Change of Seasons

Ed Bruske teaches at Go Local Fair

In the last few years, the seasons have almost blurred into two: when there is fresh local produce and when there is not. We are just coming out of one season and into another, and the last few weeks have held any number of markers for this change. This week, I baked our last apple pie until they return in the Fall. I'll say for myself that it was awesome. Given my well-publicized fight against pie pastry, I think this was my biggest success yet. Before someone asks, no, I didn't use the lard. I'm going to make a quiche soon and try again with lard. But, the two of us are steadily making our way through a fabulous apple pie. It was also time to reconcile our food stores.

I talked last Summer and Fall about our storage of peaches, some 60 lbs of them, cherries and blueberries, 40 lbs of each, and 70 lbs of apples. From the start, I was concerned about two things: first, being caught in the squirrel mentality - store, store, store and if you eat it, you don't have it -- and second, whether we'd be able to finish that ridiculous amount of fruit along with a more manageable amount of veggies we'd frozen. We weren't really dessert people, so we did have to change up our normal eating routines. My nine-year-old son was quite okay with that. I made a lot of pies and crisps, basically aiming for once a week. We had made a ton of preserves with the cherries and blueberries, and we used them almost daily for our plain (homemade) yogurt. Drum roll, please.... we're almost done. The pie was the last of the apples, the peaches are gone, the preserves, except one jar, are gone. We have a few large bags of cherries and blueberries, but we are quickly turning them into smoothies using the whey from our cheese. (adding that protein removes them from the dessert pile into the oh-so-good-for-you-pile, eat them when you want pile). and we have one pint of apple sauce left. So, wow, now I know how much fruit we can consume. Strawberries are already starting to come around.

The peach freeze

The Go Local Fair put on by Sustainable Living Maryland yesterday in Westminster was another turning point. We got to see all the farming faces that we missed over the Winter months and catch up on their plans. Ed Bruske, the Slow Cook, from Washington, D.C., did a cooking with kids talk, which was fabulous. He did a small version of what he teaches in an aftercare program in D.C., and the kids made zucchini carppaccio, asparagus salad with a mustard vinaigrette, and strawberry crepes. In this courses, he teaches the kids about international foods, sustainability, and how to really cook. His daughter accompanied him and was a great help to the class; at ten years old, you can see how confident she is in the kitchen. He also teaches the kids about consuming all parts of the animal and discussed recently bringing in chicken livers for them to cook. It was a small audience, but hopefully others enjoyed it as we did. I highly recommend his blog as an insight into the things he does with the kids and with school food reform.

Truffula Produce's Lettuce Dryer

We got to see a bunch of producer friends too. Next week, the downtown Westminster Farmer's market opens Saturday, 8-12. Truffula Seed Produce will be there again. Shawn and Josie have rented another acre of land and the two of them are, still alone, busily trying to work all that property organically and sustainably, with traditional methods. They'll be serving up 20 CSA shares this year, their first time in that business, and hopefully it will go well.  Like most of the farmers there yesterday, they had lettuce for sale. Lots and lots of lettuce, which all gets dried in their modified washer!

I also ran into Dave Baldwin of Furnace Hills Coffee. The brick-n-mortar business is coming! He expects it to open this week or next. Once I get a chance to go visit it on Main Street, Westminster, I'll post some photos and details. His coffee is so reasonably priced and so developed with a heart, I highly recommend it.

Scott from Sattva Place Farm was there too. He will be processing 100 chickens soon, and his plan is to have fresh chicken available at the Westminster Market every weekend this season. Scott is certified organic and a one man farm. Our buying group has been nothing but happy.

Akeys CSA pick up last year

I talked briefly with Micheal Akeys of Green Akeys Farm, too. His CSA has expanded from 14 to 18 shares, which I know will be huge shares based on past experience. He also picked up a milking cow this week. I think he moves intrepidly into everything.  I don't think Micheal is doing any markets, but I might be wrong. To buy meat from him, you can call him and go to the farm. Micheal is getting some help this Summer, though, which seems wise given the breadth of farming going on!

I took a quick peek into De La Tierra's tent and didn't get time to chat with owner, Jackie, but I know she will be selling cut flowers at the market and she is selling her beautiful plants this Spring for the garden, both flowers and produce. I also ran into Greg Thorne, of Thorne Family farms, and he said that because of the constant rain we've had over many weeks now, their planting is way behind. He left the fair early to take advantage of the good weather and get some work done on the land.

This past Winter, we were able to make it through using our winter CSA from Everblossom Farm and our food storage, with almost zero produce bought at the grocery store. I never would have thought we could do that, and eat a ton of veggies. We did. What a great local challenge for ourselves. Now, we are looking forward to the season of plentiful.

This post is going to be part of the Hearth and Soul blog hop this week... make sure to check out all the other entries for some great and fascinating food-related articles!

Emus at the Fair

Where's the beef? All about buying local beef

We have finished the last of our ground beef just in time for tomorrow's beef pick up. In the morning, I'll be sorting through a quarter cow that will last us until next Winter. *this post was updated to reflect the information from our latest order 1/15/11. I'm planning to add some photos later.*

When people learn that we buy our beef locally and on a large-scale, I tend to get a lot of questions. And, over the last two years, the size of our buying group has continued to grow as friends and colleagues learn more about the health, environmental, and economic benefits to purchasing locally raised grass-finished beef. So I thought it would be apropos to write an entry with the skinny on beef buying, from the various options, how to source your purchases, the costs and what to expect, and, very importantly, how to cook it correctly.

Certainly, the most economical way to buy beef is by ordering part of a cow, but there are other options. A number of local farms sell beef by the cut and some offer meat shares similar to produce shares found in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. I am frequently asked about what we purchase and when. We have organized small groups who go in together on purchases of whole steer. The minimum order in this circumstance is 1/4 cow, but your price per pound will fall as you increase to 1/2 and a full cow.  Typically, cows are sold by farms only twice a year, with pick up in the December and June time frames. You generally order your meat about 4-6 weeks in advance. Our schedule is off a little this time because the meat processor was too busy. So, our November order is resulting in a mid-January pick up. When you order larger than 1/4 cow, you will be given a "cut sheet" that allows you to choose how you want your animal processed. This includes choices about sizes of roasts and types of steaks, for example. You'll be offered all the extremely healthy internal organs of the cow, but have the option to leave those with the butcher. Those unwanted pieces are usually resold for things like dog food, I understand. So, the next question I get is: how much is 1/4 cow? Well, our meat is packaged in printer paper size boxes, 12"x12"x24". For an entire cow, you will get 8-10 of these boxes, depending on the size of the animal.  One box is about a typical freezer-over-fridge compartment.  So, even for a 1/4 cow, you will undoubtedly need a separate freezer. Since you are buying meat to store for 6-12 months or more, you really want a chest freezer in the first place. What's the investment here? It varies, of course, but is probably going to run you a few hundred dollars new.  If you do buy a bulk beef (or other meat), make sure to keep your chest freezer at between about -3 degrees F and 0 degrees F to ensure the longest life of the meat. Often, regular freezers are seat between 0 degrees F and 5 degrees F, and they cycle higher to prevent frost.  We are a family of three and we order once a year now, but of course, it really depends on your personal consumption. I am often asked how the meat is packaged. It depends on the butcher. Wagner's Mt. Airy Meat Locker packages in shrink-wrapped plastic that is marked with the cut, but not the weight. It's good quality.

Ok, so that is the technical scoop on large orders. You need to be aware you can't just decide to get a cow and pick it up tomorrow, but it is the most cost effective approach. Other options include 50 lbs boxes, which will fill a typical fridge-freezer compartment. These are usually some assortment of ground beef, steaks, and roasts, and they vary by farm. Several farms realize that it isn't practical for many folks to have chest freezers, so they offer either purchase by the cut, or a meat share CSA. In the former, you are going to pay a price per pound that will be significantly higher than bulk or at the store, but the quality will be very high. With a meat share CSA you will pay a flat price for a season and every week or two, you'll go to the farm or a market and pick up a box of meat. Often, a meat share will include a wide range of meat, so you won't just get beef, but a combination of beef, chicken, pork, and maybe lamb. I'll list some more resources at the end, but my favourite local buy-the-cut farm is Evermore Farm and I'd recommend the meat CSA or by-the-cut from Green Akeys Farm in Westminster.

Let's see. Costs and expectations. The cost of local beef by the cut will vary from farm to farm. Usually, they will have the prices listed on their website. Similarly, I've seen a wide range of prices for meat CSA shares. By the cut, you can expect about $6-7/lb for ground beef and steaks to run $13-18/lb from what I've seen. Often, the farm will sell a variety pack.  Evermore Farm has a Winter meat CSA (too late this year) that has options from $55/month to $165/month. Since I buy once a year, a quarter cow, I can best give that information, as I've kept records. Without being overly precise, our full cow orders have come out just over $2200, with each 1/4 share being then in the range of $550-600.  Bulk orders are charged by the hanging weight of the animal, which is not the same as the weight you receive in the end for a variety of reasons, mostly because it is before butchering. This can make costs a little confusing, but generally we have received around 320 lbs in the end, with a true cost for us, regardless of cut, of about $6.95/lb in 2011. So, you can see this is much more economical. I look at it as we paid $6.95/lb today for our ground beef and for our rib eye steaks. Then, we are getting our roasts and steaks at about the same price as local packages of ground beef cost. If you wanted to separate it out, in a half cow today, we got 65lbs of ground beef and 110lbs of cut meat for about $1100. That's relatively representative of our group's orders. I have kept detailed records of what exactly we've received (by cut) over the last few years. If you want to see that level of detail, let me know and I can send it to you.

How do you find a good source? Well, there are a number of ways to locate farms in Central Maryland. First, I can give you a list of those I've dealt with, but there are a lot of beef farms in Carroll and Frederick County. It is good land for livestock. The biggest consideration should be asking the right questions so that you get what you want. Locally grown beef, like locally grown produce, doesn't imply anything about the conditions the animals were raised in. Local farms can and do raise livestock with conventional methods, including diets dominated by corn and the use of scheduled antibiotics. Terminology is confusing and so you do need to ask questions. Don't buy from non-responsive farmers and, honestly, I have found some of them locally too. More on terminology in a second. I strongly encourage you to visit the farm so you can see the farmer's practices first hand. Like produce farmers, livestock farmers should be completely transparent about how they are grazing their animals, what they are fed in the deep Winter months, and how they deal with antibiotics.  As with all local goods, I find localharvest.org to be an excellent resource to find farms, and then I dive into their websites. Other thing to be aware of is that sustainable livestock farming takes a lot of land and experience. Despite the best intentions, from my discussions with farmers, it is going to be tough going to raise grass-finished beef on small acreage in a way that protects the land and the animals. I have met folks who bought grass-finished beef from a farmer and ended up with really tough cuts; good beef shouldn't be this way, and I suspect that happens from lack of experience or processing at the wrong time.

Terminology is a kicker here. Grassfed beef is a meaningless term because all cows are fed grass at the beginning of their life. Cows are ruminants and are unable to adequately digest corn, so it is not fed at the early months of a cows life. What you are really looking for is grass-finished beef. But, I'll admit that I often say grassfed when I'm talking and so you really need to ask what the farmer means with their terms. You might be happy to buy "humane" or "antibiotic free" beef at Whole Foods or other stores. Be cautious of what you assume by  a commercial label. Whole Foods beef, for example, is often raised partially on pasture and with limited antibiotics, but those farms (local farms) are very often still largely conventional. I've visited some. The animals, especially as they get close to processing time, are still kept in CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) set ups. They are kept in dirt and feces covered pens and fed corn out of large troughs to fatten them up quickly. So you need to ask questions and do a little research. You will also find variations in how the animals are pastured. At the farm we buy from, Ruth Ann's Garden Style Beef, she has divided her 100+ acres into 1 acre parcels. The animals graze in a parcel for awhile and then are moved to a new pasture. Their grazing spurs the regrowth in the pasture they left, and they end up visiting each parcel about twice a year, as I recall. Ruth Anne is embracing major components of sustainable livestock breeding with rotating pastures. Not everyone does that. Some farms, like the now famous Polyface Farm in Virginia, add other animals into the rotation, typically chickens following behind the cows to eat the bugs from their feces and help fertilize and turn the pasture for regrowth. The whole set of whys for grass-finished beef is well documented and I won't try to pretend to be the expert, instead I can provide some resources for your own research. My own care-abouts are: grass-finished (no corn in diet), minimal antibiotics, minimal chemicals, holistic sustainable farming practices, animal welfare, local economy. As far as reading goes, The Omnivore's Dilemma and Eating Animals are two good choices for understanding different drivers for buying grass-finished beef, but there really is a lot of information out there and a simple Google search on grass-finished or grassfed beef will provide ample reading for the curious.

If you are interested in buying part of a cow, I've found that it isn't that hard to find others to go in with you. The cost difference is significant if you can purchase an entire animal, and the butcher (at least the one we use) will label boxes down to 1/4 cow. Over the last few years, our group has included over a dozen families in different orders, so that we've always gotten the best pricing. Once people know you're organizing orders, you'd be surprised how often they'll jump in.

Once you've found yourself the proud new owner of some locally raised grass-finished beef, you want to make sure you cook it correctly. Because these animals aren't being stuffed with corn, they are much leaner than conventional beef and if you cook the meat to USDA-recommended temperatures you are likely to end up unhappy and wondering about the money you've just spent. The basic rule for beef cuts is that they should be cooked to 120-140 degrees F, rather than the 145-170 F recommended for conventional beef. I usually pull out steaks and roasts at around 125 degrees F.  As the meat sits for 5-10 minutes, it will gain a few degrees. Following this guide, I use our meat in all recipes otherwise unchanged, but there are cookbooks specifically focused on cooking sustainably raised meat. My two primary go-to books are The Grassfed Gourmet by Shannon Hayes and Tender Grassfed Meat by Stanley Fishman.  Both books cover a lot more than beef.

Well, I think that is the skinny. As I said, there are actually quite a few options to consider in Central Maryland, but here are a few resources:

Ruth Ann's Garden Style Beef -- this is where we have ordered all our beef. Ruth Anne's family are Frederick County dairy farmers. Her brother does organic dairy farming near Frederick and she runs the northern Carroll County farm herself. We've had only good experiences.

Evermore Farm -- they only sell by the cut or by CSA subscription. we have not bought beef here, but have bought other meat and are very impressed overall.

Green Akeys Farm -- we haven't bought beef from them, but they sell meat shares and we buy most of our chickens and lamb from them. great farm.

A Question of Certification

I've been curious for a long time about what drives certain farmers to not only choose organic methods in their farming, but to elect organic certification. I knew that in the case of Fair Trade certification for coffee, for example, many felt the costs of obtaining and maintaining certification were prohibitive. I'd read that USDA organic certification was also costly. And so, if you are buying locally, does it really matter if the farmer is certified organic? To you or to them? I suppose that the obvious answer is that if you know your farmer and how they farm, then no. It is true though that in many farmer's markets - ones that aren't "producer only" in particular - unscrupulous businessmen will label store bought produce as local organic, duping the unwitting shopper. Or even just being part of the market may give a false impression that the produce is local. That happened to me once on the Eastern Shore. A roadside stand on a rural road in early Summer. I remarked at how early the peaches were. Apparently they weren't early in Georgia! It had never occurred to me that they hauled fruit several hundred miles to sell in the middle of farm fields. Now I always ask. Another confusion are signs. You might see signs that say "our fruit is never sprayed". What does that mean? It generally does not mean, "we don't use chemical sprays". Organic certification offers a transparency to the buying process. I set out to see what a variety of farmers thought about the whole thing.

For this article, I asked the farmers all the same questions:

1. Are, or have you been, certified organic?
2. what is the primary motivation(s) for that choice (to certify, to stop certification, or not to have sought certification) ?
3. How would you summarize your practices for fertilization, pesticides, and protecting against disease? Here I'm wondering about the actual differences in practices between certification requirements and what people practice, like the use of organic fungicides, etc. 
4. What do you think a consumer should know about the label "certified organic" ? or any other label for that matter.
5. What questions do you think a consumer should ask a farmer when buying local produce?
6. Do you think that the certified organic label does, or would, influence your bottom line? 
7. If you aren't growing organically, why is that? Perhaps this is due to specific crops or other choices. 
8. If you are growing organically, what is the most difficult thing to successfully bring to market? Is there something(s) that you would really like to provide organically but find too hard to grow organically in the area?
9. If a home gardener wanted to try to grow organically, what would you suggest as the easiest produce to bring to harvest organically? Where should they start?

The farmers I spoke with for this article all farm organically, but most are not organically certified. One is certified Naturally Grown, a farmer-based certification. I also arranged to meet with a Howard County Farmer who employs Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in the New Year, to include a discussion with their IPM consultant. In a separate article, I'd like to address the consumers perspectives. 

The farmers included in this post are, in no order: Sally of White Rose Farm, Michael of Green Akeys Farm, Jackie of De La Tierra, Tom of Nev-R-Dun Farm, Greg and Kris of Thorne Family Farm, Josie and Shawn of Truffula Seed Produce. I also used knowledge of two other farms, Celidh and Copper Penny Farm; organic farms that I patronize regularly. 

Of these, only Nev-R-Dun is certified organic. The reason he chooses to certify reflects his commitment to principle that I described in an earlier post. I'll take the liberty of saying it this way: stand up and be counted. The more farms there are that are certified organic, the bigger the impact. While others might be dissuaded by the record keeping or cost structure, Tom is not, and sees the increased voice for organic practices as critical to success, not necessarily to his business but our future. Organic certification costs vary and there is some cost sharing with the government, however, the farmer must pay up front, as with most of their supplies. Meticulous record keeping ensure the customer that everything from procuring seeds to harvesting produce was done in accordance to the regulations. A farm that sells over $5000/year is required to certify if the use the label organic. As a result, a stranger cant trust, within reason, that Tom is truly providing organic produce. Does he think it affects his bottom line? At first, like the others I spoke to, he said no. He has a relationship with his customers that doesn't require paperwork. But later, he said maybe. Does it matter to his bottom line? "Ultimately it does, though not greatly. This past week I had a half dozen or so customers offer dismay for me not having the organic produce they sought, and only after not finding the produce at my stand did they go to others. In many ways, it is hard to determine just how important it is to customers, since I don't have a chance to question each one.", he said. 

Oe of the kickers about organic certification is that it is government regulation, making it susceptible to big lobbies. As a result in the boom in organic demand, organic is becoming big business and large corporations have fought to make strategic adjustments to the organic standards. One example is the inclusion of 38 synthetic ingredients that can be used in the manufacturing of certified organic food. These ingredients include things like food colorings, and sausage casings, as well as hops, which allows Anhauser-Busch to market certified organic lager grown with chemically fertilizer and protected with chemical sprays. On the other side of the equation, Michael Akeys points out that you can fertilize with animal manure regardless: "Manure is organic.  Manure from conventional poultry farms is considered organic.  Tell me how that makes any sense?  Once the feed has been pooped out, voila, organic.  I think that is crazy." On the other hand, he notes that for organic certification, you have to ensure organic mulch and says, "I dont want to buy certified organic straw for mulch.  Mulch isn't going to be eaten.  It breaks down and is composted."

Of course, local farmers at the market aren't in a position to take advantage of the permissible synthetic ingredients; those are designed for big food processing. At the market, the orgnic certification signals to the customer that they aren't using chemical or genetically modified seeds. But to get at other question, you'll have ask. about half o fthe farmers I spoke to are using only an initial thick layer of leaf litter compost for fertilizer, often six inches thick. Others are using sheep or cow manure, and a few are using other organic fertilizers. 

The pesticide of choice is a pair of nimble fingers, plus dedicated crop rotation and winter clean up. Still hand picking pests from your plants will only go so far.  Jackie of De La Tierra Farm tells me that having summer squash and zucchini all summer is tough. She says, "I am able to have it in the early summer and then again in the fall. Melons, gourds, pumpkins and winter squash are the hardest because they have to stay in the ground all season long, and the squash bugs always get them before they ripen. Squash bugs are a very difficult pest to control because they have an outer shell that is like armor. It would take some nasty chemicals to destroy them and I am not willing to use nasty chemicals (any chemicals, for that matter). Cucumbers are also difficult for me to get a nice crop of. They are finicky and the cucumber beetle is always around my farm." I saw with my own eyes the damage that flea beetles did the the Truffula Seed eggplant this year, and both Nev-R-Dun and Thorne Family Farm had problems with bean beetles.  At Green Akeys Farm, they are "using a certified organic spray to help with a powdery mildew epidemic on our pumpkins." Michael continued, "We really didnt even want to use anything at all, but we compromised with the pumpkins because most of them are either ornamental or carving pumpkins, only a few will be used for eating.  We use crop rotation, distance, and try to plant some beneficial plants that attract good insects, etc.  We really want zero inputs other than green manure (turning over cover crops), grazing animals over the ground, compost, compost tea, lime and perhaps some other organic, renewable fertilizers.  We may spread cow manure or chicken manure if we can get it this fall.  Im also looking into spraying raw milk on the pastures and gardens as a way of stimulating the microbial activity.  Supposedly milk really kickstarts the soil into high gear." Jackie finds that she needs to amend the balance of her soil, and reported, " I also use organic fertilizers such as blood meal, greensand and rock phosphate for a NPK boost. These are natural fertilizers derived from rocks (except for the blood meal), so they stay in the soil much longer and don't wash away as easily as chemical fertilizers. I also use lime to balance pH in my acid soil. I am experimenting with cover crops and mulches as well."

Everyone agreed that organic fruit, particularly orchard fruit like apples and peaches, are extremely difficult to grow organically in this area. If you want perfect loooking apples, you're probably out of luck locally. Sometimes you'll see great looking fruit and a sign that says, "we don't spray our fruit". This probably means that they spray the trees before it fruits, but not once the fruit have started. Berries are a lot easier, and a I know a number of folks who grow blueberries and other types organically in their yard. Blueberries don't have a lot of enemies and so, of the common berries, they seem easiest.

Most farmers encouraged asking lots of questions to learn about their practices. We often assume that if someone is at a farmer's market, they grow organically or if they're certified organic, they must have exemplary practices. I've found that the people I want to buy from are farmers who are glad to describe their setting and reasoning, regardless of whether it's organic. Michael Akeys said, "hen you make a personal relationship with someone, they quickly forget about labels and they build up a level of trust.  We do everything completely transparently.  We have nothing to hide.  We probably could triple our output if we used a lot of fertilizer but we dont want to buy commercial fertilizers."  All of these farmers are open to any questions, even controversial ones. Some consumers are concerned about farms using water and various farms do use different means to irrigate their fields. It is pretty unrealistic, especially in summers like this last one, to expect no water usage on the farm. Jackie says, "It is very difficult for people to farm without watering their crops, so I wouldn't be too worried about questioning farmers about whether they irrigate or not. If you are very worried about the water table, you can ask them if they collect rain water to irrigate, or about their methods. Drip irrigation is the most efficient way to water and this is a popular method among farmers. "

I know that when I buy from Lakeview Farms, the IPM farm in Howard County, they are using some fertilizers and pesticides. Linda openly discusses the 100+ history of their farm and how they've changed from a scheduled spray program to using integrated pest management (IPM) to minimize chemical additives. If you're buying meat, it's definitely recommended to scratch deeper than organic or not organic. As discussed in an earlier post, chicken farming practices very widely and the same is true of other livestock. 

When asked about great starting points for the organic gardening in your backyard, heirloom tomatoes were the  mot common recommendation. Kris Thorne said not to start with eggplant! and Jackie has found, like I have, that cucumbers are finicky. Interestingly, I've had good luck with bush beans, where the farmers, who are dealing with a lot more plants, have had issues with bean beetles. I'm trying garlic this Fall, and that was recommended by others. If you don't have room for crop rotation, you could use gaps in growing years or grow in containers. Things like potatoes can cause problems if related plants are grown in the same space every year. Last year, I tried potatoes in a trash bag, in part to avoid this issue with bugs, and it worked okay. Tom suggested spring lettuce as another option. I mentioned already certain bush berries. If you live near the woods, wild wine berries could be transplanted and they are reasonably managed. They aren't actually native plants, but they don't have much problem producing good fruit. 

When these farmers were asked about their own purchasing, all of them buy organically where they can. A few though, like Michael Akeys, prioritize the local economy over organic produce, saying, "I always look at the quality of the fruit and veggies at the store.  If the organics look awful, Ill buy conventional.  I'm not as worried about my personal health from eating conventional.  I don't think that its that big of a deal, some people may have sensitivities and need to buy it, perhaps I do and dont realize it, but Im looking at things from a sustainability and environmentally conscious sensibility.  I'd rather not support big factory farms.  I'd rather buy local conventional food too.  Keep our money in our local economy."

Ultimately, for this set of farmers, their practices are derived from their beliefs in how farming should be done. But most are electing not to certify organic for pragmatic reasons and are making that choice without a financial impact. It will be interesting to see how the adoption of Certified Naturally Grown, as de La Tierra has chosen, gains adoption as a potential way of being counted, verified, but at less cost. 

What do you think?

P.S. A lot of good information on organic certification can be found online; wikipedia is a good start. Regarding the controversy of big organic, Organic, Inc. is an excellent read. 

Greener Grass?

Rabbit houses and Dottie

When you pull up the drive of Green Akeys farm outside of Westminster, it's hard to imagine only a few years ago the owners were a suburban family. The more than 62 acres undulates like a prototypical Carroll County scene. Big open pastures, divided by fencing, are lined by dense woods. A handful of outbuildings, a barn, and a modest farm house. Behind the farm house lies a small grove of trees that is totally out of place. The remnants of a former nursery on the land, a large blue spruce and other ornamental specimens create an appealing, if slightly overgrown, stand. On one side of the drive lie large garden beds, and across the field on the other you can make out a herd of sheep. From the entrance here you can't see the chickens. But they are there, up on a distant hill. Occasionally the two great Pyrenees that guard the flock come into view as they patrol their perimeter. This is what you see as your eye pans the landscape. As the car rolls up the hill, you're first greeted by the dogs.

Dottie and Frank, especially Dottie, make you feel welcome. They'll gladly chase the ball for hours if you're willing. Otherwise they'll lie down nearby and hang out for awhile. They're farm dogs and it all fits the image of the family farm.

Passing into the barn, looking past the large freezers and various farm accoutrements, you will finally notice the goats. Well, first you'll notice the goat's ears. The big floppy ears of the Newbian goat look like those on a bunny rabbit you cooned over as a kid. The Akeys have four of these goats, two they are milking, two are youngsters. Besides being cute and friendly, they provide the family with a gallon of milk a day. Milk they use for cheese, yogurt, and cereal. Michael Akeys does the milking twice a day, and he points out that he spends 15 minutes twice a day, while most people spend a lot longer, twice a day, commuting between home and work.

One of the milking goats

This one's still a kid...

In addition to the goats, sheep, and chickens, there are steer and rabbits on the property. Most of the animals are being raised for meat production. The sheep are a heritage breed called Khatadin, which are hair sheep, rather than wool sheep. Their skin does no contain lanolin, and so their meat has a less distinct "lamb" flavor. Michael thinks the sheep are the most cost effective meat to raise on the farm, particularly when you compare beef to the lamb.

There are both layer chickens, for egg production, and meat chickens. The chickens are pastured on a large plot of land some distance from the farm house. Unlike some farms, most famously Polyface Farm, the chickens are not being rotated through the entire farm as part of an intensive management program. Nor do they have free rein of the 62 acres. But they are on a large open pasture: This hasn't been without its challenges. Foxes ravaged the flock on multiple occasions this spring. That's why there are two big white dogs in the pasture today. Their arrival has put an end to the fox problem.

Picture this setting and then imagine accomplishing this much in only a few short years. For most folks, building a fourteen member CSA would alone take two years. Do that with organic practices and toss in a variety of pastured livestock and poultry (of course there are turkeys too), and you simply have to shake your head in amazement. The first explanation might be that they're from a farm family, but they're from Chicago. Another explanation might be that they have lots of hired help, but they're doing it themselves, except for a small CSA time commitment. No matter how you look at it, there's no denying this family has jumped in with both feet.

CSA Members Collect from the list on the board

Green Akeys Farm has been in business for two summer seasons now. Last year, the family began raising pastured poultry and I originally met them selling at the Westminster farmers market. This year they added a fourteen member CSA, and dropped the markets altogether. Michael Akeys, once stay-at-home dad with their three kids, principally runs the farm. His wife has an outside job and tends a lot to the produce. In their previous suburban home, they grew what they could without land, including lots of container tomatoes. Now they have the freedom to grow what they want.

I asked Michael about the growth of their farm and learned something entirely new. Farm infrastructure is a costly investment and farm income from small ventures is, well, small. to get into the pastured livestock business, for example, would require some $100K in fencing for their farm. Then there's high tunnels for produce and irrigation equipment. The Akeys have taken advantage of government programs that support the growth of sustainable farming through cost sharing with the farmer. I had no idea there were such programs and I have never heard of the managing organization, the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). But sure enough, a web search reveals an organic transition program, for example, and touts success stories. So far, the Akeys have taken advantage of the option to install fencing, and they plan to build a high tunnel in the next year. Of course, restrictions do apply. They are committed to keep livestock, for example, for some number of years. They also can't heat the high tunnel and create a greenhouse.  But in the face of huge start up costs, these restrictions seem small.

Looking toward the future, the high tunnel and a more sophisticated irrigation system are priorities. This summer was a lesson to all the local farmers how unforgiving nature can be. Many were left rigging awkward irrigation systems to battle weeks of dry weather. The Akeys had cheap drip hose from the hardware store that proved inefficient and under effective.

They are experimenting a lot with the business of farming. What's the best niche for their land and resources? While maintaining a goal of farming ethically, they are trying different models. This year, that included only direct sales and a small CSA. Next year, they may divide the CSA into an early and late part, focusing on the produce of the border seasons and avoiding the high competition center of the season. They expect to continue making cheese from goat's milk at home, with the possibility of focusing on cheese sales a few years in the future. The sheep have proven an excellent investment, and they're here to stay. Hopefully the new dogs have eliminated their poultry problems, and while they experiment with pricing models, Michael thinks he's found the breeds he wants to continue to grow. The steer may not make the long term game plan. Pasturing cattle takes a lot of land - my primary source has about 120 acres - and is a large investment. One might look at this as dabbling, and I guess it is. But sustainable farming isn't about incredible sacrifice. To be successful, we consumers can't allow it to be. We need to support fair wages and be willing to close our mind's eye to the great deal we could get at the local Walmart. We have to swallow hard and spend our money on high quality food, provided ethically and in accordance with its true cost. We have to support farmer's paths as they discover how to feed the community and their family. So that's how I look at Green Akeys "plan" - a path to decision making that ultimately reflects the perspectives of both the Akeys and their customers.

The pumpkin patch at Green Akeys Farm

Local chicken and eggs

Chickens have certainly been in the news a lot lately, and so I thought I would add to the frenzy and write a little about our experience with local chicken farming, both for eggs and meat. I think I was first exposed to writing about pastured chickens through Michael Pollan, though it could of been a number of other authors. It was some time before I actually had a real local farmer's egg. I had read that the eggs were much richer in color and in taste, and that the yolks seemed to stand more boldly from the raw whites. That all sounded great, but my interest was really piqued by the topic of the last month or so: salmonella.

In Italy, we had been taught to use raw eggs for the dessert, tiramisu. We asked them at the time about getting sick from raw eggs, and they assured us that it wasn't possible. Our cooking instructor showed us a number stamped to the bottom of our eggs and said that this guaranteed they were safe. In truth, I have no idea what those numbers meant or whether the European Union has any better luck with raw egg-borne illness. But we didn't get sick, either.  With concern over consuming raw eggs back here in the States, we tried to find alternatives. The primary suggestion for this and similar uses of eggs is to actually cook the eggs to kill any bacteria in what was called a custard. I read the directions carefully and decided that it required far more work than I was willing to put in, not to mention a level of skill I was sure not to have. I turned to purchasing "cage free" eggs from the supermarket thinking that they must be better. Maybe they are; I'm not quite sure. But I did come to realize through further research that the words "cage free" didn't really mean what I thought (like, without a cage) and the cost for the label seemed unreasonable. The eggs might be a bit darker than the average supermarket egg, but I certainly wasn't overly impressed. Then a few years ago, we joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) at Ceilidh Meadows Farm in Gamber, Maryland, owned by Donna and Charlie Hancock. Ah, we would get to experience all the cool things I'd read about that connected people with other people through local farming. Sure enough, the first morning that I pulled up their long driveway to pick up our weekly produce, the yards was filled with wandering chickens. This was a bit unnerving for me, but didn't seem to phase the chickens. The colors of the animals were remarkable, and they completely challenged my image of the white egg layer chicken. When we got home that afternoon, we cracked the remaining store bought eggs right next to Donna and Charlie's eggs. The difference was stark. They weren't just darker, they really were deep orange. And the flavor was much stronger. It was a great introduction to a new way of living. 

About the same time, our friends Maureen and Mike decided they too would raise chickens. Really? People I knew didn't raise chickens. At least not at the time. But they soon had three layers in the coop they built on the edge of their yard. (Those are the ones in the photo at the top of this entry. )

Their backyard coop

Soon after that, it seemed that chicken raising, for the purpose of eggs, was all in vogue. A Washington Post article highlighted the growing trend of urban chicken coops. These aren't exactly what the Hancocks have on their property. At the Hancock farm, the chickens and roosters are just roaming. Sometimes they get off the property, and sometimes they get killed. During our Summer in their CSA, more than one chicken hid and kept their eggs, giving birth to a new set of chicks for the flock. The urban set up is a small cage, though it seems that frequently people move the cage about the yard to have the chickens aerate the soil. Our friends too didn't have free running chickens; when theirs were out of the coop and adjoining caged yard, they were supervised. The chance of a fox or raccoon getting them seems to great to them. Maureen started getting old organic produce from markets for the chickens, giving them a much wider variety in their diet. And the eggs became deeper in color and taste all the while. And just good ole egg "look"... they recently won a blue and red ribbon at the Howard County Fair for their eggs appearance. The kids are in the mix, collecting the eggs and helping feed the group. Not to mention, picking them up at random and carrying them about the yard; chickens seem more amenable to three year olds than the average dog. Their flock has grown too. Maureen has adopted the chicks that the kid's elementary school hatches for science. And when a few of those turned out to be roosters, she found them a home at White Rose Farm where they could grow old crowing. Now the family have around 10 chickens laying every day. That many eggs adds up fast. But the great thing is that others like myself are quite willing to pay for eggs like that. Maureen and Mike are saving those proceeds to build another coop for meat chickens…. and a whole new adventure. 

At the time Maureen picked up their first set of chickens, I had never heard the term "layer". I had no idea that egg laying chickens weren't exactly the same as chickens used for meat. No idea that the timeline and setup for these two kinds of chickens are completely different. In fact, a little bit of research revealed that the number of farmers providing eggs in the area far exceeded the number offering meat.  I had read that aside from a wide range of environmental and economic pluses, free range chickens tasted richer than those from the big Purdue and Tysons farms. Documentaries on these giant industries have proliferated in the last few years, and an understanding of the unsavory practices against both low-income farmers and the animals themselves, among other things, has widely grown in the community. In many cases, these farmers, particularly those in the rural south are akin to indentured servants, pouring massive investments into an uncertain future. There didn't seem to be ton of evidence that the big organic companies were a ton better; better, granted. Somewhere along the line, we decided to opt out. I had read about Joe Salatin's farm in Virginia, again, I think, through Michael Pollan, and was sure there must be similar set ups in Central Maryland. His farming practices seemed ideal all around, and we were willing to pay extra for all the perceived benefits. 

The first farm we purchased from was Jehovah Jirah, in Washington County. We were thrilled with the product. Is it different from store bought chicken? I recall that I thought so at the time. Since it is all I've eaten for a long time, it's now all I know. But, I recall our group conversations shortly after we got our first order. It seemed that the meat was a bit more "gamey" than the average bird, and their chickens were also a bit smaller. Since then, we've purchased from several farmers and have found sources within Carroll County. I have also learned that there a number of varieties raised, yielding different characteristics. One of our primary sources for the past year is Michael Akeys of Green Akeys Farm outside Westminster. He has raised at least three varieties in that past year, heritage and "commercial" breeds. He recently likened the more commercial Cornish Cross bird to a couch potato: the birds will sit at the grain bin all day and ignore the huge pasture they have at their disposal. Apparently the Freedom Ranger is a better breed, still having a decent amount of meat on their bones, but willing to get out and stretch their legs! Michael isn't convinced that the true heritage chickens are the way to go. These older birds tend to be smaller, with much less meat, particularly breast meat, on them, and they just aren't as popular with customers, he says. As a customer, we did find the heritage birds we purchased last year a bit small and found nothing superior in their flavor. So, we're quite happy with his decision to grow Freedom Ranger, and we're really glad that he is experimenting and evaluating along the way. Interestingly, he and his family have only been farming a few years, having decided to take the plunge and buy a 62-acre farm after finding the eggs from the CSA they joined four years ago so fantastic. That's an amazing transition from consumer to supplier, and I plan to write an entry on the family farm soon. In the meantime, here's their blog. 

The difficulty for the average consumer in purchasing from farms like JJ and Green Akeys is that it takes planning. You generally need to order in advance. Birds are only "processed" every several weeks. So it certainly isn't as convenient as dropping by the local store. We tend to buy a bunch at one time, which will tie us over for a few months at a time. But there are others options. Many farmers markets have one or two vendors selling directly. This allows people a chance to buy each week what they need.  At the Westminster Market, I buy from Scott of Sattva Farm in Frederick County. His chickens are certified organic and taste great, but he's not on the Net much. To find Scott, you want to find your way to the market. 

Summer Reading

I have several posts in my mind right now, but unfortunately, haven't had the time to get them out and onto paper. I thought I'd start this one by highlighting some of the reading I'd done this summer, and where I plan to take what I learned to investigate and write some new blogs in the near future. Call it a preview. With references.

I tend to read mostly non-fiction and in the last year have read a lot about food and food movements. I'm amazed at how influential the written word can be, how it can drive people to make wholesale changes in their lives and behaviour. The classics in local living, or at least the mosts referenced in my experience, are Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and several by Michael Pollan, most often Omnivore's Dilemma.  I think the former tends to resonate heavily with people who like a personal story, to which they can relate and be encouraged to take on similar endeavors. Kingsolver makes it attractive to try living locally, at least just a bit. The number of people I have met who cite her book as a major source of change in their lives is huge. And more than one have taken steps such as raising chickens based on her family's story. I myself started making cheese solely based on her insistence that it really wasn't that hard to make mozzarella cheese. As a result of that chain, I now make yogurt every week, and it's the best you'll ever taste. So, those kinds of works are extremely motivating. Others like this are Plenty, by the Canadian couple who was among the first to attempt a 100-mile challenge, and the more extreme See you in a Hundred Years, from the New York couple that decides to regress to the turn of the 20th century in the Virginia countryside for a one year period. Ok, I'm not sure that the latter book will motivate many people to give up running water, even for a month, but it is interesting.

Michael Pollan of course has a long run of books that are fact-based accounts of food and food industry. Omnivore's Dilemma hit my sweet spot, at least for the first three-quarters of the book, and I found the material both shocking and enthralling.  I can source that book as a major change point in my life, leading to a massive reduction in the use of grade two corn products and a complete re-evaluation of our family's meat sources. Because of that material, I initiated group buying of pasture-raised meat and all of our meat in the last eighteen months has been purchased from local farmers practicing sustainable, admirable techniques. That book is a bit thick for many, and I know a lot of people preferred Food Rules, though I never read that one. Going outside of reading and onto the screen, the film Food, Inc. has had a massive influence people and the way that they think about food. I have had countless people ask me about that film and other tv reports that have spawned since it was released. Another fabulous fact-based book about nutrition, so with a different perspective than Pollan's work, is Real Food, by Nina Plank. I read that one sometime in the Spring, and I thought it was absolutely excellent.

But I digress, as I didn't read any of these works this Summer. I did read Organic, Inc. though, by Samuel Fromartz. This is sort of a mix of the two styles above. Fromartz discusses the history, motivation, and existing tensions of the organic food movement and industry, starting in the early twentieth century. He interweaves the stories of farmers who have tried to make a living from sustainable  agricultural practices in a global economy world. A central theme is this tension between organic and local movements, and whether that can realistically be one in the same. As organic food becomes more widely consumed, what is the impact of the resulting Big Organic industry.  It's definitely an interesting read for the lover of non-fiction, fact-based, stories kinda things. Here in Maryland there are a number of local farmers who are certified organic, and a number who aren't. I am also seeing more Naturally Grown labels posted. In any case, one of those is Nev-R-Dun Farm in Westminster, Md., owned by Tom Reinhardt. In the last few months, he went through his recertification process and I hope to talk to him soon about what that entails, why he's going through formal certification (which costs), and what he thinks about being an organic farmer in Maryland. More to come on that. In the meantime, you can find Tom at the Westminster Farmers markets (Sun/Tue) and at his website, www.nevrdunfarm.com.

Another book I picked up in the middle of Summer and haven't completely made my way through is The Winter Harvest Handbook, by Eliot Coleman. This came to my attention through Amazon "recommended for you" and the subtitle is Year-round vegetable production using deep-organic techniques and unheated greenhouses. I like the idea of year round vegetable production, so I took a closer look. Low and behold, they are running a winter CSA (community support agriculture) in Maine, growing produce in unheated greenhouses. This just fascinates me to no end. I have a small greenhouse that I usually run as a cool house, meaning at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but here they are in Maine, in lots of snow, using no heater at all and making enough produce to sell to folks. It motivated me to get my own greens, like lettuce and a few other things, in the ground early enough so that they should provide a harvest without using electricity this late-Fall and winter. It also motivated me to find a winter CSA somewhere that I could take advantage of for fresh produce through the winter months. Thanks to Local Harvest (www.localharvest.org), I was able to locate a winter CSA about 40 miles away in Pennsylvania. It means we'll have to take a hike every few weeks to pick up food, but I gathered up some friends to pitch in, and it seems well worth the experiment. This CSA doesn't start until nearly Thanksgiving, but as it does, I'll report on that experience. The farm we've subscribed to is Everblossom Farm, www.everblossomfarm.com, just outside Gettysburg.

Another book from this Summer was Made by Hand by Mark Frauenfelder. The subtitle of this new book is Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway world. This is a light read that fed into my own drive to be self-sufficient, or to at least have the knowledge that you could be. Fraenfelder takes the reader through his own adventures of raising chickens, keeping bees, building musical instruments, pursuing edible landscaping/permaculture, and the like.  I'm not about to raise chickens, but I do plan on writing a post about my friend who has taken on raising egg layers over the last year and a half.

Other things in the head and hopefully soon in the works are a few local farmers we buy from: Michael Akeys of Green Akeys farms (www.greenakeys.com) just sold me eighteen chickens in the last few weeks after an eventful six months trying to get them all to processing stage, thanks to intervention by the local fox population. And, Greg Thorne of Thorne Farm in Westminster runs a naturally grown 25-acre farm with a wide selection of produce, but also flock of sheep that are used both for wool and meat. (http://www.thornefarm.blogspot.com/)