Farm: A Convergence of Nature and Humanity, a Living Organism

Richard & Andrea checking out the roots in a field
planted with a cover crop

By Andrea Yoder

Back in early August our friend John Peterson posted an article on the blog for his farm, Angelic Organics.  The title of his article was “Farmer John Writes:  Do You Eat Data?”  If you have a minute, I’d encourage you to read his article.  If you receive/ed a CSA box on October 7/8/9, October 14/15/16 or October 21/22/23, you may have made the connection between this Farmer John I’m citing now and the Farmer John who grew the carrots in your box these weeks.  We share many parallel thoughts and perspectives on farming with John and want to take a moment to share some of his thoughts with you, after all its his energy and that of Angelic Organics that comes with those carrots to your table!

Fall Garlic Planting

In his article, John challenges us to consider the difference between viewing a farm as a living organism as opposed to a collection of data points.  His definition of a farm is a little different from the dictionary definition.  The dictionary defines a farm as “a tract of land devoted to agricultural purposes.”  John defines a farm as “a convergence of nature and humanity.”  I have to say, John’s definition resonates with us much more closely than the textbook definition of a farm.  You see, a farm is more than just “a tract of land.”  It truly is a living organism that needs to be nurtured, cared for, guided, protected.  It needs someone to commit to caring for it, a steward or rather stewards.  This is where the concept of a farm as a living organism comes to life.  It’s where humans commit to connecting to nature in a way that is bilaterally supportive and beneficial.  It’s where the perspective of a farm supersedes the data and our eyes are opened to the dynamic, complex nature of a farm.  It’s where food becomes more than just a product and becomes a way of connecting to nature, to community, to something much greater and more meaningful.

Silvestre counting the number of seeds per foot
the planter is putting out to make sure the
planting rate is correct.

 

Lets pause for a moment and revisit the concept of viewing the farm as a collection of data points.  We do use data every single day.  Our farm is a collection of every subject in school.  Most of us carry calculators in our back pocket.  We have all kinds of forms and documents where we record data—every single day.  We look at harvest yields and efficiency.  We consider bed feet and the quantity of seed needed to plant a specific plot of land.  We titrate mixes of nutrients to feed plants through drip irrigation, utilize metric tools to do repairs on machinery, apply concepts of pressure changes and temperatures to managing refrigeration, and of course we have to look at the bottom line on a Profit & Loss report to make decisions that help us keep the farm profitable, self-sustaining and ensure it has a future.  But with as many data points as we utilize every day, there are just as many considerations and aspects to viewing a farm as a living organism that are less tangible and more difficult to measure as a data point. 

What about the people?  As we look at our farm, we’re not just talking about ourselves who have been labeled “The Farmers.”  We alone are not the only caretakers of this land, and thank goodness as it’s a job that far exceeds our capabilities alone!  As we consider the convergence of nature and humans at Harmony Valley Farm, it’s vital to broaden our perspective to include you, our CSA members, as well as our employees and those within the community who support the innerworkings of our farm. This ranges from the guy who delivers parts from Auto Value to the truck drivers who pick up produce from our farm each week and everyone in between.  Yes, our relationships are laced with transactions.  We issue paychecks biweekly to our employees.  We pay invoices for services we receive.  We process payments from you when you submit money to purchase your CSA shares.  It can stop there if you want it to, but we hope you look a little further. 

We all need the food that comes off this farm.  This is the food that sustains our bodies, keeps us healthy, supports the growth and development of children, strengthens our immune systems and helps us function in our highest capacities.  People who eat well, feel well and, we hope, go on to do good things in this world.  This is where the meaning and connection, the convergence of humans and nature, becomes a beautiful, dynamic, living organism with a reach and impact that goes beyond what we even realize.

The Nash family enjoying our 
Fall Harvest Party in 2019

Over the years we’ve heard many stories about how participating in CSA has impacted people’s lives in positive ways.  CSA kids who grow into beautiful, healthy adults, families who have built memories around the meals they’ve shared and the moments they’ve spent at the farm.  Members who have become our close friends and loyal supporters.  You see, there’s an energy that comes with that food and we hope you understand the food we produce comes with a big dose of commitment, dedication and desire to truly nurture and care for this organism.  But we also hope you understand that we feel the energy you send back to us!  Your gratitude, whether spoken or unspoken, the ways you go on to do good things in this world, the ways you use these vegetables and connections to enhance your own lives.  It all matters. 

What about the many hands that work here, our employees?  Farmworkers are often overlooked and underrepresented.  One of our longtime buyers made a comment one time that every time a consumer takes advantage of cheap food, someone along the supply chain is exploited.  I don’t have a data point to demonstrate this point, but I can tell you that in the industry of fresh market vegetables, labor is the greatest cost of producing food.  Thus, it’s also the line item on a Profit & Loss statement that often stands out the most and is subject to being cut.  This farm would not run without the efforts of our employees.  

Luis is happiest when he's operating a tractor!

Their physical strength as well as their positive, “can-do” attitudes, problem-solving abilities, refined skills and even their jokes and laughter are what fuel our days.  Your dollars and continued support of our farm in turn supports these workers and their families.  The majority of our employees come from Mexico and many of them have worked with us for many years.  We care for each other and while as employers it’s not our responsibility to be concerned for the families of our employees, we can’t deny the fact that their families are just as much a part of this farm as we are, as you are.  So yes, we do think about them, their needs, their well-being and send them gratitude at the end of every season.  Gratitude for sharing their loved one with our farm, to care for the land and contribute to producing food for our community.  Last week we had all of our chimneys professionally cleaned. We’ve had the same person clean them for several years now and he caught me off guard as we were closing up the deal when he was finished.  As I handed him the check for his services, he told me he loves coming to our farm every year.  He said “everyone is so nice and you can just tell they are happy and want to be here.”  Needless to say, my heart melted and his words confirmed just how much our employees contribute to the spirit of this farm.

Nitrogen nodules forming on the roots of cover
crop plants, plus millions of bacteria you 
cannot even see!

I could write volumes about the opportunities we all have to connect to the natural side of Harmony Valley Farm, but I’m going to condense my thoughts today and just highlight one of the many amazing natural aspects of our farm that exemplifies the convergence of nature and humans.  We are surrounded by a vast and complex community of microorganisms, fungus and beneficial bacteria.  This network of organisms extends from our forest land to our fields and everywhere in between.  We can’t see it with our naked eye, but we know it exists in the soil beneath our feet.  This network functions on our behalf, keeping our soils alive, helping to make nutrients available to the plants and continually contributing to the regeneration of our farm.  The benefits we reap from this vast underground system of microbes far exceeds the understanding of our humble minds, and yet it’s a part of what makes this farm a complex living organism.

Get a copy of Farmer John's
Cookbook packed with 
farm stories and seasonal 
recipes!

Thank you Farmer John for challenging us to “think outside the box.”  Yes, there are many in the world that view a farm as a data point, a tract of land, a factory in a sense that produces food.  But lets not lose sight of the bigger, broader view of a farm as a living organism.  One that generates food, yes, but also represents the convergence of nature and humanity.  One that we care for and support and in turn it supports and cares for us.  It’s a pretty meaningful bite to swallow.  On behalf of all of us on this side of the partnership, thank you for choosing to be part of this farm.  We appreciate and value you, we think of you and hope your lives are enhanced through this connection.

Attitude!

By Farmer Richard

This week we are continuing our on-going conversation about “the future of our food,” a discussion that  came to the forefront in our newsletters as a result of the buyout of Whole Foods Market by Amazon. The last article in this series was entitled, “How’s the Weather” and was published two weeks ago.  That article served as our first-hand account of our experiences with erratic weather patterns and being the person “downstream” from members of the community who are making poor choices on their land that impact others.  In our case erosion from a neighboring property washed down into our valley causing our drainage systems to back up resulting in crop losses and a big mess to clean up.  I concluded my last article with -“What’s next?  We keep talking.  Brainstorming.  We need solutions to these issues, we need changes to policy, we need to figure out the course our future will take.  We’re back to the ‘future of our food.’  I once again, encourage you to be part of these conversations so we, as a community, can proactively decide our future.  There are many things that could be done!  But, they take money, direction, leadership, ‘political will,’ regulation, incentives and education.  Firstly we need understanding, cooperation and the right attitude.”

This week I’d like to revisit that concept of “having the right attitude.”  Some years ago I had the privilege of visiting many farms in Europe over a month stay, both organic farmers and conventional farmers in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, England and France.  I learned so much and made many friends on that trip, but what struck me and made a lasting impression on me was their ATTITUDE!  The farmers had a positive acceptance of government regulations meant for the common good of the community.The consumers also had a desire to maintain and support their local, small farm economy.  The farmers were producing local food that had its own unique terroir, and within the communities the farmers were thriving and everyone was well fed.  For example, the Swiss value the small goat farms that dot the Swiss Alps, each making their own cheese to bring to the village to sell.  They, as a society, made the decision many years ago to preserve those small farms and they do so with government subsidies and regulation. 

I remember a conversation I had with a conventional hydroponic pepper and eggplant grower in Holland.  He was forced by regulation to install a recycling system for his greenhouse fertilizer solution before the water could be discharged into the canal.  He didn’t like being regulated, but all his neighbors shared the same situation and they decided to share in the investment for the technology to reverse an old practice that had led to fish death in the canals.  Because they all had to make the change, and the consumers wanted and supported the change, his attitude was that it was the “right thing to do.” Even though it cost him some money and effort, he had the support of other farmers and the consumers to do what was best for the big picture.  Plus, he acknowledged his previous practices were causing harm to the ecosystem and he too wanted to see the herons return to the canals with the fish.  It’s the right thing to do! 

In the recent Growing for Market publication (June/July 2017), there was an article written by a former vegetable grower and current student at Michigan State University pursuing a Master’s degree with a focus on organic weed control.  His name is Sam Hitchcock Tilton.  Earlier this year he, along with several other individuals from the Midwest, had the opportunity to travel to Europe to learn more about weed control methods.  However, despite all he learned about weed control, the thing that “stands out most brightly are the people that I met and the agricultural systems they are a part of....Just as the soil contains its own myriad characters and relationships, water vapor, bacteria, and worms, that all play interconnected roles to create fertility, so too I found the world of European vegetable growing to be peopled by many levels and relationships.  The entity with the biggest effect on all the others….was always the governments.  In each country the government played a large role in determining how farming is practiced.”  Sam also experienced that similar European attitude I experienced over thirty years ago!    Sam goes on to state “Whereas here we prize individual freedom and often put it before proper stewardship of our shared resources, in the European countries I visited the opposite seemed to be true—communal resources like water, soil, and the social fabric of rural communities are protected, often to the detriment of individual freedom.”

Farmer Richard standing in our field of cover crops!

Across Europe you find many examples of cultures that spend public tax dollars to preserve a food system that they deem important.  It is not about who has the most money to bid for a property or have the upper hand.  In fact, in Sam’s article he explains that renting and owning farmland in Europe is regulated by the government, so they decide who can rent land to farm.  While this may seem unfair, it actually works in the favor of both the farmer and the community as a whole.  In an example he uses in his article, Sam tells the story of a Dutch farmer he spoke with.  This farmer explained that “the Dutch government regulates long-term agricultural leases in order to encourage stability for those farmers who rent their entire farm, whereas if you are renting some fields for a few seasons it is your business…I was told that in the Netherlands his long term lease means that (he) can stay on his farm until he is 65, and that kicking him off before then would be a hard process.”  Additionally, this Dutch farmer also seemed happy when he explained to Sam how closely some farming practices are regulated.  For example, to prevent erosion and nutrient leaching no sandy fields are allowed to lie bare over the winter, they must all have a cover crop otherwise the grower is fined.  (The farmer) didn’t seem to mind this as he thought it was just good farming that protected the water and soil of his country.”

 Additionally, in Europe governments pay incentives to new farmers and organic farmers and insist they have a farming degree and gain appropriate experience.  They encourage education and support their up and coming farmers by setting them up for success.  On the flip side, the consumers are also willing to support their local farmers.  It’s not just about the farmers’ attitudes, the consumers are an important piece of this puzzle as well.

When we consider the attitudes I experienced as did Sam, it is clear that we have a very different attitude in this country!  For several years there has been an “incentive” from USDA to pay farmers to have a buffer strip between field and waterways.  The purpose of the buffer strip is to prevent erosion and filter out much of the fertilizer and chemicals running off of conventional corn and soybean fields so they do not pollute our waterways. What a great idea!  Farmers can be paid extra to plant that buffer to pollinator, bird and wildlife habitat!  Another great idea!  But very few, only the “do the right thing” farmers, are taking advantage of this incentive. 

Portion of our tool room,
organized with Dutch influence.

As I discussed in a previous article, the prevailing attitude in this country is more self-centered and often lacks consideration for the impact personal choices will have on shared resources and the greater community.  Attitude, culture, money and politics, they all go together.  I admire the European cultures.  When I visited my Dutch relatives, I loved their appreciation of good, local food and their attention to details.  Every tool was hung in its place, every outbuilding, even old thatched roof sheds had not one missing pane of glass in the whole country!  They are civilized and take pride in their work as well as their community.  Certainly they have similar challenges to ours, there are pressures from multi-nationals, etc, but they are a democracy and the majority has managed to hold on to their culture.  On the other hand, we have little culture to “hang-on” to!  I would not call Velveeta and Spam a cultural agricultural heritage we should defend!  Unfortunately any cultural heritage that we had, the self-sufficient homesteads that tamed the prairies, and then lost to the “dust bowl,” are gone.  The work ethic of the farm families, the community “threshing bees,” the cooperation among neighboring farmers, mostly gone! 

But there are some positive examples of attitude in this country as well.  Take our neighboring state of Minnesota as an example.  They have made it a regulation to put in buffer strips with cash incentives for farmers.  Despite the fact that the major farm organization who also sells ag chemicals and has massive lobbyists says, “You cannot tell us how to farm ‘our’ land,” Minnesota seems to have decided it’s “the right thing to do” and made it a law.

The USDA has a program called SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education) that is part of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.  The purpose of this program is to help advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities by providing education grants as well as conducting research and conducting outreach designed to improve agricultural systems.  In their recent Summer 2017 newsletter they featured several different grant recipients that have gone on to produce positive results in their community. In one example, a grant was used to help connect Michigan beef producers, local processors, distributors, and retailers in the Traverse City area in order to meet the Traverse city’s goal to source 20% of their food within a 100-mile radius by 2020.  As a result of this funding, beef producers have been trained in pasture-based grazing systems for raising beef cattle and they are seeing positive results in both the quality of the products they are producing as well as improving their land and quality of life.”

Our Red Angus Cattle enjoying time grazing in their paddock!

The further we go in these discussions, the complexity of our tangled food system and our understanding of it starts to unravel.  The individual attitudes of farmers, consumers, politicians, biotech advocates, etc are shaping our food system now and into the future.  In my next article, I’d like to explore more of the issues pertaining to this concept of “Feeding the World.”  I”ll share some of my own thoughts as well as those posed by Food First, a non-profit organization that researches, defends and develops policy related to food issues including food justice, food sovereignty , and food democracy.  In one of their recent newsletters they posed this question:  “Can we feed the world without destroying it?”  In closing, I continue to encourage you to consider your place in shaping our food system for the future and welcome your thoughts and input into this conversation.  

December 2016 - Winter Is Officially Here

     This is our final meat delivery of the 2016 CSA season and our pastures are quieting down.  This week we saw the first dusting of white covering our green, grassy pastures. The animals (and farmers) were grateful for the warm, mild weather we had in October and November.  Our pastures continued to thrive and the cattle were still able to forage enough grass until just recently when we started supplementing their diets with stored hay.  They are still out grazing and snacking on what is still remaining, but we are accepting that winter is here and it’s time to transition them to their winter diet.
     Just before Thanksgiving, we got 11 new Red Angus beef cattle.  They are only about 7-8 months old.  It took them a few days to acclimate to their new home, but they quickly became friends with our other cattle who graciously showed them out to the pasture and made them feel welcome.  All of our cattle made their way around our hillside through the pasture to their “winter camp.”  While they still spend most of their days and time outdoors, they are now close to the barn which we’ve prepared for them to use this winter.  They are cold-hardy animals and can withstand the cold of winter, but we like them to have a dry shelter to retreat to when the winter storms blow through.  We normally feed them their hay outside in their pasture, but on stormy or cold days Richard convinces them to stay inside by feeding them his special “Chocolate Hay.”  This is how we describe the best hay we have….the stuff the cattle would like to eat every day, but we have to make it last until spring so feed it sparingly.

Angel (Left) & Juan Pablo (Right): Our Animal Care Team

     We’d like to thank Juan Pablo and Angel for their help with caring for our animals this year.  These two gentlemen are responsible for feeding the pigs twice a day, maintaining the paddock fences for the cattle, moving the cattle to fresh grass as needed and making sure the mineral feeder got moved with them.  Farmer Richard and Captain Jack “The Dog” will be taking over animal feeding chores in about 2 more weeks when Angel returns to Mexico for the winter.  They don’t mind feeding animals through the winter and enjoy checking in on them once or twice a day.
     As we move into the cold of winter, I can’t help but crave warm comfort food…soups, stews, chili, etc.  I have a stack of about 15 cookbooks that were published by Taste of Home magazine.  My Mom used to give me one of these cookbooks every year for Christmas, long before I ever went to culinary school but enjoyed cooking for my family.   These books are filled with simple, down-home Midwestern recipes.  My brother used to flip through the cookbooks and mark the recipes he wanted me to make.  I haven’t cooked from them for many years, but just recently decided to look through them again to see what I could find.  Lots of simple, filling recipes!  This week’s newsletter features four simple, family friendly recipes using beef and pork.  They’ll guide you in making tasty, nourishing meals for your family this winter…and leave you with a little time to sit and sip some hot chocolate.  We hope you have a relaxing and nourishing winter.  We’ll see you in the spring!
–Your Farmers Richard & Andrea

Chili Casserole

Yield: 6 servings

Photo Borrowed from Taste of Home website

1 pound ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
1 can (15 ½ oz) kidney beans rinsed and drained
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14 ½ oz) stewed tomatoes
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 cups cooked bow tie pasta

1. In a skillet, brown beef and onion; drain.  Stir in beans, tomato sauce, tomatoes, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in pasta;  heat through.

This recipe was featured in a cookbook entitled The Best of Country Cooking 1999, by Taste of Home.  It was in a section of the book entitled “Meals in Minutes.” Our Midwestern bookkeeper, Kelly, would argue that this is not really a casserole but rather a “hotdish.”
Whatever it’s called, it’s quick, simple and hearty!

Breakfast Patties

Yield: 8 Patties

Photo Borrowed from Taste of Home website

¼ cup water
2 tsp salt
2 tsp rubbed sage
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
⅛ tsp ground ginger
2 pounds ground pork

1. In a bowl, combine water and seasonings. Add pork and mix well.
2. Shape into eight 4-inch patties.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, cook patties for 5-6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink in the center.

This recipe was featured in the 1999 Taste of Home Annual Recipes cookbook.  It was submitted by reader Jeannine Stallings from Montana who says “This homemade sausage is terrific because it’s so lean, holds together well and shrinks very little when cooked.  It’s incredibly easy to mix up a batch and make any breakfast special.”

Hungarian Goulash

Yield: 6-8 Servings

Photo Borrowed from Taste of Home website

1 pound stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound lean boneless pork, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups water
2 Tbsp paprika
½ tsp salt
½ tsp dried marjoram
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
Hot cooked noodles

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown beef, pork and onions in oil; drain.
2. Add the water, paprika, salt and marjoram; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 ½ hours or until meat is tender.
3. Just before serving, combine flour and sour cream until smooth; stir into meat mixture.  Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Serve over noodles.

Recipe borrowed from the cookbook, 2002 Taste of Home Annual Recipes.

Barbequed Pot Roast

Cookbook Photo Borrowed from
Eat Your Books Website

Yield: 12 servings

1 boneless chuck roast (3 pounds), trimmed
¼ tsp pepper
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup water
3 medium onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup ketchup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp ground mustard

1. Sprinkle roast with pepper. In a Dutch oven coated with nonstick cooking spray, brown roast on all sides.
2. Add the tomato sauce, water, onions, and garlic. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Combine remaining ingredients; pour over meat. Cover and simmer for 3-4 hours or until the meat is tender.

Recipe borrowed from Low-Fat Country Cooking published by Taste of Home.

Doing The Right Thing

By Farmer Richard

     “Donald Trump just got a temp job. The rest of us, with all our passions and ideals, have permanent appointments. We’ll always disagree over the political candidates. The trick is to keep moving forward in spite of it: to exercise our rights and responsibilities as citizens, while remaining together as family and community.”—Shannon Hayes (An excerpt from her blog, The Radical Homemaker, posted on 11/15/2016)
     We at Harmony Valley Farm have mostly opted out of the political mainstream. We have chosen to “do the right thing” according to our beliefs and understanding, even when the establishment’s point of view may differ. For example, many years ago county extension agents told me I wouldn’t be able to make a living farming organically. Nonetheless, we pursued our belief that we would farm in the way we thought was best for our land, our employees, our customers, our planet and the economics would work out. It has not always been an easy road and we’ve learned a lot along the way, but over 40 years later it has worked! So as we reflect on where we’ve come from and where we’re going, with a heart of gratitude we remember we are not alone, and the journey is worth it.
     We have chosen to make our life’s work to produce the most nutritious, wholesome food possible and are thankful for you, our many customers who appreciate the tasty, nutritious vegetables we produce for you. We have watched our long term members raise beautiful children who grew up eating our vegetables. They are now growing into adulthood and are healthy, smart young men and women with healthy brains who are going out into the world and doing “the right thing” to contribute to their communities and professions in positive ways. They are making wise and thoughtful decisions and we’re thankful to have had the opportunity to have been and continue to be part of their lives.

José Ramon spreading compost

     It’s important to remember that not one of us alone can change the entire world; however, when we work together collectively, even small individual changes or changes in a community can add up to make a difference. Shannon’s statement reminds us that we each have a responsibility to take care of and contribute in positive ways to change our own little corner of this world. We are by no means perfect, but we try to do our part. We continue to plant extensive cover crops and apply compost to our soil. This system helps to trap large amounts of carbon dioxide and helps mitigate atmospheric greenhouse gases. If done worldwide, the impact would be huge! We try to make the best use of our land by farming the portions that are appropriate for raising crops, grazing the hillside pastures that are prone to erosion, and managing our wooded areas by responsibly removing trees as needed and putting this resource to good use. We know not everyone in our membership chooses to eat meat or even supports our choice to raise animals for food, but regardless of our differences we continue to choose to raise our animals with respect and consider them to be an important part of our entire farm. We appreciate the opportunity to introduce children and members to our animals and allow them to see a healthy animal system. Can we ever have too many examples of respect and kindness to share with our children and each other?

Photo Borrowed from UCS website

     Nationwide there are examples of positive changes happening within communities and regions. In the Fall 2016 publication by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), they published an article about the positive impact climate legislation has had in California over the past 10 years. Since passing the Global Warming Solutions Act in 2006, there has been a 7.3% cut in global warming emissions and petroleum consumption has dropped by more than 14% in the state. At the same time, they have seen economic growth with a 12.4% increase in gross domestic product and their population and employment have increased by more than 7%.
     In the same UCS publication, we read a story about GRID Alternatives, a non-profit organization that is working to bring solar energy to low and moderate income families, an example of social equity as well as environmental change. Solar installations can be costly and the initial investment as well as the fact that many people don’t own their own land or homes can be barriers to using solar energy. Through the work of GRID Alternatives, they have been able to support over 6,000 solar installations including many in neighborhoods where residents have lower incomes or much more fixed budgets. The impacts have been great, both at the individual level as well as the community level. Not only are they using a cleaner source of energy, they are also seeing lower monthly expenses for utilities which has helped decrease their financial stress.
     We find these stories encouraging. We will always have differences of opinions, political and otherwise. Nonetheless we need to move forward and know that our daily choices and involvement in our communities do matter and can produce positive change. What is your passion? Is it related to the environment? Is it related to social equity? Are you in a position to contribute to scientific research or policy change? Are you an educator? Whatever your place may be, thank you for doing your part.

A Pasture Walk with Farmer Richard

By Richard de Wilde

     This article was originally printed in our vegetable newsletter in September 2013. After a recent walk through our pastures this fall, Richard and I were reminded just how important it is to continue to manage our land, including our pastures and woods. It’s a big job, and one that is never finished. It takes a diligent effort to keep things “under control,” but the result is healthy pastures that are pleasant and desirable for our animals to live in and graze. We find joy and fulfillment in watching our cattle graze and live peaceful lives on our lush pastures while the pigs keep us entertained with their pig-like behaviors. Thank you for supporting us in our efforts to do the best we can to raise meat in the most respectful manner we can. 

--Farmers Andrea & Richard

     Our farm, like most farms in the Driftless region, has land along creek beds, dry washes and steeper hillsides that is not   suitable for farming and has traditionally grazed animals. Our hillside pastures were cleared and planted to wheat in the late 1800’s and it was an erosion disaster! The scars are now healed and grass covers the hillside, preventing erosion. This month’s Edible Madison magazine (September 2013) has a very well-written article on the birth of soil conservation and contour farming which started in the 1930’s in our own Vernon County, Wisconsin. The present day NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) was started and Aldo Leopoldo was actively working in the field with them to turn around 70 years of disastrous farming, which had destroyed the productive capacity of most of the county’s farmland. Animals, grass, and strips of non-erosive hay between cultivated crops saved the land. Now our county is experiencing a new crisis as animals leave the farms to go to big feedlots and confinement dairies and contour strips and grass waterways are being torn out to accommodate only two crops, corn and soybeans. As a result, erosion is on the rise once again.

     I milked cows on this farm from 1984-1986, but sold the herd to devote my time and resources to full-time vegetable farming. In the years that followed this transition, we saw the results of abandoned pastures. Prickly ash, willows, box elder trees, black locust, honeysuckle, multiflora rose and garlic mustard took over and choked out the hillsides. Our beautiful little Spring Creek disappeared in a tangle of brush and the stream no longer flowed openly. With the grass overtaken and the stream banks eroded, the trout were choked out. In recent years, we have spent considerable time and resources working towards reclaiming our beautiful Spring Creek, as well as learning from our mistakes and working hard to maintain other waterways and river banks on our property. We have removed huge patches of prickly ash, multiflora rose and invasive honeysuckle by pulling them out and then grading and reseeding these areas to establish new grasses and clovers. We built new fences and brought animals back to our hillsides to graze these areas to help us maintain them. We have cleaned the trees and brush out of the creek and fixed stream bank erosion with large limestone rocks lining the banks. Many areas we can now mow once a year to keep down invasive plants and prevent trees from taking over. Despite all our efforts, the single biggest help in maintaining our improvements are now the cows, pigs and goats that graze our pastures. 

     While we realize that not all of our customers choose to eat meat and our focus is on vegetable production, we’ve chosen to include animals on our farm because they have a very important purpose. Unlike feedlot cattle and pigs that exist solely to gain weight and be taken to slaughter, our animals have a greater calling. Their purpose is to graze and fertilize our hillside pastures, thereby maintaining them and improving them for years to come. This is a very different lifestyle for these animals in comparison to industrial animal production.  

     Farmers are stewards of the land, but we can’t forget that part of that calling is honoring and respecting the land and animals we care for. As we walk through our pastures and look out across the hillsides, we see the beauty that is the result of all of our hard work. We are blessed to live in a beautiful, unique location and will continue to strive to maintain our land.

Meatballs in Pineapple Sauce

Yield: 10 as an appetizer or 4 if served as a main entrée

Photo Borrowed from Shannon Hayes' blog

For the Meatballs:

½ cup dry breadcrumbs

2 Tbsp finely chopped onions

½ tsp salt

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 pound ground beef

2 Tbsp olive oil

For the Pineapple Sauce:

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 can (13 ¼ ounces) chunk pineapple, in natural, unsweetened juice 

⅓ cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 small green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1. Mix all the ingredients, except the olive oil, in a large bowl.  Shape into 1 ½-inch balls.  

2. Saute meatballs in the olive oil over medium heat, turning occasionally, for about 15 to 20 minutes, until browned.  Pour off the fat, remove the meatballs from the skillet, and set aside.

3. Mix together the brown sugar and cornstarch, and add to the skillet used for the meatballs.  Pour in the pineapple and juice, and add the vinegar, soy sauce, and chopped pepper.  

4. Over medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat immediately, add the meatballs, and simmer 10 minutes longer.

Recipe borrowed from Shannon Hayes’ book, The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook.

Slow-Cooker Chipotle Beef Tacos with Cabbage-Radish Slaw

Yield: 6 Servings

Photo Borrowed from the Real Simple website

2 ½ to 3 pounds stew meat (May also use round steak or chuck roast, cut into 2-inch pieces)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 to 3 Tbsp chopped chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
Kosher salt
4 cups thinly sliced cabbage
4 radishes, halved and sliced (may use fresh red radishes or beauty heart radishes)
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
12 6-inch corn tortillas
Sour cream, pickled jalapeño peppers and hot sauce, for serving

1. In a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker, toss together the beef, onion, garlic, chipotles, bay leaves, oregano and 1 tsp salt.  Cover and cook until the beef is very tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 ½ to 4 hours.

2. Twenty minutes before serving, heat oven to 350°F.  In a large bowl, toss the cabbage, radishes, and cilantro with the lime juice and ¼ tsp salt.  Wrap the tortillas in foil and bake until warm, 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Transfer the beef to a medium bowl (reserve the cooking liquid) and shred, using 2 forks. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into the bowl and toss with the beef to coat.

4. Fill the warm tortillas with the beef and slaw.  Serve with sour cream, pickled jalapeños, hot sauce and lime wedges.

Recipe borrowed from Easy, Delicious Home Cooking by Real Simple.

The Easiest Ribs You’ll Ever Make

Yield: 2-3 servings

Photo Borrowed from Alexandra's Kitchen 

1½ to 2 pounds pork spare ribs 

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Smoked paprika 

¾-1 cup brown sugar

Heavy Duty Foil

1. Preheat oven to 275°F.

2. Rinse off the ribs and pat dry.  Liberally coat the ribs with the kosher salt, pepper and the paprika.  Pack on the brown sugar.

3. Lay out a piece of heavy duty foil that is large enough to fully wrap the meat in.  If your spare ribs are in more than one piece, you can wrap each piece individually if it’s easier.   Wrap the ribs into a packet and make sure it’s closed on all sides.  Place the ribs on a sheet tray and place in the oven for 2 ½ hours.  

4. Remove the tray from the oven.  Let sit for one hour.  Do not open the pouch during this hour.

5. When ready to serve, reheat the ribs in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 350°F (this is assuming the ribs have not been refrigerated) or open the pouch, baste the ribs with the juices and place them under the broiler for five minutes.

6. Serve immediately with cornbread and a simple salad for a yummy yummy meal!

Chef Andrea Yoder’s Note: This is the easiest method I’ve ever used to cook spare ribs and they come out tender and delicious.  The prep time is very minimal, so I often prepare these the night before or first thing in the morning and put them in the refrigerator.  If I have enough time in the evening after work, I’ll cook them for dinner that night.  If we’re hungry and don’t want to wait, I’ll heat up the oven and cook them anyway while we’re eating dinner.  Then they’re ready to just reheat for the next night’s dinner!

Recipe adapted from the blog, Alexandra’s Kitchen: alexandracooks.com

Wow, What a Year!

Some of our wonderful crew helping out during Strawberry Days

By Farmer Richard

     We’ve had a roller coaster of challenging weather, but have had mostly successful crops despite the bumps along the road. Good management and good crew have been the key to this year, but there’s only so much you can do when you get the unavoidable 100 year flood! The third of its kind in 8 years!...hmmm. It did help us make the final decision to not farm one of those flood prone farms next year!
     The last couple weeks have been beautiful fall weather! We finished most of our harvest and had plenty of time to plant our 2017 garlic crop. We put a nice layer of mulch on it and are praying for a good crop for next year. We’ve also finished planting our sunchoke and horseradish crops for next year as well as applied compost and planted a rye cover crop on all available acres. Our crew spent quite a bit of time over the last month cleaning up most of the driftwood and rocks from flooded fields. We are ready for spring! We’ve completed all of these fall tasks earlier than usual, so we have also had extra time to clear trees out of the river and cut fallen trees.
     We also have been able to work in the woods! We have 325 acres of woods that have not seen much attention for 50 years until recently. We have a forester working on a management plan for us. He has been walking all our woods, cataloging tree species, designing a network of access roads, and recommending work to be done. It is enormous! The forester has described our woods as typical for most Wisconsin woods, representing 150 years of poor management and over-grazing with livestock. The best trees were removed by a logging company 40-50 years ago and the poor, crooked trees were left to capture the sunlight and dominate. We have many of those old trees, yet many good trees as well. Despite the fact that we have had offers from logging companies to come in and log some trees, we are well aware of their intentions to only take the good ones which will still leave us with a woods full of poor, crooked trees. Their price usually sounds good, but still would never cover the taxes that we have paid and will continue to pay on the woodlands. So we have chosen to decline their offers and take on management of our woods ourselves, which will also help support local jobs and local sales.

Bottle Stopper Top in Cherry Wood

     We have a small bulldozer and a strong desire to connect with our woods. Most woods are moderate to very steep slopes, difficult to walk, hunt, ski or enjoy. So this fall, the last few weeks of mostly warm fall weather, the leaves turning color and then dropping with rain and wind, I have been blessed to spend many hours on our little 80 hp New Holland bulldozer making roads through our woods. Roads that are very challenging to make, requiring a carefully chosen path flagged with yellow ribbons, sometimes weaving a bit to avoid big trees, but having a beginning and an end point. What a fine way to get to know your woods! Admiring the towering old oaks, walnuts, hickory and cherry trees and identifying the smaller trees to make the right decision about what stays and what goes, all the time looking for burls on cherry trees that would make nice bottle stopper tops. Most of our logging energy has gone into salvaging ash trees that have recently been killed by the Emerald ash borer. Ash is a beautiful hard wood. Anyone thinking about a new floor?  Once the logs are sawed, we will have approximately 15,000 board feet of lumber! We could provide you with a beautiful ready to install floor!

     Ah, working in the woods is such a joy. The fall colors, the few remaining birds. Even with the bulldozer running, I saw a beautiful buck deer slowly working his way through the trees below me…and that rabbit that was hiding under the parked bulldozer after lunch was quite the surprise! We love our beautiful woods, and I’ve dreamed about building access roads through it for many years. For the first time we have a road that runs from one end of our farm to the other allowing us an easy-to-walk path to stroll on, enjoying the peace and beauty of our valley and woods. Andrea and I took a little Sunday stroll a few weeks ago, what a fun escape!
     We’ve taken care to immediately seed fescue and clover grass as soon as we finished a section of the road and the fall leaves provided a beautiful mulch. We aren’t doing this just for us, it’s for you too! We hope you will consider a trip to the farm and enjoy hiking or skiing the roads on our farm as well!

Harmony Valley Farm Meat Clubs

Thai Beef Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

     We are focusing our blog on sharing with you the different aspects of the meats we offer through our CSA – from how it is raised to how to best cook our certified organic, 100% grass-fed Angus beef and organic pastured pork. So what’s the best way to get some of this delicious meat into your freezer at home?

     Let us introduce you to our Meat Clubs! No worries, there is no password or secret hand shake to this club – all are welcome equally. So what are these meat club shares that we are so excited about? Our meat club shares allow individuals to sign up for multiple 15 or 25 pound meat packages to be delivered throughout the year. With the meat club you are able to sign-up for these deliveries with one easy purchase and at a discounted price! We deliver our meat shares three times a year: May, November and December. You can choose to start whenever it is convenient for you! The packages will contain either all beef (May) or a mix of beef and pork (November & December). 

     Why sign-up for our Meat Club? There are plenty of reasons! Here are a few that we think are worth highlighting:

1.  Save money - When you order up front, you’ll save money versus buying individual packages before each month’s delivery.
2. Order once and be good to go for the year – No need to pay attention to deadlines for sign-up. You’ll be scheduled across a whole year so you can sit back and relax
3. These shares were designed to better meet the needs of smaller households or for those with limited freezer space - 15 pounds takes up very little space in your freezer but it will always be stocked with freshly frozen meat.
4. You can spread your payments out over 6 months when you sign up for our meat club.

     So now that you know all the reasons why the meat clubs are a great option, what comes with each of these deliveries? We have preselected different meat packages for each meat club option. Below is a list of the different packages for each club and their delivery month (The descriptions of these different packages can be found here.)

3 Delivery Meat Club (15 pounds each delivery - 45 pounds total):

May: All-Beef Mixed Pack

November: Beef and Pork Variety Pack

December: Beef and Pork Family Pack

3 Delivery Meat Club (25 pounds each delivery - 75 pounds total):

May: All-Beef Mixed Pack

November: Beef and Pork Family Pack

December: Beef and Pork Variety Pack

     We sometimes hear people voice concerns about their freezer space when it comes to the different meat packages. We’re here to ease any of those worries! Take a look below – You’ll first see a freezer that has a 15-pound meat share in it. The 15-pound share fits in a 10”(L) x 10”(H) x 14”(depth) space. In addition to that, we also wanted to share a picture of a 25-pound meat share. This share took up 16”(L) x 10”(H) x 14”(Depth). These pictures are in our very own standard freezer in the kitchen. We hope that if the size of these various meat packages seemed intimidating at first, you now feel like you can confidently order and know your freezer will suit you just fine!

 Here we have a 15 pound Beef and Pork Variety Pack (contents may vary):

 1 pkg of T-bone or Rib Steaks (2 steaks per pkg)

1 pkg Beef Sirloin Steak (1 steak per pkg)

1 Beef Chuck Roast

2 pounds Ground Beef

3 pkg Pork Chops (2 chops per pkg)

2 pounds Ground Pork

3 Pkgs Bacon

Here we have a 25-pound Beef and Pork Variety Pack (contents may vary):

1 T-bone Steak (2 steaks per pkg)

1 Beef Sirloin Steak (2 steaks per pkg)

1 Beef Chuck Roast
1 Package Beef Stew Meat

4 pounds Ground Beef

3 pkgs Pork Chops (2 chops per pkg)

3 pounds Ground Pork

3 pkgs Bacon

1 Fresh Ham Roast

     In addition to our meat clubs, we also offer the option sign up for one-time deliveries. We have several different packages to choose from. Like our meat clubs, you can sign-up now for a delivery in November, December and/or May.

To sign up for either our meat club or an individual delivery, find our Meat Order Form Here.

HVF Practices for our Certifed Organic, 100% Grass-Fed Red Angus

As you can see by looking at our cattle, they are happy and healthy inside and out.  We have chosen to raise our cattle in a certified organic, 100% grass-fed production system, which is much different than industrial meat production and other conventional practices. We would like to highlight a few differences that we feel are most important for you to understand when you are making the choice to purchase meat in the future.

We want to start off with the pasture grasses since they are the main food source for our cattle.  We take great care to make sure our pasture has a good mix of grasses and legumes. Since we have plenty of grasses already in the pasture, each spring we use a practice called frost seeding to plant more legumes (usually red clover for us). Frost seeding is putting the seed on top of the pastures, usually during March, on days that alternate between freezing at night and thawing during the day. Along with the spring rains, this helps the seed make its way into the soil surface. Frost seeding offers several potential advantages, including the ability to establish forage in undisturbed sod, a reduced need for labor and energy compared to conventional seeding methods, and the ability to establish forages with minimum equipment investment.  Once the pastures take off and start growing in the spring, the cattle are anxious to start grazing. It’s important, both for the health of the animals and the pastures, to manage their grazing. We do this by dividing the pasture into smaller sections called paddocks. We rotate our cattle from paddock to paddock every five days to make sure they are getting the best of what each has to offer and adequately grazing the grass in that area so it will regrow. Sometimes we over-winter animals as well. Since our cattle are 100% grass-fed, you might be wondering what they eat when the hillsides are covered with snow. Over the course of the summer, we harvest alfalfa as well as premium pasture grasses, which sometimes are in abundance compared to the amount our small herd can eat. We bale the grass and alfalfa and store it in the barn to feed during the winter.

But what about those pesky weeds that pop up in our pastures? We mow our lush pastures when we can to either harvest the grasses or to manage the weeds. Sometimes we have to hand-dig some of those stubborn weeds. There is a newer bad boy invasive species in town, and its name is the multiflora rose. Our animals will eat off the new young shoots to prevent any more spread, but even so it can get out of hand quickly.  The other alternative that conventional farms use is to spray herbicide directly onto their pastures, weeds and grasses included. This creates a residue that stays on the good grasses and seeps into the soil. Then you also have the run-off that occurs from these chemicals when it rains and washes into area waterways. So with a little extra effort, and sometimes ‘elbow grease’, we can control the weeds without contaminating the environment or our animals’ food source.

One of the concerns with raising beef cattle is managing internal parasites. In a conventional system animals are treated with something called anthelmintic products. Most of the products used are either avermectins/ milbemycins (ivermectin, dormectin, eprinomectin, and moxidectin) or benzimidazoles (oxfendazole, albendazole, fendbendazole), (from UW Extention Cooperative).  If you are like us, you are having a hard time even trying to pronounce those chemicals. The chemical residue is then absorbed into the animal and accumulates in the organs and fat to combat the parasites. Then what happens to the chemicals? You guessed it - they work their way through the animal and are deposited into the pastures and thus passed through to the pasture environment. We rotate our animals to different paddocks every 5 days and they do not return to a paddock again for at least a month. Because of this, we actually ‘break’ the life cycle of the internal parasites. We also use Diatomaceous Earth (DE) to help kill off those pesky buggers.  We have the DE mixed with the very desirable kelp meal, Redmond trace minerals salt and a drizzle of organic molasses that we offer as a free choice ration, which they love.  The DE and minerals move through the animal and get deposited in random plops throughout the pasture. This is one way we utilize our pasture and it also helps prevents fly larvae from hatching. 

Our animals stay very healthy in our pastures and are never confined or crowded.  This helps to avoid any other health problems that may naturally occur. In confinement operations, disease can spread easily since the animal population is so dense. Because of this, conventionally raised animals are routinely fed antibiotics in their feed, mineral blocks or are given routine injections. This overuse has caused antibiotic resistant bacteria, such as E. coli 0157. While antibiotic use is prohibited in organic animal production, we would use an antibiotic to save a life or prevent suffering in any of our animals. If an antibiotic were to be used, we would sell that animal on the conventional market as it would no longer be certified organic. 

Mineral Feeder

What about flies – we all despise those little buggers too!  But they can cause great hardship and pain to cattle.  If not controlled, they can create and spread Pink-eye to the animals.  So how do we control the flies you ask?  Good question!  We make a mixture of Organic Citronella and Organic Sunflower oil and put it on strips in front of the mineral feeder. When the cattle go into the feeder for minerals, the oil mixture is then distributed to their faces and repels the flies.  This has been wonderfully effective for our cattle and we have not had any problems since we implemented this system.  The alternative would be to use either a dust bag or Cattle Rub containing insecticides to treat the animals.  Some insecticides used include Methoxychlor, Pyrethroids or Imaden, Permectrin Dust or Rabon Dust. Those chemicals are absorbed into the animal’s skin and through the air they breathe. The insecticides are then passed though the animal and into the manure and pasture environment. This is not allowed in organic production.

Now we move to the back end of the cow.  We have already touched on a few things that move through the cattle’s system, hence the reason we don’t give them those bad things we call contaminants.  Because our cattle eat the luscious grass and legumes in our paddocks, those little patty plops are great fertilizer for our pastures.  Because we rotationally graze our animals, we make sure to get a wide spread of ‘cow pies’ throughout the entire pasture area.  Some of you might think it’s not so good to have those, I agree you don’t want to step in them, but because our animals are spread out in the paddocks, we don’t have to ‘find a place’ for all that concentrated manure in one spot. Our manure stays in the paddocks and increases the pasture fertility. This means no hauling, no fossil fuel use and no disposal problems. On the conventional feedlots or non-pastured cattle, with so many animals crowded in one spot, and the average beef cow producing 10 tons of manure a year, that can spell (or smell) trouble.  All of that manure has to go somewhere! Where it goes varies from feedlot to feedlot, but they have to find places to dispose of what really ends up as a liability instead of a valuable asset.

When purchasing meat from our farm, you can rest assured that our animals are well taken care of. We encourage you to visit our farm and see for yourself.  If you have questions about our animal practices, make sure you ask your farmers.  We are here to help further aid you in making an informed choice, one that you feel is best for you and your family. If our meat is a part of that choice, we are happy to be your farm!