Chicama Run Family Farm

Believe it or not this was asked this past week.  Do we actually do what we say we do...... well - look around and I think you'll see animals and such..... so yep we do.   If you go to a farm and there are no animals or gardens you might want to think twice.  But also ask the farmer - some contract farm, some lease land etc.

This brought on a thought - probably because I had CSA stuff on the mind today.... and while waiting for the cows to milk sometimes its quiet and I get to think - nothing to do but watch the milking machine :)

There is a HUGE difference in a CSA and a CO-OP.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  You are taking a risk by buying a share in the farm.  When we first started - neither of us was comfortable with offering that type of risk to people by doing a vegetable CSA.  Joe's lettuce has never tasted "right" and we don't know why - but it's not a product we would have been comfortable offering to a customer.  We chose to do the meat csa - because unless we have a very serious disaster happen - we will have beef & pork.  We took down the chicken option because last year we felt bad.  We had weeks where there was no chicken - 40 birds died within a 3 hour time frame because of the 100 degree weather - it was awful and sudden.  It was part of the risk people took - which meant they should have gone without chicken - however we felt bad about it and extended it and added some extra chickens.  We aren't able to do that, so we took off that option so we can be a little less stressed about that.  Just to put it in a money perspective - 40 chickens averaging 5 lbs each at $3.99/pound = $798... which covers the feed cost.  See why we took it off?  Anyways, back on track..... a CSA is supposed to be provided by that farm alone - that farm grows it, raises it....whatever.... and provides it to you, the customer.

Now - onto a CO-OP.... this CAN, and frequently does, have items grown and produced by the farmer running it..... HOWEVER the biggest difference is that they incorporate other farmers and their products plus sometimes even buying off the big truck to supply you with certain things each week consistently.  Nothing wrong with this at all.... as long as they are saying CSA... it's misleading to quite a few people.

This all turns back around on knowing your farmer.  Talk to us farmers - believe it or not, we know what we are talking about and are usually thrilled to talk (if we have the time right then) - we LIKE to talk about what we raise and grow - we are proud of this.  Don't be put off if we are dirty and messy - heck I know I usually get up and don't get to take a shower until 10 or 11..... or even only at night..... we do clean up pretty well - but we don't usually chose to do that every day (could you imagine milking a cow in a skirt??)

This is actually a very hard thing to do... yet as I sit with my new set up of Quickbooks Online open, it occurred to me how much of a business this is.

I love what we do - don't EVER get me wrong on that one.  I love living here.  Joe and I were talking last night about being able to make it work after he retires and being able to stay here.  This is a very expensive place to live - on a farm or in the suburbs - so this was a big conversation.  My favorite amazing tree is in bloom (it's a 2+ story Dogwood - if you can come and see it do so - it's worth it) and I can sit and smile at it.

BUT in order to stay here it has to be more than sustainable - it has to provide income.  This is my full time job.  It might seem some days that I just sit around - but hey you guys get a weekend most of the time or a day off right?  We really don't - so I get my "sit around" days because in a few hours I will need to milk cows, or check to see the new babies, or clean a stall.... well you get the point.

Can it be "profitable"?  Well nope.  I don't really think it can to the point most people would ever see it as a true "income".  Farming will NEVER be a late night infomercial promising you thousands in a few easy steps.  I know, we've all seen the ones about alpacas - but honestly, they are a lot of work too (and don't get me started on the price of each one of those animals!).

What we need to do is be business people as well as customer service as well as ..... well everything.  It's draining, especially when we need to put our foot down and say enough and be the bad guy no one ever wants to be.  We've done it before - Joe & I.  Running a computer store successfully for 12 years is an accomplishment and it was a lot of work - though honestly I can't say it was as rewarding.

Today I went and sat with a new "inventory" item - our new baby bull "Stretch."  He was laying out in the sun and I sat and hung out with him and scratched his head and said Hi for awhile.  Then I played with another "inventory" item (who sadly will one day end up in the freezer).... and had him follow me around for awhile.  4:30 this morning though I was putting in invoices and working on Quickbooks and trying to get the accounts correct.  Don't EVER think that's normal for me though - I'm not a morning person.

So we look around and see this entire thing differently.  It is our home, it is beautiful...... and it is our business.

So that milk you have doesn't smell too good anymore?  DON'T TOSS IT!  Make it into yogurt instead!

• Take 1 gallon of milk (souring is just fine)
• Heat it to 180 degrees (this does NOT make it raw yogurt - it does pasteurize it - but this is a simple recipe)
• Let it cool to 100 degrees (you can do this in an ice bath or let it cool down naturally - depends if you are in a hurry or not)
• Add 1 container of yogurt with active cultures (I used Dannon's Greek Plain Yogurt this time and it turned out really thick.  You can continue to use your own yogurt after this initial inoculation!)
• Mix it well with a whisk, then leave it covered overnight (or at least 8 hours)
• The next morning you will have yogurt!  Put it in jars and refrigerate - it will continue to thicken while it cools.

This morning proved it.  Forget the feed - there are WORMS on the ground!  Poor worms didn't know what hit them.

First I let out the ducks and they haven't eaten feed in a few days while it is raining.  Why?  Would you if a tastier dinner kept presenting itself from the ground?  I move the feeder, the ducks are there waiting for the bounty underneath..... move the water dish - the ground is cleaned up in a minute.

Next, I go let the chickens out from the coop.  This is just funny anyways because it always reminds me of those little clown cars where the clowns keep coming out, even when you think they are all out.  However, slightly rainy days are PERFECT!  Usually a bunch of worms are right outside the door - so that causes a MAJOR traffic jam (and you thought route 7 was bad).... then I open up the rest of the doors and no worm is safe.  Everyone ignores the feeders and just stands around eating worms.

Mind you this doesn't happen with just worms.  If a little field mouse got into the coop - heaven help it as ALL the chickens will chase it.  The chickens are worse than cats I think in that respect.

They have no qualms about eating their own either.  Sorry if this grosses you out a little - but while we are butchering chickens, there are other chickens just waiting for scraps!  On top of that, they are as bad as the dogs about the blood!  I try and tell them "that's not right" but they don't listen at all.

Why my little rambling about this?  Ok, besides my amusement this morning watching my birds... it's the new Perdue commercial they are running which states that their cage free birds are fed a vegetarian feed.  I laugh every time I see it, it's that funny.  Vegetarian chickens just aren't natural so don't force them to be!!  I know and understand about marketing and honestly, I am always amused by commercials that have chickens in them no matter what (I even make Joe rewind commercials sometimes so I can watch it - hey he gets to rewind the Victoria's Secret commercials!!)  but this commercial and I guess Perdue is now certified in some fashion by the USDA.  Good grief.... I've seen the land that some of these chicken farms are on... I see no reason NOT to let them outside to run around!!  But that's a different soap box and I'm done for this morning :)

Whew!

So it's 8:25 and I figured today would be a typical morning.... get up.... get 1st kid off to school....let out chickens... get the other 3 kids off to school....do barn chores with the addition of milking the cows in the morning to see if we can get production up some.

Everything went as planned until in the barn I notice that a dairy goat is FINALLY giving birth!  Well, one was still born and she seemed to be having issues with the next one.  This required me to reach in and help.... HOLY CRAP there was another head!  She was having 3 at least and the head that was out was NOT the head attached to the legs that were out - those belonged to the head in the back.... and the sack was broken meaning the little goats are now breathing....

5 minutes and a lot of screaming from both our ends.... the 2 babies are out.  I had to come back inside for a few minutes to clean up and get the medicine.  This is one of those instances we need to use an anti-biotic as my hands reaching inside her were FAR from sterile, but by me doing so, it saved the life of all 3 (fingers crossed).

Deep breaths......

No, I'm not a miracle worker.... no I'm not a vet (though I wanted to be one)..... no I didn't study this.... you just see something happening and you have no choice but to help if needed.  That's part of being a farmer apparently - and I never read that in the job description.

One of my children said a kid in the class said "farmer's are stupid" - I believe by meaning their intelligence.  I would like to see the kids of today have ANY idea of what to do if they were faced in an emergency that needed immediate action, without a cell phone or computer... give me a farmer any day of the week - they might not have an Ivy League education... but I would be able to count on them not to back down from anything thrown at them at all.