We've been quiet hear because we've been busy here.

Come visit our farm's new site at Lilac Hedge Farm in Kansas.

Planting in the Fall

Broccoli went into the ground September 28th.  I think we're tempting fate a bit, but we're going for it.  Onions, peas, and carrots will be sewn this week too.  I think I'm going to start some strawberries in a small hoop house too.  Lesson of the week: Don't over water your sweet potatoes.

Uber brief post.  But it is a post none the less.

Insurance: Why You Might Want It

Earlier this week Reuters reported on a strawberry farm in Oregon that health officials identified as the source of a localized E. Coli outbreak.  There are few details about how the contamination occurred but there is speculation that the contamination may have been introduced by wild animals.

If this turns out to be the case then that farm may have just drawn the short straw.  People who grow food as a way of life quickly learn that there are many things one simply has no control over.  Some precautions may have reduced the risk to their produce and customers but nothing could have completely eliminated it.  And if the deer were the vector as may have been the case, there is bloody little to do about it.

This doesn't mean that the farm can't be sued.  And even if no liability is assigned to them the fight itself will surely prove to be very expensive.  This is why some farmer's markets insist that vendors carry insurance.  And if you sell any food you may want to consider carrying insurance too.  You may be in luck, and your home owner's insurance may already cover you, or it may offer coverage as part of  your package.

Thoughts and hopes go out to the farmers of Oregon, and especially to those individuals from sickness.

Salmonella and the Industrial Food Complex Part 2

Last time I wrote about salmonella and the persisting state of food (in)security.  I advocated for buying locally.  This time I’ll address getting down and dirty.

Grow your own.  This is as cheap as it gets.  And frankly you can do something no matter where you live.  Window boxes or two acres or two hundred acres – grow something.

Our family sat down and made a list of what we eat from week to week.  Sadly, it wasn’t as varied and innovative as I would’ve liked but I’m still learning…  But the list we came up with served to guide our planting strategy.  Tomatoes, goodness do we eat a lot of tomatoes.  Spaghetti sauce, salsa, BLTs, pizza, and so on.  

So we decided to try to make a dent in our grocery bill by growing the things we used the most. 

And we have.  I just bought the first head of lettuce I’ve had to buy since May.  And that’s saying something because we eat a lot of lettuce too.  Tomatoes are doing great.  We just canned 8 quarts of tomato sauce with more coming off the vine daily.  Jalapenos, herbs, and green peppers that I can’t use fresh I’m dicing up and freezing.

And the best part…  The best part is that since we’ve been eating more local and home grown food I’ve not had any allergies this year at all.  Is that because of the food?  I suspect so, but I’m no expert.  I’m too old to have just simply outgrown them after all these years.  Our family hasn’t had a cold or flu yet this year.  And the only real thing we’re doing different is gardening and eating local.  More exercise?  Better food?  Win.

Are we totally self-sustaining, shunning the grocer?  No.  But every dollar saved by the garden, or spent at the farmer’s market is vote to empower the producers to make better food.  Start somewhere.

Salmonella and the Industrial Food Complex Part 1

Salmonella outbreak linked to ground turkey.  Again our industrial food paradigm has betrayed the trust of consumers.  I guess I officially join the ranks of bloggers advocating against the industrial machine and the conditions mandated by a quantity over quality framework.  I won’t say it is impossible to safely handle such enormous amounts of food without dangerous amounts of contamination.  I will say it is increasingly unlikely that your food was handled safely before it arrived at the supermarket.

Even in a thoroughly mechanized industry people still ensure product safety and quality.  Increasingly those people are paid less and less to care.  And in this market everyone is easily replaced.  And when your job is to tell the company that they aren’t doing theirs you might not if your job is at risk – whether any risk actually exists or is merely perceived.

Now this isn’t about labor versus management.  That’s big concept stuff.  I’m talking about something simple.  Here is my two-pronged offensive on food safety.

Buy local.  Is it expensive?  You bet.  But, no doubt you’ve heard by now, the US spends less per capita on food than any other developed nation.  People get excited about blowing 60 bucks at the movie theater for two hours of entertainment and some stale popcorn.  But heaven forbid that money be spent buying locally farmed and processed turkey burger.

Buying local meat and produce means that the food you're eating spend hours or maybe a day out of the field before you see it at the market.  This is a far cry from food that is transported further than many of us will travel in our lifetimes.  Lettuce and spinach and meat from some of the poorest countries in the world, imported to one of the wealthiest because it saves the corporation money.  Money, not quality, is all they care about.

But if you buy locally the farmer has a vested interest in selling you the freshest, safest, tastiest food he or she can grow.

Buying local empowers the local economy.  That in turn increases the producer’s capacity and lowers their overall cost.  I assure you that a local family is more likely to pass on that savings than some giant mega-industrial poultry machine.   In return you eat better and protect yourself and your family.

And really, isn't that worth the price of admission?

Dragons Love Strawberries?

The description on our blog describes some of the animals that live at our house but not all.  We have two lizards, Climber a fat tailed gecko (who, ironically, likes to hide in her rock all day and can't climb) and Gleep bearded dragon -- both belong to our son.  Climber eating strictly crickets does not take part in the bounty that is our garden but Gleep does so with enthusiasm and gusto.  

By far his favorite is the strawberries.  He gets diced strawberries in his parsley.  He will toss out the parsley in search of sweeter treats, strawberries, carrots and grape chunks.  The parsley was grown just for him and he actually does prefer it to the store bought parsley.  We definitely need to plant more next year.

Additionally we're going to grow more cilantro and bell pepper.  While the dragon will certainly enjoy that, we're huge fans of peppers and fresh herbs and so we are not dedicating our garden to the creation of supreme pet food.

The rule still applies.  Grow what you eat, because you need to eat what you grow.

Hen House Predator

Today’s post was going to be about feeding the other animals from the almost market garden, but last night changed that. 

Justin and I were watching the much needed storm last night when we heard yelling.  I went to our son’s room but he was ok.  Justin checked on the chicken coop, I got a call from him on his Droid (doubling as a flashlight) asking for his boots (he was in sandals) and heavy gloves.  An opossum had one of the New Hampshire Red hens and was dragging her off to the corner.  Justin and Freya, our Chesapeake Bay Retriever had her free and had it was cornered. 

It is funny how something goes from being a nice fuzzy wuzzy animal and live and let live to it must be out.  Freya had killed it and I was strangely ok with that even willing to finish it off to end its suffering.  The hen that had been nearly breakfast was running around the yard with decent speed and agility and in the dark seemed ok.  No blood was found but, her feathers are auburn anyway.  I made sure this morning that it was me that went to open the coop this morning and she was just as hungry and spry as the others.

Now to find the access point and make sure we don’t have anymore coop-raiders.