By FarmMama Jen ~ 

For those that don’t know it… winter is a time for reflection on the farm.  Taking stock of how the previous year went; what worked what didn’t, what would we like to change and what should stay the same.  Being that we are entering into our third year of farming, we are still very much molding our philosophies and farming practices, all the while using our Guiding Principles to point us down the path that would best suit all involved: our family, the land & animals as well as our customers!  We do not believe it is necessary to compromise, meaning give up something for another, but rather that it is possible for everyone’s needs to be met through cooperation, communication and empathy.  Not only do we spend a great deal of time inventorying our operations from the previous year, but we also do a great deal of planning for the next!  The two go hand-in-hand really and we truly enjoy the time and opportunity to reflect and remember all the wonderful reasons why we love farm life!

Among the many topics of conversation that have taken place over the past few months, one has been the ever increasing number of requests from our customers wanting cuts of meat, rather than sides or shares (halves & wholes) of both lamb and pork.  For various reasons not everyone wants to have to store a large quantity of meat in their freezer; they might not have a freezer or are limited on the amount of room in the one they do have, smaller families or single people may not require such a large quantity of meat and there are those that simply do not consume meat often enough to make a side or share a value to them, yes there are many reasons.  

*For those that don't know, there are two ways to get your lamb & pork  processed.  

1. Custom Exempt: in which a mobile butcher comes to the farm, performs the harvest and takes the carcass back to the butcher shop (in our case, we use Stephenson's located less than a mile from us in Ridgefield)  The animals never have to be trucked off the farm to slaughter, reducing the overall stress as well as ensuring the animal receives the respect and proper treatment it deserves.  The downside to Custom Exempt is it only allows us to sell our meat by the side/share (wholes or halves) not always convenient for all our customers, and this option does not allow us to sell to restaurants, markets or even through our own FarmStore!
2. USDA: with USDA, we would have to truck our animals to a USDA inspected facility, usually hours away, and there is no guarantee of the treatment our animals would receive.  We would like to think they would be respectful, but again their is no guarantee.  The benefit to USDA is it would allow us to then sell meat by the cut, versus the side/share with many more options and avenues in which to sell our product!

So Matt & I have been discussing the idea of possibly taking a small number of animals to a USDA processing facility.  Up until now we have strongly opposed this option, we have always promoted that ALL our animals are harvested on-farm in the most humane manner possible, so the idea of taking some animals off-farm has been one that has become quite a debate around the Schwab household!  Like most major decisions we use our Guiding Principles to assist us down this path, weighing all our options as we go and discussing them with like-minded farmers that have similar farming practices & philosophies, getting their opinions and feedback, which has been extremely helpful!  I love the care and concern this farming community has for one another, it truly is inspiring.  That being said, we are at a place now where we are beginning to feel more comfortable with the idea of possibly taking a small number of animals to a new LOCAL facility here in Washington, in which Matt would be involved in much of the process, everything from the transporting of the animals to the harvest itself – overseeing the treatment & handling of them throughout the process!  Matt would most likely not be directly involved in the actual harvesting, but would be able to oversee & supervise the procedures & practices of the facility ensuring that the animals are receiving the respect they deserve.  Knowing that Matt would be able to observe the process has made the idea of transporting the animals a possibility, but before we make the final decision, we wanted to get feedback from YOU – our community of customers!  Should you wish to offer us your opinions & outlook on this matter, please do so here on our blog!  As always, your feedback is welcome, wanted & needed, and we thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!

By Farmer Matt ~

I have been composting for a long time.  By composting, I mean the capturing of wastes to grow plants.  My first memory was burying a pine cone with some dog manure with the hope that it would some day be a tree.  In that first experience was an understanding that soil fertility is built rather than just assumed.  Good soil takes work and is easy to destroy.  In the natural world Nature will build soil on its own through the natural cycles of growth and decay.  On a farm it is up to the farmer to manage the growth and decay cycle.  If one assumes that in order for more growth to occur that more decay must happen simultaneously or the net fertility of the soil will diminish, relative to the balance of the growth/decay cycle, then it is up to the farmer to increase decay in places where nutrient hungry crops are grown.  One way is to use animal waste.  An animals digestive system accelerates the decay process.  Another way to accelerate decay is to use compost heaps.  A compost heap is essentially a place for bacteria to be happy, multiply and digest wastes in a thorough and timely manner.  The main bacteria one wants for this scenario are aerobic.  Very roughly, they need air, moisture and stuff to eat.  Happy bacteria will give off heat and break down most wastes in a few weeks.  Therefore, one can use their eyes to see that wastes that have been added are breaking down, their hands to feel if the heap is warm and nose to tell if the ingredients are in balance.

On our farm all of the animals are raised out-of-doors on pasture, except for the few weeks that the chicks spend in the brooder and the hoop houses that the layers spend part of their time during the winter in.  So most of the time our animals waste is being directly applied and used in the pasture.  That is great for the pasture, not so good for the vegetable gardens.  The wastes that we can capture- the bedding in the brooder, the hoop houses and the offal that comes from butchering the animals on the farm -  is still not enough to build the fertility of our garden spaces.  We have a few options: 1. decrease out vegetable growing space, 2. increase the number of animals we raise or confine the ones we raise, or 3. import fertility to the farm. 1. I don't see our vegetable space decreasing, it will actually be increasing, so that scenario is out.  2 The animals and I are happy with the current growing situation.  So that leave us with option 3.  

 Some would recommend purchasing chemical fertilizers made from petrol-chemicals.  My experience has been that they have short-term benefits and long-term damaging effects.  Chemical fertilizers don't improve the composition of soil they just give a boost to the plants.  Sort of like eating candy bars, they give you quick energy but in the long run they're not that good for you.  So, chemicals are not really an option to increase long term fertility.

One product I could buy is pre-made compost.  It costs about $32/ yard delivered.  It is often made with wood wastes and chemical fertilizers.  Another option is to purchase excess manure from neighboring farms. One of the problems with raw manure is that some of it contains weed seeds that will sprout when you put them directly into a planting area and in the case of chicken manure it is too volatile to use much of directly.

The pre-made compost is a little expensive as I would be needing about 30-50 yards.  I can buy a lot of vegetables for that much money.  So, I have opted for importing some raw ingredients and making my own compost.  In very basic terms one needs to add ingredients to the compost pile that when mixed together have an average carbon/nitrogen ratio of 20:1 to 30:1.  A mixture with too much carbon will decay too slowly or not at all and a mixture with too much nitrogen will stink like ammonia (that's volatilizing nitrogen which means wasted energy).  It will also stink like a feed lot of cows (that's methane from anaerobic bacteria) if parts of the pile aren't getting air from being too wet or layers of material that don't breathe like grass clippings.  

I started out by buying a 40 yard load of hog fuel.  Hog fuel is coarsely ground chunks of wood that has a C-N ratio of about 100:1.  The load cost about $8/ yard delivered.  I originally bought it to help build the bedding in one of the winter chicken houses and to use in the well traveled muddy areas of the pasture.  After using what I needed I still had about 30 yards left.  The next ingredient I got was chicken manure from a farm down the road.  Chicken manure has a C-N ration of about 10-1.  They sell it for $15/ yard.  I bought 2 yards and brought it back to the farm.

Now, I already had a compost pile going from my own food scraps and the wastes from animal processing combined with wood chips and straw.  This pile was only about 5 yards and wasn't enough material for what I will need in a few months.  And rather than start a new pile I decided to add to it.  I started by turning the mountain into a volcano.  I took a pitch fork and started flinging material out of the middle to the sides.  Once it was sufficiently hollowed out in the middle I started adding a few shovels full of chicken manure followed by a tractor scoop of hog fuel and then spreading it out.  I did this until the pile was 6' high and 12' across.  My methods of measurement are not scientific.  The main goal was to combine the 2 ingredients and watch what happens.  I should also note that the chicken manure was dry and that the hog fuel was very wet.  If I was doing this in the summer I would have needed to add water.  Being that it is raining, there was no need to add water.  I finished the pile off with a solid layer of hog fuel to hold in the moisture.

Within 3 days the pile was steaming and when I pulled apart the first layer and stuck my hand in it was hot to the touch.  

The pile will cook down and lose volume.  My hope is that in the long run I will make a mulch that is superior to what can be purchased and save some money.  It is my goal to create all of the humus the plants need on the farm.  I am still a year or 2 away from that.  I will let you know how this goes.