Back from India just in time for Spring

Back from abroad!  I had the good fortune to spend two weeks in India early this month.  Culture shock was immediate and eye opening.  The biggest thing that I took away from my trip was just how amazingly well things just sort of...worked.   India wasnt pretty, despite what the photo above shows.  It was chaotic, busy, acrid, depressing, exciting, exhilarating, tasty, maddening, philosophical, and did I mention chaotic?

One commonality I found between New Delhi, Calcutta and the "small" town of Jamshedpur was just how good the food was everywhere I went.  Street vendors, restaurants, roadside markets, intensively farmed plots next to the airport in Calcutta, gardens, everywhere you looked there was food.   It is very easy to be vegetarian in India.  My last few hours in Calcutta were at the hotel where a big fertilizer company was having a convention.  I suppose a country of over a billion people cant exist without quite a bit of energy directed at the production of food.

India is in a part of the world where they go for months without much rain to periods where they pray the rain will stop. This makes farming extremely difficult.  Drought to flood.  No fun.  Ive seen that at work here.  The biggest thing I took away was that the people I saw were all working as "organically" as possible.  These are people with no money for pesticides, fertilizers, tractors or even tools.  Yet, they were growing some of the most beautiful crops, intensively cultivated by hand.

Makes me wonder how we can do better here with the "advantages" that technology provides for us.  But is technology REALLY helping us, or do we use it as a crutch?  Are the methods we use for commercial agriculture really helping us "feed the world" or is the world already feeding itself nicely, thank you?   Industrial agriculture surely can produce massive amounts of products that are used less as whole foods but as ingredients in industry.  

I had a wonderful phone call today with a prospective customer.  We spoke at length about the idea of "organic" in the marketplace.  I know I have posted about this before, but it is definitely worth another post.  Just what is "organic"?  Is it a worthwhile goal to produce organically?   Are we better off eating organics?  Are conventional foods harming us?

I think that my philosophy on food should be made more clearly.  Im always wide open to change.  I know Im not always in the right.  I have plenty of ideas on how to do things better.  Always question your assumptions!  So, here goes: As far as growing vegetables, we use no fertilizers or pesticides or fungicides that are not approved for use in USDA Certified Organic operations.   We do use a very small percentage of seeds that are NOT certified organic, mostly if we cant find a variety that has been grown organically somewhere else.   Our beef and lamb are entirely grass-fed.  We do not spray our pastures with herbicides, or chemical fertilizers or anything else for that matter.  We do spread lime in order to bring the pH of the soil up closer to neutral.  We may at some time in the future apply chicken manure or fish emulsion or raw milk to the pastures or perhaps some other minerals if we find our soil testing shows deficiencies.  

As far as poultry, well, here is where I feel some pressure to do better.  I do NOT feed organic feed to my chickens.  The cost is nearly double for the feed.  I would have to raise my egg prices up to about 8 dollars a dozen to make it worthwhile.   My feeling is that the chickens diet is supplemented with pasture plants and bugs and worms and sunshine for vitamin D, and that is what makes the difference between my product and what you can find in the stores.  HOWEVER, I am fully aware of the problems involved with GMO corn.  I know I have had interest from one or two people in the past year looking for GMO-free and also Corn and Soy-free rations for the birds.  I really do want to switch over to all organic feeds for my birds, but the price has been prohibitive.  Im already charging more for my chickens than most people.  And Im definitely not getting rich!  Its probably the one thing I would change if the demand was there for all organic chickens and eggs.  

There are so many people claiming so many different things about organic foods.  Let me give you my perspective.  I could be wrong.  Please feel free to go all Chuck Norris on me in the comments!  My view is that the pesticides and herbicides that are in the food system most probably have little effect on any of us when we consume them.  We rinse them off, scrub the apples, etc. and 99% of the sprays wash off.  Most sprays are not approved for spraying on the fruits or veggies themselves within a certain period before harvest.  So, the impact on our health is probably minimal.  That does not mean that some people are not sensitive to these chemicals.  My motivation for growing organically is not necessarily for my own health but for the health of the environment.  I have more issues with runoff into streams and the bay and effects on pesticides with other creatures who interact directly with them.  

I make no claim as to the health benefits of Organics.  Im happy growing them for the environment, not for my own health.  Perhaps there are more benefits than I know about.  Im happy to raise grass-fed beef and lamb because I know that it makes no sense to use fossil fuels to bring the food to the animals when we can easily bring the animals to the food!  So they grow a little slower.  Better slower growth than all the associated issues with fossil fuels and their costs.  It just makes sense.  Its also much more sustainable.

My view is that sustainability is more important in the long run than anything else.  Chickens are particularly problematic for me.  Chickens have been bred over the last 60 plus years to grow fast on corn.  Plain and simple, the heritage breeds we have today are nothing like their ancestors.  These heritage breeds today are improved and have been selected to grow well on corn.  Great Grandma's backyard flocks were hardly fed, they were skinny, scrawny, and had lousy egg production.   People didnt get 6 pound broiler chickens.  At best they had 2.5 pound chickens!  And the chicken was tough.  It was not the chicken we have today.  Any animal that needs corn represents a problem to me.  I will keep a small flock of layers, but Im not very interested in the long term sustainability of chickens in the US.  Grass-fed lamb and beef is the way to go.  

So, lots of splainin' today.  Im ready for the season to start!  Im all fired up!

Food Coma Bragging Rights

Good gravy, Im full.

Wow.  That was one fantastic Thanksgiving day.  Thank you Carl and Sherry for having me to dinner at the last minute.  Perfectly cooked turkey!  Wonderful meal.  

The verdicts are rolling in from all over the country.  Thats right.  Our turkeys were served in multiple states this year.  Annette and the kids drove 4 birds to Illinois to family and friends.  And I must say the results look fantastic!!!  37, 23, 36 pounds represented below:

These bronze turkeys are the best turkeys Ive ever eaten.  You absolutely cant go wrong with them.  I will definitely be raising them in the future.  The bigger the better!!!!

Birthing babies

The last several days have been busy.  Two calves born, and lots of baby lambs.  In fact, the triplets we had are now being bottle fed.  So, if I have not been posting, you now know why.   Ill be out taking photographs today now that the sun is out and it looks to be a beautiful day.   The weather has been just awful of late.  The sheep are looking forward to the pasture.

We still have lots of lambing yet to come, but Im going to let them lamb on pasture now, and get them out of the barn.  The mommas can come into the barn with their babies if I think they need some time alone, but the weather looks really nice for the next couple of weeks.

The baby bunnies are starting to wean themselves off of mom.  They are eating food and hay and drinking from the waterer now.  Not much longer until we have ourselves a nice fricasee!

The baby chicks that we found in the barn are doing well.  Its also time to get our broiler birds out onto pasture.  Lots to do this weekend.  Lots!

Pending Poultry Legislation

I took a trip to Annapolis a few weeks ago with some fellow farmers and met with our elected state representatives.  They surprised us by immediately offering to sponsor legislation that would address our concerns.   Could have knocked me over with a feather.  Who knew it would be so easy?

We went to Annapolis because the regulations in Maryland say that we are not allowed to sell on-farm processed poultry or rabbit at farmers markets.  We are allowed to sell here on the farm, but not at a table at the market.  The state recognizes farmers markets as an extension of on-farm sales for ALL OTHER PRODUCTS, but not poultry or rabbit.  The state requires all meats that are sold to have been processed at a USDA inspected facility.  However, the USDA specifically exempts small poultry processors from being inspected.   So, the state says we need to be inspected, but the USDA says we dont.  And the State doesnt care if we sell on farm, just not at a farmers market.  Does that make any sense?

So, we went to Annapolis and our representatives agreed. The links are below.  If you live in Maryland and are passionate about local food and supporting small farms and pastured poultry, please contact your representatives and urge them to support this legislation!!!

House Bill 1070

http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/billfile/hb1070.htm  

 

Senate Bill 912

http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/billfile/sb0912.htm

 

Its been a while!!!

The new toy.  My MPU.

The MPU arrived yesterday after a short 2 hour drive to and from Mifflinburg, PA.  I purchased the unit from Eli Reiff, the Poultryman.  Eli was a gracious host, as always, and built this unit for me.  There are 6 killing cones on the side of the trailer, a propane fired scalding unit, a plucker, and an eviscerating table and a primary chill tank.  The MPU can probably process 50 birds per hour with a crew of 3, and perhaps as many as 70 or so with a good crew of 4.

Everything is stainless steel.  The scalder and plucker can hold about 30 pounds of birds at a time.  That should be about 6 five pound chickens or one big Tom turkey.  The process goes like this:

The night before you are to slaughter and process the birds they are collected and put into pens, or cages.  You want to withhold food for their last 8 hours.  We dont want a crop full of grass or grain and a gut full of poop.  Makes for icky processing.

The next morning I arrive early with my trailer.  The scalder is filled with water up to the middle and the burner is lit.  As the water heats up, everyone chats and makes small talk.  Next, the fun begins.  The chickens are removed from their cages and one by one they are put head first into the cones and we make like a slasher movie.  They are quickly dispatched and allowed to bleed out.  After a minute or two of bleed out, they are put into the scalder at 147 degrees for approximately 50 seconds.  There is a timer.  Which is good because Id forget about them.

Then they are put into the plucker and tumbled around for another 50 seconds or so until they are plucked clean.  Then the feet come off and the oil gland at the base of the tail (called "the Bishop's nose" for some reason).   Then an incision is made around the vent and the intestines are pulled out.  The heart, liver and gizzard are removed, the neck cut off, the windpipe and crop removed from the neck area, and the lungs are pulled out and the bird is washed out.  The gizzard can be cleaned and the heart can have its outer fat and membranes cut off with scissors.  

Next the bird gets a bath in cold water to start chilling it down to below 40 degrees as quickly as possible to help prevent the growth of bacteria.

And then the birds are moved to a secondary tank of ice water to cool and voila!  Done!

The birds can be put in the fridge for a day or frozen right away.  If you want to eat them fresh, its best to wait 24 hours for them to relax or age.  Rigor mortis does wonders for flavor.  Birds eaten too soon tend to be tough.   The birds can be vacuum packed too.

Turkeys are processed the same way.  They are just much bigger and go in the scalder and plucker one at a time.  Ducks are harder, they dont like to lose their feathers.  Eli says to put some Dawn detergent in the scalder and to scald them longer to help loosen the feathers.  They still dont pluck clean as easily as the other birds. 

Im excited to have the tools to process my own birds.  They are gonna be some tasty eating next spring!  

We are going to need a bigger freezer.

PLUCKER

MPU

MPU

CSA

It is crazy how much we have learned already this summer.  I would take the garden and blow it up and start over if I could.  I would plant rows farther apart.  In long rows.  I would use more mulch.   And Id space the rows so I could drive the tractor among the plants.  I would have caged the tomatoes.  And...well, you get the picture.  This year was always intended as a learning year, especially since we werent living at the farm in the spring. 

Now that we are getting used to the lay of the land, we are already thinking about next season.   We have many questions to answer; how many families to invite into the CSA, how many chickens can we process at one time, do we buy sheep for meat or fiber, what kind of breeding stock do we buy for beef, do we buy breeding pigs, where do we put the cattle barn, do we need facilities for the vegetable and fruit processing, how big of a walk in fridge do we buy, etc..

I have plenty of ideas myself.   I think I can answer most of those questions, but I also need to find out what my customers might want.   Perhaps what I want is not in line with what my customers need.  

It is interesting that one of our current customers is also involved in a different CSA.  They have told me that the other farm barely gives them any vegetables every week.  A small handful of snap peas.  A couple of small bunches of herbs.  Maybe.  And excuses.  Oh, there wont be much this week.  The heat is bad.  The bugs are bad.   I was told that they are getting more from us, and we arent charging anyone this summer!  

I think we have a future.  

Really, we need to be able to charge a premium for our produce and meats and eggs and fiber, but we also want to give our core customers not only a premium product, but also a greater quantity than they might get elsewhere.  The benefit for us as a farm is to bring in the guaranteed income that a CSA provides.  The model calls for the customer to pay up front.  It lets us see our budget up front and helps mitigate some financial risk because the customer shares in the risk.  Its not all on the farmer.  In order to pay off on that insurance, I think it is a bit like paying a dividend on that policy by providing a bit extra for the customer.  Like an extra helping of green beans, or a few more tomatoes than you might get from a traditional CSA.  Or providing some extra produce if the customer wants to pick their own on any given day.

So please, feel free to post suggestions in the comments section.   What do you want from your local farm?  What is important to you?  Is organic important?  Or is knowing your farmer more important?  Is USDA certified organic important or is simply knowing that your farmer isnt using pesticides or chemical fertilizers or herbicides the more important factor?   Would you be interested in other farm fresh products like breads, jams, jellies, yogurt, cheese, dairy?  Or other farm products like organic straw or hay?  What about pond raised catfish?  Do you want to pick your own produce?  Would you prefer a work-share?  

Oh, so many questions...

But hey, time to start planning!