Sunday, September 25, 2011

Water Conservation.

Water has been on my mind a lot lately. With the record droughts, pollution, and freshwater ice reserves melting, I find myself wondering what the future of the water in this country will look like. In that spirit we have started adopting some water conservation practices here at the farm.  1. No more bottled water. We invested in a water filter and some BPA free bottles. This should be a 2 fold savings. Less money in the long run than buying cases of water and less waste. (even though we recycle) 2. This   We don't use it for toilet flushes (yet) but I have been using it to keep the compost pile moist. 3. Our ducks make a incredible mess in the drinking water for the critters which caused us to waste a lot of water. To fix this I am going to build some duck proof waterers with a constant supply for the chickens, turkeys, and ducks if they can figure them out. To let them express their duckness however I am going to build a small pond with a recirculating pump into a small scale aquaculture setup. hopefully this will filter the water and feed the plants at the same time. 4. Our wash sink will be plumbed into a greywater system into the garden so we can start reclaiming some of the water we use for irrigation. Hopefully pictures will follow as I put these system together, so stay tuned.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Fall Harvest.

The garden is dead. ( Long live the garden!) That doesn't mean I can't plan for next year. And I have found I work better with a goal. I think a , swing for the fences, harvest meal is in order. I had thrown the idea around for this year, but the dismal garden put the kibosh on that. What I have in mind is a multi course  meal  based off of what can be grown here, or very close. Chicken is on the menu for sure. Hopefully rabbit and goat as well. In a best case scenario there will also be roast pork. I am thinking October post frost, renting a tent, wear warm clothes, outside kinda meal. Semi formal. The more I think about it the more I realize that a meal this  will take a year to put together. We take for granted being able to get anything, anytime. If I want it for the party, it is going to take planning. So, that is the target for next year. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

As a PSA to our egg customers, all of our chickens have started molting. This means all of their energy/protein is going into new feather production. This also means no eggs. Hopefully this should only last about a month then we will be back up and running. In the meantime the folks BADSEED Farm & Market will be able to provide you with all of the eggs and late season produce you can stand. Sorry for the inconvenience.