Free Range Chicken? Pastured Poultry is Better.

From Mother Earth News:

What is the true definition of free-range chicken?

The United States Department of Agriculture offers this definition:

FREE RANGE or FREE ROAMING: Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.

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 healthful and flavorful eggs 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.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/ask-our-experts/free-range-chickens.aspx#ixzz1QQfyp8hk

This is a picture of a cornish cross hen who is free ranging - on our pasture!  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 a truly natural product.         

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).                

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. 

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.


Thanks!     

Harvesting a Local M.E.A.L. - It's Time to Farm!

It's Time to Farm
I planted seeds this week.
Spring is the most optimistic season.
Seeds are faith and hope and life in the future.
Planting made me feel righteous and peaceful and quietly determined to thrive.

A Local M.E.A.L.
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: http://alocalmeal.wordpress.com/. A video of each presentation will be made available through the link.
Here's mine:


A Local M.E.A.L. - John Quimby from nick battist on Vimeo.


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
teacher to create a presentation called "Farming in the Classroom" which will feature 3 hands-on project
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.      

Here's a Really Good Find!
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.
And I recently found a great resource online.  600 organic/open/heirloom tomato varieties are being offered at: http://www.tomatofest.com/  Our order was filled and returned promptly and I'm pleased now to refer them to you for this spring.

What's So Great About 600 Tomatoes?
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.

Local Organic Eggs and Chicken
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, "Pastured Poulty Profits" 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.

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.

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.                        

News Links:

Food Inflation Kept Hidden in Tinier Bags

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29shrink.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&ref=business&adxnnlx=1301403749-7DIP1Gd6QRGZ0J9pMxtiLA

JQ's Final Thought:
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.
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.

Connecting The Dots: Climate, Energy, Global Markets and Food Security

This spring we'll be tackling some pretty heavy decisions to increase and sustain productivity on our farm.
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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

"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.”

 - Johann Hari

Hmmmmmmmmm. Pretty ominous.  But we still don't see the whole picture.

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.

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.

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:

According to a study by the now-defunct Lehman Brothers, index fund speculation jumped from $13 billion to $260 billion from 2003 to 2008. Not surprisingly, food prices rose in tandem, beginning in 2003.  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. 

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.

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.

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!

Shopping for Food Security - Part 2

Looking for ways to grow local, sustainable, small farms in PEI


Shopping for Food Security - Part 2


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.

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.


The Importance of Biodiversity in Farmers Markets

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.

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.

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.

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.”
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.

 

Shopping for Food Security - Part 1

    

The farm sleeps under a blanket of snow as we plan our seed orders.     

A Word About Seeds.
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.

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 is what we're facing in our food supply today. Seed diversity and the basic needs of humanity are overlapping in some interesting ways.

Organic Farmers Cover the Cost of Seed Diversity. 

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.

Organic Seed is Harder to Find and Usually More Expensive.
One complaint from consumers of organics is that the product is more costly.  This is true in the short term.
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.

Open Pollination and Seed Saving

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.

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.    

   
Seed Diversity = 600 Tomato Varieties, Not 5. 
When we 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.       

The Hazards of Limited Diversity
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.  

Some of our Seed Sources this year:


Hope Seeds - Organic Vegetable Seeds & Organic Garden Seeds
Vesey's Seeds

Old Year Resolves into New - Useful Plans and Projects for 2011

It's Sunday.

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.

Have you seen this?


I first read Anne and Eric Nordell's artilce, "Weed the Soil not the Crop" in the Summer, 2006 issue of Small Farmer's Journal (a similar article with the same title, written by the couple, is currently available at: Acres USA).

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.
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.

You Can Build These Stackable Drying Racks! 

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.

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.




 

24"x16" Stackable Drying Rack - Materials Per Tray:
2  24" 1x2 for frame
2  14-1/2" 1x2 for frame
4   4-1/2" right triangles (I used 1/2" plywood) as corner braces
4   5" 1x2  for legs
4   2-1/2" 1x2 rack spacers for legs
8   box nails (screws would be good too)
16 shingle nails (or screws)
Staples for fastening screen to frame (I used a staple gun - tacks could work too)
24" x 16" plastic window screen

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.

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.

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.        

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!
  
Notes and Suggestions
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!
The bottoms can be strengthened by trussing them with wire, fishing line, string...whatever material you
are comfortable with.  A cover might be a good idea too

So Long 'till Next Time!
Thank you for stopping in to visit.  I hope we'll be getting together again soon.

Dear Friends: The Blog Christmas Letter

My mother's family used to make a point of sending out regular news letters to one another. And every few weeks or months we would get an envelope with the latest letters from cousins and uncles forwarded to us.  It seemed like a nice idea to me at the time. My parents didn't seem so enthused.  In looking back I now realize that it obligated my mother to write back and forward the package along. My father always seemed particularly annoyed that their was no real news in these letters.  You knew that Aunt Gertrude wasn't going to write, "Jim started drinking again and wrecked the Studebaker last week."  Or, "Our new pastor, Dr. Jones, has been banging the Church secretary like a screen door." They also opened each of us for judgement by the others.  Writing a response could require considerable diplomacy.

Particularly at Christmas, the family letters took on the tone of those who are counting their blessings.  But those blessings would never include things like, "Thank God Marjorie broke up with that awful hippy she met at college before she got herself pregnant." Even though that would have to rate pretty high on the list of things someone could really be thankful for.

I do love the fact that my mother's family were decent, faithful, conservative, old Protestants. Wire rim spectacled Main Street Republicans since Lincoln.  They tried to love and understand why, in mid-life, my parents became Unitarians who supported Ceasar Chavez, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King.  And as the older generation faded away, family letters became less frequent. They finally stopped about the same time my parents joined a New Age Church in Santa Monica and sent me to a Catholic High School.

Which brings me to my topic. The Blog Christmas Letter.  I sent a family Christmas letter home in a Moosehead Beer box full of canned goods and crafts we produced on the farm this year.  In the letter I described what Susan and I grew and harvested for the goodies we sent home to California. And I shared the news about our kids and their efforts. You know, I'm sure my family will enjoy the gifts, the letter and the photos we sent.  But after browsing the letter again (a bad habit of mine...geez once it's written and sent...let it go!) I also realized that it reads like a Christmas package from the Waltons.  And I was reminded of those long gone relatives of mine who shared their stories and sent Christmas greetings in letters instead of shipping us a Chia Pet.  They came from a culture where sharing tame family gossip was how they knew each other. Here in PEI, that culture of being known by your story is still very real. And that really is where the old folks were coming from...and it may be the place that social media is taking us back to.

Does telling who we are really make us who we are?
Maybe. Maybe your family never communicated like that at all. Or maybe communication was all read between the lines.  I just thought it would be interesting to write a Christmas letter from the farm to everyone who wants to read one.  It's not about the "news" (that will keep for another time) it's about how and why we reach out to each other, especially at this time of year.            

The Blog Christmas Letter

Dear Ones -
Thank You.
Thank you for reading my words and sharing your comments. Thank you for your gentle company on a journey that sometimes thrills me and other times scares me into hoping I won't disappoint you, myself or my loved ones.

I'm grateful to you for giving me a reason organize my thoughts from time to time...to be mindful of my daily life and the wonders I'm fortunate to experience. Thanks for the comfort of allowing me to be in touch with you as I move beyond previous experience into the unknown.

Thank you for allowing me to read your blogs and emails, facebook pages and projects so I know we're not alone and foolish for wandering "far from the madding crowd".

Your time and interest are a wonderful gift.

Whatever faith you profess (or lack) I wish you a happy and blessed Christmas Day and at least one Dream Come True in the New Year.

JQ