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Want healthy foods? Think co-ops. 8:30a.m.CT today

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-05-26T12:05:40Z

May 26, 2012 An old business model that's hot today.

Deep Roots Radio interview @ 8:30-9:00 CT, today streamed live www.wpcaradio.org

It's early morning and the blue birds are swooping high over the front yard. BC is licking her calf, and the rest of the little herd is grazing just 200 feet from my office window. The grass is lush and there's a promise of rain - conditions for more great grass.

These are conditions that make for great growing. But how do you - the consumer - find the grass-fed beef, the organic carrots and potatoes, the brown rice, brilliant green peppers, and BsT-free milk you want? Where do you go for a full selection of bulk, fresh and prepared healthful foods? Going directly to a local farmer in one option. Another is contracting for weekly deliveries from a CSA farmer (Community Supported Agriculture). There are wonderful farmer's markets, and then there are natural-food cooperatives, often referred to as "co-ops." Co-ops are worker and member-owned businesses set up to meet the needs of the owners. The model started in England, in the mid-1800's, and flourishes world-wide today.

There are small co-ops designed around childcare, healthcare, marketing corn and soybeans, fuel, rural access to electricity, car repair, housing, and food. Just to name a few areas.

In just a couple of hours, co-host Dave Corbett and I will have a Deep Roots Radio chat with Elizabeth Archerd, Membership and Marketing Manager for The Wedge Coop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She's going to tell us how The Wedge helps build community, jobs, and access to some of the most beautiful sustainably produced/organic veggies, grains, breads and cheeses, meats and prepared foods available on the planet. This commitment to meeting member-owner demands has made The Wedge the most profitable natural foods co-op in the country.

Where to find your local co-op? Here's some help from Local Harvest:

http://www.localharvest.org/food-coops/

I hope you'll join us 8:30-9:00 a.m. CT, this morning, at 93.1FM or streamed live at www.wpcaradio.org.

Catch you then.

Sylvia

Update: Tired, red-eyed, dusty. A great grazing class.

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-05-13T15:43:40Z

May 13, 2012 Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day and I'm sitting in the Columbia, MO airport, ready to fly back to Clear Lake, Wisconsin, to my farm, Bull Brook Keep. It'll be more than eight hours before I pull into the drive, lot of time to review notes, flip through photos and replay videos.

What an amazing few days this has been: 40-minute drives that took me over small streams and lakes, miles of white fence around horse farms, and five-strand wire electric fence around fields of grazing cattle. The Greg and Jan Judy farms were a beautiful sight: rolling hills of tall hardwoods and acres of lush fields covered with lush stands of grasses, forbes, herbs and amazing insect life. There were birds everywhere: blue birds, bright cardinals, hawks, crows, tree swallows and more.

My head is filled with lots of new information, and more importantly, a few major lessons that I hope to put into play as soon as I reach the farm this evening. Here are just a couple:

Use temporary fencing - plastic step-in posts and braided wire - to create the paddocks you need. Do this for a year or two before setting up permanent fencing within the farm. This'll save lots of time, frustration and money. I like that a lot.
Move cows quickly thru paddocks so that they eat only the top 1/3 of the leaves. This provides them with nutrition, prevents over-freeding protein, and is better for grass regrowth.

Well, that's it for now. Gotta go thru airport security to make my flight.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Sylvia

Update: Grazing school Day 2 - a long day

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-05-13T15:17:14Z

May 11, 2012 sheep and fencing, and the dangers of spring grass

Diagrams, sketches, demonstrations, stories about what works and lessons about what doesn't. The day was filled with practical information about what makes for nutritious pasture forage and what doesn't, as well as with terrific information about how to examine my grazing methods so that we can make the best use of what's growing throughout the grazing season.

For example, you don't want to graze the grass in any field all the way down to the dirt. Why? Because different types of nutrients are stored at different points along the blade or leaf. The top half stores sugars, while the bottom portion is where the proteins reside. Too much protein can cause all kinds of problems with calves, digestion and reproduction. Who would have thought!

So glad for the presenters: Greg Judy, Ian Mitchell-Innes and Mark Bader.

Time is short right now. More to come.

Sylvia

Update: Cow school day #2

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-05-11T12:48:30Z

May 11, 2012 Sunburned forehead and lots of questions

72 of us from all over the US and Canada alternated between classroom lecture and field walks yesterday as we drank up the stories and the data of mob grazing. It's an approach that's based on the theory that if you contain lots of cattle in a small area of pasture for a short period of time, the cattle will eat the top sweet 1/3 of the forage, trample the rest, gain lots of weight and do the same when moved to the next fresh bit of pasture. You use the word "mob" in this discussion because we're talking about applying 100,000 lbs of live beef to small parcels of land. That equals about 100 cows. And that's just the beginning. The goals are to reduce stress on the grass be limiting how much of each blade is consumed, provide the cows a balanced diet of energy and protein, and to imcrease the diversity of plants in the pasture thru the hoof action of the cattle which churn up latent seeds in the soil.

All this without the need for tractors, seeding, fertilizers or pesticides, grains or supplements.

Those are just the basics. We covered lots of territory yesterday: watering systems, fencing materials, how to read the cow's hide and hair (indicators of health), carbon cycles, and lots more.

It's been a pleasure to meet the other attendees. Lots of the crowd is in their later-30s to mid-60's. There are a few younger people, and it's wonderful to see them here. This is a second career for many people. Some have made the shift in their late-40s, others are looking to live their dream after retiring from another career. All are intent on doing this right, of building sustainable businesses: growing grass-fed livestock in ways that produce flavorful, highly nutritious food, restores soil, protects groundwater, and produces a living wage.

I'll try to sum up some of the major lessons learned tonight. Right now, I've got to drive out for today's class. The forecast is for lots of sun and 79 degree temps. I'm bringing along sunscreen and a hat.

Till later!

Sylvia

Update: Cow school w/Greg Judy & Ian Mitchell-Innes

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-05-10T03:40:01Z

May 9, 2011 Steep learning curve

Every time I turn around, I seem to crash up against yet another thing I needed to know yesterday - how to figure out if a calf is getting enough colostrum, if the frost has created bloat-inducing conditions, who to go to to trim a couple of bad hooves, how to evaluate the nutritional value of purchased hay, if I should design permanent or temporary lanes between the paddocks. That's just April's short list.

While there's not substitute for experience, there are books, webinars, mentors and friends, and then there are intensive seminars like the one I've traveled to Missouri to attend. At 9 a.m. I'll join other farmers for the start of a three-day field-and-classroom course that'll be presented by Greg Judy and Ian Mitchell-Innes. Greg, author of No Risk Ranching, and Comeback Farms, is a proponent of intensive management rotational grazing and of increasing income opportunites by owning neither land nor livestock.

Mitchell-Innes is a certified holistic educator who uses high-density management on his ranch in South Africa. It's this approach - managing pastures and grazing patterns so that you can feed high populations of cattle on small paddocks - that I'm here for.

I'm looking forward to the class - I'm ready with notebook and sunhat.

Sylvia

Update: attract birds n bees to your garden/farm

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-05-05T05:24:00Z

May 4, 2012 How to keep those feathery visitors coming back

Leaves are out and the first of the fruit trees have blossomed. At Bull Brook Keep, the plums were first to unfurl their pale pink petals. Unfortunately, they were lured by the premature heat and were kicked back into winter by a couple of nights in the 20s. I think we lost a good 20-25% of those buds, but I think we'll still get a good showing this summer.

The apples lagged by a couple of weeks. As I leaned in to steal a whiff of their very faint perfume, I was stopped short by the hum of bees, dozens of them hovering over the nearest branch. I was glad to see them because without these busy actors the flowers would not be pollinated and we wouldn't enjoy apples come September.

Attracting birds and insects to our farm and vegetable garden is critical to our sustainable enterprise. They are important contributors to our pastures and to our grass-fed beef operation. We need them to help fertilize our clovers, herbs, veggies and fruit trees, and we simply enjoy their presence on the farm. We've got blue jays and bright red cardinals, bright blue birds, martins, cat birds, a variety of hawks, and a couple of pairs of sandhill cranes. There are also grackles, robins, pheasants, black-capped chickadees, barn swallows and tree swallows, kill deers and bobolinks, and ruby-thoated hummingbirds. Those are the few I recognize. I know there are lots others I've yet to learn.

We try to keep them coming to our fields in a couple of ways:

- by not using pesticides and insecticides that can harm them directly, or kill off the plants and insects they feed on, and

- by increasing the diversity of shrubs, trees and plants, especially of those varieties known to attract them

This year, we're adding blueberry, gooseberry and honeyberry bushes, additional coneflowers lots more herbs, and several more raspberry bushes.

Here are just a few references from Mother Earth News that may help you attract birds and bees to your garden or farm:

Bee Gardens: Flowers, fruits and herbs for a bee-friendly habitat, bit.ly/IKIlXV
Make Your Garden a Bird Habitat, bit.ly/8YYbM0
How to Grow a Hummingbird Garden, http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/2007-08-01/How-to-Grow-a-Hummingbird-Garden.aspx
Bird Feeders with Roots, about planting shrubs and trees, bit.ly/IKM9sf

There's still lots of time to plant veggies and to tuck a small shrub or fruiting bush in the yard.

Let me know what you're adding to your garden or farm hedgerow.

Sylvia

Video: Calf #6 arrives in prickly ash thicket

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-04-18T03:13:55Z

April 17, 2012 Tax day gift

If this had been a human baby we'd have welcomed a new tax deduction today. But no, this is a little black & white bovine. Weighing about 50-55 lbs, it was born to Emme, #29 tag, a red & white BueLingo. She is a "first time heifer." In other words, this is her first calf.

You tend to worry about these first-time mothers because they can be spooked by the birth. Emme did really well and tended to her calf immediately. That's the type of self-reliant cow you select for on a grass-fed/grass-finished beef farm.

Dave was nearby when she delivered, but he wasn't able to capture the actual birth on film. This quick video shows the calf just minutes old and attempting to stand for the first time.

It's pretty common for the cows to wander off on their own and look for a stand of thorny bushes for the delivery because the thickets provide a measure of protection against predators. Emme obviously felt safe enough to have Dave video from a very short distance.

One more calf expected this spring.

Sylvia

Update: And now there are three.

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-04-07T21:27:01Z

April 7, 2011 Calves keep coming

Just a quick word to let you know that a third calf has arrived at Bull Brook Keep. Bella, our BueLingo cow with the best conformation, had a little bull at about noon yesterday, April 6th. She's an experienced mother and we don't anticipate any problems, but we're keeping an eye out, just the same.

The little black-and-white heifer born earlier this week, on the 4th, continues following her mother, Little Betty, around. It's this little calf that we're most concerned about because the mother is a first-time heifer (her first calf) that was surprised by the whole process. She was also nervous the first couple of days and didn't let the little calf nurse easily. Because of this, Dave and I had to resort to forcing collostrom and electrolytes into the little calf just to make sure she stayed hydrated. We'll see if that will help.

Five more calves to go this Spring, if all goes as hoped. Pictures to come!

Sylvia

Deep Roots Radio, Sat., April 7, 8:30 AM Central. Why care about the (Farm) Food Bill

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-04-05T15:36:55Z

Care about how much you spend for food?

What:        Deep Roots Radio live interview w/Margaret Krome, Director of
                  the Policy Program at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Wisconsin

When:     This Saturday, April 7, 8:30-9:00 AM Central Time

Where:   Streamed live at www.wpcaradio.org
                Broadcast live at WPCA Radio, 93.1 FM (within 30 miles of Amery, WI)

Why:       The Farm Bill heavily influences the cost of every meal you buy and eat

    Every 5 to 7 years, Congress reshapes major legislation with big impact on what you eat, how it's grown and what it costs. Called the Farm Bill, this huge law decides how much money goes for food stamps, what food gets to school lunch rooms, how farmers will be helped if crops fail, how much land is set aside for environmental protection, and if there will be research dollars to confirm the benefits of organic production methods. And that's just skimming the surface.
    Margaret Krome is a straight-talker who will help us get a handle on what the Farm Bill - now in heavy debate - means for food lovers and food producer alike. Ms. Krome has long experience in agricultural public policy on the state and national levels.
    Hope you'll join us! If you want to read up, here's a write-up.
Sylvia

Copyright Bronx to Barn 2009-2012. Pls share link freely.

4 questions. 2 minutes. Please.

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-04-03T21:21:07Z

April 3, 2012

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to get a handle on how you get my blog posts. I hope you'll take a moment to answer four quick questions.

Click here to take survey It should take all of two minutes. Your answers will be kept confidential, and I'll share the findings only as part of the group.

Please respond by Friday night, April 6th. Thanks.

Sylvia

Update: Our first calf of 2012 arrives. She's a cutie.

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-04-03T04:19:08Z

April 2, 2012
She arrived before dawn; a little red BueLingo heifer. We're estimating her weight at about 45 lbs, tops. Like her mom, Sassy, this little one will be raised on pastures year round. In this video, she's just hours old, wobbly and just learning how to suckle. For the next several months, she'll be nursing and building the digestive system she'll need to be an effective grazer.

Sylvia

Copyright Bronx to Barn 2009-2012. Pls share link freely.

Saturday, March 31, 8:30AM: Stream-live w/Joel McNair, Editor Graze newspaper

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-03-31T02:50:52Z

What: Live, Deep Roots Radio interview with Joel McNair, Editor/Publisher of

monthly newspaper Graze: By graziers, for graziers

When: Saturday, March 31, 2012 8:30-9:00 AM

Where: Streamed live via the Internet at WPCA Radio, www.wpcaradio.org, or if you're within 30 miles of Amery, Wisconsin, 93.1FM

Why: The demand for pastured beef, lamb, poultry and hogs continues to

outstrip supply. Graze is a publication that gives grass-based farmers/ranchers

an opportunity to voice challenges, innovative solutions, and opportunities for

producing food that is delicious, healthful, and beneficial to the environment

and to the producer.

If you're a food lover, you'll get another glimpse into the issues of concern to farmers dedicated to sustainable practices.

Did you know that grass-fed beef take up to 12 months longer to reach harvest weight than those cattle given large rations of corn/oats in confined animal feed operations (CAFOs)? The grass-based operations remain committed to this practice because cattle stomachs are designed to digest grasses, herbs, and forbes. The grass-fed cattle maintain healthy digestive systems while grazing on open pastures.

Hope you'll join Dave Corbett and me tomorrow morning!

Sylvia

Video: VERY round cows. When will the first calf arrive?

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-03-22T19:23:19Z

March 21, 2012    A quick look at some very pregnant cows
   It's that time of year again - calving season. Four cows and three first-time heifers are biding their time, eating lots and walking more slowly every day. Dave and I are so glad we're building a grass-fed and grass-finished operation. Makes it lots easier to care for our beef cattle.
    Given where I grew up - the Bronx, New York - and what I've done most of my life - public relations - that one day I'd be so excited, and concerned, about the impending birth of beef calves? I know it tickles my family and friends when they consider the woman who wore three-inch heels and pearl earrings. Oh, I still wear the pearls when I move hay and fix fences. I did when I was double-digging my organic garden in Minneapolis as my kids were growing up. You don't want to change everything, you know.
    As for the new calves: Given a 9.5-month gestation period, and the fact that we put a bull with the cows from June 6-August 6, we can expect our little herd to grow by leaps and bounds pretty soon.
    Wanna give a guess when the first little BueLingo will arrive? Send me a note and let me know. The winning guess gets to name the calf.
    Hope you enjoy the short video.
Sylvia

Copyright Bronx to Barn 2009-2012. Pls share link freely.

Slideshow: seed starting - getting into the dirt

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-03-19T04:32:01Z

March 18, 2012 Getting into the dirt

Was it just two weeks ago that I set out packets of pepper seeds and wondered if I wasn't jumping the gun? I mean, there were 5 inches of fresh snow on the driveway, and the cows were happy in their thick fur. Those grass-fed beef cattle are hardy animals!

The truth is, you have to start your seeds many weeks in advance of the last frost so that they'll be strong and stocky in time for those longer, warmer days of late May and June.

If you take a look at my posting from 3/12, you'll get a step-by-step description of how I start seeds for my organic garden. I'm sure there are lots of good ways to do this, and if you've got some pointers to share, I'd love to hear them. Please send them along!

I started four varieties of hot peppers in vermiculite two weeks ago, and today I transferred the seedlings to soil. This is always a challenging step because it means selecting only the strongest plants for the soil flat, and consigning the rest of the tiny seedlings to the compost barrel. I just hate discarding the inch-and-a-half high plants, but I want to keep and nurture only those most likely to grow and thrive.

These seedlings now stay under lights - 18 hours a day - until they're nearly ready to go into the garden. Why 18 hours? Because it encourages the plants to remain short and stocky. (Seedlings get leggy and spindly because they're searching for light.)

By the way, I use inexpensive florescent fixtures outfitted with regular bulbs. This set up will work perfectly as long as you keep the bulbs just one inch - yes,1 inch - above the leaves. An inexpensive timer completes the job.

You've still got time to start your vegetable seedlings. It's not to late! In fact, I planted my tomato seeds into vermiculite just this evening. I know it'll be months before I lift one off the vine, but I can almost smell the sun-warmed juiciness now.

And talk about local!

I'm hoping my little pepper plants do well over the next several weeks. Dave and I walked the fenced-in garden and orchard area just as the sun was setting. It must have reached 75-80 degrees today, and the evening was warm and blustery.

We examined the apple trees he'd trimmed earlier in the week, and we talked about the work we'll have to do to prepare several new garden beds. The garlic beds remain blanketed in deep mulch, but the tulip beds are exposed to light. And what did we see, a single tulip - or was it a daffodil - peaking its head above the soil. Yippee!

Hope this really short slideshow helps get you moving. Send photos of your new seedlings!

Sylvia

Update&Photos: Ladies and gentlemen - start your seedlings!

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-03-13T00:38:30Z

March 11, 2012 Steps to get started. (See "Photos and Videos" above)

Thyme flowering on my window sill

Finally! It's finally time to start next summer's tomato sauces, salsas, steamed greens, and jellies. True, the first tomatoes won't be ripe until late July, but now's the time to get those plants started.

Starting your vegetable plants from seeds is not rocket science, but it does take a little bit of planning. Fortunately, all you need for that are pen and paper.

There are loads of excellent books and articles on this fun topics. The Seed Starters Handbook, put out by the Seed Savers Exchange is excellent. You may also want to check into the current issue of Mother Earth News.

Is it worth the trouble? It certainly has been for me. I began starting my tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and leeks nearly 30 years ago, when I gardened in Minneapolis. Every year, my plots got larger as I discovered interesting varieties: purple snap beens, red and yellow lettuces, 16-oz paste tomatoes, leeks that I could harvest from beneath the snow in deep winter, and more.

As I start my seeds, I work with two principles that have served me well over time:

Seeds need warmth and darkness to sprout
Seedlings need lots of light and cool temperatures to grow into healthy, stocky transplants

Here's what I gathered last week to start my hot pepper seedlings:

Shallow plastic containers. They only need to be 2 inches deep but can be of any shape. Used raspberry and blueberry trays work well. I worked with a tray that measured roughly 8"x8" and is about 2" deep.
A bag of vermiculite. This light-weight, grainy gray substance is often added to potting soil to lighten its texture and help retain moisture. You can find it at any garden center. I use this as my starting medium for several reasons: because seeds don't need soil to germinate, because you can start lots of seeds in a tiny space using vermiculite, and because you can pull tiny seedlings from vermiculite and not hurt the tender roots. Do not use perlite.
A heating pad. If you don't have one, use a large cooler in combination with something that'll radiate heat over an extended period of time, such as a brick or one of those pads that you can heat up in your microwave. Why? Because seeds prefer warmer temps - 75-90 degrees -for sprouting.
Seeds
Pen and paper

Seed Starting - Step by step:

Label the front of the tray with a number or letter. This helps avoid confusion as the seeds start to sprout.
Punch several drainage holes in the plastic.
Pour 1.5-2" of vermiculite to the tray.
Carefully push the seeds 1/4" into the vermiculite, and immediately record this on a sheet of paper.
Now comes a really fun part. Fill the kitchen sink with an inch of warm water and carefully lower the tray into it. Within a minutes or two, the vermiculite pulls water up into the tray. You can tell the vermiculite is saturated when its surface darkens slightly.
Empty the sink and let the tray sit and drain for a few minutes.
Wrap the now water-heavy tray loosely in a plastic bag and set the tray on the heating pad set to its lowest level. I place an old towel between the tray and the heating pad just to make sure I won't cook the seeds.
I place a single sheet of old newspaper over the tray. (Sprouting seeds prefer the dark.)
Check the tray every day: to make sure it wasn't dried out, to pull back the plastic bag and give the vermiculite some fresh air, and to make sure it wasn't over-heating.

By day 4, many of the pepper seedlings had emerged! Even though more than half were still below the surface, I moved the tray to a cool room and immediately put them under a florescent light bulb. Nothing fancy, just a bulb that I kept just one inch above the top leaves. If you've ever had leggy, spindly seedlings, lack of light is probably the reason. A sunny window just doesn't deliver enough light for these little guys.

Well, that was a week ago. Tomorrow I'll try to do two things: start my tomato seeds, and transplant the peppers from vermiculite to soil. Things are moving fast!!

What will you be growing this season? Got any seed-starting tips or questions?

Sylvia

Podcast: FERN's Sam Fromartz - the how's & why's of food investigative journalism

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-03-06T05:25:50Z

March 5, 2012 New investigative network emerges as consumers seek food news

Interestingly enough, Sam Fromartz and I entered the world of journalism at similar places - the bottom. In the early 70's I was one of several newly-minted college graduates who shared a single desk at the CBS Network Radio newsroom in downtown Manhattan. We ran for coffee and answered phones. And every few minutes, we'd scatter to gather wire copy from the dozen constantly clacking teletype machines that connected us to news bureaus all over the world. Yes, we were grunts, but we were grunts who chatted with the likes of Dallas Townsend (cigarette behind his ear), Dan Rather, and Christopher Glenn. We watched in awe as they tapped out stories for the top-of-the-hour news casts.

Man, that was a loooong time ago. And that's where any semblance between my career and that of Sam Fromartz ends. In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Sam modestly states that he started out just a step up from sweeping floors, but his career since then has served to bring him to his present position - Editor in Chief of the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN).

Sam was with the Reuters news agency, and served as its deputy business editor in New York. He's contributed to Inc., Fortune, Business Week, the New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications. He is the author of Organic Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew (Harcourt, 2006), and writes the ChewsWise blog.

FERN is an independent, nonprofit news organization that produces investigative reports on food, agriculture and environmental health. In its first year, FERN has supported the work of reporters who took weeks and months to unearth and document stories about agricultural water pollution, and the use of controversial growth substances in the pork industry. This is expensive work at a time when budget pressures have forced massive job cuts in newsrooms everywhere. And this at a time when consumer concern about what's in their food is increasing. Fortunately, more FERN stories are in the works.

According to their website, the FERN's highly trained and experienced reporters are committed to rigorously practiced journalism to reveal "corruption, abuse of power, and exploitation wherever it happens; to expose activities and subjects that the powerful work to keep hidden or which are simply overlooked by major media; and to give voice to the voiceless."

I hope you enjoy this chat with Sam Fromartz. For more information, visit www.thefern.org.

Sylvia

Sam Fromartz, Editor in Chief, Food & Environment Reporting Network

Listen in: Sat., March 3, 8:30-9AM CT - Reporters investigate food, politics, environment

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-03-02T19:50:00Z

Tune in!

What:    Deep Roots Radio interview with Sam Fromartz, Editor in Chief of the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN)
When:   Saturday, March 3, 2012    8:30-9:00 AM Central Time
Where: Streamed live, www.wpcaradio.org , or 95.7 FM (in and around Amery, WI)
Why:      Dozens of newspapers, many of them esteemed and well-established, have disappeared in the last five years, the casualties of the down economy and competition from Internet-based advertising. These pressures have also resulted in newsroom layoffs all across the US.
               How are we going to get food and farming news we need if there are fewer reporters at our newspapers, and television and radio stations?
               All is not lost! A new type of news service is emerging from the ashes. Staffed by trained and experienced reporters, the web-based Food & Environment Reporting Network is committed to producing "investigative journalism on the subjects of food, agriculture and environmental health in partnership with local and national media outlets."
             In fact, the FERN website states that its investigative reporters strive "to expose activities and subjects that the powerful work to keep hidden or which are simply overlooked by major media; and to give a voice to the voiceless."
           Join co-host Dave Corbett and me as we chat with Fromartz about the role FERN plays in connecting the dots between what we eat and how it's grown.

Sylvia Burgos Toftness

Copyright Bronx to Barn 2009-2012. Pls share link freely.

Shared challenge: growing great beef in winter

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-02-25T15:11:30Z

Feb. 25, 2011 It's what you eat

All summer long, my little BueLingo beef herd grazed fields of grasses, legumes and herbs. More specifically, timonthy, brome, quack and rye grasses; white and red clovers and some sparce alfalfa; and, yarrow, mints, plantain, wild strawberry, and more.

They were fat and happy moving from one plot of fresh forage to the next, out in the bright sunshine and warm breezes. What's not to like!

But this is the Upper Midwest, and after summer come fall and winter. And with the colder season comes the need to feed hay - dried bales of grasses and alfalfa - that weigh about 1,200 lbs each and cost anywhere between $35-$45 a bale. Given that my little herd can make a bale disappear in one day, you can quickly burn through quite a bit of money over the course of a six-month feeding period.

How can I save money and still produce healthy cows able to maintain some level of weight gain till the grass starts growing again in the spring? One strategy is called "stockpiling," an approach that extends the grazing season by setting aside a pasture that the cows can munch on late into fall. How do you do this?

That the question about 80 of want to answer, and its why we're sitting in a 70-minute workshop at the MOSES conference, La Crosse, WI. Laura Paine, grazing and organic ag specialist with the Wisconsin Dept of Ag, is giving us the low-down. This is terrific!

Wanna farm? Maybe start with chickens!

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-02-24T22:49:35Z

Feb. 24, 2012 Questions to ask yourself

Dream of walking out to your chicken coop and gathering baskets of fresh eggs - smooth, white, or brown? Maybe selling them to neighbors, or the local food market?

Can you see yourself walking across your yard, tossing feed into the grass and watching the hens come at a run for their daily ration? Or can you imagine watching the birds chase bugs and frogs from under the shrubs?

It's 4 p.m. and I'm sitting in a room with about 125 sustainable farmers attentive to the hard-earned wisdom of Tim Koegel, Windy Ridge Natural Farms, New York. An experienced and successful pastured-poultry farmer, the focus is on building the business. His very simply slides are a treasure of on-the-ground lessons learned. The questions posed are fairly basic, but those that can be drowned out in the first flush of excitement and busy work. Can you afford to start the business? Will it fit your lifestyle? Build the type of coop suitable to your land and your physical strength. Is your pasture of a quality that will sustain the birds? Can you wait the six months that'll have to pass before your laying hens begin producing in quantity? Are you a self-starter? Is there a local feedmill that can save you lots of time and money?

Will you slaughter yourself or contract out?

Tim's tips roll on slide after slide: Set a goal. Seek out experiened people in your immediate area. Visit the ATTRA website for loads of information. Don't take shortcuts, but do continue to improve efficiency. Pick the breed that makes the most sense for your operation and your market. You will be your own business manager and marketer and well as grower. Plan for food safety - to assure high quality and happy repeat customers.

This workshop is one of 60 being offered at the MOSES annual conf in La Crosse, WI. Earlier today, we all learned that over 3,100 registered for the two-day event. While a large proportion of attendees are from the Midwest, there are farmers here from all over the U.S. The workshops, keynote speakers, bookshop (6,000 titles), and networking are partical. And the food? Organic, delicious, outstanding.

Dave and I intend to add pastured poultry to our livestock at Bull Brook Keep, but not yet. We're still moving up a steep learning curve with our BueLinog grass-fed beef, and think we'll be in better shape to take this on next spring. We're committed to growing and selling great-tasting, highly nutritious product. This year, that means quarter, halfs and whole beef.

Oh, and did I mention that Dave wants to grow a couple of pigs?

Sylvia

It's the grass, man

smburgostoftness@hotmail.com (Sylvia Burgos) — 2012-02-24T17:46:09Z

Feb. 24, 2012 8:30 a.m. 80 farmers who want to bring you the best organic meats

"Parasite-resistant sheep," called out a woman farmer. "How to boost CLA and Omega-3 levels," said the fellow to my right. "Preventing bloat," came the suggestion from the front of the room.

Doug Gunnink, soil and forage specialist from MN had asked the 80 farmers in the room what they want him to focus on for the next hour. We're in the first workshop on the first day of the MOSES conf. 3,000 farmers from across the Midwest and country have registered for this annual meeting in La Crosse, Wisconsin. MOSES is the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Services, headquartered in Wisconsin. Over the last 20+ years, this meeting has grown to be the larges of its kind in the country.

"Rumen development," said someone behind me. "Grazing management for diff types of beef." "Liver fluke," said the young farmer from northern MN."

I just got a handout of the slide presentation. Ah, a picture of the cow's four-chambered stomach. The largest lobe is called the rumen, a place that stores huge amounts of coarse storage for one to two days. Microbes work on it, and when digested enough, the food moves to the other, smaller chambers for complete digestion.

The challenge: how to get the right stuff to happen in the rumen - because when the cow's stomach works well, it's healthy, happy, and gains weight well. And that means great beef. Works the same for other ruminants: sheep, goats, deer, buffalo.

It's a bit like magic: the grasses feed the microbes in the rumen which break down the fibers into fatty acids: proteins. It is these proteins that feed my grass-fed cattle. So what I want to do is feed the microbes well. What matters is the quality of my grasses. Microbes need structural carbohydrates - high quality grasses, legumes and herbs.

That means I need to be a better grass farmer so that I can be a better sustainable cattle farmer, so that you can get the very best meats possible.

Sylvia