Last night seemed like the perfect time as the snows are melting and the birds were singing to start on some of the super early spring pruning that this time of the year brings. Also knowing the busy schedule that is right around the corner – there was some motivation to get going!
Last spring I took a whole bunch of raspberry plants from our friend Max’s well established patch and got in a 50′ row. Over the summer they were tended to – weeded (not as often as they should have been) and allowed to continue to grow. By last fall we had a nice row of plants that had established themselves really well and are read for quite a bit of berry production this year. Actually – they did so well, we are hoping Max’s plants have as many prolific shoots this year because I prepped a new bed last fall of equal length.
So – last night I guess the 2010 gardening season started under thick boots and icy snows… although there are lots of protected seedlings quietly growing for the garden now – last nights pruning of the raspberry canes really felt like gardening had begun!
Pretty exciting – we made the paper… OK, not a feature article – but we are listed in there! Very exciting! Page one (ohh, wait, it’s alphabetical!)
Fair and balanced reporting – thanks Karen!
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Article
One of the folks we follow on Twitter (@SmallFarming) posted a funny link to a video that flatters those of us who prefer the country rural life. It’s, well, ??you should just take a look for yourself. The video is the laugh part… and it’s put out by an organization called Farm Credit. So after I watched the video – I felt compelled to check them out – you know – the ubiquitous “About Us” link – here.
They explain their history and heritage at lending funds to farmers for nearly the last century. OK – but then, as I always do, I crunched the numbers on their page for “today”: MORE than $160 BILLION in loans to NEARLY 500 thousand borrowers… Do the math – that’s a debt liability average of $320,000 per farmer, rancher, rural utility, coop, etc. GULP.
Let me be perfectly clear – I’m not suggesting that Farm Credit is bad – not even close – they are serving a HUGE need! The chill left running up my spine is by the fact that this need exists so deeply and so direly. The fact that the backbone of our food supply – and subsequently this country’s sovereignty – is underwater with dollar amounts that should concern EVERYONE – that average of $320,000… Housing already tanked… and you need food with that shelter… that’s the chilling truth.
But enough gloom – let’s watch that video again… (they disabled embedding - so you have to follow their link).
This last weekend Kelli and I got up early Saturday in the tail end of our snow storm (video here) and headed off to Syracuse and the NY State Fair Grounds for the farm show. (Tickets provided by Rich @ DJM – Thanks!) It was a great trip and we certainly learned several useful things.
- Kelli got to see a biomass boiler up close – in particular this corn stove – here. This is something we are kinda seriously considering. It would easily provide heat for the house, barn and “to be built” greenhouse. It’s a great carbon neutral solution and it’s also one of the few alternative choices that actually has a realistic payback.
- A plethora of financial lending options. Given the costs of so many of the elements farms use it’s a scary thing to hear people demand safer food, less antibiotics and fewer hormones all for the same cost. Farming in general isn’t an inexpensive business to run – and the rewards are razor thin. People keep pushing and you are going to find a lot more “Made in China” stickers on things in your refrigerator than I think a sovereign country should be comfortable with. For farmers to keep farming our native soils – food is going to have to cost more… and that means lots of people are going to have less cash to buy other things… and equation most don’t like.
- Saw a lot of the concern about the GM “Round-Up Ready” alfalfa that is about to be re-released into the marketplace. Today is the last day you can submit your comments on this to the USDA – here. I personally go back and forth on this – while I certainly advocate sustainable, local, small and healthy… it’s not a model that has been demonstrated to be able to feed the nearly 7 billion hungry people on this planet (info here). I dunno – what is clear is the current GM practices can disrupt the adjacent farms that strive to organic certifications… and that’s not fair to those small farms looking to raise their crops and livestock in a desired manner.
- It was decided that although the $280,000 combine was shiny red and had lots of cool buttons… we don’t need it
- Lots of cool and innovative implements out there for tractors now… lots of ohhs and awwws at the device that lifts a round bale, spins it, wraps it in a tight cover and then sets it back down. Personally - I prefer square bales (when we get livestock) as the hay is better quality because there isn’t really any “middle”. But for bigger operations who don’t have the wrapper on the baler – this thing was all the talk.
- Dairy, dairy, dairy – not ever gonna be my thing… and lots of dairy in NY!
- Lot’s of “If I had money” dreams with all the shinny implements
- Sat in on a vaccination clinic – very good. For anyone who has that stereotype of a farmer being a hick in a pickup who can’t think… you better really reconsider.
Farmers now days know more than the average individual about a myriad of topics. From the difference between a bacteria, a virus and a parasite – to how you treat those different afflictions across the herd. The difference between a live and dead vaccine – the risks and benefits of each. Genetics of seeds and their roles in crosses, hybridization and modification. Soils, equipment, marketing, business plans and finance…
For all the healthy food advocacy I see on the web – all the people who “think” the food system should be a certain way because they saw Food, Inc. – all the “big ag is bad” comments that Twitter spews forth… I just want to know – how many of those voices have been to a working farm or even a farm show, have actually spoken with farmers, heard what their challenges really are? There’s a saying about opinions in general… Personally - I prefer informed dialog, but that’s just me.
