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...

We have recently been encouraged by the kindness of good friends and total strangers, both. Thank you, all, for your comments, shares, good wishes, and prayers. We wrote about our struggles with the wet weather in part because we feel we have a relationship with many of you. We consider you friends, and friends need to let each other know what is going on. We also shared because we know that many of you aren’t familiar with the risks of farming. Each year we take our blood, sweat and tears, as well as most of our remaining money, and we bury it in the ground. We hope and pray that everything works out so that we get all that money we buried back. And we also hope that the blood, sweat and tears fertilize it and make it yield an increase. That increase or harvest is what we convert to money over the winter and the next summer while the next set of crops grow. This money is what we use to pay the bills, fix things, take a small salary, and save a little to bury in the gr...

Today's blog post is written by Jan of SlowMoneyFarm . Jan grew up on a family farm with Charolais, hay and corn as well as exposure to Brown Swiss cattle. She and her husband currently raise a variety of poultry, rabbits and raised bed gardens (vegetables and herbs) with a focus on heritage/heirloom production and conserving rare breeds. They bred and showed several national top 10 Giant Chinchilla rabbits last year, and Jan uses social media to promote and offer food choices to the public. When Joel Salatin says something about agriculture people listen. What he does is special. It's a great thing. He's written books and given lectures around the world. People want to buy food from HIM. What most miss, however, is that he's doing what thousands of other farmers are doing coast to coast and border to border. He's finding what works for him, marketing it to work for him and selling to a specific market. That's not a bad thing - it works for him. But we're...