Archive for the ‘Farming’ Category

We’ve added 3 pigs to the farm.  We’ve currently got them in the “Seed Garden”.  Everything has been harvested for the year.  Now Pork Chop, Ham, and Bacon are rooting around in the soil, aerating, and fertilizing for next year.  Besides what they will do for the garden we’re also planning to raise them for their meat.

the Upper 40

This summer has been fairly dry, but given our use of HDHG the cows are enjoying fresh grass. While some people have had to feed hay already, we still have plenty of green pasture. We just moved the herd up to a section we call The upper 40 because it is a fenced off area that used to be the original homestead. We installed an electric fencer that powers a temporary fence which we move each day. We give them a big enough area to have all the grass they can eat in a day, and their walking around helps trample organic material into the soil (not to mention they naturally spread their manure around for us into places we’d never have been able to get equipment into).

one water source

The branch doesn’t always flow, but right now there’s a little stream that flows into our creek which gives the north side of the Upper 40 a good supply of water. I move the cows each morning which gives me the opportunity for lots of views of the early morning sunlight on things like the babbling brook, the cobwebs wet with morning dew, and all the leaves on the trees. And wading through the tall grass setting up the next day’s fence lets me explore parts of the farm I wouldn’t tend to venture through. When the cows hear me coming on the 4 wheeler they know they’re going to get moved so they all crowd up to the front fence. All I have to do is call them, and they rush in to taste the new grass.

Momma's still pretty protective of her week-old calf

Calving season is starting. We’ve had several born so far in the last couple weeks. I’m always amazed at how protective the mommas are. They keep an eye out for anything they think might be headed towards their calf, and they let out these short low grunts to warn that they’re paying attention and feel The Line is about to be crossed. The mommas tell their new calves to stay hidden in tall grass, and even if the rest of the cows move on the little guys stay put.

supper at the bunks

One of the things that I enjoy most about the farm is watching how the animals get along with one another when they’re just being themselves.

For instance, the chickens flock to the goats’ bunks when they know we’ll be feeding them.  They’d eat right out of the bunks, but the goats push them out of the way.  But the chickens have learned that there is plenty of grain that falls on the ground.  So they make sure nothing goes to waste.  Then there are the cows and goats.  Goats prefer browse (leaves, weeds, and shrubs) and only eat grass as a last resort.  Cows do the opposite.  They might eat some browse if they’re starving.  So when the goats and cows happen to have access to the same field they don’t compete for food.

cows grazing and goats browsing

An Osage Orange stand

This morning I went for a walk/ride.  Its been hot and humid, but this morning wasn’t as bad so before the sun had been up too long and warmed things up I went up to the field we call the Upper 40.  Homesteaders dug a well and built a cabin up there.  I can see why because its beautiful.  The raspberries are ripening and I roamed around the hill grazing on the sweet ones.

Despite the fact that we are drier than normal, there are lots of plants blooming all over the place.  The grass is yellow, but throughout are green plants blooming.  There’s this one that I’ve been watching to get pictures when all its purple flowers come out.  Recently I’ve been pulling a trailer behind the 4 wheeler where ever I go with a shovel and fencing supplies so that I can dig up musk thistles to try to keep them down before they can go to seed.

my thistle-control-mobil

I’ve learned that even when I dig them up they will live for awhile before they die.  So if they are young enough that they don’t have flowers, once they are dug up, they will wither before they can produce seeds.  But if they’ve already developed a flower I need to carry them away or else they will still mature (hence the trailer full of thistles).  Now when I go out I’m always on the look out for thistles, but I’ve been thinking maybe I don’t need to be getting rid of all these thistles.  When we moved back from Sudan I had a similar knee-jerk reaction to kill any snake I saw.  Farmers, especially ones that grow crops, are programed to defend the farm against thistles.  But calling a thing a weed says as much about what you want to produce as it does about the “nature” of that plant.  Musk thistles really have pretty flowers.  Insects, and especially butterflies, love them.  And once I could see them without the bias of their being a “weed” I started wondering if I was fighting something unnecessarily.  They’re colorful, they add to the diversity of plants in the fields, insects like them, they provide more organic material for the cows to trample into the soil, and they help hold moisture in the soil.  So should I worry about cutting them down?

Mmmmm, breakfast

We got all the chicks out in the chicken tractors so we cleaned out the brooders.  Later, I was mulching the potatoes when I saw the laying hens and some goats picking through the pile we made.

compost turning

As we emptied the brooders I made a mental note to spread the pile out so that it didn’t kill the grass underneath.  However, before I got back to it the chickens and goats were having fun investigating.  Dust was flying as the chickens scratched and pecked at things.  There was plenty of chicken feed that had spilled and was mixed in with the wood shavings.  The chickens as well as the goats were happily cleaning it up.  I thought to myself how nice it was to have other farm residents who not only helped out occasionaly but actually benefited from their contribution.

Spring appears to be here to stay, although we won’t know for sure for a few more weeks.  After a blustery, rainy weekend, the grass in the fields are that brilliant shade of green that we dream about all winter and will likely not see again until next spring.  We have taken to enjoying it while we can.

While we still are feeding supplemental alfalfa to the mothering goats and hay to the cattle, we will soon be happy to skip that chore and move on to tilling and planting, as well as raising baby chicks after the first of April.  It’s the perfect time to visit a farm — come see us one day soon!

In our culture of urbanization, farming is an occupation of choice, but not necessarily of huge money profits.  It is becoming increasingly urgent for those of us who believe in food independence to support the growth of small, family/community-owned and operated farms.  We support this movement by making the farm way of life our way of life.  Here are a few reasons why:

• Over the past few decades, the number of small family farms in our country has dwindled as industrialized agriculture has been exclusively promoted and large corporations have taken control of the world’s food systems.  We farm because we believe in the power of individuals and communities to shift the balance in favor of a local food movement.

• Living on a farm means daily access to the natural rhythms of death and life, planting and harvesting, hibernation and transformation, pruning back and regrowth.  The closer we are to these miracles of creation, the healthier we become in our own human relationships.  We farm because we love the land and animals and the way they bless us.  We farm because we want to work in partnership with them toward sustainability.

• The average piece of food in our culture travels 1,500 miles from it’s place of origin to your plate.  In order to maintain product “quality” through all that travel, or to please our need for food “perfection”, products are sprayed with harmful chemicals, genetically modified, and boostered with growth hormones and antibiotics.  As a result, the vital nutrients we need for our own bodies are compromised.  We farm in order to provide healthy, natural food for ourselves and our community.