For the last two weeks, approximately, I was on an educational/hands-on farm-hopping adventure, where I learned about the benefits and disadvantages of organic dairy production, the effort that goes into staying organic, and of course, how to cook and eat myself into stomach cramps; but everything was so whimsical that not even that could keep me from flying down the hill at top speed towards the sunset. (CLICHÉS FTW!! They make me happy, even if the entire English department disagrees with their existence.) I also found the most amazing antique store, and I am pushing to make that eight hour drive again, to look at old Archie comics and vintage tampon dispensers, among three whole floors of other things.
What I came away with is that organic farming is a lifestyle; it is not typically lucrative or easy. I am loosely quoting/agreeing with one of our hosts when I write that "natural" farming must be its own reward, or else there is little reason to carry on with it. Therefore, most of the time we were surrounded by lush meadows and relatively small herds of livestock. We ate home-killed, home-canned, home-fermented, and home-grown food almost every night. Cedar Circle farms was the only farm that did not have people living on it; if I understand correctly, it is a for-profit organization with the freedom of a non-profit, so that it can dedicate itself to organic education, farming practice development, and providing everyone with fresh food, as well as running a farmer's market with some of the best strawberries I have ever had. Everyone who worked there seemed happy, sun-kissed, and beautiful, it was the land of gods.
Then we arrived at the one non-organic farm of the entire trip, and by pointing this out I mean to say that I am not an expert in anything farm-related, but especially not non-organic farms. (double-negative? This sentence is giving me a hard time...) I opened our sketchy van door, and was violently assaulted by a wave of foul odor (okay, this is an exaggeration, our van already smelled like garlic, BO, wet shoes, and cow dung, so nothing could smell more than a little worse than that.) The smell came from the barn with over 100 milking cows, or maybe it was the piles of feed that were larger than my apartment. The rest of the farm was covered in weeds, mud, and tractor marks, but on that grey day, there was something restful about it all. Anyway, our job was to clean the robot milking mechanism, which did not seem to bother the cows at all. While they were not free-range for most of the year, they had scratch posts, and looked very cared for. Of course the question of antibiotics came up, and the farmer explained that he gives his cows antibiotics only when they are sick, and only after they have completed treatment does he put them back into milk production. If any of his milk tested positive for antibiotics, he would lose his farm to a flurry of legal hellfire, and so he is very careful. His family had a few chickens, but otherwise they bought all their food from the outside world, and to even get us a sample of his milk he had to go through the packaging factory. Very interesting.
In the interest of abbreviating this post, I'll just list some loose, fascinating, tidbits of information.
What I came away with is that organic farming is a lifestyle; it is not typically lucrative or easy. I am loosely quoting/agreeing with one of our hosts when I write that "natural" farming must be its own reward, or else there is little reason to carry on with it. Therefore, most of the time we were surrounded by lush meadows and relatively small herds of livestock. We ate home-killed, home-canned, home-fermented, and home-grown food almost every night. Cedar Circle farms was the only farm that did not have people living on it; if I understand correctly, it is a for-profit organization with the freedom of a non-profit, so that it can dedicate itself to organic education, farming practice development, and providing everyone with fresh food, as well as running a farmer's market with some of the best strawberries I have ever had. Everyone who worked there seemed happy, sun-kissed, and beautiful, it was the land of gods.
Then we arrived at the one non-organic farm of the entire trip, and by pointing this out I mean to say that I am not an expert in anything farm-related, but especially not non-organic farms. (double-negative? This sentence is giving me a hard time...) I opened our sketchy van door, and was violently assaulted by a wave of foul odor (okay, this is an exaggeration, our van already smelled like garlic, BO, wet shoes, and cow dung, so nothing could smell more than a little worse than that.) The smell came from the barn with over 100 milking cows, or maybe it was the piles of feed that were larger than my apartment. The rest of the farm was covered in weeds, mud, and tractor marks, but on that grey day, there was something restful about it all. Anyway, our job was to clean the robot milking mechanism, which did not seem to bother the cows at all. While they were not free-range for most of the year, they had scratch posts, and looked very cared for. Of course the question of antibiotics came up, and the farmer explained that he gives his cows antibiotics only when they are sick, and only after they have completed treatment does he put them back into milk production. If any of his milk tested positive for antibiotics, he would lose his farm to a flurry of legal hellfire, and so he is very careful. His family had a few chickens, but otherwise they bought all their food from the outside world, and to even get us a sample of his milk he had to go through the packaging factory. Very interesting.
In the interest of abbreviating this post, I'll just list some loose, fascinating, tidbits of information.
- Maple syrup production is heavily controlled, and Canada is our greatest competitor.
- Lemon sorrel is a very delicious weed.
- Switchel is a tastier alternative to Gatorade, and maple seltzer tastes like milk and honey, is delicious, and is just pure carbonated maple sap.
- Composting toilets do not smell, fish fertilizer does, but apparently it goes away or you get used to it.
- Baby Nigerian dwarf goats are FRIGGIN' ADORABLE, great alternative to a massage chair, most friendly of the farm animals in my opinion. About $300 per goat is a good price, though most of the expense comes from fencing. They sound like a crying baby when you tattoo their ears. The problem is, they are so lovely that you get attached to them and cannot sell them, and then you have 30 goats on your property. Which in reality is a problem, but in my mind sounds like a good time..
- It's hard to find tools for horse-drawn tractor alternatives, but hit up the Amish and you might get lucky.
- Farmers rarely go on vacation.
- Wear gloves when you use the wheel cultivator, or at least learn how to disinfect your own blisters.
- ROSEMARY GINGER COOKIES.
- I am indeed somewhat lactose intolerant.
- Rhubarb leaves are poisonous, but make lovely hats.
- If a rat burrows a hole in your young turkey shed, it may not eat the turkey, but the turkey will crawl into it and not be able to get out, and it will die, and then other baby turkeys will sit on it.
- Look into top-bar beekeeping. Bee populations are being threatened, but I am surprised they are alive at all, they are so amazing and intricate. While encouraging larger combs means a greater honey production, it is worse in the long-run for the bees because the bee-killing mites have a longer time to grow, and will be harder to fight.