into the Maritime Electric pole in the yard and heard a satisfying "click". It's taken me 4 years to learn how to cut hay with a mower everybody used to know.<br />
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I'll finish cutting hay tomorrow. Then I'll use an old hay rake to turn the hay to finish drying and set it into windrows for baling. That's when my cantankerous old baler "Senora" enters the scene. Dowager that she is, one never knows exactly what she will do so I'll save the rest of this story for a full report on her behavior and let you get some rest.<br />
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Goodnight. <br />
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John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-32569829730123090452014-07-18T19:43:00.001-07:002014-07-18T19:43:42.852-07:00A Few Words From the Farm Before Bedtime If you have a cat, a dog, a pet iguana, a patio pot with a tomato plant, an award winning rose, a few rows of potatoes or a million acres of wheat, sooner or later Nature will tap you on the shoulder and remind you of the facts. "Hey bud. We have a deal."<br />
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I was reminded of that today by our otherwise carefree barn cat, Sean. Sean can't read the fine print but he knows the terms of our agreement. Man says, "You are a barn cat. We hired you because rodents steal food, damage buildings, eat baby chicks make a mess generally and aren't contributing to the program here. You seem to be pretty good at hunting rodents, cat. Here's the deal. We'll give you enough food and health care to keep you strong and able. You'll be free to come and go as you please and use your talents at will to eat rats, mice, voles and whatever else comes your way. One more thing, we'll be clipping your junk." So cat looks at the deal and says, "Sweet. Feed me on schedule, don't act crazy and don't try to pick me up or turn me into one of your stupid, fat, house cats and I'm your barn cat." Sean is as free as Huckleberry Finn. <br />
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Last fall the fur trappers in our neighborhood legally set traps in the neighborhood. Trapping for furs goes on here as a traditional way of earning income sometimes for bounty and varmint control. I don't have much to say about it. But I do appreciate it when a trapper comes to me and lets me know his traps are out and we're good enough neighbors to exchange the courtesy of allowing trappers to work by asking them to keep traps away from our farm yard, kids and livestock. Seems rational enough. But Huck Finn can't read a map and Sean disappeared.<br />
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We were out in the barnyard in the morning 2 days later when Sean came home. He slunk weakly into the barnyard and made a dizzy beeline to safety in the hay loft. We were glad to see him and realized pretty fast he was in trouble. Panting, starving, one eye bulging out but ever so grateful to be home. He was bundled up, taken to the vet, tested and observed and then released home for care with a guess that maybe a glancing blow from a car on the road had nearly done him in.<br />
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A few days later a neighbor came by and mentioned that he'd found a cat in a trap in a neck hold and set him loose. Turns out it was Sean. The type of trap used and a neighbor gave him a chance. And when he was set free he came home.<br />
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Sean was let into the house for the first time ever and closed into the bathroom with everything he'd need to recover. He was patient with being confined. He was fed and loved and nursed back to health and was eventually more than happy to go back home to freedom in his barn. <br />
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Afterward, last winter, Sean would show up on the porch in the bitterest cold, visit and talk with us, take a bit of petting (Not too much because rubbing his fur pushed the warm air out of his coat) and then off he'd go to his lodgings in the hay loft. Sean lost the rounded tips of his ears to frost bite last winter. But he never asked to be let in the house. He knows the deal. Some day, if we're both lucky, Sean and I will retire. I suspect we'll both earn a spot by the fire and have no regrets. Until then, we both have work to do.<br />
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This is just a short story about a cat. It's also a story about all of us. We have a deal with Nature and Nature holds the stakes. We promise to care for and look after Nature in return for what we need and we take what we get. We're a wife and husband, nurturing the little lives we are given and as long as we recognize the terms of our survival all is well. But If we hold ourselves apart from Nature, if we forget that people spent 10,000 years negotiating a living and if we believe we cannot be held to account for ignoring the contract, we'll lose everything. Even a silly barn cat with squared ears knows the facts. He's free to come and go as he pleases. But he follows me everywhere. And I admire that little cat. <br />
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John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-69950231469121129962014-07-12T19:36:00.001-07:002014-07-12T19:36:46.306-07:00A few words from the farm before bedtime.<br />
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It was payday today. For a farmer that means selling at the market. The big farmers are in a whole different game than we are, but the facts on the ground are the same. You plant, grow, and try to meet your buyers price in the market. When we go to market and sell crops for cash we get paid for our work. It's that simple. But it's not that easy. <br />
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Somebody once said that Farmers are the only business people expected to make a profit buying retail and selling wholesale. What that means is that farmers pay fixed retail costs for seed, machines, fertilizer, bank loans, hardware, mechanics, clothing, electricity, food and fuel. But the price for the animal or vegetable crop can be set by the buyer - before it's produced for market. In Iowa, the State has just redefined the laws to make it clear that a farmer, working on contract for a big agricultural corporation, is actually an employee of that company.<br />
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What does that mean? Let me give you an example. If I were a hog farmer under contract with ABC Corporation, the corporation would buy and own the little pigs I raise for them to market. They would give me explicit instructions about the conditions under which I would raise their hogs. The stock barns and buildings, infrastructure, drugs and antibiotics applied, feed requirements. It would all be spelled out and the price set in advance. If they decide the farmer hasn't met their contract - they can cancel it. In essence firing the farmer "employee" before delivery. And the State has mandated that the farmer is a contract employee who agrees to take all the risk. Win or lose. You can see where this leads.<br />
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And then there is our farmers' market. I've had several people ask, "Will you please grow chickens for me?" A lady at the market began scolding me because there were no more organic eggs for her to buy. I apologized and explained I'd sold all I had in the first 2 hours. My hens lay the only certified organic eggs in the county. "When will you have organic new potatoes?" Next week I said.<br />
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We sold out our stock of everything we brought to market today. And we got the retail price.<br />
If you want to know how to create local food security, I believe I've got some ideas. <br />
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Goodnight.<br />
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John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-6262739542351591802014-07-10T19:41:00.000-07:002014-07-10T19:41:38.671-07:007.10.14 A Few Words From the Farm Before Bedtime Well, I won't go into detail about today. Let's just say it's 10:15 PM, there's still light in the sky, it's humid and about 80F. It's Eastern Canada, where winter comes from the North Pole and summer comes from Louisiana.<br />
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My California friends will be surprised to find the water here is warmer than summer in So Cal. And my Canadian friends doubt us when we describe the beaches in So Cal and say, "There are no biting bugs".<br />
The bugs are biting here tonight. <br />
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I'm taking a friendly word of advice and moving my words to the blog. Sort of against better judgement really. It's easy to sit on facebook and poke out a few words. Kind of like writing a letter to you. And that got me thinking...<br />
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If you're my age you remember getting letters. And if your're my age you probably have letters, saved by your family that you've never read. Somewhere in my mom's house is a box of letters my mom and dad wrote to each other in 1944-45. I've never read them. A record of who my parents were as young marrieds in World War II. And I'm not sure I want to know...what's in them. I'd like to leave them their privacy and innocence.<br />
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When my older brother went to Viet Nam, he wrote infrequent letters home. I remember my mom wrote him back asking him to please just write about the ordinary things he did. We were hungry for news about him. Not about the war.<br />
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On my birthday, I often got a small gift and a letter from my Dad's father. It is the letters I remember.<br />
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When I was young, my mothers' family had spread far and wide. They wrote letters to each other as uncles and cousins and brothers and sisters. A package of letters would be forwarded to us with a new letter from the sender. We got the family news in California by post from mom's family in the east. A very old school format dating back to when my mom's family were immigrants on the plains with roots in the east. And when we arrived here in PEI the old folks came to visit and shared local news on Sunday after church. In the States, years ago, the home folks sat down after church and wrote letters with local news to loved ones "far from home". We received them at our house into the 1970's. And I recognized the same tradition on PEI when I moved here.<br />
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I appreciate that some think my words are important. But really, they're not. All I'm doing is writing a letter to you every few days. I'm writing letters to you as your family used to write to you. I'm sharing the news like our families once did so we can stay close. That's all. <br />
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Goodnight.<br />
John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-24181224103691498082013-01-02T15:48:00.000-08:002013-01-02T16:34:39.042-08:00What's in your Eggs?We're starting an egg delivery route for our friends in Kings County, Prince Edward Island. Once a week we'll deliver organic, free range farm eggs from heritage breed hens to our local customers.<br />
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So, the point of this blog post is to explain the value of our organic eggs and share factual information with our local customers. But there's more in this post for our friends who are too far for me to serve. I'm going to share information for other small growers, consumers and shoppers and perhaps most importantly mothers and grandmothers who are interested in choosing healthy food for their families. I'm going to explain how improving the way we eat and live can be a community effort wherever you live.<br />
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<b>The Egg Route</b><br />
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When I told a neighbor I was going to start an egg route, she said "Oh, Glen did that years ago". Glen is the retired farmer across the road from us. He's lived here all his life. A few days ago I asked him which breeds were here when he was farming. He said barred rocks and white leghorns. I'm just the next farmer to continue an old neighborhood tradition. That's an honor. And I'm determined to give it my best.<br />
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<b>The Chickens</b><br />
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We "hired" <a href="http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/orpington.html">Buff Orpington</a> and <a href="http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/delaware.html">Delaware</a> chickens last spring (2012). We chose these dual purpose heritage breed birds to establish a breeding flock which will keep birds on our farm year 'round. This can only work for us economically if we fully integrate the flock into our operation as a whole. These chickens must work to create new life, soil fertility, pasture improvement, fresh meat and eggs. And their work can only profit us if we consistently treat each animal in a responsible and humane way.<br />
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<b>Organic Eggs </b><br />
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Dunn Creek Farm is certified Organic by <a href="http://www.atlanticcertifiedorganic.ca/">ACO</a>, a non profit organization that inspects and certifies that we are in compliance with <a href="http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/ongc-cgsb/programme-program/normes-standards/internet/bio-org/principes-principles-eng.html">Canadian Organic Standards</a>. These standards define what organic means and what producers must do to be certified. The organic standards support a system that is clean and sustainable in the environment, humane in it's treatment of animals and of greatest benefit in terms of quality to consumers.<br />
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For example, the standards state that feed for organic chickens cannot be exclusively grain based. In winter, when there are no fresh grasses or pasture, we sprout legumes and grains to provide fresh organic greens. Our chickens get increased Omega 3, amino acids and natural hormones from fresh fodder with no chemical spray or pesticide residue. And unlike conventional systems or even chickens raised as "free range", organic certification prohibits the use of grain feeds that contain genetically modified materials, antibiotics, and pesticides (<a href="http://rticles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/07/01/fda-finally-listened-to-us-and-removed-arsenic-from-chickens.aspx">like arsenic</a>). <br />
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<b>Nutritional and Health Benefits</b><br />
<b><br /></b>But it's more than just what organics don't contain, there are numerous published studies that document the additional nutritional benefits of pasture raised eggs. Mother Earth News published this summary of its findings when comparing pasture grown eggs from 14 farms with USDA standards for commercial eggs:<br />
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<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">• 1/3 less cholesterol</strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">• 1/4 less saturated fat</strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">• 2/3 more vitamin A</strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids</strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">• 3 times more vitamin E</strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">• 7 times more beta carotene</strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Read more:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> </span><a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx#ixzz2GqUoB7cZ" style="color: #003399; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx#ixzz2GqUoB7cZ</a><br />
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<b>Partnerships That Secure Local Food </b><br />
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You buy organic eggs and we buy the feed to grow those eggs. We are all in community in this venture. <br />
We have found a local farm family to provide local organic feed. <a href="http://www.barnyardorganics.ca/">Mark and Sally Bernard</a> grow organic grain on 500 acres. They roast their own soy beans, mill their own grain and we buy our feed directly from them. Then we share the cost of driving and hauling feed home with a neighbor. We do this to give you a better price on a better product and support another farm.<br />
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When you buy our product you support us and our partners with the dollars you spend. We do our own work and pay our own way to provide for you. We help secure a healthy local food supply, maintain healthy farms, raise our children and work to feed our neighbors. Manure is not the problem, it's the answer that gives us more fertility. Chickens aren't grown for slaughter, they're grown for life. Eggs aren't grown for profit, they are the fruit of nature that supports all of us. The better we all care for life, the better we all live. <br />
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<b>We All Need Mentors</b><br />
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We all seem to know where we want to go. But sometimes we need a word of encouragement to change direction, adopt new habits, set new goals and follow a new course. I spent considerable time working on a previous post which formed the basis for my presentation at the ACORN Conference in November. I knew what I wanted to communicate, but I had (have) so much less experience than so many of the people to whom I was appointed to be speak. Being the son of a family of academics I went to work on research. And thank God I found <a href="http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/the_smallscale_poultry_flock">Harvey Ussery</a> of Virginia. The man not only recognized my dispute with conventional farming adapted into organic systems, he wrote a book that can help all of us move in a better direction. So I will link this blog to a video of Mr. Ussery as an introduction to someone who has captured our vision. In my opinion he is the next step forward for those of us who were mentored into pastured poultry by Joel Salatin. <br />
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<b><br /></b>John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-76966451154919247492012-12-06T16:29:00.001-08:002012-12-06T16:51:51.744-08:00Real Egg Nog: Christmas With a Punch <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6spR-0tU2Us/UMDhTv4cpDI/AAAAAAAABFw/OhAy5tzcQ3Q/s1600/Sugar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6spR-0tU2Us/UMDhTv4cpDI/AAAAAAAABFw/OhAy5tzcQ3Q/s1600/Sugar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6spR-0tU2Us/UMDhTv4cpDI/AAAAAAAABFw/OhAy5tzcQ3Q/s1600/Sugar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L9iXYnyXYZk/UMDhXERa44I/AAAAAAAABF4/t-GIePjLKwo/s1600/Rye+Whiskey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L9iXYnyXYZk/UMDhXERa44I/AAAAAAAABF4/t-GIePjLKwo/s200/Rye+Whiskey.jpg" width="110" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SP1AgPT8Jgc/UMDhcxAc25I/AAAAAAAABGE/UFd9UvVC8jg/s1600/Eggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SP1AgPT8Jgc/UMDhcxAc25I/AAAAAAAABGE/UFd9UvVC8jg/s200/Eggs.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hSeiup_GU9s/UMDks2vgYUI/AAAAAAAABGc/wBZoUC18QiI/s1600/Rum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hSeiup_GU9s/UMDks2vgYUI/AAAAAAAABGc/wBZoUC18QiI/s200/Rum.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FFfMyZZ7-aM/UMDhjUqQ_7I/AAAAAAAABGM/ocJvkzisFh4/s1600/Cream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FFfMyZZ7-aM/UMDhjUqQ_7I/AAAAAAAABGM/ocJvkzisFh4/s200/Cream.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6spR-0tU2Us/UMDhTv4cpDI/AAAAAAAABFw/OhAy5tzcQ3Q/s1600/Sugar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6spR-0tU2Us/UMDhTv4cpDI/AAAAAAAABFw/OhAy5tzcQ3Q/s200/Sugar.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Which of the above items is most dangerous?</span></b> </div>
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<b>...and what if we mixed 'em all together and served 'em to company?</b> </div>
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Eggnog. We've all had the stuff that comes in a milk carton. Thick, sickly sweet. Drinking it is kind of like drinking custard. In fact, that's basically what it is. It's not eggnog. Not really. Not in a 19th century, Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol" kind of way. Not even in a 1940's, "It's A Wonderful Life" kind of way. Eggnog is not of the modern world. Look at the ingredients above. Everything here is something your doctor and law enforcement have told you to cut down on...or avoid entirely if you want to live to see the New Year. It's high octane booze, pure sugar, heavy cream and eggs. Raw eggs. A salmonella crap shoot. A bonafide cholesterol bomb. This is Christmas before seatbelts. Before fire retardant jammies and smoke detectors. For heaven sake this is an artifact from when we put burning candles on dead pine trees inside wooden houses. Celebrating Christmas took guts back then. Maxing out a credit card at the mall pales in comparison to the risks people used to take to welcome the baby Jesus into the world. And presented here, with a disclaimer, is a truly authentic Eggnog recipe. Try it at home. At your own risk. Driving will be out of the question. <br />
<br />
So...What IS the most dangerous ingredient shown above? It might be the eggs. Now. We grow our own organic eggs so we know they're fresh, clean and properly refrigerated. Even so, that's no guarantee. Salmonella is nasty. And it's possible that it's happily active in a raw egg, which is why it would most likely be illegal to serve this recipe in a commercial venue in North America. Modern standards require pasteurization of raw eggs. (So much for real alfredo and hollandaise.) There's more on reducing the risk of raw eggs from the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/features/salmonellaeggs/">US CDC</a>. The hangover might be worse. But that's totally up to you.<br />
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If I haven't scared you back to the milk carton full of goo, please proceed (at your own risk) to:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Virginia Egg Nog</b> </span><br />
<br />
You'll Need:<br />
<br />
6 eggs<br />
1 1/4 Cups of Sugar<br />
1 1/2 Quarts of cream (6 cups - use lighter cream or cut heavy cream: 4 cups heavy cream to 2 cups whole milk)<br />
Pint of good rye whiskey<br />
Dash of Rum (whatever that means - I like using a shot of spiced rum for flavor)<br />
Nutmeg<br />
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<b>Directions:</b><br />
<br />
(OK - my ancient cook book assumes you know your way around. I'll add some notes that might help you.)<br />
<br />
You need to separate the egg yolk from the whites. Here's a cool little <a href="http://separate%20egg%20yolks%20in%20seconds/">You Tube tutorial</a> on separating eggs with a water bottle. I just crack the eggs and use the shells to separate them myself.<br />
<br />
Once you have the eggs separated, you need to beat the yolks with 1 Cup of the sugar so that the sugar melts into the yolks. Add the cream and the whiskey alternately (a little at a time, keep stirring to mix) then add the rum and mix. Season with ground nutmeg. Notice it doesn't say how much, so try this to taste. I'm going to suggest 1/4 teaspoon for starters. <br />
<br />
Next, beat the egg whites until they're stiff and then add in 1/4 cup of sugar. An electric hand mixer, egg beater or a good whisk and elbow grease will do the trick. The whites should form a nice peak when you pull your mixing tool up.<br />
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Drop the egg whites on top of your mixture in the bowl. It will float on top. Dust with a bit more nutmeg on top for celebratory splendor. Chill for one hour and serve, making sure you have received signed releases from everyone in the vicinity.<br />
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Merry Christmas!<br />
<br />
(A few more notes and observations...)<br />
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This is eggnog. And it's awesome. <br />
If you use grocery store eggs, get the freshest, best quality eggs you can find.<br />
Use good liquor, cream and spice.<br />
Chances are you've never actually had eggnog. <br />
Take it easy. This is a rich dessert combined with a stiff drink.<br />
<br />
Cheers!John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-76463105924176575212012-11-21T19:24:00.000-08:002012-11-22T18:57:29.469-08:00Industry Gave us "The Bird" <b>"In the mid-1900's Prince Edward Island farmers were practicing a predominately grassland agriculture, with over 60% of the land in hay or pasture."</b><br />
<i>- <a href="http://www.acornpresscanada.com/author/david-weale">David Weale "Pride in Small Places"</a></i><br />
<br />
We started raising heritage chickens in our backyard in Santa Barbara, California. When we moved to our farm on Prince Edward Island, we were excited to try our hand at raising organic eggs and meat for our farm customers.<br />
<br />
Last year I wrote <a href="http://dunncreekfarm.blogspot.ca/2011/06/free-range-chicken-pastured-poultry-is.html">"Free Range Chicken? Pastured Poultry is Better"</a> a blog post that describes how we began raising chickens on grass here on Prince Edward Island. Now, over a year later, there's a lot more to the story. So I thought I'd take a seat at the kitchen table before daylight and log in a few of the things we've learned since starting out. If you're a small grower you might find some of the links and information handy. If you're a consumer, well...keep reading.<br />
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<b>And Now - The Rest of the Story</b> <br />
<br />
My son Spencer and I walked down the lane onto the pasture early one morning in late summer 2011. We were on our way to crate up 50 Meat King chickens for processing at a small family owned slaughter facility just 10 minutes away. This was the end point of a project I shared with my son. The idea was that we'd raise 100 chickens for our customers and he'd make a few dollars to take back to University in the fall. As I got closer to the mobile pasture pen, a design made famous by <a href="http://www.polyfacefarms.com/">Joel Salatin at Polyface Farm</a>, I saw the unmistakable outline of chicken feet in the air. I knew we were in trouble.<br />
<br />
We'd lost all the birds to a predator who'd torn open the wire and attacked every last bird. The chickens were left either dead or dying on the ground. Spencer dispatched them to end their pain while I got the tractor and dug a pit for burial. We were wiped out and we were getting a tough lesson. Meanwhile, word of our disaster got around fast and we made the local newspaper. Talk about having your wings clipped.<br />
<br />
But that wasn't the story it was the kicker. The story was that we'd been less than delighted with what Meat Kings are. The breeding of this bird made it's shortcomings as a pastured animal obvious. We had birds drop dead, get sick, develop deformed legs and generally be content to dine in filthy feathers without ever leaving the feed trough to browse pasture. This is the bird common wisdom says you must raise for meat. But I'd seen enough to know these animals are not bred to live in nature. You might as well drop a pack of fat Cub Scouts with an unlimited stock of junk food into the jungle. You'd get the same result.<br />
<br />
After the famous Dunn Creek Farm chicken massacre of 2011 I had an interesting conversation with a Buddhist monk. He helped me look at things I hadn't considered. I found my intentions weren't quite level with my values and beliefs. My practice was intended to make money and I wasn't really centered on the living animals in my care. I also wasn't asking any critical questions about where these birds come from, what created them, what their job is on our farm or how we'd make them a life-long part of the sustainable local agriculture we're trying to create. Yes I was looking to make a quick buck. And karma bit me on the grass. This was our responsibility. What were we going to do about it? <br />
<br />
<b>What is a Meat King?</b><br />
<br />
The Meat King (Cornish Cross) is a hybrid of the double breasted Cornish and the White Rock. It was developed for commercial meat growers. The original cross was made in the 1930's and the breed rose to dominance in the 1960's. As of 2012 there are just a handful of companies worldwide that own and control the genetics that produce the breeding stock for the Meat King. Ongoing genetic modifications continue to increase the size and the speed at which these birds are ready for market:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the last 15 years, the time it takes to get a broiler to a 5.0 lb (2.3 kg) live weight has decreased by more than a week. Birds get to target weights 16.3 per cent sooner than they did in 1992. The industry continues to see another day of improvement every two years. The benefit of better growth rate is improved feed conversion. The sooner birds get to desired market size, the higher the percentage of feed consumed goes to muscle development instead of body maintenance. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - <a href="http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/1317/how-breeding-companies-help-improve-broiler-industry-efficiency">Mike Donohue, Feb 2009</a> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">When Joel Salatin wrote <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pastured-Poultry-Profits-Joel-Salatin/dp/0963810901">"Pastured Poultry Profits"</a> in 1993 he focused on the methods he developed for pasture raising the Meat King, It was clear to him that he couldn't argue with success:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"For feed conversion and quick cash turnaround it is unprecedented. Consumer acceptance is tremendous and processing is much easier because the hair has been bred off these birds and they do not require singeing after feather picking." </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Joel Salatin, "Pastured Poultry Profits" </span></span><br />
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As a result of this success the Meat King has become the only broiler chicken you can buy in the grocery store or from any food service. And the advantages it gives growers make it the only bird they buy. But since "body maintenance" is steadily being bred out...well...other results are coming in. <br />
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Even in 1993 it was clear to Joel Salatin that there were some real problems. He took a practical approach. He writes, "Bred up to perform at a totally unnatural gain rate, this bird is prone to all sorts of diseases and structural deformities." Something we observed ourselves. His answer was to produce his own very specialized high energy feeds and add several commercially produced supplements. But could we really do this and call it organic? When does breeding make pasturing impossible if not irrelevant?<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404041; line-height: 17px;">Twenty years ago, the industry grew a chicken to a 4.3 lb/1.95 kg live weight at processing. By 2007, the average live weight at processing increased by 37 per cent to 5.9 lb/2.7 kg as more and more chickens were used for further processing using big birds."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Mike Donohue, Feb 2009</span><br />
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Consumer expectations are being inflated as fast as the chickens themselves are bred up. There is no end in sight. And every year pasture farmers see birds less willing or able to benefit from grazing.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I think it's unfortunate that we have created a chicken that is so far removed from a normal chicken's ability to forage and fend for itself in the barnyard. There ought to be some middle ground. But the fact is that we are dealing with a chicken that was bred to eat high-calorie, low vitamin and mineral feed without fresh air and sunlight, on antibiotics and hormones. We can do many things to make this bird worth eating, but there is a limit to what we can do."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Joel Salatin, "Pastured Poultry Profits" 1993 </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<b>Bringing Expectations Back to Earth. </b><br />
<br />
"Them birds are some small!" <br />
Lorne McDonald was behind the counter at L&C Poultry. He'd slaughtered my chickens that morning and I had come to pick up the Delaware roosters we had culled at 13 weeks from our flock. He looked kind of sorry for me as he handed over my little birds in their loose bags. Below them on the shelf were rows of Meat Kings looking like over-stuffed pillows, the plastic poly bags stretched tight over their fat carcasses. I felt kind of deflated too. Who would want to pay top dollar for my little birds? They averaged between 2.5 and 2.75 pounds. Well, nothing to do but try one for supper. The proof will be in the tasting. <br />
<br />
I decided to cut one up, bread it and fry it in a pan. We have a pretty good library of old cookbooks. I got one from the 1940's and looked up a recipe for fried chicken. "Take about two and a half pounds of chicken" it said. And that's when the light dawned. My Grandmother never had an 8 pound chicken. What I've got here is a normal fryer.<br />
<br />
The fat was creamy yellow not white just as eggs from pastured hens are bright orange compared to the pale grey/yellow egg yolks in the store. The meat had a fine texture, not grainy or mealy. And the flavor was superb. This was Grandmother's Kansas farm, after-church, Sunday supper, fried chicken. And yes, I licked my fingers.<br />
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I had been prepared to be disappointed by this little rooster. But my expectations were all wrong. And here is where the bottom line rests. Modern hybrid chicken genetics, factory growers and processors needed less than 50 years to change what we think chicken is. And the idea that this is what consumers demand isn't quite equal to the facts. Processors are doing the demanding because a higher carcass weight makes higher profit for them. We aren't making chicken fingers, popcorn chicken or McNuggets for our customers. We're interested in producing a whole chicken raised in nature that satisfies you at your table. <br />
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<b>Industry Gave us "The Bird". We Need To Breed For Pasture.</b><br />
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There is a clear consensus among small farmers who direct market to consumers that we need a breeding effort to produce chickens that are better suited to our farms and our customers. Phrases like "structural failure", "disease prone", "taste challenged" and "fragile" pop up across the internet. But perhaps this summary written by <a href="http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/cornish-cross.html">Harvey Ussery</a> sums it up best:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We in the pastured poultry movement have turned our rhetorical guns on the Tyson’s and the Frank Perdue’s of the broiler industry. We have blasted the waste, the pollution, the lack of sustainability, the inhumanity, and the contamination of both our groundwater and our food supply that flow from a debased production system. Striving for a model which both protects natural and agricultural resources and offers our customers poultry fit to eat, we have rejected all that—all, that is, except the very heart of the industry’s flawed system: the Cornish Cross chicken.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Harvey Ussery, "The Cornish Cross: What is Wrong With This Picture" </span><br />
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Susan and I decided we couldn't grow Cornish Cross chickens again. "They're pathetic. I just feel sorry for them." she said. If we are what we eat then the Meat King is surely the emblem of animal based junk food.<br />
We re-considered what we wanted and revised our plans. Not on the basis of what's available, but on the basis of what needs to be accomplished. Crazy as it sounds, we've decided that our goals can't rest entirely on cash for meat value or on the unrealistic expectations of consumers who no longer know what chicken tastes like. And we think we are in the perfect position to work with other small farms, our customers and the local culinary community to find some answers and make changes that take all of us in the right direction to healthier food, better farming and more humane relationships with our animals. <br />
<br />
<b>Choosing A Heritage Breed</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
There are many good sources of information about heritage breeds and I encourage you do to some study before you choose. I've included some recommended culinary-based choices below. Before we chose, I called several poultry breeders, talked to local farmers, looked at hatchery selections and found what looked best for us. We were looking for birds that would thrive on pasture, provide meat and eggs and carry over through the dark, cold winter months in Canada with a minimum of fuss. We ordered Delaware and Buff Orpington chicks from <a href="http://www.performancepoultry.com/index.php">Performance Poultry</a> in Ontario to begin our hands on learning about these two dual purpose "heavy" breeds. They arrived strong and healthy and we brooded them up to be ready for pasture.<br />
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When the day came to move them to the grass we used our pre-built Salatin style pasture pen and shortly after that we bumped into reality. These birds were too active to stay in a pasture pen. Every time we took off a roof panel to feed and water, they scattered and we had to call in our Australian shepherd dogs to hold them until we could catch them. A pasture pen that would have contained 100 sedentary Meat Kings was inadequate to a healthy, active flock of 70 heritage birds.<br />
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We were building a mobile coop on wheels for the laying hens. So with Susans urging I sped up construction and we put about 50 birds in it and put the whole rig onto the pasture using a mobile electric fence to keep everyone safe. We began moving the coop every 3 days, then went to 2 days to give better pasture to these active grazers and foragers. Essentially we had found Andy Lee's Day Range concept. It worked brilliantly. All is well for now. But we know that in order for us to use heritage chicken on the farm the challenge in the long run will be learning how to breed, grow and sell heritage chicken on its own merits at a reasonable return. <br />
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<b>Exploring the Margins, Finding the Benefits AND Being Sustainable </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
We know that the economics of small flock heritage chickens are not the same as large commercial growing or even small flock production of hybrids. We're still working out the numbers, but we found ourselves looking at some unexpected benefits that help us stay rational about what we're doing and where we're going. The thing is, pasture raised birds, whether they are heritage-bred or Meat Kings, come out smaller when they are grass fed. There is less meat to sell. But there are benefits to growers and consumers not to mention the birds themselves and the pasture we farm.<br />
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Organic fertility is a key issue on an organic farm. For example I've been concerned about continuing to harvest hay as we build up our soils and pasture elsewhere on the farm. In other fields we grow green manure and cover crop, we make compost and spread it in our row crop fields. I had the idea of ordering in a ton of pelletized organic chicken manure to feed the field. That didn't work. Turns out I'm too small to hold the attention of a fertilizer salesman. <br />
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Adam King (ADK Farms on facebook) is a young conventional farmer who started farming by cutting hay for neighbors in our area. Adam helped me find the older, small scale farm tools I needed to make my own hay. And so after haying this summer I asked his opinion about managing our hay field. "John, I wonder. Could you put your chickens out on that field?" <br />
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Duh, right? <br />
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When we moved our chickens and our sheep onto the hay field we were solving several problems and helping to balance accounts. Organic feed is expensive, but we were getting eggs, developing sustainable mixed production and converting all of the above into fertility valued at hundreds of dollars (if you can get it!}. And the animals were doing most of the work of "manufacturing" and "application". <br />
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Information about the multiplier effects of heritage animals on pasture make things look even better. Working on this post I came across <a href="http://www.allsun.com.au/index.html">Gundaroo Tiller</a>, an organic garden farm supply company in New South Wales, Australia, which posted, <a href="http://www.allsun.com.au/ENPchangedthinking.html">"Changing the Way We Think About Poultry"</a> on it's website. Joyce Wilkie and Michael Plane talk about the many benefits of this system, including "stacking" the pasture with herbivores (such as our sheep and horses) first. Allowing them to graze the grass down to about 4 inches. <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"Chickens are then moved onto the grass which is at optimal height for them. They clean up any parasite eggs and pulverise the herbivore manure which, when combined with chicken droppings, is the ideal pasture fertiliser. To use that dreadful modern phrase a "win-win situation"."</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Gundaroo Tiller</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
Vertical Stacking is like doubling the size of your pasture. And it's ideally suited to heritage breed animals.<br />
New tools like flexible electric fence make it possible to create rational grazing almost anywhere. Now we need the right animals for that job. <br />
<br />
Genetic diversity allows us to have more than one answer to finding the right breed for the right purpose and there are now many growers working with heritage breeds. There are new hybrids being tried and there will be new standards set for pastured chicken flocks. For now there is no single alternative. Which means that small farmers around the world are working on breeding up the chickens that work for them. Some believe that we can recover and improve the qualities that made heritage breeds commercial favorites years ago. And many people have come to the conclusion that a one size fits all solution designed by industrial producers (who own the genetics) is not the answer. We've already seen the pinnacle of industrial breeding and it can't stand on its own two legs.<br />
<br />
Growing meat and eggs with heritage chickens includes the potential of growing breed stock. Livestock growers of every kind use sales of breeding and breed stock as part of their revenue stream. Chicken farmers have been shut out by corporate-owned genetics and one dominant hybrid. But if growers create demand for birds that perform best on pasture, we can also grow breeding stock, much as "open software" if you like, to sell to other farmers, backyard growers and hobbyists. We can get back to growing for life and a long road ahead instead of settling for a fast buck and an annual dead end followed by a re-up from the factory.<br />
<br />
To re-cap:<br />
<br />
<b>On Farm Benefits of Raising Heritage-Breed chickens on Pasture:</b><br />
<div>
<br />
* Pure bred chickens can allow us to naturally breed and maintain our own flocks of layers and meat birds.</div>
* Heritage birds are active foragers who are better at supplementing simple grain ration with pasture feeding.<br />
* Birds who are naturally sound also have better immune systems and are better suited to live outdoors.<br />
* Chickens who aren't bred to eat a grain only diet, don't need special supplements.<br />
* These birds actively scratch on the pasture surface, aerating turf and mixing in valuable fertility.<br />
* Using mobile coops with screen floors directly applies chicken manure across the pasture.<br />
* Converting organic feed into organic fertility helps increase the value of expensive feed.<br />
* Consumers want high quality, humanely raised food direct from their farmer.<br />
* Culinary professionals are calling on us to produce high quality local food to feature in their restaurants.<br />
* We aren't raising chickens for death and profit. We're raising them to sustain life on our farm. <br />
<br />
<br />
So - why not do the same thing with a Cornish Cross? Well, you can with some extra effort. We did. But we think now is the time to put our effort in another direction starting on a small scale. Others are moving in the same direction and there are some who advise caution. Including Harvey Ussery:<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must of course keep Andy Lee’s warning in mind: That the wing-walker makes sure of the new hand-hold before letting go the old! Certainly those who have worked so hard putting into place a model which works for them should not abandon any element of the system—including its foundation, the Cornish Cross—without due care, experiment, and thought. In the long run, however, we must adopt the goal of producing a better bird. <strong><em>Let Perdue and Tyson have the Cornish Cross—we can do much better than that!</em></strong></span><br />
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<b>Marketing A Heritage Chicken...With All The Fixin's </b><br />
<br />
The successful sales side of creating a better product comes down to creating and meeting a higher expectation. And that really happens at the table. These birds ARE different. And we think the quality will win the sceptics. But because they are different, they require a more traditional approach in the kitchen. I started by looking at some of the old cookbooks I have. Recipes that pre-date the ubiquitous broiler are very useful. And I found this great post by Mary Lou Shaw online from Mother Earth News called, <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/cooking-heritage-breed-chickens.aspx">Cooking Heritage-Breed Chickens</a>. What Mary Lou finds is an important way forward that also identifies specific heritage breeds and their use.<br />
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<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Broilers: </strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Sources differ for the exact age and weights, but that’s probably because heritage breeds vary in size. In general, a broiler is less than two-and-a-half pounds and up to 13 weeks of age. Their meat can be cooked other ways, but because it can be cooked hot and fast and still be tender, they’ve earned the name “broiler.” The Silver Laced Wyandotte breed has the reputation of being excellent for broiling. </span><br />
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<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Fryers:</strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> These birds are about 13 to 20 weeks of age and weigh about 2½ pounds. The meat is still tender and is beginning to get some fat, but using high heat and fat for cooking is best. Voila—fried chicken! Take care that you choose the right cooking oil for high heats. Refined safflower, sesame or sunflower oils are best. As to the breed of heritage bird that’s best for frying? Orpingtons and Barred Rocks lead the list. </span><br />
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<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Roasters:</strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> This should be my specialty, but there are many options for how to successfully roast a bird. These birds are about three-and-a-half pounds and are five to 10 months old. At this age, the meat has developed wonderful flavor, but has lost tenderness because the muscles are developed and firm. Rather than brining the meat, it can be cooked in moist heat at 325 degrees for 25 minutes per pound. If roasted dry, they need basting. I can confirm that cooking them breast-side-down works well. A clay cooker or crock pot also does a good job, and rubbing oil all over the bird before cooking helps. The Black Jersey Giants make good roasters. </span><br />
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<strong style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Stewers: </strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“Stewers” may not be a word, but there’s a category for the older-than-roasters that require stewing. These may be the hens that are too old for egg-laying that we don’t want to feed all winter. It also includes the cockerels that weren’t yet culled. What these older birds require is an even-longer cooking time, and “coq au vin” recipes abound for this category. In the winter, these birds can be found in our well-seasoned cast-iron pot on the wood burner, making the house smell like there’s a real cook present, and promising us a wonderful meal of tender chicken with vegetables from the root cellar. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">By varying our cooking techniques and breed of chicken, we can enjoy nutritious and diverse meals all year. Heritage birds from your local farmer or your own backyard will provide you with meat that is more nutritional, tasty and economic than supermarket chicken. It’s a treat to sit together at the dinner table enjoying such fantastic food. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /><br />Read more: <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/cooking-heritage-breed-chickens.aspx#ixzz2Cp0YAX5S" style="color: #003399;">http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/cooking-heritage-breed-chickens.aspx#ixzz2Cp0YAX5S</a></span><br />
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Simply put, linking our product to people who love food and enjoy cooking is crucial. And we plan to introduce samples to those in the local culinary community to get their feedback.<br />
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<b>Marketing Benefits to Consumers</b><br />
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* The flavor and texture of organically pasture raised and processed birds is superior.<br />
* The nutrional and therefore health value is significantly higher.<br />
* This is heritage chicken for traditional cooking. "Like grandma used to make" is literally true.<br />
* No pesticide, animal based supplements, antibiotics, hormones, or performance enhancing drugs.<br />
* Waste is naturally recycled into fertility.<br />
* Buying Heritage-Breed chicken keeps your local food supply healthy and growing.<br />
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<b>Making it to the Grass</b> <br />
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David Weale is a historian of the Province of PEI, Canada. He has collected the oral history of islanders who lived in a time that seems so far away. He wrote about the small mixed livestock and crop farmers of PEI before 1960:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"...they represented a long tradition of rural intelligence and aptitude, which promoted feelings of competency, even mastery; and was the source of both identity and pride. They might not have had a very wide experience, but on their small parcels most farm folks knew exactly what needed to be done, and how to do it. They were in charge."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - David Weale <i>"Pride in Small Places"</i></span><br />
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We hope to be in charge again when it comes to choosing how we go forward. And we can work together on the basic principle that breeding sustainable, heritage-breed livestock is the proven alternative to factory farming. Barely organic mono-culture animals are failing even committed stockmen and women. The answer to this nagging problem may lie right in front of us. We are working to find the answers in a job that has been left up to us. The proof that it can work exists in many small places. <br />
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<img height="224" src="https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=84a9d7aaa9&view=att&th=13a3c4a12917e601&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_h80fjxo10&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P81t5Z1l0BfSDpD_qJ1zuHg&sadet=1353552084733&sads=RR0DNYF9ua5okvW5bfug3Icoho4" width="640" /><br />
Delaware Chickens - PEI, 1945 David Weale, <i>"Pride in Small Places"</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"...</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;">whenever I hear people say clean food is expensive, I tell them it’s actually the cheapest food you can buy. That always gets their attention. Then I explain that, with our food, all of the costs are figured into the price. Society is not bearing the cost of water pollution, of antibiotic resistance, of food-borne illnesses, of crop subsidies, of subsidized oil and water—of all the hidden costs to the environment and the taxpayer that make cheap food seem cheap. No thinking person will tell you they don’t care about all that. I tell them the choice is simple: You can buy honestly priced food or you can buy irresponsibly priced food."</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> - Joel Salatin, Polyface Farm </span>John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-46246097342345650032012-08-03T14:52:00.001-07:002012-08-03T14:56:53.147-07:00At Grandmother's Table<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>"Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."</b></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><br />
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- Michael Pollan </div>
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There are lots of things in the Dunn Creek Farm CSA box this week that your great grandmother would recognize. And she'd be pleased to have fresh produce picked and ready for her family. Chances are you<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">have a food memory about a grandmother, aunt, neighbor or someone else close to you who knew how to </span></div>
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put love into every bite. It's amazing how durable those memories are and how they become part of us.</div>
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They are the opposite of the empty and forgettable calories that never fill us up. </div>
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My Grandmother was a fine cook who came by her skills the hard way. Her mother died when she was 12 </div>
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and as the oldest girl she took over the kitchen and fed her family. That was in 1892 on a farm in Kansas. </div>
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As a boy, I remember her being very old in a gingham apron making boiled frosting for a birthday cake in our suburban kitchen. She talked about the food she used to love. She would become rhapsodic about shelling peas and string beans, tomatoes and corn. Every July she asked to have home made vanilla ice cream from a hand cranked freezer.</div>
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As a child of progress in the city I was raised on the convenience food served by my working mother. </div>
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Frozen peas. </div>
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Canned green beans. </div>
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Frozen corn. </div>
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Ice cream (without cream) came in a box. </div>
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My farmer was the Jolly Green Giant. </div>
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I could not understand why my Grandmother looked so satisfied by the memory of...vegetables. </div>
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This morning I was picking the last of our shelling peas. I popped open a shell and tasted that tender burst of</div>
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sweet green flavor. We've been picking snow peas and digging potatoes, harvesting amazing zucchini and</div>
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fashioning these veggies into our meals with friends and neighbors this week. Simple meals made special with </div>
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a fresh potato salad. Or greens so good guests compliment us the next day. Simple. Clean. Satisfying. </div>
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Memorable!</div>
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Grandmother would have put on her gingham apron and shelled the peas in the time it took me to write this.</div>
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And in just a few minutes you can create a feeling of lasting satisfaction no processed food can deliver.</div>
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It's a richer way to eat and live. </div>
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Cheers! </div>
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div>John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-522758660882076232012-06-24T18:09:00.001-07:002012-06-24T18:09:29.090-07:00Ladies First: Local Women Launch Our Farm CSA<span style="background-color: white;">Susan and I are husband and wife for 23 years as of last week. We're also farming partners. One day we were walking down the lane into the field and we were having another skirmish in an ongoing debate. What should we be doing next on our chore list and how should we be doing it. Each of us was becoming frustrated with the other. There was a pause as we walked. Then she said, "You know, if there were two Dunn Creek Farms in different universes and you ran one and I ran the other one, they would look completely different." I was tempted to mutter, "you're damn right" but instead I've thought about that comment. What would my farm look like? What would hers look like? What would we be missing if we didn't have each other? Well, that sort of thinking leads into some recent experiences and an important insight into creating fundamental change. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">A few weeks ago we put out a flier and made social network connections to invite a limited number of local people to join our farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture - members buy a weekly share of veggies, fruit, eggs and meat directly from our farm) and the results are now in. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">The primary membership of our CSA (those who contacted me for membership) is entirely female. I realize that our members will be feeding their men and boys. And I know that more than a few of these gents have an interest in healthy food, pride themselves in being able to appreciate quality, have an understanding of the uncertainty of the sustainability of our food supply and can handle themselves in the kitchen (and the backyard grill) when the menu suits their skills.</span> But it was local women who sat down and sent a note to me that said, "Is there room for me in your CSA?"<br />
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Big difference. And a light went off in my head. I know how to speak to the issues that men have identified in economic and political terms. <span style="background-color: white;">But really, our farm is serving local women, which should not be surprising. And yet...it was to me. So. Why are women leading the way? And what do I do to serve the female consumers who are driving the change Susan and I have invested everything in? They'll decide what they want and how they want it. What will that Dunn Creek Farm look like?</span>John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-35454387057653099892012-03-30T12:37:00.001-07:002012-03-30T12:58:21.835-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>"Community Supported Agriculture" </i></b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"> Creating a CSA for Eastern PEI</span></b><br />
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There are more small organic farms selling directly to customers every year. We joined a CSA in California back in 1997 and that experience helped lead us to our own farm in Prince Edward Island! This year we're pleased and excited to launch a farm share program of our own.<br />
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<b>What is a CSA?</b> <br />
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CSA means Community Supported or Community Shared Agriculture. The model generally is that local customers agree to buy an annual share of farm produce. Shares are then boxed and delivered each week. Payment is made in advance and the farmer then has money to invest in seeds, fuel, labor and production. Our model is slightly different and follows an example set by Brian McKay and Kathy Ware at Red Isle Farm.<br />
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<b>What Does it Cost?</b><br />
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Each CSA member will be asked to pay their first and last week and then week to week for the season. This year we expect our program will start June 23rd and run for 17 weeks. Weekly shares start at $25.00 and should provide enough fresh produce for a family of four. We're specifically interested in serving people on a budget, families, moms and kids and anyone who loves having locally produced fresh organic produce. We're here to be your farmers.<br />
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<b>What Do You Get?</b><br />
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Our goal is to provide things that families (including ours) like to eat in season. So there will be fresh mixed greens, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, lettuces, chard, spinach, sweet peas, onions, broccoli, summer squash, winter squash, herbs and dried beans. We'll also have summer favorites like juicy heirloom tomatoes, fresh yellow beans and those delicious cucumbers! We also plan to add fresh organic eggs from our pastured laying hens.<br />
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<b>How Do You Sign Up?</b><br />
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A good place to begin is by joining the Dunn Creek Farm group on Facebook. That's where I'll be updating our CSA members about the farm this year. Just drop a note and we'll get you going. Or leave a comment on this blog.<br />
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There will be more news on this but for now, I'm encouraging you to sign up. We have a very limited number of CSA memberships available and we'd hate to have you miss out!John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-49636282089400910972012-03-23T12:13:00.003-07:002012-03-23T12:13:52.138-07:00A Post Card From the Farm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h2K3B8AdEd0/T2zGbQDnmtI/AAAAAAAABFI/aBIIwRnFHYA/s1600/Rooster+of+Doom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h2K3B8AdEd0/T2zGbQDnmtI/AAAAAAAABFI/aBIIwRnFHYA/s1600/Rooster+of+Doom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h2K3B8AdEd0/T2zGbQDnmtI/AAAAAAAABFI/aBIIwRnFHYA/s320/Rooster+of+Doom.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Welcome to Dunn Creek Farm, Murray Harbour North PEI!</b><br />
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I call this photo, "rooster of doom" just because of the way the light caught his eye. But really, he may be a "rooster of the future". He's a chanticleer, the only registered Canadian breed and he was hatched last spring. We've decided that developing our own breeding flock of chickens is the sustainable choice for our farm and our customers. We're interested in finding and breeding our own heritage birds for pasture raised meat and eggs.<br />
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<b>Coming in June 2012: Introducing The NEW Dunn Creek Farm CSA</b><br />
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A CSA is a "Community Supported Agriculture" program designed to connect consumers and farmers. <br />
We've been selling fresh produce from our farm gate for the past few years. Now, you and your family can have a box of the best our farm has to offer each week through the Summer and into the Fall of 2012. This offer is limited to 10 memberships this year and we're suggesting it primarily for resident of Southern Kings County. Boxes will be available for pickup here at the farm or at the Cardigan Farmers' Market this season.<br />
More details are available, please leave a comment if you'd like more information.<br />
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<b>Dunn Creek Farm Hosts SOIL Apprentices</b><br />
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We pleased to be hosts this summer for 2 young people from Charlottetown who will be living and working here on the farm. The SOIL Apprentice program is supported by ACORN (Atlantic Canada Organic Regional Network) and PEI Adapt and connects those who are interested in living and working on small farms with local farmers.<br />
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<b>Spring is HERE!</b><br />
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Please follow along with our story on the blog this year! <br />
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John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-4251273928606102942011-11-22T17:39:00.001-08:002011-11-22T20:00:14.296-08:00It All Comes Back To ManureWe need all of our farmers. I firmly believe that. Trial and error and ten years of trying to learn how to manage something resembling a farm has taught me that no one can wave a magic wand and make a professional who can wisely manage natural resources, operate and maintain machines, fix buildings, design and construct infrastructure, supply field labor, deliver lambs at 1 AM, fix a leaky kitchen faucet, push a teenager to get the chores done and drive an 11 year old to hockey. We need all of our farmers because they know something about everything. <br />
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When I came back from the ACORN conference in Halifax last week, pumped full of information until it was leaking out of my pores, I called on a young farmer in my neighborhood to share the information I'd learned with him. You see, one of the things I learned at ACORN was that this potent and highly concentrated input needs to be spread around. It's no good just keeping it in a bag in the barn. <br />
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So we talked about soil and seeds and fertility for about an hour when this young conventional farmer said, "You know, I've been looking at it. And it all comes back to manure". He'd just this year produced the best corn crop he'd ever had by loading up his soil with manure from his cows instead of buying in chemical fertilizer.<br />
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In 1969 an oil well blew out in the Santa Barbra Channel and flooded our beaches with crude oil. It was an environmental disaster that created the first Earth Day. The students of the new environmental sciences, our "alternative" neighbors and people all over the world woke up and saw that we were making a mess and something had to be done about it. Lines were drawn. The politics of the environment were born. Many good things came of that movement but something went wrong. <br />
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Santa Barbara County is an agricultural area on the coast of California that also has fishermen and oil production. We have old cowboys from families that go back to the Spanish and Mexican land grants of the colonial era. These families worked to manage grazing and pasture for beef and tended their lands responsibly for generations. They weren't ready for the kind of people promoting Earth Day in 1970. When the lines were drawn around the ecological movement, these "descendientes" excluded themselves and there was no effort made to include them in. That was a mistake on both sides.<br />
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When I was 24, I volunteered to help work 350 head of range cattle on a family "brush ranch". I met a rancher who was the descendant of people who had worked that land for 130 years. The owner had been educated at UC Berkeley. This was not the red-neck cowboy I had imagined. And in fact I later learned that our University system had been supported by families like his so that their sons and daughters could get a first class education in their own state and <i>bring that education back home to the farm and their communities. </i>It turned out that that old cowboy was the one who lost the family ranch a few years later. I know for a fact that he later died of a broken heart. I was at his memorial with his stetson, his riata, his work saddle and his family who no longer had the home their grandfathers and grandmothers built. <i> </i><br />
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The young farmer I was visiting last week was interested in the material I brought back from Halifax on soil science. We started talking about biological farming. And we talked about an old man in our neighborhood, recently departed, who farmed naturally all his life. Not because it was the thing to do, but because it was something he'd proven over a lifetime. The young farmer and I talked about bringing up seaweed from the shore for mineral supplement to feed the fields. And we talked about pellet fertilizer. The young farmer thought for a moment. "The old man said, 'You don't need to put that "hail" on the field. Everything you need is right here. We never put that stuff on and we always had a good crop'." The old man put kelp and manure on his fields and rotated his crops. "It all comes back to manure" <br />
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We need our farmers. All of them. The young farmer and I have listened to and learned from "Los Viejos" - the old ones. When we lose a farmer we break the chain of generations of knowledge on the land. And as the young farmer and I can tell you - it's a long hard row to hoe getting it back. But the old men still try to tell us, "Don't lose what we worked for. Nature is giving you everything you need right here". <br />
John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-80208998553004976962011-11-14T16:27:00.001-08:002011-11-15T09:05:24.823-08:00Occupy Soil - A Micro RevolutionI've just returned from the <a href="http://www.acornorganic.org/">ACORN</a> conference in Halilfax, Nova Scotia. ACORN is the Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network and it represents and embodies organic agriculture in the Maritime Provinces.<br />
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First of all I have to thank ACORN for the fine job they did to bring such a diverse group of people together to represent the organic community in our region. I spent three days totally absorbed in seminars collecting valuable information, not only about how I'll work my farm, but to see that more small farmers are putting local agricultural products and farming careers within reach of more families, individuals, partners and local communities.<br />
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And I do have to comment on the diversity of participants. We're all aware of Occupiers and Tea Partiers and the social and political differences rabidly promoted by our spectator media. But this gathering included those who defied those definitions and divisions. I met an evangelical Christian, a home schooling mom, a Libertarian, a small business owner, a wealth manager looking for a change in life, a dogged small farmer in pursuit of agricultural profits, a young person interested in shaping their own alternatives, an artist who was engineering his own technology solutions, a "hippie" looking for independence from corporations. These people of diverse ideology were not in opposition to one another, nor were they actively protesting anything. They were embracing the means to take peaceful action with their own hands. It was civil. It was orderly and it was radical. We weren't there to protest the status quo. We're already changing it literally from the ground up.<br />
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And speaking of ground. The seminars on soil biology, plant health and permaculture left my eyes wide open. I had previously read Gary F. Zimmer's book, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Biological-Farmer-Complete-Sustainable-Profitable/dp/0911311629/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1">The Biological Farmer</a>". And this summer I was browsing in Michael Phillips book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Grower-Guide-Organic-Orchardist/dp/1931498911">The Apple Grower</a>, both of which provide detailed information relating the science of soil biology to plant health. But <a href="http://www.agrapoint.ca/team/avsingh.html">Av Singh's</a> presentations at ACORN really bridged the gap for me between science and field experience. His description of a holistic approach based on science plus farmer observation and experience made my day. He gave me the scientific keys to unlock what I see in my own fields.<br />
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Now. There's more than one way to do just about everything. And I was very interested in the seminars on organic standards and allowable inputs. But the magic happened when a theory I hadn't really understood was explained. Everything your plants need to be healthy can be found in a biologically healthy soil system.<br />
The key - is making everything available to your crop - at the right time. This is master level stuff.<br />
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But think of it like this. If you drink too much on Saturday night and your system is out of balance, you won't be at your best on Sunday morning. Which, by the way, is why airline pilots aren't allowed to fly with a hangover. Now, you can treat the symptom by taking a few Tylenol, or you can work on putting your whole system back into balance and decide not to put too much alcohol into your system again. You can imagine what's going on in our soil body when we don't keep it in balance. We're trying to grow plants in soil that has a hangover. <br />
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Going for optimal soil biology is probably the hardest way to go about optimal plant health. It's so much easier to dump in some organically allowed inputs imported from who knows where and call it good. But then we're just practicing the same bad medicine that got us in trouble in the first place. <br />
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So yes, I learned some things about why our crop yields aren't what they could be. And yes, I 've learned how to apply organic corrections to my soil. But I'm motivated to face this new challenge of growing healthy soil from start to finish because I know that the only "sustainable" agriculture comes from the micro-biological level up.<br />
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Tip O'Neil is famously quoted as saying, "All politics is local". I guess the same can be said for soil. <br />
Our land has been farmed for 200 years and I'm now 52 years old. Our short term goal is to take a living from our farm. But our long term goal is to leave good soil for the next farmer.<br />
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John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-48347690310422338712011-11-06T19:28:00.000-08:002011-11-06T19:37:00.954-08:00A Conversation With CoyotesI walked the lane from our home, almost a quarter mile to the gate that opens on the pasture closest to the house and peed on the gate posts. Then I walked along the fence line to the gate that leads to the next field above the house and peed some more. I was leaving a statement for the coyote pack that counts our farm as their territory. Don't cross this line. This is mine.<br />
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That's what I did as we put our first batch of 50 pastured chickens into pens on the pasture. And we had no trouble from coyotes. But when we put our second batch of 50 on the pasture, we lost them all.<br />
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Coyotes aren't native to PEI. Like us, they are CFA's (Come From Away's) who are variously accepted, tolerated, hunted and trapped. We know there is a an active pack in our neighborhood. They make themselves known on a regular basis in an interesting variety of ways. Coyote is a sensible dog. In native lore he is, "The Trickster". He is part fool, part shape-shifter, part devil.<br />
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When the pack is in our area, it moves, not in a bunch, but as a picket line through the woods. Rabbits and ground animals beware, if coyote flushes you from cover, the pack will finish you and a wild celebration of howling will mark victory. About 4:00 AM some days ago I heard a scream that sounded like a child in pain in the woods. It was followed by the celebratory yip and howl of a coyote who had just taken down a good sized rabbit. My dog, Annie heard it too. If you've ever heard a rabbit scream, you know what I'm talking about. <br />
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In the days that followed all was quiet.<br />
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Then, last night there was the sharp yip and howl of a lone voice just behind the house in the woods. It was an announcement. "I Am HERE!" But "here" was a little too close for me. So I walked into the dark and gave a series of deep throated barks at intervals. As I moved up to the tree line I pinpointed it's position. Coyote shouted back. Now not so certain and then giving ground back into the field behind the trees. <br />
We never saw each other. But communication was being made and it was plain enough. I was saying,<br />
"STAY AWAY!" And he backed off.<br />
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After quiet was restored, I went back into the house and went to bed. About 20 minutes later, I was paged through the closed windows of my room by a faint high wailing that sounded like a cell phone in my sleepy state. I got up to open the window and heard coyote's latest broadcast now very close to the edge of our field. I barked back which set my dogs into a few minutes of growling and boof-ing at the intruder. Then we all settled down and the night was quiet again.<br />
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Last summer, I read Farley Mowat's 1963 book, "Never Cry Wolf". He details his experiences living with and observing a wild wolf pack in the far north. He learned the rules that determine the territory of the hunting wolf packs and observed the disciplined social behavior that guarantees survival of hunting groups and preserves peace between them. It was his book that encouraged me to take the initiative of communicating with my wild canine neighbors by marking my boundries. <br />
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I have two dogs. I love dogs. And I understand dogs. The canine in the wild is not the babied simpleton we raise as pets. It is a canny, wild hunter. It belongs to a society that has rules and it understands a lot about its environment. And I'm convinced, after thousands of years of proximity with man, it knows exactly who we are.<br />
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This morning I walked the lane from our home almost a quarter mile to the gate that opens on to the pasture closest to the house. I was getting ready to move the horses out to graze when I saw a little green tootsie roll on the ground in the gate way. Right on the line I had peed last summer. It was a message from coyote.<br />
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We knew coyote in suburban southern California. He would come out of the fog draped foothills to patrol the empty streets before dawn with a scornful swagger surfing for cats and backyard bowls of free dog food. But here on PEI this local wild dog had left me a note full of animal protein, fur and slim white bones. And the message was, "Chill out man! I know where your boundry is!<i> No need for threats, bro.</i>" <br />
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We lost our second batch of 50 chickens on the morning we were planning to take them to be processed.<br />
Something tore through the poultry wire and tore up the the backs of the birds between their wings (a relatively small bite mark), leaving them dead and dying on the ground - but none were taken or eaten. We never knew what got them and I didn't find clear tracks. But the holes in the wire, the size of the holes, the size of the bite marks and the fact that the birds weren't killed for food told me it was probably raccoons that did it.<br />
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Coyote is a trickster. And he's a hunter. But the message he left me said that he's well fed on wild game. He knows where I've marked my ground. And he assumes that he's free to hunt the wild hare that would destroy my garden if the population was left un-challenged.<br />
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I have to agree. Even so, this evening I walked the lane from our home up into the fields and "refreshed" my marks. I offered a howl into the woods that went unanswered. And I went home satisfied that I had answered coyote for tonight.<br />
John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-6880504383702254902011-10-28T18:46:00.000-07:002011-10-28T18:52:54.195-07:00Small Plot Organic Grains and Local Farming Gains<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<i>While some farmers have "gone big", we've decided to "go small". We're working with small equipment, heirloom seeds and our neighbors to meet our needs on our terms. </i><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzEZ-E7DYYXp_88K5ZpIazygJ02n4uiKZ0Qz--m7yziljuSOC8JoYz0Dszi3iaLFL62Os-YeYkT5pPolu-7gw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<b>Here's a short video I made in September while cutting our barley with an old International Harvester sickle bar mower and our John Deere tractor. (UPDATE: hahaha - blogger and youtube don't like my .mov video! So, think of it as a briefly animated still and imagine a really great video! - JQ)</b><br />
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In north america, grain production has gradually evolved from being part of the small mixed family farm into a major element of industrial agriculture. Farms now produce hundreds or even thousands of acres of grain with huge energy, tilling, spraying, harvesting and storage costs. <b> </b><br />
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It costs a lot of money to operate a modern grain growing operation. We don't have the resources to build the farm infrastructure for industrial grain growing. I'm not sure we would want to. But we were encouraged to believe we could meet our own needs with a book written by <a href="http://thecontraryfarmer.wordpress.com/">Gene Logsdon</a> of Ohio, by making traditional homestead grain farming part of our farm crop rotation. The Book is titled, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Small-Scale-Grain-Raising-Gene-Logsdon/dp/0878571477">Small Scale Grain Raising: An Organic Guide to Growing, Processing and Using Nutritious Whole Grains for Home Gardeners and Local Farmers.</a><br />
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The point is that while most small organic farms focus on niche vegetables or high value produce, small grain plots can create big benefits on small mixed farms. The book opened my eyes to the amazing yield potential of small plot organic grain farming, the market potential of growing grain for our animals and selling good whole grains directly to consumers.<br />
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<b>Space Requirements</b><br />
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So how much space do you need to produce a bushel of grain? (Notice that bushel weight varies, though each weight is considered a single bushel measure)<br />
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Some examples from the book:<br />
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Corn = 10' x 50' = 56 lbs<br />
Oats = 10' x 62' = 32 lbs<br />
Barley = 10' x 87' = 48 lbs<br />
Wheat = 10' x 109' = 60 lbs<br />
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I don't know about you, but 56 pounds of dried corn turned into meal would pretty much meet my household needs for a year. Same with 60 pounds of flour.<br />
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<b>Tools</b><br />
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We have no grain drills or combines. We broadcast seed, harrow it into the soil and harvest by mowing and then hand thresh on the barn floor and winnow in the barn yard. I've found some good ideas for do it yourself small threshing and cleaning equipment on Youtube. This is not as easy as using heavy equipment...but the yield costs less and the bank doesn't take a cut. Plus we get a hand made, hand graded and selected product. <b> </b><br />
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<b>Milling</b><br />
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There are a wide variety of home mills available for turning whole grains into cracked grain or flour. We aren't there yet. But once we get better at growing and harvesting it would make sense to buy a mill and sell whole or milled grains in household quantities as a value added organic product at the farmers market.<b></b><br />
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<b>Let's Talk Beer...</b><br />
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So, a guy could grow his own barley and small batch malt the grains for brewing. In our case, we selected a two row barley that grows well in our climate. Two row is easier to grow and this variety serves as a malting barley but can also be used for feed grain. While it is not as good as other barley for animal feed, it will serve as animal or human food and most importantly, the basis for beer. And 48 pounds of barley from a plot the size of a large suburban yard will make a lot of beer.<br />
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<b>Working With Neighbors</b><br />
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We bought in our organic chicken feed this year at a about $35.00 for 50 lbs from the local co op. It cost us roughly twice as much to buy organic feed over conventional feed. <b>We broke even on our meat chickens. </b>We've contacted a local organic grain grower and are planning to work directly with the producer to buy what we need. This is important. We'll continue to grow small plots of grain because of the direct farm and eventual market benefit. But we've learned that it's better to go to local people who specialize in a product <i>and support their effort</i> rather than try to carry everything ourselves.<br />
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<b>Next up - Using a Home Made Flail on the Threshing Floor </b><br />
John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-38758180279665706232011-10-16T13:30:00.000-07:002011-10-16T14:01:28.004-07:00This Shining Moment in the Now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HO7Z8NZhZ9I/Tps5ZFoz5-I/AAAAAAAABEk/qq8LlhGJGP4/s1600/Susan+Painting+the+Barn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HO7Z8NZhZ9I/Tps5ZFoz5-I/AAAAAAAABEk/qq8LlhGJGP4/s400/Susan+Painting+the+Barn.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<i>I've been at a loss for words for many weeks. Susan and I have been harvesting, getting the kids back to school and one started in hockey. We've been cutting and splitting cords of hard wood for the kitchen stove that will warm us in the winter months to come. Susan has been collecting seeds to save and doing the painting chores we've been putting off. One day soon I'll be putting a new roof on the leaky old barn. Every day slips by so quickly in the moment to moment activity of mowing fields, repairing the tractor and hauling in material for compost. I first heard Garrison Keillor read this poem by <a href="http://www.davidbudbill.com/">David Budbill</a> on The Writers Almanac back in 2005. A copy </i><i>now lives on our refrigerator and it perfectly describes Autumn days here on the farm. I thought you might like it too.</i><br />
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<i>- JQ</i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>This Shining Moment in the Now<br /><br />When I work outdoors all day, every day, as I do now, in the fall,<br />getting ready for winter, tearing up the garden, digging potatoes,<br />gathering the squash, cutting firewood, making kindling, repairing<br />bridges over the brook, clearing trails in the woods, doing the last of<br />the fall mowing, pruning apple trees, taking down the screens,<br />putting up the storm windows, banking the house—all these things,<br />as preparation for the coming cold...<br /><br />when I am every day all day all body and no mind, when I am<br />physically, wholly and completely, in this world with the birds,<br />the deer, the sky, the wind, the trees...<br /><br />when day after day I think of nothing but what the next chore is,<br />when I go from clearing woods roads, to sharpening a chain saw,<br />to changing the oil in a mower, to stacking wood, when I am<br />all body and no mind...<br /><br />when I am only here and now and nowhere else—then, and only<br />then, do I see the crippling power of mind, the curse of thought,<br />and I pause and wonder why I so seldom find<br />this shining moment in the now.</b></span></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 21px;">(</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">Listen to Garrison Keillor read this poem on NPR's, "<a href="http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2005/09/26">The Writer's Almanac</a>." </span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">- requires Real Audio player</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; line-height: 21px;">)</span></i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">(Update) Coincidentally IBSPEI is having a Social Forum on Weds., Oct 19. </span></span><br />
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt;">IBS/Prince Edward Island Social Forum</span></b><b><span lang="EN"></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt;">‘It’s the Poets Who Really Know What Time It Is’</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Wednesday October 19, 7:00 p.m.; 114 Upper Prince St.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Pete Seeger said, ‘There is a time for every purpose.’</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">In the, Dead Poets Society, John Keating said, ‘There's a time for daring and there's a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for.’</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">William Faulkner wrote, ‘It is the poet's duty is to write about things that have not yet begun...... sometimes while there is still time not to do them.’</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Jim Munves said, ‘It’s the poets who really know what time it is.’</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Tonight (Wednesday, October 19th) we invite you to bring your poetry (an original or an old favorite) to share. Something that reflects what time it really is.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">The Institute for Bioregional Studies Ltd. (IBS), invites you to join our Social Forums. Since 1995, IBS programs have engaged concerned citizens to discuss issues and exchange of ideas in the hope that such activities will be a catalyst for community growth, social development, and action.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">Each forum begins with a potluck dinner, followed by a presentation and informal discussion.</span></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;">For more information, visit our www site at: </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.ibspei.ca/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span lang="EN">www.ibspei.ca</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10pt;"> or write to us at </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="mailto:ibs_pei@yahoo.com" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span lang="EN">ibs_pei@yahoo.com</span></a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"> </span></span>John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0Prince Edward Island, Murray Harbour, PE C0A 1R0, Canada46.055364520987986 -62.49212265014648446.044345020987983 -62.511863650146488 46.066384020987989 -62.472381650146481tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-20559266581129455902011-07-15T19:16:00.000-07:002011-07-16T06:40:26.440-07:00We Recommend The Sandbar and Grill - Panmure Provincial Park - PEIAngela Ryan is the owner of the <a href="http://www.pointseastcoastaldrive.com/index.php/entries/place-to-eat/sand-bar-grill/">Sandbar and Grill</a> at <a href="http://www.tourismpei.com/panmure-island">Panmure Island Provincial Park, PEI</a>. She's not only a local entrepreneur she is a natural hostess. Anyone invited to sit down at Angela's table knows what I mean. In fact, Angela's island hospitality is one of the reasons I'm here. <br />
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Angela hosted the B&B cottage on the shore in PEI where we stayed in spring, 2000. We were trying to decide whether to buy the farm near <a href="http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&pq=poverty+beach+cottages&xhr=t&q=pei+weather&cp=0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1199&bih=630&bs=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl">Poverty Beach</a> in <a href="http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/mhn.htm">Murray Harbour North</a>. As we returned to our cosy cottage to discuss it, we found a note on the door. Angela invited us to her home for Easter Dinner with her family. Islanders might not find this unusual. But we urban people, a bit shy by nature about strangers, were surprised. What do we do? We accepted of course. And we were treated to a lovely family gathering where we were included as friends and guests. Needless to say we bought the farm. Not sure at all that we were doing the right thing. But trusting everything above that we were indeed welcome in a place where we could make a new start.<br />
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Angela has hosted us to many meals and family gatherings since then. Including an informal but lovely 20th anniversary supper for Susan and I where we re-spoke our wedding vows on the shore and Angela had a mini wedding cake, flowers, champagne and dinner for us. It does sound too good to be true, but that's just how she is. She is a romantic and she loves to see people be happy. Susan and I erased a terrible row we'd been having and left knowing we were fated to be together for another 20 years - for better and worse!<br />
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So now this excellent cook and supreme hostess has her own restaurant with a fine yet unfussy dine-in and take-out menu licensed to serve cold regional beer and fine wines with personal service. Take it from a man who has lived the good life. I've dined at 5 star California restaurants and eased into beach side haunts from Malibu to Carmel. I've been up and down the West Coast from Mexico to Oregon and across the US from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast and the Carolinas on up to Boston . The Sandbar offers the perfect combination of simple, tasty and well prepared fresh local food served down home style. Just right for a relaxing supper at the beach. <br />
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You'll find a seafood chowder that makes New Englanders glad they found out about it. Lobster pot pie, steamed PEI mussels, famous the world over, but fresh from the harvest in local waters and much more. If your young ones are like mine and only a fine grilled cheese sandwich will do, the kitchen will gladly comply to make your family meal delicious and peaceful. A romantic dinner for two can be served inside or out and family style is always welcome. <br />
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We're proud to be included on the menu at the Sandbar, and Angela shifts her menu to use our best fresh ingredients. So if you stop in and order chicken, you'll be getting our organic, pasture raised chicken which we delivered fresh to her. She serves our organic salad greens, broccoli, baby carrots and more. Whatever we have, she says "I'll take it" and she works her magic on the daily menu specials. <br />
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Angela told me, "I want to do everything fresh and local." And unlike many chefs, she has the skills to work with whatever we bring her to make exceptional fresh meals. If she owns a can opener I think it spends a lot of time at the back of the drawer.<br />
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And desserts? She makes her own. You'll want to try the pie. Blueberry of course (her husband, Greg, is one of the island's top blueberry farmers) and butterscotch to name two. When the apples come in this summer - don't hesitate to order apple pie. And of course, you can always pop in on a hot summer day and have an ice cream cone made with pure cream from PEI's local dairy farmers. <br />
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A note for those who like to travel. I was once given a tip to drive 1500 miles to the <a href="http://www.cozycornerbbq.com/thankyou.htm">Cozy Corner</a> BBQ restaurant in Memphis, Tenn. I took that tip and was never sorry I made the drive. That's real Memphis BBQ. And that's what makes touring great. Finding local gems. So this is my tip for you. If you're traveling and you want some authentic local flavor on your visit to PEI, the Sandbar and Grill on Panmure Island is the place to stop. <br />
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From California to Tennessee to Boston, Mass. and PEI. This is what makes life good. Fresh local ingredients, grown by people who love the land, served up hot by a friendly woman and her staff who know how to cook. They love to make people happy. So no matter where you're from, you'll be down home.<br />
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UPDATE: I've added some helpful links in the text to help you find your way.John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-40824595699613457062011-07-01T15:09:00.000-07:002011-07-01T15:11:50.806-07:00The Philosophy of Lawn Mowing and the Sweetness of Summer.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VP6hqX0fPog/TgzpSLer0EI/AAAAAAAABDs/q3CDq5IxO14/s1600/PEI+Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VP6hqX0fPog/TgzpSLer0EI/AAAAAAAABDs/q3CDq5IxO14/s1600/PEI+Flag.jpg" /></a></div>Happy Canada Day! Summer is finally here on the island! Warm temps, gentle breezes, mosquitos and black flies and of course GRASS. <br />
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Coming from a place where grass grows in the spring rain of March and April and then goes golden brown for the long, hot, dry, summers (unless irrigated with imported water) I still find it amazing that it grows like crazy here. Acres and acres of the stuff! Big beautiful lawns and well kept yards are a source of local pride and regular mowing on PEI. You'll observe the Provincial flag even features trees and grass. I make note that the lawn tractor is missing from heraldry. Surely an oversight. But the flag does include the Royal Lion of England. So we welcome the Duke and Duchess, William and Kate, to our fair island this week! No doubt there will be a frenzy of mowing to prepare each and every venue for their visit. In fact, there should be a photo-op of the duchess riding a lawn tractor in shorts, a tank top and a big floppy hat. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zMZCxXnYN7M/TgzpmpKQMnI/AAAAAAAABD8/gpLM0h2X-88/s1600/Sheep+mowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zMZCxXnYN7M/TgzpmpKQMnI/AAAAAAAABD8/gpLM0h2X-88/s200/Sheep+mowers.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>In the days before mowing machines your yard literally had to be cut by hand with a scythe. So a small yard with a kitchen garden made sense. The rest of the ground was turned over to livestock and cropping. Animals stayed close by and fed on the grass. Easier to manage and watch over. And more productive too. Large expanses of closely cropped grass are an artifact of a time when sheep grazed about the manor home (where your daddy or mine mucked out the barn and mum washed the clothes of His Lordship). It was a sign of wealth. Having good land not planted to the margins with food says, "well mate, you must be doing alright". Perhaps that explains our desire for a suburban lawn watered by a river 300 miles away or 2 or more hours a week driving a mowing machine. We're all just sort of keeping up appearances - at a huge cost. Weird, isn't it? <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GVrs02fZUms/TgzpcgmdM8I/AAAAAAAABD0/coAYsD4TDkY/s1600/Horse+Mowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GVrs02fZUms/TgzpcgmdM8I/AAAAAAAABD0/coAYsD4TDkY/s200/Horse+Mowers.jpg" width="200" /></a>Our two "hay burners" burned through last years hay harvest over the winter. And they are more than willing to go out on the grass every morning. They really don't care where the grass is, so we've taken to moving the electric fence every few days to where the grass is rich and then turn them loose to do what they do. Which is eat...and excrete. It's a lovely combination of feeding, mowing and fertilization in one step. And as I reported last time, the chickens too are doing their part in the war on grass, bugs and spreading fertilizer as they go. You can't beat mother nature for operating in a closed system. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xTyNK4syK6E/TgzpXclluPI/AAAAAAAABDw/U-tFgyAbLwM/s1600/Front+Yard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xTyNK4syK6E/TgzpXclluPI/AAAAAAAABDw/U-tFgyAbLwM/s640/Front+Yard.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Even so I just can't seem to stay off the lawn mower. I just can't help noticing how nice things look when they're all trimmed up. But you know, I think I will put sheep on the front lawn around the house this summer - just to try them out on the job. It's funny that the mower works until it's empty and leaves wasted grass and energy behind. The animals work until they're full, taking in energy and leaving behind valuable fertilizer for greener grass. It just seems more sensible to let the animals do the work and earn their keep. Besides,<br />
it's picturesque as hell. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yOJik01Xjcc/Tg5Dwz3ExBI/AAAAAAAABEM/TIO1X8QiRhw/s1600/Tobyd+Owen++making+ice+cream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yOJik01Xjcc/Tg5Dwz3ExBI/AAAAAAAABEM/TIO1X8QiRhw/s320/Tobyd+Owen++making+ice+cream.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>And speaking of picturesque, here are Toby and his buddy Owen making ice cream on the front porch for Canada Day. We bought lobster suppers at the Murray Harbour North Community Hall and then enjoyed home made vanilla ice cream made even sweeter by the hand cranking of children. Making home made ice cream in an old freezer is a ritual passed to us by our parents and grand parents. It now passes to our children as part of the celebration of summer!John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-82309669242541668662011-06-26T18:17:00.000-07:002011-06-26T18:17:42.300-07:00Free Range Chicken? Pastured Poultry is Better.<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><em>From Mother Earth News:</em></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><em><br />
</em></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><em>What is the true definition of free-range chicken?</em></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The <a href="http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Meat_&_Poultry_Labeling_Terms/index.asp" style="color: #004276;" target="_blank">United States Department of Agriculture</a> offers this definition:</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">FREE RANGE or FREE ROAMING: Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">But “allowing access” doesn’t mean much. A small door in a barn with thousands of chickens technically gives chickens an opportunity to go outside, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll have access to grass (it may only be a concrete slab). For chickens to produce the most <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/Relish/Pastured-Eggs-Vitamin-D-Content.aspx" style="color: #004276;" target="_self">healthful and flavorful eggs</a> and meat, they need to be able to eat a variety of green plants, seeds and bugs. Unfortunately, you can’t tell how the chickens live by reading the package in a store. I’d encourage you to find a local farmer who raises poultry on pasture.</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span><br />
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Read more: <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/ask-our-experts/free-range-chickens.aspx#ixzz1QQfyp8hk" style="color: #003399;">http://www.motherearthnews.com/ask-our-experts/free-range-chickens.aspx#ixzz1QQfyp8hk</a></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P0T41j-AaLE/TgfGU7_BDlI/AAAAAAAABDY/QoUrSmoq1CI/s1600/Pastured+Hen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P0T41j-AaLE/TgfGU7_BDlI/AAAAAAAABDY/QoUrSmoq1CI/s320/Pastured+Hen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">This is a picture of a cornish cross hen who is free ranging - o<i>n our pasture! </i>It doesn't take much imagination to see the difference between this and the legal definition of "free range chicken" where birds may leave a barn of thousands of birds to range "freely" on dirt or concrete. To allow our chickens to range like this while protecting them from the local foxes, raccoon and coyotes, takes a special operation and creates unique benefits to our chickens and customers. This is what most people think "free range" means. But often, it isn't. We respectfully leave it to individuals to decide whether or not they eat meat. For some we offer a fine variety of organic produce. For others we offer a method of raising chicken that produces </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">a truly natural product. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sj4cn0E10d8/TgfO8sixGlI/AAAAAAAABDc/3oEZukJgvoc/s1600/Annie+and+her+chickens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sj4cn0E10d8/TgfO8sixGlI/AAAAAAAABDc/3oEZukJgvoc/s320/Annie+and+her+chickens.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The birds arrived a day old from the hatchery in mid May and were kept in our barn under heat lamps and cover until they began to grow, then they were allowed more space to range on the dirt floor. Our cool, wet spring kept them in the barn longer than we'd planned, but we felt the nights were too cold for the young birds to be outside with no heat source. These chicks were given fresh grass cuttings and dandelions (salad) along with certified organic feed and a plate of light sand/gravel from our fresh water creek, along with fresh well water to drink. Annie appointed herself guard dog of the birds and took a genuine interest in their care. (for those who are skeptical, let me just say our dog "mothers" everyone). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L36HMdAoMEE/TgfRmqujImI/AAAAAAAABDg/JWa8b7JqOyI/s1600/Wild+Grass+Seed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L36HMdAoMEE/TgfRmqujImI/AAAAAAAABDg/JWa8b7JqOyI/s320/Wild+Grass+Seed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">So what are the benefits of pasture raising chickens? Well, these birds followed grazing sheep and horses who spent a short time (no more than three days) on each fenced section. When we put the birds out several weeks later, these small grasses were going to seed. So the birds have free choice - prepared organic feed grain or wild grass seeds and greens, bugs, slugs and whatever else comes their way. They are kept in a pen on the pasture day and night and are moved to fresh grass every morning. They leave behind lots of high quality poop....that will grow more grass. And since they don't live on the same ground every day, they always have clean ground on which to graze and rest. We have fewer than fifty birds in a pen that is 12 x 10 so there is no crowding, plenty of roof cover and we even adjust the side covers for wind break or ventilation as needed. There are studies that will explain the naturally low fat/ lower cholesterol and flavorful meat that this method produces. We just think it's better to raise healthy animals naturally for food. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tsgDcXgXGc0/TgfVG51yP0I/AAAAAAAABDo/tzxzIqfxf24/s1600/Foraging+Chickens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tsgDcXgXGc0/TgfVG51yP0I/AAAAAAAABDo/tzxzIqfxf24/s320/Foraging+Chickens.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">And so, here are our pastured chickens foraging freely as nature intended. We started with a small batch to make sure we could give our best to our chickens and our customers. We're adding a second run this year for the fall. We'll put a few in our freezer and will be selling the rest fresh on the day they are locally processed. If you'd like to place an order on Prince Edward Island, Canada, please visit John Quimby on facebook.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Thanks! </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> </span>John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-3753742324842931102011-03-30T18:08:00.000-07:002011-04-01T04:44:41.513-07:00Harvesting a Local M.E.A.L. - It's Time to Farm!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNkf7OFXVR0/TZPUjei8NlI/AAAAAAAABDU/2qr7pOGZOP8/s1600/Seeds+under+light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNkf7OFXVR0/TZPUjei8NlI/AAAAAAAABDU/2qr7pOGZOP8/s400/Seeds+under+light.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>It's Time to Farm</b><br />
I planted seeds this week.<br />
Spring is the most optimistic season.<br />
Seeds are faith and hope and life in the future.<br />
Planting made me feel righteous and peaceful and quietly determined to thrive.<br />
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<b>A Local M.E.A.L.</b><br />
Last week, many of us were inspired in Charlottetown by the combination of speaking about and listening to others discuss local food and our commitment to a way of life that serves everyone on this island. A Local M.E.A.L.(Meet Eat And Learn) was a very satisfying serving of networking, tastes of local food and 10 presentations by and for all of us who like to eat locally and live well! Please follow this link for more: <a href="http://alocalmeal.wordpress.com/">http://alocalmeal.wordpress.com/</a>. A video of each presentation will be made available through the link.<br />
Here's mine:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/21674993" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/21674993">A Local M.E.A.L. - John Quimby</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/nickbattist">nick battist</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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I'm excited to mention as a follow up to "A Local M.E.A.L". that I am working with my son's fifth grade<br />
teacher to create a presentation called "Farming in the Classroom" which will feature 3 hands-on project<br />
demonstrations related to local food production and farming. We will be planting and growing seeds in a local school. We will be integrating the results of these student projects into our spring planting on the farm so students will know that their work is included directly into our farm and will produce food that is available to their families. We want to teach that they aren't just consumers, they can be farmers too! I'll be sharing more details and photos. This is really an exciting opportunity. <br />
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<b>Here's a Really Good Find!</b><br />
I've mentioned before that we are increasing the number of open pollinated varieties that we buy, plant and harvest seed from. Our goal is to always be able to grow non GMO, organic food from our own seed bank.<br />
And I recently found a great resource online. 600 organic/open/heirloom tomato varieties are being offered at: <a href="http://www.tomatofest.com/">http://www.tomatofest.com/</a> Our order was filled and returned promptly and I'm pleased now to refer them to you for this spring.<br />
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<b>What's So Great About 600 Tomatoes?</b><br />
As I browsed the choices I realized we could have exactly what we wanted for each of our seasons and customers. I got a small but super early variety (55 days) for our visitor and restaurant customers plus canning for our own needs. A flavourful French slicer for fresh summer eating, An East German cherry for salads, the dusky and smoky Cherokee Purple for exceptional flavor, and a legendary Italian sauce tomato to mate with our garlic, basil and oregano in pasta and pizza sauces. And Gary Ibsen and Dagma Lacey threw in a bonus package of "Black Cherry" tomatoes for us to trial. That's the beauty of bio-diversity friends. You can find a seed for every need.<br />
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<b>Local Organic Eggs and Chicken</b><br />
I also placed orders this week for chicks to raise into laying hens and fresh meat birds this summer. This is new to us and I'm relying on Joel Salatin's, "<a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Pastured-Poultry-Profits-Joel-Salatin/dp/0963810901">Pastured Poulty Profits</a>" to guide us through brooding and pasturing our very small flock this year. We are certified organic and so our chicken and eggs are already approved to be the only organic product I know of in our neighborhood. But this is our first attempt! So we'll need your support when the time comes for us to accept orders for organic eggs and chicken. If our customers will help us by investing with us, we'll be a regular supplier of fresh, local, healthy, pasture raised, inspected by ACO and certified organic product. We're working for the gold standard in pasture raised meat birds and eggs.<br />
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Our chickens will be the primary customers for the organic pasture we nurture and the organic feed grains that we grow here this year. All of this requires a substantial investment in seed, livestock, machines, time and labor. And we're adding time to teach our children to be part of the work raising chickens for your table. So a new generation will be learning how to grow feed and raise high value food while earning a share of the profits from our neighborhood poultry business. In other words, we're one of several small family owned businesses recreating the small mixed farm model that fed generations of PEI families and trained generations of good PEI farmers. <br />
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Your support, through buying our product, means that you are investing in your local food security as we keep and carry a small family farm on PEI into the next generation. <br />
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<b>News Links:</b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 15px;"></span></b><br />
<h1 class="articleHeadline" style="color: black; font-size: 2.4em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.083em; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><nyt_headline type=" " version="1.0">Food Inflation Kept Hidden in Tinier Bags</nyt_headline></b></h1><br />
<b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29shrink.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&ref=business&adxnnlx=1301403749-7DIP1Gd6QRGZ0J9pMxtiLA">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29shrink.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&ref=business&adxnnlx=1301403749-7DIP1Gd6QRGZ0J9pMxtiLA</a></b><br />
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<b>JQ's Final Thought:</b><br />
Demand-Side food security requires that consumers believe someone or something will always be able to deliver a sufficient and uninterrupted supply of food at a price they can afford over their entire life span.<br />
Supply-Side food security means that you know and support a variety of local producers who put healthy, natural food on your table for generations.John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-65408936965606649262011-03-05T18:47:00.000-08:002011-03-05T18:47:42.544-08:00Connecting The Dots: Climate, Energy, Global Markets and Food SecurityThis spring we'll be tackling some pretty heavy decisions to increase and sustain productivity on our farm. <br />
I'm looking ahead to a lot of work and investment to grow, market and hopefully improve our ability to serve a few more of our neighbors in PEI. It feels good to know we have the chance to add a bit more fresh food to our local supply from our very small farm.<br />
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In the mean time I'm reading more and more alarming news from a variety of sources on the current state of affairs in our world. And I wonder again, as I often do, about the disconnect in the media between the dots (and sometimes "dotty") individual news headlines. It's the big picture that should be getting our attention.<br />
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This thread started for me when I heard a news item on the radio letting me know that my local fast food restaurant in Eastern Canada would not be able to serve me tomatoes or peppers because of unusual cold weather in California and Mexico. Hmmm. <br />
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That item hit the news on the same day that oil prices broke 100 a barrel again. We know that the price of oil will continue to rise through spring and summer (driving season) and we know that this will impact consumers and producers alike. We also know that as long as petroleum prices are high, we simply can't grow our way out of economic trouble by using cheap energy to do most of the work. Hmmmm.<br />
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We also now know that the same financial houses that created the mortgage backed securities that caused the recent financial panic (a pox on them all!) have also created long term investment strategies in basic food commodities on a global scale. The result has been rapid increases in the market price for staple grains and cooking oil and these increases have hit consumers in the rear pocket and the stomach. <br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #eeeeee;">"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;">Beginning in late 2006, world food prices began rising. A year later, wheat price had gone up 80 percent, maize by 90 percent and rice by 320 percent. Food riots broke out in more than 30 countries, and 200 million people faced malnutrition and starvation. Suddenly, in the spring of 2008, food prices fell to previous levels, as if by magic. Jean Ziegler, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has called this "a silent mass murder", entirely due to "man-made actions.”</span></span></blockquote><blockquote> - Johann Hari</blockquote>Hmmmmmmmmm. Pretty ominous. But we still don't see the whole picture.<br />
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Here is how I connect the dots in these three otherwise unrelated stories. First of all, the shortage of tomatoes and peppers. This is the second year in a row that there has been a shortage of tomatoes caused by changes in average climate. Last year (also in the first week in March) it was reportedly caused by frost in Florida. This year, it's frost in California and Mexico. This is a direct result of climate change. Argue all you want about normal variables. Farmers don't like risk and they know what the normals are. The fact is that this year and last saw major climate related impact on food crops in the US, Australia, Russia, and Pakistan. And even though a few peppers on your sandwich or a tomato on your burger might seem trivial it is in fact a climate change food shortage in your face. The farmers who lost crops designed to put a tomato on your Whopper will now be calling in their bankers, their crop insurance and their governments for help to avoid bankruptcy. Some probably won't survive losing their investment.<br />
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Today's increasing energy costs are about to make the situation worse during the growing season in this hemisphere. Most people probably don't know that the chief ingredient in our food supply is oil. Our dependence on fertilizers and chemicals, farm equipment, livestock feed milling, water pumping, trucking, air freight, cargo ships, processing, packaging, refrigeration, storage and delivery are all tied directly to the price of oil. This dot in the matrix is a big one. Food prices are going up in North America. Major grocery chains are already announcing a 5% increase here.<br />
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But why are food prices going up so fast when market supplies in oil and commodities are sufficient and demand is relatively stable? Let's check in on those wacky, irrational investment markets again:<br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><span lang="EN-US">According to a study by the now-defunct Lehman Brothers, index fund speculation jumped from $13 billion to $260 billion from 2003 to 2008.<span> </span>Not surprisingly, food prices rose in tandem, beginning in 2003.<span> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Hedge fund manager Michael Masters estimated that on the regulated exchanges in the U.S., 64 percent of all wheat contracts were held by speculators with no interest whatever in real wheat. They owned it solely in anticipation of price inflation and resale. </span></span></span></blockquote>So there you have it. Climate change, energy costs and global commodity speculation are now playing havoc with your ability to afford, "what's for dinner". The risk of economic disaster for global food producers is tied directly to wobbles in the global climate. And market speculators in oil and commodities are engaging in risky behavior that would make an Amsterdam sex worker faint. The "invisible hand" of the market is dope slapping us with lower wages, higher food prices, a wobbly climate and general nausea caused by a growing sense of insecurity. It's a combination that is already driving stable governments and solid financial institutions off a cliff.<br />
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So what can we do about it? Well I don't think the answer is some crazy Communist agrarian revolution where we move hedge fund managers to the farm and make them eat kale. I believe that there are healthy free market alternatives here and around the world that you can invest in. And your investment will help stabilize the big picture. This is the final dot. <br />
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It's time to go and meet your local farmer. Buy into your local commodity market. Stop exchanging a higher portion of your income on low value energy dependent processed and packaged food "products". Live like rich people do. Look to make your profit on the higher quality and higher value food available directly from a wholesale producer. Make an investment in shopping and learning to prepare better meals for yourself. If the current system does not sustain you then don't sustain it. Stop feeding your food dollars into speculation and greed. Start eating healthy meals produced by people you know who will be there when you need them. You'll feel a whole lot better!John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-34175725997607943222011-03-02T07:25:00.000-08:002011-03-02T07:27:56.242-08:00Shopping for Food Security - Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mYr31wYQ2eo/TW5Wsr5rcGI/AAAAAAAABDM/zhFw4JIvvuo/s1600/Hmmm+What+Does+the+Book+Say.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mYr31wYQ2eo/TW5Wsr5rcGI/AAAAAAAABDM/zhFw4JIvvuo/s400/Hmmm+What+Does+the+Book+Say.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>Looking for ways to grow local, sustainable, small farms in PEI</b><br />
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<b><u>Shopping for Food Security - Part 2</u></b><br />
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In the last blog post, I explained how organic farmers seek and plant organic seeds grown by other organic farmers and how that has increased the supply and diversity of organic seeds available to farmers and gardeners. I explained that we are also starting to buy, plant and save open pollinated seeds to create our own seed bank at Dunn Creek Farm. And I closed by promising to explain how food shoppers can protect and expand healthy diversity in the market. The simplest explanation is that farmers grow seed for the food you buy. If you choose variety and diversity in your diet, you are supporting biological and genetic diversity in the field and in the market.<br />
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Thomas Morrison was kind enough to forward his writing on the topic of food diversity and security. I'm pleased to include him as a contributor. <br />
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<b>The Importance of Biodiversity in Farmers Markets</b><br />
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Doug Band and the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) as well as US Ecologist Gary Nabhan have recently come out as strong proponents for crop diversity. Nabhan’s position is that in order to keep the idea of diversity at the forefront of our society, we must apply it to biology of crop diversification. †His theories of promoting sustainability through grocery shopping have become popular. In a recent interview Nabhan said, “in other environmental issues we tell people to stop something, reduce their impact, reduce their damage.” His article Coming Home to Eat published in 200l can be cited as influencing the popularity of green culture, the local food movement, and the increased appearance of farmers markets all over the country.<br />
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A host of other organizations have begun to promote sustainability through the act of conservation. Bill Clinton, Doug Band and the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) have set their sights on emission reduction projects throughout the country. In order to do this, they have partnered up with Donlen, GreenDriver, and Environmental Defense Fund with the purpose of reducing commercial fleet emissions by 20% in the next five years. †The Earth Day Network has brought together local and national conservationist groups and green enthusiasts to participate in an open forum. This forum serves as a space to incite discussion and dialogue on new ways to create a sustainable planet. Individuals can reduce their carbon footprint, create less waste, and stop the unnecessary wasting of water. Gary Nabhan strongly suggests as members of society we take a larger look at the state of our planet.<br />
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The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization produced a study with results indicating that a quarter of crop diversity is left and a dozen species provides 90% of the animal protein consumed around the globe. More over, roughly four crop species supply half of the plant-based calories in the basic human diet. Nabhan theorizes that growing food locally will have a massive impact on our planet’s sustainability. The “eat what you conserve” theory says by eating the produce that we are attempting to conserve, we are simultaneously promoting the granular dissemination of a vast amount of plant types.<br />
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Agriculturist Marco Contiero adds to the theory by saying, “biodiversity is an essential characteristic of any sustainable agricultural system, especially in the context of climate change.”<br />
According to Conterio, since individuals raise and harvest our own crops and plants, we should purchase the crops harvested and produced by other local growers. If individuals buy food grown and harvested locally, the large carbon footprint associated with the transnational transportation of food is no longer a problem. Both arguments require an active effort toward conservation and sustainability. As the spring approaches, visit your local farmers market to get all the best in seasonal fruit and vegetables. Visiting your local produce stand is also a great way to promote biodiversity, support your local economy, and experience the delicious regional food varieties.<br />
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John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-36798049307176308222011-02-21T09:03:00.000-08:002011-02-21T14:57:31.087-08:00Shopping for Food Security - Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b> </b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wwzpbfq-L5A/TWJ4Law9TwI/AAAAAAAABDE/gMngEVHgmvs/s1600/01+Winter+Morning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wwzpbfq-L5A/TWJ4Law9TwI/AAAAAAAABDE/gMngEVHgmvs/s400/01+Winter+Morning.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>The farm sleeps under a blanket of snow as we plan our seed orders. </b></div><b><br />
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<b>A Word About Seeds.</b><br />
The French word for seeds is semences. Yes indeed the French have brought our fundamental need for thriving procreation to the very ground under our feet. Earthy hmmm? Even in the garden, the French are intimate with making food and, of course, making love. <br />
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Well then, let's consider what the world would be like if only 5 percent of males were eligible to impregnate all of the women. What would be lost? In fact that <i>is</i> what we're facing in our food supply today. Seed diversity and the basic needs of humanity are overlapping in some interesting ways.<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><i>Organic Farmers Cover the Cost of Seed Diversity.</i> </b></div><br />
Each year we're obligated by our certification process to buy organic seed whenever possible. Ordering organic seed supports organic farmers. But there's more to it than that. This requirement also drives the market of supply and demand to preserve non GMO and non hybridized varieties. This gives us a larger, wider and more dependable supply of clean seed to buy and plant. Organic farmers are investing in having a bank of seed genetics in the market.<br />
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<b>Organic Seed is Harder to Find and Usually More Expensive.</b><br />
One complaint from consumers of organics is that the product is more costly. This is true in the short term.<br />
We can prove that fresh, clean, nutritious food is more valuable. But higher seed cost is directly related to what it costs to grow, harvest and market that value. As more organic producers enter the market, prices should come down even as food value improves. <br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Open Pollination and Seed Saving</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">An open pollinated variety of plant will breed true from it's own seed. So if you plant an open pollinated variety of beans or squash or peas, you can save the seeds from this year and plant more next year.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Open pollinated plants are not owned under patent law, they don't revert to earlier strains and they are proven under specific climate and soil conditions. When we order organic open pollinated seeds, we can grow 2 marketable crops - produce and seed - and have clean seed to plant the following year. There is natural selection in this process. Seeds that are sound and strong thrive. Those that aren't, don't. You should know that not all organic seed is open pollinated. At Dunn Creek Farm we are making a business decision to open a savings account with our own seed bank. </div> <br />
<b>Seed Diversity = 600 Tomato Varieties, Not 5. </b><br />
When we<b> </b>shopped for tomato seed this year, we found a grower offering 600 hundred varieties of heirloom, organic tomatoes that he and his partner produce themselves. Some had been staples in American seed catalogs a hundred years ago. Some had been locked behind the Iron Curtain for decades. All had been common in market gardens in a variety of regions and conditions. Few are being commercially grown today. <b> </b><br />
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<b>The Hazards of Limited Diversity</b><br />
When you see tomatoes in the supermarket, you are seeing about 5 varieties now commonly grown for market. They are red. They are firm. But they are not selected for taste or nutrition. There are better tomatoes to be found. But you probably can't find them in your market. And that's not all. Now that most of the people of the world are dependent on a handful of grains, vegetables and plants for survival, it's not hard to imagine that a plant pandemic could detonate like a bomb in the global food supply. We need a viable market to keep the alternatives on hand. And this is where today's consumer comes in. In part two, we'll consider how the grocery shopper decides how much bio diversity there is. <br />
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Some of our Seed Sources this year:<br />
<img src="http://www.hopeseed.com/img/1.gif" /><br />
<img src="http://www.hopeseed.com/img/1.gif" /><br />
<a href="http://www.hopeseed.com/home">Hope Seeds - Organic Vegetable Seeds & Organic Garden Seeds</a><br />
<a href="http://www.veseys.com/">Vesey's Seeds</a>John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1126102141162152610.post-44434961999327452072011-01-16T10:48:00.000-08:002011-01-16T10:49:46.146-08:00Old Year Resolves into New - Useful Plans and Projects for 2011<b>It's Sunday</b>.<br />
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I like to set aside time on Sunday to be a "book farmer". I try to keep up with the information that comes to me in the books we've collected, the magazines and news letters that come in the mail and the blogs I read for insight and inspiration. Sunday is also the day people here go visiting. I've just set down my reading to put a stick of wood on the fire. And now I'm ready to enjoy a long overdue visit with you. <br />
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<b>Have you seen this?</b><br />
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I first read Anne and Eric Nordell's artilce, "Weed the Soil not the Crop" in the Summer, 2006 issue of <a href="http://smallfarmersjournal.com/">Small Farmer's Journal</a> (a similar article with the same title, written by the couple, is currently available at: <a href="http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/reprints/June09_Nordells.pdf">Acres USA</a>). <br />
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I started experimenting with their ideas as best I could using my tools and know how (both of which are limited) back in Spring 2007. I was just re-reading that article today and refreshing myself on their approach.<br />
I can say that the parts of this method that we incorporated as directed worked well for us. And I was reminded that we aren't finished mixing these ideas into our work. I've been wondering how to begin writing our farm plan for 2011. This is a great place to start.<br />
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<b>You Can Build These Stackable Drying Racks! </b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTMxGqFxm6I/AAAAAAAABCo/fEMVd1O7-cY/s1600/Stack+O+Racks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTMxGqFxm6I/AAAAAAAABCo/fEMVd1O7-cY/s320/Stack+O+Racks.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Many of the things we harvest in Fall need to be dried before they can be properly stored. Space for drying beer hops or seed corn or baking beans or wild rose hips is at a premium in our house. Could you use some extra space to dry herbs or your own garden produce too? Well, maybe winter might be a good time for you to try (and improve) this project made with hand tools and regular dimensional lumber.<br />
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I borrowed several good ideas to make this design work. In particular, I liked the idea of making a rack size that would fit into an oven. They can easily be stacked over or near an air vent too, making double use of your heating or cooling system.<br />
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<b>24"x16" Stackable Drying Rack - Materials Per Tray:</b><br />
2 24" 1x2 for frame<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTMxL-K6fFI/AAAAAAAABCs/F4K6VHQkOvo/s1600/Precut+Pieces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTMxL-K6fFI/AAAAAAAABCs/F4K6VHQkOvo/s200/Precut+Pieces.jpg" width="200" /></a>2 14-1/2" 1x2 for frame<br />
4 4-1/2" right triangles (I used 1/2" plywood) as corner braces<br />
4 5" 1x2 for legs<br />
4 2-1/2" 1x2 rack spacers for legs<br />
8 box nails (screws would be good too)<br />
16 shingle nails (or screws)<br />
Staples for fastening screen to frame (I used a staple gun - tacks could work too)<br />
24" x 16" plastic window screen<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTMxTtSCvsI/AAAAAAAABCw/FvdTjShf614/s1600/Frame+with+Screen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTMxTtSCvsI/AAAAAAAABCw/FvdTjShf614/s320/Frame+with+Screen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I started by pre-cutting enough pieces for several trays. Then, using a flat surface and a square I drilled pilot holes and then hammered in two nails in each corner.<br />
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After squaring the frame again, I used a blade to cut the 4' screen down to 24" by 16". Since 24" is half of four feet, I could use the nice factory cuts on either edge of the screen. Then I stapled it to the frame.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTMxbNWIhwI/AAAAAAAABC0/4LVmB3Tat6I/s1600/Corner+Braces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTMxbNWIhwI/AAAAAAAABC0/4LVmB3Tat6I/s320/Corner+Braces.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>To give the tray frame strength and help secure the corners, I used the triangle shapes mounted over the screen and nailed them directly to the frame with shingle nails. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTM2Y7PQzxI/AAAAAAAABC4/_oD6gxX_2Cg/s1600/Legs+and+Rack+Spacers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_V_OCqRHpxd0/TTM2Y7PQzxI/AAAAAAAABC4/_oD6gxX_2Cg/s320/Legs+and+Rack+Spacers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I fastened a rack spacer in the exact center of each leg, then mount the legs right tight up to the frame. This is what makes the trays stackable, so be careful how you measure. To make all the legs lineup in the stack I built the first one and then eye-balled all the others to match it. I'm no finish carpenter. This was my attempt to create a simple and inexpensive design that serves a useful purpose. These racks do create a large amount drying area in a small space. And they do look nice enough for Susan to allow them in the kitchen!<br />
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<b>Notes and Suggestions</b><br />
<b></b>You may want to choose a more natural material than window screen. And be aware that stapled plastic screen will not support the weight of a curious cat plus whatever it is that you are drying!<br />
The bottoms can be strengthened by trussing them with wire, fishing line, string...whatever material you<br />
are comfortable with. A cover might be a good idea too<br />
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<b>So Long 'till Next Time!</b><br />
Thank you for stopping in to visit. I hope we'll be getting together again soon.John Quimbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13870999807987435519noreply@blogger.com6