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Ahead of the storm…
…Church is seeding clover just ahead of our most recent snow storm. For our “civilian” readers, the clover serves several important purposes: It provides additional forage during the summer slump in the grass growing season. It counter-balances the toxic effect of the endophyte which is more prevalent in fescue in the summer. And it fixes nitrogen in the soil to such a great extent that we haven’t had to fertilize in a dozen years. All this without plowing. The nighttime freezing and daytime thawing…coupled with the melting snow…provides the ideal growing conditions for the seeds. And the snow did come just as Church was finishing. David
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Bill Gates…devil or…
…conspirator. Gates is by no means the first well-meaning billionaire to float his save-the-world schemes. And in the process cause as much harm as good. Not surprisingly he has a technological solution for everything and that has put him cross-wise with the regenerative ag movement. Gates’ recommendation now that rich nations all abandon meat for the artificial stuff is nonsense but it’s getting a serious hearing. Our neighbor down the road Joel Salatin neatly skewers the pretensions of Gates in his latest blog. https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/2/18/2021/who-will-censure-bill-gates At Thistle Hill we’re satisfied with our 20-year experiment of doing things naturally. Raising grazing animals on grass without chemicals…fertilizers or poisons…producing meat that is…
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November sunrise…
A crisp fall morning on the farm…as Church does the early morning rounds of the pastures. The Blue Ridge in the background. David
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A refresher course…
In grass finished versus grain finished beef. An increasing number of people seem to be turning away from industrialized beef and trying the grass finished version. Farmers too are increasingly marketing their own products…not willing to accept the take-it-or-leave-it pricing of the national processors. Just a few…like Walter Jeffries in Vermont, Joel Salatin in Virgina and Greg Gunthorp in Indiana…have gone all the way and have vertically integrated their operation, including everything from production to processing to direct marketing. At the forefront of that group is White Oak Pastures in Blufton, Georgia…a giant operation with 150 employees and 10 different kinds of animals under production. Its webpage includes a review…
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In support of a 50-year farm bill…
…by a giant in the field of regenerative agriculture. No one has better captured the beauty of farming in sync with nature than Wendell Berry. The Kentucky farmer, poet, writer and environmentalist writes in the Atlantic in support of the 50-year farm bill. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/the-50-year-farm-bill/265099/ While Berry may stand alone in his wordcraft, I do want to mention an even earlier writer I think qualifies as the father of the sustainable ag movement: Louis Bromfield. His Malabar Farms had a big impact on even my city anchored family in the 40s. I still recall my mother and father reading aloud from Malabar Farms at our dinner table. Still on my personal…
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Just in time…
…for Thanksgiving. The advance guard of a flock of wild turkeys crossing Thistle Hill farm. We’ve seen the return of a number of birds to the farm since we eliminated all “cides” about 20 years ago. In fact there’s been an up-swing of all wildlife including our very own resident bear. Almost all our pastures have adjacent riparian areas including water. But our partners are increasing bold. These turkeys are right in front of the main house. David
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One man’s legacy…
…the inspirational story of a retired businessman in Texas who is leaving quite a legacy. It reminds me of Louis Bromfield…whose tales of Malabar Farm in Ohio got us interested in regenerative farming before it was cool. Thanks to Shannon Kincaid, an artist friend in Dallas who suggested the link. David
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The vegan wars…
…have spilled into print. There are three giants in the chemical artificial burger fight…and it ain’t pretty. Neighbor Joel Salatin is enjoying the fight, though, and you can read his blog – https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/9/1/2020/when-the-vegans-fight David
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Fox guarding the hen house…
…that’s how the self-proclaimed Lunatic Farmer Joel Salatin describes the latest advisory committee to the USDA’s meat and poultry inspection division. Salatin joins Greg Gunthorp in pointing out that the watch dogs include solely Big Ag and its academia sycophants but leaves out any representation from the “little guys”. In fact, the big processors include two from a Brazilian giant that has been scandal-plagued in recent years. Joel writes the following to his Congressman and suggests we all do. https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/8/20/2020/open-letter-to-your-congressman David
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The cost of doing business…
..Bayer, seeing the handwriting on the wall, has agreed to a ten-billion dollar out of court settlement to get rid of the lawsuits against its Roundup weed killer. Juries haven’t accepted the various company-friendly investigations that cleared Roundup (aka: glysophate) of any connection with the cancer deaths of its users. Ten-billion sounds like a lot but when allocated among potential claimants, its not very much. Not only that, Bayer is free to continue marketing Roundup without any cancer warning on the label. You can read the story by going to this website. David