First winter harvest!

The first harvest from the winter garden graced two thanksgiving tables this year... beautiful heirloom beyond organic turnips! These turnips seem to have no problem with temps as low as 18 so far! Hardy, fast growing, and oooo so tasty! Light flavor, only very slight radish type heat, and smooth crispy texture. We left ours raw, sliced and served with a little oil and vinegar dressing. YUM!



We ventured out on a beautiful thanksgiving morning, cold but bright sunshine, to find these treasures under a thick frozen frost.



Hunter and oliver picked the best and biggest for the thanksgiving celebration.





Then we had the pleasure of sharing the first harvest with this plot's land owners, Stephen and Linda.



We so appreciate the people that trust us with their land, and enjoy sharing the harvest with them freely. Without land, farming is next to impossible, and taking stewardship of some else's land is a deep responsibility. We feel a special honor for each of the people that have granted us this privilege.

The winter gardens are intended primarily for pig feed, but we will have some available for sale later in the season. Coming soon. Is also: Kale, purple cauliflower, purple kohlrabi, rutabagas, carrots, parsnips, and cabbage!

If you have any land available that you would like utilized for growing beyond organic produce, contact us!

posted from Bloggeroid

"It all comes Down" ...

Thanksgiving week is here again.. a week of reflection, thankfulness, recognition of blessings material and not. In the middle of celebrating family and friends with good food, good company, and thankful hearts... We should keep in mind one basic truth...

We dont truly "own" anything...  Every day we are here, from birth to death, we are living on limited borrowed time, walking on land given to us as a stewardship, with things loaned to us to utilize and accomplish. But... sure as the sun comes up.. we will all leave this place empty handed. All the works of our hands, all those things we tend to be so proud of, will pass along to someone else.

My dad almost died as a young man... by all accounts of medical science, he should not have lived to give life to me and my siblings.  His survival was "a miracle".. Yet he did live. He lived to see me, the youngest of 4, grow and forge off into my own family.  All his live, as long as I can remember, he said "I am living on borrowed time, I would not be here except by the grace of God".

That stuck in my head... every moment we shared, every breath he took, was borrowed time. And yet.. are we any different? None of us really owns anything... it is all given to us, as stewards of this place we call earth, to see what we will do with it. Each of us is given abilities, resources, and time, but only limited time. We walk on ground for a short lifetime, own things for a short lifetime, and control our own piece of the earth, for a short lifetime. Any of us could leave tomorrow just as easily.

This song, from Patti Casey, entitles "it all comes down" ... brings this point home.  

My question to you, as you listen to the music and hear the words deep within your soul is this...

"What will you do with your day?"   

think about it.. this day, today, is yours. Tomorrow might not be.  What will you do with the time given to you?

As a farmer, given stewardship of multiple acres of land, and numbers of animals... This is a sobering thought. How will we leave the land when we are done? will it increase or decrease in fertility? will it be neater, cleaner, more useful or used and abused?  What will our legacy be, when the next generation inherits the space we call ours today, when that stewardship passes? What example have we set for the next "owners" ?

I urge you to use today.. and every day we are given going forward, as a day to make this world a better place... do what we can with out "borrowed time" to make life better for those coming after.

And perhaps, this Thanksgiving as we go around the table to list off the things we are thankful for... we can recognize that the very act of breathing is the greatest blessing we can be given. Let us celebrate life... and use that life to spread light to the world we live in, leaving it a better place than we found it.

Lyrics to "It all comes down":

From the time that you set foot upon this earth to pass your days
You are walking on borrowed ground, and you may stake no claims
To the soil and to the water, to the creatures lying by
Even the breath you take is loaned from on high

(chorus)
(It all comes down)
In the end, all the works of your hand
Though built of stone and honesty no earthly house shall ever stand
(And it all comes down)
Down in the end like a hand full of sand
(And it all comes down)
(And it all comes down)
Down in the end

As you walk along those borders with the deed held in your hand
Just remember you don't own this you are a steward of this land
So seek wisdom and show mercy leaving some for another day
For you will call upon yourself the same someday

(It all comes down)
In the end, all the works of your hand
Though built of stone and honesty no earthly house shall ever stand
(And it all comes down)
Down in the end like a hand full of sand
(And it all comes down)
(And it all comes down)
Down in the end

When you drift down like a leaf to find your final resting place
You will return what you have borrowed you will have to show your face
And did you help some troubled soul did you try to lend a hand
For only kindness in the end alone shall stand

(It all comes down)
In the end, all the works of your hand
Though built of stone and honesty no earthly house shall ever stand
(And it all comes down)
Down in the end like a hand full of sand
(and it all comes down)
(and it all comes down)
down in the end 

(It all comes down)
In the end, all the works of your hand
Though built of stone and honesty no earthly house shall ever stand
(And it all comes down)
Down in the end like a hand full of sand
(And it all comes down)
(And it all comes down)
Down in the end

(And it all comes down)
(And it all comes down)
Down in the end

 

Video for Medford Food Coop

We recently had the privilege of being included in the video spots for the Medford Food Coop!

Fresh Pork Bellies Available NOW

We have just added fresh pork bellies to the online store, available for immediate purchase!

These are the same pork bellies, from our pigs, that we make into the "cant keep in stock" little sprouts bacon. Now you can try your hand at making bacon at home. It's incredibly easy!

These pork bellies also go excellent in any soups, stews, or bean dishes. Cut it up and fry into veggies... The oil that renders out under heat is pure healthy lard.  You can rest assured that these pigs were raised right, no chemicals to accumulate in the lard, no toxins, nothing but pure natural saturated fat.

If you'd like advice on making your own bacon, feel free to email. We have tried many different ways before settling on our now famous minimalist approach.  You can save lots of money making your own bacon at home.

Hop into the online store now and order your first.. homemade bacon or REAL pork belly for pork and beans.

The first model weed burner

Here it is.... our first model homemade weed burner. A garden wagon and extra propane infrared heater, 50,000 btu. The burner is dragged along behind the wagon, suspended from two metal bars and supported by two metal skids.

In this view you can see the tracks of the burner skids / wheel as we pull it along. Everything between those tracks is now dead. 

This test worked out well, except that its a bit hard to pull, and a bit slow for our scale. We needed to burn about 20 100 yard rows.. at half an hour per row speed... that's a bit too long! It looked like the fastest we could pull is about 15 minutes per hundred yards. Faster than that and not enough heat was applied.

After this test we will rebuild with two improvements:

1. move the burner lower by removing the sloped guard and mounting the burner directly on the skids
2. Add a propulsion system

The burner sitting on the skids. 

Another view. The white wire is to turn the burner on and off, connected where the thermostat would go. 

here is a side view of the completed unit. 

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