Ecotone

Midwinter Spring

2012-02-06T20:26:00.028-06:00

Grassroots

Grass clutches at the dark dirt with finger holds.

Let it be blue grass, barley, rye or wheat,

Let it be button weed or butter and eggs,

Let it be Johnny-jump-ups springing clean blue streaks.

Grassroots down under put fingers into dark dirt.

-- Carl Sandburg

First Lamb!

2012-02-01T11:38:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we welcomed the first lamb born at Ecotone! Here are a few photos:

Winter Piglets

2012-01-13T10:23:00.008-06:00

Well, I awoke yesterday to the forecast of snow and realized it was going to happen. Our Berkshire gilt - Black Betty - was going to farrow. After waiting around for a week and a half, the onset of winter weather was the perfect opportunity to give birth. Sure enough, she failed to show up for breakfast, and we began our final preparations.

With some extra straw and a heat lamp, we let Betty take over from there. Over the course of the day she farrowed five piglets, with four remaining this morning. Though this is a smaller number of piglets than we'd hope for, this is her first farrowing and they do tend to be small. All appear to be happy and healthy, however, and we're proud to announce the first Red Wattle / Berkshire heritage hybrid hogs from Ecotone!

Turkeys Lurking

2012-01-09T10:13:00.000-06:00

To start off the new year, we thought we'd post some farm folly highlights from the last. Highly ranked among these is the fall's turkey burglary. Jennifer's father, Peter, was in town for a visit, and Jasper and I took him to the farm one nice day for a visit. Entering through the house, we were greeted by a calm group of turkeys taking in the living room's afternoon sun. This video says the rest.

Pastured Organic Poultry

2011-11-08T05:19:00.009-06:00

The chickens and ducks are now ready!

Experience the taste of an entirely different chicken! At Ecotone, we do not raise the industrial Cornish Cross broiler, which is perhaps the only chicken you've ever had. Instead, we raise a slow-growing broiler on pasture, with certified organic grain, and in an Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) manner. Developed in France as part of the Label Rouge certification for the most rigorous standards of animal husbandry, environmental stewardship, and quality of meat, these "Freedom Rangers" (as they are called in America) are simply the highest quality chickens available.

As for the ducks, we have both Muscovy and Khaki Campbell broilers for sale. Both hatched at JM Hatchery in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, the Muscovies are larger and have both less fat and more flavor than traditional duck, while the Khaki Campbells are smaller and leaner than most duck you've had before.

The chickens range from 3.5 to 6.5 pounds, with most being in the 4.5 to 5.5 lbs. range. The ducks range from 3.5 to 8.0 lbs. All poultry are processed at Ecotone Farm as a complimentary service for shareholders and customers. Fresh and frozen whole broilers are available for delivery each week in November, and is limited to availability. Please indicate in your order comments if you'd like the giblets.

To place an order, visit the Ecotone Farm Online Store, or give us a call or drop us an email.

Time and Images 2

2011-11-04T16:49:00.041-05:00

"This is the phenomenon of edge or margin that we know to be one of the powerful attractions of a diversified landscape, both to wildlife and to humans. The human eye itself is drawn to such margins, hungering for the difference made in the countryside by a hedgy fencerow, a stream, or a grove of trees."

-- Wendell Berry, from "Getting Along With Nature"

In the news...

2011-10-29T09:55:00.002-05:00

I thought I'd post the links to some recent stories about farming, agriculture, and animals in the news:

Here is a story on Polyface Farm's entree into Freedom Ranger broilers, which is the variety we're currently raising at Ecotone.

Here is a NYT editorial from early this week about how to fund small businesses in the recession.

Here is a Freakonomics blog post on the role of "localvore" economics and food safety.

Here is a NPR Marketplace story on Niman Ranch and the economics of sustainable farming.

Here is an Opinionator blog post by Vanderbilt philosophy professor Kelly Oliver on animals and pets.

Online Farm Store

2011-10-17T15:20:00.000-05:00

Ecotone's new online market is now available! With the local farmer's markets soon closing for the season, you can now enjoy a wide range of local, farm-fresh foods delivered straight to your home or office!

The market will be open weekly, closing only for a day before each week's delivery. To complete your market order you will need to create an account with Ecotone, which is very easy to do. Do let us know if you have any problems with this.

Available on the market are all of the eggs and meats offered through our CSAs on a piece-wise basis, as well as a variety of cheeses, breads, and vegetables. Be sure to check the market weekly for new items as they become available.

Of particular note are the chickens and ducks, which we strongly encourage you to pre-order, as they're going fast! When they run out, there will not be any more until the spring, so be sure to order enough to get you through the winter! We've also moved Backyard Bees and the Superfoods Start-Up CSA shares to the market, as both involve one-time purchases.

Please follow the link below to access the store:

Ecotone Farm Online Store

From Weed Chopper to Community Farmer

2011-10-10T05:37:00.002-05:00

I thought I'd share a recent story featuring Rufus Newsome, the husband of a Demelda Newsome, who is a colleague with me on the Board of Directors for the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG). You can listen to the story here.

New CSA Shares

2011-09-30T10:41:00.067-05:00

We are pleased to announce that Ecotone Farm now offers Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares in three different agricultural areas, including meat, superfoods, and bees.

Why your support is vital!

Our style of farming is considered "unbankable" within the current financial system. In short, lenders are only comfortable with large-scale, industrial agriculture. Ultimately this is a good thing. If small farms are going to be a radical alternative within the food system, then we need radical financing. The CSA model involves eaters as investors: at the beginning of the season, when the farm has the most expenses, CSA members purchase shares of the coming harvest. They invest up-front and reap the benefits of local, sustainable food throughout the season.

Raising the very best meat possible - ecologically appropriate, organically-fed, pasture-raised, and Animal Welfare Approved - makes our values unrecognizable to the conventional system. We can continue to farm this way only with your support.

We have tried to structure our meat shares around the idea of eating meat responsibly. (If you're interested in this question, we highly recommend Simon Fairlie's Meat: A Benign Extravagance, 2010.) At approximately 4 ounces of meat per person per day, for example, we're able to offer shareholders a "piece of the pasture" for only $1.54 per serving. Full shares are set for a household of four, while half shares are estimated for a household of two. Annual shares cover a full calendar year, while seasonal shares last for six months. Eggs are delivered on a weekly basis, and all other meats are delivered monthly.

Traditionally, CSA shares are associated with vegetable farms, which need most of their capital funds up front to plant the season's crops. Livestock farming has slightly different cash flow needs, if only for the simple fact that such farmers often care for animals 365 days a year. In the attempt to meet the unique cash flow needs of livestock farming - as well as to make our CSA shares more affordable - we're offering several payment options, which includes an account with our farm and the ability to order a la carte from our online store. Enrollment for CSA shares of Ecotone will be ongoing, as we intend to raise only as much as is ordered by shareholders. For more on the Ecotone Farm CSA Shareholder Agreement, click here.

Here we go with Farmigo:

In response to your requests, you can now schedule and submit your payments online using our new website and CSA management software, which is provided by a company called Farmigo. Among other features, this software allows you to access your account online at any time, schedule vacation delivery options, and communicate with your farmers easily and centrally.

To access this service, you will need to create an account with Ecotone through the Farmigo system. This is very easy to do, and if you have any questions or problems please don't hesitate to contact us at farmers@ecotonefarm.com. Importantly, if you currently have a positive balance with Ecotone (i.e., credit on your account for eggs), we will either need to continue under the old system until your balance runs out, or we can offer you a refund of the difference and you can sign up anew with Farmigo. Just let us know what you'd like to do.

Delivery:

We plan to continue our practice of home delivery. The first official delivery of eggs through this new management system tools will be October 5th. The first deliveries of our new meat CSA shares will be November 1. All egg deliveries will continue as normal, and we will work with you to make the transition as easy as possible. Because Farmigo is based around deliveries, all share prices are listed in those terms. If you're already receiving eggs but do not see your neighborhood listed in a way you recognize, please just send us an email and we'll clarify. If you don't see your neighborhood listed, then email us and we'll discuss setting up a new delivery route. Generally, we like to have at least five houses for delivery on any given neighborhood route, but we're flexible. Just ask.

In addition, soon we will be offering a weekly online market with two Nashville pick-up locations, one at Elmington Park off West End Ave. and another location at the FEAST Together parking lot in East Nashville. If you'd like to pick up your share at one of the weekly market sites, or get each part of the share all at once as it's available, simply choose a market location upon sign-up, or indicate your particular circumstances in the in the comments section of the online order form. If you're not ready to commit to one of our CSA shares, you'll be able to order any of our extra foods through this online market. Stay tuned for more details.

Membership Options:

"An Endless Egg Basket" - This is the Ecotone egg special formalized into an egg CSA share. Due to both the ever-increasing cost of grain, and the need to simplify our economic model for online payment, we are now setting the standard price for delivered eggs at $5 per dozen. To continue with eggs just as before, choose the frequency with which you'd like to receive them, and then the number of dozen you'd like each delivery. With these two options we hope that all current Ecotone egg eaters are able to find a payment schedule that fits their needs, abilities, and values. If you're not able to do so, or have any questions whatsoever, please let us know and we'll be sure to work something out.

"A Piece of the Pasture" - This CSA covers the basics from Ecotone Farm, delivered over the course of a year. With beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and eggs, this share is intended to replace the meat you eat from elsewhere on an annual basis. Full shares include half a beef, a whole lamb, half a hog, 24 chickens, and weekly or biweekly eggs, delivered throughout the year. Half shares include a quarter of beef, a whole lamb, a quarter of pork, 12 chickens, and biweekly eggs.

"The Shepherd's Basket" - Just beef and lamb. This share includes a year's worth of 100% grass-fed beef and lamb, delivered monthly. Our cattle and sheep are rotationally grazed, moved to fresh pastures frequently. Full shares consist of a half beef and a whole lamb; half shares include a quarter beef and a half lamb. Both are offered as monthly deliveries throughout the year.

"Green Eggs & Ham" - Just pork and eggs. This share is full of the best heritage pork and eggs to be found in these here parts. Delivered over the course of six months, you'll get every piece of half of one of our acorn finished hogs - though some folks will have to share some things, of course. Included in full shares are half a hog and weekly eggs; half shares consist of a quarter hog and biweekly eggs. Assorted or all green egg options available; please note in order comments.

"The Cackle Pack" - Just chicken and eggs. As a shareholder of this CSA, you'll cackle with delight as you receive six months of the best chicken and eggs in middle Tennessee! At Ecotone, we do not raise the industrial Cornish Cross broiler, choosing instead to raise a slower-growing broiler on pasture, with certified organic grain, in an Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) manner. This is not cheap to do, but the taste is well worth the effort. Over the course of the season, full shareholders will receive 12 whole broilers, weekly eggs, and 8 heritage stewing hens.

"The Quack Pack" - Just ducks and duck eggs. Similar to our share of chicken and eggs, this CSA includes six months of duck and duck eggs. For broilers, we're raising Muscovy ducks from JM Hatchery in Pennsylvania, which claims they finish out with less fat than traditional meat ducks. Full shares include 12 Muscovy broilers, offered either as whole or breasts and legs, and a dozen Khaki Campbell duck eggs a week; half shares include 6 duck broilers, and a biweekly dozen duck eggs.

"Holiday Highlights" - Unique to Ecotone Farm, this CSA share provides you and yours with only the best for the holidays! In the spring, you'll receive Ecotone's only offering of a quarter lamb, including a full leg prepared to order. In time for the 4th of July, you'll get a quarter of beef, including a full or half rack of ribs for the grill. In the fall, you'll get a quarter of heritage pork, including a shoulder to smoke in the cooling air. As the year concludes, shareholders receive a turkey for Thanksgiving and a goose for Christmas. In both the spring and fall, you'll receive 10 chicken broilers and 4 duck broilers. Medium coolers required. (Do note that we will not have turkeys or geese for this holiday season, and that the share begins with New Year's 2012.)

Superfoods Start-Up CSA - In true CSA fashion, we're looking to you to help start a one-of-a-kind share. Using the concept of "superfood" broadly, included in this share are vegetables such as garlic, asparagus, and artichoke, and seasonal fruits such as strawberries in the spring, blueberries and gogi berries in the summer, and raspberries in the fall. With your support we'll also soon integrate already productive Shitake mushroom logs into this share, and host a weekend inoculation workshop to do as many as possible with wood from Ecotone. We also will begin experimenting with two other types of mushrooms, i.e.,Oysters and Wine Cap Stropharia, both of which are easy to cultivate and delicious. The final two elements of this share include honey from Ecotone and other local hives, as well as freshly-ground, local, organic corn meal, pastry flour, and barley flour. With some 30 blueberry bushes and asparagus plants already started, and two healthy hives of bees, this CSA share lacks only your support to really get going! We'll provide the labor, but feel free to come out and help!

Backyard Bee CSA - Unique to Ecotone Farm, we are proud to offer an novel CSA share called Backyard Bees. For a one-time shareholder fee, we install a fully-assembled hive of small cell bees in your backyard next spring. Intended to be participatory as well as educational, we'll make 3 to 4 maintenance visits per year and provide all the necessary protective gear and equipment. If all goes well, in the second year we'll harvest the honey, separate it at Ecotone, and return half the harvest for your household to enjoy or give as gifts. Join the network of Ecotone Backyard Bees and help the local bee populations thrive and pollinate the plants of local farms and gardens!

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS OF EACH CSA SHARE

Other Local Farmers and Food:

We are also happy to announce cooperative agreements with several other local farms that allows us to "fill out the basket" you're able to receive from Ecotone. From Noble Springs Dairy in Franklin there are four different varieties of fresh, local goat's cheese, including Plain, Garlic & Herb, Cherry Berry, and Pimento.

From Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese in Kentucky, we'll begin by offering four standard varieties of their award-winning, aged raw cow's milk cheeses.

From Twin Forks Farm Artisan Bakery, there are several delicious loaves of bread, including Spelt and Raisin, as well as three different types of granola.

Finally, depending on the interest and availability, it is quite possible that we can begin offering a range of fresh fruits, herbs, and vegetables from Delvin Farms in Franklin. Do let us know if this interests you. In the next week or so, all of these options should appear in the Ecotone Farm online market for a la carte ordering for your already scheduled delivery or at one of our pick-up locations.

Pork Shank? Flank Steak?

Don't know what to do with all those unfamiliar cuts? Fear not! Farmer-chef Philip Adams is here to help! Beginning later this fall, Philip will be offering an evening of farm-to-fork in your own home to help you understand how the different cuts of beef, lamb, and pork are prepared by the abattoir. Invite your friends and neighbors to an intimate dinner party with Ecotone farmers and food, and we'll give you all the details and more. If you're interested in hosting the Ecotone Teaching Kitchen in your home, please let us know!

Pricing:

Please note that all of Ecotone's meat CSA shares are calculated at actual pounds of meat delivered. Some farmers charge a much smaller price per pound for "hanging weight," which is the dressed weight prior to cutting it into pieces you'd actually recognize; these farms then add a "processing fee" to the "hanging weight," and this price ends up being much higher than first presented. To simplify this for everyone, we've gone ahead and integrated such costs into your prices. There are, in other words, no hidden costs in our prices, and you'll receive the actual cuts of meat at our advertised price per pound.

Payment:

Please follow the link below to our new CSA sign-up portal. While this online service is sleek, convenient, and (theoretically) more efficient, it’s bound to have a few minor glitches or confusing elements. We welcome your feedback and look forward to helping you navigate the new system.

From our point of view, the best payment option is either a full payment up front, or a recurring monthly bank-to-bank transfer. Of course, it remains entirely acceptable to just mail us an old-fashioned check. If you'd like to purchase food from Ecotone strictly on an a la carte basis, stay tuned for more details on our online market.

CLICK HERE TO BECOME A SHAREHOLDER OF ECOTONE FARM !!

Farm Field Day Fun

2011-09-29T10:08:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all of those who came out for the first annual Ecotone Farm Field Day on Saturday, September 10th. With over 100 folks coming by the farm that day, it was nothing short of a success! Music was played, food was eaten, and - for a brief moment - children ruled the roost!

Many thanks to the Wingate bluegrass duo (and friends), as well as the Kansas Bible Company, for the fantastic entertainment. Thanks also to Noble Springs Dairy, Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese, and Delvin Farms for helping us with the menu! A good time was had by all.

Here are some photos taken by the Cochran family, long-time members and supporters of Ecotone Farm. For those of you who made it by that day, if you have any other photos or videos you'd like to share, please send them our way!

AWA Poultry MPU 2

2011-09-26T10:35:00.001-05:00

The structural reconstruction of the MPU trailer is complete! After several hours of welding, the Ecotone crew decided this was a job for experts. Thanks to the fine welding skills of our good friend and neighbor Jeff, the angle irons are in and the expanded metal floor is firmly in place. As you can see, he also found some used fenders, and reinforced the edges for additional support.

All that remains is a good sand-blasting to remove the rust, and a thorough coat of surface protection. The unit will be ready for rental immediately following this step, as all of the individual items are otherwise on the farm and in use. For details or to schedule a rental email farmers@ecotonefarm.com.

Back to the Start

2011-08-31T15:13:00.004-05:00

Whiskey Pigs

2011-08-16T05:57:00.001-05:00

Last week, David Wells and I went down to the new Corsair Distillery in Nashville to begin collecting their spent grain. As you can see, all are enjoying the bounty. The day after unloading this sweet smelling stuff, the sows were grunting with glee as they turned in circles around my feet. I hope that finishing our hogs on this whiskey barley - in addition to acorns, goat's milk, and love - will provide some of the best pork you've ever had!

It's Official!

2011-08-12T05:43:00.000-05:00

Harvest Farm Party

2011-08-08T13:37:00.022-05:00

You and yours are cordially invited to join the farmers and families of Ecotone for the First Annual Harvest Farm Party! Join us just a few days before the Harvest Moon to share in the year's abundance and to celebrate this old rock of ours turning away from that sun!

September   10, 2011 

Come out for an evening on the farm with friends, music, and more!

Bring the kids, collect the eggs, visit the piglets, and meet the sheep!
Take a tour of the farm!

Relax with friends and become a member of the farm!

Share a meal with new friends, or with the neighbors you don't know!

Meet new Ecotone farmers Philip Adams and Ashley Putt!

Enjoy a presentation that details all of our fall and spring offerings!

There will be plenty of good, local food (with vegetarian options, of course) and drink, but feel free to bring something to share. We'll begin to roast something delectable from the farm around dawn, and festivities begin in earnest in the evening. All this farm fun begins around 5 pm, with dinner at approximately 6:30 pm. Come out in the afternoon (say, 3:30ish) for a tour of Deerfield, the new farm we've leased to grow. We will be at Ecotone all day, so if you can't make it to the main meal event in the evening, feel free to swing by and say hello.

Everyone is welcome: friends, family, neighbors, the interested and disinterested. So if you know of such folks, please forward them this preliminary invitation. Stay for updates on this gathering and more!

Egg and Fungi

2011-06-09T17:21:00.004-05:00

Welcome McKenzie!

2011-05-08T20:38:00.069-05:00

On May 8th, friend of Ecotone Dani McKellar delivered the newest edition of the sounder to the farm. McKenzie is a three year old Duroc sow that has lived on Dani's homestead since she was a piglet. Jen and I were out of town when Dani came by, and the farm sitter failed to mention the delivery to me in the changing of the guard. Thus, when I woke the next morning, much to my surprise (and to Ozark's delight) there was a large pig wandering the pasture, seemingly content exploring her new home.

As I continued with the morning chores, ignoring the pig confident she would follow he who has corn, I was doubly surprised when the several feeder pigs came tumbling out of the bush, gleefully moving toward the corn. The fence was off, and I hadn't even noticed. Farm folly ensued.

Not yet certain who I was, McKenzie made her own way back to the pig paddocks on the north side of the farm, where Rambo was eagerly awaiting. The piglets, on the other hand, continued with their so-called freedom, knocking over empty feed barrels and generally causing trouble.

Eventually, however, all piglets were wrangled - or rather led - back to their paddock in the woods. Corn was had by all. All needs were met. And I was finally ready to welcome McKenzie to the farm. Rambo had been waiting all morning for just such order to return.

Egg Count 4

2011-05-05T17:21:00.033-05:00

The egg count for April was 4,678 eggs, or roughly 417 dozen. While the gross egg count was down from March, the rate of lay per hen was up to 65% because the flock shrank slightly as I sold a few to local homesteader's and backyard poultry enthusiasts. The daily dozen count was an average of 13 dozen, or 156 eggs a day.

The hens, however, responded in kind by eating some 500 more pounds of feed than the month before - a jump of almost 3 pounds per hen! Of course, this could well be an artifact of accounting, as I was also selling quite a bit of "The Homesteader's Grind," my own ration of certified organic chicken feed that I offer for farm pick-up or delivery. (See the newly updated Grain page above for more details.)

AWA Poultry MPU

2011-04-29T17:27:00.001-05:00

Progress on the Animal Welfare Approved poultry mobile processing unit (MPU) is coming along, though more slowly than anticipated. In late April my dad came up to visit Jasper and the rest of us, and he and Ozark provided the entertainment while a neighbor and friend of the farm Hugh Hansen and I worked on cutting the metal pieces to weld onto the trailer. Prior to this weekend of work, another neighbor and professional welder Jeff Collier worked on getting the trailer's fundamentals sound and worthy of the road. We're hoping the MPU will be ready and available for rent by September.

Sheep!

2011-04-29T17:22:00.110-05:00

On April 27th, Andy Roddick and I traded two Red Wattle gilts for six theaves, or gimmers, i.e., female sheep before their first lambing. While we tried the exchange a few weeks prior, the day I showed up to get them a lamb had been born just that morning. Andy thus kindly brought them to Ecotone, where they seemed to settle in with Lila quite nicely.

Now that the pastures have come under some semblance of control, the sheep fit into our rotational grazing program almost seamlessly. They move ahead of the laying hens by about four days, eating the grass, trampling it down, and distributing manure across the pasture.

Egg Count 3

2011-04-15T17:19:00.075-05:00

The Egg Count for March stands at 416.61 dozen, or 4,999 eggs. The decline in numbers from February is due to me turning down their winter lights as we're spinning toward the spring sun, following the heliotrope inversely, and with contrary consequences. At the beginning of the month, however, I also sold roughly 55 hens to local homesteaders as the price of grain continued to rise.

In March the hens of Ecotone ate 1,950 pounds of grain, or 2.03 pounds per hen per day. This number is abnormally high because of the changing number of hens in the flock, and my inability to track (at this point) two dynamic numbers at once. Interestingly, during this month the price of grain dropped slightly before again assuming its random upward walk.

Piglet Zen

2011-03-26T04:52:00.003-05:00

Nothing has taught me patience like farming, and nothing more so than living with pigs. On March 5th, a majority of the third and fourth litters of Red Wattle piglets left Ecotone. While nine went with Andy Roddick of Blackbird Heritage Farm in Franklin, two went with Bill and Cynthia Trew of Trew Organic Farms in Ocoee, Tennessee.

That morning, in preparation for their arrival, I began to wrangle the piglets. Alone. There was a steady, heavy rain as I rounded up the materials and my patience. I sat cross-legged in front of a bowl of grain under an adolescent maple, my head bowed in dissimulation. One by one they would approach, and one by one I would grab them by a single leg, wrap my arms around their entire body, and give it all I had to get them into the trailer.

If you've never tried it and are so inclined, I cannot but recommend that you try wrestling wet, hungry piglets in the mud at least once in your life. One of the litters was a month older than the rest, and while this may not look like much of a difference with four hooves on the ground, I can promise you in retrospect that that difference in age does indeed make a difference in weight. At one point, having underestimated the size of a particularly large gilt, I initiated the contest and she pulled me - holding onto her two back legs - clear through the porcine soup. Having at times been a competitive judo player, this young porker was not to have the best of me. I held on, dressed now in the finest spring mud Tennessee has to offer, and won.

But - besides being soaking wet, muddy, and taking all day - it all otherwise went off without a hitch. Bill Trew and I traded piglets, with he bringing two very nice Berkshire gilts from his sounder in east Tennessee. Thanks to Stella Hansen who named these newest editions to Ecotone. Welcome Peggy Rae and Ellie Ann! In the future, these girls will begin the experiments with hybrid heritage pigs, hopefully giving the gene pool some much needed diversity, as well as your pork chops some added agrarian vigor.

Radical Agrarianism 5

2011-03-24T13:42:00.003-05:00

If you're in the middle Tennessee area and are interested in either the practice or politics of agriculture, this upcoming weekend is for you! First, on Friday, March 25th from 9 am to 4 pm, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers will display the Mobile Slavery Museum at the edge of Alumni Lawn on the Vanderbilt Campus. At 5:30 pm that same day, join workers from the C.I.W. and Rev. James Lawson in Benton Chapel for a round-table discussion on "The Politics of the Lunch Counter." Both events are free and open to the public. Below is the flier for the events, after which is some background information on both.

Mobile Slavery Museum:
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers comes out of a community of low-wage tomato pickers of Haitian, Mayan, and Mexican descent. Many speak different languages, and many are highly mobile--moving throughout the country during the agricultural season. They work in a region of Florida that supplies 90% of the nation's tomatoes, and has been called "ground zero for modern-day slavery' by the U.S. Dept. of Labor. And yet the CIW has not only helped prosecute slavery cases in the region, they have also pressured food giants to help end exploitative conditions in the fields. McDonalds, Burger King, Sodexo, and six other global corporations have signed with the CIW to pass on a penny per pound of tomatoes directly to farmworkers, and ensure that their tomatoes are sourced responsibly.

With these successes already in place, the CIW is currently targeting Publix grocery stores, which has until how avoided responsibility for the conditions which bring them discount produce, stating "If there are some atrocities going on, it's not our business."

The Museum, which has been visited by former president Jimmy Carter and the U.S. Secretary of Labor, shows the region's long heritage of exploiting farm laborers--from slavery to convict labor, to current cases of slavery in Florida's fields. But it also shows the unprecedented agreements being reached between farm-workers, farm-owners, and food corporations to end those abusive conditions.

The Politics of the Lunch Counter:

A group of migrant farm-workers from some of the most exploitative working conditions in the country are fighting an abusive food system--and they're winning. To cap off the day-long exhibition of their award-winning Museum of Modern-Day Slavery, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers will be joined by Reverend James Lawson, one of the original architects of the Civil Rights Movement lunch counter sit-ins to reflect on food politics in America.

Second, on Saturday March 26th is the annual meeting of the Tennessee Organic Grower's Association, which includes farm tours on Friday and a conference on Saturday. For the interested, here's the press release, conference schedule, workshop descriptions.

Jasper's Orchard

2011-03-15T16:20:00.005-05:00

Following the Roman agrarian Cato's advice that the best time to plant a vineyard is yesterday, over the winter Jen and I planned and planted an orchard in honor of Jasper's birth. In addition to providing fresh fruit for the future, we thought it might be nice for him to see his age in lives other than his own. With the wonderful help of several friends and family we've just finished planting everything, and here's what we put into the ground:

Apple

Granny Smith (semi-dwarf)

Fuji

Arkansas Black (x2)

Paducah

Black Limbertwig

Liberty

Hubbardston Nonesuch

Horse

Pear

Korean Giant

Orient

Turnbull

Harvest Queen

Peach

Redhaven (x2)

Cherry

Sour, CKVL #1 (x3)

Plum

Santa Rosa (x2)

Mayhaw

Heavy

Big Red (x2)

Mulberry

Illinois Everbearing

Wellington

Persimmon

Meader (female)

Jujube

Sherwood

Lang

Melon Tree

1 female, 1 male

Pawpaw

Mary Foos Johnson

Prolific

Cornelian Cherry

Bodacious

Chicago

Gooseberry

Captivator

Sabine

Currant

Ben Lombard

Crandall

Fig

Celeste

LSU Purple

Magnolia

Brown Turkey (x2)

Blueberry (x20)

Raspberry (x15)

Blackberry (x5)

Grape (x9)

Muscadine (x3)

Scuppernong (x3)

Bush Cherry (x3)

Goumi, or Wolfberry (x3)

Azarole

Rose Hips

"In youth the farmer should devote attention to planting. He should think a long time about building, but planting is a thing not to be thought about but done.... Remember that a farm is like a man - however great the income, if there is extravagance but little is left."

- Marcus Cato, On Agriculture

Bread and Revolution 2

2011-03-13T13:53:00.004-05:00

So. All this has me thinking about how - at least for the people of grain in the Abrahamic traditions - agriculture is in fact a curse. Before the Fall, in the Garden, there was no work associated with subsistence; abundance was the norm. Of course, there was but one prohibition - do not eat from a particular tree - and like all prohibitions this one simply increased its respective desire.

Following this inevitable transgression, God declares humans "cursed among all animals and among all wild creatures." After putting enmity between men and women, increasing the sufferings of childbirth, and subjugating a full half of the species to the mortal dominion of the other, the benevolent God of Abraham turns to the land itself: "Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles its shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field." From original equality, innocence, and abundance, God concludes his curse of humanity with the curse of farming: "By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

In an important sense, then, the curse of humanity is at once the curse of agriculture. In fact, throughout the book of Genesis there is an important and fascinating interplay between the Hebrew words adam - translated variously as man or human, and only after verse 17 or so as a proper name - and adamah, or the ground or soil out of which humanity was formed and enlivened by the breath of God.

But eating something changed all that. Life became work. Work became toil. Toil became necessity. Necessity became death. And only through constant toil to recreate ourselves on earth could humans escape such a fate after death. With sweat we would grow grain, and with grain we would eat bread for all our mortal, dusty days. By having to farm to eat, the God of Genesis curses human beings with agriculture. From the ground we came. With the ground we work. Unto the ground we return.

And while, of course, certain traditions of Abraham are in the midst of that soteriological ritual that begs a New Testament revision of this narrative of bread and revolution, for now I simply note how the rest of the Old Testament recounts the horrendous trails and tribulations of people forced to farm to live.

Bread and Revolution 1

2011-03-11T13:59:00.004-06:00

As you’re well aware, the price of oil is once again making its random upward walk. Well, perhaps it's not so random, and it surely isn't walking alone. But with events in the Middle East continuing to unfold dramatically by the day - bringing uncertainties welcome and unwelcome alike - we'll all soon be very aware just how intimate the connection is between the global oil market and the corporate-industrial food system.

According to figures released last week by the U.N's Food and Agriculture Organization, the average price of staple agricultural goods - known as the "food basket" in its Food Price Index - went up 2.2 percent in the last month alone. This is the largest percentage jump since such accounting began. Here are one and two recent stories drawing some of these connections, i.e., between the price of food and the politics of scarcity on the one hand, and the politics of food and the price of scarcity on the other. For a more in depth look, have a look at this article from Harper's, "The Oil We Eat".

And yet, all of this is complicated even further by another ingredient in the gas tank. Last year alone, some 30% of the American corn harvest joined crude oil from the Middle East in fueling our "developed" lifestyles. Diverted from the sugar factories and confinement animal operations that raise the cheap food on which such economies depend, the price of corn is approaching its all-time high of $7.88 per bushel. While the housing market remains in the gutter, the price per acre of productive land, especially in the Mid-West, is going up dramatically. Even in Tennessee the rental costs of acreage suitable for row crops is rising quickly.

The question is whether this is yet another bubble. In what precisely this bubble will consist is another question entirely - i.e., whether it's in the price of land, or in a particular crop, or in the futures markets, etc. - but there are at the moment a few people making quite a bit of money. In fact, as Frederic Kaufman details in a recent article for Harper's - "The Food Bubble" - the 2009 financial collapse had everything to do with the "free" market in wheat derivatives being traded on the floor of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

And well, as they say, all this trickles down. A few weeks ago I received from Windy Acres an email announcing their new spring prices. And even while such grain is not, strictly speaking, part of the agricultural commodity chain, one can only assume that the basic costs of production rose sufficiently to justify the price increase. Just for your information, corn, wheat, and barley went from .20 to .25 cents per pound, while roasted soy went from .40 to .50 cents per pound. At least for me these cost increases are significant. So significant, in fact, that they have given me cause to pause over the sustainability of this kind of farming in general, and what we're doing here at Ecotone in particular.

After receiving word from Windy Acres, I began to research other alternatives. After exploring having five tons of "non-GMO" grain - i.e., from fields in transition to organic - shipped in from Ohio, I was ultimately dissuaded by the $3,500 price tag. With a few more calls, however, I learned that the folks I've been getting feed supplements from also manage an old-style farmer's grain co-op in Guthrie, KY. This small community of Mennonite farmers associated with Organic Valley, which pays for the certified organic grain to be delivered to their mill en mass and then bills individual farmers for what they use. While, of course, they don't have much of a web presence, Kentucky Organic Farm and Feed is run by Wilbur, who can be reached at (270) 265-5004.

This, for now, is where I am getting feed grains for the poultry and pigs. And while Ecotone is not yet certified organic, which potentially gives us more flexibility in what we feed our animals, it is the political and ecologic - rather than the personal and economic - that has kept me from using such grains on our farm again. While corn remains significantly higher than before, the rest of their grain remains largely in line with what I was paying before. Nevertheless, the total feed bill for the month of March was $898.41.

In the next week or so, I'll post the link to a survey we've put together to help us adapt the various economies of Ecotone to these dynamic, uncertain agrarian days.

Egg Count 2

2011-03-06T11:25:00.013-06:00

The Egg Count for February was 448.39 dozen, or 5,380.68 eggs. In exchange, the hens ate 2,510 pounds of grain for the month. If you can't "cipher in yer head," that's an average of 16.01 dozen eggs per day for 89.64 pounds of feed.

In terms of grain, then, in February each dozen eggs from Ecotone took an average of 5.60 pounds of grain, or .47 pounds per egg. Due to the cold, relatively hard winter we've had in middle Tennessee, feed consumption per hen was up to .30 pounds per day, or 9.30 pounds per month. This figure should go down rapidly as more forages and insects become available in the pasture as spring approaches.

DIY: Water Catchment

2011-03-06T10:28:00.005-06:00

With last year's floods, heat, and drought still visible in the landscape, it may be difficult to remember that just the year before was only moderately warm and consistently wet. That being our first year at Ecotone, Jennifer set about quickly try to manage this resource from the sky by installing several water catchment bins on the north side of the house. With spring well nigh, it's time to begin again to think about water for the future. Our neighbor and good farmer friend - Jonathan Smith of Happily Ever After Farm - recently asked about how to reduce the two inch output of these bins to a standard garden hose, and so I thought I'd post the photos we took back in 2009 as the first in a series of DIY projects we've completed that may be of assistance to homesteaders and small farmers.

The first step, of course, is to acquire some type of catchment bin. We got these bins off Craigslist, and if you're looking for something similar just be sure to ask about what was in them, and try to confirm that they are food grade quality. The next step is to direct your gutters into the bin as in the photo above.

Next comes the tricky part. In the photo above you'll see the various pieces needed to go from the two inch valve to a garden hose connector. (As soon as I can find their particular measurements, I'll put them here.) The final assembly is below.

Once you've gotten this far, you're almost done! Clean and glue the plumbing pieces, and don't forget to apply Teflon tape to the large male threads on which you'll place the reducer. Let it dry, connect your hose, and move some water!

Since these photos were taken, we've elevated the bins so as to get more pressure in the hose. The final photo is from a friend's house who has really perfected the technique of catching, saving, and using rainwater. He's got various food grade containers, and if you're interested I can put you in touch.

Fieldnotes 2

2011-03-03T09:40:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year. The winter has denuded the brush and the pasture is less than a quarter inch tall. It's time to pick up trash. Both the new that the wind and dogs have bequeathed, and the old that the chickens and pigs have unearthed.

And so I was thinking. If you're ever experiencing uncertainty about that perennial metaphysical question - What's natural? - just go out and pick up some trash. This will resolve rather quickly any doubts or anxieties you may have.

2010 Ecotone Index

2011-03-01T10:29:00.135-06:00

Total number of eggs laid by Ecotone hens in 2010: 26,906

Total amount spent on hens: $8,732.52

Total income generated by their eggs: $7,354.57

Number of Red Wattle piglets born at Ecotone: 29

Estimated number of households that eat Ecotone eggs regularly: 115

Pounds of grain eaten by hens in 2010: 21,436.90

Feed costs alone per dozen eggs in 2010: $2.26

Pounds of grain eaten by pigs in 2010: 13,200

Number of piglets sold as breeding stock, i.e., are still alive: 12

Estimated number of pounds of pork from the rest: 3,400

Average annual ratio of grain to eggs: .80:1

Infrastructure costs for laying hens in 2009: $3,309.18

Infrastructure costs for laying hens in 2010: $668.18

Total infrastructure costs for Ecotone laying hens: $4,050.36

Infrastructure costs amortized over 5 years: $0.54 cents/dozen
Cost of each new egg carton: $0.33 cents

Total costs to date to begin Ecotone: $49,606.54

The above figure minus truck and tractor to date: $38,434.22
Total income generated by Ecotone to date: $11,172.30

Estimated number of trees planted since moving to Ecotone: 165

Total infrastructure costs for the Ecotone pigs: $985.90

Gross income from pigs in 2010: $1,650

Total costs of grain for pigs in 2010: $3,622

Total pounds of grain eaten by the animals of Ecotone in 2010: 34,636

Total costs since 2009 of Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs: $2,216

Total cost of fuel for 2010: $1,108

Total amount paid in sales tax in 2010: $289

Number of miles driven to acquire feedstuffs: 1,650

Estimated number of hours C.J. spent collecting and washing eggs: 438

At 10 cents an hour, C.J.'s annual hourly wage for such work: $43.80
At $5 an hour, C.J.'s hourly wage: $2,190
At $20 an hour, C.J.'s hourly wage: $8,760

With infrastructure, feed, fuel, and labor at $5/hr, the true cost of a dozen Ecotone eggs in 2010: $4.27

Per dozen, the amount subsidized by C.J. for eggs in 2010: $0.62

Total amount spent on fencing since 2009: $2,697.13

Cost of Jasper's Orchard: $1,644

Number of edible plants in Jasper's Orchard: 102
Estimated number of years these plants will bear fruit: 50
Total amount since 2009 spent on tools: $2,531.09
Total spent on the mixer-grinder in 2010: $1,101.83
Total amount since 2009 spent on the garden: $353.85

Average cost per day of the Ecotone layers in 2010: $13.41

Average cost per day to feed the Ecotone pigs: $6.63
Estimated number of hours C.J. spent working with pigs in 2010: 219
Total amount in 2010 spent on pasture seed: $214.40

Number of Farm Members who joined in 2010: 4
Number of years typically needed to begin turning a profit in farming: 5

F.L.A.G. 2: Accounting

2011-02-28T10:26:00.000-06:00

As I've discussed with several of the potential founding members of middle Tennessee F.L.A.G. - Farmers for Local Animals and Grain - an important principle for such an organization is open accounting. By opening our ledgers to farmers and eaters alike, we encourage a measure of transparency that is often obscured by the sheer scale and norms of privacy that typically govern "business" endeavors.

In fact, from my perspective, it is precisely this conception of a farm as a business - of every family farm a profit-maximizing corporation unto itself - that I want to question. From the ancient Greeks to the current seal of the State of Tennessee, agriculture and commerce have long been representative of two distinct realms of human activity. Yet lately that's all agriculture is taken to be. If you can't make money at it, it's not worth doing. And maybe that is indeed the case.

But in any case, such a question certainly is not one that can be answered in the abstract and according to "theory alone," whatever that may mean. This question of agrarian economics, in other words, remains for me an open question, open to further inquiry and experimentation. In such a spirit, in the next post I will present the facts and figures for Ecotone in 2010. To spice it up a bit, I'll present these numbers in a format similar to the Harper's Index. Finally, to get a better understanding of the sentiment behind my approach to accounting, I cannot but recommend that you watch the wonderful short-film The Accountant (2001) as soon as possible. Then you will also understand that, as with all accounting, with mine there is inevitably a 4.5% margin of error, plus or minus.

Egg Count 1

2011-02-25T06:59:00.005-06:00

I've finally had a chance to catch up on some accounting, including the January 2011 Egg Count. During that month the Ecotone hens ate a total of 2,911.78 pounds of feed, or a whopping 93.93 pounds per day. In exchange, the hens provided you and yours with 5,959 eggs, or some 497 dozen. This works out to an average of 16.02 dozen per day. Not bad given the especially cold and snowy month.

In terms of grain, then, for the month of January each dozen eggs from Ecotone took an average of 5.86 pounds of grain, or .49 pounds per egg. Not only is this figure down from December, when it took 6.90 pounds of grain per dozen eggs, but it's also a significant improvement over last year's annual average of 9.56 pounds of grain per dozen.

Due to the cold, relatively hard winter we've had in middle Tennessee, feed consumption per hen was up to .30 pounds per day, or 9.30 pounds per month. This figure should go down rapidly as more forages and insects become available in the pasture as spring approaches.

Swords Into Plowshares

2011-02-24T10:06:00.004-06:00

For both my own reference and yours - should you be interested - I'm posting several relevant links, the first of which is a recent New York Times article on efforts helping veterans become farmers.

Next is a recent report published by the Applied Research Center on the racial wage gap in America's food industry, entitled "America's Food Sweatshops".

Finally, on a more hopeful note, above is a video about an exciting new project - Food Corps - that is just getting started on a national scale. Eat Local. Live Free.

Morning Visitors

2011-02-22T08:46:00.016-06:00

As I was heading out to feed the pigs this morning, I was instead greeted by a sounder of piglets at the back fence sniffing around for a pre-breakfast snack.

Ozark - a true lover of all things porcine, especially those in miniature - soon led the somewhat confused "herding" back to their mothers, who were awaiting with snorts of concern.

All of this reminds me of a fellow farmer friend's favorite quotation regarding such incidents, accidents, and their aftermaths:

"The Pig: mogul of appetite, lord of misrule, the king who must die."
- John Thorne, Serious Pig (2000)

Farming and Philosophy 4

2011-02-15T13:48:00.008-06:00

For the interested, I'm posting a link to the latest version of my dissertation prospectus, Freedom and Food, Slavery and Agriculture: A Philosophical Ecology of Democracy. I sincerely welcome any comments you may have, constructive, deconstructive, or reconstructive. Though I'm just starting to write in earnest, it's still very much in a form receptive to comments and criticisms of various sorts. As such, please do not cite or otherwise use any of this material without permission. So enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Farmers for Local Animals and Grain

2011-02-13T13:46:00.022-06:00

Yesterday I spoke with a farmer in Williamson County about the new agrarian organization - F.L.A.G., or Farmers for Local Animals and Grain - which nominally began with AWA awarding Ecotone one of its 2011 Good Husbandry Grants. Following this conversation I wanted to elaborate on the background to this idea, and the problems its initial ends and means were taken to address.

The idea for F.L.A.G. began in the summer of 2010, when Fletcher Gonzales and I went into together and bought a 1972 New Holland Mixer-Grinder 352 from a pair of brother-farmers up the road. Not only was this machine entirely mechanical (i.e., no hydraulics), but was in great condition and a great deal, and over the long term would save us $100 per ton of feed, which Windy Acres charges to mix and grind grains. Plus, with more control over the process we naturally have more control over the product, and so can add specific supplements as needed.

As we realized one of the main missing links in the local food economy surrounds the cultivation and availability of quality, local grains for the consumption of humans and other animals, we also began to think about how we might work with other farmers to build such infrastructure in a community-oriented way. The mixer-grinder was the first installment of this, and Ecotone is proud to offer "The Homesteader's Grind," which is a custom-mixed feed ration with organic, local grains from Windy Acres made especially for backyard and homesteading poultry enthusiasts on the Highland Rim.

But before Fletcher's Poultry became part of that dismal statistic looming over small-scale American agriculture - i.e., that 9 out of 10 new farmers fail in the first 3 years - Fletcher purchased several key pieces of equipment that have allowed at least 6 other local farmers and homesteaders to process their own chickens, ducks, and turkeys over the last year or so. Included in this are a professional grade scalder and a 25 foot long trailer, which is the foundation for the AWA Good Husbandry Grant's Mobile Processing Unit (MPU).
On January 8th, Brooke Gillon and I began work on the MPU by removing the old flooring and insulation that was connected to it. Tomorrow a neighbor and professional welder Jeff Collier is coming to pick up the trailer and complete the requisite work for its road worthiness. After this, Jonathan Smith, Hugh Hansen, Michael Allison, and I will complete the remaining welding work and install its central pieces. It also turns out that Eli Reiff - the Mennonite "Poultry Man" of Mifflenburg, PA, who also first taught me how to butcher a chicken - is fabricating a custom made evisceration table designed by Jonathan. We hope to have the unit completed by this year's TOGA Conference in late March, soon after which we will begin offering it on a rental basis to local farmers and homesteaders.
One way to think about F.L.A.G., then, is that it is oriented less toward "production" and more toward the "means of production." By making certain key pieces of agricultural infrastructure available to the entire agrarian community, that is, we could build a just local food economy and work against some of the pernicious influences of market economics that have come to dominate the sustainable food movement. Chief among these is the rigid and disheartening amount of enmity that currently predominates among middle Tennessee pastoralists at farmer's markets and beyond. Not only do many of the area animal farmers dislike one another personally, but several refuse on principle of competition to help other, newer farmers as to how and where to access important resources and information, much less allow them to visit their farms for the sake of education and cooperation.
The other significant problem, as I see it, is precisely this lack of transparency. Since I entered farming a few years ago, I have been astounded by the sheer plurality of terms and labels, the amount of vagueness and ambiguity accompanying their correlative practices, and the ways farmers obfuscate real differences that exist between operations and products under the banner of local, natural, and/or sustainable food. You can, for example, buy a share of raw milk from one of the largest such farms in the area without ever knowing that they sub-contract with other smaller dairies and package it under their singular name. Nor, for example, would you know that when you buy a chicken from another popular animal farm that they paid another farmer - much younger and smaller in operation - a mere pittance of the price to raise the bird for them, which is marketed as having originated on their farm. Finally, then, it should come as no surprise that the largest local, "all natural" egg farm in the region has 5,000 chickens on 5 acres and not a blade of grass in sight. And while their eggs are to be sure cheaper than ours, bear in mind we have 300 hens on 12 acres.
Now, of course, nothing about these practices are inherently bad. The problem, it seems to me, is the lack of transparency about their organization, and the overall lack of thought given to the ethics and politics involved with the labor relations that make them profitable. Put differently, if I'm going to buy raw milk for me and my family, I damn well want to know exactly where it's coming from and exactly who is doing the milking on a daily basis. To ensure these things, I'm willing to pay more for that product; in fact, it is in my direct interest to pay that person well so that they will do an extra-good job in preparing a deliciously sensitive beverage. The same goes for poultry and eggs, but I need not go there now. My point is simply that, like the questionable practices themselves, the regulatory exemptions by which these foodstuffs come to my table can be both a boon and a bomb for my family's gut. The difference between these outcomes does indeed make all the difference, and by shifting the emphasis away from the political economy of producer-consumer and toward a political ecology of farmer-eater, new forms of food politics and pedagogy can emerge organically from particular communities.
To begin to address some of these problems, F.L.A.G. would be a decentralized organization of farmers and eaters that works to build local food economies in just and community-oriented ways. Toward this end member farmers, in partnership with interested eaters, would visit each others' farms to exchange ideas and information, and ensure that the various pastoral practices match their respective marketing claims. To encourage simplicity in form, multiplicity in practice, and a robust sense of bioregional autarky, I envision no fees for membership, nor any centralized decision-making body; rather, this organizational structure aims to facilitate other farmers and eaters, in other locales, to initiate their own chapters and their own locally appropriate standards. Participation in the organization entitles farmers in good standing with one another to use the name and logo of F.L.A.G. on their products and marketing materials.
In another light, then, while the central agrarian aim of F.L.A.G. entails developing the infrastructure necessary to farm with local raised animals fed locally grown grain, one of its most important consequences will be educational. Not only would F.L.A.G. draw attention to problems facing local food economies, it would actually serve as a positive counterpoint to building in fact the communities we claim to want in speech. In these ways, educating eaters into the central issues surrounding the foods they eat, as well as enabling farmers to cooperate in new ways that solve old problems that benefit local people, are just two of the main ideas motivating an initial chapter of Farmers for Local Animals and Grain.

Welcome Baby Jasper!

2011-02-03T14:21:00.041-06:00

On Friday January 28th, at 5:13 pm, Jennifer gave birth to our first child, Jasper Weiss Sentell. Born after 44 hours of labor, Jasper weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was pronounced healthy at the scene. In attendance were the magnificent doula Tracy Good of Good Births, lifelong friend Jennifer Tlumak, grandmother Beth Sentell, me (AKA "Dad"), and the dedicated medical professionals at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.Beginning around the 40 week mark, in an attempt to induce the birthing process as naturally as possible, Jennifer began trying a number of folk methods to ripen her cervix. Beginning with red raspberry leaf tea, walking some 2 miles a day, she soon moved to sperm - often the easiest and cheapest source of prostaglandin around - and evening primrose oil. By the end of the week Jen was even trying acupuncture. All to no avail. At the time of check-in on Wednesday, January 26th, she remained completely undilated.

At 41 weeks 3 days, Jen decided to check-in to Vanderbilt to begin medical methods of induction. Beginning with the cervical ripener Cytotech, by Thursday morning Jen was dilated only one centimeter. After this, the option presented to Jennifer was the Foley bulb, a mechanical device placed against the cervix to dilate it to at least 4 or 5 centimeters. (Only afterward did we learn that most women then choose to have an epidural due to its associated pain.) Before the Foley bulb, however, Jen and the birth team got a break, and moved into the deluxe room with the labor tub. Apparently some country music singer floated the tub for her own use, and the use of others in her wake. Bulb in place, mind in place, Jen labored gracefully in the tub for some 7 hours.Around hour 16 or so, Jen requested some assistance with the pain, and after the bulb was removed received a small dose of Stadol. This allowed her, as well as the birth team, to get some much needed rest. Afterward Jennifer's mood improved greatly, and she seemed to catch her second wind. At 9 pm on Thursday, after almost 9 hours, the Foley bulb finally came out with a gentle tug from the nurse, and Jen was 4 cm dilated. The bulb was said to only take 2-4 hours. Around 11 pm that night, the attending physician broke Jen's bag of waters and gave her a second dose of Stadol to help her with the increasing pain. That night, each member of the birth team kept vigil with Jen, holding her hand during each contraction and generally helping her be as comfortable as possible.

At 3:45 am on Friday morning Jen finally got an epidural, which took about 30 minutes to put into place. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist had to come back in short order, as Jen was only numb on one side of her body and was having intense pain in her hips. After the second try, though, everything worked wonderfully and Jen felt much better. By 6:30 am on Friday, Jen was 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Finally some real progress, and Jen was among the most excited with the developments. Around this time - some 30 hours in labor - the medical midwife ordered a Pitocin drip begin in earnest.

At 11 am or so, with impatience building palpably in the air, the attending physician came in to request Jen's informed consent for a C-section, but also did a cervical exam that revealed her to be 90% effaced and 8 cm dilated. She understood the risks, consented, and decided to wait just a bit longer. A few hours later the doctor was back and eager to cut. A check of Jen's cervix revealed yet more progress. By 2 pm she was 100% effaced and completely dilated. The room prepared for birth. By 3 pm it was time to push. Everyone assumed their stations. Jen T. and Tracy held Jen's legs; I stayed by her side, counting, whispering encouragement, and keeping her forehead cool in between contractions; grandmother Beth took photos and helped the helpers. It was an awesome team! After more than an hour of pushing, the doctor discovered that Jasper was turned a bit wonky in the birth canal. He still wanted to cut, and mentioned it again to Jen, which seemed to give her even more determination. With Tracy's guidance, Jen switched to her side in an attempt to straighten Jasper out with several good pushes. The attending reached in and attempted to turn his head manually. Now with the nurse reporting progress directly to Jen, she became very encouraged and quickly gave birth to Jasper, welcomed by tears of joy from all.
Immediately following birth, Jasper was placed on Jen's stomach while the nurses accomplished their requisite checks. After ceasing to pulse, I cut the cord. When they moved Jasper to the heater to weigh, suction, and stamp his little feet - the first of many numbers that will define his biopolitical life - the doctor and midwife began to suture Jen's "spontaneous" tears. This, incidentally, was the same word they used for the birth more generally - i.e., "a spontaneous vaginal delivery" - and after 44 hours of labor the propriety of both usages remains highly suspect.

All in all, it was truly an amazing experience that only solidified my love for this truly amazing woman. I began to see clearly, perhaps for the first time, how the roots of masculine domination stem from a deep fear of this beautiful, ferocious, and truly awe-inspiring feminine power. And while he is no doubt one of the fathers of our tradition's version of patriarchy, Jasper's birth has nonetheless been an occasion for me to reflect on Aristotle's claim that "it makes no small difference, then, to be habituated in this way or in that straight from childhood, but an enormous difference, or rather all the difference."

From Jennifer, then, came Jasper, the newest member of Ecotone who we're so happy to introduce. Welcome Jasper, we've been waiting on you for some time! My hope, above all, is for you is to acquire those habits of character that will enable you to become a man of whom the women attendant your birth into this world can be proud of progress indeed.

Radical Agrarianism 4

2011-01-31T07:40:00.002-06:00

The Food Politics Group at the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities at Vanderbilt recently read and discussed James C. Scott's new book, The Art of Not Being Governed. In addition to being a professor of political science and anthropology, Scott is also the director of the Center for Agrarian Studies and the editor of its book series, all at Yale. At once intuitive and unorthodox, the "crudest version" of Scott's thesis turns on the following basic formula:

"Political and military supremacy requires superior access to concentrated manpower close at hand. Concentrated manpower, in turn, is feasible only in a setting of compact, sedentary agriculture, and such agro-ecological concentrations are possible, before the twentieth century in Southeast Asia, only with irrigated rice. These relationships are, however, not deterministic.... Irrigated rice...is best understood politically as the most convenient and typical means of concentrating population and foodstuffs."

Drawn from what was for me the most revelatory chapter, "Concentrating Manpower and Grain," here are a few more choice selections:

"The abundance of arable land in Southeast Asia favored shifting cultivation, a pattern of farming that often yielded higher returns for less labor and produced a substantial surplus for the families practicing it. What constituted an advantage for the cultivators, however, was profoundly prejudicial to the ambitions of would-be state-makers. Shifting cultivation requires far more land than irrigated rice and therefore disperses population....[C]oncentration is the key. It matters little how wealthy a kingdom is if its potential surplus of manpower and grain is dispersed across a landscape that makes its collection difficult and costly."

"Conditions in a flourishing wet-rice heartland, then, were favorable to the development of what might be called the premodern state's ideal subjects. That ideal is represented by densely packed cultivators of permanent grain fields who produce a considerable annual surplus."

"The paramount importance of manpower rested, in the final analysis, on military considerations. Occupation of a fertile rice plain, of an important temple complex, of a choke point along vital trade routes was of little avail if it could not be successfully defended. This homely fact goes to the very heart of the analysis of power in such premodern political systems. Rather than wealth begetting power, as it might in Lockean systems, where the state's first duty is to defend citizens' life and property, in premodern systems only power can guarantee property and wealth. And power, before the technological revolution in warfare, was largely a matter of how many men a ruler could field; power in other words, boiled down to manpower."

"Less reliant on volatile trade, more hierarchical, more insulated from food-supply crises, and capable of feeding quite massive armies, these ['coercion-rich and capital-poor,' landward'] agrarian states might lose a battle or even a war, but their staying power over the long haul tended to prevail."

"The imperative of concentrating population and grain production, in fact, confronts all would-be state-makers who must operate in an environment where open land is abundant and military technology simple. Some means must be devised to counteract the tendency of the populace to disperse widely so as to take full advantage of the hunting, foraging, and less labor-intensive farming techniques available to them."

"The objective of this [early modern state-making] policy was, it seems, to starve the population into grain farming and subjecthood by separating them from the open commons."

If you're interested in hearing Professor Scott speak at length on this book, check out the following lecture; for a more informal interview, have a look here; for the relationship of Scott's work to the libertarian tradition, have a listen to this.

2010 Egg Count

2011-01-25T07:12:00.015-06:00

Well, we've done it. We've collected a full year's worth of Egg Counts. Over the course of the year, the accounting became more finely-grained. We began to record significant weather events, such as the May rains that brought the flood, the record drought from July to September, and the November snow that once again caught us unprepared for the shift in seasons; we began to record precisely (i.e., in decimals) the odd eggs at the end of each day; and we began to count the number of eggs discarded, whether from being dirty, broken, or otherwise inedible. In addition, we also began to note the days on which I moved the hens to fresh pasture, as well as any major disruptions to flock life such as a hawk attack. Below find the numbers, as well as some hen highlight photos from the year that end with them in winter bivouac.

Throughout the course of 2010, the hens of Ecotone laid a grand total of 26,906.28 eggs, or 2,242.19 dozen. Over any given day this works out to an average of 73 eggs, or just over 2 dozen, from an average of 284 hens over the year. (Remember that the first flock of 150 hens was joined in March by the remaining 150 or so, which didn't begin to lay until late October.) Each Ecotone hen, then, laid an average of 10.02 eggs per month.
Of these, however, only 2,204 dozen actually got into the hands - or rather the mouths - of Ecotone egg eaters, as we discarded a full 40 dozen eggs in the course of gathering, cleaning, and transporting. Noteworthy is the fact that only after I began to record this number does it actually seem to have gone down. A welcome artifact of accounting, I suppose.
For the entire year, the Ecotone hens ate a total of 21,436.90 pounds of feed grain at an average of .24 cents per pound. While for the first six months we fed commercial grains from Edward's Feed at an average of .17 cents a pound, in July we transitioned to organic grains from Windy Acres Farm at an average of .29 cents per pound. Total grain costs for the year, then, were $5,078.87, or about $450 a month. Add to this the supplements such as kelp and calcium we've mixed in since transitioning to organic grains, and total feed costs were well over $500 a month.
To view these same numbers from a different perspective, each Ecotone hen ate an average of .26 pounds of feed per day, or 9.49 pounds a month. Each day, in other words, both flocks ate a total of 58.73 pounds of grain, for an average daily feed cost of $14. Thus for the year - which included three months of almost no eggs at all - the grain to egg ratio was 9.56 pounds per dozen, or .80 pounds per egg. In this way, the average feed cost per dozen of Ecotone eggs for 2010 was $2.26, or .19 cents an egg.

Women and Agriculture

2011-01-16T09:30:00.001-06:00

As I was heading out this morning to do chores, NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday did a nice story that kept me in my seat until after dawn, making some other ladies I know none too happy. My favorite line: "You don't talk bad about a farmer with your mouth full."
And even though women are described as "the largest minority in agriculture," which seems somehow strange to me in terms of a figure, the juxtaposition of these two farmers is striking. For the interested, listen to the story here: "Women Farmers Grow Strong".

Farming and Philosophy 3

2011-01-05T19:24:00.021-06:00

In the last few weeks, I've had occasion to recall the following passage from Berry in The Way of Ignorance:

"One may begin as an agrarian, as some of us to our good fortune have done, but for a farmer agrarianism is not enough. Southern agrarianism is not enough, and neither is Kentucky agrarianism or Henry County agrarianism. None of those can be local enough or particular enough. To live as a farmer, one has to come into the local watershed and the local ecosystem and deal well or poorly with them. One must encounter directly and feelingly the topography and the soils of one's particular farm, and treat them well or poorly. If one wishes to farm well, and agrarianism inclines to that wish above all, then one must submit to the unending effort to change one's mind and ways to fit one's farm."

So often, it seems, farming is done the way it's done because that's the way it's always been done. In fact, this tendency to be "stuck in a rut" seems both deep and wide in agrarian communities, and points to an important sense in which such communities are conservative by both nature and tradition. What works, works; it is what it is. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Sometimes, however, we aren't able to see what doesn't work, or isn't working, precisely for the way certain things work.

Enter William James, one of the founders and popular voices of American pragmatism, who once wrote that habit is "the enormous fly-wheel of society, its most precious conservative agent." The radio program On Point with Tom Ashbrook recently did a show on James, which in turn made me think of Berry - perhaps in one of his more flexible moments - and again about the relationships between agrarianism and pragmatism. Have a listen to the show here, if you're interested.

All this is to say that it is quite difficult to maintain such a flexibility, such an open, experimental orientation to your plans, especially when they are painstakingly constructed in advance and often involve financial investments. Indeed, sometimes it seems that farmers - myself included - are especially prone to fall into the habit of Thoreau's "worldly miser" in "Walking," who failed to see that "heaven had taken place around him, and did not see the angels going to and fro, but was looking for an old post-hole in the midst of paradise."

To avoid such paths, I offer the following passage from James' essay "The Sentiment of Rationality" as an antidote, as well as an amendment to what are ongoing notes toward a more radical agrarianism:

"Philosophers long ago observed the remarkable fact that mere familiarity with things is able to produce a feeling of their rationality. The empiricist school has been so much struck by this circumstance as to have laid it down that the feeling of rationality and the feeling of familiarity are one and the same thing, and that no other kind of rationality than this exists. The daily contemplation of phenomena juxtaposed in a certain order begets an acceptance of their connection, as absolute as the repose engendered by theoretic insight into their coherence. To explain a thing is to pass easily back to its antecedents; to know it is to easily foresee its consequents. Custom, which lets us do both, is thus the source of whatever rationality the thing may gain in our thought."

New Year's Piglets!

2011-01-02T18:59:00.001-06:00

On the morning of New Year's day, Ruby began to deliver her second litter, farrowing 11 piglets by about 5 pm. While one was stillborn and another born seemingly lame (its hind quarters never moved), another piglet was found dead a day later with a deep laceration in its front shoulder. Since then, however, each of the remaining eight continue to live and thrive. Welcome to all 15 of the new piglets now living at Ecotone!

Below are some photos of the other, older litter of piglets from Sadie, which now venture boldly out into the snow to romp and root around.

Egg Count 13

2010-12-31T19:00:00.004-06:00

I've had a chance to tally the egg count for December, and so the final data for an entire year in eggs. First, the month.

During December, the 315 hens of Ecotone laid a total of 353.04 dozen, or 4,236.48 eggs. Along with the cold, the increase in the number of eggs laid has increased the amount of grain the hens ate, up from last month to 78.55 pounds of grain per day. That works out to a grand total of 2,435 pounds of grain, or 6.90 lbs. per dozen.
The daily average for the month of December, then, was 11.39 dozen per day, or 136.66 eggs per day, which is a monthly rate of lay approaching 44% -- not bad for heritage breed hens!

Above and below are photographs of several eggs from a single day of lay in the flock. Note that the extra-large one had two yolks, while the smallest had none at all. It does indeed take all types!

Snow Piglets

2010-12-22T18:57:00.007-06:00

On December 12th, the household and friends of farm member and philosopher Sarah Tyson visited the farm. Braving the snow from Nashville, they came to visit the piglets, but helped sow winter pasture seed in the falling snow and collected the day's eggs as well. Below are some photos from the day.

At first, Rambo was the only pig with enough manners to come out and greet the visitors. Well, he may have simply thought we represented the coming of more food. Either way, it was good to see him.

Because they came to visit at a time with piglets from Sadie - who is by far the more gentle and predictable of our Red Wattle sows - they were able to go inside the farrowing hut and visit them under the warm glow of the heat lamp.

Only after everyone left did momma pig and piglets venture out to sniff around the snow. And, indeed, there was food for all!

Above the seven piglets root around the water, with the runt at the front right.

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group

2010-12-18T06:12:00.004-06:00

I'm honored and humbled to report that I've been elected to serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors for the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG). For the last twenty or so years, SSAWG has been promoting sustainable agriculture across the South, both with behind the scenes policy making, as well as with an annual practical skills conference.

This year the conference will be held in Chattanooga, TN from January 19-22. Early registration is due by December 20. This conference is by no means for farmers only. There are lots of folks there who are simply interested in farming, learning a bit more, and making agrarian friends across the region. If you're at all interested and have the time, I highly encourage you to consider attending. Next year the conference will be in Little Rock, so it's as close as it'll ever be! If you can't make it to the conference, but are otherwise interested in supporting sustainable agriculture in the South, you can make a tax deductible contribution to the organization here.

Piglets 3

2010-12-17T05:52:00.001-06:00

On Sunday December 5th, Jonathan and Hugh came over for the always fun chore of "working the piglets." And as is the case with most things on the farm, this second time around was much easier. After luring Sadie out of the farrowing hut, they blocked her re-entrance with an old door while I went in and quickly put the piglets in a carrier and made my way out the back.

The trick is to keep the piglets as close to the ground as possible while you're picking them up. When their feet are off the ground, they scream. When they scream, momma gets upset. When momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

While one piglet mysteriously disappeared on their second night, there are seven happy piglets remaining. Thus, out of Sadie's second litter there were 4 females and 3 males, with the ever-present runt being a male. We notched their ears and wormed them all, and castrated the males.

In other news, I've traded two gilts from this litter for two Berkshire gilts from Trew Organic Farms in Ocoee, TN. This will allow us to do some crossbreeding for hybrid vigor, which will be good for those hogs destined for the table, as well as have piglets for sale more regularly throughout the year. Out of this litter, though, we're keeping the rest to feed out for ourselves and several folks who have already indicated an interest. Ruby, however, is most certainly pregnant, as her milk began dropping early this week, and so I expect we'll have another litter very soon.

Egg Count 12

2010-12-16T05:08:00.006-06:00

The egg count for November was 280 dozen, or 3,363 eggs, from 315 hens, which works out to an average of 9.34 dozen per day. Thankfully, this represents a significant turn around from the last few months. During November, the Ecotone hens ate 1,850 pounds of grain, or 61.67 pounds per day. If you're following the ongoing grain to egg ratio, this is .55 lbs. of grain for each egg, or 6.6 lbs. per dozen. Like the egg count more generally, these numbers reflect a welcome return to the price of a dozen eggs being lower than their cost.

To some, this turn around may seem counter-intuitive. As you may know, the number of eggs a hen lays over the course of a year is directly related to the number of hours of daylight. As we approach the equinox and the days continue to get shorter, in other words, the number of eggs naturally wanes. Because we've had such low numbers over the course of the summer, and because Animal Welfare Approved allows supplemental light not to exceed 16 hours a day, we decided to experiment with this option.

On November 27th, Jonathan helped run electricity through the pasture to the hens (and pigs), and we successfully installed several CFL lights on a timer. I began the hens off slow, giving them an hour or so of extra light at both ends of the day. As of today, with sunrise set for 6:51 a.m., and sunset scheduled for 4:34 pm., we're just barely getting 9 hours of daylight. Three weeks after installing the lights, the hens (and I) are getting up at 4:30 a.m. and going to sleep at 6:30 p.m., which gives them roughly 14 hours of light. Thus, the eggs.

A Day Late, Plus Eight

2010-12-01T13:17:00.007-06:00

On Monday, November 29th, Sadie gave birth to eight healthy piglets. Not wanting to disturb them too much, I lifted back the tarp covering their house only a little bit, so the resulting video is a little dark.

That morning, C.J. was in the process of getting the farrowing huts ready for the next round of piglets when he realized he hadn't seen Sadie yet that day, and that the other pigs were standing at the fence looking anxious. Realizing what was afoot, he went back into the woods where the pigs are eating this year's mast and - sure enough - Sadie was in labor with two piglets already having been born, under a nice oak tree and right next to several old, discarded tires.

With rain and freezing temperatures approaching within hours, the panicky new farmer began running around trying to figure out what to do. After first preparing to move mom and babies into the fancy farrowing huts he built for them, the plan changed; he now decided to take the hut to them. With the help of Jim and Jonathan Smith - the dynamic father-son neighbor duo that has helped C.J. so much over the last two years - they carefully lifted a lighter shelter over Sadie and her now seven piglets. They were then covered from the rain, just beginning to fall from the sky, and extensions cords provided the electricity for the heat lamps to ward off the chill from the night to come. The eighth soon followed.

Good Husbandry Grant

2010-11-23T10:18:00.026-06:00

I'm happy to announce that Ecotone has been selected to receive a grant through the Animal Welfare Approved Good Husbandry Program. This grant - awarded at $5,000 - will enable the full and timely completion of a poultry mobile processing unit (MPU), scheduled for debut at the Tennessee Organic Grower's Association meeting in March 2011.

For the interested, find below the details of the grant proposal. In the service of transparency, I will also begin to track its expenses and construction, both as an exercise particular to this project, as well as an initial step toward a more comprehensive policy of open accounting for the farm generally. Finally, throughout are some recent photos of the farm this fall, as well as three photos of the unit at Foothill Family Farms in North Carolina that sparked this idea, and is the basic model on which we'll proceed.
The goal of this project is to complete a poultry mobile processing unit (MPU) to be made available subsequently for rent to regional farmers wishing and willing to process their own animals, on their own farm, in a welfare oriented way. Currently there is only one small-scale poultry processor in a five state region.

For both homesteaders and farmers, then, this MPU will serve a direct and vital need, and will be the primary vehicle for the new agrarian coalition F.L.A.G., or Farmers for Local Animals and Grain, which aims to promote local food sovereignty and the transparency of farming practices and marketing claims.

Over the last year, in cooperation with two other local farmers, we have acquired the following items to complete this project: a 28' double-axle trailer, a rotating scalder and plucker, and a stainless steel evisceration table. In addition, we have built several iterations of slaughter cones, to be attached in an exchangeable way for different size poultry. Funding from this grant will facilitate the completion of this project, including major renovations to the trailer. The outcome will be the regional availability of a major piece of agricultural equipment for which there is a direct and vital need.
Mobile processing units are of significant benefit to farm animals. Without the enormous stresses associated with transport - catching, caging, moving, and unloading - the MPU is especially beneficial to poultry, which are often caught the night before, overnighted in transport pens, and unloaded hours later, many miles away, by people working as quickly as possible. With a MPU, it is conceivable that birds never even have to leave their enclosures on pasture.

The MPU, moreover, will be a classroom on wheels, and inevitably be a space for the agrarian education of farmers and eaters. As we have seen just with this equipment on the farm, both producers and consumers are eager to learn how their food is raised and prepared and, in turn, to learn how to raise and prepare their food. In short, this MPU will enable people to eat and live in ways that are beneficial to themselves, their neighbors, and the lives and places that sustain them both.

Once the already significant expenses of this project are recovered, the MPU will improve the viability of Ecotone by providing an alternative source of income through rental and processing services, and an ongoing means for agrarian education, which is one of the primary aims of the farm.
As a cooperative project, however, the MPU will have a much more significant and widespread effect. By enabling local farmers to process their own poultry, on their own farms and in welfare oriented ways, not only are the expenses and stresses of transportation to the nearest facility in Kentucky eliminated, but one of the most important pieces of infrastructure for building local food economies will be available for use by the general public. In short, this grant will improve the viability of many farms throughout the local and regional food-shed.

Egg Count 11

2010-11-12T07:02:00.009-06:00

The egg count for October was 130.44 dozen, or 4.21 dozen per day, from 319 hens. If you've been keeping up with the count, then you know that this represents a significant turnaround from last month. It seems that the main problem concerned the hens not getting enough of their vitamin and mineral supplement mix, Fertrell's, which had been offered free-choice since the transition to organic feed grains.

On October 12, I began to mix the Fertrell's into their feed by hand. On that day the count was 1 dozen total. By October 14, the total count had climbed to 2.5 total. A week later the count had risen to 5.5 dozen. By the end of the month, the total daily egg count was close to 10 dozen.
This is really sort of remarkable. Over the last two weeks of October, once I began to hand-mix the Fertrell's into their grain ration, the number of eggs laid by the Ecotone hens rose by almost 1,000% a day. Cumulatively, from October 12 to the end of the month, there was a 866% increase in the number of eggs laid on the farm!

Even with these numbers, the feed conversion ratio remained rather high. For the month of October, the average amount of grain it took for each dozen eggs was 12.27 lbs per dozen, or just over a pound per egg. This put the cost of each dozen eggs from Ecotone at $3.68. Given the last two months of significant costs and very few eggs - where the average cost of a dozen was $11.60 - this is no doubt encouraging, but still some tough accounting.

Lessons in Leverage

2010-11-07T10:08:00.007-06:00

The art of raising pastured poultry requires frequent moving. Once each flock of chickens has spent a few days in one location, with their two roosting tractors and one nesting tractor as the center of their world and a ring of electric netting defining its perimeter, they've had enough time to scratch and peck through almost every inch of their territory, gleaning nutritious bugs as they go and depositing precious fertilizer. Then it's time for fresh ground.

Moving the roosting tractors and nesting tractor used to be a frustrating and daunting activity requiring two people, back when we were using flimsy little warehouse-style dollies. Now that CJ has custom-welded these fancy new special dollies (in red) with a five-foot wheelbase and curved spot where the base of the pen sits snug, he is able to move them by himself, realizing a major goal in hen husbandry.

Cluck Old Hen

2010-10-19T12:32:00.012-05:00

Upon recommendation of the Pastured Poet, I began to sing this song to the hens in the morning and evenings as a greeting. It seems to be working. The eggs seem to be coming back.

I got a hen, pretty good hen.

She lays eggs for the railroad men.

Sometimes one, sometimes two.
Sometimes enough for the whole dang crew.

Cluck old hen, cluck and sing

Ain't laid an egg since away last spring.

Cluck old hen, cluck and squall.

Ain't laid an egg since away last fall.

Well, perhaps it's my melody, or perhaps it's due to the fact that on October 12th I began to mix in the organic (non-Methionine) Fertrell's that was being offered free choice until then. That day, I mixed in roughly 25 pounds of the Nutri-balancer to 100 pounds of feed per flock. The total egg count on the 12th was 1.25 dozen. Two days later on the 14th, the count jumped to 1.25 dozen per flock, which is more than we've collected in day for months.

On Sunday, the 17th, still waiting for the other formula of Fertrell's to arrive, I went ahead and mixed in another 15 pounds per 100 pounds of grain for each flock. That day, the count was 1.83 dozen for Flock A and 2.33 dozen for Flock B. Yesterday's total egg count was 4.83 dozen.
So stay tuned out there! Eggs will soon be rolling your way! Until then, the return of hens clucking outside my window is a welcome sound indeed.

Radical Agrarianism 3

2010-10-14T09:06:00.006-05:00

Next week the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (C.I.W.) will bring to Nashville the Mobile Slavery Museum, which documents contemporary agricultural slavery in the balmy fields of Florida. On Monday the museum will be parked on Alumni Lawn on the Vanderbilt campus from 9 am to 4 pm. Check out this article, and the links above, for more information. Eat local. Live free.

How to Read a Chicken

2010-10-12T09:12:00.012-05:00

As always with ongoing experience, new hypotheses emerge. Lately I'd come to think that the egg problem was nutritional in nature. The problem, I thought, either had to do with the size of the grind itself - the most significant evidence for which is the fact that industrial operations do it, and because it costs more to do so, you gotta figure there's a reason for it - or that the hens were not getting enough of their vitamin premix and calcium. Since the transition to organic grains, these supplements were offered free choice only, or not mixed in with their regular rations. The Fertrell's Poultry Nutri-balancer premix is formulated for 60 pounds per ton, and it was obvious that they weren't ingesting it at that rate.

Also with the transition to organic, we switched over to the organic formulation of the Fertrell's itself, which is identical to its non-organic counterpart expect in containing a synthetic version of the amino acid Methionine. This amino is crucial for laying hens in particular, and is only found naturally in animal proteins, e.g., insects, frogs, rodents, worms, etc., that the birds consume on pasture. (Remember: chickens are not vegetarians.) Currently there is a USDA exemption for Methionine in organic production simply because there is no available alternative on the market.

So yesterday I spoke with the poultry nutrition guru at Fertrell's, Jeff Maddox, and after describing the situation he identified the following two potential problems. The first concerned the temperature at which the soybeans are roasted. For cattle and other ruminants, soybeans are typically roasted at 270 degrees for 20 minutes. For poultry and pigs, however, the temperature must be higher for longer, ideally at 300 degrees for at least 25 minutes. The second potential issue was indeed a Methionine deficiency, which he diagnosed through the hens occasionally eating small, fluffy feathers that have fallen to the ground. (Again, think about lacking adequate animal proteins, of which feathers are nothing but.) Jeff recommended switching back to the original Fertrell's formula.
Also yesterday I went up to get this month's feed from Windy Acres. Mr. Farris takes his beans J&M Farms in Guthrie, KY, which is an organic dairy that has the only known independent roaster in the region. And, indeed, after speaking with the folks at J&M this morning, they're roasting the soybeans between 245 and 260 degrees. So either we're going to raise the temperature adequately, or roast the beans and keep them warm for a longer period of time. Temperature recommendations are 270 degrees for 25 minutes, 260 degrees for 35 minutes, or 250 degrees for 45 minutes. As for the Methionine, I've ordered the original Fertrell's formula, and it should be in within the week. (Incidentally, we also get the Fertrell's and the other minerals we use on the farm from the folks at J&M Farm.) Alternatively, Jeff said, the Methionine requirement can be met with 25 to 40 pounds of fish meal per ton, but this is not allowed in organic production.

In addition to these changes, I'm moving the hens through the pasture fairly quickly to get them in place for the winter. Once bivouacked I plan on introducing some lights to extend the appearance of day light and so induce them to lay. Animal Welfare Approved standards allow such artificial light, not to exceed 16 hours total per day. I have until now resisted this option as a husband, instead wanting to allow the hens an "all natural" laying cycle with the seasons. But people want to eat farm-fresh eggs year round, and its seems like many farmers do this just to pay the feed bills on heritage breed hens. Otherwise, I'm told, you're just keeping pet chickens. I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Egg Count 10

2010-10-08T09:53:00.006-05:00

The egg count for September stands at a grand total of 31.55 dozen, or 1.51 dozen per day. The worst month yet for eggs since the first flock of hens began to lay last September. And rather than bemoan the obvious, I thought I'd just post some recent photos.

The Machine

2010-10-07T11:03:00.005-05:00

Well after almost a full year of research, thinking, and financial planning, the machine has arrived. This tractor is a new Mahindra 4025, with 40 horsepower, 2 wheel drive, and loader. I purchased it at Highland Rim Tractor in Goodlettsville, which has been selling Mahindra tractors for 35 years. While Mahindra is an Indian company, this tractor was assembled with American labor at their assembly in Chattanooga with several significant American parts, such as Bosch pumps.

In 2009 Mahindra was the best-selling tractor in the world, and to thank all those past customers the company was offering a manufacture's discount that made this machine quite affordable. Indeed, it was almost cheaper than a used one, and with a 5 year warranty was hard to beat. As Jerry pulled the tractor off the trailer this morning, he told me to take good care of it and my kids will be driving it. And while I'm certainly going to do that, I don't think I'm going to jump to any conclusions about the next generation's agrarian aspirations. Until then, I'd stay out of them bushes!

Fieldnotes 1

2010-09-21T08:44:00.015-05:00

Just a few notes from the farm. As you may have noticed, the availability of Ecotone eggs continues to be very low. The hens continue to lay less than a dozen eggs per day, total. As I've suggested several times, this is primarily due to the heat, both the early and sustained abnormally high temperatures, and the late and continuing days with average highs in the 90's. For each flock, its consequences have been different.

For the year old hens, I think the stress of the heat triggered an early and prolonged molt. While the Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orpingtons seem to have molted almost entirely, the Barred Rocks just appear to be entering the last half. Egg laying naturally tapers off and ceases during molt, and usually lasts about 4-6 weeks. Many industrial egg farms discard hens as soon as they enter their first molt because it's simply more economic to do so. Not only do they not have to feed them for all those days they're not laying eggs, the industrial hybrid hens they use lay upwards of 350 eggs a year, and have at that point just about laid their productive lives away.

For the pullets, I think the heat has caused a different, more complicated effect. To develop normally, growing pullets need a specific protein to fat ratio in the first six months of life. If pullets are either too fat or too skinny when they begin to lay, their metabolism is disrupted such that they'll never really lay to their potential. As I indicated in Egg Count 9, one consequence of the heat is a diminished appetite. In the summer, therefore, the crude protein of the ration should be increased so that they are eating the same amount of protein even though they are eating less feed overall.

While I learned this interesting bit of ration reasoning a bit late, for most of the hottest part of the summer I did hand-mix cracked, roasted soybeans into their feed to achieve the effect. To determine whether it worked or not, however, we must wait until it cools off. If it did, their delay is a rather superficial problem and should correct itself when average ambient temperatures fall below 85 degrees. If it didn't work, the delay might indicate a more significant problem, which could amount to something akin to a "crop loss" for this season's laying flock. Who knew there could be such a thing in chicken farming?!
In any case, just know that for any day above 90 degrees, it's pretty certain there will be very few eggs. During those few days recently when highs were in the 80s, for example, the hens responded in kind with only a day or two lag in laying. And so as long as such temperatures are in the forecast, I forecast a continuing dearth of eggs. For those who find the craving for eggs insatiable regardless of the season, or for those who receive eggs through the Bells Bend CSA and are approaching the end of the season, there are, then, a couple of options.

First, and above all, if you have an Endless Egg Basket account with us (i.e., if you've paid for a certain number of dozen ahead of time), and would like to begin to get eggs from another source, please know that at any point I am more than happy to refund the balance on your account in full. If you'd like a refund, or just to know the status of your account, please just drop me an email. Second, of course, is the grocery store. Might I recommend a new local food shop on 12th Ave South I recently discovered, Greenlight Market and Deli, which has local pastured eggs of roughly the same quality for sale. Finally, if you're a member of the Bells Bend CSA and would like to continue receiving eggs beyond the end of the vegetable season, know that there will be several similar drop-offs or delivery routes for the winter months.

To all those loyal Ecotone egg eaters out there, thanks for your patience and concern for the hens' well-being! To all those folks who are on the waiting list for regular eggs, thanks for your continuing interest in Ecotone eggs! While I apologize for misjudging the number of eggs that were going to be available this summer, I don't think I could have anticipated such temperatures into the third week of September! But there is one thing on which I'll venture a forecast: when the leaves begin to fall in earnest, the eggs will again begin to roll.

Animal Welfare Approved

2010-09-15T07:23:00.004-05:00

On Monday September 13th, Rob Stokes of Animal Welfare Approved came to Ecotone to conduct a first annual audit of our farm and facilities. And while it's not yet official, I'm very pleased to report that we did quite well. With the exception of castration - their standards require 7 days or before, and we did it around 14 days - there were no significant problems. And this, he told me, was especially impressive with our laying flocks. Most folks apparently have some work to do with their chickens before being approved, and all he advised us to do was lower a waterer a bit and not to stuff the nests too full with straw. Below is some information from their website, the link of which is above, that I edited a bit for the blog.

Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) was founded in 2006 as a market-based solution to growing consumer interest in how farm animals are raised and desire to know where their food is coming from and how it is produced. AWA grants the use of its logo to farms that are annually audited and found to comply with their rigorous animal welfare standards. Seeing the AWA seal on meat, dairy and egg products gives consumers a way to identify products originating from farming systems that take animal welfare seriously, and it gives farmers a way to show their customers how they farm. Crucially, this certification comes at no charge to farmers. Because AWA is not financially dependent on farmer fees, they are better able to remain unbiased and transparent in auditing and certification.

The AWA standards are the most rigorous and progressive animal care requirements in the nation, and the only requiring animals to be raised outdoors, on pasture or range. Continuously ranked as the “most stringent” of all third-party certifiers by the World Society for the Protection of Animals, AWA standards have been developed in collaboration with scientists, veterinarians, researchers, and farmers across the globe to maximize practicable, high-welfare farm management. AWA’s standards incorporate best practices and recent research and have been adopted only after rigorous review. The basic premise of all the standards is that animals must be able to behave naturally and be in a state of physical and psychological well-being.

To accomplish the goals of the Animal Welfare Approved program, all standards address every aspect of each species’ lifecycle needs from birth to death. Animal Welfare Approved works diligently to maintain a farm’s ability to be economically viable and the standards have been proven to be achievable by the vast majority of farm situations. Animal Welfare Approved reviews its standards annually, updating them as needed to incorporate new research and on-farm findings.

Egg Count 9

2010-09-14T10:53:00.003-05:00

The egg count for August stands at 43.65 dozen, or 1.41 dozen a day. Not only is this the lowest number of eggs since I began such an accounting, it also includes this year's flock of pullets, which are now 30 or so weeks old and should be well into laying. That 1.41 dozen per day average, in other words, is from roughly 300 laying-age chickens.

Of course, if you eat Ecotone eggs on any kind of regular basis, you already knew this. For the entire month of August, egg availability was at an all-time low. As I've suggested before, the ultimate source of the problem is the heat. But it's also just part of the deal when you remove chickens from climate controlled buildings and put them outside on pasture. By controlling the temperature and regulating the light, industrial egg farms maximize the number of eggs a hen can lay, which leads to physiological burnout and culling within the first year, and is the ultimate source of cheap, plentiful eggs year-round. Powered by petroleum and seasoned with salmonella, naturally.

But just to give you a sense of the economics of such a month on a small farm, I ran the numbers on feed costs. For chickens as for people, one by-product of the heat is a diminished appetite. Daily grain consumption was down to .15 pounds of grain per hen, or a total of 1,326 pounds for the month. Of course, grain is the same price whether they are laying are not, and given the month's totals, that puts the cost of each dozen eggs from Ecotone at $9.06, or .75 cents an egg. Given how many dozen eggs were laid in August, the feed to egg ratio this month was roughly 30 pounds of grain per dozen, or 2.5 pounds per egg.

Gilt-friend

2010-09-13T08:02:00.000-05:00

The last piglet finally found a home! After several folks saying they wanted her but backing out, the final gilt from the first litter moved to Pink Guitar Farm in Bon Aqua, Tennessee. These lovely folks are transplants from California, moving to the glorious southeast for more space, one can only assume cheaper land, and, above all else, plentiful water. Last year, they also bought a pair Narragansett turkeys from us, which they still have and are hoping to raise poults from next year. Here's the gilt talking through the fence to her new boar-friend.

David Bradley Redux

2010-08-21T07:23:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, after having long grown tired of trying to start the David Bradley to do small chores around the farm, I loaded her up in the truck for a ride. A neighbor down the road had recently placed a sign out front advertising work on small engines, and so I stopped by to see if he could or would work on my old hand tractor.

Jack, of J&R Machine Shop, had recently moved to Tennessee from New York state to help care for his grandson, and was more than willing to have a look at the antique workhorse. And well, wouldn't you know, he immediately fell in love with the thing. He even offered to buy it!

He got the engine running smoother than perhaps it's ever run, and just for fun (i.e., for free!) worked a few days on the aesthetics of the old machine. Here are some photos that show the refurbishments, shiny and sleek, so that maybe - just maybe - Jennifer will begin to think my tractor's sexy.

Egg Count 8

2010-08-18T10:44:00.030-05:00

I've finally had a chance to look at July's egg count, which is the lowest since high winter. In total, the hens of Ecotone laid 1,623 eggs, or 135.25 dozen.

At the beginning of the month we transitioned both laying flocks to a certified organic grain ration, grown locally by Mr. Alfred Farris of Windy Acres Farm in Orlinda, Tennessee. Combined with the high quality of this grain, the low metabolism of one flock coming into molt (they pretty much stop laying), and the high heat of summer, feed consumption dropped considerably from previous months.

The approximately 300 chickens of both flocks, that is, ate 1,638 pounds of grain, or 52.86 lbs. a day. If you're following the ongoing accounting, that's 12.12 pounds of grain for each dozen eggs, or roughly a pound an egg. While the shape of these numbers hasn't been as sad since last winter - amid all that snow and silence - the hens nevertheless managed to contribute $66.27 of net income to the Ecotone economy.
Given how little I've been working outside because of teaching and the heat - about half an hour a day for the hens - that's roughly $4.28 an hour for my time to work with these chickens and their eggs. Not bad, really, for the chance to live, work, and learn at Ecotone: an experimental farm in the service of, among other things, a metaphysical riddle. But with the month's seasonal pressures and structural changes (i.e., the organic transition), this fact is in fact a pleasant surprise. And the eggs are pretty good too.

Rules of the Wrangle

2010-07-17T08:25:00.009-05:00

Well, all but two of the piglets have made their way to new homes! Over the last two days, folks from as far away as Kentucky and North Carolina came to Ecotone to pick up these fine little hogs, some for breeding and some for feeding.

Of course, catching them in the field is easier said than done. After having several sessions of pure farm folly - picture us running around the pasture trying to catch them by hand - I came up with the idea of a trap constructed with T-posts and pallets. The first person to come by saw the trap function in all its glory. With one drop of the door, I caught all the piglets. The second attempt, however, did not go as well. Here are some rules for piglet wranglin' that I came up with in the hours after the first piglets left, trying to catch the rest.

1) Porcine Patience: Patience is the first rule for dealing with pigs. You cannot force pigs to do anything they do not want to do. Period. Pigs are intelligent. They understand what you're up to, especially if they've seen it before. Now I cannot speak to the capacity for long-term memory in pigs, but I do know that it lasts for at least several days. The second round of piglets were surely aware of what was going on, refusing to go into the trap and making themselves scarce in the bushes. By this time they had also had plenty to eat, and so were that much less inclined to cooperate.

2) Time of Day: If you must wrangle pigs, do so at dawn or dusk. Trying to convince them in the heat of the day, when it's not feeding time and when their preference is to wallow in the mud, is futile. Approach porcine when they're hungry and when it's cool.
3) Have a Plan: Do not simply start working with pigs without a plan. By the time our piglets left, they were a healthy 35 lbs. of pure muscle. If you grab one, have an idea about where you're going, and who's helping.

4) Do Not Attempt Alone: Following the previous rule, it is silly to try to work with piglets alone. The adult animals are slower, and know that you represent the Platonic forms of Corn and Soy. Piglets, however, see humans differently. To them we are unpredictable, strange, and scary. Though sometimes we show up with goodies too delicious to resist, often we show up with other, less pleasant, ends in view.

5) Respect the Sow: Most of these old-style pigs, raised outdoors on pasture, retain strong maternal instincts. Some even build elaborate nests of brush and sticks and whatnot. When attempting to retrieve piglets, treat the sows with the utmost respect. They weigh around 400 lbs. each, and are seriously committed to their piglets. Talk nicely, and try to explain what's going on. But if this doesn't work - and we all know reason has its limits - get the hell out of her way. No matter how sweet she is normally, liking her ears and belly scratched in the mud, when you're trying to get her babies, she's trying to get you. They go for your knees, and with a good bite could really do some damage. So respect her. Thank her. And you'll be back on her good side in a few days. With plenty of food.

Raised Jawbones

2010-07-11T13:39:00.021-05:00

On the night of July 4th, Cletus went missing. He wasn't there to greet me at dawn, and he wasn't around to guard the hens at night. He was gone. We assumed he got spooked by all the fireworks, but I saw him late that night after much of the bang had already blown up all those bucks.

After not returning the first night, I began to walk the woods between our place and the interstate, crisscrossing my neighbor's place several times in several ways. Along the way, with Ozark in the lead, we came across a full bovine skeleton. My eye fell upon this bone, which I immediately recognized from a Billy Collins poem I'd read that morning.

This love for the petty things,

part natural from the slow eye of childhood,
part a literary affectation,

this attention to the morning flower
and later in the day to a fly
strolling along the rim of a wineglass -

are we just avoiding the one true destiny,
when we do that? averting our eyes from
Philip Larkin who waits for us in an undertaker's coat?

The leafless branches against the sky
will not save anyone from the infinity of death,
nor will the sugar bowl or the sugar spoon on the table.

So why bother with the checkerboard lighthouse?
Why waste time on the sparrow,
or the wildflowers along the roadside

when we should all be alone in our rooms
throwing ourselves against the wall of life
and the opposite wall of death,

the door locked behind us
as we hurl ourselves at the question of meaning,
and the enigma of our origins?

What good is the firefly,
the droplet running along the green leaf,
or even the bar of soap spinning around the bathtub

when ultimately we are meant to be
banging away on the mystery
as hard as we can and to hell with the neighbors?

banging way on nothingness itself,
some with their foreheads,
others with the maul of sense, the raised jawbone of
poetry.

- "No Things," Balistics (2010)

I found Cletus a few days later through the vet's office. A very nice neighbor had found him on the morning of the 5th, scared and limping, and was taking very good care of him. Everyone, but especially Daisy, was happy to have him come home.

The 11th Commandment

2010-07-09T19:20:00.003-05:00

Even though it's longer than all the others combined, I thought this suggestion for an 11th Commandment, quoted by David Montgomery in Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations (2007), was appropriate:

"Thou shalt inherit the Holy Earth as a faithful steward, conserving its resources and productivity from generation to generation. Thou shalt safeguard thy fields from erosion...and protect thy hills from overgrazing by thy herds, that thy descendants may have abundance forever. If any shall fail this stewardship of the land...thy descendants shall decrease and live in poverty or perish from the face of the Earth."

- W.C. Lowdermilk, Conquest of the Land Through 7,000 Years, Agricultural Information Bulletin 99 (1953), U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

Egg Count 7

2010-07-09T18:22:00.007-05:00

The egg count for June stands at 179.5 dozen, or 2,154 eggs. That's an average of 5.98 dozen per day. With roughly 135 hens, eating about 50 pounds per day, that's 8.36 pounds of grain per dozen on average.

Even though we're in the midst of the longest days of the year, with rising temperatures the hens have slowed down laying considerably. It turns out that eggs are not simply dearer in the winter, but in the summer as well. Raising animals outside, on pasture and with the seasons, means following its cycles of activity and resource availability. Summer is slow. Take naps. Stay cool.

Some of you may have also noticed that the eggs are a bit smaller than normal, and that their color has lightened significantly. Interestingly, both of these changes are in response to the heat, and should vary throughout the season. I hope you find these variations charming, interesting, and perhaps even meaningful. Every egg is a unique gift from an individual hen, and for me their differences represent this utter specificity of the edible, the radical particularity of food. As Mr. Berry says, "when you quit living in the price and start living in the place, you're in a different line of succession."

Lila

2010-06-28T09:23:00.005-05:00

Just over a week ago, Jonathan and I went up to Windy Acres Farm in Orlinda, TN and picked up the newest resident of Ecotone. Lila is a four month old 3/4 Dutch Belted and 1/4 Milking Shorthorn calf, and will produce roughly 2-3 gallons of milk a day when she's mature.

Lila came to live with us for two reasons, the first of which is to move ahead of the chickens and pigs in the pasture rotation, eating the tall grass down for the critters to follow. The second reason, of course, is to provide milk and other sources of protein to the humans and other animals on the farm. Since arriving at Ecotone, Lila has stayed in the backyard, hiding behind the dove aviary during the heat of the day, and venturing out only in the evenings to graze and provide the occasional "Mooooo".

Gleaners

2010-06-21T08:48:00.012-05:00

Speaking of eating free, I'm happy to report that we're now participating in the Food Reclamation Project, a program organized through Hands On Nashville. Vendors at the Nashville Farmer's Market support the project by donating their "less-than-prime" produce (read: flawed, mostly superficially, thrown away due to our fickle industrial food aesthetic) to a group of volunteers who further sort it into human-grade quality and not. The former is then delivered to local feeding agencies and homeless shelters, while the lesser quality foodstuffs are reincorporated into the local agro-ecology.

Until recently, most of this food was directed to local community gardens for composting, which is one great way to remove organic material from the waste stream and put it back into the food cycle. Now, however, we are coordinating with the project to pick up this busted, bruised, and slightly moldy (but sometimes astonishingly perfect!) food two days a week for the Ecotone sounder. Last week, I could barely fit it all in my truck!
As you may know, pigs are remarkably similar to human in digestive anatomy. With single chamber stomachs they are omnivores, and are well-known for eating most anything and everything you put in front of them. This, of course, doesn't mean that they should or would eat those things, if given a wide variety from which to choose; but it is why they are traditionally considered unclean to eat. But it's also exactly why pigs were domesticated: because of their remarkable ability to turn all or most agricultural by-products into edible animal protein. Whether it was compost from the garden, whey from the dairy animals, or scraps from the kitchen, pigs are a crucial part of the feeding ecology for many smallholders and householders - that is, those subsistence agriculturists comprising three-quarters of the world's population.

In this sense, I've been thinking about how this project in general, and the pigs roles in particular, are good examples of gleaning, an ancient set of practices associated with the common rights to gather the remainder left in a field after harvest. Needless to say, all the pigs at Ecotone are happy to oblige in this role, and sometime in the future - after we've helped turn that so-called waste into protein - we'll return it to the project in the form of food.

Radical Agrarianism 3

2010-06-21T08:43:00.004-05:00

Wendell Berry now appears ready to go to jail in civil disobedience against the proposed national animal identification program (NAIS). You can hear him here.

Eat free or die!

Working the Piglets

2010-06-11T07:27:00.008-05:00

Last Thursday, Ben from Pleasant View Mill came down to the farm and taught Jonathan, Jennifer, and I how to "work" hogs, which includes ear notching (for ID), worming (only as necessary), and, of course, castration. We worked the 8 piglets from Sadie's litter, of which there was one female and seven males. We castrated all but two of the biggest males, and so have one gilt, two boars, and five barrows for sale out of that litter.

We also tried, unsuccessfully, to convince Ruby to let us do the same with her litter. As I was sealing her in the farrowing hut to gather the piglets without being killed by an angry sow, she jumped out over the top, screaming like a dinosaur the whole time! Needless to say, it was sort of scary, both because she was clearly upset, and I was afraid of her hurting herself. Once out, however, she barked loudly, calling her piglets together, and off they went into the bush for a full day and a half before I saw them again. We plan to try again in a few days. Of the six piglets in this litter, I know from observation that there are at least two gilts, maybe three, and we'll castrate at least one of the males.
If you're interested in getting a piglet out of this litter, please do consider sending a deposit soon, as they're going fast! For feeders, please send $50 per hog as a deposit, with the remaining $50 due at pick-up. For breeders, please sent $100 per hog as a deposit, with the remaining due at pick-up. The prices for breeder quality stock are $250 for gilts, and $350 for boars. I am interested in trading piglets for unrelated stock as well.

Egg Count 6

2010-06-06T05:24:00.012-05:00

The May egg count stands at 238 dozen, or 2,856 eggs, which is just under 8 dozen per day. The number of hens in Flock #1 has dropped slightly this month, and the heat seems to have slowed them down. Instead of the hens laying all the eggs before early afternoon, they appear to be breaking up into two groups, one finishing before late morning and the other beginning in the late afternoon. Because Flock #2 has yet to start laying, I don't have any firm numbers on the feed to egg ratio this month. Here are some photos my friend Scott took during his recent visit to Nashville and the farm.

Egg Spots

2010-05-31T09:45:00.011-05:00

Several folks have mentioned that they occasionally see a spot of blood in an egg. Now I just assumed that this was because our hens run with roosters, but I've done a little research and this is not the case. Here are the main points I found.

Eggs with a visible blood spot occur in less than 1% of all eggs laid, and are safe for consumption. The spot is caused by the rupture of a blood vessel during the formation of the egg, and can be removed with the tip of a knife. In industrial situations, all eggs are candled and those with spots culled. Interestingly, blood spots are more likely to occur with hens laying brown eggs. Not only does the color of the shell make candling more difficult, the genetics of these birds predisposes them to lay eggs containing spots.

Each yolk begins within the hen's ovary, and is enclosed in a sack containing blood vessels facilitating its development. Normally, when the yolk is mature it is released from the "stigma" or "suture" line, which is the only area of the yolk sack free of blood vessels. When on occasion the yolk ruptures at another point, the small blood vessels supplying the yolk with nutrients rupture, thus causing a spot of blood to appear on the yolk or in the white.

Importantly, this spot fades over time, and so a bright blood spot indicates a very fresh egg! This is because, as an egg ages the yolk takes water from the albumen and dilutes the color of the spot, making it unnoticeable. Once I learned this I realized that the people reporting such spots were, in fact, receiving eggs laid that same day.

Eggs that you buy in the store are, on average, two weeks old before they reach the grocer's shelf, let alone your fridge and belly. Until now there have been times when I am a few eggs short on a given day's order, and will go out to the nesting coop to get a few. These are the eggs that, more than likely, contain the spots. Since learning this, I've begun to let eggs sit for a day or two before distribution. (Just FYI: Ecotone eggs are always less than a week old; in fact, we sell all the eggs we have every two or three days.)

So, in short, these spots indicate an extraordinarily fresh egg and, aside from aesthetics, are completely safe to consume and enjoy!

Sire for Hire

2010-05-26T11:29:00.008-05:00

A few days ago Rambo embarked on his new career as porcine stud. A new farmer friend from Chapmansboro came down with a trailer and some goat's milk to see if Rambo might be interested in taking a ride to meet her Duroc sow, Mackenzie. With patience at first and then a firm shove, sure enough Rambo was interested. Here are some photos Dani sent of him taking a breather after the trip, and of his new mate. We're hoping to get some good hybrid vigor off of this pairing, which given her looks seems likely.

Piglets 2

2010-05-20T10:52:00.018-05:00

I noticed yesterday that Sadie didn't eat her breakfast, and sure enough by sunset she farrowed 11 piglets! This morning I found one dead, though not apparently laid upon, and couldn't find yet another. Jen went out a little bit later and found a piglet shivering by the hay bale outside the hut. I must have walked right by it. But that makes 10 healthy piglets in Sadie's first litter.

Piglets!

2010-05-16T09:11:00.012-05:00

Last night Ruby became a sow, farrowing 8 piglets by dawn, with 7 6 still living! Though I haven't counted exactly, they look to be mostly males, which would confirm an old saying that early litters are large and mostly female, while late litters (as this one seemed to be) are small and mostly male. Here's a video and some photos Jen got this morning.

Fruits of Our Labors

2010-05-14T09:35:00.005-05:00

This is now the view from my bedroom window, a nice showcase to three of our recently completed projects.

First, the strawberries. Since we don't yet have a deer-proof fence, I had to scratch my head a bit to find a place I could grow these sweet treats without all the rabbits, deer, chipmunks, you-name-it nibbling away all the good stuff. Eureka, the roof! This gently sloping metal roof gets plenty of sunlight, but is 15 feet off the ground. So I constructed this little shelf to hold the containers, and now whenever I need to water the plants I just open my bedroom window and tiptoe out to them. As you can see, a few little red beauties are already ripening.

Beyond the roof (actually down on the ground below) is our new clothesline. For about a year I've been hanging clothes on the clothesline I installed, which has been slowly sagging and leaning ever closer to the ground. So C.J. erected this awesome new clothesline, pictured here supporting three full washer loads.

To the right of the clothesline you can see a wooden structure, our brand-new dove aviary! If you look close enough, you can even see three white doves perched inside. They seem very happy in there, cooing softly on warm spring evenings, with plenty of room to spread their wings, fly around, and test out all the different places to perch and preen.

Pig Shots 2

2010-05-08T16:38:00.032-05:00

Here are some recent photos of Ruby and Sadie, which are due to farrow any day now, and Rambo, who is now available as a sire for hire. Ruby (Reg. # 1833):

Sadie (Reg. #1834), with a photo of the new farrowing huts:
And Rambo (Reg. #1869):

Egg Count 5

2010-05-04T09:13:00.022-05:00

The egg count for April is 243 dozen, down from 259 dozen in March. There are perhaps several explanations for this, the most obvious of which might seem the weather; but some of the highest counts fell on days with thunderstorms and heavy rains. Everyone at Ecotone did manage the storms and floods alright, with the worst being some wet chickens and smelly coops. So along with the improved quality of air up on the Highland Rim, I add being some 700 feet above the Cumberland River floodplain.

Another consideration is the experiment I conducted as the hens ran along the perimeter of the pasture. I would open the fences to the woods and watch as the ladies poured out far and wide, coming back at dusk to roost. This practice - while deeply satisfying to watch - seems to have encouraged them to jump the fence even when I didn't want them to - duh! - and we lost two hens to some critter who found them roosting outside the fences. So the number of hens laying at this point stands at 137. But one thing is for sure: when there are trees available, the chickens clearly prefer to scratch around, eat, and rest under their branches, which may indicate better food, better security, or both. And while this may seem obvious, it only points to the peculiarity of our penchant to run them on pasture.

As a whole, though, this little experiment demonstrated why we can't simply move the coops through the pasture without the electric fences: because chickens range quickly through an area, radiating out from their coop, eating the best grubs first, while only later, and if necessary, coming back for the less desirable forages and what not. The result of this is a huge potential range, and in just a few days the hens were pressing against our neighbor's 30 year old cultivated patch of Morel mushrooms, which were just then due to fruit.

Another potential explanation of the drop lies in at least two species of egg eaters. While hanging out in the laying coop trying to catch the former species in the act - one of which is pictured above awaiting its transformation into dinner - I glimpsed the tip of the tail of the latter. This morning I scooped this black rat snake up into a feed bucket, and given its overall size, and the girth of its neck in particular, it seems we've been losing eggs to this critter, too. But, hey, we all gotta eat!

Bees

2010-05-03T12:10:00.020-05:00

On April 25th, Christina VanRegenmortar and I installed two beehives here at Ecotone. Our weekends for the month or so previous had been consumed with preparations, especially the construction of all the supers and frames. See, when you order bee equipment through the mail, it arrives as hundreds of little pieces of wood and several bags of nails. "Some assembly required."

But now, with that work behind us and both hives successfully introduced to their new homes, the work of the colony is finally getting underway. The queens have emerged from their candy-gated queen cages (more on this later) and the workers are busily collecting nectar and pollen from so many flowers scattered throughout our pasture and beyond.

Today we checked for brood, but no sign of that yet. Hopefully we will see brood developing over the coming days/ weeks.

The Greenhorns

2010-04-09T11:30:00.003-05:00

Just came across this group. If you're a greenhorn young or young at heart, perhaps you should sign up. At least at first glance, or until you get to the ad at the bottom of the national map, it seems a good thing that there's such organization.

Egg Count 4

2010-04-07T12:27:00.026-05:00

The egg count for March stands at 259 dozen, or 3,106 eggs. That's an average of 8.35 dozen per day. Feed consumption remained the same, but because of the sheer increase in numbers, the pounds of feed per dozen dropped from 7.18 in February to 6.18 in March, or .515 per egg.

I also wanted to say, in reference to the previous post, that the grain issue is not just confined to poultry. People eat grain too, of course. As far as I'm aware, there is only one farm in the state of Tennessee that is growing local, certified organic, GMO-free grain, which is Windy Acres Farm in Orlinda, TN. I've been up there and talked with those nice folks extensively, and it would be great if we could begin to get their feed. They're going to offer roasted (rather than emulsified) soybeans as well, which provides a marked increase in nutritional quality. But if/when we do, it will take the cost of a dozen eggs to somewhere around $3.00 a dozen! (That's a huge increase, by the way.)

The same goes for organic grain we could have shipped to us. The only place that I'm aware of in the mid-South is Countryside Natural Products in Virginia. If farmers are advertising (certified) organic eggs or meat, then this is pretty much the only place from which they could be getting it. We could get it by the pallet, shipped in by tractor-trailer and shared around the ridge with other farmers, but again, it's a matter of cost. These organic grains, at the ration for laying hens, runs .48 cents per pound. Regular chicken feed - even the worst Co-Op stuff full of byproducts and antibiotics, runs just around .20 cents a pound.

Alternatively, we could get local corn but it's grown using industrial techniques, i.e., synthetic fertilizers and insecticides, and is planted with genetically modified seed. A family-owned mill in Pleasant View grows and can mill this corn, with soybeans (another problem entirely) from elsewhere. But they are entirely uninterested in modifying their cultivation practices to meet this so-called growing local demand.

So not only is it a matter of infrastructure, but of local agrarian sentiment and habit as well.

Locavore Ecology

2010-04-06T15:32:00.003-05:00

Here's an article from a recent edition of the NYT on the lack of infrastructure - and specifically small-scale processors - to support the growing local food movement. Indeed, there are no such processors for poultry in Tennessee at all, with the closest being in Bowling Green, Kentucky. And while that's only a few hours drive for us, I do know people that drive 6 and more hours to get their birds federally inspected! Every turn of the tire makes these products less local, and therefore less sustainable, and I'd bet there's evidence to show that in many cases, although pasture-raised poultry is no doubt raised more humanely, it's carbon footprint is much larger than the typical Tyson meat-blobs.

There is also another gigantic hole in this whole system: local - let alone organic - grain. For the month of March, for example, each dozen eggs the Ecotone hens produced took roughly six pounds of grain/feed, which after being driven from Iowa or Nebraska to Edward's Feed in Lebanon, TN, takes another 100 miles round trip of driving for me to retrieve and ensconce in the feed building.

Farm Fresh Eggs

2010-03-22T09:15:00.011-05:00

Pastured Eggs from Ecotone Farm!

Raised with integrity and care, the hens of Ecotone provide naturally healthy, delicious eggs, with deep orange yolks that stand up tall in the pan, and a smooth, rich taste you'll remember. Living outside, eating bugs and grass and grain in the sunshine and the rain, these are happy hens, rotated to fresh pasture every few days, and fed an all-natural, custom-mixed ration free of antibiotics or hormones. Committed to agricultural biodiversity, all of the Ecotone hens are heritage or standard breeds (i.e., not industrial varieties), producing a wide variety of egg colors from white and brown to pink and green. Eggs are collected and washed by hand daily, ensuring the freshest and highest quality product.

Why are these eggs so good?

* 100% Pasture-Raised

* Custom-mixed, all-natural diet

* No antibiotics

* All standard or "heritage" breed hens

* Local: Joelton, TN

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Comings and Goings

2010-03-21T11:10:00.017-05:00

About a month ago, we had a very tumultuous week here at Ecotone. After a farm visit by one of our good friends, Cody Hopkins of Falling Sky Farm, we decided that if it did feel chaotic around the farm - and it did - then it was chaotic at the farm. Deciding to scale-back and focus our energies on laying hens and pigs, we found new homes for the 25 guineas, the 5 turkeys, the 3 geese, and of course, Billy. We put all these critters on Craigslist, and within a week they were all re-homed. Billy found a wonderful new home with the folks below, and is destined to be a 4H show goat for the young man below.

The turkeys went to a young family that recently moved from California to Tennessee due to the water situation there. The geese went to a couple in Cookeville, and the guineas went with a pair of sisters to Hendersonville.

Also during this week, we received the first of two shipments of this year's laying chicks. Unfortunately, the first box all arrived dead due to the cold. The next box, however, all arrived alive and well, as did the replacement shipment for the first. With this year's layers, we add five heritage or standard breeds that will produce several new colors of eggs. Jen and I have been spending a lot of time with them in the brooder, as there's nothing cuter than baby chicks! Below is a video of them in the brooder.

In what was perhaps the most difficult movement of life that week, Cloe was hit by a car on Harper Road late Friday night. The folks that hit her stopped by to tell us, as they live near by and had seen Cloe and Cletus playing the pasture. They had clearly been going very fast, as she was a good 10 feet from the road, as well as drinking. But our fences, ultimately, were the problem, and Jen and I spent the next few weekends learning how to put up barbed-wire fence and fixing the fences. Cloe was a wonderful companion, and a rascal of the highest order. She will be missed for a long time.

Finally, because Cletus was noticeably down during the weeks after Cloe's death, after we fixed the fence I began looking for a new companion for him. Thus, I'm pleased to introduce Daisy, who when we got her on March 15th was 7 weeks old. Like Cletus, she's a Great Pyrenees, and unlike Cloe, she's got a badger mask. Within a few days, Cletus was back to his old self, rolling in the grass with his new friend and acting like a puppy all over again. She's really a spunky pup, biting Ozark and Cletus' legs and making them have some fun in the spring sun!

Egg Count 3

2010-03-19T22:00:00.007-05:00

I just wanted to give an update on the current egg count, as well as some cumulative data I've begun to gather. As a reminder, these numbers refer to 143 chickens (139 hens and 4 roosters).

As of last week, the average daily egg count is 8.5 dozen. Just a month ago, it was 6.5 a day.

The total egg count for January was 1,909, or 159 dozen. Eating an average of 51.6 pounds of feed per day, or .36 pounds per hen, it took roughly 9.96 pounds of grain per dozen, or .83 pounds per egg. Each hen ate 11.16 pounds of feed over the course of the month, and laid an average of 13.25 eggs. This is so high, of course, because there was so little forage in the pasture to supplement their diet. After all, quite a bit of the last two months looked like this:

But even though we had the coldest February since 1979, with the creeping daylight the average daily collection steadily rose, and the total egg count for the month was 2,275, or 190 dozen. Eating an average of 50 pounds per day, this increase in eggs brought the grain per dozen down to 7.38 pounds, or .62 pounds per egg. So as the average monthly total per hen rose to 16.37 eggs, their individual feed consumption dropped to 9.79 pounds each.

Starvation and Abundance

2010-02-24T07:02:00.002-06:00

Here are two articles I recently came across concerning the global food system: "Why Big Ag Won't Feed the World" in The Atlantic, and "Feast and Famine" in Origins.

Radical Agrarianism 2

2010-02-20T10:21:00.000-06:00

By way of responding to AD's comments on my agrarianism essay, I thought I'd post some relevant passages from Wendell Berry's The Way of Ignorance that my friend Brian Miller of Winged Elm Farm in Philadelphia, TN recently sent me.

The major fault of I'll Take My Stand, Berry says, is that the "agrarianism of most of the essays, like the regionalism of most of them, is abstract, too purely mental. The book is not impractical - none of its principles, I believe, is in conflict with practicality - but it is too often remote from the issues of practice. The legitimate aim (because it is the professed aim) of agrarianism is not some version of culture but good farming, though a culture complete enough may be implied in that aim....As a regional book, I'll Take My Stand mostly ignores the difficulty and discipline of locality."

"The most insistent and formidable concern of agriculture, wherever it is taken seriously, is the distinct individuality of every farm, every field on every farm, every farm family, and every creature on every farm. Farming becomes a high art when farmers know and respect in their work the distinct individuality of their place and the neighborhood of creatures that lives there."

"Having settled even in so marginal a place as this, undertaking to live in it even by such marginal farming as I have done, one is abruptly and forcibly removed from easy access to the abstractions of regionalism, politics, economics, and the academic life. To farm is to be placed absolutely. To do the actual work of an actual farm one must shed the cliches that constitute "The South" or "My Old Kentucky Home" and come to the ground."

"One may begin as an agrarian, as some of us to our good fortune have done, but for a farmer agrarianism is not enough. Southern agrarianism is not enough, and neither is Kentucky agrarianism or Henry County agrarianism. None of those can be local enough or particular enough. To live as a farmer, one has to come into the local watershed and the local ecosystem and deal well or poorly with them. One must enounter directly and feelingly the topography and the soils of one's particular farm, and treat them well or poorly. If one wishes to farm well, and agrarianism inclines to that wish above all, then one must submit to the unending effort to change one's mind and ways to fit one's farm."

Notes Toward a Radical Agrarianism

2010-02-16T09:33:00.005-06:00

Recently, I had an essay published in Ameriquests (vol. 7, no. 1), an online journal dedicated to "real and metaphorical quests towards 'America'". This essay came out of several years of discussions with the Food Politics Group at the Robert Penn Warren Center, a summer fellowship in Guatemala and Cuba with the Center for the Americas, a panel at the 2008 Radical Philosophy Association conference, and innumerable conversations with many of you. These ideas, of course, are still in motion, and so your comments are encouraged.

David Bradley Tractor

2010-02-14T17:28:00.011-06:00

After 8 months at Ecotone with a weedeater as our only petro-powered farm tool, the David Bradley tractor has arrived! Two weekends ago, C.J. and Ozark drove to Van Buren, AR to visit family and pick-up this hand-tractor from Liz and Dale Balls, a member of his mother's church whose father first bought it and used it on their family farm. Not having run in years and needing some attention, the super-neighbor father-son Smith duo helped C.J. get it running, and hopefully taught him a thing or two about engines. After a couple of days of work, and some magical tinkering by Mr. Smith, it now runs like a top!

Built between 1951 and 1953, by Sears and Roebuck Company, this David Bradley tractor (Model # 917.57561, Series 301) was built with a 3 horsepower Continental engine, instead of the regular Briggs and Stratton. It has lots of different attachments, and in addition to the trailer (modeled below), we also have an adjustable foot plow and a cultivator.

The idea is that this will pull the chicken coops across the pasture instead of us. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, it can haul all the water we're carrying to the animals while everything's frozen!

Winter (Redux)

2010-01-31T15:17:00.019-06:00

After a week of warmth, Old Man Winter returned to Tennessee with four inches of snow. The storm came in fast and heavy on Friday, leaving a thick blanket for the weekend. The sun came out today, the world glowed, and the animals at Ecotone enjoyed an uncommon brightness.

"The months of the year, from January up to June, are a geometric progression in the abundance of distractions. In January one may follow a skunk track, or search for bands on the chickadees, or see what pines the young deer have browsed, or what muskrat houses the mink have dug, with only an occasional and mild digression into other doings. January observation can be almost as peaceful and simple as snow, and almost as continuous as cold. There is time not only to see who has done what, but to speculate why."

--Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Porcine Love!

2010-01-25T17:50:00.005-06:00

At dusk I was heading out to close up the hens and gather eggs when I topped the hill and saw a hog's head above the high brush. Looking closer, Rambo had mounted. I approached slowly and waited, and can confirm the successful copulation of Rambo and Sadie. Three months, three weeks, and three days until piglets (that's May 13th)!

Rainy Day Rainbow

2010-01-24T17:01:00.001-06:00

Pharming the Future

2010-01-17T12:37:00.011-06:00

Jen and I have been talking about this piece for several weeks now. Notably, it was published in 2007, and to my knowledge this stuff hasn't made it to supermarkets yet. But is this form of meat product inevitable simply because, once they get it down, it will be easier and cheaper to produce? Will those who base their vegetarianism on objections to animal suffering be satisfied with this? That is, with no pig to suffer, is it bacon for all? Or will it now be possible for all 6 billion of us to eat meat "sustainably"? Thoughts welcome.

Egg Count 2

2010-01-17T08:29:00.006-06:00

While all the animals made it through the winter weather fine, the daily egg count is down a bit from where I would otherwise anticipate it. During the coldest of the cold weather, the egg count dropped to 3.5 dozen a day. Yesterday, the ladies laid 4.5 dozen. It is raining steadily now, and I think we're all looking forward to some better weather.

Welcome Rambo!

2010-01-14T16:28:00.006-06:00

On January 12th, the newest permanent resident of Ecotone arrived: a fine young boar named Rambo. Like Ruby and Sadie, he is a Red Wattle hog -- a heritage breed esteemed for their pork and their ability to perform well on pasture -- and soon enough we hope he will become the father of piglets. In the video below, you can see that he is significantly smaller than the two ladies, but also that he's becoming friendly with them (at least enough that they let him sniff their piss).

American Roots

2010-01-08T07:56:00.022-06:00

A few relevant selections from John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley: In Search of America. Charley is a standard Poodle who accompanied Steinbeck on his journey cross country, and because of his distinctive affect is almost certainly a distant grand-dog of Ozark.

"It occurs to me that, just as the Carthegenians hired mercenaries to do their fighting for them, we Americans bring in mercenaries to do our hard and humble work. I hope we may not be overwhelmed one day by peoples not too proud or too lazy or just too soft to bend to the earth and pick up the things we eat."

"Driving the big highway near Toledo I had a conversation with Charley on the subject of roots. He listened but he didn't reply. In the pattern-thinking about roots I and most other people have left two things out of consideration. Could it be that Americans are a restless people, a mobile people, never satisfied with where they are as a matter of selection? The pioneers, the immigrants who peopled the continent, were the restless ones in Europe. The steady rooted ones stayed home and are still there. But every one of us, except the Negroes forced here as slaves, are descended from the restless ones, the wayward ones who were not content to stay at home....But that is the short view. Our remote ancestors followed the game, moved with the food supply, and fled from evil weather, from ice and the changing seasons. Then after millennia beyond thinking they domesticated some animals so that they lived with their food supply. Then of necessity they followed the grass that fed their flocks in endless wanderings. Only when agriculture came into practice - and that's not very long ago in terms of the whole history - did a place achieve meaning and value and permanence. But land is a tangible, and tangibles have a way of getting into few hands. Thus it was that one man wanted ownership of land and at the same time wanted servitude because someone had to work it. Roots were in ownership of land, in tangible and immovable possessions. In this view we are a restless species with a very short history of roots, and those not widely distributed. Perhaps we have overrated roots as a psychic need. Maybe the greater the urge, the deeper and more ancient is the need, the will, the hunger to be somewhere else."

"What I am mourning is perhaps not worth saving, but I regret its loss nonetheless. Even while I protest the assembly-line production of our food, our songs, our language, and eventually our souls, I know that it was a rare home that baked good bread in the old days. Mother's cooking was with rare exceptions poor, that good unpasteurized milk touched only by flies and bits of manure crawled with bacteria, the healthy old-time life was riddled with aches, sudden death from unknown causes, and that sweet local speech I mourn was the child of illiteracy and ignorance. It is the nature of a man as he grows older, a small bridge in time, to protest against change, particularly change for the better. But it is true that we have exchanged corpulence for starvation, and either one will kill us. The lines of change are down."

Happy New Year (from Ozark)

2010-01-07T20:28:00.001-06:00

Winter Wonderland

2010-01-07T19:30:00.012-06:00

After five days of hard freeze, the snow began this morning. The meteorologists forecasted 3-5 inches, but we got a dusting of Tennessee powder instead. Here are a few snapshots of the change in scene:

Ice Skating at the Pond

"Walden, being usually bare of snow, or with only shallow and interrupted drifts on it, was my yard, where I could walk freely when the snow was nearly two feet deep on a level elsewhere and the villagers were confined to their streets. There, far from the village street, and except at very long intervals, from the jingle of sleigh bells, I slid and skated, as in a vast moose-yard well trodden, overhung by oak woods and solemn pines bent down with snow or bristling with icicles."

--Henry David Thoreau, from "Winter Animals"

Winter Solstice Egg Count

2009-12-24T08:31:00.003-06:00

A hen's laying cycle is coordinated to the amount of light in each day. Generally speaking, the more light in the day, the more eggs. With the passing of the winter solstice on December 21, we pass the mark at which the days cease to get shorter, and begin the slow, steady march to summer. So I thought I'd do an official egg count, and post every week or so the increase in egg production for us all to watch. One central thing I'm interested to note is how long it takes to go from minimal to maximal production. There are roughly 130 hens out on pasture and another 20 or so roaming the yards closer to the house.

On December 21, the egg count was 5 dozen exactly.