Shades of Green Farm

Our Beautiful New Logo~ Here It Is!

What an exquisite expression of the heart and soul of our farm!

Thank you Andrea Weissenbueler, also known affectionately and artistically as Andrea Feathers.

Buying Local—Paying the Price for Sustainability

I wrote the letter below to the Austin Permaculture group… thought I’d share it with you, too.

 Thank you, Germaine, for sharing this [letter from another farmer, Erin]! I am the recent recipient of some of those wonderful tomatoes from Green Gate Farm, given as a gift in kind for the chicken we gave them when we brought them some eggs. One of the joys of farming for me has been meeting and getting to know some of the people who are walking the talk about sustainability. Another joy is sharing (via sales or gifts or donations) our own food produced through humane and sustainable approaches. Making a living off of our farm work may be what proves unsustainable, if we can't earn enough from our efforts. Germaine told of another local farmer who has pastured beef to sell and wishes to do so locally and is struggling to make that happen and may end up selling to a feed lot for a lousy end to his cattle’s lives and earning much less money for his effort and their lives.

It's sad and outrageous to me that some folks see the growth of sustainable living, permaculture, organic food production and similar 'green'-oriented efforts as a way to make money, not thinking or caring how they might be undercutting the front-line folks who are actually doing the work. I was approached, as i was selling eggs at my booth at a farmers' market in Austin, by a man who said he would get my eggs to restaurants around town... the amount he quoted to pay me was far less than half what my wholesale price was. When i exclaimed how little that was, and not enough to pay for feed much less labor, he said that restaurants would not pay more and that this is how much he paid to his main provider. Well, my guess is that the main provider of his eggs keeps 20,000 chickens in each building who never see the light or take dust baths. Being certified organic costs money in food and health care, yet does not mean animals are raised in humane ways. It takes visiting the farm, seeing and liking the farming practices you witness and then-yep-paying the full, real price for the goods the farm produces. We sell eggs to Terra Burger [a new concept restaurant in Austin] who has made a commitment to supporting our local, certified organic farm and feel the price is reasonable... and two of Terra Burger's staff have come out to the farm, so they have seen it for themselves and advocate for maintaining the commitment.

 We get our feed from the only certified organic feed producer in Texas (i think that's still the case, for sure the only one in our area)--- Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill in Elgin. (For full disclosure, my partner works there... i don't want folks to think this is a sneaky point on my part.) The mill makes feed with such a minute profit margin, they operate by the skin of their teeth, in order to make feed as inexpensively as possible. It's important that folks who want to support local production of organic goods pay this price as well. It's been interesting to see how in the past year 'alternative' options for feed have emerged... some are "natural" and "non-gmo" although no one can tell me how they certify it's non-gmo when it's not certified organic... some are just marketed as less expensive. I do not see how such feeds could be local, since there's only one local organic feed mill. If we don’t support this mill, it will go away, as is the case with any venture unsupported by the community it serves… as is the case for the small farms around the country, at an alarming rate.

Erin [from Green Gate Farm] speaks of being aware of 'faux local' and the need to buy directly from producers whenever possible. I couldn't agree more... and more so, to ask where the goods being sold you come from, insisting on an answer or buying elsewhere. In the case of large purchases like a side of beef, realize that small cattle ranchers are not typically licensed to sell packages of beef so they sell them by the halves, or sometimes quarters. We've sold 2 of the 3 sides we had for sale and in each case, 3 consumers joined together to make the purchase and store/share the meat... i believe they made that effort because in each case at least one of the people had come to our farm and knew us.

Go to farms... meet the farmer and see their practices...feel good about what you eat. Buy goods locally produced, even when it costs a little more. Whenever possible, invest directly in the folks who do the work. Get together to make something big more affordable.

Yours from atop the soapbox... sorry about that... thanks for the chance to vent a bit.

On this blog, I would greatly appreciate comments and conversation on this topic. Thanks.

We Welcome Texas A&M Class to Farm Tour

Today we enjoyed having a class of 7 graduate and post-graduate students along with their professor come to tour and work, as part of their course in Eco-Feminism. This was our first full, paid tour, which included lunch and the contributions of the students- all womyn- who did some of the needed work tasks, as well as joining in on the daily chores of feeding animals and collecting eggs. I believe they enjoyed it as much as we  did!

First we walked around the farm learning about how we raise our broilers and layers and our attempts to build soil health. I focused on how our approaches fit our values, which gave them an opportunity to see one example of ‘eco-feminism’ in action through agriculture. The womyn asked thoughtful questions that furthered my own sense of the whole of our work here. We walked and talked longer than the original plan and covered a lot of ground, including how the work on our To-Do list fits into farm values and production.  Afterwards, we discussed the work tasks in detail and folks got started, while I put the final touches on lunch. I received some rave reviews for the lunch I served: chicken vegetable soup, egg salad, lettuce salad with vegetables, cheese, olives and crackers, applesauce and tea… and the wonderful fudge made by Sue’s Aunt Dot, who sent some back from Sue’s recent visit. It was a delight to offer this good food to these good people.

Work crews improved the coop that our blind hen, Gail, lives in with the home-hatched offspring of Gertrude, our adopted Silver Wyandotte rooster (who, sadly, went missing a week ago, making us even happier that we have his progeny and hope that either Trudy or Arlo is a cockerel to replace him). They brought in fresh wood chips for the large stationary broiler house, unloaded feed bins, switched out hoses in pastures, and laid out several lengths of poultry fence, which we had stacked in a pile and needed sorting, so we can use them and repair them, or get them tossed and out of the way. An additional piece of work came up when Sue came home from market and told me that one of our steer was out in the driveway… it took a bucket of alfalfa and quite a bit of persuading, but we got him back in and I tied electric fencing rope over the holes until we can get the barbed wire fence repaired.

Everyone joined Sue in feeding chickens and collecting eggs…. Several womyn decided to buy eggs and had a good time selecting out their own dozens from the baskets of clean eggs; lovely to see such immediate connection between the work and the rewards!

All in all, a very good day and an important result is my own conclusion that adding tours and education to our farm ‘products’ is something I can achieve… I’ve known how much I would enjoy it and now I feel I can offer as much as I receive. Next up in this arena is getting the word out.

Here's our group picture from the day~

Left to right: Arlett, Lizzy, Kathryn, Caron, Brandy, So Yeun, Lauren, me/jules, Risa 

A Reflection Posted on Austin Permaculture (improved :-)

The message below is an edited version of something I shared on Austin’s permaculture group in a discussion about food and eating, where folks ‘confessed’ to eating meat and other ‘bad’ food. Because it gives you a bit of background regarding where I, jules, come from when it comes to food and farming, I thought I’d share it…..

In 2003 I became so ill I couldn't work for two months; after trying western medicine (upper and lower GIs, colonoscopy followed by no diagnosis and a recommendation to "give it a couple months"), I found out I had celiac spru (gluten intolerance), and eventually also learned I couldn't eat soy or corn. Now, that a challenging set of food sensitivities that gets in the way of easily making a meal for me and there’s lots of things I can’t enjoy any more without paying a stiff price in digestive and general health… i don't eat out often or to many places because it's so hard to avoid this list of ingredients, especially corn, which is in almost everything (watch the movie King Corn). However, life is much better... I am not sick any more either and surprise surprise, my arthritis and fibromyalgia magically disappeared too. To preserve my health and well-being, knowing where my food comes from and eating unprocessed or minimally processed food is critical.

I am now a small farmer outside Bastrop TX; we’re certified organic and raise chickens for meat and eggs and have a few head of beef cattle as well. As you may know, our farm is located in the center of an area experiencing crisis-level drought.  Our water consumption went through the roof this summer as we strive to keep the dozen fruit and nut trees and bushes alive, and most of our ornamentals are gone. Yes, the water for animals takes a lot, but less than I thought, compared to the spike we took when we began regular drip watering of trees. Our biggest waste with the animals is leaks, and that's an on-going struggle to keep hoses and float valves in best condition. We also use misters and/or spray the hose once or twice a day to cool the air and ground where the chickens pasture. And yet the 1100 gallons we used during the heat last month is not as much as a great many people here use to shower, wash laundry and fill their pools. Is our water use helping or hurting our planet? Would it be different if we raised more plants and fewer animals?

Now I never thought my main focus in raising food would be meat, yet that's what it is right now... and I do know there are places on this earth where animals are the better match for the environment, when raised sustainably. It’s not clear if the flora or the fauna is using more water on a daily basis. Someone suggested that raising bison is much better for the land in Texas than cattle. I'm not sure if our cattle are harder on our small acreage than bison would be... I believe bison require more space to feed their bulk, so I'm thinking our smaller breed is better in this droughty time of limited forage.

What I know for sure is that we are working hard and doing our best to produce food that is humane and healthy/ sustainable... and that we will and do make mistakes as we go, but our values are clear and they are what guides us. We're organic not as a marketing tool (we're not big enough) but because we know the grains used in feed will not contain chemicals and GMO's and so that our customers know we have not used chemical meds or hormones. USDA organic does nothing to guarantee humane treatment, sadly, as many believe it does. We approach our farming keeping our values front and center and assess and adjust our methods according to what works, what the situation is and how well it fits our values of being sustainable, humane, organic and local.

Most folks aware of the food production reality are all doing our best. I eat sugar, especially chocolate. I drink coffee (fair trade and organic) and I eat meat, the most direct way for me to get protein in my diet... and i love it. Those who do not yet know about the issues surrounding food production need education and support, not condemnation. We will make it as a whole or we will not make it at all.

Okay, my rant is over.... thanks for listening. By the way, EatWild.com and LocalHarvest.com are two resources for finding good food.

In health, as I go to check on my 150 day old broiler chicks,
jules

Spring Catch-up Time-- A Quick Check-In

Coming from Missouri where winters are longish, cold and typically wet, spring certainly calls forth the possibility of a good cleaning~ it’s no longer cold, making the idea of opening windows and taking things outside to air a pleasant one. After a season of being shut inside with old air, dust and germs, it’s a necessary step in having a healthy home, as well.

Here in Texas, winter is short and interspersed with warm days… warm enough to open windows and air things out. And being a farmer one gets outside every day, warm or cold, wet or dry (precious few wet days this past winter!)… like it or not there are animals to care for and in our case, just a few cool season greens that I managed to get in the good soil of our now 4 season garden.

What we have here at Shades of Green Farm is spring catch up time… not because there’s suddenly more hours in the day (although daylight savings time fools some of us into thinking we do)… not because there is information to get out that we shouldn’t have or didn’t send out earlier (although there are some dates set that weren’t before yesterday)… no, this morning is spring catch up time because my cat woke me at 3:00 a.m. upchucking an over-sized snack of dry food nuggets and after hours of snoozing, I got up early enough to at least start this entry. ☺    (and now it’s two days later, as I complete this entry to share at least a snippet)

The ‘abbreviated version’ of what’s new and doing on the farm is as follows (I am not brief, so I’ll do what I can to give you a sense of life on the farm without taking up too too many characters of font):

1. We are now certified organic by Nature International Certification Services!!! We are purchasing our little round green and white USDA/ORGANIC stickers to put on everything. We are having our egg label redone to include the USDA and Nature International logos.

2. Our 235 laying hens are producing over 200 eggs each day, which we are selling each week at the Austin Farmers’ Market at Triangle Park on Wednesdays from 4-8 p.m.; at the Bastrop 1832 Farmers’ Market on Chestnut St., each Saturday from 10-2; from our farm by appointment; to TerraBurger, a new organic, healthy 'fast food' restaurant near the UT campus on Guadalupe (which we are excited to see them being used in the egg muffin breakfast sandwich and to see our egg case on their ‘source wall’!); and to Kay Wheeler, chef and caterer who sells her wares most Saturdays at the Bastrop market we well (she’s featuring our eggs in egg salad and spinach salad at her food booth at Round Top)… and we continue to seek venues for selling our good eggs from happy hens.

3. Our two cows have ‘dropped’ which means their calves are hanging low in their bellies and their hip and back bones stick up like they’re emaciated… and means they’re likely to give birth in 2-4 weeks. With the drought we have invested quite a bit of money in hay to augment the sparse pasture… and have learned quite a bit about how much they need and thanks to Betsy Ross’ recent visit, how much dry matter a chunk of our fields offer the cows and their steer calves (which become food this summer) and how to set up rotating pastures fairly easily (I’ve added setting up new fence lines to the To-Do list)

4. We are running low on our chicken pieces but have whole chickens left; we hope they hold out until our  next flock is processed. We have another flock of broiler chicks coming mid-April, “Colored Rangers” and “Poulen Noir”, again from JM Hatchery. With the incredible help from Judy and Dennis, we cleaned the brooder of last year’s litter (which is now helping trees and bushes grow) and are almost ready for Flock #6.

5. We’ll have fresh, never frozen chicken ready mid-to-late June and will let you know when you can come to pick them up.  If you know how many chickens you would like this spring and early summer, place your order now to reserve them. We continue to work on finding a way to have our broilers processed under certified organic circumstances, at which point we’ll be able to add that mark of excellence to this label as well. We also want processing to happen closer to home, to minimize stress on our chickens at the end of their lives… part of the reason for a delayed start this year when we hoped not to run out again. Ah, well, it will work out in time.

6. Our ‘home flock’ consists of Gail, our blind hen, living alone at this time (Violet was predated and now we’re getting a few chicks to become her new companions that won’t peck her); our 5 keeper broilers are Golda and Hillary, the dominant divas now almost a year old and Lucy, Ethel and Ricky from our last flock~ Ricky’s voice is horrific, unlike his namesake, while the gals are both beautiful in big-time rotund fashion; only 2 ducks remain from our 8—all others were predated—and living with them are 6 escapee layers from the large flock. All are happy, healthy and laying eggs (except Ricky, of course).

7. The dogs: Jordan who is “owner protective”, is almost 5 and has surprised us by becoming well-behaved (as long as you accept her self-appointed guard dog ways… useful out here); Aubie, our dumpster dog who turned out to be at least part Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, she’s been with us almost a year and continues to be a sweetheart and unstoppable chicken chaser (since she’s up all night chasing off critters, she sleeps happily enough in her yard or on tie-out during the day).

8. Emma the cat will be 18 years old this summer and is just now beginning to show her age… she receives constant compliments on her youthful appearance, but I know she doesn’t chase her mice around the bed like she used to.

9. Sue continues her work at Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill (and the farm as well, to lesser extent); the availability of local organic feed is how we are raising chickens at all; the lack of availability of Sue here on our farm is a decided lack on both our parts; Sue treasures the time she does spend here.

10. jules continues her work here at Shades of Green and finds increasing pleasure in the daily tasks of walking pastures and caring for animals; she is eager to find her co-farmer and get more growth happening on the farm; she has written a full page of To-Do’s and is not done yet.

11. Our recent 3+ inches of rain has resulted in the greening of ground and trees…. exquisitely gorgeous after the long brown drought. It appears that all the orchard trees have survived except the pomegranate; we’ll lost several perennial plants, even a couple lantana which are native to this area but obviously needed more water than I gave them.

12. We hope to open new ground for a market garden yet this spring, with the goal of having fall produce to take to market… (back to that co-farmer notion; either that or committed community supporters to help on a regular basis) herbs that go well with chicken and eggs are one thing we’re interested in attempting. jules’ experimentation adding organic matter to the sandy loam on this part of the land resulted in good soil in our first garden… we’ll move some of this soil to the new location, lightly till/turn the wood chips and chicken poop from our Flock 5 broilers into the sod and fence the whole thing from chickens and deer.

There you have it… a not-so-brief overview update… and a haiku for you…

Loving our Green farm
In all her variations
Of leaf and effort

Appreciating the green spring,
jules

The Price of Eggs

Our next step with the pullets is preparing for the onset of laying~ this means setting up systems to collect, clean, carton, case (box) and cool them (refrigeration)... it also means establishing our sales contracts which will be the means for dispersing the majority of the 90+ dozen our gals will generate. Don't worry, though, we will have eggs for sale by the carton for individual customers as well!

That raises an interesting question about the cost of our eggs... of organic, pastured, free-range eggs raised on a small sustainable farm such as ours. We know that 'yard eggs' are relished by many of the people who come to our community farmers' markets~ fresh eggs from chickens that get to forage are simply far better tasting and better for you, nutritionally and spiritually. The differences among all of us who sell yard eggs Include: diet, housing specifics, range, marketing and of course, price-- all of which reflect the focus of the individuals who raise and sell those eggs. When I think and write or talk about our values, it helps me understand why our approach results in the cost of the eggs we sell (which will run between $4.50 and $5.00 a dozen.... a bunch, isn't it?). Read on as I examine each aspect of egg production and share our orientation and approach... not to convince you to buy ours but to provide education about what's involved in our decisions about how to go about it.

First, food~ some folks feed only 'scratch' (typically cracked corn) and the chickens get this and whatever they find to forage; some feed pellets or 'mash' and some of these use organic feed, most do not; some add house scraps such as peelings from veggies, apple cores, etc.; some feed bread, donut and other 'junk food' type scraps. We feed a full-nutrition ration of organic feed and the hens get this plus whatever greens and bugs they find in their pasture. This is where our major expense comes in~ organic grains simply cost much more and we're providing virtually all of their nutrition through their feed; this may change in years of good pasturage, which this drought as not resulted in.

Housing varies from living in barns to chicken houses to movable coops to making do outdoors-- all sizes and configurations of chicken houses exist.. most of us cobble together good, solid housing from whatever we have available or invent for the purpose. As long as there is adequate protection from predation (not easy to achieve around these parts) and weather extremes, and there's enough room for comfortable living and laying, likely life is pretty good for the birds. When housing is really filthy, as from long-built-up manure, disease or pests can set in, reducing the quality of life for the chickens and maybe the production rate as well. Our layer house is a 10' x 20' portable garage thing built onto a base made of 4" x 4" timbers and reinforced so it doesn't break when we move it. The main difference here is that we do move the house, so that the impact of having a bunch of birds living on the ground gets spread out~ chicken poop as fertilizer is a benefit if it's not too thick; moving on allows the land to regrow using that fertilizer, rather than having to heal from a major hit to the soil, which can take years following years of having chickens in the same spot. Moving chickens off their old poop keeps them healthier.

Then there is the range, the space chickens have to move around and forage in. For some, the chicken yard is tiny and unchanging; for many more, yards are provided that may change or be renewed in ways that keep greens and bugs available when it's seasonal (and some even garden and water to make a rich lawn-pasture in dry years like this one has been-- most of us don't have or choose to use water that way). Some folks allow their chicken to roam all around, like our home flock; this gets pretty nasty if you've got more than a couple dozen, since wherever the chickens roam, poop is deposited. Here, we set up large pastures using solar-powered electric fences that we move the house within until it's 'used', then we move the fence to start a new pasture area. We make sure there's a couple trees in each pasture, for shade and entertainment (never thought a chicken would get bored? oh, they do, and misbehavior ensures when you've got a bunch of bored chickens-- pecking eat other, pecking and scratching the soil to death, destroying property-- yep). Moving the pasture works like moving the house-- better for chicken health and earth health, too.

Marketing really comes into play based on how much of your income needs you plan to/ hope to meet from selling eggs. Most vendors selling eggs at the market do the good service of taking and reusing egg cartons from their customers; as long as the cartons are clean and germ-free, it's a great contribution to reduce trash waste this way and if you know who your eggs come from, you don't need a label to tell you. When you sell eggs in stores, the cartons must be new and the label is your way to tell consumers about your farm and eggs; this increases cost and is necessary for this type of sales. Selling to restaurants requires packing eggs in new flats and boxes but no label. Selling to institutions requires invoicing, delivery and related financial management. We'll sell our eggs to both individuals and institutions and don't yet know if we'll re-use cartons or not; if we have to buy new in any case, storing old ones  and making sure they're clean may be much harder than simply using new. We choose cardboard over plastic or styrofoam to minimize negative environmental impact, but we know the benefit of reusing the less environmentally friendly cartons.

So, there are many considerations in choosing your eggs for their good value... only you can decide what that means for you and it is not for me or anyone else to judge your decisions. If you want those eggs because they're tastier and fresh, or because if feels good to eat from happy chickens, the added expense of our eggs won't make sense to you. It's worth it to buy our eggs if you value, in addition, eating organic foods (no chemicals or GMO's and possible a reduction in digestion problems) and/or an approach to raising chickens that is sustainable for the long stretch, balancing the impacts of raising the chickens to benefit soil and bird alike. It's these values that shape our approaches... good taste, happy chickens, sustainable and healthy.

A New Year Begins

Still not a week into 2009. Life feels steady on the farm, with all the animals who live here seeming happy and healthy, including the humans. The pullets (young female chickens not yet matured to the point of laying eggs and becoming hens) have settled into their home and pasture-- finally!-- and we've lost no more for over three weeks. We have a solid rhythm for moving their house incrementally, so as not to go too 'far', which means we move the house every 3-4 days and just about 1/2-3/4 the width of the building, so some of the floor overlaps with the previous location. When we switched from following the feeding chart to following their lead, the anxiousness and escaping ended... another lesson learned. These gals talk up a storm when we approach and will mill about our feet as we move slowly through the house and yard (the only way to move with that many chickens all around!)... I'm enjoying them again and I'm thankful for that.

Then there's the ducks, having a grand time waddling around... we ended up with 6 females (ducks) and 2 males (drakes) so we'll start having about 3 and half dozen duck eggs about the same time as our chicken eggs start coming in. Don't yet know if we can keep both drakes; typically the ratio is 1 male to 6 females, so perhaps one will become a meal.

Our home birds now consist of the ducks (I guess, since the share the land with the others rather than being separate), our two rescued layers Gail and Violet and the diva gals- two broiler hens we kept from the spring flocks... we get 3 or 4 eggs a day from these gals and that meets our needs most of the time. We have kept a cockerel (who's crow tells us he's becoming a rooster) and 9 other broilers from our last flock in 2008- flock 5. Out of these we'll likely let 5 go and keep Mr. Beautiful, the big cockerel, and 4 lovely ladies... we're combining them in with the divas, who we believe will rule the roost rather than the rooster... but who knows how love and hormones will alter things in that coop? The story unfolds...

And our cattle... our two mamas and their two steer calves... now separated and weaning, with no more bawls and crying.. teats and udders are shrinking as they should, giving the mamas a break before they calve again in April. I have grown quite fond of our gals, who come up to the cross fence when they see or hear us, hoping for (and usually getting) a treat of alfalfa or a bale of hay. I stand quietly with them almost every day, and now I can touch them and stroke their necks while they eat their alfalfa... I get the sense they only let me for the big treats, since they still shy away from my hand if it's only hay they're eating. We have Pippy Freckle-face, who is bigger and darker and bossier, and who has, yes, lots of freckles on her nose and around her eyes. Our other mama is Penelope Bovine, whose color is similar to a penny and who sometimes seems too thin to me, although everyone who knows cattle comments on how good they all look, including her. Pip and Pen will be with us for many years, I hope, producing a few more gals who will fill out our small herd and many other calves who we will let go to become food or income. We call the calves 'boys' and try not to interact with them or get too attached, since come summer they will leave us and we will eat some of them... with great gratitude for having known them and knowing where our good beef came from. (For those of you interested in purchasing a side of beef in the summer, email me now and let me know; this year we're likely to keep a half for ourselves and sell the rest. I will explain later about how we'll arrange this, or contact me.)

The winter garden is tiny but providing us with lettuce and greens; the garlic is up and the broccoli taller; the seeds have sprouted but not done much yet. We use our rosemary, oregano and sage for cooking and that's a joy, too. Perhaps next year the garden will be a more significant piece of our life here; I need time or someone who wants to do the work of it and I don't have either at this point. We want to put in a few more fruit trees this winter yet... we'll see how time and funds flow.

I'm going to separate this part into it's own entry and follow with another, which is focusing on what's involved in raising chickens for eggs. I so appreciate the comments folks send me in emails~ I encourage you to write your comments here on the blog, if you'd like to share with other readers. Thanks for the encouragement with the writing.

Thanks to all our customers and supporters for making this possible. Happy Gregorian 2009!
jules and Sue and Shades of Green Farm

Sales are Taking Off and Chickens are Coming!

Well, my friends, there is much in the way of news on our little farm. After wondering if we would ever get to the point of having regular sales, we have just sold out of our chickens! Except for the 2 USDA chickens we are holding for People’s Pharmacy in Austin, I sold the last 3 today at Bastrop 1832 Farmers’ Market. We have less than a dozen of the locally processed chickens~ at least 5 will be delivered to places and people in Austin next week… and today at the market several other customers indicated they may come out to farm and pick one up. I love it when that happens, because I can then show folks where their meat is coming from, so we can feel good about it together.

[ By the way, in Texas a piece of state legislation that was apparently meant to support small poultry producers had regulations attached that contradicted that intention. Now, unless you have your own processing facility on your farm property, you cannot sell to stores, restaurants or at markets; you must have your poultry processed at a USDA facility. Part of our approach to raising food in sustainable fashion is not to try to do it all, but support existing small farmers by paying for them to process our chickens. It’s like everyone on the block having their own lawnmower~ we would rather not see resources used this way and would rather share and cooperate. And so we have some chickens processed locally and sold off our farm and the rest done at a USDA certified plant. After searching extensively for a USDA processing facility anywhere in the state, we found one~ yep, just one!~ that will take birds from other people’s small farms. We are incredibly grateful to them for taking us on at a challenging time for their family! I will maintain their privacy on the website until I hear from them that it’s okay to thank them individually by name. We hope that changes someday, so we can address another of our goals, which is to keep all our farm business as close by as possible, especially when it involves moving animals.]

Back to our news…. We’ve sold out but you will not have long to wait to be able to purchase  our chicken at the Bastrop Market and at our home.

We have listened to our customers and are striving to have smaller chickens available. In order to make a living from them, our goal is that they will weigh between 3.5 and 4 pounds. We also hope to have some of them cut at least in half, if not fully parted into breasts, legs and thigh sections. I’ll let you know when we know.

Chickens will be available starting Friday November 7th, 2008 and should remain available consistently available at least until spring, depending upon demand and our decisions about when or if to take another pause in brooding during the coldest month, January.

Another opportunity for buying a chicken is to reserve one or more or our famous large chickens for the holiday season. We will hold back chickens for people who want a fresh, never frozen big roasting bird the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as well as the Tuesday before Christmas. If you celebrate another holiday at the this time of year, let us know and we will see if we can make it work to have a fresh chicken ready for you; it may be that we can offer a large roaster but that it must come to you frozen.

Contact us to reserve your holiday roasters~ send us an email, give us a call or come visit us at the Bastrop Farmers’ Market on Fridays and Saturdays. Only those who have reserved roasters will be able to purchase them.

Seasonal Ethics, Bastrop Market News, and New Website Pages

Greetings on this hot, dry Texas day... yep, another hot, dry day here in south central Texas. I'm glad that, except for the 16 'keepers', all our chicken flocks have gone to processing, meaning they are not here to swelter in the heat; rather, they are chillin' in the freezers on their way to market.

We do not intend to have chickens in pasture during August or January, when temperature extremes are most likely (like we didn't have 100 degree days in June this year!). This seasonal approach to raising animals fits with our values about providing the best possible environment for the animals in our care and building in some relative down time for ourselves. We know this isn't the most lucrative approach in terms of keeping as many chickens as possible out in the marketplace  at all times, but we are aware of many farmers who take this approach and make it just fine. Some raise only enough to fill the requests of customers who pre-order a quarterly number they commmit to buying or pay for in advance. At this point in time we choose to take a looser approach and see if it's possible to keep raising poulty for the general public while exploring a strategy to raise some flocks that meet specific contracts... all based on seasonal times of availability. This means there will be times of having fresh never-frozen chicken, frozen only (which is all we can offer at the market, due to regulations) and hopefully minimal periods of being completely out until the next flocks mature. If we can make this work we will be happy farmers indeed-- with happy chickens whenever they are here.

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We are now selling at the Bastrop 1832 Farmer's Market on both Fridays (1-6) and Saturdays (10-2). Even though we'll be out of town for almost a month, Erika at Bradshaw Farms will continue to offer our chickens for sale to keep availability for customers, which is good for everyone. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to Erika for her support! The sense of community and fun amongst the vendors at the market make the work a joy, even in these hot hot days.

On Saturday September 13th, Shades of Green Farm will offer a demonstration at the Market in preparing  our wonderful chickens~ we hope to see you there!

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To address the wishes and needs of customers, I've added two new pages to this website/blog. The first provides a place to express yourself~ called "Compliments, Critique and Comments", it's meant to be a forum for feedback and input; the other page is entitled "Recipes and Suggestions for Cooking" and is self-explanatory.

Well, I couldn't get the pages to accept comments, so they are now new posts under similarly named categories... works the same, in terms of going to the post and contributing via posts. And thanks!

The Freedom Rangers are Here

These are our new birds and they taste terrific.  We have many of them and would like to clear out our freezers for more, so place your orders now folks.  These are plump juicy roasting chickens from the French Label Rouge breeding stock.  Julie has enjoyed raising them on our organic feed and we hope you will enjoy eating them.

These chickens are USDA certified and weigh about 5-6 pounds each and cost $3.75/lb.  We cook them 2 at a time to save on heating the oven and then we freeze the cooked meat in meal-size packets.

We've sold out of the Cornish Cross chickens and, from now on, we'll have the Freedom Ranger type breeds.  We're happier raising them since they're less lethargic and seem to enjoy running around the pasture.