Deck Family Farm Blog

This is an unusual place...

2012-01-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

At a time when Big Ag is trying to outlaw photographing any step of the process of getting meat from the animal to your mouth, it is awesome how open and public the Decks are with their operation. When I'm out there I frequently take pictures to send to my family and friends or just to share with the world at large.

Snow at sunrise, right as I arrived on the farm.

Deck Family Farm has nothing to hide. Because they strive to farm responsibly, there are no dirty little secrets on their farm. They are welcoming of visitors and are more than happy to show off the operation.

And it is worth showing off. The animals are all living as you would expect animals to live. Outside, moving around, being lazy, being playful, mostly just eating, it's hard to imagine a place where they could really be happier. A couple of days ago, the pigs were running around in the sunshine. They too seemed to enjoy the rare sunny weather this time of year. They are so floppy!

The goats surprised me too. I'm used to seeing goats in petting zoos or at the fair. They are always stinky and kind of dirty. These goats are beautiful. I was pleased by how soft and clean their fur looked.

When they saw me approach, they all came clodding
into their feeding structure. They must be the easiest
creatures to herd, they'll follow you anywhere.

I enjoy working for Deck Family Farm because I can respect the entire endeavor. I am proud of the work we do at the farm and the impact it has locally.

-- Ryan

Holiday Turkeys 2011

2011-11-10T16:00:00.000-08:00

The Turkey Story 2011

They hatched out a little earlier than we expected and traveled up the I-5 corridor in a pickup truck nestled together in boxes lined with straw. When the owner of the hatchery showed up, we put the chicks in warm safe homes with plenty of food and water.

As soon as the chicks were old enough to move out to the grass, we set up turkey tractors so that they could safely be moved around the pastures. They spent their lives eating fresh grass and helping us fertilize for the cows, sheep, chickens, and goats who all graze on rotation. This pastured life is what gives our turkeys such incredible flavor, the omega 3s that are so good for us, and puts their waste right where it belongs, on the land to support the next growth cycle.

Pastured life is not perfect, and some turkeys succumb to the weather, others make a meal for raccoons and hawks. Predation is a problem we are constantly addressing, but is also just part of living outside. The fluctuation in temperature and the rain does affect some of the weaker birds, but also means that only the strongest and healthiest birds survive, resulting in fantastic flavor.

Why Pay so Much?

Many of us have to be price conscious when we shop and every purchase is a calculated choice. Here at the farm we frequently hear the question, "Why are your turkeys so much more expensive than the same thing I can get in the grocery store?". We also hear, "Why are your turkeys so much better than the same thing I can get in the grocery store?" from those who have served one of our turkeys in the past. The answer to both of those questions is simple. It isn't the same thing.

You will not find pasture raised turkeys in the grocery store. Low price means an economy of scale that cannot be met by grass-eating birds. Federal law does not require that Cage Free, Free Range, Farm Fresh, and Natural, mean that the birds have spent a single day outside or on fresh grass. These marketing ploys are used to appeal to our desire to be healthy.

As with all of our products, our prices cover our growing costs and our marketing costs. Pasture raised meat is labor intensive, expensive to raise, and cannot be done on a massive scale. The difference in flavor and benefits might be worth a smaller bird and more side dishes this year, or a generous gift to your guests.

Stewing Hens Are Here!

2011-10-31T12:10:00.000-07:00

From this:
To this:

Our Laying Hen flock has been evolving for the past 3 years and we just processed 260 of our older hens that had stopped laying. These "stewing hens" are full of flavor and make some great soups, shredded chicken, good for stir-frys and salads as well. We're selling these birds for $3.50/lb starting the weekend of Nov 5/6 at all of our markets. They are about 3 lbs per bird.

Some cooking ideas for these stewing hens:

Chicken and Dumplings
Coq au Vin (if you're feeling elaborate!)
Bryan Horton's Basic Stew Hens
Basic Stewing Hen Recipe from cooks.com

Finally, there is chicken broth & chicken & rice. I'm going to send this post to my loving Mother, and hopefully she replies with a comment on how to make our famous leftover Turkey or chicken & rice recipe! I want to also dedicate this post to our kids, who spent nearly every day for the past 2 years collecting eggs from this special flock.

Pasture-Farmer Guidelines for Farmers Markets

2011-10-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

Farmers markets feature all manner of food products coming direct from farmers to consumers. In theory, this marketing avenue supports transparency in the food system, connects consumers with farmers, and supports local food production. In practice, however, these goals often fall short due to ineffective or non-existent guidelines for producers. The following guidelines have risen from our 5 years of experience direct marketing our products at 7 different markets in the Eugene and Portland area. The purpose of these guidelines is to help farmers market boards and consumers identify and select appropriate meat providers.

1. Farmer Raised: Does the farm entity produce its own products, or is it primarily a reseller for other farms? In meat production, it is a simple matter to purchase animals from outside sources and label under one’s own brand at a slaughterhouse. Or, another tactic is to purchase particular cuts from outside sources and re-label under one’s own brand. While this is common practice in the meat industry and allowed by law, it is questionable when it comes to farmers markets that are promoting food system transparency. Can a farmers market verify that its vendors have the capacity to produce the product under their label? For example, a 10-20 acre ranch cannot possibly produce enough beef product to supply 5 different markets in the Portland area (unless it is operating a feedlot). Or, a farm with 20 hens on site cannot provide enough eggs to sell 50 dozen at a particular market every week.

Some market managers may decide it is acceptable for farmers to source product from outside sources. However, they will still want to know what those outside source are. Is this product coming from neighbors with common growing practices, or is it coming from out of the country? What are the standards by which producers are considered if this is a growers cooperative? Finally, is vending preference given to vendors with a more direct connection to their production?

2. Local Production: Local production is defined by the USDA as all aspects of food produced within a 400 mile radius from its point of sale. The most obvious example of this requirement is the physical distance from the source ranch to the point of sale and the distance of the slaughter house to the point of sale. Less obvious examples are the source of day old chicks (e.g. out of state hatchery), feed products (e.g. Midwest grain), and location of further processors (e.g. location of smoker). Further, it is entirely possible to buy live animals from out of State and finish them for a short time on specialty rations in a local facility and claim local. Is this really considered local production? To what extent are local producers favored or not for a particular market? Are the farms’ claims of “local” consistent with their actual practices?

3. Further Processing: Many markets feature vendors selling meat products (smoked, dry-aged meats, food vendors) that are not produced by a farmer. For example, what are the rules about a Charcuterie sourcing feedlot pork raised in Canada, but smoked and cured in a local shop and distributed at a farmers market? Is this a valid product to be sold at a farmers market and how is the actual meat product different than what is sold commercially in grocery stores?

4. Is it Grass-Based: A big question in the meat industry is not just whether something is organic or conventional but whether it is grass-based or grain-based. This matters a lot because grass-based farming is intrinsically local, since it is quite difficult to ship grass (or hay) large distances. Grass-based farming means animals are raised outside, and inter-cropping is emphasized to establish fertility. Grass-based products mean better types of fats as well. While beef, sheep, and goats can be 100% grass-based, chickens and pigs can also be grass-based with grain supplements.

5. Is the farm itself open to the public: Many small farmers welcome the public any day or offer tours. Vending at a farmers market is a form of transparent food marketing and having a closed, off-limits farm (or offering no farm to visit at all) is questionable.

6. Certifications: Organic certification offers the assurance of an outside investigation process into the organic claim itself and greatly limits the feasibility of supplementing production with cheaper sources of product. Thus, the claim of “organic” in the case of a farmers market product can enhance the credibility of any of the other factors claimed in this list. Does a market consider organic production material in the selection of vendor products? Other certifications that enhance the credibility of farms are Salmon-Safe, AWA, and Food Alliance.

7. Economics: Our experience in running farmers markets is that they are only sustainable if average revenue is over $700 per market. This figure will pay for cost of goods sold, booth help, site fees, transportation, and some leftover to pay for indirect expenses on the farm. However, we have found that in recent years, our revenue has been decreasing as additional markets in the Portland Area have been added and more vendors have been invited. Confounding the problem of the glut of meat market vendors is that many vendors have been pressured into cutting corners to produce product at a lower cost to sell more product at farmers markets--and have been allowed to do so by farmers market boards. Over-booking vendors at farmers markets may give some short-term buzz and price-competition but in the long term tend to favor those vendors mimicking commercial producers (outsourced production, imported feeds, and mono-cropping).

Article about our CSA Boxes in the Register Guard

2011-05-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Read the story at the Eugene Register Guard Site.

Photo below of Sarah and Elliott Rector, volunteers with World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, on our farm:

Deck Family Farm on Permaculture TV

2011-05-08T12:02:00.001-07:00

Tune into the Eugene Community Cable Access Channel 29 on Monday at 7pm or Wednesday or Wednesday at Noon to see Deck Family Farm on Permaculture TV--- We don't know the exact date our segment will air--- likely in the next 2-3 weeks but i'll keep the time posted here once we find out.

I'll post some YouTube clips of the hour long show on the blog when they come available as well.

John

2011-04-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

Check out the cover story for the April/May Mom magazine for Lane County. Some great photos of the farm and a great article about Christine.

Our Chickens on TV!

2011-04-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Yes! Our chickens are starring in a spot on KEZI 9. Our layer flock wasn't too offended at the reference to their being meat birds, they were just happy to get their 10 minutes of fame. Watch the clip online.

Turnbow CREP Project Near Completion

2011-03-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

-3 years planning
-6 acres
-1200 trees
-7000 feet of fenceline
-12000 feet of pipeline
-5000 gallons water storage capacity

This project will protect 3500' of Turnbow Creek (a tributary to the Long Tom River) from grazing animals, provide wildlife habitat, enable us to better graze our animals, and provide a foundation for our nutrient management program. Thanks to the Farm Service Agency, Long Tom Watershed Counsel, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service. Also, this happened because of the intrepid efforts of Mike Mahn, Josh Tokich, Stacy Thompson, Shaun Plowman, Allie Maggio, and the Deck Kids. Unfortunately we don't have pictures of the tractor stuck in the mud (twice), a black eye by a wayward wire (Stacy), post pounding in a flood (Josh), stringing wire in another flood (Stacy), and agonizing over government bureaucracy (John).

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Cow Snow-Day

2011-03-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

Wet, sticky snow lands on our polywire fences, and drags them to the ground. Last week we received 6" of snow and the cows had freedom to break out of their pasture! Stacy, Mike, and Chris spent several hours getting them back in. Shown below is Stacy enticing the cows with a bale of hay.

How to Eat Steak

2011-03-03T23:27:00.001-08:00

I grew up in a family with 5 children. Dinners always seemed to contain just enough extra food for the kids to fight over when they were finished with first helpings. This taught me to eat fast--- the faster the eating, the better the chance I could get some more.

Its taken alot of training for me to slow down when i eat. This, it turns out, is the secret to really enjoying the flavor of steak. Not until I slowed down, and practiced patience could i really appreciate the quality of grass finished beef. Since this does in fact represent the life of an animal, its only fair to take some time and notice the flavors, the texture, and the nutrients.

Culvert Replacement on Owens Creek

2010-09-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

Those cutthroat trout just can't handle the velocity of water dumping through our giant culvert on Owen's Creek during their spawning months in November and December. The Long Tom Watershed Council is spear-heading culvert replacement on a number of creeks in the Long Tom Watershed, including ours currently. Shown is the old culvert, rip-rap placement, and footings for the new bridge. The bridge will be completed in the next month.

Turkey update

2010-09-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

We've had several visits from a family of wild turkeys in the last few weeks (see photo). These turkeys (including chicks) wing their way up 40-50 feet into our oaks and walnuts near our house. Compare these to the fat white turkeys raised on most farms and you wouldn't recognize the species. Raising single-breasted (smaller) heritage birds are alot closer to their wild cousins than to the factory Toms pumped out for the commercial market.

This is both gratifying and frustrating to raise the heritage birds. On one hand, they are beautiful birds, full of life and personality, but on the other hand, the love to fly so much they can easily re-join their wild cousins if you are not careful. (and there is a story from another local farm where this happened). This is what I was thinking last week when i saw 10 of our turkeys escape their enclosure, mount our yard fence, and gaze wistfully into the leafy canopy of our majestic walnut. We needed to invent quickly, so we purchased some bird netting, pounded some t-posts into the ground, inserted 2" PVC pipe, with upturned buckets on end to hold up a makeshift outdoor enclosure (see photo).

Agricultural Reclamation Act Online

2010-07-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

If small family farmers were truly thriving and had adequate support we would be seeing a revival in rural towns, positive economic changes in the State of Oregon, and better job and economic growth Nationally. This is what I call "trickle-up economics".

To address issues of small family farmers, the Friends of Family Farmers helped put together the Agricultural Reclamation Act. This is an important document that small farmers across Oregon are using as a rallying point for changes needed in agriculture at the local, state, and nation-wide level. When you goto the Friends of Family Farmers site, you can

Please sign-on and endorse the Agricultural Reclamation Act.

Simple chicken tractor design

2010-07-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

We first saw this chicken tractor design from Andy Walton at Lakeview farm. It is a 10x10 tractor using 3/4" electrical metal tubing, some connectors from Creative Awnings, and chicken wire. We've gone through a few iterations in this design and have arrived at the latest prototype which is very rugged, and lightweight. The basic dimensions are 10x10x2 with two criss-crossing poles on the top. 1" chicken wire goes around the outside with a chicken wire covering half of the top (the tarp covers the other half).

Here is the list of required parts:

(12) 10' long 3/4" Electrical Metal Tubing (available at hardware stores)
(1) 8' x 12' heavy duty tarp (get the type that resists UV light)
(4) F4-A, 4 way 3/4" from Creative Awnings
(8) F3-A, 3 way 3/4" from Creative Awnings
(4) FT-A, T's 3/4" from Creative Awnings
40' of 2' high by 1" hole chicken wire
10' of 5' wide 1" hole chicken wire
A few bungie cords to tie the lid down with
a pool of 16 gauge smooth wire to cinch the chicken wire to the frame with.

You can cut the electrical metal tubing with a hack-saw, sawz-all, or rotating metal cutting tool. Be sure to put the 4-way pieces on the top of the tractor and you will have two of the metal rods crossing over the top. The "T's" go on the bottom supports, while the 3-way pieces go on all of the corners.

The whole project will cost about $120.

Local Food Worth Fighting For

2010-05-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the "local food" movement has come so far: Chefs brawling over the origin of heritage of pork. This is what I call a revolution!

The Oregonion ran a story about this incident. I'm not certain why these guys ended up in front of Strip-club, drunk, at 1am after this event. However, lets put that issue aside for now. The crux of the argument centered around a certain red-wattle pig flown in from Iowa that took first prize in a cook-off of heritage pork held in Portland. As Chef Eric Bechard said: "We as Oregonians pride ourselves on sustainable and local, so to be in a room full of those people, who then voted for this Iowa pig, it was disappointing."

I believe that Bechard has a point. The Cochon555 event flyer advertised 5 Chefs, 5 wines, and 5 pigs but neglected to mention the source of the pigs. This is a huge oversight for such an event, held in a City and a State famous for leading the locally grown revolution. To source a pig all the way from Iowa is particularly egregious, especially considering how many Oregon farms raise Pork: yes, even including the famous red wattle hogs. The source of the food for events such as these needs to be front-and-center in an age where small producers are constantly fighting against imported products.

Organic Certification In June!

2010-05-13T15:26:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, we finally submitted our organic certification paperwork. This is something we have been intending to do for some time, but have not had the time. At any rate, we had our inspection last week and are sending in the last bit of paperwork this week. We will receive our notification at the end of June and then you will be able to see products labelled "Deck Family Farm, Oregon Tilth Certified Organic".

Our first products for certification will be Beef, Chicken, and Turkeys. The dairy, pork, lamb, & goats will be next year and are considered "transitional". Probably the most difficult to certify for us will be the Pork since everything they eat needs organic certification paperwork, including: all leftover compost from the household, hazelnuts we have sourced from local farms, and leftover milled bread (even if it has organic ingredients, it needs to be a certified organic product in and of itself). This is a big task to track all of this but we remain optimistic that this is pushing our food industry as a whole in a positive direction.

Looking forward to it!

Turkey bath-time

2010-05-04T22:43:00.001-07:00

All the baby turkeys arrived last week. Turkeys, if you have never experienced them as their young selves, are remarkably fragile. Getting them to eat and drink and not smother each other is a major challenge. We thought we had cleared this hurdle last week until late one night we herd a louder than usual chorus of cheeping coming from the barn.

Looking into one pen, we found 50 turkeys completely soaked from swimming in their water. Evidently the heat lamp was too close to the water. This is a regular poultry water fountain and we've never had anything like this happen before, and I never thought it *could* happen. It seemed that one or two birds got dunked and became frantic, which provoked the rest of the turkeys in the pen to try it. At any rate, with the fragile baby turkeys I thought we were going to have a catastrophe and lose them all. We proceeded to bring all of them in the house, crank the heater up to 90 degrees and place little pods of turkeys in front of each heater vent, giving them warm baths and blow drying them.

After an hour of frantic effort we finished up by putting two heat lamps in our laundry room on them. We were ultimately able to save all but 2 of the birds. In putting the birds back in the cage, we placed the heat lamp well away from the waters this time.

No Soy Chicken Feeding Experiment

2010-03-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

There has been alot of interest lately in using No-soy feed for raising chickens. This is a response to the over-use of soy in animal feed and other food products, possible hormonal effects of soy, concerns over the use of genetically modified soy seed, and difficulties in sourcing local soy (e.g. much of the organic soy used in the Pacific Northwest is sourced from China).

During the summer of 2009, utilizing the efforts of an enthusiastic intern, we conducted an informal trial to compare Soy vs. No-soy feed utilization among Cornish X (straight-run), Delaware (males), and Rhode Island Red (males). The No-soy feed was sourced from Union Point Feed using a 21% ration with peas as the primary protein source. We used a crumble (pelleted feed that has been mashed up a bit) so the birds could consume the entire ration (this formulation was derived based on the experiences of some growers reporting negative selection on the peas). The Soy-based feed was also sourced from Union Point Feed using their standard broiler mix.

All birds were raised on pasture in 10' x 10' mobile pens. Birds were weighed weekly and feed consumption was tallied weekly as well. At the end of the study we calculated feed conversion based on live weight and on finished weight (dressed bird).

Results Table

Not surprisingly, the Cornish X birds had the best feed conversion ration (lbs of feed per lb of gain) of all breeds. In addition, the Soy-fed Cornish X gained better than the Non-soy Cornish X, but only marginally. While the feed conversion ratios were greater (using more feed to gain weight) and time to finish was longer for the Delawares and Rhode Island Reds, it is interesting that these breeds actually had better feed conversion ratios on the No-soy feed.

Another interesting point in this particular study is that there was a far higher mortality in the Cornish X Soy-fed pen. Thus, while the feed conversion was optimized, our actual calculated profit on this batch was lower than the No-Soy pen due to the higher mortality. While this is not statistically significant, it would be worth looking at possible health effects of various feeds in pasture-based chicken trials.

We also had some issues with the Delaware pens, in that the birds developed a nasty habit of pecking each other. This was our first time raising Delawares and we don't know if this is common for the breed or not, when using males only in a pasture-based situation. The problem seemed to get worse the older the birds got.

It would be worthwhile to do additional work comparing more favorable pasture-based broilers in this type of study, icluding: Freedom Rangers (aka Red or Black Rangers), or La Belle Rouge. These birds finish slightly longer than Cornish X (9-11 weeks versus 8 for Cornish X) but do not take nearly as long as the Rhode Island Reds or Delawares (14-16 weeks).

Chicken Tractor Construction Photo

2010-02-07T21:15:00.001-08:00

Here is the latest, greatest chicken tractor in construction. The trailer was purchased off of craigslist, a 21 foot model for $225. The nest boxes will go on the side facing the camera.

Why Farm Subsidies are Bad for Farms

2010-02-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

Hey, I'm a farmer and so I should be in favor of farm subsidies. Right?

Actually, farm subsidies simply tax Americans to give them cheap crap to eat and reward millionaire farmers, who spend most of their profits buying out smaller farms and further consolidating the food supply. Over 90% of the US agricultural food subsidy goes to Corn, Wheat, Rice, & Soy (more information). Corn is subsidized to such an extent that it is now being used as a primary finisher for Beef Cattle, not to mention being propped up as a fuel additive.

Raising Grassfed Beef I've gotten a pretty good idea on the costs involved and what it takes to make ends meet for a small to medium sized farm. Operating without agricultural subsidies and taking into account proper land stewardship and working with honest butchers, our prices come in at about double what you can find in your local grocery store. The carbon-monoxide, Ammonia-treated, corn stuffed crap they call ground beef is impossible for us to compete with on price. However, remove the agricultural subsidies, demand proper land stewardship, and proper diet for cattle and small farmers will be at a winning advantage to the corporate farmers while providing a far healthier product (for people and the planet).

I remarked recently at a farmer gathering that we must eliminate agricultural subsides. One person retorted that I better be ready for the $10 bag of Doritos. Ironically, higher prices for Doritos and other corn-derived foodstuffs (sodas, candy, anything with corn-syrup) would solve another major American crisis: obesity. Heck, even the US Military should be behind this one (see article on obesity as a contributing factor to declining number of available recruits).

New Zealand is one of the few modern countries to do away with agricultural subsidies and their experience has been positive, once they got through a rocky transition period (See Rodale Institut e Article).

Update from the chicken flock

2009-12-21T22:51:00.000-08:00

We've been working on building a mobile chicken hen-house recently. Just put it into service with the new flock of pullets. Freezing weather and crowded conditions in our previous mobile chicken palace (a converted greenhouse w/ roll-up sides) forced us (well, me) to act quickly. As soon as its really done, like with actual nest-boxes, and a roof-water catchment system for watering the denizens (groovy!) i'll post some photos. In the meantime, in the spirit of producing local, organic food is the following cartoon by Bizarro:

CowScape

2009-09-02T16:10:00.001-07:00

My Mom took this picture on a recent trip to our farm. I especially enjoy how the brown of the hill contrasts with the lower pasture green while the earth tones are reflected in the sky: an expanse of blue contrasting with the clouds.

Visits to Farmers Market and Raw Cheese Dairies in Southern France

2009-05-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

Christine and I are visiting Southern France for 3 days before I attend a conference in London. While here we visited two artisan cheese dairies and a farmers market in Pezeran. In the first photo, my nephew Phillipe is looking at a market booth filled with fresh local cheeses (all raw), smoked meats, pâtes, brain, liver, rabbit, and chicken. What struck me about the market was not just the variety of products available but the variety of animal parts for sale (e.g. brain, liver, and the pâtes). This ability to market the whole animal gives a significant boost in product profit margin to the farmers. Note the sophisticated marketing vehicle for the meats and cheese.

Out to the farms! We visited two very different small cheese dairies. One was small, well-kept, and featured goat cheeses and the other was a rambling cooperative with a variety of cheeses and workers. Both dairys impressed us, featuring tasty fresh cheeses. None of the cheeses were aged more than one month. When asked why they did not age them for longer, they said it was because the always sold out! One thing that was common to our own farm was escaping goats- we witnessed the alpine goats at one farm escaping into the Cherry Orchard (second photo).

Southern France features many of the aspects of farms and marketing farm products that we only dream about in the United States-- favorable laws governing the production of raw cheeses and butchering, customers willing to purchase every part of the animal, and a deeply embedded cultural interest in quality food. This enables an ongoing sustainable food culture.

Thanks to my sister Kristin and husband Jean and kids for hosting us while visiting and the Chez Lou Lou blog for advice on where to find good farms to visit.

Beef on Grass

2009-04-09T05:08:00.000-07:00

The grass is going strong and the Beef herd is enjoying their forages. In the photo is Alex with the herd. Temporary strands of hotwire are creating small pasture subdivisions, in which the cattle are rotated daily.

Farmers Market in Baja California Sur

2009-04-09T04:39:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity to visit Loreto, Mexico in January. Besides enjoying some sun and heat as a welcome change from Oregon's rain, we visited the local farmers market. Right in a dried-up river bed (very useful when the local rainfall averages less than 5 inches per year), vendors sold vegetables, watches, clothes, pirated DVDs and CDs, meats, and cheese. The market was a stark contrast to the US, where most markets regulate what vendors sell, where they sell, and how they sell. The market seemed to operate in a state of controlled chaos and the only thing bringing order to the system was the earnest desire of everyone to get at the areas primary supply of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, and cheese.

The quality of some of the products was excellent and some of the products mediocre. The chicken, for instance, was not great and I had a suspicion it was a Foster Farms product imported from the States. On the other hand, much of the fruit was locally grown, as was the beef, which was excellent.

I was awed by the display on the meat table where all cuts were displayed raw on the table. What a difference from the States but also what a difference to be in a place where everyone goes to the farmers market and there are so many more people involved in the food system.

What is our cultural heritage?

2009-03-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

The new farm economy relies on oil, investment banks, and speculation. A foundation of mono-culture, literally interpreted science driving progress in the 1000 horse-power tractor. Fantasy vacations and lives of comfort and ease are the fruits of this marvel of technology and science.

The old farm economy works on sweat, sun, and hope. So many intangibles weaving together life, ancestors, and children. So much hardship, worn and fatigued but proud ownership of a way of life.

Founded as a nation of independent farmers, what is our cultural heritage? High Schoolers know about the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle but they don't have the stamina to work for a morning in the sun. Calculus is taught to strapping youth, but how many know how to plow a field?

Caught in a sea of insanity that has swept our nation in the recent past, we search for meaning in our lives. Perhaps it was there all along.

Farming Projects

2009-02-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

For the next season I am planing on growing a variety of grains and beans and marketing them both whole sale and retail possibly as a part of Deck Family Farm. In addition I plan on growing a small vegetable garden for all those involved with working on the farm and for a Slow Foods one-field dinner which hopefully will be held on our farm around August. Pictures and more details to follow.
-Alexander

Dairy Improvements

2008-10-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

Back in the Spring we created year-long dairy cow shares to help pay for some Dairy Improvements. The core of these improvements were to:

1) Create a space adjacent to the dairy processing house to milk the cows including creating a water-cooled tank to chill milk during milking time.
2) Bring improved power to the dairy processing house to run the milk pump
3) Provide better drainage.

We've brought new power lines in and have installed drainage (in the form of a 6" pipe that collects the water-cooling water, wash water, and roof-runoff). A future project is installation of a holding tank and irrigation pump to distribute water on the fields. The photos below show the current state of the dairy-- we're just waiting for the rains to pass so we can pour the concrete, and then we can start milking in our new facility!

The Dairy processing house needs a new door!

This is the run-up to the milking parlor. We will be building an awning going from the barn on the right to cover, the millking area. The poles on the right are the run-up to where we will be putting in place our scale.

The metal poles are where the stanchions will go to hold the cows in place while we milk.

Comparing Cornish X to Heritage Broilers on a no-soy diet

2008-09-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

We've been working with a small group of growers in the Southern Willamette Valley who are committed to raising chickens on pasture in small batches. We were experimenting with no-soy feeds this year and opted to provide protein with peas. We found that broilers don't like the green peas and kicked them out of their feeders. They didn't do this with the yellow peas, however.

Also, we found that the Cornish X variety out-gained the heritage breeds by a factor of 2:1 regardless of diet. This played a critical role in the profitability of the venture from the farming end, suggesting that heritage breeds may need to be priced differently next year. However, the heritage breeds we raised were happy and active, with a full growth of feathers during their tenure versus the Cornish X who appeared as absurdly fat with few feathers and little desire to forage or exhibit normal chicken behaviors.

Here are the numbers for the different sets of chickens grown this summer:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pxfq6unaQo2-SEGpZ9WaRIQ

Note that the numbers in this spreadsheet were gained far from scientifically and any definitive answers on growth rates and responses to feed would need to be gained in a controlled experiment. We would welcome anybody to work with us on this next year, perhaps raising several varieties of chickens on two different types of feed in identical pastured conditions.

Recent photos

2008-09-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

We haven't posted in awhile because we've been so busy this summer. But, here are some farm pictures, including: "goat-scapes", "shanti washing eggs", and "Alex" (who is now an intern on a farm in Brazil).

Warm weather days

2008-05-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

We invited a group of living lawn-mowers into our front yard. Foreground is a single strand of hot wire to keep them off the porch. Shanti keeps the lawn-mowers company during a mowing break.

Small farm distribution networks

2008-05-12T10:48:00.000-07:00

A great article was posted recently from the NY Times on big vs. little agriculture. It is good reading that offers some hopeful alternatives amidst the growing global food crisis and bland products consumers have been putting up with for years.

As the NY Times article discusses, distribution networks are key for small farms. For people in Eugene, check out the Eugene Local Foods site. This is a brand new website that lets folks order produce, dried goods, meats, and dairy from local farms online. This site is operating at just the right scale to truly support small, local farms while offering a tasty, wholesome product to the community.

There is more to the story of burping cows

2008-05-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

Shannon Hayes, farmer and host of grassfedcooking.com, has posted an excellent article on greenhouse gas emissions, and grassfed vs. grainfed beef. She explores the differences of grassfed ruminants to their grainfed counterparts living in feedlots, and what this means for health, greenhouse gas emissions, and local economies. I very much recommend reading the story, which can be found at: http://grassfedcooking.com/articles/aboutribeyes.html

Quiz! Which one of the animals in the picture above is NOT a ruminant?

Reclaiming Our Farming Heritage

2008-03-31T22:12:00.000-07:00

Factory farms, industrial agricultural, and concentrated animal feeding operations have become the norm for producing our nation’s food. Even “organic” labels have become mired in controversy and diluted, still relying on heavy doses of fossil fuels, byproducts of the industrial system (e.g. chicken manure from factory farmed chickens), and practicing confinement raising of animals (e.g. Horizon Organic and
Aurora Organic, which control over 65% of organic milk production, buy their milk from dairies which largely confine their lactating mothers – see http://www.organicconsumers.org/nosb2.htm).

Continued production of grain for feed in certain areas of the country and the wholesale transportation of this grain and its soil nutrients to feedlots and surrounding areas, CAFOs, chicken farms, and distilleries, has led to an uneven distribution of phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium where we get eutrophication on the one hand, and desertification on the other.

While advocates of industrial farming point to increased efficiency in the mega-system, this system relies heavily on fossil fuels, has a small genetic pool, leads to inhumane treatment of animals, and relies heavily on antibiotics, not to mention a lackluster food-product devoid of flavor and lacking in nutrients.

The underlying paradigm in this country supports this trend. Our population is concentrated in cities and dependent on fossil fuels for all aspects of our modern life. Our legal system continues to support the notion that all food must be produced in sterile conditions meant to justify procedures and systems appropriate for the slaughter of thousands of animals per day or one per week--- its all the same.

Food production has been relegated to the mega-agri-experts and we must take it back, but how? The answer may lie in some further questions: Why don't roosters crow in the middle of the city? Why do agricultural proponents insist that food must be raised in an environment devoid of people and multiple dwellings? Why do we truck animals hundreds of miles to nameless facilities, lock up the offal as hazardous waste, but cry foul only when the most egregious examples of neglect are brought to our attention? How have we let Monsanto get so far in generating a monopoly on seeds?!

In promoting small farms, local food, and sustainability, we need to think broadly about where we want to be, and act incrementally to bring about change. Here are a few ideas:

Have a flock of chickens and roosters. Roosters symbolize growth and fertility. Locking them out of cities means we all rely on factory farmed eggs if we choose to raise chickens.
Tear up your lawn and plant a garden
Invest in small scale ethanol and bio-diesel production plants. Why not gas up at your local farm that is converting available materials to alcohol and composting/feeding the spent mash? Why do ethanol plants have to be corn-based only, in the midwest, and enormous? (see http://www.alcoholcanbeagas.com/)
Buy beef, pork, lamb, & goat by the side from local farmers using mobile butchers. We've found that the farmer and consumer both benefit when meat is purchased by the side (the only loser is the USDA which loses an opportunity to impose a strangling and ridiculous set of regulations into the process).
Write to the Oregon Department of Agriculture telling them to grant state approval for mobile chicken processing facilities to allow small producers to flourish.
Encourage small-clustered developments in rural areas. This is an area we are working on currently--- to figure out how to get more community on and around our own land. What we're lacking is a social fabric that truly supports small farms. Send me an email if you're interested in talking about this particular topic further!

Post a comment if you have further thoughts on reclaiming our farming heritage.

Riparian Restoration On Owen's Creek

2008-01-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

After 3 years since our first inquiry into Government-sponsored conservation programs, this month we are finally going to begin implementing conservation practices under the Conservation Reservation Enhancement Program. This program finances conservation improvements for riparian areas, including fencing, tree-planting and lease payments for land within the conservation zone. Our first project is 3/4 mile of fencing along Owen's Creek, including planting 920 Ash, Fir, Pine, Oak, and Willow trees. The project will keep livestock out of the creek, minimizing erosion, and encourage shade growing trees along the bank, thereby reducing water temperature in the creek and improving habitat for fish.

The above picture was taken in December, 2006 while scouting areas for the project. John is shown talking with some of the brave souls who know how to navigate Government programs.

December Rains...

2007-12-03T16:37:00.001-08:00

Early December has brought alot of rain. The above picture was taken on Monday, December 3rd, looking north across the meadow & High Pass Road. We've been watching the water jump the creek-banks and slowly take over the meadow today. We've moved all of the animals out of our lowlands until late Spring.

Our batch of young hens finally started laying and so now we have a better supply of eggs. Also, Maria is embarking on raising Duck Eggs. So far, the ducks have been quiet and we're still waiting for them to adapt to their new surroundings.

Check out the Register Guard article about Deck Family Farm from November 20th!

Simple Heritage Roast Turkey

2007-11-18T14:08:00.001-08:00

Passing on this recipe for cooking a heritage turkey:

Simple Heritage Roast Turkey (from the NY Times)
Time: 2 to 3 1/2 hours, depending on size of turkey

1 12-to 18-pound heritage turkey such as a Bronze or Bourbon Red, thawed, with giblets and neck removed

3 tablespoons kosher salt

1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper

4 tablespoons butter, cut into four pieces

1 medium onion, quartered

2 stalks celery, cut in two or three pieces each

1 medium apple, halved

8 sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups turkey broth, water or a mixture of half water and half apple juice.

1. At least four hours before roasting, rub turkey inside and out with salt and pepper; refrigerate. Remove from refrigerator 45 minutes before roasting. Heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Set turkey in roasting pan fitted with a V-shaped rack. Slip your fingers under skin to loosen it. Rub butter over breasts. Stuff vegetables, apple and thyme into cavity. Tuck wingtips under bird.

3. Pour broth or water into pan, around bird. Put turkey in oven and roast, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 325, baste turkey with pan juices, cover with a foil tent and return to oven. Cook for another 30 minutes. Remove foil, baste again and place foil back on turkey. Cook for 30 more minutes. Remove foil.

4. When turkey has roasted for a total of two hours, insert a meat thermometer straight down into fleshiest part of thigh, where it meets drumstick. Check a second spot, then remove thermometer. (Do not let thermometer touch bone.) Thigh meat should reach no more than 165 degrees. Juices should run clear. (If bird is larger than 14 pounds, keep foil on longer and begin checking meat temperature at two and half hours.) To assure perfectly cooked white and dark meat, you may remove bird when meat thermometer shows thigh temperature at 155, then remove legs and roast them separately for another 15 to 30 minutes, depending on size of bird.

5. When bird has reached desired temperature, remove from oven and let rest for at least 30 minutes, covered in foil and with a damp towel on top of foil, to retain heat and allow juices to return to meat. Remove foil and towel and serve.

Yield: 8 to 12 servings.

Those grass-lovin' Turkeys

2007-11-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

The rain is coming down and our batch of intrepid turkeys remain on the green pasture, dutifully demolishing left-over cowpies, braving the rain, and letting off a deafening cackle whenever we approach. Hard to believe this is the last day we feed them. Tonight we're locking them up and tomorrow (Monday) is the butcher day. I can't say I find turkeys particularly attractive, but i've certainly grown fond of them and will be sorry to see them go. Until next year...

October 3rd

2007-10-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

Re-worked pastures near lower barn and around main barn. These areas had been heavily impacted. Used box-scraper with tines down to turn over soil and then box-scraper with tines up to even things out. Spread ryegrass, fescue, orchard-grass mix at 40# / acre. Then rolled with a cultipacker.

We also over-seeded annual ryegrass, fescue on the front pasture and rolled with the cultipacker. Spread at a rate of 60# /acre.

The weather seems pretty good so far, with reasonably warm temps, rain and sun.

Where's the carbon?

2007-08-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

There has been alot of news lately about carbon footprints of various food items. Notably, cows have gotten a bad rap from many different sources. For example, see the discussion where eating beef is worse than driving.

Before trying to convince everyone to become a vegan we need to think about the different methods of raising cows. Cows on well-managed pasture are a far different product than cows being fed grain in a large feedlot. Pastured cows burp less, and if the pasture is managed properly, the cows can enhance soil fertility and stimulate plant growth, which will then form carbon-sinks. There has been little research in the area concerning carbon emissions utilizing different methods of animal production.

Lets start by looking at our farm policy of subsidizing corn, which is currently used for soft-drinks, creating a fuel-source which uses as much energy as it produces, and fattening cows in feed lots. How about subsidizing farmers to switch to management intensive grazing (where animals are used to enhance pasture growth) and expanding the utilization of the Conservation Reserve Program (to keep livestock out of creeks). How about carbon credits to farmers that build soil organic matter?

Working together

2007-07-15T16:49:00.001-07:00

This is another short hay year. Late rains last Fall and a fairly dry Spring meant a bit less than expected so we needed to buy extra. Given this year's high hay costs, we opted to buy straight out of the field from a neighbor.

Picking up hay from the field is a great lesson in teamwork. Beside appreciating the power of machines which one person can do, the real lesson is in working together. While working, I thought about automation of our farms, our reliance on technology and petroleum and what this does to those regular team-building exercises that our ancestral farm families have always done. Working together at 5 in the morning we pulled up over 22 tons of hay onto our truck and flatbed and stacked it in our big barn. Doing this, I learned how to balance on a 10 foot high stack on a moving flatbed, while my 12 year old daughter Maria learned how to drive a truck. Chris organized paths for the truck to drive in and Ella and Alex learned how to efficiently handle and lift and work together.

This was not all harmonious mind you, and was accompanied by a certain amount of yelling, admonitions, and hair-pulling. In the end, we worked it out because we had to. There was no automation to save us, no harrow-beds, and not perfectly stacked hay. For that, I'm thankful.

The Miraculous 64 cent/lb chicken

2007-06-12T08:30:00.001-07:00

We have an ongoing dispute around here about how to raise our broilers. One side promotes electro-net (see post below on laying hens for a picture of electro-net in foreground). This solution offers ample space for the chickens to move around, a large natural environment, and is fairly aesthetic. The netting is moved once / week but the feeders inside the net are moved daily. The other side promotes 10' x 10' chicken tractors. The chickens are more crowded, but the pens are moved twice per day, which means they almost all always have 'fresh' pasture and the manure is more evenly deposited across the pasture.
Which ideal do we feel is most important. Aesthetics? Enjoyment factor for the person doing the work? Our pastures? Chicken health? Economics for us is a necessary component, but happens after we have our ideals in line.

Economics got me to thinking too, about some recent chickens we bought at Safeway. We were testing a new bagging system and wanted to experiment on some cheap chickens instead of our own broilers. I could not believe that the price was 64 cents/lb. How in the world does an operation pay for egg-hatching, housing, feeding, processing, bagging, marketing, and distributing a 64cent/lb chicken and still make a profit? This is certainly a wonder of modern-day economics. But is it a wonder of anything else?

Does the 64cent/lb chicken benefit from impassioned discussions among its owners or shareholders arguing for its well-being or environmental benefit? Does the 64cent/lb chicken bring wonder and enjoyment to the folks raising the chicken, processing it, or eating it? Pondering these questions helps me put our own dispute into perspective. For us, its not about the right answer, but about the process and the ideals behind what we do. The end result is far from a 64cent/lb chicken but certainly tastes better.

Hen-condo

2007-06-08T08:20:00.001-07:00

We've been working on getting more laying hens going and needed improved living quarters for our girls.

Shown here is our new deluxe mobile hen-house. It was constructed from a vintage 1950's discarded trailer, old plywood for nest-boxes, tarps, 3/4" electrical metal tubing (EMT), chicken wire, 1x1 welded wire for the floor, and corner braces from Creative Awnings. The total cost for this ran about $300. Most of the cost for this house was for the EMT and chicken wire. We still need to enclose the ends and make a door for the hens.

In the foreground is electric netting from Premier. Cost for 1 roll of this is $130 (expensive stuff but it works great). Once the hens get acclimated to their new digs, we'll remove the electric netting and they will only wander about 150' from their home.

On-farm Chicken Processing

2007-06-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

We're processing 200 chickens this Monday, June 11th. This is double the number that we've done the past two times. At our first processing last month, we had our friend Ariel playing the harmonium and leading chanting during the killing. It was a very spiritual experience to participate in the death of living beings with such honor and intention.

We welcome anyone to come to the farm and watch the processing in action. The best time to come would be between 10am and 3pm. We welcome people who want to help too! Let us know if you want a chicken and we can reserve one or more for you.

Spring grass growth & scotch-broom control

2007-05-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

We got a good start to our Spring grass with good rains a couple of weeks ago. The current dry weather, however, has dampened the growth somewhat. We have been irrigating our hay field to help produce more growth. The cows are still on our back hillside but forage is running a little thin there and we'll need to move cows in the next week or so.

Scotch-broom is in full swing and we are controlling with our brush hog and cutting by hand. This is hard work! We are growing our goat herd larger and next year hope to have the goats on our back hillside to control re-growth.

Recent study shows that raw milk benefits asthma & allergy sufferers

2007-05-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

A recent European study proves that drinking raw milk (or "farm milk") reduces the incidence of Asthma and Allergies (View PDF file of this study). This is great information for proponents of raw-milk.