In an ideal year, all transplants would gradually be placed outdoors during April and May. Each week, one or two new things would be planted in the garden and only the pepper plants and sweet potatoes would remain to be planted at the beginning of June. This would leave plenty of time to put down plastic mulch, drip irrigation, and row covers gradually, as these items were needed.
This hasn’t exactly been an ideal year. I planted most everything during the one ten-day dry spell we’ve had. Because of my haste, the rows are not straight, and plastic mulch didn’t make it down under as many of the transplants as I’d have liked. All the rain has given the weeds ample time to germinate and I’m spending a lot of time hoeing, hand weeding, and wishing the rows were straighter so I could do a little more tractor cultivating. However, there haven’t been many days dry enough for that anyway.
But even when everything isn’t perfect, I still love it. Being out in the sun, rain, mosquitoes, and flies, pulling foxtail grass endlessly, sitting on thistles, dodging poison ivy, getting drip tape wrapped up in the rototiller tines, and standing on the hot pavement every Saturday morning bright and early are all parts of the best job in the world. I see the sun rise and set. I eat fruit warmed by the sun at the peak of ripeness. I watch hummingbirds, discover barn swallows, and am surprised by toads. Even weeds have pretty flowers sometimes. I am in the fresh air and obtain free exercise and a tan. I get to drive a tractor. I pick fruit and vegetables by the pint, quart, bucket, bunch, bushel, and hundredweight. I sleep a blessed, oblivious sleep on nights when I’ve been working in the field. There are always new problems to solve and interesting things to think about.
Besides the pure enjoyment of the outdoor physical labor, there is the satisfaction of doing something to make this little piece of ground better. Organic matter is being added to the soil. Erosion is slowing down, rain is being soaked down into the ground instead of running off. Zillions of microbes of every kind are coming to life and doing everything they do to support life. The ground is making a recovery from its deadening dependence on external inputs.
And as if this weren’t enough, people who care about what they eat are getting a chance to eat wonderful food that comes from 25 miles away from their home instead of the average grocery store food that travels something like 1200 miles. And I get to meet these people! I love this.
I first heard of Prop 2 from the local AM radio station this morning. (When I say “local”, I mean the one (only one?) in the county we live in.) It was during an ag-update, of which there are many on this station. It said that livestock producers were concerned about the passage of the proposition. Producers in the midwest see it as an opportunity — California’s production will obviously decrease because of proposition 2. Oh, sad, sad, day.
I took it upon myself to research this perilous new law. I was curious about what types of terrible regulations had been passed by those crazies on the west coast.
Mere seconds after typing “prop 2″ into a search box, I found the Yes on Prop 2 page. Obligingly, they have the text of the proposed (now passed) law in a PDF. The summary reads thusly:
“The purpose of this Act is to prohibit the cruel confinement of farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs.”
Hm. That doesn’t sound that catastrophic, or even unreasonable. Well, maybe there’s some scary stuff hiding behind such a simple summary…
“25990. Prohibitions.– … a person shall not tether or confine any covered animal, on a farm, for all or the majority of any day, in a manner that prevents such animal from:
(a) Lying down, standing up, and fully extending his or her limbs; and
(b) Turning around freely.”
Well, that sounds awfully similar to the summary. And that’s it, other than some definitions and exceptions.
In contrast to the tone of the local radio station’s report, our farm would not be hampered by a law like this. The chickens we have now, even when they’re cooped up for the night, have enough freedom of motion that we wouldn’t need to change if Indiana passed the same law. As we grow, our intent is to give our animals as much freedom as we can (while still keeping them healthy and safe from predators) and to raise what our land can support; in short, we plan to grow sustainably.
I think it is terrible that this type of law is required. But, I think it is hopeful that things seem to be changing in a more positive direction.
The weather is starting to look up a little, at least if I look at the 5-day forecast. This morning I ran across Ecclesiastes 11:6-
“Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”
This year, our philosophy is to grow some of everything, and see what does the best/ makes the most money, or at least what has a good profit-to-labor ratio. And it’s very true that I am growing many, many new-to-me crops, and I do NOT know which will succeed.. the weather, the conditions, and the crops themselves are all variables. It’s exciting to watch, though. If “both will do equally well” we will be so, so busy!
Mrs. B and I are reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
“He’s got all the latest toys … Billy’s in debt up to his eyballs.” George believes he’s managed to survive on the farm by steering clear of debt, nursing along his antique combine and tractor, and avoiding the trap of expansion.
…
“I’m getting 220 bushels an acre on that seed,” [Billy] boasted. “How’s that compare, George?”
George owned he was getting something just south of two hundred, but he was too polite to say what he knew, which was that he was almost certainly clearing more money per acre growing less corn more cheaply.
Yesterday, Mrs. B and I were visited by the farmer (Mr. Y) who’s going to farm our 28 acres. Mr. Y farmed it for the folks we bought the farm from. And it turns out that the land used to be owned by his great-grandfather, so he’s been involved in farming it since he was 6 years old.
Mr. Y told us much the same thing that George told Michael Pollan in the chapter quoted above — the new toys and new seeds really don’t seem to be worth it.
Reading about the recent history of agricultural economics makes me wonder what our farm’s economics will look like. Neither of us really expects farming to do anything more than be a hobby that pays us back a little bit, in addition to (hopefully) making the world a slightly better place. (“Leave it better than you found it.”) But it’d be nice if we could make a living from farming. Will we be able to, growing for market? I guess we’ll see.
A few days ago, we traveled to another farm to pick up a pastured Thanksgiving turkey. We’ve purchased poultry from this lady for a few years. I’ll call her Chicken Lady. Anyway, we got to see her operation firsthand, and hear her talk about what she has done to establish her farm.
Lessons Learned from Chicken Lady:
1. Attention to detail can save you a lot of money. Chicken Lady supervised the construction of her house on a daily basis. She kept the costs down by continually sorting all the lumber into piles by size, so that no extras were wasted by being cut into small pieces. And she saved all the extra pieces, and is still using them.
2. Don’t be too proud to dumpster dive. Many of her portable chicken houses were built of largely scavenged material.
3. Do what you enjoy, but know your limits. Chicken Lady has grown her farm to 1500 layers and 1500 broilers in the space of four years. She’s planning to cut back on the broilers next year because that’s a LOT of slaughtering. But she plans to do at least as many turkeys as before, because she likes turkeys.
4. Use the skills you had beforehand. Chicken Lady clearly has some skills in the construction trades, and she has put them to very good use on her farm.
I aspire to be like Chicken Lady in some of these ways over the next few years:
1. Attention to detail- My engineering training should help with this. I am a planner!
2. Scavenging materials- There are a variety of random construction materials around the farm. I need to remember to look there first when trying to build something.
3. Doing what I enjoy, but knowing the limits- I am really excited about farming, but I have a small child to raise. I have to budget my time and energy accordingly during this stage in my life.
4. Using the skills I had before- I have a background in Quality Systems. That will come in really useful for dealing with USDA organic certification, since it is just a type of Quality Management System.
In the last 2 days, 2 farmers have shown up at my doorstep wanting to rent the big chunk-o-land. A third one is interested as well.
Should I engage in a bidding war, or pick the smallest farmer among the three? Or see if any of them grow non-GMO? Those are the three options I am considering. Other suggestions are welcome. I’ll still be keeping plenty of the land un-rented for my use.
I didn’t know there was such a thing, until a friend forwarded me this article.
I had noticed some individuals at markets who look like stereotypical Christian Homeschoolers, but around here I wouldn’t say they make up 80% of the consumer base. But maybe I’m unfairly stereotyping.
Anyway, I think it’s a neat trend. I don’t usually like trends, but this is one that I am glad we’ll be a part of.
http://www.ashleydesign.org/images/whatibelieve.jpg
Natural Mommy has inspired me to post a little about our belief system, related to farming. So here I go.
1. Being sustainable is good. As much as possible, we’ll try to produce what we need on our farm instead of buying it from outside sources.
2. We like biodiversity. While we’re getting started, some of our land might be rented out to a typical row crop farmer. But once I get around to farming it myself, there will be more diversity.
3. Animals are not people, but they should be taken care of with at least some degree of kindness. Any animals on our farm will be allowed to eat what nature intended, see the light of day, and will not be given artificial hormones, unnecessary antibiotics, etc.
4. Avoiding extra debt is good. So we’ll go slowly in starting new ventures, do things by hand at first, and make sure we’re making more money than we’re spending.
