What touches the heart

I wake this morning facing today and remembering yesterday. Today is an especially important day as we open the farm to the annual rogue valley farm tour.... sharing what, how, and why we are doing what we do. This follows an especially moving day yesterday that makes today take on an even greater meaning.

Yesterday was delivery day as usual. The day we get out to meet our customers at their homes, visit with them a little, and leave what products they request. Its our chance to connect with the families we ultimately work for. Yesterday was a lighter than usual delivery due to end of summer travels and such which afforded us a little more time to visit.

What touches our heart is hearing the stories from customers about how the traditional foods of our grandparents are touching lives. Many of our customers struggle with serious health issues, life altering issues. These families have come to rely on good natural nutrient dense foods to counteract these health issues. It always amazes us when we hear the detailed reports from families of how this food helped that condition.... how their very lives are eased because of the healing properties of real food.

two  families in particular yesterday left us speechless. Their struggle is one of the more intense ones... and they only recently turned to traditional foods to heal. Their story of little successes is deeply touching ans awe inspiring. I obviously can't share the details here in respect to their privacy, but i can share the tears we shed after hearing their story and how the simple foods helped.

This is what makes every shovel of manure a joy. What price can be placed on a neighbors health struggle? When we connect the dots and realize that these simple yet back breaking works of love are helping a small segment of our neighbors in such a big way, it makes any physical struggle we may endure a pure joy. Remembering the faces, the appreciation in those eyes, drives us on to continue and perfect.

Farming... true farming... is not about money or a career. Sure a farm must be profitable to continue to exist, but profit is not the driver. Farming is about healing people, and the land we were given. Its about alleviating suffering, about bringing the wisdom of the past to those that most need it, about honoring our call to care for this world and each other. Farming is a mission, not a job.

Then we are further touched by the requests for these products... almost pleas. Once it is obvious that good traditional foods heal.. truly heal not just mask symptoms... these is a larger demand than we are equipped to handle. We don't worry about competition because I can't imagine there ever being enough small Farms in this valley to meet these needs. Each farm can only do so much.... because it is in fact size and quantity of production that alters the very value of the food produced. It is simply not possible to grow a farm indefinatley and maintain the quality of product. We are doing our best to reach a size to meet as much need as possible while preserving the quality and benefits of the foods.

Still... we run out of certain products and have to turn down requests occasionally. We do so with a heavy heart when necessary. But again... this is what drives us forward... ever seeking to fill more needs without sacrificing quality.

Farming is hard back breaking work... but days like yesterday make it a joy. I came home from delivery and browsed the farm wishing I could do more, but feeling  blessed to be able to do what we do. Walking around the farm watching the animals roam and live .... I am reminded that this is a partnership. These animals and land are the source of the goodness we share. Our family is nothing but the caretakers of the magic of nature. The animals and plants are our partners in health. We owe them and the land we share a respect and gratitude.

For our family... the little sprouts... we will keep shoveling manure, feeding, plowing, planting, caring 24x7 for this little spot of heaven we have been granted with a happy and grateful heart... the smiles and gratitude of those relying on us ever in our mind.

Farming... not a job.... so much more.

Genetic engineering explained

The article below gives a great overview of genetically engineered foods, why and how, and evidence of safety concerns. The bottom line is that America is suffering from a health crisis, not a healthcare crisis. We are generally much more sick from major problems than ever before in history. Our nation is slowly withering away into sickness, incapability, and death. If this trend doesn't change soon there will be  too much sickness for our nation to exist as we know it. Strong words but hard to argue with.

At the root of all this sickness is one common problem, our food. The food of today is fundamentally different from that only 100 years ago. Genetic engineering is the next and perhaps final step in destroying human health. Final because it is irreversible. Once genetically altered plants are out... the original plant becomes obsolete so that there is no original in nature. The plant goes extinct and we are left with the imposter created for financial gain, not health.

Take a few moments to read this article.... it gives a great foundation of understanding.


 How Can the Wealthiest Industrialized Nation be the Sickest? 

Rogue Valley Farm Tour comes to Little Sprouts

We are pleased to announce that Little Sprouts has been selected to participate as a destination of hte annual Rogue Valley Thrive Sponsored Farm Tour!

This sunday the tour visits a few local farms, spending enough time at each to learn about he operation and products produced. We are happy to be on the list for an arrival around mid afternoon. If you have not looked into tickets yet we encourage you to do so. It should be a fun and enlightening afternoon ending in a nice dinner hosted at Cliff Creek Cellers by Fulcrum Dining.

Here is the link to the event for more information:

http://www.buylocalrogue.org/eat-local-week/rogue-flavor-farm-tour.html

Hurray and sign up today!

Fourth generation turkey coop!

With the new year comes a new approach to housing turkeys. Even though our turkeys are free ranged on pasture, they need protection at night. It has been a constant challenge to provide a coop large enough to house these big active birds while being moveable. This year's version I like a lot! Our farm hand Randy has certainly excelled at taking a basic design idea of mine and producing a work of art!

The key features of this year are :

wider
shorter
longer
all metal hard panel fencing - no chicken wire!
fully opening back panel for herding turkeys in
front door  that is strong and stable
hinges on the door that are auto closing
a size that fits a commonly available tarp for shade
strong roosts to hold mature birds
braced for wind
braced for pulling around pasture
corner stands for holding feed and water
door handle that works easily and is cheap
latches on front door and back panel that are consistent and strong

As I said.. I like it! With a couple of minor changes we are going to copy this one and make 2 more, retiring all of hte previous designs.  We estimate that we could build this 10x20 coop in 2 half days, start to finish.

One of the biggest advantages is the rear panel completely folding down! That is awseome. Herding this many birds through a small 2 foot door has been a real challenge in the other designs. With this one we simple release 3 latches and the entire back wall lays down flat, presenting a 10 foot wide entry way. The birds just walk right in and roost on their own! What a beautiful thing this is!.

It will comfortable hold about 50 mature birds, twice the earlier coops, and provide ample roosts for all birds to be off the ground at night.

It pulled amazingly well into position given its size and weight. the RTV had no trouble maneuvering it around the pasture, even through the running creek.

We are considering producing plans for this one to sell online, perhaps even selling fully built coops.

The most important feature.. this entire back panel folds down flat to the ground by releasing only 3 latches. The turkeys  walk right in through the 10 foot wide opening. 

Here you can see the bracing, an a frame at each and and one in the middle. Stable top to bottom enough so that two grown men can sit on top of the coop!

The front is a solid door frame around the same hard panel fencing. A very consistent door, always a problem with moveable coops. 

Also take note of the corner braces that serve as holders for water and feed. This allows for moving the coop without first removing all the waters and feeders, saving time and effort. 

Duck habitat improvements - pond water filtering

With the ducks growing up we spent quite some time on the makeshift "pond" where they hang out. Its not really a pond, but a wide spot in a low spot. The challenge is to keep such a small body of water reasonably clean and safe for the ducks... since ducks are hard on ponds and smaller ponds are harder to keep clean. This is a real challenge.

First thing we did was devise a cheap version of a silt and manure collector. We sank a submersible pump into the lowest part of the water, and ran 1.5 inch water pipe to the far end of the water. This positioning keeps the entire body of water moving (very important!). The positioning of the pump also allows it to suck in a sizeable amount of floating sediment and debris. The pump itself is a type that can move solids (mud and muck) .. without plugging up.

Next step is to capture sediment... pond sediment is extremely valuable. It contains high amounts of natural fertilizers from the duck "deposits". Believe me.. it is amazing how much "deposits" 120 ducks make every 24 hours! So at the far end of the pipe, we have a series of 3 plastic 32 gallon trash cans. We cut slots right under the top rim about 6 inches long in each can. Then they are positioned so that the waterfall from the slots in each can pours into the next, creating a cascading waterfall. Beneath the turbulence the water calms and the sediment settles out to the bottom. Just this simple setup is collecting about 30 gallons of sediment per day. Since hte whole setup is mounted onto a pallet, I can pick the 3 cans up with the tractor, transport them anywhere in the pasture, and dump them for fertilizer. NOTHING GOES TO WASTE AROUND HERE!

An improvement on this design when we get time is to install baffles into the trash cans. This could be the grates from flourescent lights. They would be easy to cut into circles and drop in from teh top. This would provide enough stabilizing effect on the water to let it drop even more sediment to the bottom. Perhaps 2 or three layers of these sized to sit low, middle, and near top of each can. 

In the future we might create a drying bin to place hte sediment in. Drying it in the sun would allow us to package it and sell it for fertilizer.  Another profit center :)

The aeration from the cascading water also oxygenates the water so that beneficial bacteria (probiotics) can grow and prosper, further eating the organic waste and cleaning the remaining water. Its a win win! to help this along we dumped a triple dose of pond enzymes and bacteria.

It will take time, but this setup should reach equalibriam with reasonably clean water soon, and than maintain it until the winter rains come.  here are some pics of the water system:

The next step of course is pond plant.. a real challenge with ducks, especially heritage ducks. They seem to be eating machine that love salad! We tried a few floating plants and they would disappear completely before we even walked back to the house! Even something as prolific as duckweed has no chance with 120 hungry mouths scooping the water clean.  So we ordered a collection of water plants.. 6 different varieties and shapes, to see if anything would survive. WHAT A CHORE! planting in the water and mud is quite an ordeal. At one point I almost took a bath with the ducks.  

After a few days, about half of the plants are still there.. the rest trampled or eaten or both. The ducks do like them.. huddling around them in the day sun, but they simply cant resist eating a snack while resting under. the leaves... the snack being the leaves!

Here are some pics of the planting experience

The last step is shelter. We built two structures.. one for nesting and laying and another for escaping the hot oregon sun.  The nesting shelter is built from leftover pallets with fiberglass roofing top and sides. It could perhaps be deeper, but we'll wait to see how it works.  The shade shelter is simply the old roof from a horse shelter propped up as a tent with some 2x4s. The weight makes it sturdy enough to stand in the wind.  I suspect we will need to reposition this all for the winter winds, as it is now set to hide the summer sun. 

So there it is.. a functioning duck habitat. Winter will present a few challenges but we have learned to take things one step at a time here. most projects change as we learn more about them.. so it is pointless to think too far ahead. For now the ducks are happy and ready to start producing great pastured eggs and buckets of healthy fertilizer.