Farming in the shade

The topic of cheap food has been on our minds lately. Many people value what we do, but there is the inevitable comparison with grocery store prices. We see it at the market. We overhear the talk as people walk away. We discuss it with other vendors. These photos show the extra value that comes with the way we grow food. We are farming in a way that heals and sustains the land. When the soil is healthy, the plants, animals, and insects will thrive and be healthier themselves. When we eat this food, we will in turn be more healthy. We are working toward environmental sustainability. But a farm that is ONLY environmentally sustainable will not last. It must also be emotionally and physically sustainable—farming can be a demanding job. (Not sure we’ve figured this one out yet.) And there is also economic sustainability to consider. You can help with economic sustainability by buying what we grow and raise, even if it costs a little more. And you can buy fr...

Over the past few weeks we have been working the field that we weren’t able to plant with corn due to spring rains. A lot of fields in our area were not planted this spring and are now full of weeds. It is the nature of soil to produce plants. And if we don’t cultivate and intentionally plant certain plants, others will come and fill in. One of the things we can do for the soil on a year like this is to plant different species as cover crops. This both keeps the weeds at bay and allows us to experiment with crops and combinations of crops we haven’t grown before. This field was a pasture/hay field for many years, but next year it is slated to have beans planted. In an effort to get ready for that, we plowed and disced the field. We worked it several times, because established pasture does not go quietly. Once we were satisfied with the seedbed, we planted sorghum and peas in part of the field. The rest is planted with oats, peas, clover and turnips. This will hopefull...

The $450 operators manual we recently purchased for the combine that we’ve owned for 8 years has paid off already. We were able to find the problem and get the grain head hydraulics to work again. The first of the small grains are in the bin. This year we are harvesting four small grains--einkorn (an old variety of wheat), oats, barley, and rye. Much of the field drowned out in the Monsoon of Fall 2018 or the Monsoon of Spring 2019. But it looks like we will be able to harvest some of each of what we planted, and we're grateful for that.  For more on our combine woes through the years, search “combine”. It’ll make you feel better about your life, I promise.