Help Arianne get to Italy--go to Field of Greens!

So, I'm going to Italy...soon. Yep. Been a dream I've had for four years now--and finally, thanks to the generosity of: Slow Food Atlanta, the Coastal Organic Growers, and Slow Food USA (whew, that's alotta hyperlinks) it's coming true. If you haven't heard yet, I'm headed to Terra Madre--an international network of food producers, cooks, educators and students from 150 countries who are united by a common goal of global sustainability in food. The "food communities" of Terra Madre come together biennially in Turin, Italy to share innovative solutions and time-honored traditions for keeping small-scale agriculture and sustainable food production alive and well.

Huge honor, right? Right. I still don't believe I'm going. But I'll take pictures and videos and it'll probably all seem real once I get back...

In the meantime, Field of Greens is a farm festival happening this Sunday, October 3rd that brings together locally grown food, live music, and green living education, all in a family-friendly, fun environment. I'm mentioning it here because:

1.) I definitely think you should go if you can--I'll be there volunteering.
2.) Proceeds from Field of Greens benefit Slow Food Atlanta, who will then turn funds over to Terra Madre delegates from Georgia (ahem--yours truly) to help cover travel expenses to the conference.
3.) There's going to be good food, good music, and lots of sexy people (this is unconfirmed at the moment--but entirely possible when you're talking about folks that eat well).
4.) Why wouldn't you go?

Turkey Brooding Lessons

I've asked one of our turkeys to write down his tips and thoughts on brooding for any future turkey farmers. Here goes:

"Hi, I'm turkey #57. Here is my list of tips -

Brooder Safety
Always keep in mind that we will kill ourselves if given half a chance. Look in you brooder and get in the mind of your turkeys, say to yourself 'I'm a suicidal turkey - what can I kill myself on in here?' and then go over every inch of your brooder and remove any questionable situation - nail, spot we can get our legs caught, etc.

Dryness
If there is an area with a drip we will get soaked there even if the rest of your brooder is dry and toasty.

Bedding
Remember - we are NOT CHICKENS - we NEED fresh bedding every day, pine shavings for 2 weeks, hay for 6.

Green Material
We LOVE grass and weeds, start feeding this to us ASAP.

Distraction
You would be bored too if you spent 8 weeks in a brooder so keep us busy with green material, piles of straw, and other novelties or else we'll start pecking each other.

Supervision
If one of us gets a wound we will all turn into Hannibal Lector and peck him to death - so please check us frequently and pull anyone out before its too late!

Brooder Floorplan
If you try to use sides - like this - we will escape.



Better to use an open floor plan so there is no way out.



Feel free to contact me with any further questions."

Thanks Turkey #57! Appreciate you taking the time.

Up next - (once we've got it down) tips and thoughts on pasturing turkeys)

Elliott

Belated Pig Moving Videos

We have been so busy blogging has fallen by the wayside.

If you follow the blog, our first attempt at moving our pigs out to pasture was not very successful - see here.

It was a great learning experience however.

*Make sure your fence is properly grounded, 1 rod per joule. Our charger is 1.5 joules so I used 2 rods this time, instead of 1.

*Pigs do not like walking up steep inclines (i.e. 5 foot plywood up to the bed of the pickup), longer ramp into a trailer is best.

*Give your pigs access to what they will be moved in so they get used to it.

Loading, transporting, and unloading went very smoothly this time, we had one little hiccup once they were unloaded though...



With everyone back in and relaxed, pig bliss ensued.

A word from Lea Lou...hot young farmer in training.

Fortunately we didn't have to pay her to say this. If we did, we'd have paid a lot. Lea was with us for 3 glorious weeks, experiencing the animals, the elements, and the markets with us. We will miss her face.



The following is a summary of her experience:

I’ve heard throughout my life that the best job in the world is one you love, and at Hope Grows farm that’s what makes everything work. You have to love waking up to feed the baby turkeys, get bird droppings all over you and have flies attack your face. You have to have love to lift a fifty pound bag of feed and push a broiler pen, or five, to fresh grass and you have to have love to plant every single seed and take care of every little leaf until it can stand on its own. Arianne and Eliot love what they do and working with them I’ve learned why.

I think like many people I assumed that the key ingredients to a successful farm were blood sweat and tears but Eliot and Arianne have opened my eyes to what a hot young farmer’s life is really like. Instead of sweating all day in the hot buggy sun only to spend the evening doing puzzles or worrying about how many eggs the hens will lay, these farmers break up the day with amazing meals, good conversation and most importantly, with a lot of laughter. I understand now that the profit of a farm doesn’t increase with stress and exhaustion, only with enjoyment and compassion. A day didn’t go by that I didn’t need a nap after the morning work but I also didn’t have a single day slip pass me that wasn’t full of jokes and cracking up at the dinner table. Every morning I was up with the sun to sweat and dress myself in mud but every evening I had to relax, use the internet (yes, even farms can enjoy modern technology) or go on a little adventure with the farmers.

Over the past couple weeks I’ve become even more conscience of where my food comes from and much more grateful for the farmers who bring it to the table. More importantly though, I’ve realized that this is a lifestyle that can be very enjoyable and rewarding with a little blood, sweat, tears… and love.

Thank you hot young farmers.

Adventures in Moving Pigs

Today we were going to move our pigs from their woodlot accommodations to the pasture to become 'Lawnmower Pigs'. Earlier in the week I set a test electric fence in the pig's habitat to get them used to it, which worked fine. This morning we set up a full scale fence in the pasture, so far so good.

Now for the tricky part - moving 2 very large and 3 medium sized rambunctious pigs. The plan: load them in the bed of the pickup via a loading chute and then deposit them into their new electric fenced area in the pasture. Easier said than done! Here we are looking only a little bit harried after having successfully loaded Pork:

After that Ham got in too so we closed the tailgate and made for the pasture. Pork had other ideas:

Luckily Pork was unhurt by his leap to freedom and made his way back to the woodlot.

We did manage to get Ham to the new fenced in area, but to our dismay the full scale fence did not deliver the same shock as the practice fence did--not even close. Ham happily walked in and out of the area, undaunted by the static shock.

As stressed as he was, he wasn't interested in going home. We roped his midsection to encourage him - to little effect. Then suddenly he started jogging, so I ended up running with him (the same rope was tied around my midsection as well), guiding him back to his accomodations in the trees. We'll try again soon. In the meantime, the grass will have to wait.

Elliott
(with some editing from Arianne)

Bringing the Sexy Back

This is a bit from our new marketing campaign to lure hot, young people into ecological farming. Enjoy!

Three Little Piggies

Meet our 3 new pigs - Bacon, Sausage, and Ham!



E

A Fig Pickin'

Growing behind our 100 year old chicken coop is an epic fig tree we give love to in the winter with pruning and mulching with chicken manure and compost. This year it has rewarded our efforts with lush, rampant growth and the season's first sticky-sweet, ripe figs. They're amazing, of course, but hard to glean. Here's a photo of the shenanigans we had this morning in the name of good fruit, rigging up a pulley system to shift the limbs downward while I stood anxiously on the roof of the chicken coop (with questionable integrity) and gathered figs. I'm holding a perfectly ripe one in my hand, and the folks holding the tree limb within my reach via 100 feet of rope and a brick are Ben and Bethany, our two new WWOOFers. They'll be here for the next two weeks or so, sharing in our adventures before starting their own farm in Alabama. Couldn't have done this without them...



Figs have extremely flexible branches that are easily bent to gather fruit, but this tall, tall branch required the leverage of both Ben and Bethany.



A belt looped through the handle of a bucket gives a two-handed advantage. Note: Standing on roofs of decaying 100 year old buildings not recommended or endorsed by Elliott, Arianne, or any of the chickens at Hope Grows.



Ben and Bethany holding down the tree. Aren't they cute? We can't get enough of young farmers in the making.

--Arianne

Turkey Cam Courtesy of Anthony-Masterson and GROW! The Movie

We just spent a few days with a couple of groovy & talented filmmakers from Atlanta who are serving the good food movement by putting a face on the young sustainable and organic farmers in Georgia. As they travel the state shooting their feature length film about young, hot farmers like us, they're posting quick video teasers and photo updates on their blog GROW! The following is a video of turkey arrival earlier this week:

GROW! Hope Grows Farm from Anthony-Masterson on Vimeo.

Turkeys, Y'all!

What do chicken farmers do when their eaters demand turkey? They get turkeys...basically big chickens, right? This is an exciting new adventure for us, and we look forward to sharing our experience in the coming months. It's a bit of a nail-biter. Raising a bird that takes a long time to grow (4 months) with little experience is a bit of investment, a bit of risk. But this year we're giving it the old college try in hopes we can round out the season a little more diverse, a little more experienced. Whether we succeed deliciously or fail miserably, we will do our best to report it here.

They came a day earlier than expected, which made for a chaotic morning with the brooder still under construction, but all 100 of our broad breasted white poults (young turkeys) arrived safe and sound. They chirped contentedly, happy to be out of the box and with quirky, loving farmers. This counts as a major turning point. Half the year is over, and these little guys (yep--all dudes or "Toms" in farmerspeak) will hang with us for the 134 days until Thanksgiving, the big sigh at the end of the season--the farmer's most anticipated, sacred holiday.

We'll be brooding them for quite a while longer than the chickens (6 to 8 weeks) before turning them out to pasture 'till mid-November to get positively juicy and flavorful as a result of eating copious amounts of grass and bugs. If your mouth's already watering (ours is even though the poults are small and fluffy), you can pre-order one from us at the farmers' market starting next week. We suspect orders will fill up quickly, so jump on the pastured poultry bandwagon early this year (everybody's doing it) and let us know you want one. If we're thinking about Thanksgiving in July you can, too.

In the meantime, enjoy the photos and stories here so you can share them with your families as you pass the cranberry and the gravy 'round the table...



A new, yet confident turkey farmer in the making...



--Arianne