Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Field Trip

October 26, 2011 by Steve Normanton

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This weekend we had a visit from the sixth grade Environmental Science class of the Roxbury Latin School in Boston.  For weeks, the boys have been studying different ways in which humans have interacted with nature, now focusing on the production of food. They have studied and debated source materials from 19th century native American literature to the documentary Food Inc. The trip to our farm was the culminating experience for the boys, and after touring the farm and helping with some chores, they ended with a cook off between supermarket hamburger and our grass-fed hamburger.

Needless to say, our hamburger won hands down!

Posted in Friends | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Federal Budget Debate

October 19, 2011 by Omar Khudari

October is a very busy month for farmers. This year, it is also very busy for the lawmakers and lobbyists who are working out how much the federal government will spend on agricultural programs. We understand and support the idea that the government must not spend beyond its means, and that agricultural spending must be cut in line with everything else to balance the budget. But we would like to defend a small part (3%) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget that many people don’t understand: the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Most people know that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is supposed to prevent people from harming the environment. But while the EPA is telling everybody what they are doing wrong, the NRCS is actively helping farmers do things right. The NRCS provides expert consulting and funding for farm projects that benefit the environment. This may sound self-serving coming from a farmer who has directly benefited from NRCS funding, but the carrot-and-stick system really works.

Last week, a group of conservation organizations sent a letter to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction that says it all.

Posted in Opinion | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

Egg School

October 11, 2011 by Omar Khudari

Who knew that you could fill a whole day learning about egg quality? Not me! Not until this week, when I attended a seminar by Dr. Kenneth Anderson from North Carolina State University. In this photo, Dr. Anderson (background) is giving pointers to Craig Fournier on how to grade an egg. Besides grading, here are some other things we learned that I never knew before:

  • Eggs should be packaged small end down for best protection of the yolk.
  • That plastic egg-holder in your fridge? Throw it away! Eggs keep much better in cartons.
  • Larger eggs degrade faster than smaller eggs.
  • Smaller eggs have higher quality shells than larger eggs.
  • Younger hens lay higher quality eggs than older hens.
  • Modern laying hens will lay one egg each day about an hour later than the previous day until they hit mid-afternoon. Then they will skip a day and start over in the morning.
  • If promptly refrigerated, eggs will remain grade AA quality for about 7 days, then grade A for about 60 days (but the sell-by date must be no more than 30 days from packaging).
  • It is true that the cuticle (bloom) on an unwashed egg has anti-microbial properties, but only for 96 hours. After that, it sloughs off.

I could go on, but I’ll stop there. Many thanks to Dr. Anderson for making the trip north to help us Yankees re-learn some of our forgotten skills!

Posted in Farming | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Temple Grandin Corral

October 3, 2011 by Omar Khudari

We finally have finished building our corral using one of the designs published by Dr. Temple Grandin. As you can see from the video, the cows move quite calmly through the corral, with no yelling on our part and zero cattle prods. This is thanks to the genius of Dr. Grandin, who has revolutionized the science of cattle handling with her insights into the bovine mind.

Having a corral makes it much easier to weigh the cattle, to divide them into groups, to load them onto the stock trailer, to inspect them, and to administer veterinary care. It even makes for easy handling of the pigs! Now that we have it, I wonder how we ran the place without it.

Posted in Farming | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

Buying Beef in Bulk

September 26, 2011 by Omar Khudari


Our fall beef processing season has finally arrived! We have more bulk orders than ever before, and bulk orders mean filling out the dreaded “cut-sheet.” The cut-sheet is how a customer tells the butcher exactly how to cut up a side of beef. They are famously incomprehensible to the first-time buyer. So we spent the past week developing a new cut-sheet aimed at making the process as clear-cut (sorry!) as possible. Please let us know if you think we hit the mark.

Posted in Farm Business | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

Help Wanted

September 18, 2011 by Steve Normanton

It’s that time of year again, when kids go back to school and farmers don’t have enough help any more. We have lots of chores to do, and we are looking to hire. So if you are

  • a self-starter,
  • a problem-solver,
  • a hard worker,
  • interested in getting closer to where your food comes from, and
  • available for part-time work,

then send me an email!

Posted in Farming | Leave a Comment »

Egomatic

September 8, 2011 by Omar Khudari

We thought our egg washing machine was the coolest—until we found this baby on Craigslist. This is an antique Egomatic egg candling and sorting machine. We will use it to “grade” our eggs (required in New Hampshire for selling eggs through off-farm stores). The Egomatic is supposed to be a labor-saving device. But so far, it is not saving us any time. Whenever we turn it on, there are always four or five people standing around watching it work. So, there are a few kinks to work out…

Many thanks to my sister Nura and her husband Jack for driving across New Jersey to pick it up. And many thanks as well to Dan Parish for putting it back together after Steve and I took it apart to repaint it and, um, forgot to take adequate notes (doh!).

Posted in Farming | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

We’re Certifiable!

September 1, 2011 by Omar Khudari

Our organic certification just got expanded! While our pastures have been certified organic for a long time, yesterday we also received certification for the meat chickens, the laying hens, and the eggs we produce on the farm. We have always raised all our livestock according to our personal standard of quality and conscience, which includes feeding only certified organic feed and never treating our animals with hormones or antibiotics. In the case of our chickens, our own protocol (plus certain record-keeping and paperwork) qualifies us for certification. Because we buy calves and piglets from suppliers that aren’t certified, our beef and pork do not qualify for certification. Rest assured, however, we hold our suppliers to our own high standard. For example, we buy calves only from suppliers who agree in writing to our protocol.

Many farmers will tell you: don’t trust government labels. Instead, you should get to know your farmer, and find one you trust personally. We agree. But we also think the organic standards have a lot of merit. So we are proud of the extent to which we meet the standards, and we will continue to strive to do more.

Posted in Farming Philosophy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Getting Ready for Irene

August 25, 2011 by Omar Khudari

If the projections for Hurricane Irene come true, we might have tropical storm conditions on Sunday. We are working to make sure the animals have adequate shelter. And we are also preparing for the possibility of a power failure. Despite our mission of farming sustainably, we are very dependent on electricity for many things, including the fences that  keep animals in and predators out. Steve has temporarily put the pigs into the corral, where they will be very cozy and secure without power. The chickens will be shut in their houses temporarily, and the cows will bunk with the pigs. This should please the pigs no end—they love the cows and visit them whenever they get the chance. The feelings are not mutual, but cows will just have to tolerate their annoying little friends for a day or so.

Posted in Farming | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

Aerial Predation

August 9, 2011 by Steve Normanton

We have lost a number of chickens to aerial predators over the last couple of weeks—as much as one chicken per day. The red-tailed hawk pictured above seems to be one of the culprits. At this time of year, the young fledglings are leaving the nest, and the adults are teaching them to hunt. It seems that they see our fields as the perfect place to train, and to treat the whole hawk family to a good meal of organic pasture-raised chicken.

This is now a major problem, and it could get worse over the next few weeks, so we decided to contact the USDA Wildlife Department to find out what options are available to us. Angelic DeButts, Wildlife Specialist with NH Wildlife Services stopped by and gave us a number of options to try and deter the hawk. These include pyrotechnics, a screech owl effigy, scary eye balloons, and trying to create a “no landing zone” in our chicken paddock. A permit to kill the hawk can be issued by the NH Wildlife services if these options are tried and none of them work. We certainly hope it doesn’t come to that.

Posted in Farming | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 111 other followers