Time for an update! With spring approaching I have been getting antsy to begin the growing season madness. The chickens have already begun celebrating the increasing daylight by leaving 5 little gifts for us each day. Even Blondie (the meat chicken) has taken up the challenge of providing an egg a day and always with two yolks! I think she's saying "thank you" for not slaughtering her last summer with the rest of the meat flock.
Because our neighbor told us she was worried about her horse stomping Charlotte and Buttercup over food we have opted to keep the goats and chickens in the large garden area for the duration of our time here. They don't seem to mind the arrangement at all as long as we keep on feeding the supplemental hay. They next big question for us was: Where do we have the garden now? The conclusion was to have an elaborate potted vegetable garden on our front porch. We have been calling landscapers around the area and making deals to buy their used black nursery pots for cheap (i.e. 75 cents for a 15 gallon pot). It won't be the most beautiful garden, but it will get the job done until we find a place with enough room for everything. Our good friend, Phil, made us an even better deal and sold us three 150 gallon galvanized water troughs for an unbelievably good price. They were brand new and just sitting around his property without a purpose until I laid eyes on them. Now they are holding beautiful soil from Hansen Bros. landscaping and the promise of happy veggies come spring. So far I've planted asparagus, rhubarb, raspberries, garlic, onion, and potatoes. I've got some beet seeds soaking in water for the day and carrot sees on a damp cloth to jumpstart the germination process. Those seeds will go into the soil tonight along with lettuce and spinach. Peaceful Valley nursery has promised that my back ordered strawberries will arrive in a few days. Can't wait for that!
In the mean time, Justin and I decided to put a nice path with steps leading down to the barn. We are lining the path with rocks and filling the path with left over bark from our wood-splitting activities. There was a sizeable pile just lying around and I've been vexed to find a good purpose for it. The bark will break down every time we step on it, putting useable carbon back into the soil, and it looks pretty! We want to leave this place nicer than when we came and I think the next renters would appreciate such an effort. So far it's looking quite nice.
The biggest news to share was my attendance of the inaugural Sustainable Local Food and Farm Conference in Grass Valley on January 22nd. With over 300 people there to hear the wonderful lineup of speakers, the Holiday Inn Conference Center was buzzing with excitement. The first speaker was Aaron Lacich, a smart guy who used to work for Fox and CSNBC behind the scenes, but had a child and realized he wanted to do more for the world in which his baby girl was going to grow up. He has spent about 6 years working on a film documentary called We Are What We Eat. You can check out his website: www.wearewhatweeat.org . The documentary looks promising and very educational.
The next speaker was Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy. He is all about raw milk and actually sells his product to our Local Co-op, The Briar Patch. He asserts that food has been disconnected from health. His presentations spoke about the wonderful health benefits of drinking raw milk and the FDA's regulations on the sale of that product. They are asserting that raw milk is a dangerous product with a high likelihood of killing people who drink it. Guess what? Not a single person has died from drinking raw milk in hundreds of years, but the untested pasteurized milk most of us (including myself) drink has killed 3 people last year alone! His presentation makes me wish Charlotte was in milk right now. I miss having raw milk available to me whenever I want at a cheap price.
Will Winter, DVM spoke next. His presentation opened my eyes to the importance of maintaining healthy pastures. Grass is the best way to feed cattle, he asserted, and healthy cattle are grown on healthy pasture. He taught us how to mob cattle up into small spaces by using portable electric fencing. This is called an intensive grazing system. You forced the cattle to become more of a herd again and by doing so make them eat every bit of the available feed in that small area before moving them to the next space in 24 hours. This challenges the grass to grow stronger and more lush during times of rest between grazing. It's an elegant system that reduces erosion problems, increases plant biodiversity, and improves herd health.
Finally, the keynote speaker and the person I wanted to hear speak most came had his turn, Joel Salatin. He is a revolutionary farmer and a self-proclaimed lunatic. He is the owner of the very successful Polyface Farms in Virginia. His keys to success are a highly diversified farming model with lots of movement and no debt. His farm is raises beef, meat and egg laying chickens, rabbits, and pork. He uses these animals in rotation on his pastures and woodland to improve the soil and wildlife on and around his farm. The system is so beautiful and simple that I cannot believe more people aren't following it. He says it's because people these days have "constipation of imagination". But by allowing his animal herds and flocks to express their "phenotypical expressive states", disease issues drop dramatically and animals are much happier. Chickens are allowed to range out on pastures three days after the beef herd to scratch out fly larvae that have grown on the cow patties. This fertilizes the pasture and promotes healthier soil. Pigs are mobbed up into the forest areas to root and disturb the soil, stimulating undergrowth. He completely blew my mind with his business model. I know that as Schone Vida grows we will apply many of his ideas to help us toward success. I'm glad I went to the conference and have decided to attend as many as possible. The knowledge is priceless and I want the locals to get to know us better.
Well, its time to head back out and put more time into the barnyard. Peace out!!
