What's in your Cheerios?

[BIGNASTY]

I was at a seminar Friday and got talking to another logger I haven't seen in years. He mentioned his wife was involved in community supported agriculture ( CSA), wich I hadn't previously heard of. Each spring you purchase a share of their garden, vegetables , herbs, and eggs. They plant accordingly. She tends the garden using only natural methods, and once a week you go to the farm and pick up your basket. They sell in full, 1/2,and 1/4 shares, depending on your needs. It's a little expensive ($500) for a full share but the well heeled in his area flock to his place. He said a full share is so much food that many go in on it with another family. They've increased their tilled acreage every year for the past 4 years. If he wasn't an hour away I'd quit on our little plot and buy a 1/4 share.

Mr, JHenderson

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl#q=Community+Farms+Exeter+RI

Read your post on this thread, seems as there are quite a few CSA programs going on near you.

BIG & I have been basically doing the same thing only on a smaller scale. We have a group of people that are all family to BIG & I, most are Blood family the ones that aren't might as well be. BIG & I have sold them land to build homes on, BIG's the one that usually builds the homes for them they pay for everything and help with the building part.

The ones that came to our area from other parts of the country aren't use to the harshness of the winters. BIG & I have the equipment or knowhow to help them out with things but BIG has always had a requirement, He & I are not going to do it all alone. When they came to us we always had them stay with us until their home is built. It seems that the work crew (mostly the family) migrated to our place for breakfast before starting the day. BIG & I never really were to concerned with this, he raises more than enough animals and my Garden seemed to produce more than all of us could use anyway. When each of the homes were finished they received two cords of wood & a snow shovel as a house warming gift from us. During the winter I run the tractor with a snow blower BIG's got lots of things to do with his chores and the cattle to feed in the dead of winter a pretty tough assignment at times. They found out that the food we produced was better (at least they thought so) and asked about buying an animal or two from him and buying his extra eggs, Milk or what ever it was. He finally called a family Pow Wow (that's what BIG calls them) and said hey look you folks are killing us we don't mind doing this but your sort of time consuming. The plan that we all came up with was, it seems like 90% of the time everyone comes over to see what's going on with us today and they end up staying for breakfast, lunch & dinner anyway. So why don't we just count on doing that and we can all split the bill for animal feed & the cost of the animal and most of all help BIG with the chores that are required to make that part happen, same with the Garden if you want the produce all its really going to cost is some sweat and blisters.

Its worked out very well, with the farming practices that are employed a little extra mineral is all that's needed to get the garden going. Lord knows that we have enough animal waste to product 3 x times more mulch than we can use to supplement the garden soil. BIG gets help with the barn chores for the animals used for our food, this gives him more time to get things done with the cattle take care of other peoples horse needs and it seems like something is always in need of repair.

During the better part of the year we cut firewood, its like an assembly line affair with all of us working on specific parts of the operation we can cut, split & stack some firewood!!!

We've since modified the plan, the animals are actually self sustaining, there's no way that we are going to eat the usual amount of piglets that Sweet Pea produces. So Gail always seems to find a FFA member to give one to as a project and the rest are sold to towns people & that used to buy feed for the Chickens & Pig. BIG orders chicks for meat & layers by mail. Beef is really not a problem we go to the pasture with our Son and he points to one and that parts done. The garden seeds are bought by mail & during the winter we do need some fresh veggies that winter wont let us produce.

BIG calls this " Our Compound" and expects the FED'S to Storm the Gate any second.

anyway it seems to work and promotes unity for the time that SOMEONE needs help with something we all chip in with working together, eating together & like now half of us are on Vacation together.

Penny

 

[jhenderson]

I've lived here for all of my 57 years, and know the players better than they would like me too. There's a story behind everything. The land that Wild Harmony is on belongs to our former Govenor and his wife. It belonged to the wife's family for generations. The guy running it has gone through many unsuspecting, well meaning benefactors before latching onto the Gov's wife. She's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He lives off other people's money while not producing enough to feed one family, never mind make a profit. Right now he's grazing goats on what was productive hay field. Our Kids is just what you see on its website. A few greenhouses. It was purchased from my former insurance agent several years ago. When he owned it they sold flowers. I'm not sure hot house produce is what we're looking for. Richard Shartner owns Shartner farms. It's probably the biggest retail farm in R.I. The problem is he only grows enough to put on a show for the tourists headed for the shore. His truck goes to the wholesaler every morning to fill his stand. Nothing is as it seems.

 

[Killgore]

Hah! As I said, I'm really enjoying this thread.

For years we worked a large garden until I had a heatstroke and was told to not even mow the grass. However, up until that time we encouraged our neighbors to help themselves to whatever was ripe
and/or needed picking. A large garden, I repeat with virtually anything and everything in abundance without so much as one blade of grass in the garden that I chopped every day or so; no sucking,
chewing or burrowing insects; and no diseases. (I spent 15 years in commercial agriculture.) Would they make the effort to walk across the road and bend over? Nope! Rather than see it go to waste, we
would pick it, shuck it, etc. and deliver it to seven families that gobbled it down with glee. I bet they miss us now that we sold out and became full-time RVers.


I'm reminded of Capt. John Smith's famous speech to the Pilgrims that first Winter many years ago when they were about to starve. "If you don't work, you don't eat". I'd just bet Elizabeth Warren/Pocahontas
wouldn't approve.


- Ed

 

[Wayne M.]

Ed, how big was that "garden"?

 

[Killgore]

Wayne, it was about an acre plus. My last year I planted super-sweet corn (Mirai from Harris Seed Co. in Rochester, NY) and thanks to the weather made three full crops of the best corn I've ever eaten. It
puts Silver Queen and Funk's G-90 in the shade. Jennifer canned and put up vegetables until we didn't have any room in the freezer or storage shed left. We shelled Mississippi Brown Crowder peas every
night for six weeks and when we left out from the old farm last month I think the new owners talked us out of 17 qts. of Kentucky Wonder green beans. I truly loved growing our own food.