Farming

Winter 2017
$5.00

Magazine Volume 17 Issue 4 No. 68

Homogenized Farming - Part II

(Un) Soundness in Horses
Things That Changed
Choosing Fruit Trees for Your Home

People l Land l Community Farming Magazine [1]

[2] Farming Magazine
Farming Magazine
Volume 17 Issue 4 No. 68 Winter 2017
DEPARTMENTS
PO Box 85 ........................................................................................................5
Editorial Letter from Larksong ..........................................................................7
My Turn .............................................................................................................8
Conversations with the Land ......................................................................10
New Products..................................................................................................24
Newsworthy.....................................................................................................25
Weather Wisdom ...........................................................................................33
Bee Talk ...........................................................................................................34
Hints for Farm and Home ...........................................................................37
The Farm Home ...........................................................................................46
Featured Cookbook and Favorite Recipes for Winter.................................47
Poetry .............................................................................................................52
Happy Handmade Home .............................................................................54
“Earth
Book Reviews .................................................................................................62
Advertisers’ Index ..........................................................................................69
provides enoug
The Last Row. ................................................................................................70 to satisfy every
FEATURES man’s need, but
Things That Changed - Ulf Kintzel ..........................................................12
Making a Protein Tub Brooder for Starting Chicks..................................16 not every man’s
Year-End Reflections...................................................................................18
I Like Pigs......................................................................................................21 greed.”
Choosing Perfect Fruit Trees for Your Home - Mary Lou Shaw ............22
(Un) Soundness in Horses - David Bontrager ...........................................26
Organic Farming Conference.....................................................................30
The Consolation of Moonbeams......................................................................31 ~ Mahatma Gandhi
A Community Library - Karen Geiser ........................................................32 [1869–1948]
Farming with Bees ......................................................................................34
Direct Marketing Part 2 - Leah and Jessie Smith ........................................38
Anticipation .................................................................................................42
Landscapes of My Past - Jigs Gardner .......................................................44
Swedish Food Memories-Jo Ann Gardner ..................................................49
Grebel ...........................................................................................................55
Homogenized Farming Part 2 - Leah and Jessie Smith................................56
Good Works at Good Acres.......................................................................58
The Contrary Gardener...............................................................................67

Farming Magazine [3]

 EDITORIAL STAFF
David & Elsie Kline, Leroy Kuhns, Ann Miller
Cover: Beef cows in Madison County, New York.
Proofreaders/Copy Editors
Troy Bishopp photo, Hamilton, New York.
Dennis Kline, Marie Kline
Magazine Design:
Mike & Martha Kline

General: E-mail: contact@farmingmagazine.net

Advertising: E-mail: advertising@farmingmagazine.net
Farming Magazine celebrates the joys of farming well and living well on a small and ecologically conscious scale. It explores the intricate bonds
connecting people, land, and community and offers a hopeful vision for the future of farming in America. The magazine is created in the
spirit of stewardship for the earth and regard for its inhabitants.

©2006 by Farming Magazine, Ltd: A Good Living and a Good Life. No part of the contents of this magazine may be reproduced without
the written consent of the publisher.

Farming Magazine (ISSN# 1539-7432) is published seasonally (quarterly) in Holmes County, Ohio, U.S.A., by Friends of the Agrarians,
Box 85, Mt. Hope, Ohio 44660. We welcome the submission of essays, how-to articles, short stories, poetry, and artwork appropriate for
this publication. The editorial staff reserves the right to reject or edit any item received for publication. The viewpoints and observations
expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those o the magazine’s editorial board. We reserve the right to reject any advertising
deemed unsuitable for this magazine, such as alcohol, tobacco, and margarine. Nor do we make any claims or guarantees to the accuracy or
validity of an advertiser’s offer.
The subscription rate is $18 for one year (four issues) or $32 for two years (eight issues). Subscriptions and inquiries regarding advertising or
work submissions should be mailed to Farming Magazine, P.O. Box 85, Mt. Hope, OH 44660, USA.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Farming Magazine, Box 85, Mt. Hope, OH 44660-0085
.Application to mail at periodicals postage rates is pending at Mt. Hope, OH and additional mailing offices.

[4] Farming Magazine

PO Box 85
Dear Farming Magazine:
I immediately recognized the front
cover of your Fall 2017 issue as being
the Monroe Miller farm. Many years
ago I was getting into Percherons and
visited a few times in Holmes County,
Ohio, and the Miller farm. I stayed
over one night with the family. Monroe
and I exchanged a few letters and he
wrote a column for the Percheron
newspaper from Holmes County. I am
including my address and cell number,
and would enjoy hearing from his
family.
Of course, I enjoy Farming.
Very truly yours,
Gary A. Finney
Sandpoint, ID
Dear David and Elsie,
We hope this letter finds you and
your family well. Great news!! We have
moved to the farm. In July we had the
opportunity to sell our home in town
and start construction of a new home
on our 37 acres of heaven. Granted we
are living in the barn shop…but home
is where you make it and we are quite
comfortable and blessed. Our boys
never missed a beat and have more
children their age to play with in our
country community than they did in
town. Additionally, the children in our
new spread-out neighborhood seem
to have more time than town children
(after chores of course) as they are not
in four different intramural sports or
organizations. As I said, we are truly
blessed.
We wish you a wonderful fall
season and greatly appreciate the hard
work you all put into Farming Magazine.
Best regards,
Terry LeDoux
Tipton, IA
Hello,
Having just moved back into
city life, we have found it even more
important to maintain our links to the
kind of farming life that ultimately
sustains us!
Thank you,
John and Sara Lee
Lakewood, OH
David,
I had to gaze at the Jonas-ah
Monroe’s farm on the 2017 Fall
cover and just let the memories roll.
It’s a place of pleasant memories—
conversations, visits, mini tours,
education from Monroe on practical
subjects. He inspired me to keep bees.
We kept up correspondence after we
moved to New York until he passed
away.
Those steep hillsides! I respect
anyone who farms those successfully
like he did and his son now does.
Thanks again for the magazine and
especially that cover picture. I enjoy it
greatly.
David Schlabach
Medina, NY
Hi,
As so many people do, I get
both joy and an education from your
magazine. The amazing quality is
appreciated too each time I touch the
paper and look at the photos.
I would like to share the beauty
and information of your magazine
with my beloved sister. I’ve enclosed
the check along with her address.
This is a surprise for her, so—if it’s
possible could you include a small note
with the first issue? Just a note to let
her know it’s a gift. Thank you for an
extraordinary magazine.
Joanne Ashby
Glenwood, MD
We are more than happy to send a gift
card with any gift subscriptions. Ed.
Dear Friends,
Thank you for another two years
of your wonderful magazine. I hope
I can get this Fall’s edition and I also
have an address change.
I always look forward to David’s
writings for inspiration, guidance,
and understanding. I was particularly
touched by his story of the dead ash
tree and the dismantling of the old
farmhouse. I am feeling the passing of
time with some sense of loss. I found
David’s “unwarranted” wording for
the loss of his favorite ash tree to be
interesting. No anger or indignation
or blame but I think a question of the
unfairness. Personally, I don’t think all
the imported “goods,” much of which
Farming Magazine [5]
 are already in landfills or scrap yards, are worth what we lost
in all the ash trees. It is another call for us to rethink our
economic and community values.
I’ve been thinking David and Elsie have moved into the
smaller grandparents’ house by now and the next generation
into the bigger house. I hope all is well with the family and
farm.

Thank you!
Steve Edwards
Lebanon, OH

Dear David & Elsie and all the Kline family,

I’m completely hooked on your excellent publication.
I’m just a 72-year-old farmer, still able to do some things,
though I’ve slowed down some. I still cut and split and stack
at least 10-14 cords of wood every year to heat my home.
I get asked a lot why I don’t use my furnace. I just reply,
because that’s too easy and I like being out in the woods
clearing dead and fallen trees, not to mention the exercise I
get. This also saves me over $800 in expenses every year. I
guess you could say I’m a penny pincher. The money I save
I spend on what I can get from local sources close to me,
such as honey.
The folks I get honey from are good friends. They have
a 280-acre all organic centennial farm where raising bees
is their main income. I usually go through five pounds a
month. I use the honey in my tea every morning and on just
about everything else also.
I usually put in an acre of garden and grow extras of
everything, just heirloom and open-pollinated plants that
I start from seed I save myself. I average a little over a ton
of produce that I share with the missions near me. I used
to can but my l’il woman passed away three years ago so
there’s just me, my two dogs, eight cats, two dozen laying
hens, and my rare breed bantams that I raise for shows. I’ve
been a what is now known as an organic farmer. I’ve been
farming with no synthetic or petroleum-based fertilizers
for 63, going on 64 years, before the term organic was ever
heard of. I just think of it as all natural or eco-farming like
my grandparents did. It’s the only way I like to live, and with
our Lord’s help I hope to see another 15 or 20 years. All I
ask of him is for energy, strength, and motivation. My days
start at 5:00-5:30 A.M. every day.
Well, I’ll close for now as I think I’ve overwritten to
you. Your magazine takes me back in time when life was
a little slower and happier. I’ll continue to subscribe as
time goes on. Thank you for such a heartfelt, clean, honest
publication.

Your loyal friend,

Michael Supak
Fowlplay Farm
Flint, MI

[6] Farming Magazine

 Editorial
Letter from Larksong

W e’re nearing the time of the winter solstice, the official first day of winter. As
a farmer, I always look forward to this time when the sun reaches its southernmost
point, seems to stand still casting long shadows until Old Christmas (January 6), and
then begins its six months’ journey northward. But as my mother would warn us
boys, “As the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen,” which is true.
From my experience of observing the season for seven decades, the heart of winter
tends to be around January 25.
A rural folklore says that “Summer comes with a bound; winter comes yawning.”
Last winter it was a season-long yawn, and so is the beginning of this one. We farmers
also are aware of the folktale, “Deep snow in winter; tall grain in summer.” Deep snow not only protects the tender
grain from frost damage, it adds nitrogen to the soil, which besides the grain crop, benefits the pastures and hay and
everything green.
Time will tell, as we so often say. Time. We have become time watchers. As a preacher supposedly said, “It doesn’t
bother me if a parishioner checks his watch while I’m preaching, but if he shakes it to verify it’s running, now that gets
my attention.”
Neil Postman in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death [1984] writes “… beginning in the fourteenth century, the clock
made us into time-keepers, and then time-savers, and now time-servers. In the process, we have learned irreverence
toward the sun and the seasons, for in a world made up of seconds and minutes, the authority of nature is superseded.
With the invention of the clock, Eternity ceased to serve as the measure and focus of human events. And thus, though
few would have imagined the connection, the inexorable ticking of the clock may have done more to do the weakening
of God’s supremacy than all the treatises produced by the philosophers of the Enlightenment; that is to say, the clock
introduced a new form of conversation between man and God, in which God appears to have been the loser. Perhaps
Moses should have included another Commandment: Thou shalt not make mechanical representations of time.”
Back in my formal public school education decade of the 1950s, my teacher for seven years, who was sort of
a teacher/farmer/naturalist/philosopher, would occasionally have the period from last recess to dismissal open for
riddles. An eighth grade girl arose and asked us this, which seemed to have everything to do with time: The beginning
of Eternity, the end of time and space, the beginning of every end, the end of every place? I still consider that riddle
the best one I’ve ever heard.

We’ll leave time behind now and venture to the kitchen. Recently I read—“The kitchen is the heartbeat of a home, and
by extension, of a community.” If we consider how much time (there we go again) is spent in the kitchen/dining room
in the preparation and then in the sharing of it, I agree with that statement.
Anyone who works in winter’s real climate knows that coming into the house on a frigid day to the aroma of baking
bread, that the quality of life begins on the table. If we don’t have good food, quality of life suffers. The same goes for
a community.
I think that is the reasoning behind our people serving a meal after every church service. As a local leader used to
say, “Worship service isn’t over until the meal is finished.” It’s sort of a “slow food” meal lasting from noon to 2 o’clock,
when the congregation and visitors slowly begin dispersing to go home. Farmers to rest a while before the evening
milking, and the non-farmers, I guess, just to rest. After all, Sunday is a day of rest and for popcorn and grapejuice.
DK

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
~ Edith Sitwell

Farming Magazine [7]

 My Turn My Experience with Open Pollinated Corn
I
was selecting my seed corn the
past two days. I have been growing
an open pollinated white corn named
“Cockes’ Prolific” for six seasons
now, and as I normally do, I hand pick
my seed for next year’s crop the first
week in October.
As a disclaimer, I admit to not
knowing the technical terms for some
of what I want to describe to you. I’m
not a “plant breeder,” not a “geneticist,” I’m not even a “com-
mercial farmer” anymore! What I am now is someone interested
in raising OP corn, among other things.
I have been a farmer, making my living from my endeavors
on the land as a dairyman for twenty years and later as a produce
grower. During much of this time, I have grown open pollinated
corn, beginning as many boys have with some variety of flint
corn, which in the early days I thought of as “Indian” corn! For
ten years or so I grew a pod corn, usually in a ring in my lawn.
It was a very decorative plant only growing 4 or 5 feet tall, with
wonderful flat purple tassel and leaves of green and purple and a
four-inch ear with each kernel encased in its own miniature husk!
As a boy and young man, visiting among the small farms
on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia
with my father, I learned that many mountain folks believed
that “yellow corn was only fit for mules and hogs; people eat
white corn!” While it was more than forty years before I grew
any white corn, that expression was never wholly forgotten, and
while standing next to Mark Gillenwater at the Mt. Hope auction,
I was reminded of it again when he mentioned that he had been
growing a white field corn for twenty-five or so years. I immedi-
ately whipped out a twenty-dollar bill and implored him to send
me some seed! He very generously sent me two nice ears of his
“Cockes’ Prolific” plus a couple pounds of it dried and shelled.
I saved the ears for seed and ground the shelled corn into meal
and was hooked!
I had previously grown, for five years or so, a white corn
called “Northstine Dent,” and while it had a wonderful flavor
as cornmeal, I could not seem to affect ear size, which was quite
slender and short, or yield, which for me was low. (I would still
grow it for its flavor if I had large areas to keep it separate from
my other corn!) I also raised other open pollinated varieties in-
cluding Bloody Butcher, Reid’s Yellow Dent, Painted Mountain
Corn, and several varieties of colored popcorn, with mixed suc-
cess. While I could enjoy small patches of a large variety of
corns, I’m at present down to one variety, and my choice at this
time is “Cockes’ Prolific!”
As I mentioned at the beginning, this is the sixth season in
which I have selected seed from this variety of corn. In this time
I have grown it at three different places, not geographically very
distant from each other, but certainly on quite different soils!
Now Mark had done a good job of developing this corn
and it is essentially unchanged in appearance from the seed I
[8] Farming Magazine
—Leroy Keim
purchased from him seven years ago,
but being quite a ways south from me
in northwestern PA, he had a longer
growing season than I did, so my first
thought was to attempt to select for ear-
lier maturity. I decided at the start to
only select seed from stalks where the
ear, or ears, had dropped in September.
The first two years these stalks were in
the minority.
I should mention here that I never
plant this corn before the first week in
May and often not before the tenth of the month. My seed is
untreated, so I don’t want it to be in cold, wet soil if I can help it.
I actually don’t know how it would stand up to those conditions,
as by the time I plant, the soils have warmed.
I should say that I have passed up many nice ears, in some
cases better ears than the ones I selected, to stick to my goal of
shortening the maturation time. Now to be fair, I know that not
all of the resulting plants from the ears I selected will have the
desired characteristic, and I also know that some of the plants
resulting from the ears I passed up would have had those char-
acteristics, but this is the only way I know of to achieve my goals
in this effort.
Of course, while selecting for early maturity I was also look-
ing for other things. I never, though sorely tempted, chose an ear
from a stalk I didn’t like! I insist that in my selection period the
stalk must be standing tall and straight. I passed up some wonder-
ful ears that were on stalks that were resting against a neighbor
even though the ear had dropped as I required. I also want a stalk
of medium size, not over 7-8 feet tall, with an ear at a comfort-
able husking height! I don’t want to reach up to husk corn! If
it’s eye height I don’t use it for seed no matter how well it suits
me in every other way! I want my plants to be as uniform as pos-
sible, but I don’t panic over some variation providing the trend is
progressing in the direction I want it to go.
I’ve mentioned “husking,” by which I mean hand husking.
Certainly one could use a picker or even a combine, if one grew
enough acreage to justify such mechanical use, but I don’t, so I’m
interested in ease of husking and I certainly have that! While I
normally use a husking peg of some type, I’ve husked an entire
crop without one because of the ease with which these ears sepa-
rate from the husk! This, while desirable for my conditions, is
another reason I select for early maturity. Other than my seed, I
want the rest of the crop to dry down in the field, where I usually
husk it by early November. Ears that remain upright on the stalk
during the fall rains begin to mold at the tips due to the “easy
husking” characteristic. This isn’t a huge problem, but I don’t
want dark colored tips on my white corn when I grind it for meal,
and of course I don’t want mold in my crib either.
So where am I after six seasons in regard to my goals? The
past spring I plowed down about two feet of rye in the plot
where I planted my corn on May 11th. I plowed with a ten-inch
plow with too short a moldboard, about five inches deep, so got
an incomplete burial of the rye. It being early, I disked it with
a small disk and went on to other things. In
a week I disked it again and a week later har-
rowed it and pulled up quite a few rye crowns;
the rye stalks seemed to be pretty much gone
in the top three inches. I actually raked up
the crowns I had pulled up and removed them
from the plot.
The conditions were still a little rough,
but I made my rows and planted my seed. I
ended up with a fair stand; stalks averaged
about ten inches apart. This field has been in
corn now for two years. It had a heavy crop of
white clover on it when I plowed it last year
and since I didn’t have any manure to put on
it this year I used the equivalent of a hundred
lbs. per acre of a 4-12-12 starter fertilizer.
Later when the corn was ready for its last cul-
tivation I side dressed with 40 percent urea at
the approximate rate of 50 lbs. per acre. Be-
cause I usually had animal manure, I have not
normally used other fertilizers, depending on
cover crops and manure with lime as required
only.
As I walked through my corn this week
I became aware of the large number of stalks
with two ears, not entirely unusual, but never
before in such profusion. At least 50 percent
of the stalks had two ears and I believe 20
percent of them were dropped. A few more
of the stalks with two ears were lodged than
those with only one, but not a lot more. I
determined that I would only select my seed
from stalks bearing two good ears this year.
Remembering all of the criteria noted above
and with a couple of exceptions I did so.
In the photo with two ears I am showing
a fairly typical example of two ears taken from
one stalk, being, as the picture shows, 9 and 10
inches in length, with 14 rows of quite deep
kernels and a slender white cob. The photo
of three ears was an unusual example of ears
from one stalk, and they measured 7, 8, and 9
inches long, with an average of twelve rows
of kernel. I’m not planning to select for three
ears, and as the weights show these ears would
not be my best choices!
I weighed the ears on a digital scale and
was surprised to discover that the two ears Sandra’s Rich
weighed 1.51 lbs., the three ear group weighed Corn Pone
1.45 lbs. and as for the two eleven inchers in Preheat oven to 375°
the third picture, they weighed in at .85 and Mix together:
.74 respectively! These ears were singles and ¾ c. cooked white cornmeal
were not the best type of ear. I don’t know (water plus salt plus white corn-
the moisture content, but they were all picked
meal cooked to the consistency
the same day. Obviously I want ears that are
of porridge. Leftover is fine.)
filled out to a rounded tip as the two heaviest
1 c. buttermilk or plain yogurt
ears in the pictures show, and as I begin to
shell my seed corn I will favor such ears, and or sour milk
potentially encourage that trait in my corn in ½ c. half and half or cream
years to come. 1 egg
My process in developing this corn with ¼ c. vegetable oil
the traits I want has not been seamless, but
there has been obvious progress over this Mix together in separate large
relatively short period. I would stress that measuring cup and add to
this corn, like all corn, responds to fertile above:
soil, plenty of water, and hot humid days and ½ c. coarse yellow cornmeal
nights. Yet over these six seasons of my asso- (polenta grind)
ciation with this variety, only about one season ½ c. white flour
could have been described as ideal. I believe ½ tsp. salt
that I have easily averaged from fifty to one 1 Tbsp. baking powder
hundred and ten bushels to the acre during ½ tsp. baking soda
this period, although I have not measured this
as carefully as I plan to this year! Stir in:
A better farmer than I, a keener observer,
1 c. cooked sweet corn, prefer-
and an ambitious young person who would
ably home grown
have years to adapt this, or many of the OP
½ c. Monterey Jack cheese,
varieties to their particular conditions, could
free themselves from the conglomerates who grated
make sure they have to return to them every
year for ever more expensive seed, and could Oil a 9-inch cast iron skillet
with traditional methods provide feed and liberally (vegetable oil or good
fodder for their livestock, and food for them- pork fat, not olive oil) and set it
selves on the many small farms, thankfully, on high heat for a few minutes.
still extant in our nation. My own experience Pour corn pone batter into pan
with this corn and its progress over this period (it will sizzle a little) and put the
convinces me of this, and it has been a source hot skillet carefully into pre-
of great pleasure to me! heated 375° oven. Bake 30-35
minutes. Corn pone will be very
Leroy N. Keim lives on a small farm near New Castle, moist and is best eaten with a
PA. fork. Jelly, honey, or maple syrup on top
To talk corn or small farms with Leroy call (330) 718- is excellent.
2884 after 7 p.m. most evenings.
Farming Magazine [9]
 Conversations with the Land
I
t is difficult to believe we are not all engaged in a race
to the bottom. A friend of mine at a gathering of master
graziers made the point to me that he advises young graziers
to build nothing they cannot pay for and use up completely in
one lifetime. He went on to say that farmers are necessarily
engaged in a race to the bottom and that any building planned
for the use of the next generation or the one after would fail
and cause the farm and farmers to fail as well, in all likelihood.
I could not argue against him, considering the dizzying rate
of change, most of it not for the good, that I have already
seen in my lifetime. But I did say that I thought his reasoning
only held true if we continued to disallow any thought but
an economic one. Or perhaps it is better to say that for this
gloomy assessment not to hold, we must drive mere economic
motive from its perch as arbiter of all morality in our lives
with the consequent damaging effect on character, ability to
befriend or love, expressions of joy and sorrow and all the
rest of what we have always thought went into the making of
the human being.
I am in mind of a more pleasant scene at a farm I visited
in Germany last year. There, the farmer had perhaps 90
hectares—around 200 acres—under cultivation and fed hogs
in three different barns. But in the entry of his house was
posted an old document, perhaps two feet square in size, with
a family tree on it that indicated that this farm had been in his
family since the year 1200. Now I am sure there were many
“races to the bottom” in the span of those eight centuries.
Probably also some lean years in general, maybe some loss
and buyback, possibly also some activities less than legal. The
farmer’s mother who lived with them there had experienced
the house full to capacity and then some with refugees after
[ 10 ] Farming Magazine
—Jim Van Der Pol
the Second World War. And who knows what all came before
that time as war after war, famine, deprivation and disease
raged across Europe. Still, the document held pride of place
prominently displayed in the farmhouse.
The house itself, two stories and made of granite
trimmed in wood and modern baths and kitchen was
connected at one end with the main barn, forming an ell
shape. The barn ran perhaps twice the length of the house
and was of a concrete cavity wall construction. It, like the
house, was roofed with tile. Across the paved courtyard
was another similar building, this one housing machines and
grain. The barn, the farmer told me, had been gutted inside
and changed four times that he knew of, and was currently
in slats and equipped with grinding equipment and a paste
feeder to finish pigs. In addition, the farm had a new hog
building behind this one, also featuring slats and a paste
feeding system, plus the farmer kept a hundred or so feeders
in the barn at the farm across the road. This is a prosperous
farmer. Much as he can complain with the best complainers
on American farms about the government and the markets
and the weather, he farms with a certain sense of security, if
only because his government does not seem to want to empty
out the countryside of people, as does ours.
But it will not do to lay all of our trouble at the feet of the
government. Technology is a large driver here and every farm
and farmer draws the line on it in a different place. Some draw
no line at all, grabbing the latest techy toy as soon as it comes
available. They are really no different from the sad soul who
spends the night wrapped in a sleeping bag to be in line to get
the first “I-phone” in the morning, but cannot be bothered
to keep a kitchen garden. Some farmers are more cautious,
going so far, but drawing the line at further investment.
These some have their eyes open and
can see that technology is always about
replacing people, one way or another,
and must be indulged with the greatest
care. Adoption of technology is a
slippery slope that facilitates a race to
the bottom. But the economic system
in which we work dictates that a few of
the early adopters of technology will
succeed and everyone else will fail. Any
serious attempt to stay the race to the
bottom, to speak up for human value,
must begin with rethinking our attitude
toward technology.
There are hints in our own lives.
For instance, here at Pastures A Plenty,
we necessarily focus on hog production
because our meat sales are centered
there. We keep about a hundred mother
sows and we feed them in three groups.
Our tools to do this are thirty-six used
gestation stalls, which were repurposed
into come-and-go feeding stalls in the farm’s shop, one feed
tank, two wheelbarrows and two feed scoops. Each group is
let into the feeding area by the herdsman—one of us—and
the proper ration for each sow, which varies by age and stage
of gestation as determined by observation, is placed on the
concrete in front of her. After an hour or so to allow time to
clean up the ration, this group is driven out and the next let in.
This is about three hours work for every feeding and it allows
for human eyes to observe general condition, pregnancy,
freedom from disease and parasites, attitude and eagerness to
eat and any individual idiosyncrasies that might be important
in managing her, such as her shyness, bossiness, fearful or
fearlessness, speed of eating her ration and so forth. This
is simple animal husbandry, an ancient and honorable
occupation we are pleased to carry forward.
Modern hog production places this activity in the purview
of a computer, which can measure feed eaten and left, speed
of eating, general condition of body, perhaps including body
temperature. The hog producer has been placed in front of
the computer. This arrangement allows one hog producer to
monitor the well-being of several hundred or even thousands
of sows without knowing very much at all about working
with sows. In fact, at this stage, the person watching the
computer is undoubtedly a company employee who works
for an ownership that very probably knows nothing at all
about pigs, having had no animal experience beyond feeding
the pet dog.
We can facilitate dignified work in animal husbandry
for our family because we can sell our pork products at a
small premium to people who care about how their food is
produced. And the fact that our family works as herds people
and not floorwalkers at the big box store or package sorters
at the package delivery service predisposes us to care for the
neighborhood and community. We, of all people, see how
very important it is. We know we need other farmers to help
us maintain vet services and feed mills, and people to mend
things we cannot, to help us keep our farm in repair, to teach
our children, to help us up when we stumble. We have by our
decisions elevated other matters to the level usually occupied
by economics alone in our American belief system: matters
such as the primacy of family, the importance of neighbors,
and the focus upon right livelihood. This is much to hang
upon the thin thread of a few hundred people who are willing
to pay a decent price for the pork they eat. So we know
also that we must work to spread this kind of opportunity,
to help make it available to more people, so that by building
community with others, we may help build a better world one
farm and business at a time.

Jim Van Der Pol grazes and direct-markets pork, chickens, and beef from
his farm near Kerkhoven, Minnesota. He is a regular contributor to Farming
Magazine.

Farming Magazine [ 11 ]
 Things That
Changed
“Panta Rei”
-Heraclitus
—Ulf Kintzel
I run into it often that, when asked for advice, somebody cites
what I wrote many years ago. At times, I realize that this is a
practice I no longer apply. “Panta Rei” — “Everything flows”
was a phrase a Greek philosopher coined, meaning that
everything is changing. In fact, the only constant is change.
White Clover Sheep Farm is changing and I am no exception.
At times, my views have evolved since then. New information
or new experiences led to that change. It is not a matter of
inconsistency. It is that I have learned since then. In some
cases, my farm is not the same anymore and I had to adjust.
In this article, I want to address some of the issues where my
outlook has evolved or changed.
Legumes. Over the course of the years I have tried
several different kinds of legumes. When we came to this
farm eleven years ago, the farm consisted in great part of hay
fields that had been harvested for many, many years without
any application of fertilizer for who knows how long. The
stands of grass were thin. I learned about frost-seeding. Red
clover had been grown in this area for many years, so much so
that wherever soil was disturbed while building our new home,
it started growing like a weed. There was such an enormous
seedbank. I used to joke if red clover were a noxious weed, I’d
soon be out of business. It also happened that my neighbor
was growing red clover for seed. I figured that probably
nothing will grow better here than something local. Besides,
the price was right. Red clover seed from seed companies was
[ 12 ] Farming Magazine
much higher priced. I gave it a try and frost-seeded my first
ten acres with red clover in early spring of 2008. I chose a field
with the thinnest stand of grass. By mid-August of that year
I had a stand of red clover that was unbelievably thick and
tall. Because it was so unbelievable, I used a picture of it for
this article. If I were to just describe it, you might not believe
me. Our kids, quite young back then, stood waist high in that
clover. Over the next few years, I continued frost-seeding
red clover, mostly with good success. Then my luck changed.
The seed would not make a good stand for a few subsequent
years. What happened? Initially, there were many bare spots in
between plants in these run-down hay fields, so the seed could
make good soil contact. I didn’t spend any money on fertilizer.
Why not? First of all, I didn’t have any. Buying this farm,
building a house and a barn, and moving here had exhausted
our financial means. Besides, in some regards I am a patient
man. I don’t expect change to come overnight. I figured if
I keep grazing these fields in a rotational system and feed
purchased hay outside in the fields during the winter, change
will come. My patience was tested because I didn’t see much
change at first. And then it came all at once. In year six and
seven, the level of production went through the proverbial
roof. The stands of pasture thickened and it looked “fatter.”
(The latter would be a direct translation from the German
term “fette Weide”). It also meant that my red clover had less
and less of a chance to make soil contact. So much so that
With few exceptions, a daily rotation is standard at
White Clover Sheep Farm.
the two bags of fall. In the field
red clover seed that I grazed,
intended for the bird’s-foot
frost-seeding in trefoil started
the spring of d i s a p p e a r i n g.
2017 are still lying Now, years later,
in my basement. there is next to no
There is more bird’s-foot trefoil
to this story. At and hasn’t been
some point in the for a few years.
early years at this During a pasture
farm, I started walk some years
frost-seeding ago, a sheep
white clover farmer who had
as well. I first experimented
balked at the idea, with it said, “I
looking at the can’t keep it
price tag of white around.” The
clover seed until phrase stuck with
it was pointed out me. So much so
to me that there that I am using
is almost three My first time frost-seeding red clover. Can you believe it? it myself these
times as much The Kintzel children: Johann, Sarah, and Lech. days. I haven’t
seed in a pound of looked at prices
white clover compared to a pound of red clover. Now it made for seed lately but I remember it going up in price a lot,
economic sense frost-seeding white clover. I could establish which also made it prohibitive. The field that gets hayed is a
a good stand of white clover with just two to three pounds better story. The bird’s-foot trefoil stayed and expanded by re-
of seed per acre. The upside of white clover is that, once you seeding itself. When it blooms, these 13 acres are as yellow as
have a stand of it, it is here to stay if managed properly. It is a a field of sunflowers. (Note: slight exaggeration by the writer
perennial and it reseeds itself easily, especially when properly for effect).
rotationally grazed. Red clover on the other hand is a biennial, Just to make the outline complete, I should also mention
but you only have a really good stand the first year after it was that I dabbled a little in Kura Clover. But I won’t waste much
seeded. So, was I wrong in promoting red clover? Absolutely ink on it. I ended up having few plants around the barn, so
not. Today I still highly, highly, highly recommend seeding it I know how it looks but that’s all the wisdom I gained from
to every new farmer who tells me that their pasture is lacking, a rather expensive bag of seed. Sometimes you have to try
that they don’t have much money to spend since they just something in life to find out that this is not what you want.
started, and that they need improvement fast. Very often, I On a long list of mine that says: “I will not do this ever again,”
am asked if they should lime or fertilize or what to do. My you will find Kura Clover under K.
standard answer is two-fold: frost-seed red clover and then So, what I am left with as a legume is my white clover.
feed purchased hay outside in ever-changing places during Whether it is the variety Alice, Huia, Ladino, Kopu 2 (my
the winter. Red clover beefs up your pasture the same year favorite), or a New Zealand white clover that says VNS (variety
it was seeded (white clover takes two years before you have not stated)—all work great. This kind of works out well for
a good stand), you build organic matter, and you have lots to me because the name of our farm carries this legume’s name.
graze. The hay you have to purchase anyway and a very high Pasture rotation. In a past article, I mentioned that my
percentage of its nutrients will stay in the pasture after being goal is trying to get as close as possible to a one or two-day
consumed by the sheep. In addition, red clover still grows well rotation while my rotation was often between three and five
if your soil pH is rather low; white clover does not. days long. At the time, I was exclusively using electric nettings
I also tried bird’s-foot trefoil in various places. I liked for my rotational grazing. While I consider them fairly safe
the idea of it being none-bloating to sheep. I had to re-seed and much prefer them over any other electrical fence, it is
a pumpkin field and an abandoned rented field that hadn’t also very time consuming and didn’t really allow for a daily
been in production for years with nothing to show but weeds. rotation. That was then. This is now: I have since invested
Each field is about 13 acres. One of the legumes I chose for in a woven wire perimeter fence. The entire farm is fenced
these two fields was bird’s-foot trefoil. It grew well at first in that way. I also have one large paddock fenced that way that I
both fields. I was pleased. One field was grazed; the other was call my vacation pasture and another smaller paddock for my
used primarily for hay and only grazed early spring and late rams. Above the woven wire is one strand of wire, which is

Farming Magazine [ 13 ]
 electrified with a six-Joule plug-in unit in the White clover, my favorite legume. words back. I used to have a pasture rotation
barn. This energizer replaced my many portable that went that long and in some cases even well
and battery-powered energizer units. In addition, a remote beyond 50 days in the summer. Back then I was establishing
control allows me to turn my energizer off and on anywhere pasture here at the farm and for that sake it was a good thing.
on the farm. My interior fencing remains electric nettings, However, I also truly thought more days of rest is always
which I can electrify by connecting them with a Powerlink better. Then I noticed a decrease in quality when the rotation
to the strand of wire on top of the woven wire. I gained a went beyond 50 days and therefore intake dropped and lots
tremendous amount of safety and security with this woven of old grass was left standing. I hear the argument often that
wire fence. Coyotes and straying dogs are rarely a concern. nothing is wasted and anything left in the pasture goes back to
What I also gained was time, so much so that I started making building organic matter. While that may be true, it would have
grazing cells smaller and smaller until I ended up with a daily been a greater benefit to my farm, my soils, and my bottom
rotation. While there are a few exceptions to my daily rotation, line had it gone in part through my sheep first instead of all
it is now pretty much the rule. I noticed a few benefits of it. being left as residual. About five years ago, I contacted Jim
First, the grazing is more even, more uniform. Secondly, the Gerrish with some questions about it and he, always the man
manure distribution is more uniform. And last but not least, with empirical evidence in his many tables, diagrams, and
intake seems to have increased. In most cases, I rotate in the charts, confirmed that the quality of pasture does go down
morning to avoid having the sheep bed on fresh pasture as when the rest exceeds roughly six weeks. In recent years, my
they would if I were to rotate in the afternoon or evening. summer rotation has been more in the five to six-week period,
What are exceptions to my daily rotation schedule? During or 35 to 42 days. In the spring, it is notably shorter since grass
breeding season I have three and sometimes four groups of will grow ahead and become unpalatable if I don’t rotate on
sheep and goats. They don’t all get rotated once a day but may a three-week schedule. Summer slows the rotation down, as it
stay a few days in the same pasture. My rams have a paddock should. In late summer and early fall some pasture will see an
which I subdivide at times, but for practical reasons I don’t even longer rotation for the sake of stock-piling.
rotate a few rams and bucks and some ram lambs that are for What else did I learn over the past ten plus years? I
sale on a daily basis. learned that it is perfectly all right to occasionally break a rule
What I still don’t do is a twice-a-day rotation. I don’t see of grass-farming or cut a corner. If you otherwise abide by
myself attempting it. Since I am not milking cows, I still don’t the basic rules of it, you will find that pasture is unbelievably
see the benefits or the practicality of it. forgiving and will bounce back. The rules of grass-farming
Pasture rest periods. In a recent interview by Grass Fed are no dogma.
Life http://www.permaculturevoices.com/grass-fed-life/ , to
be found on the Internet http://www.permaculturevoices. Ulf owns and operates White Clover Sheep Farm and breeds and raises grass-
com/30-years-of-truly-pastured-raised-lambs-with-ulf- fed White Dorper sheep and Kiko goats without any grain feeding and offers
kintzel-of-white-clover-sheep-farm-gfl55x/, I was asked how breeding stock suitable for grazing. He is a native of Germany and lives in the
US since 1995. He farms in the Finger Lakes area in upstate New York. His
long my rest periods are. Scrambling for a quick answer since website address is www.whitecloversheepfarm.com. He can be reached by e-mail at
I had not known any questions before the interview, I stated a ulf@whitecloversheepfarm.com or by phone at 585-554-3313.
number of days in the high 40s to low 50s. I’d like to have my

[ 14 ] Farming Magazine
Farming Magazine [ 15 ]
 Photos by Author
Making a Protein Tub Brooder
for Starting Chicks —Glenda Plozay

F or years we started chicks under hanging heat lamps. The electric bill reflected the inefficiency, especially since Murphy’s
Law of Farming states that, “The minute your chicks arrive in the spring so will a cold front.”
It’s important to have more than one protein tub brooder because if the light in one of them burns out there’s another
warm area for the chicks. Each protein tub comfortably houses 10 chicks.

Tools:
• Black permanent marker
• sharp knife, jig saw, or drill with 4” hole saw
Supplies:
• 2 recycled protein tubs or two muck buckets
• 2 brooder light fixtures with wire lamp guard
• Lightweight chain
• 2 100-watt incandescent bulbs or low-wattage
heat lamps (1 for each bucket)
• Pine shavings
Instructions:
Wash the protein tub or muck bucket.
Flip the protein tub over and trace the outline of the
brooder light in the center of the bucket’s bottom.
Use a sharp knife or jig saw to cut along the outline. Cut
the opening slightly smaller than the outline so the brooder
light sits securely on top of the bucket.
Next use a jig saw or drill fitted with a 4” hole saw to
cut 3 openings, evenly spaced, around the outer edge (which
will become the chick’s access to the brooder). Cut the holes
an inch above the lip of the protein tub. It’s important to cut
more than one entrance to prevent crowding at the opening.
Multiple entrances also improve ventilation.
Flip the protein tub over. Hang the brooder lamp from a
lightweight chain. The chain is for safety; it prevents the lamp
from falling inside the brooder. The brooder lamp should fit
snugly on top of the protein tub with the lamp and wire guard
sitting inside.
Use a 100-watt incandescent bulb or a low-wattage
heat lamp in the fixture. Do not use a compact fluorescent
or LED light—they do not generate heat. Never use a high
wattage heat lamp and never use a heat lamp with straw!

[ 16 ] Farming Magazine
 Spread pine shavings throughout the brooder area, both inside
and outside the protein tub, to a thickness of 3 inches. Nestle the
buckets into the shavings so the chicks can easily enter and exit
the protein tub brooder.
Place feed and water outside the protein tub brooder.
The chicks will eat and drink freely and go inside the
bucket when they need to warm up.
Before your chicks arrive, turn on the lights so
that it’s a comfortable temperature; 95 degrees the first
week, reduced by five degrees each week following.
Reducing the temperature is as easy as changing the
bulb; a 100-watt bulb (or low-wattage heat lamp
depending on the temperature) the first week or two.
Change to a 75-watt bulb as the outside temperature
warms up. Use brooder lamps until the chicks feather
out and the outside temperature is comfortable.
Making a protein tub brooder is an efficient way to
keep your chicks warm and healthy. This type of brooder
is economical and easy to make. A protein tub brooder will
last for years.

Glenda and her

husband rotationally graze cattle, sheep, pigs,
and poultry on their certified organic farm in
northeastern Iowa. Their most important crop
was raising two fine young men. For more
information visit ForestHillFarm.com

Warm and comfortable inside the brooder.

A great use for recycling protein tubs.

Chicks enjoying the warmth of the brooder.

The protein tub is a perfect first home.

Farming Magazine [ 17 ]
 YEAR-END
REFLECTIONS —Raymond Mast

A
martins are very
smart, and with
s we near these jug houses
the end of the having doorways
year I think back on floor level, they
and reflect on build a dam or
what I learned mud wall across the
this year. opening, much like
Farming is an a robin’s nest, with
ever-lear ning the eggs in a nest
experience. behind the wall.
Some memories The nests
are pleasant in gourds with a
and some are higher entrance use
painful. Our no mud, only grass
farm is called and leaves. Also in
Birdsong Dairy the heat of summer
and not totally they carry in fresh
without reason. green leaves to keep
We have quite a the young cooler.
few meadowlark I’m not sure how
nests in the many young ones
pasture in the fledged, but we had
summer and I always mark the spot with a step-in post so I in the thirty or more flying around toward fall. I’m saving all
don’t hit the nest with the hay mower. Also we have bluebird my jugs and also got eight more gourds for next spring.
houses around the yard, always with hinged roofs so the Next is my most painful memory of my farming year
children can see the eggs and little birds. and how I lost our favorite cow, Midget. She was the gentlest,
We wished to attract purple martins too, so at an auction prettiest, sweetest little Jersey I expect I will ever own. We
I got five gourds for $6.00 each, plus an old antenna tower were grazing lush clover in May and she was dry but bagged
at the junkyard. In April we got the gourds put up and soon up really big. She waddled when she walked. Now she wasn’t
had six pairs of martins. They all wanted the gourds and I a big cow; she stood 47 inches high and her udder was 23
wondered if an empty bleach jug wouldwork. I knew they like inches long and 16 inches wide. I had heard Dr. Paul talk
the horizontal jugs best so I cut the cap off, laid the jug on about farmers milking cows like that before they calved. He
the side, fastened a hanging wire and put it up. They would said, “Yes, milk her, but give her some Downer boluses too.”
not enter. I then took this same jug and cut a slit from the I didn’t have any on hand and our supplier was sold out but
top to the bottom on the side away from the handle. At the had more ordered. My brother-in-law had some, but I didn’t
bottom I cut 1½” each way away from the upright cut. Next go check until it was too late.
I bent the plastic out and slid a 2¾” wide board into this cut, I didn’t realize how important this calcium is. I have
leaving it 2” longer than the height of the jug. With the stapler treated a lot of cows for milk fever, even for neighbors, and I
I stapled the board in place, leaving an opening where the cap was overconfident. The first time we milked Midget she gave
was cut off, about 1” high and the width of the board. I hung 56 pounds in one milking. She was in mint condition coming
the jug up again with this new board now making a floor in with the fourth calf.
the house. The end sticking out makes a porch for the birds A few days later I took the cows out to pasture one
to sit on. They loved it. morning and noticed there’s something wrong because she
Soon we had a seventh pair show up, so I made a four- was usually our lead cow. Most of the time she had her head
hole house and hung it up. It took days for them to get used right behind you in the gate, but this morning she was the last
to it, but then they started carrying in grass. Then, as I had in the herd. I went over to brother Roman’s and sure enough
another empty jug, I made another jug house. They promptly he had some Downer boluses. I came back about two hours
left the wooden house and nested in the jug house. Purple later and Midget was down on her side, bloated and weak.
[ 18 ] Farming Magazine
I helped her roll up in a right position again, but it was too and I see honeybees working the flowers all the time.
late. When she bloated it pushed stomach fluids up into her So I’m thinking about getting my own bees, but I’m very
mouth and she inhaled this fluid into her lungs and that is ignorant on the subject of bees. We like honey and honey is
deadly. I gave her calcium and she got up, but she died that expensive. If I had bees they could make honey out of the
evening without going into labor. I shed a few tears. Lydia was flowers I already have out there. Reason enough to get bees.
with me and I said, “If ever a cow deserved to go to heaven God bless all you down-to-earth farmers.
it was her.” Lydia replied, “That’s just what I was thinking.”
I would have been willing to take a hard beating if I Raymond and Lydia Mast and their family operate an organic dairy farm near
could have done that week over. I know she was just a cow, Rocky Comfort, Missouri.
but still… Her daughter Melody is milking well but lacks the
personality of Midget.
I talked to Dr. Paul afterwards and he said, “You’ve
got to use those Downer boluses religiously in those high-
producing cows.” I’m a believer now, that’s for sure.
We had mostly spring calving so we bought six springing
heifers in August that calved this fall and really did well in
production. My target is to freshen about half of the herd in
March and half in September from here on.
One day this fall I took some bales out to pasture in the
feeder wagon and the cows were standing in the walnut grove
chewing their cuds and just being lazy. Maybe it was a bit
too sunny for their comfort. Anyway, I called them and they
didn’t want to leave the shade. I wanted them to come eat. I
was in the back field with the cows between me and the barn.
I said to Prince, our collie-mix cow dog, “Go bring them.”
Prince just looked around, seemingly confused. I told him a
few more times and he just looked around. I thought, “Well,
this is strange.” So I said, “Chase them back.” Promptly he
went down around the herd and brought them back to the
field where I was. I realized a dog’s thinking is different from
mine, he only understands a command by what we do with
that command. “Go bring them” to Prince means “Gather in
the cows in the holding barn to be milked.” Here I had used
that command in the middle of the day with the gate shut
between the cows and the barn. I often marvel at Prince’s
ability to move a herd of cows. He saves us a lot of steps and
is our protector from the bull.
Last spring in March I broadcast medium red clover seed
and didn’t see much growth from it. Then in October we got
some good rains and I noticed a pretty good stand of red
clover in places.
We had a nice fall and good grazing. We have a lot of
white clover, which blooms from April through November

Farming Magazine [ 19 ]
[ 20 ] Farming Magazine
 I Like Pigs

—Daniel Olson

I
their pen, gave them straw and water, and then one day we
looked out at the cows in the pasture and noticed that they
like pigs. Or, at least the idea of pigs. I like little pigs. I
were agitated. Milling around, sometimes running in circles,
like mother pigs. I like grazing pigs when they stay in their
and then we saw him. It was our lost pig and he was trying
fence. I like eating pigs. But some days pigs will make you
to nurse off the cows. They weren’t impressed and he was
question your sanity and wonder whether all your decisions in
determined. When we went to get the cows in for milking he
life are as suspect as your decision to propagate pork.
came back the lane with the cows until he got to the barnyard
Our farm had been relatively peaceful and pigless for
and then jumped into the corn field.
about a year when we ran into a friend [I use this term
This repeated itself for a few days until I came up with a
loosely] in town who said he had a batch of feeder pigs he
plan. They say that the part of the brain that humans use to
was trying to get rid of, and because we have short, selective,
make rational decisions is called the pre-frontal cortex. They
and intermittent memories we told him we would take them.
also say that it isn’t fully developed until you reach the age of
On the day we went to get the pigs the owner conveniently
25 or so. This explains a lot of the stuff teenagers do and it
had to work and so he graciously told us we could find them
explains why I thought my plan was a good idea.
in his barn and load them ourselves. The pigs had spent
My dad went out to get the cows while I hid in the tall
their first 2 months of life in an old stall-barn and had the
grass along the lane. The unsuspecting pig came up the lane
complete run of the whole barn, apparently with no human
towards me because, while he was athletic and opportunistic,
interaction. These were not ordinary pigs. They were athletic,
he was not well versed in primitive warfare tactics and
slippery swine. They scaled walls, hurdled gutters, and
ambush. I guess neither was I, because somehow I thought
squealed and squeezed through places they shouldn’t have
jumping on a 4-month-old crazed pig was clever. But he kept
been able to squeeze through. They were less like Wilbur and
coming closer and looking over his shoulder at my dad and
more like a herd of swine that would stampede into the sea
when he got about 10 feet away… I sprang. It was exciting for
and all the time we flailed and fell and flopped majorly in our
a half minute or so as he squealed and shrieked and writhed
effort to catch even one feeder pig.
and bit, and all the while I clung on like a sailor to a slippery
We gave up and the next day the farmer called to tell us
mast on a tossing deck. Then my dad was there and on top
that he had tricked them into going into an old milk house
of the pig as well and then… the pig just quit. He gave up
and the whole herd was trapped in this place. This made
and lay still and didn’t cause any more problems as we loaded
the job of loading much easier and we got all but one that
him up and brought him back to the farm to be reunited with
managed to escape.
his siblings.
We had built a sturdy pen out of gates and fenceposts
It was then that we got one more surprise and a lesson
back at the farm and backed up to the opening with our
from our elusive porker. He was the largest pig in the
trailer. When we opened the door, a pile of pork came
pen. The others that we had labored over and confined to
pouring out of the door and into the pen and one sneaky
their nice little pen had not grown as fast as the pig who
piglet saw an opening and slithered out under the trailer and
had freedom and fun. I’ve thought about that since as we
into the yard. He didn’t stay in the yard. He had been training
periodically succumb to the seduction of swine. We still like
for this day his whole life and now in freedom he dashed into
to keep our pigs somewhat confined, and we don’t just let
the adjoining cornfield and never looked back. I think it was
them run in the cornfield. But maybe we should.
late July because the corn was pollinated but very green and
tall and we had no chance of catching him. Daniel Olson milks cows, sells seeds, and direct-markets from his farm near
A few months passed as we tended the remaining Lena, Wisconsin.
pigs. We hauled them milk and grain and slop. We cleaned

Farming Magazine [ 21 ]
 Choosing Perfect Fruit
Trees for Your Home
W
—Mary Lou Shaw
inter is a wonderful time to curl up with a catalog
featuring fruit trees and imagine yourself raising your own
apples, plums, peaches or cherries. In only two to five years,
your investment of time and money will reap delicious,
chemical-free fruit. Each new tree may cost between $30 and
$40, but it can contribute to your health and enjoyment for a
lifetime. Begin this winter by deciding which fruit trees you
will plant.
If you don’t have a catalog, give Stark Bro’s a call at
800.325.4180 or Schlabach’s Nursery at 1.866.600.5203 for
a free one. You can buy fruit trees wherever you like, but it’s
a great education—and also fun—to have a catalog during
these cold days to help imagine your new trees.
To choose the trees that will be best for you, do a bit
of daydreaming to figure out what you’ll enjoy in the long-
term. First of all, what fruits do you relish?—apples, cherries,
peaches, pears, plums, nectarines? Living where there’s frost
[ 22 ] Farming Magazine
may mean we have to forgo bananas and citrus fruit (though
we’ll talk about that in a later article!), but we still have a great
assortment of fruit trees to choose from.
After deciding what fruits are your favorites, it’s time to
figure out which variety of each fruit would be best for your
home. If you have in mind what you want to do with the fruit,
it’s easier to choose a variety from its catalog description. Do
you envision canning or freezing your precious harvest for
winter consumption? Or perhaps your mouth is watering for
a slice of warm cherry pie? What about drying your own fruit
for nutritious, chemical-free snacks? Does pressing apples for
cider sound like a fun autumn activity?
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with just eating fruit
right off the tree. Imagine plucking a fully-ripe peach, soft
enough to barely indent with your thumb. When you take a
bite and have its warm, sweet-tart juice fill your mouth, your
efforts will have been rewarded!
After matching specific fruits and then varieties to your
likes and needs, it’s time to explore what fruit trees are practical
for you to plant. That includes bearing well.
choosing varieties that will grow It is important that you
well in your geological location, buy your fruit trees from a
how much room you have and knowledgeable source. You want
what varieties are available to you. the right fruit trees that are in
Hardiness Zone is the term excellent condition for a healthy
used to tell what plants can grow in start and long-term success.
your area based on average minimal You may live with your trees for
winter temperatures. For example, decades, so your original choices
Ohio is now almost entirely zone are important.
6. Catalogs or online sites will then Purchased trees that have
tell you which varieties of fruit been in a pot or burlap container
trees will thrive in your hardiness for over a year will be root-
zone. bound and slow to start growing.
The potential size of a tree makes a difference as to what Therefore, resist the convenience of buying potted fruit trees
will “fit” at your home. The height a tree grows to—dwarf, from a chain store. A bare-root tree from a reputable nursery
semi-dwarf or standard—depends on its rootstock, but also will grow faster and have a better chance of success. I have no
how you prune it. All sizes of trees grow full-size fruit and local fruit tree nursery but have had decades of success from
most will produce fruit in two to five years from when you Stark Bro’s. If you live by a smaller nursery that sells healthy,
plant it. bare-root trees with known root stalk, you certainly want to
If a small, front yard is the only potential site for your support them.
fruit tree, plant a dwarf tree. You will be the envy of your Planting and caring for fruit trees requires so little effort
neighbors by keeping it pruned to a beautiful “vase-shape” compared to the decades of pleasure and fruit they provide.
or a space-saving “central leader” tree. Fruit tree pruning was In Farming Magazine’s next issue, I’ll discuss how to plant and
described in Farming Magazine’s last spring edition. care for your new fruit trees.
If your backyard could use some shade, then plant a
semi-dwarf or standard fruit tree. If you have a lawn, plant Mary Lou Shaw is a retired physician and now homesteads with her husband in
several trees and have an orchard instead! Caring for fruit trees Ohio. Buy Mary Lou’s book, Growing Local Food, through Carlisle Press
is a great alternative to mowing grass; you’ll be investing in at 800-852-4482.
your own health and providing habitat for wildlife.
Your next choice is between heirloom and disease-
resistant fruit trees. Some believe that growing disease-
resistant varieties is necessary to grow beautiful fruit without
chemicals. After growing both heirloom and disease-resistant
fruit trees, I’ve found that both can result in healthy trees and
beautiful fruit when we use the holistic methods described in
Farming Magazine’s last autumn edition.
The down-side of the newer cultivars is that they may
be bred for other qualities than flavor. It’s tough to beat the
taste of heirloom apples like Granny Smith, Golden Delicious,
and Cortland. Newer varieties of fruit trees are bred for
disease-resistance, but also for other characteristics we home
orchardists don’t value—like having fruit that ships well. For
example, peaches have been bred to turn pink and look ripe
for shipping before being fully ripe. This doesn’t contribute
to their taste and makes it more difficult to know when our
backyard peaches are fully ripe.
Finally, be aware if your fruit tree needs another tree for
pollination. Not all fruit trees do, but as someone who has
waited seven years for our first pear, I wish we realized sooner
that it needed a pollinator tree!
Apple trees often need specific pollinator trees too, but
interestingly, crab apples will pollinate most other apple trees.
If you don’t have a specific pollinator for your apple tree,
plant a crab apple tree within 100 feet or graft a branch from
a crab apple tree to your tree. This will keep your apple trees

Farming Magazine [ 23 ]
 New Products

Tine Weeder
The organic farming movement is rapidly gaining strongholds
in the horse farming communities throughout the
Midwest. Weed control is a major challenge for organic
farmers – especially when growing row crops like corn and
soybeans. The New Pioneer Tine W e e d e r
is in response to many farmers
desperately seeking a solution
for weeding between
the plants
without
damaging
the crop.
Save time General Operating Instructions:
in the The Pioneer Tine Weeder is designed to destroy
field by weeds before they develop and take root. It will not
weeding four remove established weeds, therefore it is important
rows of corn to follow the general operating instructions provided
with a single pass. with the Pioneer Tine Weeder.
The simple two-wheel
design is easy to operate
and can be pulled by two Pass 1: Weed your corn 4 days after planting. This destroys
draft horses. any germination that has happened since planting. It will also
loosen the soil above your seeds that have been pressed in by
Features: the planter wheel, improving good seed to soil contact.
• No need for precision driving
• Eliminates weeds in the corn row Pass 2: Weed your corn once it develops 4 leaves. Your corn
• One piece unit for better hillside control will be mature enough to resist the tines. This is approximately
• Tines disturb nearly 100% of the soil they pass over 10-14 days after the first pass.
• Cover 4 rows with one pass Pass 3: Weed your corn every 10 to 14 days. Your goal is to
• Spring assisted manual lift, no need for hydraulics destroy any new weed germination in the field. Remember it
• Sized for two draft horses is easier to prevent than to remove.
• Prevents hilling effect on row crops for smoother travel
when driving across fields Too wet to get in the field?
Specifications: Yes, weather can affect the schedule, and you will need to
• Two sections for better flexibility watch your soil conditions and weed development. However,
• 110 tines per unit if your horses don’t slip in the mud, your tine weeder can
• 144” working width covers 4 rows spaced from 28” to 36” work, especially once your corn is established.
• Total weight = 975lbs.
Pioneer Equipment • 888.857.6340

[ 24 ] Farming Magazine
 Newsworthy
From TIME Health—The organic food industry is a booming which are produced without antibiotics—“are intrinsically
business, and with the recent sale of natural-foods giant safer in this respect.” Organic meat and dairy also cannot
Whole Foods to Amazon, it’s expected to grow even larger in contain synthetic hormones, which have been linked to an
the near future. While some consumers buy organic because increased risk of cancer.
they believe it’s better for the environment, even more do so
for health-related reasons, according to one 2016 survey. The bottom line
What, exactly, are the health benefits of going organic? Organic products are more expensive than conventional ones,
That depends on whom you ask and which studies you and whether they’re really worth the extra cost is certainly
consult. But if you do choose to buy organic foods, here are a matter of choice. “If you can afford all organic, that’s
some science-backed bonuses you’re likely to get in return. fantastic, but it’s not feasible for most people,” says registered
dietitian Cynthia Sass. “If it’s not, the most important groups
Fewer pesticides and heavy metals to buy organic, in my opinion, include foods you eat daily
Fruits, vegetables, and grains labeled organic are grown as well as any produce on the Dirty Dozen list—those with
without the use of most synthetic pesticides or artificial the highest pesticide residues.” If people eat eggs, dairy, and
fertilizers. While such chemicals have been deemed safe in the meat, she also recommends buying those organic.
quantities used for conventional farming, health experts still
warn about the potential harm of repeated exposure.
A 2014 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Nutrition
found that organically grown crops were not only less likely
to contain detectable levels of pesticides, but because of
differences in fertilization techniques, they were also 48% less
likely to test positive for cadmium, a toxic heavy metal that
accumulates in the liver and kidneys.

More healthy fats

When it comes to meat and milk, organic products can have
about 50% more omega-3 fatty acids, a type of unsaturated
healthy fat, than conventionally produced products, according
to a 2016 study in the British Journal of Nutrition. Organic
milk tested in the study also had less saturated fat than non-
organic.
These differences may come from the way organic
livestock is raised, with a grass-fed diet and more time
spent outdoors, say the study’s authors. They believe that
switching from conventional to organic products would raise
consumers’ omega-3 intake without increasing overall calories
or saturated fat.

No antibiotics or synthetic hormones

Conventional livestock can be fed antibiotics to protect
against illness, making it easier for farmers to raise animals
in crowded or unsanitary conditions. The FDA limited the
use of certain antibiotics for livestock earlier this year, but
loopholes in the legislation still exist. And with the exception
of poultry, conventionally raised animals can also be injected
with synthetic growth hormones, so they’ll gain weight faster
or produce more milk.
But traces of these substances can make their way to
consumers, says Rolf Halden, professor and director of the
Biodesign Center for Environmental Security at Arizona
State University. Drug residue is believed to contribute to
widespread antibiotic resistance, he says, and organic foods—

Farming Magazine [ 25 ]
 Bingen was born late in the 19th century. Conformation-wise he resembles nothing that’s alive
today so much as he resembles a purebred Cleveland Bay stallion.

(Un) Soundness in Horses

—David Bontrager

R
of Chester, who was working for him on contract that year.
“William! William! The mare’s foaled! I can see both of them
ecently a neighbor told me his son is now using the fourth buggy over there on the knoll yonder under the oaks. Come on!”
horse in less than eight months’ time. The horses simply don’t stay sound. and farmer Seeley and his Dutch American farmhand, who
In his own words, “One can keep buying supposedly good driving horses, had been doing barn chores and had come running when his
then selling them as culls for only so long. We take absolutely the best employer called, started running across the pasture to inspect
possible care, and they still go lame. What is a person to do?”
the new arrival.
This is a lament that is heard more and more these days. And
Motherhood was nothing new to Seeley’s matron, this
here is what I believe has happened—but first let me tell you a story.
being her fifth foal in seven years. She stood quietly under
A true story. You may find more details of the story in various harness
the oaks as her owner and his helper came panting up to
horse history books if you wish to do so. For this article I’ll condense
her. As for the foal, even though he was on his feet it could
it as much as possible, yet trying to let several self-evident truths shine
not have been for long, as he was still very awkward at using
through. Here it is.
them. It did not take much effort to catch him, and Rysdyk,
with his arm around the little fellow’s neck, held him while
his owner looked him over, felt his limbs, and took stock of
In May 5, 1849, farmer Jonas Seeley of the village of
his anatomy. At first he struggled to escape, but finding that
Sugar Loaf, Orange County, N.Y., standing in his barn door,
it was useless, quietly submitted to his captors.
shaded his eyes to gaze over his pasture lot which sloped
“It’s the colt you wanted,” said Rysdyk.
away from the road leading to Chester. For several days he
“Yes,” replied his employer, “she’s had two fillies by
had been expecting his Bellfounder mare that was turned
Abdallah in the last three years, and a colt was what I was after
out there to deliver a foal. She was 17 years old, with one hip
this time. And what’s more, he’s the best foal she’s ever had, if
down, and on just that account he was anxious to be on hand
I’m any judge. Don’t you agree with me, William?”
when her time came, lest she should fall, hurt herself or her
Rysdyk motioned to Jonas Seeley to come and hold the
baby, and perchance be unable to mother it as she should.
youngster while he backed off and sized him up. He took
About a quarter of a mile back from the road was a knoll
some time to do so. Finally, with a deep breath, Rysdyk
upon which stood a clump of three oak trees. And as Jonas
answered, emphasizing every word deliberately as he spoke it.
Seeley’s sharp eyes scanned it, he caught sight of the mare—
“Mr. Seeley, that’s the best colt that was ever born in
and not only her but a small figure that was standing beside
Orange County! Just look at him! He’s only just been born,
her! Jonas called to his hired man, sturdy William Rysdyk
but he’s a little stud horse already.”

[ 26 ] Farming Magazine
 It was a case of love at first sight, that of William M.
Rysdyk for the Abdallah colt out of the Bellfounder mare.
He seemed obsessed by it, and watched and fussed over it
and its dam with a solicitude that was as touching as it was
strange in a hardheaded, tight-fisted farmhand of Dutch
descent, in whose nature anything like sentiment had seemed
so deeply buried that its coming to the surface in this manner
astonished everybody acquainted with him.
The Seeleys were noted horse breeders in Orange
County, with prospective horse buyers visiting the farm most
days throughout the summer. The thought that someone
might end up buying the young Abdallah colt was almost
more than William Rysdyk coud endure. At last he could bear
it no longer. Taking a favorable opportunity, he broached the
subject to Jonas Seeley and asked him what he would sell him
the colt for.
But Seeley was unwilling to sell the colt unless the buyer
took the mare as well. The Bellfounder mare was 17 years
old. She was a cripple with one hip down, and he figured it
would be good business to get rid of her and replace her with
something younger.
His heart beating a bit harder than usual, Rysdyk asked
what this price would be. His assets were scanty, and to pay
anything above the run-of-mill Orange County farmer’s
prices was out of the question.
Jonas Seeley was willing to sell the mare and foal to
Rysdyk for $150. “I know how much the colt means to you,
William. Else I’d sell him to someone else for more.”
A hundred and fifty dollars! Rysdyk’s heart sank. He
could never raise that much money. It was simply impossible.
He had figured it out in advance. If no better terms could be
made, he would give Jonas Seeley $100 for the colt, which, as
Orange County sucklings—good ones too—went in 1849,
was a stiff price. And to do that would strain his resources.
He had nothing to invest in this miniature piece of horseflesh
that had so taken possession of him but the scant savings
of his hard manual labor as a farmhand, delved from the
rocky soils of Orange County. Desperately he began to try
for something better. He was a man of few words at best,
and they were as rugged and uncouth as himself. But all the
powers of persuasion he possessed he now employed in his
plea for a better deal than what had been offered.
Now Jonas Seeley had not been an upstate New York
buyer and seller of horses all his life since he was in knee
breeches to no purpose. He was prepared for this. He was
also prepared to “come down” a bit if necessary. Besides, he
really did want Rysdyk to have the colt, for he understood the
passion which had come to possess his hired hand. But at the
same time, he was willing to go only so far, for he too was
a hard-bitten product of this rocky farming region. And the
colt was a rare good one, and he knew it. Still, it was no easy
task to sell a seventeen-year-old mare that was crippled in the
bargain. So at length he said:
“Well, William, here’s what I’ll do and it’s the best I will
do. You can have the mare and colt for $125. And that’s
positively rock bottom. And don’t try to get me to throw
off many more, because I won’t. I’m only doing it because I
know what the colt means to you. You have told me yourself
a hundred times that he’s the best foal in Orange County. If
that’s so, $125 for him, with his mother thrown in, makes
him just about the cheapest one as well. Don’t you think so?”
Rysdyk had mentally prepared himself to give $100 for
the colt—if he absolutely had to. Now the colt was within his
reach if he could somehow raise an additional $25. He knew
his employer well enough to know that the $125 was final. To
him the crisis presented was no less great than that of some
leviathan of finance faced with a demand for another ten
million in order to effect a momentous merger. He hesitated a
moment, then said. “Mr. Seeley, give me time to think it over.
Will it be all right if I let you know tomorrow morning?”
“All right, William,” was the answer. “We’ll let it rest at
that.”
It was nearly bedtime in the countryside, one of the
short October evenings when night came almost before
the sun had set, and there was a hint of frost in the crisp,
autumnal air. A few stars were already shining. So still was it
that the bark of a dog on a neighboring farm almost a mile
away could be distinctly heard when it broke the silence.
The would-be buyer walked slowly out across the rapidly
darkening farmyard until he reached the wood rail fence that
bounded the pasture lot where the colt and its dam were
turned out for the night. He rested his elbow upon the rough,
splintery surface of the top rail, and stood there, chin in hand,
to think out his problem.
Little did he imagine at the time how this evening’s walk
and the dilemma which had caused it, would always be a part
of himself, stamped forever, indelible in the images of his
mind. The fading light, the darkening shadows, and the soft
sounds of the mare and her foal moving as dark shadows
across the dark grasses in the pasture lot. An early moon
showed above the eastern woodlot and still he grappled with
his problem. For the hundredth time he went over ways and
means, where and how he could raise the money it would cost
him to keep the colt and its dam until one or the other would
bring something in. The mare would have another foal in the
spring, for one thing. He might be able to get something for
her in that way, or by selling her before long. But who would
want an eighteen-year-old brood mare that was crippled? As
for the colt—he would be a stunning yearling, and being by
Abdallah out of a Bellfounder mare, no one could buy a
better bred one. But here he came up short. Sell that colt?
Never!
His was not a fiery imagination, nor was his nature an
inflammable one—the opposite, rather. Stoical would have
better described him. But when he walked away from the
fence and started for bed, his mind was unalterably made up.
The next morning when he first encountered Mr. Seeley,
he opened the subject right away. “Well, Mr. Seeley, I’ve
Farming Magazine [ 27 ]
 thought it all over, and the mare and the colt are mine. I’ll
have to ask you to wait a bit for part of the money, but you
know me well enough, I think, to know that you’ll get the rest
in good time. That’s right, isn’t it?”
Jonas Seeley agreed, the two men shook hands—and so
passed from one man to another a colt who would make the
one man rich and famous, and the other man would always
be known as the one who had bred the colt that would
become the founding sire of the fastest and most numerous
light-harness horse breed the world has ever known—the
Standardbred. Nothing could have been more obscure, more
humble, more commonplace, more undeserving of chronicle
or comment than the sale that October morning of 1849,
by Jonas Seeley of an old and crippled brood mare with her
suckling foal to William M. Rysdyk, for $125.
The colt, which was eventually known as Rysdyk’s
Hambiltonian, developed a trot characterized by great length
of stride, with a fine roll of the knee forward and immense
power behind. He had what was described as a perfect mouth,
perfect manners in harness and out, and appeared to enjoy it
when allowed to extend himself at the trot. The impression
he gave, both to the man who was driving him and to the
observer, when at speed, was above all that of power. He was
likened to “a steam engine in harness.”
He demonstrated the capacity to beget foals of the
highest quality from the very outset and he was gifted with
[ 28 ] Farming Magazine
great powers of procreation. When he was 15 years old he
covered 217 mares for the season, which resulted in 148 foals
being born of him the following spring. Rysdyk received
many-fold his money back from the original investment. The
last ten years of his life the fee was $500. He lived to become
27 years old, covered a recorded 1908 mares, and begot a
recorded 1331 foals.
When he first began service, the world’s trotting record
stood at two minutes 28 seconds for a mile, yet 40 of his
offspring trotted at records of 2:30 or better. And the great
majority of his offspring were used only as road and driving
horses, never being trained or raced. One son, Descalion,
won a race in 2:22 when 16 years of age. Another took a
mark of 2:29 at the age of 15. Through a son, Abdallah 15,
Goldsmith Maid was produced. Goldsmith Maid lowered
the world’s trotting record seven times and matched her own
world’s record of 2:14 at the age of 19 in 1876. (Abdallah 15
himself died at what might have then have been considered a
young age of 13 years, a casualty of the Civil War.)
This golden period of speed combined with an inherent
soundness resulting in longevity brought on by Hambiltonian,
may have reached its peak early in the 20th century. It might
be considered to have been perfectly represented by a stallion,
an inbred descendant of Hambiltonian, named Bingen. This
Bingen—I’ll include a photograph of him—was born late in
the 19th century. As you can see in the photo, conformation-
wise he resembles nothing that’s alive today so much as he
resembles a purebred Cleveland Bay stallion. This type of
comformation would have rendered a 1:49-mile trot physically
impossible. But it did serve well enough in producing a 2:06-
mile trot, while maintaining absolute soundness for 20 years.
Some of those years had brought very tough conditions and
situations for the stallion. His description reads as follows:
my opinion. At least not directly. Instead I will close with a
question, a thought, and a quote. The quote comes from an
old British Thoroughbred man, John Loder. The implications
presented by it are vast and all-inclusive, as far as horse-
breeding goes.

Bingen was a whole-colored dark bay, of deep rich Question- Can we recapture the “golden age”?
mahogany shade verging toward seal-dappled and Thought—If we can, I think it will begin as it began in
with black points. He had no marks, being without 1849—with humble beginnings.
a white hair on his coat…he strongly resembled a
high-caste Thoroughbred stallion, being definitely The inference is that the qualities that go to make a successful
aristocratic…his proportions were those of the horse on the flat are different from those required for success over fences.
artist’s canon of the perfect equine form; he was Consequently, it is useless to compare them. If you wish to breed winners
precisely the same length and height, and the same on the flat, breed from lines of blood that are successful on the flat. If
height at both the withers and the rump…His you wish to breed steeplechase winners, breed from lines of blood that
bone was excellent, and his legs below the knee have produced other winners over fences. The type of horse that wins the
and hock, while not sharply fluted, were clean, Liverpool Grand National and the type that wins the Epsom Derby are
hard, and firm. His soundness was absolute all his quite separate and distinct. And, as I see it, the one is not necessarily
life long…etc. superior or inferior to the other. The two are simply not comparable.
~John Loder, 1947
The photo, along with this description makes a person
wonder if one of those unknown mares deep in his pedigree David Bontrager and his family have a dairy farm in LaGrange, Indiana.
was a pure Cleveland Bay. The only thing in the photo that David is a regular contributor to Farming Magazine.
wouldn’t fit exactly is the length of the ears. They appear to
have been just a tad short. But that defect could have come [If anyone shares David’s interest in the Cleveland Bay
from anywhere. Hambiltonian himself had short ears. The and Yorkshire Coach breeds, you can contact him at: 5195 W
neck might also have been just a bit shorter than that of a 100 N, Lagrange IN 46761 or Ph. 260.768.3241 x 1.]
classical Cleveland.
Anyway, Bingen’s dam, Young Miss, was put to breeding
when only two years old and lived to be 27. Bingen himself
was first caught in the field as a yearling, not even halter
broke, by a 12-year-old boy and trained by the same young lad
(Raymond Snedeker) who claimed in later years that the colt
appeared to have been broken the first time he was hitched.
The colt went on to break, or equal, or be a factor in
breaking half a dozen world records. At one point in his
career, within a period of three weeks, he trotted four races,
one of three heats, two each in five heats, and one of six
heats, all of them against the fastest and best horses of
the Grand Circuit. And, in between, he had been shipped
from Boston to Louisville, a distance of almost 1000 miles.
Needless to say, a 1000-mile journey in those days was no
picnic in the park. Even with steam-powered locomotives.
He died of an intestinal tract infection at the age of 20
years. He was never lame at any time, retired perfectly sound,
was so adjudged in the show ring repeatedly, and at the time
of his death his legs and feet were without a trace of blemish.
Perhaps as a grand finale to the “golden age” of speed,
soundness, and longevity, in 1945 his granddaughter, Emily
Ellen—2:09, died at the age of 38 years and was buried close
to the place where Bingen was buried in 1913.

That is the end of the story I wanted to tell before I

passed my opinion on the laments brought on by so many
unsound horses. But I have changed my mind. I won’t pass

Farming Magazine [ 29 ]
 2017 Organic
T he 2017 Organic Farming
Conference was held November Farming
10 & 11 at the new Event Center

Conference
in Mt. Hope, Ohio. The theme of
the conference was “The Value of
Community.” Local organic dairy
farmer, Jerry D. Miller, gave the
keynote talk and emphasized these
values from his personal experiences.
He stressed the importance of
building a strong community, being transparent with the
consumers, and keeping the next generation on the farm.
There were many other presenters and panel discussions
from honeybees to grass-based dairying (a panel that attracted
a lot of interest) to the “Organic Home.”
It was evident in the “Organic Home” section that there is a
lot of interest in organics, from the food we eat to frugal and
sustainable living. The gardening topics and demonstration
tables covering root cellaring, breads, kefirs, homemade soaps
and candles, organic fabrics in children’s clothing and diapers,
and others, were highly popular.
Many vendors covering a wide range of interests to “Family Garden” —presenter Karen Geiser
farmers, gardeners, homemakers were a big part of the success
of the conference.

“Grassmilk” Farmer Panel

Vendor Show

[ 30 ] Farming Magazine
 The Consolation
of Moonbeams
—Dave Schultz

A s we enter the dark days of winter it is well to remember there’s a radiantly silver lining to these months. This
has to do with the fact that while the moon keeps a low profile in summer, spending a relatively short time above the
horizon, she shines high overhead in winter, rising early and setting late. This to me is a marvelous manifestation of
the law of compensation: for on the summer solstice when the sun ascends to its apex, the moon is in a swoon—
while on the winter solstice when the sun dips to its lowest point, the moon reaches its apogee. Thus winter’s long
dark night has the most lunar light. And if this ageless celestial pendulum is perceived as illuminating the soul, you
can find in your own cycle of seasons a corresponding compensation: so that when you have your darkest days, you
will have the aid of the greatest moonlight. You just need to look for it.

Schultz lives on a farm near Creston, Ohio. He writes poetry & teaches English at Lorain Community College.

Farming Magazine [ 31 ]
 A Community
—Karen Geiser
Library
W
by patrons plus we want to add some natural cookbooks
to the assortment. We strive to choose books that contain
inter reading season is a welcome guest after a busy high quality information as well as reflect the values of our
fall harvest. Curling up with a good book and something community.
warm to drink by the wood burner on a blustery day is hard Library users are Amish and English, farmers and
to beat. What books are on your reading list this winter? In backyard gardeners, youth and retired folks and just plain
our Kidron, Ohio, neighborhood, many families are choosing curious people. Many families frequent this store and after
titles from the Small Farm Solutions library. Our Small purchasing their food, they stop by to return a book or two
Farm Solutions group is in its eighth year of hosting a late and check out some new ones. The workers at the store will
February event with topics on farming and homemaking. even sometimes grab a book to peruse over their lunch break.
Local businesses generously donate toward event expenses It was interesting to observe that the shelves were pretty full
to educate and encourage farmers and homesteaders in over the summer months but distinctly thinned down as fall
our community. Typically, about 300 people enjoy a day of progressed and chased people indoors again. The community
seminars on a wide range of topics from beekeeping and is eager to learn and having good quality books convenient
raising sheep to herbal medicine and butchering chickens. and accessible is important, whatever their depth of interest.
In 2016 we were able to expand the education beyond just We are not sharing our library story solely to invite
a single day event by purchasing 100 books for a library you to come check out books from our shelf (though you
placed in a corner at Shady are welcome to do so)
View Pantry, our local bulk but more to encourage
food store. Our little library other neighborhoods
is simply a bookshelf filled to consider creating
with farming, gardening, and a library that will
herbal books with a notebook educate and encourage
to write down books being their people. It
signed out and the date you can be as simple as
return them. We encourage sharing books among
people to return the books neighbors from each
in 2-3 weeks so others can other’s bookshelves or
enjoy them but no one is being more involved
policing it and giving out with raising money to
fines. Titles on our shelf purchase new books.
include a number of Joel It is very exciting to
Salatin books, cheesemaking see our community
books, natural livestock care, embrace the year-
gardening ideas, soapmaking round learning
books and much more. The opportunities available
Rachel Weaver herb books are and we hope others
quite popular and we wisely will find creative ways
purchased multiple copies of to make that happen
them. There are several years’ in their areas.
worth of Farming Magazine
copies available and we are Karen Geiser and her family
grateful to Farming Magazine live on a farm in Kidron,
for the donation of review Ohio where she is happily
copies of agricultural books enjoying her winter reading
they receive. When we make stack. She is also a member
our next book purchases, we of the Small Farm Solutions
have a list of titles suggested Photo by author planning committee.

[ 32 ] Farming Magazine
 Weather Wisdom

—Bruce Stambaugh

G uess who is back? The National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration’s 2017-18 winter forecast has
another La Nina setting up off the southern California
coast in the Pacific Ocean. NOAA’s weather projections
look much like the ones from last winter when a La Nina
developed as anticipated. A La Nina usually means that
colder, wetter Canadian air masses flow across northern
states, bringing periods of sustained colder weather, and
multiple snowstorms.
A La Nina often forms along the equator in the
eastern Pacific Ocean following an El Nino winter. It
generally has a much less drastic weather effect other than
in northernmost regions. In the south, the system often
produces warmer, drier than normal winters.
This doesn’t preclude at least a few impressive cold
air outbreaks and lake effect snow events from occurring.
The accompanying precipitation map shows an above
average chance this winter for Ohio. The temperature map,
however, indicates that there is an equal chance of normal
temperatures in Ohio, except in the extreme northwestern
counties. Combine the two, and there is a good probability
for a snowy winter, especially in the Snowbelt areas.
Keep in mind that such long-term projections are
more possibility than certainty. It’s always advisable to stay
up to date with the most current weather forecast to get
the latest on what the weather will likely be for your area.
The accompanying maps show the winter temperature
and precipitation projections for the United States based
on the possible effects of the La Nina.

Bruce Stambaugh is a retired educator and freelance writer. He and his wife
Neva recently moved to Rockingham, Virginia, to be near their daughter and
her family.

Farming Magazine [ 33 ]

BEE TALK —Sam Miller
August 10 – The bees are really
working hard, but the main honey
flow is over. I don’t expect them to
make any more surplus honey this
year. I just hope they make enough
to overwinter. I know some of the
late splits will need feeding, but I am
hoping the bigger hives won’t need
much help.
The honey crop is about as
different from last year as can be.
This year everything had to be just
right to get any surplus honey, such
as big, strong hives with a good
young queen and drawn comb (not
foundation where they have to build
comb). It seemed by the time they
got the comb drawn out, the nectar
was getting scarce. I have lots of
drawn comb but most of it is
empty. I think the rainy period this
summer happened to be right in the
main honey flow of the year. So the
splits I made this summer, especially
the later ones, will need additional
feed for the winter.
September 18 – It seems more
like honey-flow weather than it did
all summer with one nice day after
another and not enough rain to
bother the bees. The bees are hard
at work with the big hives storing
some surplus right now. The splits
are, of course, not storing much,
but they are building up at a nice
rate.
September 30 – It is getting to be
really dry around here. The farmers
are finding it almost too dry to
plow the fields. The bees are really
enjoying themselves out there.
Goldenrod yielded a good bit
of nectar this fall, but I still put
feeders on my summer nucs and
[ 34 ] Farming Magazine
FARMING
WITH BEES
—Noah Wenger
A yellow jacket zig-zagged at the hive entrance, and inside a cluster of bees were
wrestling what appeared to be a bumblebee. “It’s robbing season,” I observed to
Rosalyn. We had walked out to the hive after belatedly feeding the horses this Sunday
morning.
The bees took no notice so we stepped closer. The struggling bees moved further
outside. It’s not a honey-sneaking foreigner being expelled, but three worker bees intent
on bullying a drone out the door. They pushed him over the edge of the bottomboard
and one of the workers (his sister) clings to his back trying to dislodge his grip on the
wood. They wrangle along until the drone finally flies off.
The yellow jacket is still prospecting but the bees are vigilant, rearing up and
fending him off. The drone will also get this type of treatment when he ventures
back to the hive. Soon I notice a second drone hunkered on an unused corner of the
bottomboard ledge, then another motionless outcast on top of the lid. Each entrance
to the hive has several bee faces peering out.
It’s robbing season and obviously also time to oust the drones.
Talk about ostracism!
There is no use for them this time of year, since they don’t work. I suppose it is
only right to boot them out. Only it seems a bit cruel. Think of those poor boys trying
to sneak back home through a crack in the wall, only to be repelled coldly. It’s rather
hard for the masculine nature to accept. It’s a good thing bees still govern themselves as
God designed. If they depended on “brilliant” human reasoning they would probably
have been extinct long ago.
Rosalyn insists we ramble on to the woods, so we start across the overgrown
pasture. Most people would see this pasture as a glaring example of neglect. There are
tangles of smartweed with their clusters of pink flowers. Tiny white asters in full bloom
make frosty puffs everywhere. Large yellow clumps of goldenrod are beginning to fade
and resemble the spent brown spires of ironweed. Earlier there were black-eyed Susans
and butterfly weed and heal-all and tickseed sunflowers with their golden blaze. And in
the spring there were…but you get the drift—extraordinary bee forage! Red and white
clover thrives and there is even some
grass for the horses to munch on. Having
bees is the perfect excuse for not mowing
pastures and leaving fencerows au-naturel.
It has been a good year for the bees
here on the mountain. In autumn ’16 we
were down to three hives. This is less
than I like to have. They all survived the
relatively mild winter and started strong.
Around here the bees’ primary
responsibility is pollination. It’s nice to get
a bit of surplus honey occasionally, but I
feel friendliest toward them when their
 started feeding them to try to
industrious buzz fills the air in the cucumber, watermelon, and pumpkin patches. get them ready for winter. The
I’m a poor beekeeper at my best, but I’ll try to list a few things that seem to work for nucs look good and are building
me. up well, at least the ones that
First of all, it is important to know why we have bees. Honey, pollination, and raising have a good queen. I would say
bees are the goals that come to mind. These three will each need to be managed somewhat the success rate is not as good
differently, yet they all have one thing in common: surviving the winter. this year as most years, but I
The experts say this begins in August with varroa control. We won’t get into the wonder if the weather is not
plethora of ways to accomplish this. None of them are foolproof. The last few years I’ve to blame. Especially the first
used MAQS (Mite Away Quick Strips). Advertised as natural, but definitely not pleasant. I few hatches with all the rain
doubt if such concentrations of formic acid occur naturally. when the queens should have
Next, and maybe most important, is food and lots of it. Many people recommend
been flying. But I always say
overwintering in two hive bodies. I’ve made a personal law to leave three boxes. The two
if something happens to the
hive bodies and preferably a full super of honey on top. And there should be plenty of
queen that she never gets started
honey and pollen in the two deeps. This should be more than enough food, but there is
one more thing we should consider. While bees often make surplus honey, they rarely have laying, you can always put one
surplus pollen. And pollen is not only an important bee food, it is a necessity for raising of the nucs that did work out on
brood. We want the bees to begin raising brood early. The earlier the better. For this reason top with a sheet of newspaper
I consider pollen supplements almost indispensable. between them. Then you should
Each hive gets a one-pound patty under the lid in the fall and replenished as needed. have a really strong nuc.
Those late winter and early spring cold snaps are the hardest on the bees. This is when we You have really lost
need to pay the most attention to their food supply. There is nothing good about opening nothing except time (and if
a colony to find them all dead by starvation. The guilt is deserved. you are playing with the bees
Here in southern Ohio the winters don’t usually get too bitterly cold. I’ve made a few it doesn’t matter) and maybe a
attempts at insulating. The last few years I’ve wrapped them with “Tyvek” house wrap. It bit of honey. I like to see a new
blocks the drafts without trapping moisture. beekeeper play around with his
splits, at least a little bit, in case
As early as practical this last spring I split one colony to make use of the hive equipment he wants to expand his business
on hand. I keep it very simple. A few frames of brood with newly laid eggs. At least four in the future.
frames of pollen and honey. If there are eggs and sufficient brood in each hive body I October 14 – The bees are
simply set one to the side to begin a new colony. If I see the queen, the box containing still finding some pollen on the
her is set in a new location. Thus the field bees are with the colony needing to produce a sunny days. I have no idea where
new queen. This way they should have plenty of food coming in. If the queen isn’t spotted
it is coming from. It is bright
during the splitting process, I can always come back a few days later, look for newly laid
yellow and what a nice sight it is
eggs, and reposition the hives as necessary.
at this time of year. It is a sign
Every year I think how much better it would
be to make splits and have capped queen cells that everything is going good in
ready to introduce a few days later. (Farming the hive.
Magazine Fall 2017 has a great plan.) Perhaps if I The late nucs are not taking
were making a large number of splits it would be the sugar syrup like I would like
easier to justify spending extra time. As it is they to see. I am not sure what is
generally get the slapdash treatment—slap them wrong and will try to figure it
together and dash back to work. out as soon as I get to it. I would
This year it worked. The complete colonies say the bigger hives are still
made honey, a swarm I caught at the neighbor’s gaining a little bit but not much.
made honey, and the new split made as much October 30 – I finally figured
honey as any of them. I can’t remember a split out what is wrong that the nucs
ever making excess honey for me, so it must have don’t take the syrup. Something
been an exceptional honey year. is wrong with the sugar. It tastes
In August I took the honey off and treated bitter; even the yellow jackets
with MAQS again. After extracting, there were won’t touch it. We bought it as
four messy supers to be cleaned. I wanted to put bee feed from the county bee
the supers back on the hives in case of a strong inspector. I don’t know how
fall nectar flow. The experts admonish never to
we will get enough feed to the
feed honey in an apiary; therefore, my plan was
smaller nucs yet before it is
this: quickly and quietly open four hives and
too cold. Maybe we need to try
give them each a honey-smeared super. Having

Farming Magazine [ 35 ]
 making candy or fondant to set on
top of the frames where the food
will be closer to the cluster.
November 6 – We made candy and
put it on top of the frames right on
top of the cluster so they can get to
it even if it is cold.
It seems to be working quite
well so far; they cluster right against
the candy brick. We will do as
farmers do—we will wait and see
how it works out. Maybe it taught
me a lesson to make sure the nucs
are getting enough food during
August and September.
November 11 – I was on a
beekeeping panel at the Organic
Farming Conference and what
an interesting day it was. I think
I learned as much or more than
anyone else in the crowd. I think it
was a lot better with four beekeepers
on the panel instead of just one
speaker talking about bees.
That way we can all see that
there is more than one way to keep
bees. OTS or on-the-spot queen
rearing was really pointed out to be
a good way to go.
It is time to get something
done, so you all enjoy winter and
remember to check on the honey
stores next spring; that period
before the bees find any nectar to
keep themselves going.
neglected to bring a hive tool, smoker, or veil, I taped a piece of screen to my hat
brim to shield my face. It worked perfectly.
When I finished I walked off a few steps and paused to survey the scene. It is
always such a joy to stand in an apiary abuzz with industry. Within seconds the buzz
intensified. Several bees bounced off the rickety screen shielding my eyes. I moved
farther away. They followed. Back at the hives instant war had erupted. The hive on
the end has a makeshift lid and it hadn’t closed right, leaving a ¾” gap. Venturing back
into that swarm was out of the question. Furthermore, it was lunchtime and the hired
hand was loading cucumbers in preparation to heading in. Slapdash. They could sort
it out; after all, it is robbing season.
The next morning I walked out to close the lid while everything was still quiet.
In front of the first two hives lay a carpet of dead bees. There must have been a two-
foot square mass of fresh carcasses. The robbed and the robbers had suffered alike.
Some of us just have to learn the hard way. Over and over. The guilt was deserved.
As the calendar leaves fall to October, the beehives attract more attention than
ever. Each warm breeze that wafts from that direction comes laden with the sour
scent of bee prosperity. Goldenrod honey. It’s a fitting way to end the season. And
a good time to itemize the things that worked and the things that didn’t. My hopeful
list would look something like this:
• Feed the bees. Keep them healthy. Make splits early. Split the strongest
hive and use the resulting queen cells to make more splits.
• If all the hives survive consider making nucleus for sale.
• Construct some bait hives to set in the tree stands around the field edge.
(Tree stands are a waste in the off-season.)
• Be a better beekeeper.
• And remember to feed the bees. It’s nice to have honey to eat and sell, but
it’s even nicer to have live and healthy bees in the spring.
Noah Wenger lives and farms near Hillsboro, Ohio.

Sam Miller and his family live near Kidron,

Ohio, where they farm and care for bees and
sheep. Sam also shears sheep in late winter
and early spring. He is a regular contributor to
Farming Magazine.

[ 36 ] Farming Magazine
 HINTS FOR FARM AND HOME
To protect the main shoot
(central leader) of a sapling
from deer browsing, staple
a 4”x4” piece of waxed
paper as a tube around the
primary bud tip. Use the paper
that meat comes in from a butcher’s shop and it
will last through the winter.
infection. Make Super Tonic: use equal amounts of raw
onions, garlic, horseradish, ginger root, cayenne (use less
if you don’t want it hot). Fill jar with ingredients up to the
brim, then pour in raw apple cider vinegar. Let set 2-4 weeks,
shaking every day. Then strain it through a cloth and put in
dark glass bottles.
E.S. – Pennsylvania

R.A.W. – Ohio
In cold weather laying hens have a tendency to slack off. Keep
them going strong by feeding them hot mash. Warm water
stirred in a pan of regular feed for them is a delight. Most
important is feeding them in the evening before dark. With
the gizzard full of warm mash, by morning they can hardly
wait to lay their daily egg.
D.S. – New York
Start your own pineapple plant. Buy a whole pineapple,
cut off the top part and put it in a pot of soil. Keep well
moistened and it will grow roots and produce a pineapple if
consistently cared for.
C.M. – Michigan
Don’t like to peel small potatoes? Keep them for next year’s
seed potatoes. Plant them whole, no need to cut them up.
R.K. – Tennessee
Do your children want a sled to pull behind their pony? Cut
a plastic barrel in half and pass a rope through the front end.
O.B. – Indiana
To keep raw carrots in the wintertime—dig them after frost.
Cut off the tops and wash them in the washing machine
(using only cold water). Dry the carrots, then line a cooler
with paper—put in a thin layer of carrots, then paper, another
layer of carrots, and so on until finished. You might have to
change the paper in mid-winter.
E.S. – Minnesota
One of the essential tools on our farm is the 5-gal. bucket.
The little plastic handhold does not last and the metal bail
cuts into the hand. A simple fix is a 3” piece of ¾” dowel rod.
Drill a 3/16” hole through the center of it and slice it in half
with a band saw—carefully. Put it around the bail and wrap it
with electrical tape. Duct tape works for a short time but not
as well as electrical tape.

Are you having problems with your noodle maker not cutting D.P. – West Virginia
right? Run a piece of sandpaper through to sharpen it and
get done faster!

L.M. – Oklahoma
Don’t forget to use the “natural antibiotic,” garlic. If you
are having a cold, toothache, or earache, its uses are endless.
Eating lots of raw garlic is very effective when fighting an
David Proudfoot from Belington, WV, has the winning Hint of the
Season and will receive $50. Send your tips and hints to Hints for Farm
and Home, PO Box 85, Mt. Hope, Ohio 44660. We will pay $10 for
each hint published and $50 for the Hint of the Season.

Farming Magazine [ 37 ]
 Direct Marketing:
Community Supported Agriculture
Part 2

Photos by the authors

—Leah and Jessie Smith

I
these Vegetable Box Plans are
often organic, or some fashion
n the first part of this of sustainable farmers. Extra
series, we discussed CSAs: components can be opted for,
how they are operated, their usually including fruit, dairy
variations, their advantages, products, and various meat
and their challenges. But CSAs products. Of course, the other
are not the whole picture. edible extras that are often
There are many alternatives to added to CSAs (honey, maple
a CSA for direct-to-consumer syrup, etc.) would work as well.
sales opportunities. Though
there is shared ground, there
are also distinct differences
Well presented produce will keep customers returning, whether they find
them at the farmers’ market or in their grocery bag share.
The Grocery Bag
(both amongst these options Group
and in comparison to CSAs) Modestly referred to as “The Nodding Thistle Grocery Bag
that will lead you to see which option(s) suit you best. Group” when we began advertising it at our local farmers’
market, this system is one of our own creation, though it is
The Vegetable Box Plan hardly revolutionary. As with CSAs and Vegetable Box Plans,
The Vegetable Box Plan has been used most widely in we were using it to sell local, organic, seasonal food, and what
the United Kingdom (where it is called the Vegetable Box the customers got in their bag was of our own choosing.
Scheme), though we think the arrangement has merit and As with CSAs, we worked to include the greatest variety of
is different enough from the CSA format that it should be produce we could for as much of the season as possible.
used in the United States too. Vegetable box plans tend to We hoped to supply families with many whole meals, not
operate as an ongoing weekly subscription rather than a year- just a number of partial meals (or just a lot of lettuce). An
long preseason subscription, so it doesn’t quite have the CSA advantage of ours was that we only offered Grocery Bags
challenge of the preseason membership drive. But it does during the height of summer, when the variety of produce
have the need (and uncertainty) of renewing orders weekly, coming out of the garden is at its greatest and is appealing
though this could open up your pool of customers to include to a great number of people. We offered a “Fresh Flower
those who need to eat but fear upfront commitment to an Option” as well.
entire season. Box plans also allow one-time orders to be Grocery Bags were paid for ahead of time, but only
made by customers, another way to be more inclusive. by the month. When you are working on a monthly basis,
With its origins in southeast London in the early 90s, there really aren’t that many times you are required to ask for
the driving idea behind this food sales arrangement was to renewals during the summer, which keeps it pretty simple.
get very fresh and local food (often produce harvested the Deliveries were weekly, and single or double share sizes were
same day) to a convenient location for those who otherwise available. You might think that no one would bother to buy a
don’t have access to such freshness. Customers subscribe for Grocery Bag that they picked up at the farmers’ market when
weekly or fortnightly deliveries which could be as close as they could simply come to the market and pick their produce
their doorstep. There is an emphasis on seasonality, as the themselves. But customers were attracted to this system
contents of the box change with availability, and the farmer because there were three out of every four weeks that they
has the freedom to provide what they have. The organizers of did not have to worry about bringing money with them to the

[ 38 ] Farming Magazine
farmers’ market, and because they got special consideration
with the first and last of the crops, as well as any crops that
are only available in limited quantities. Plus, customers said
that they really value the “surprise of opening a present”
experience when they got their Grocery Bag each week.
U-pick
U-pick farm operations have been around for a long time
and are favored by customers who value fresh, local produce
at a lower cost. They are certainly not the exclusive realm
of organic food producers and are not necessarily used
as a means of connecting customers with their food. For
changing where the farmers’ time is spent, they have many
attractive aspects. A U-pick farmer doesn’t have to spend
time or money at other venues selling their product, and they
are giving up a little bit of money by charging less for their
product in exchange for the time and labor saved by not
having to harvest themselves.
Many customers are now seeing U-pick operations
in the new light of the Farm-to-Table movement. Food
traceability doesn’t get more clear than when the customers
pick their produce themselves. Most U-picks specialize in
select crops, but that doesn’t have to be the way your U-pick
works. You could offer variety; let families come out and
pick their whole dinner. U-pick farm operations are not
necessarily about year-long seasonal eating or customer
commitment to farmers and their land. In fact, many
include petting zoos, corn mazes, or freshly baked donuts
and take fuller advantage of the agrotourism aspects of the
arrangement. But no matter how they are organized, U-picks
are certainly about local food and can be an effective way to
invite the community to your farm to experience a taste of
farming, and good food, too, if you really want to forge those
connections.
The Roadside Stand
For those who are located in or near densely populated
areas (especially on a heavily traveled road), setting up your
own roadside stand can be a good method for direct-to-
consumer sales. You will need to invest in a certain amount
of infrastructure, but both time and money are saved by not
having to travel elsewhere to your consumers. Though we
have never operated a roadside stand personally (as we are
located on a very rural and seldom traveled road), the advice
we get from those who have operated their own is that it is
important to maintain rigid hours of operation for the days
you are open, as you don’t want people to feel they can stop
by at absolutely any time. Also, have regular days to be open
during the week so that customers will know when you will
have fresh produce available.
It is best for your stand to always be manned, both
to prevent any chance of vandalism and to add to the “yes,
we are open” ambiance. Prices at a roadside stand should
probably be set a little lower than that of your competition,
certainly during the early years of operation. Remember, you
are trying to encourage people to make a stop they aren’t used
to and to buy from you. They will need sufficient inducement
to get into the habit. One of the benefits of a roadside stand
is that it will provide you with excellent opportunities to make
your community familiar with, connected to, and invested in
your farming pursuits. Operating your roadside stand could
therefore be a launching pad for other sales options in the
future, such as a CSA or a Vegetable Box Plan. Alternatively,
if you have the room for expansion, you might consider
establishing a larger, more elaborate farm stand in the future.
Market Day/Pop-up Market
Market Day was a project that we did jointly with a modestly
sized, local health food store to whom we sold produce.
Essentially, what we called Market Day consisted of our
Variety can help a booth appeal to a wide number of customers while
prominent price tags will help them know what they are looking at.
setting up a “one-farm farmers’ market” inside the front
window of the health food store one day a week. The
aim was not only to sell our produce on the day we spent
in the store, but also to increase customer awareness and
connectedness to our produce (clearly marked as local and
showing our farm name) that was available in the store on the
days that we were not there. We spent the afternoon selling
produce and interacting with customers just as we would at a
farmers’ market. It was important to save your interactions
for those customers who were excited to find fresh produce
and farmers at the health food store and not to interfere
with those who had simply stepped into the store to buy
some organic cookies. The expression on their faces would
readily let you know who was who. The end of each Market
Day included a cooking demonstration. It featured not only
cooking staples taken from the health food store, but also the
produce that we had been selling at our table that day. These
demonstrations drew groups of their own, different from our
regular base of customers. But with some overlap, the two
events occurring in one day complemented each other well.
Continuing on the subject of finding farmers’ markets
in unexpected places, the phenomenon of the Pop-up Market
Farming Magazine [ 39 ]
 is one that will be increasing in the You might think selling is easy. But
coming years. It has variations of they are also full of competition.
its own. Originating in Britain at Because of this, a successful farm
the turn of the century, having a marketer has put a lot of thought
pop-up stand was a general trend into all aspects of the presentation
amongst retail sellers, restaurants, of their booth. You have to attract
and was particularly suited for sellers people to you instead of the other
of seasonal goods (Halloween or fellow. Printed handouts, signs,
Christmas themed products, etc.). price tags, produce presentation and
As farmers also have seasonal the setup of your booth in general
goods to sell, Pop-up Markets for Bouquets of fresh flowers are a valuable and of the produce specifically,
farmers seems destined to have happened. addition to many sales venues. not to mention the mix and quality of the
They are taking a few different forms. Some produce itself, all factor in.
Pop-up Farmers’ Markets set up in the same location but do You pay for a booth at a farmers’ market. You need
so only once a month. Some Pop-ups operate more regularly, sufficient materials (boxes, baskets, bags, etc.) to set up and do
such as once or twice a week, but at differing locations. These business, and you need to have brought it all with you. You
have been termed Traveling Pop-up Farmers’ Markets by have committed yourself to be at the market for either certain
some. They are intended to operate in bigger cities, where markets during the year or the entire season, and markets
changing the market’s location allows it to remain within a frown on no-shows as they want to present a full and worthy
city but to reach more communities and thereby increase market to customers. As you can probably sense, farmers’
the market’s exposure to more individuals. Both of these markets demand plenty of time from you. Harvesting,
variations of Pop-up Farmers’ Markets have found homes packing, traveling, setup, market hours, breakdown, traveling
around the state in Michigan. We would like to mention one back, and clearing away once you are home. Committing to
more variation of the Pop-up Market that we have read about a market means you must be ready for all of these demands
with a very special “connecting with community” aspect. It is on your time. And you must be prepared to sell at a farmers’
the growing trend of Pop-up Farmers’ Markets located at bus market in many different ways (See Table 1 for these aspects
stops and public transportation hubs that service residents of farmers’ market selling).
of food deserts. Food deserts are generally low-income
neighborhoods that lack full-service grocery stores which sell The Online Order
fresh fruits and vegetables, and the citizens themselves lack This is a method of contact between farmers and consumers
vehicles with which to travel to the nearest grocery stores. that will no doubt experience further expansion in the coming
Such markets have been operating in Louisville, Kentucky years. We have personal experience with it as it has overlapped
and Dayton, Ohio and are now beginning to occur elsewhere. with some of our farmers’ market dealings. Many farmers
Pop-up Farmers’ Markets in food deserts can serve a fine who have computer savvy are using the internet as a means
purpose and forge a special connection between growers and by which customers can place specific orders with the farm
consumers who are so happy to see fresh produce. to be picked up at a predetermined location, such as a farm’s
Both our Market Day and the Pop-up Market go to stall at a market. One way this is being done is on Facebook.
where the people are, a location that they are likely to come In some cases, farms post the quantities of produce they
across during their daily routine. They both have a particular have harvested in such a fashion that the remaining available
challenge of their own. If you want to create your own quantities of produce posted will automatically update when
Market Day, you and the health food store you will be in each customer places their order. Other farmers are first
have to do all of the advertising and attracting of customers taking customers’ orders and then harvesting what has already
yourself. For a Pop-up Market, regulations and organization, been sold.
not to mention scouting sites, are going to be of paramount Our personal use of internet communication is
importance. Despite these differences, however, the success perhaps not as streamlined, but it is of real value to us.
of both will rely quite heavily on forging excellent interactions Some customers can’t come during the regular market hours,
and connections with your customers. or cannot make it to the market until later when it is very
possible that some vegetables could be gone completely. For
The Farmers’ Market those who express the interest (or perhaps the impassioned
The Farmers’ Market needs no introduction, and you might concern), every week we send out a special email to these
think it needs little explanation. Of course, the basic idea customers and let them know what will be available. We tell
doesn’t need much explanation. But understanding a farmers’ them that as long as they respond back to us by the deadline,
market and attending it as a vendor are two different things, we will have everything they want set aside and waiting for
so it might pay to point out a few details. them when they arrive. This arrangement has something of a
Farmers’ markets present a great pool of customers. CSA feel to it as it requires extra organization on our part and

[ 40 ] Farming Magazine
 The Four P’s of Farmers’ Market Selling
commitment on the part of the customers to come
without fail and pick up what we have set aside for
them (the specifics of the produce they get are left
to us, they do not choose for themselves size, color,
variety, etc).

Contrasts and Common Ground

All of the sales venues we have discussed would
work well for an individual farmer, of course.
However, a cooperative of farmers could also
make any of them work well to their advantage
by increasing what they have to offer collectively.
U-pick and Roadside Stand operations would
have to be approached in a slightly different Marketing Methods Comparison
manner; off-site farmers should be bringing
something that really enhances the operation,
like donuts to the U-pick or flowers to the Roadside
stand. Each of these methods of direct-to-consumer
marketing has advantages and limitations. The
Vegetable Box Plan and the Grocery Bag Group
both have a certain degree of obligation to produce,
like a CSA. On the other hand, the lack of a season-
long commitment from the consumer can make
them more attractive to those who are interested in
the local food movement but are not yet ready for
a CSA.
These sales methods require a certain amount
of planning at planting time. You have to have the
number of individuals in mind that you want to
grow for. How does each individual translate into
the amount of each vegetable that should be grown to attract and interact with many customers. But farmers’
for them? And you really have to think about what they will markets require thorough preparation. A Market Day will
be happy to receive each week. Some precision is required to require even greater promotion. And Online Orders will
operate these successfully. For this reason we would say that require more organization. An additional piece of the
both are good options for an experienced grower who knows puzzle, when it comes to farmers’ markets, is that the market
how to fill in the growing season with successional plantings itself must be in good shape for you to thrive there. Not all
and season extension and has experience with a wide variety markets are created equal, so be discerning when you choose.
of crops. Direct-to-consumer sales, both the types discussed
The U-pick option requires a viable location to invite here and CSAs, make different demands on the grower (for
customers to your farm. Like the Roadside Stand, there a review of these differences, see Table 2). They also have
should be reasonable roads to travel on and sufficient parking something in common. Yes, it is the obvious answer—the
on your property. In order to induce people to stop by just consumer. Consumers are using these methods to shop
for you (as opposed to a farmers’ market where there will for their produce for many reasons. They know that fresh
be options), you must have crops that are a real attraction. and local produce tastes better. They know it is healthier.
Strawberries, melons, tree fruits, sweet corn. However, don’t They want to support local business. They want to be more
feel that this isn’t an option for you if you don’t have several environmentally responsible. For whatever reasons, the local
acres of land on a highway. Try less land in town and attract food movement is bringing out customers who are looking
the pedestrian crowd. Remember, both the U-pick and for what you have for sale. How are you going to make them
Roadside Stand options require you to sacrifice somewhat on customers of yours?
price as an added inducement for your customers.
Direct-to-consumer sales are at retail prices, and so Leah and Jessie Smith work on their family’s organic farm in mid-
are where farmers earn the most money for their produce. Michigan, called Nodding Thistle. They have been involved in home and market
gardening since they were very young. After graduating from Michigan State
And markets are where you will make top dollar. Whether
University, they both returned to the farm to continue with the farming life and
individual or collaborative, enhanced by online orders or
devote time to writing.
strictly from that day’s traffic, they are your opportunity

Farming Magazine [ 41 ]

T he hours of sunshine are waning as the days of
autumn are slipping toward the first day of winter, which
is just several days away. Memories of the past year are
still vivid in our minds of the splendid colors of autumn,
as the harvest of the family garden and our small farm
—Jonas H. Schlabach
orchard were added to the accumulation of the food
supply that is the nourishment for the winter months
ahead. A tour through the canning cellar, observing the
shelves laden with a colorful array of mason jars makes
me realize how much work the women of our household
have done this summer. Several months from now we will
be browsing through seed catalogs and have a yearning
to grab a spade and head for the garden with eagerness.
Walking through the woodshed reveals rows of neatly
Anticipation
stacked, split firewood, waiting to heat the old farmhouse
when the snows of winter are blowing and the cold creeps
in. The fire needs to be fed often to counterattack the fury
of winter. But we’re already observing which trees will be
candidates for the harvest of next year’s firewood supply,
when we will take the chainsaw and head for the woods
with...anticipation.
A walk across the farm at this time of year, when
the growth of grass is finished for the year brings back
memories of leading the cows to fresh grass and moving
the lead fence, watching them enter that lush new
smorgasbord of forage. Watching the magnetic pull of
the earth draw their noses toward the ground and listening
to the fascinating sound of 40 mouths harvesting that
grass with a continuous rhythm. Then returning in the
morning to bring the cows back to the barn when the
morning air is crisp and filling one’s lungs with fresh
oxygen. You can almost feel the refreshing flow through
your bloodstream chasing away the drowsiness of the past
night’s rest, filling your mind with renewed thoughts and
plans for the day.
As you are making your pre-winter walk across the
fields your mind is already thinking ahead to the coming
spring when the grass will start to grow and the clovers
will appear, filling in the spaces among the grass, and you
are thinking what can be done to promote more growth
[ 42 ] Farming Magazine
and vigor for the coming season with…anticipation.
As I enter the barn to feed the animals and seeing the
hay stacked in the mow reminds me of the challenge last
summer to put up dry hay, with the persistent rains and
the days of sunshine being rare. Now six months later we
are thinking ahead to next year’s hay crop, discussing how
we can be more efficient with harvesting, how we can
bolster nutrition through foliar feeding and boost yields,
deciding which fields need renovation and what seeds to
use. We eagerly look forward to the coming hay season
with…anticipation.
As we bring the springing heifers home for the
winter, we compare their growth with memories of them
last spring before they were turned to pasture, and how
the yearlings grew. How small they were as newborns last
spring. We look forward to the newborn calves of the
next season with…anticipation.
The turkeys of last summer that haven’t met their
fate are still enjoying their indulgent lives putting on
weight. The day is coming when they will replenish our
meat supply—smoked sausages, drumsticks and breasts—
when sliced will make many delicious sandwiches. The
bones will be cooked and the pickings ground and turned
to liverwurst and krebbles. Even before the last turkeys
have been processed we are already discussing how many
turkey poults need to be ordered for next year with…
anticipation.
Our maple syrup supply for the year has already
been depleted because of a shorter sap season last spring;
therefore, we are thinking of next year’s season with…
anticipation.
With the coming of winter we have more time to
work in our farm shop, repairing equipment and building
new things from ideas that poped into our minds while
we were tilling the soil or making hay last summer. It is
always a satisfaction of seeing an idea come to fruition,
especially after someone says it can’t be done, while you’re
doing it! The next invention in the shop is always viewed
with…anticipation.
With anticipation we watch for beautiful sunrises,
awesome sunsets, the first snow of winter, the first
flowers of spring, the sound of peepers, the first tasty
fruits and vegetables, or the beauty of a gorgeous rainbow.
Last summer we saw a rainbow so low that the end came
right down in our pasture (our gold pot), reminding me
of a saying, “There’s gold on a farm if you can dig it out.”
With the first day of winter in the near future I’m
waiting for a magazine to appear in the mailbox called
Farming Magazine. I’m waiting with…anticipation.
The only way that a farm could become a place
of boredom and drudgery would be if we lost our
anticipation for a new year and new possibilities.
Jonas and Edna Schlabach and their family have an organic dairy on the
west hill overlooking the village of Charm, Ohio.
Farming Magazine [ 43 ]
 Landscapes of My Past
Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
I
n an essay I mentioned, in passing, the sadness I felt at
seeing abandoned fields, and a reader chided me: the sight of
fields reverting to their natural state, viewed dispassionately,
can be very attractive. Ah, but I was not dispassionate! That
was the point—my feelings were involved. I have cleared
land, I know the labor involved: felling trees, pulling stumps,
ditching and draining, manuring, plowing, disking, planting,
policing the edges. To see it neglected, all that work cast away,
left to the destruction of entropy without even a valedictory
word seems almost blasphemous to me, a sin against our
striving life.
I see this sort of landscape all around me in the
Champlain Valley, which was once intensively farmed. Well
into the 1970s it was a center for the production of trefoil
seed, and when I began planting trefoil in Cape Breton in the
1970s, the seed bag label said, “Produced in the Champlain
Valley.” But something in the soil caused a blight, and all that
remains today are the yellow flowers blooming among the
weeds along the roadsides. There were always dairy farms,
but today only two remain in the area. There is still a market
for hay downcountry, so some fields are still kept up, but as I
drive by the fields growing up to brush, by empty barns and
leaning silos, I can think only of the rural life that was and is
no more. I did not live here then—we have lived here only 16
years—so my feelings are general, a little abstract.
I can summon up a more specific scene: in Vermont
I once spent a week roofing a barn that overlooked an
abandoned road that led through equally abandoned fields,
and in the midst of those desolate acres was the ruin of a
house beside the road, its roof gone, its windows hollow
gaps, and as I worked on the roof I thought of the house
when it was a home, when a farmer’s wife looked out the
window to see her flowers growing before the house, and it
made such a sad impression on me that I can still see it in my
mind nearly 50 years later.
During our first summer here we took the ferry across
Lake Champlain to visit some old Vermont friends, and on
the way back we took a back road to pass a farm where an
old Irishman had taught me how to mow with a scythe. I
[ 44 ] Farming Magazine
—Jigs Gardner
remember following him, studiously watching every move
as the scythe left a neat row of clover beside his path, the
scythe moving steadily, smoothly, from right to left as Jack
stepped forward. I had to watch him because he didn’t know
how to tell me; he couldn’t put his technique into words. So
I watched him, and so I learned, and so I worked. Fifty years
later I drove by that field and it was a wood. Not a brushy
field, a wood.
Cape Breton was a special case, its fate the result of
the death of two cultures: the old folk culture transplanted
from Scotland, and the culture of Provincial self-sufficiency
manifest in the fishery, the forest industry, coal mining, and
the steel mill. By 1971, when we got there, the decay of both
cultures was far advanced. The state of the folk culture was
more obvious to us as we struggled to make a living from a
harsh, unfamiliar environment and also tried to accommodate
ourselves to a folk culture, something we had never before
encountered.
I have told that story before, so now I will say only
that in the 19th century, when the Island was settled, there
were thousands of small farms spread across the Island,
but they were not commercial enterprises. In the Scottish
Highlands and Hebrides, where most of the colonists came
from, the hard conditions and poor soil dictated what was
essentially subsistence farming, raising food for one’s family,
with perhaps a meager surplus for trading, so there was little
incentive for change or development. When you are raising
products to sell in a market, when you have to satisfy people
at a distance, people who do not know you, you feel the
commercial pressure for improvement. There was little of
that in Cape Breton.
So long as the Island was isolated during most of the
nineteenth century, the old ways endured, but by the 1890s a
steel mill opened in Sydney, the principal town, and steamship
service to Boston was regular. The most independent and
resourceful youth left the farms in droves to work in the steel
mill or in industries around Boston or as domestics there,
dooming the little farms to a lingering death. By the 1950s,
when the last survivors from the nineteenth century, those
left behind after the resourceful ones left, finally died, the
farms were abandoned. By the time we got there in 1971 they
were gone.
The survival of the few farms in our area was due to
the presence of a gypsum quarry on the peninsula where the
men worked, so allowing them still to keep a cow or two, a
pig and some hens, perfunctorily maintaining the old ways
desultorily. So we were able to learn from them and to observe
the old patterns of life in a folk culture. By the time we left
in 2001, the countryside around us was deserted: the old had
died or gone into nursing homes. And by then the modern
economy of the Island had died too. The coal mines and steel
plant were closed, the pulp mill was barely surviving, and the
gypsum quarry was defunct.
Of course it was sad, but so much of the decay had
happened so long ago, and it was not our culture that had died
there, that I could not have the strong feelings I had when I
saw Jack’s clover field, where I had learned and labored, grown
into a wood.
When I call up those old rural scenes in my mind, there
is one—Waln’s Mill where I worked on Bob Davis’s farm
nearly 70 years ago—that resonates with especial power. The
farm was sold to a company that used it to raise turf for the
suburban housing developments burgeoning in New Jersey in
the ’50s and ’60s, and I heard that the Estate by the Mill had
been turned into a restaurant. These changes do not bother
me because I do not think about them; after all, I have never
seen them (as I saw a clover field succeeded by a wood). No,
when I think of those years a kaleidoscope of scenes fill my
mind: sitting beside Bob in the ’38 Chevy truck piled high
with baskets of tomatoes, driving to Trenton; swaying on the
back of the combine, bagging oats; reaching up to pull corn
tassels; maneuvering the old Allis-Chalmers tractor through a
narrow gate, proud of my prowess; watching the cows on the
bridge over Crosswicks Creek. I know, of course, that I can
never revisit these scenes that still live in my mind, I know
that my nostalgia is stupid, I know the saying, “You can’t go
home again”—but still, there it is, the long-gone rural scene,
archetype of so many more I was to see in my lifetime.

That is the land of lost content,

I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.
— A. E. Houseman

Jigs and Jo Ann Gardner live in the Adirondacks on a small farm with
extensive gardens. The book they co-authored, GARDENS OF USE &
DELIGHT ($30.00, color illustrations, 304 pages, quality softcover), as
well as Jo Ann’s books on herbs and fruits: HERBS IN BLOOM ($25.00,
full color photos, 394 pages, softcover), LIVING WITH HERBS ($18.00,
black and white line drawings throughout, 288 pages, softcover) and THE
OLD-FASHIONED FRUIT GARDEN ($16.00, color photos, 185
pages, softcover), are available directly from the authors. Available April/May:
SEEDS OF TRANSCENDENCE: Understanding the Hebrew Bible
Through Plants ($50 hardcover, $30.00 softcover, full color throughout, 398
pages). All books are postpaid when ordered from 12 Angier Hill Rd/Essex,
NY 12936.

Farming Magazine [ 45 ]
 T oday was an overcast day with occasional showers; a day simply dreary and my mood kind of matched the weather.
No good reason for it, I didn’t understand it myself. Then late afternoon I grabbed a jacket to run out to the mailbox to
see if perhaps we received something interesting in the mail, something besides catalogs. I passed the forsythia bush on the
way back, then did a double take and went back for another look. It was blooming! The last week in November! Forsythia is
a spring bloomer, so it was a nice surprise. Going through the mail I discovered the Kline family circle letter. Another nice
surprise. Just now the sun came out from behind the clouds and is shining brightly before it will slip behind the horizon in
an hour or so. Blessings, all! I feel much better.
The above paragraph was written in my occasional-journal a week ago. Since then we’ve had such nice weather to
finish up the fall work. I am looking forward to winter and the many projects I look forward to doing, quilts to make, and
always my stack of books to read. My stack is not complete yet, so I am keeping my eyes open for books of interest.

In reflecting over the last year, it stands out as the year of upheaval. But in many ways it was a good year too. Living in the
shop at our daughter and son-in-law’s farm was an enjoyable experience. It was not necessary to spend too much time with
housework. Only six small windows to keep clean, the kitchen/living room/sewing room/office/washroom, all condensed
into one room. We had quite a few impromptu coffee breaks and visits around the picnic table. My garden, which had been
a hayfield, did very well and I had plenty of space to let myself go. Grandson Noah plans to use it for an Indian corn plot
next year.
David and I are now finally situated in the “grandparents” house. It took several weeks to have everything in place,
but the other day we agreed we feel at home. It is a cozy house, nice-sized for the two of us, with a lovely view to the west.
It is good to be back on the homeplace. It will be easy to heat this winter. We do need to cut some more firewood yet, then
let the snow come!
E. K.

[ 46 ] Farming Magazine
Featured Cookbook
M ore and more cooks are turning to their own gardens or to local farmers’ markets to
find inspiration for their meals. Eating fresh, local produce is becoming popular, but lifelong
Vermonter Marie Lawrence has been cooking with produce from her gardens, buying milk
from the farmers up the road, and lavishing her family and friends with the fruits of her
kitchen since she was very young. In The Farmer’s Kitchen Handbook she includes recipes
for everything from biscuits and breads to pies and cookies, soups and stews to ribs
and roasts. Included are instructions for making cheese, curing meats, canning and
preserving and more.
From her introduction: “A country upbringing gives you an appreciation of fresh
air, fresh water, and good, fresh food. You also learn to appreciate the long hours
farmers put in every day of the week to care for their animals, crops, and the land that
sustains them (and us) all. Self-reliance and pride of a job well done go hand in hand in this profession.”
Organized by month to coordinate with a farmer’s calendar, cooks will find delicious recipes including
orange date bran muffins and old-fashioned pot roast in January, almond baked apples with Swedish custard in December,
and a fantastic assortment in-between. Before each recipe, Marie writes a short paragraph, adding a personal look into her
perspectives in rural New England, and small hints for preparing the recipe, assuring success. Marie is a third-generation
Vermonter, a mother, and a grandmother and lives with her husband in Brattleboro, Vermont.

The Farmer’s Kitchen is available at various bookstores as well as Farm and Garden Books n More located at 413 West Lake Street, Topeka,
IN 46571, phone: 1.800.728.8860. Price per cookbook is $14.95 plus shipping.

Recipes for Winter

cream. Warm again, cover and let set for 2 c. beef broth
Breakfast Delight several minutes to blend the flavors and 2 bay leaves
then enjoy with milk or cream. ½ c. dry red wine (opt. or add more
2 c. rolled oats broth)
1 c. water
¼ t. salt Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in
¼ c. raisins
2 c. diced fresh apples Venison Stew a medium bowl. Dredge the venison
in this mixture, coating it well. In a
¼ c. chopped walnuts or almonds heavy kettle or Dutch oven, brown the
2 T. honey 1 lb. venison, cut in stew-sized pieces venison in the hot oil or butter. Add
2 T. maple syrup 2 T. oil or butter the onions and celery and continue to
¼ t. cinnamon 2 T. flour cook for a few minutes longer. Add
¼ t. nutmeg 2 c. potato chunks the bay leaves, broth and wine. Bring
½ t. vanilla 1 c. carrot slices to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer
milk or light cream for pouring 1 c. ½” cubes rutabaga covered, for another half hour. Add the
1 T. Worcestershire sauce vegetables and cook for another half
Combine the oats, salt and water in small 1 large onion, chopped hour, until everything is tender and the
saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 stalks celery, sliced stew has thickened somewhat. Remove
1-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir 1 t. salt the bay leaves before serving the stew.
in everything else except for the milk or ¼ t. pepper Serves 4-6.

Farming Magazine [ 47 ]
 Popovers
2-4 T. butter
1 c. milk
4 eggs
1 c. flour
½ t. salt
It’s good to have ingredients at room
temperature for buoyancy. Preheat
oven to 400°. Beat together flour eggs,
milk, and salt until smooth. Place ½ to
1 teaspoon butter in each of 12 muffin
cups and place in the oven for about a
minute, until the butter melts and starts
to bubble. Pour even amounts of batter
into each muffin cup and immediately
place in your pre-heated oven. Bake for
35 minutes , resisting the urge to peek
at them as this may cause them to fall.
When done they will be puffed and
golden brown. Serve at once with butter
and jam.
Italian Meatballs
1 lb. ground beef
½ t. garlic powder
½ t. onion powder
1 t. salt
1 t. parsley
¼ t. pepper
¼ t. nutmeg
1 egg
¼ c. fine bread crumbs
½ c. water
2 T. grated Parmesan
olive oil for sautéing
cheese
Combine everything except the olive oil.
Blend well. Form the mixture into small
meatballs. Heat approx. 2 T. olive oil in
a large, heavy skillet over medium heat.
Turn them once. Once they are cooked
through (8-10 min.), they can be added
to tomato or marinara sauce.
[ 48 ] Farming Magazine
Country Corn
Chowder
4-6 slices bacon, diced
1 lg. onion, chopped
1-2 stalks celery, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
2 c. potatoes, cubed
2 t. parsley flakes
¾ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
1 c. water
3 c. milk
2 T. butter
2 cans cream-style corn, or 3½ c. fresh
or frozen corn (thawed)
Cook bacon in a heavy 4-qt. soup kettle
until crisp and brown. Remove and set
aside. Add onion and celery to bacon
fat until tender crisp but not browned.
Add carrots, water, salt, and pepper,
and cook for 5 minutes, covered. Add
the potatoes, cook covered, for several
minutes until water is mostly absorbed.
Add milk and corn, simmer a bit and
add butter. When all is heated through
and butter melted, add bacon, stir and
serve with crackers.
Blueberry Cake
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
¼ c. butter
1 c. milk
1 egg
1 c. or more fresh or frozen blueberries
Combine all the ingredients except
the egg and blueberries and beat until
smooth and creamy. Add the egg and
beat well again. Fold in blueberries and
pour into a 9” x 9” greased and floured
pan. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes,
until golden brown and firm to touch.
Lemon Pudding
Cake
1 c. sugar
½ c. flour
¾ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
3 eggs, separated
½ c. sugar
¼ c. lemon juice rind or ½ t. pure lemon
extract
2 t. grated lemon
2 T. melted butter
1½ c. milk
Preheat oven to 350°. Place a 9”by13”
pan with ½ c. of hot water covering
the bottom. Combine flour, 1 c. sugar,
baking powder, and salt in a mixing
bowl. Beat the egg whites with ½ c.
of sugar until stiff and glossy. Beat
the egg yolks with the butter, lemon
juice, lemon rind or extract, and milk.
Pour this mixture over the combined
dry ingredients, mixing well. Fold in
egg whites. Pour into a buttered 2 qt.
casserole or 8”x 8” deep cake pan. Place
in the larger pan of water. Bake for 45
minutes; the top will appear puffy and
lightly browned, but the bottom will be
semi-liquid. Remove from larger pan,
cool, and garnish with whipped cream
before serving.
The following recipes I would have
liked to include, but of course there was
not enough space: Herbed Biscuits,
Cherry Cobbler, Indian Flat
Bread, Pot Cheese, Honey Graham
Crackers, Gingerbread with Apple
Cream, Squash Gems, Vermont
Cheddar Onion Bread, Maple
Butternut Squash, Brunswick Stew,
and Yorkshire Pudding. Can you
understand it was hard to decide
which ones to print?
E.K.
 Swedish Food
Memories:
A Farm Boy Remembers
—Jo Ann Gardner
T
he landscape on the drive to Reuben Larson’s family
farm, about an hour north of Minneapolis where Jigs and
I were giving a presentation last year, was flat and full of
corn fields, so different from the hills and valleys and twisty
roads of the Adirondacks. The original homestead, where
we spent the day, was 160 acres with sandy soil. This was the
place that Johan Larsson, who had emigrated from Sweden
in 1868, had brought Emma Matilda Andersdotter, also from
Sweden, ten years later to make a life together. Swedes, and
other Scandinavians, had been settling the area at least since
the 1850s, drawn by the opportunity to own their farms.
Homesteaders could obtain land by living on it for five
years and improving it. Grandpa Larsson had obtained the
maximum amount of acreage.
But life wasn’t easy.
Reuben writes about how his grandfather had to cut
trees, maple and oak, and grub out the stumps before
he could till the soil. It was a typical subsistence farming
operation with a small dairy herd, pigs, chickens, and horses.
The only cash crop was potatoes which, along with oats, grew
well. If there was enough rain, you could also raise good
crops of hay and corn.
Reuben’s parents continued subsistence farming on the
original homestead in much the same way as his grandparents
had done. The only change was that during the Depression
(1929-1939), money was scarce and there was no longer a
market for potatoes when the nearby potato starch factory
shut down. Reuben remembers going with his Uncle Enoch
to Saint Cloud with potatoes, selling them door to door. His
mother’s eggs were the only commodity which provided cash.
She would take her eggs to Reuben Blomgren’s mercantile
store in Dalbo and wait until Mr. Blomgren had totaled the
price of the eggs before she purchased staples for the week.
Reuben points out that their neighbors were in the same
predicament so they didn’t feel any different. The drought
lasted longer than anticipated and as result hay, oats, and rye
became so dear that the family was forced to cut swamp hay
(low in protein) to feed their cattle and horses. One good
thing, though, was that Reuben’s older brother, Bob, learned
in high school about conservation and he planted windrows
of pine trees to offset the ravages of the windblown sand.
The family’s fate improved when World War II provided
a market for their cash crops and things slowly got better.
By 1949 the REA—Rural Electrification Administration—
allowed the Larsons to have electricity for the first time.
“We were dirt poor farmers,” Reuben writes, but that
doesn’t mean there was a lack of good food memories, far
from it. Reuben’s mother was a basic cook who knew how
to bake bread (especially biscuits) and it became a staple for
the family. Despite the limitations of the family’s diet—there
was no running off to the store for luxuries, which were
well beyond the family’s reach—Reuben, now in his late 80s,
declares, “I loved Mom’s cooking.”
What did the Larson family eat?
About what you’d expect on a self-reliant farm: except for
staples—like tea, coffee, sugar, flour—whatever vegetables
and fruit they grew; meat they raised; dairy products (milk,
cream, butter) and eggs they produced. As I know from
experience, you can set a pretty good table with nearly
everything from the farm.
For Christmas, the Larsons slaughtered and butchered a
pig in November and froze it on the front porch, counting
on freezing temperatures to keep it. The better portions, like
an uncured ham, were set aside for the holiday. They also had
Swedish head cheese (a pressed meat from the cooked head)
and Swedish meatballs and gravy. The rest of the meal was
from the root cellar: potatoes, canned corn, winter squash,
pumpkins, apples, and canned fruit such as blueberries,
blackberries, and strawberries. Dessert was pumpkin and
apple pies. As a special treat Reuben’s mother made up bottles
of root beer from Hire’s extract.
Sunday dinner was special too. Reuben and his brother
Lloyd caught two roosters on Saturday night, chopped off
their heads, then brought them in to their mother who
scalded them to remove the feathers. On Sunday she cooked
the chickens in a roasting pan and then went off to church
Farming Magazine [ 49 ]
 while they were roasting. In the summer there were tomatoes,
green beans, peas, radishes, cucumbers, then sweet corn.
Watermelon, muskmelon, winter squash, and pumpkins
all had their season. As they became more prosperous, the
Larsons would buy crates of peaches, pears, and apricots that
were canned and saved for serving to special company.
Every Saturday Reuben’s mother did her weekly baking:
bread, biscuits, and Kringla (Swedish rolls in figure eights
sometimes sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar or iced), all
of which were featured in some meal. Breakfast was milk
and grot (oatmeal porridge), bacon or ham, eggs and leftover
potatoes (if there were any). Lunch was the big meal of
the day, usually a meat dish, potatoes, a couple of vegetable
dishes, bread and butter and dessert (a cookie, gingerbread,
or piece of pie). Mid-afternoon lunch was coffee with cream
and sugar and a Kringla. Supper was a meat dish with fried
potatoes, a vegetable and bread and butter, and milk (no
dessert and no coffee).
For birthdays, you could expect a custard or chocolate
angel food cake, a cocoa applesauce cake, or Reuben’s
favorite: a rolled sponge cake filled with jelly or jam. He also
remembers the spectacular
Devils Food Cake he enjoyed
at the Olson’s birthday party
for their son, Paul, which
happened to be his own
birthday too. That was in
1936 during the Depression
and he wonders, many years
later, how the Olsons, no
different from the Larsons,
managed to assemble all the
ingredients. Eggs and milk
were available even for a
poor farm family, but the sugar, vanilla, baking soda, cake
flour, and cocoa cost money. It must have been a sacrifice
for them. Even now Reuben can still taste that chocolate cake
with the cold milk that accompanied it. “It was finer than any
ambrosia.”
Recipes:
Note: I have transcribed these just as Reuben sent
them to me with my occasional insert in brackets. Most of
these recipes are sketchy, from an experienced cook to an
experienced cook, so some detail is left to the reader’s own
experience, i.e. how to make gravy from drippings, whether
to use bread or all-purpose flour, and so on.
This one appeared in an event “Celebrating the
Scandinavian holiday custom of friends and neighbors
getting together for midday coffee and cookies.” Included
were food demonstrations of Swedish classics like the
following.
[ 50 ] Farming Magazine
Swedish Meatballs (Svenska Kottbullar)
Reuben enjoyed these, especially with good gravy and
mashed potatoes. Like all transplanted Swedish dishes, there
are many versions, but basically most contain ground beef
and pork. Some use sour cream in the gravy.
2-3 onions, finely chopped [in fat]
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
½ cup water
2 cups dried bread crumbs
½ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon salt
4 pounds ground beef
1½ pounds ground pork
Saute onions, then cool. Beat eggs slightly and add milk,
water, bread crumbs, and seasonings. Add meat and onion.
Form into balls. Place them on a cookie sheet and brown in
350° F oven about 7-10 minutes. Transfer to a large casserole
or roasting pan and bake at 325° F for one hour, [adding
liquid as necessary]. Make gravy from the drippings.
Cinnamon Twists (Kringla)
There are also many versions of Kringla, from yeast-
raised buns to cakes shaped with a cookie press. This
traditional sweet was served at Swedish coffee times (what
would now be called “coffee breaks”) at ten in the morning
and three in the afternoon, giving great scope to different
types of “coffee cakes.” This, and the following recipes,
appeared in Our Best Recipes from Covenant Church Women
of the Braham District Northwest Conference, 1962, with
annotations from Reuben’s mother on its well-worn spotted
pages, evidence of a cookbook well-used.
Heat to lukewarm in a large saucepan:
1 cup sour cream
Remove from heat and stir in:
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
Crumble into mixture 2 cakes of yeast
[Cover mixture, let it get bubbly], then stir in
1 large egg, well beaten
2 tablespoons soft shortening
3 cups sifted flour
Mix well (use hands if necessary). Turn dough onto
floured board and fold over several times until smooth.
Then roll into an oblong loaf pan 24 x 6 inches. Spread
with 2 tablespoons soft butter. Sprinkle half of dough with
a mixture of ⅓ cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
Fold the other half over, cut into 24 strips about 1 inch
wide. Hold strips at both ends and make a twist (opposite
direction). Place on a greased baking sheet 2 inches apart.
Press both ends down to baking sheet. Cover and let stand to
rise until light (1 hour). Bake in 375° F oven, 12-15 minutes.
Spread with this icing while Kringla is still warm.
Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter or shortening
2 tablespoons cream or top milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Measure all ingredients into a small bowl, beat until
mixture is creamy and thick enough to spread and serve
warm. Makes two dozen twists.
Swedish Potato Pancakes—Serves 4
This is the recipe Reuben’s mother, Mrs. Robert Larson,
Karmel, contributed to the Covenant Women’s cookbook.
Peel and grate 3 good-sized potatoes. Add 1 cup
water and 1 cup milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, ½
teaspoon [baking] soda, 1 egg. [Add] flour until quite thick.
Fry on pancake griddle in good lard, or better yet, bacon fat.
Bacon and syrup go good with these.
Speedie Rolls
Mrs. Larson put a big check mark beside this recipe so I
imagine she liked it and made these rolls often.
6½ cups sifted [bread] flour
2 cups lukewarm water (87° F)
⅓ tablespoon [1 teaspoon] sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 eggs
⅓ cup shortening
2 cakes yeast [4½ teaspoons granules]
Place lukewarm water, sugar, yeast in mixing bowl. Add
salt and 2 cups of the sifted flour. Beat with electric mixer
or rotary beater for 2 minutes. Add eggs and cooled, melted
shortening and beat for 1 minute. Gradually add 4½ cups
flour, stirring until dough is formed. Allow dough to “rest”
in bowl for 20 minutes for ease in handling (the dough may
be refrigerated for 1-2 days). Shape into rolls and place on
greased pans. Cover and let rise in warm place about 40
minutes. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375° F.
Jelly Roll
This was a favorite birthday treat of Reuben’s and
another of his mother’s contributions to the cookbook.
Preheat oven at 350° F. Beat 3 eggs until thick and
creamy, add 1 cup sugar. Sift 1 cup cake flour, add a pinch of
salt and 1½ teaspoons baking powder. Mix these ingredients
into the egg mixture by hand. Add 6 tablespoons hot water
last. Bake [in a jelly pan-15½ inches x 10½ inches x 1 inch
lined with wax paper] for about 30 minutes. [Carefully
remove wax paper], turn out on a towel sprinkled with
powdered sugar and spread with 1 cup jelly and roll in towel.
Mrs. Ellen Olson’s Chocolate Cake
This is the birthday cake Reuben remembered tasting
like “ambrosia” served with a glass of cold milk. Mrs. Olson
died before the cookbook was published, but her daughter
Arlene submitted it under the name “Our Favorite Devils
Food Cake.”
2 cups sugar
½ cup butter or other shortening
2 eggs, beaten
2 squares melted chocolate or 6 tablespoons cocoa
1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
2½ cups cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350° F. Cream shortening and sugar, add
chocolate and beaten eggs. Add flour and milk alternately.
Then add ¾ warm water and vanilla slowly. Beat after each
addition. [Pour into greased and lightly floured 2 round layer-
cake pans or 1 pan 9 x 13 inches. Bake about 20-25 minutes
in the round pans, 35-45 minutes in the larger one, or until
done.]
Jigs and Jo Ann Gardner live in the Adirondacks on a small farm with
extensive gardens. The book they co-authored, GARDENS OF USE &
DELIGHT ($30.00, color illustrations, 304 pages, quality softcover), as
well as Jo Ann’s books on herbs and fruits: HERBS IN BLOOM ($25.00,
full color photos, 394 pages, softcover), LIVING WITH HERBS ($18.00,
black and white line drawings throughout, 288 pages, softcover) and THE
OLD-FASHIONED FRUIT GARDEN ($16.00, color photos, 185
pages, softcover), are available directly from the authors. Available April/
May: SEEDS OF TRANSCENDENCE: Understanding the Hebrew
Bible Through Plants ($50 hardcover, $30.00 softcover, full color throughout,
398 pages). All books are postpaid when ordered from 12 Angier Hill Rd/
Essex, NY 12936.
Farming Magazine [ 51 ]
 Poetry
Killing Frost
I am at Peace
The killing frost has taken hold.
It is winter. I am entranced by the snowflakes—
Their petals glistening in the cold air.
Summer’s garden is now a graveyard.
One lands on my cheek, but I don’t notice. Decapitated sunflower stalks cast thin shadows
The only sound is the barely heard crunching of my daddy’s boots as he over withering vines, and bare ground.
feeds the animals. Only a second planting of snow peas
I am focused on these things. reaches into the coming winter, seeking redemption
I am at peace.
in the rebirth of Spring.
It is winter. I walk carefully toward the house,
Its black shutters and smoke make it stand out of the snowy landscape, Alone, with only memory
but just barely. left to harvest, I pull the corpses -
The snow lazily thickens, making every noise, sight, and taste seem cold, brown, limp, and frail - from the dirt. Roots still cling to earth
muffled, and faraway.
I am at peace.
but death has already taken hold.
I prepare the dirt for the next planting,
It is winter. I am curled up in a chair with a book, the sound and smells as the dirt prepares itself for me. A garden, it seems,
calming. is eternity’s textbook.
I hear the crackling and blowing of the woodstove, keeping the house
warm.
I smell the pleasant scent of burning firewood, and the piney smell of
I ponder wisdom in nature
the Christmas tree, and ask ‘what is the day’s lesson?’
filling my nose. Setting low on the horizon, the sun gives way
I feel relaxed and safe. I am at peace. and darkness boldly approaches.
The winter will be long, not eternal;
Lila Howard, age 9 the garden is eternal, but not long. So I gather
Corydon, IN seed, and wait to plant again.

Steve Bissonnette
Whitefield, NH
In the Old Chair by the Window
I love to sit beside my window,
When the air is swirling cold. In my old chair by my window,
In my old chair by my window, Snowflakes flit across the pane.
Watching winter scenes unfold. Past my old chair by the window,
Blanketing the old brown lane.
In my old chair by my window,
Snuggled deeply in my quilt. Long I sit beside my window,
I can see the snow birds flying, Snuggled warmly in my chair.
With their rigid wings atilt. And at last the dusky twilight,
Settles snugly everywhere.
I can see the snowflakes dancing,
Drifting downward from the sky; Miriam Brubaker
Just a flake or two of sparkles, Salem, MO
I can see them floating by.

[ 52 ] Farming Magazine
Winter Solitude Swahili Boy

When the moon swings down, There was a small Swahili boy in a far and distant land.
low and silver... There were many things he didn’t know and didn’t understand.
And I stand He didn’t know why the rebels came and took his father away.
alone—beneath the pines, He didn’t know where his mother went. They said she died of AIDS.
in the still, still night... He didn’t know why he had to hide and his little sister too
My breath hangs When the rebels or the soldiers came, no difference between the two.
frostily
in the frigid air. He never had a pet to love; there was no food to spare.
Nothing moves He never had a plastic toy or a child’s rocking chair.
or stirs He never saw a shopping mall or blazing city lights.
or He never saw a Christmas tree or heard carols in the night.
whispers. Then some aid workers passed that way who really seemed to care.
But now... They gave him food and medicine; they gave him clothes to wear.
A shadow, floating softly,
passes He couldn’t understand these people who gave and never took,
Like a phantom But the very best thing they gave him was a Bible picture book.
over crescent whiteness underfoot. He couldn’t read the stories or the captions up above.
And looking up But it really didn’t matter much; it was the pictures that he loved.
I see There was Moses in the bulrushes, the parting of the Red Sea,
a baby cloud A picture of the disciples mending nets by the Sea of Galilee.
kissing the moon.
A picture of shepherds and angels in the sky,
Malinda Beechy A picture of wise men and the star that shone on high.
Redding, IA But the picture that he loved the best was Baby Jesus in the hay
With Mary and Joseph beside him on that first Christmas day.
But each day food grew scarcer and each day someone died.
When his little sister went, he didn’t even have the strength to cry.

And when it came his time to go along with all the rest,
They found him there with his Bible book held tight against his chest.

Untitled haiku Donald Stallsmith

Hadley, PA
the smile
on his daughter’s face...
fresh-laid eggs

Greg Schwartz
Sykesville, MD

Farming Magazine [ 53 ]
 Happy Handmade Home —Anna Miller

Aprons of Aptitude
I
tells me this apron has been around a long time, whipping
up tasty meals. In canning it is essential to have an apron on
t’s the time of aprons. All my Christmas your lap, if peach juice drips over your elbow, or the deep
recipes call for one, along with a pot of fresh coffee. I have purple of beet splashes from the sink. How many dresses
around eight aprons; yet Christmas 2017 calls for a new one, have aprons saved! We all have those everyday dresses we
sewn in the minutes between cookie baking. love; not that they’re pretty anymore, but they fit well and
Growing up we seldom wore an apron. Maybe aprons you know—they’ve been around.
are a part of maturity? Now I find them needful. Where Back to winter baking. Your apron will keep the poofs
do you wipe your hands when making breakfast? Egg goo of flour and dabs of butter from your precious Christmas
and sausage grease leave unsightly streaks if you wipe them raiment. A bright apron will bring cheer even in November
on your bathrobe. The first thing I do when I open my as you struggle with your turkey. November can be dreary,
reluctant eyes is don my largest apron (a thoughtful wedding so a tad of brightness can do wonders. Many words have
gift), turn on the coffee pot, and start cooking. If I get some passed romancing the apron; I really want you to want
wild food, I subdue it with my apron; no need to journey one too, and desire another if you already have one. Aside
across the kitchen for soap and water. By the time you get from making your dresses last longer, they even flatten your
back your eggs will have turned to silly putty. stomach (for about two seconds after you smooth your
Summer’s humidity does little to my apron love. hands over it).
An apron works well for If you want to be a true domestic goddess, you need to
our daily walks through make at least one of your aprons. I like color for 5 AM; but
the garden. Notice “our” white or black can be just as charming. I’m assuming you
instead of “my,” since our know how to sew, and that’s all you need, making an apron
cat (Roman) accompanies is like ABC.
me; finding delight in the
form of attacking my A. Cut a piece for the skirt, any size, and
hands, hoe, or feet and the bottom can be rounded if desired. If you’re going
digging nasty little holes to have gathers or pleats, figure that in when you deter-
for we all know what! My mine the width. Hem sides and bottom unless you want
a ruffle.
B. Cut a belt. I like a tie apron, so no mea-
suring is needed. I like mine to extend two feet from the
apron is perfect to skirt. If I want a two-inch belt I will cut one five inches
hold what’s ripe— wide, fold it in half, sew a half-inch seam along the long
several cucumbers, side, turn it inside out, then sew it onto the finished skirt.
a glossy tomato, C. This is where your imagination can
and a gigantic run rampant. Ruffles, embroidery, pockets, full-length
zucchini, found aprons—the sky’s the limit.
smirking beneath It’s your choice, but you do
a big leaf. Imagine need an apron, an apron
how unhandy if with aptitude. (Chat with
someone entered the dictionary, I’m not tell-
your driveway and you had these veggies in your skirt! ing.)
There’s canning. It’s like wearing a song when
you don your favorite apron. Mine is a green, full Anna Miller enjoys nature,
length with tiny flowers, like a meadow. I found it at farming, coffee, and bicycling. She
a thrift store for a dollar; and who wouldn’t trade a can be found in her garden near
dollar for a song? The yellow rickrack along its border Wooster, Ohio.

[ 54 ] Farming Magazine
 Grebel
A delicious donut-like German Russian pastry
—Hazel Freeman

I
opened her own restaurant, The
Mixing Bowl.
must confess I’d never I think you’ll find this simple
visited the great state of Nebraska yet deliciously delicate pastry a
until recently. It’s a shame I waited keeper. A point Jamie made
so long; Nebraska has much of about this recipe is it has allspice.
interest to offer the tourist and
“Grandma said if it doesn’t have
traveler. Western Nebraska, where
allspice in it, it’s not real grebel.”
I recently visited, is filled with
I found in my experimenting with
a wealth of rich history. From
this original recipe, I liked an even
prehistoric fossil beds, traces of
more intense flavor of allspice
early Native American civilizations,
and started adding 3 teaspoons.
the history of western farming
Or, you could add cinnamon to
and ranching, the Pony Express,
the dough as well. These are not
to the wagon ruts worn into the
overly sweet, but rolling or dusting with sugar after they are
prairie that marks the first roads west. A half-million pioneers
fried adds a nice sweet
followed the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails west.
final touch.
The early settlers used the massive rock formations that tower
above the dusty plains such as Sentinel Rock, Courthouse and
Jail Rocks, Scotts Bluff, and Chimney Rock, as landmarks to Grebel
guide them to, and through, famed Mitchell Pass, and the
steep surrounding bluffs in search of a new life in the West. 4½ cups flour
Many of those pioneer settlers were of German Russian 3 eggs
descent. Back in Russia, as the Russian government began to 1 cup buttermilk
change, the German Russians were being forced to give up 1 cup heavy cream Grebel Folding.
their German language and heritage. Valuing their German 1 Tbsp. baking powder
heritage and culture, many German Russians fled to North 1 tsp. baking soda
America where they settled throughout the Great Plains 2 tsp. allspice
from Saskatchewan and west into Texas. Along with them ½ cup sugar
came their favorite recipes. This simply delicious, lightly fried 1 tsp. salt
and sugared, donut-like pastry is one of the recipes these
immigrants brought to the new world with them. Though Beat eggs. Add buttermilk and heavy cream. Mix. In
often made during the holiday season, grebel is a recipe you’ll another bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry
want to treat your family to throughout the year. and mix. The dough will be sticky. Separate dough into four
Chef and restaurant owner Jamie Meisner generously balls and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. When
shared this family recipe with me while I was visiting ready to fry, roll dough ball out on floured surface to about
Nebraska. Chef Jamie owns The Mixing Bowl restaurant in 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into 4-inch squares. Cut a slit in the
Gering, Nebraska. Some of The Mixing Bowl’s specialties middle of each piece and pull into a knot. Deep-fry two to
are food just like Jamie’s German Russian grandma used to four pastries at a time until golden brown, and drain on paper
make. Helping her Grandma Ruth make traditional Midwest, towels. These can be rolled in sugar, cinnamon sugar, dusted
German food such as grebel, egg noodles, butterball soup, with powdered sugar, or eaten plain, warm out of the frying
cabbage burgers, and dinna kuga, is where Jamie first found pan. They’re delicious with a fresh cup of coffee, tea, or hot
her love of cooking and baking. Jamie pursued her passion chocolate. Makes about 2 dozen.
for food and attended Johnson & Wales University, earning
degrees in the culinary arts and restaurant management. After Hazel Freeman is a freelance writer from rural Monroe County, Ohio, who
working in the culinary field away from her hometown of along with her husband Ellis enjoys gardening, nature, and simple country living.
Gering, Nebraska, Jamie always had a dream of owning her
own restaurant back home in Gering. Finally, in 2013, Jamie

Farming Magazine [ 55 ]
 Homogenized Farming:
the Mechanics of the Loss of Diversity
—Leah and Jessie Smith Part 2
T
he acceptance of homogeneity
in agriculture (one crop, one
cow breed, one big farm, etc.)
by consumers, producers, and
processors would be one thing. Not
to suggest that all consumers are
happy with uniform and tasteless
food, all farmers prefer to work in
one select area of farming alone,
or all processors would sacrifice
quality for ease of handling, though
in all cases there are those who seem to. Preference aside, these
agricultural products need to be successfully produced. Is it
the natural success of these large production systems that puts
them over the top? Are they dominant because they represent
the most efficient way to farm? Well, no. It is not “natural
selection” that has led to the expansion of mega-farms and
CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations). The government
has done its part to select the kind of agriculture that will be
successful by aiding the financial success and survival of these
operations. Subsidies are a major avenue through which this aid
arrives. Subsidy is a familiar word in the world of agriculture,
though that does not mean many farmers are personally familiar
with subsidies. A subsidy is when tax money is paid to farmers
(or quite frequently, landowners with no “farm” in sight) to help
to compensate for the fact that farm products are sold below
production costs. The inequity at which this money is distributed
is fairly well known. The largest U.S. subsidy programs generally
use greater than three-quarters of their funding to support only
the largest producers. This is obviously doing little to help the
average farmer. Subsidies not only come directly to farmers
based on crop production, but also are in the form of subsidized
purchasing of fertilizer, fuel, irrigation, and crop insurance. Very
handy for those who purchase a lot of fertilizer, fuel, irrigation,
and crop insurance.
The occasions of air, water, and land pollution caused
by CAFOs have been numerous in recent years. Government
programs to provide direct subsidies to large operations to help
them deal with environmental issues that their very size creates
is another aid to the large operations. Negative environmental
impacts, as well as negative impacts on human health, animal
health, rural communities, and the labor force, are termed
externalities by economists who can show why large-scale
everything makes economic sense. And, indeed, the cost of
paying for these negative impacts has been externalized for
these agricultural operations thanks to government intervention.
By externalizing the cost they can produce their product more
cheaply than smaller operations can because they do receive
money. There is a price to be paid, just not by them. And the
“success” of these large operations drives smaller operations out
[ 56 ] Farming Magazine
of business, resulting in the overall
loss of farms, particularly medium-
sized ones. A good illustration of
this can be seen in hog farming.
Though the number of hogs raised
in America has remained steady
throughout the ’90s and the first
decade of the 2000s, the number of
farmers producing these hogs has
declined by 70 percent.
Government intervention goes
beyond subsidies. Checkoffs are
another system. Checkoffs are
government-enforced payments of money by farmers to finance
the advertising of and research for select agricultural products.
Some of the best-known checkoff programs are on behalf of
eggs, beef, dairy, and pork. Or, rather, their resulting ad slogans
are fairly well known (The Incredible, Edible Egg; Beef, It’s
What’s for Dinner; Got Milk?; and Pork: The Other White
Meat). We never imagined there were checkoff programs
for popcorn, Christmas trees, and watermelons, but there are.
However, it has been questioned by some of those who are
required to pay checkoff payments if the programs are really to
their benefit. For example, much of the money collected by the
pork checkoff is paid to the National Pork Producers Council,
which typically promotes the interests of larger-scale producers.
More bad news for medium-scale producers. Checkoff money is
used to fund research of technological advances that can only be
put into place in large operations, resulting in the improvement
of large-scale production facilities. Both pork and beef
producers have voted to do away with these checkoff payments,
only to have their votes overturned in the courts. Of course, the
cost of the development of modern technologies is also funded,
on occasion, directly by the government, yet another and even
clearer sign of support. This money was not used to enhance
infrastructure that the medium- or small-sized farmer can make
use of.
Additionally, the government purchasing of excess
product and regulations that increase the barriers for competitors
to large operations are further ways in which the government
supports large-scale farming activities. Regulations that increase
barriers and cost burdens for smaller farming operations have
been in practice for years. Milk pasteurization laws contributed
to the decline of small milk producers and distributors in the
early 1900s. Regulations that are difficult for diverse farming
operations to meet or are simply costly for them (paying for
inspections tends to be a greater burden on smaller operations)
are not put into place by accident. Following the 2006 E. coli
epidemic in bagged spinach, industry associations, including
Western Growers Association, responded to the fear of future
health hazards by adopting regulations that were expected
to serve as a model for eventual mandatory government
regulations. Representatives of Western Growers, which chiefly simply are not enforced. Except in Nebraska, that is, where the
represents larger growers, stated that the regulations would law is currently under extreme pressure to be removed.
likely drive smaller farmers out of business because of their What is the landscape in agriculture these days? The self-
costly nature and that this would be a positive outcome for the reliance achieved by saving your own seed and breeding your own
industry overall. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 animals is being slowly criminalized thanks to the advancement
maneuvered these regulations into place, with lobbyists doing of intellectual property protections for multinational companies
their best to make sure no advantages to big agriculture would in the seed and animal genetics industries. Subsidies and
be lost. checkoff programs finance large farming and advance their
Yet another trend to the benefit of big business in interests, while the large farms’ artificially inflated successes push
agriculture is called appropriationism. Appropriationism is a smaller farms out of business, courtesy of the government. The
term for the replacing of a farm-generated input by one that is environment, rural communities, and human health, externalities
sourced off the farm, naturally to the benefit of someone else’s in big agriculture’s economic equation for success, are being left
wallet. Replacing manures with factory-produced fertilizers (it out in the cold, problems for some other government program
is better that animals and crops don’t reside on the same farm) to fix. The entire structure of rural society is changing in the
and using chemical pesticides instead of manual labor to deal face of technological advancements and the increasing size of
with insect and weed problems (the crops and farms are far too “successful” farming. So if you are a small-scale, family, and/
big for that) are fine examples. These factory-produced farming or sustainable agriculture farmer and you sometimes feel that
answers have undermined the past reliance on a farm ecosystem you are involved in a very difficult struggle to survive, you aren’t
and all of its components. Of course, appropriationism fits imagining it and, happily, you aren’t quite alone. And if you
more readily into the system of large-scale agriculture. Assembly ever wonder if it is really worth it to keep on struggling (both
line-type success requires compartmentalization, doesn’t it? And agriculturally and civically), we hope you answer with a big yes!
it benefits the chemical companies who, as discussed above, are Remember, others have struggled against such odds and still
now tied to the seed companies. The modern model of seed managed to make the world a better place.
production is another form of appropriationism, as seeds are
no longer being bred and saved as readily on the farm or in the Leah and Jessie Smith work on their family’s organic farm in mid-Michigan,
garden as they had been for centuries, and no regional selection called Nodding Thistle. They have been involved in home and market gardening
for enhanced seed success is taking place either. The seed/ since they were very young. After graduating from Michigan State University,
chemical duos discussed above naturally help to reinforce the they both returned to the farm to continue with the farming life and devote time
trend. At this point, farmers have used synthetic fertilizers and to writing.
pesticides and the complementary seeds for so long that the skills
needed to replace this modern farming method are being all but
forgotten.
Still other forces have been at work in shaping the
current picture of U.S. agriculture. Many of these forces have
led to changes that bring big business greater profits from the
agricultural sphere. When a farm is a family affair, it is generally
a top priority that the workers are fairly treated and well cared
for, and as financially secure as is possible. Large operations that
work with a severely underpaid workforce, bolstered up with
public subsidies like food assistance and health care and housing
aid, have a natural advantage by avoiding these concerns with
their business model. Though no help to the nation as a whole,
no doubt reliance on these public subsidies helps to improve
their bottom line. The business tactic of vertical integration,
which is involvement by one company on more than one
level of a chain of production, is also being used to push out
independent farming operations. This is currently most done
in the pork industry. Pork processors that raise their own hogs
don’t need to do business with other hog producers, and can also
manipulate hog prices to the detriment of their competitors. In
the late ’90s, many independent hog producers had to habitually
sell their animals for less than the cost of production. By having
hogs of their own, processors could have markets flooded when
necessary and prices forced down. Processors with their own
hogs have options, and soon no competitors. You might think
this seems unfair. Anti-corporate farming laws were passed in a
few states in the late ’70s and early ’80s to prevent these sort of
occurrences. But they have been done away with since then, or

Farming Magazine [ 57 ]
 Good Works
at
Good Acres
—Karen L. Kirsch
S
o, what do incarcerated or addicted humans have in
common with livestock? More than you might think. Diana
Shaffner, founder of Good Acres Sanctuary in Lawrenceburg,
Kentucky, sees a striking correlation between people whose
lives may seem doomed and animals whose lives really were
doomed and her insight is making a difference for both.
Pairing seemingly-incongruous species struck her as
a possible way to heal some of society’s wounds. After
attending a meeting focused on Kentucky’s grim incarceration
and addiction statistics, she says, “It occurred to me that
rescued farm animals are a great vehicle to teach people the
value of life.”
According to 2016 USDA figures, nearly 30 million
cattle were slaughtered (10% of which were dairy breeds) and
more than 118 million hogs became “pork” that same year.
Meanwhile, America has the dubious distinction of being the
global leader in incarceration (about half of which are for
drug-related offences) with Kentucky having the 13th highest
imprisonment rate in the world.
While the consequence of committing crime is
incarceration, beyond the prison walls families absorb the
brunt of a critical society conditioned to turning a blind eye
to things they’d rather not acknowledge. Diana explains how
this allows the paradigm to continue.
“Parental incarceration and addiction both have a
devastating impact on children…. In the case of incarceration,
the trauma it inflicts is sometimes referred to as a shared
sentence. Having an incarcerated parent is a loss that is not
socially acceptable, which can compound a child’s grief and
confusion drastically. …The trauma, domestic disruption,
and the corrosive disconnect that builds during a long-term
absence of an incarcerated parent increases the likelihood for
the child to also become involved with the criminal justice
system later in life. A similar scenario presents itself for those
children who have to witness a parent engaging in substance
abuse.”
Always a champion for the downtrodden, prior to
emigrating from Germany in 1999, the soft-spoken Shaffner
rescued and retrained horses with Gut Aiderbichl, an
Austrian-based animal welfare organization. She planned to
[ 58 ] Farming Magazine
continue working with horses in Kentucky, but one thing led
to another and today the fifty-acre farm is home to rescued
horses, pigs, donkeys, and cattle, not to mention dogs and
cats, all of which play important roles in the Sanctuary’s
programs.
Like its founders, the farm is unpretentious and
meticulous. Diana and husband George are gracious and
committed to making small but significant positive changes
in an unsettled world. Good Acres is not a rescue shelter
in the common sense, nor are the animals available for
adoption. Rather they serve as mute ambassadors of kindness
and trust, things that may be foreign to troubled souls. The
non-profit Sanctuary is funded solely through donations and
sponsorships.
“Sanctuaries like ours allow people to gently and at a pace
they can tolerate awaken to a reality that would otherwise be
so dark and overwhelming that they would refuse to face
it. When a person is encouraged to pet a cow, for instance,
they realize that we consider her to be a valuable, beautiful
individual in her own right. This can help people who never
regarded themselves as worthwhile to reframe how they
consider their own worth…,” she explains.
The multi-faceted facility is not religious, nor are
the programs twelve-step offshoots. There is never any
proselytizing. It is a tranquil educational place with a mission
of promoting healing through kindness. “We want to allow
the quiet message of kindness towards all living beings to
wash over the consciousness of visitors and do its work
without forcing it.”
After becoming Chairman of the Board of Directors
for Anderson County’s Agency for Substance Abuse Policy,
Diana developed a project for children of the addicted and
incarcerated called CHICA. Typically a visit with the child’s
guardian present involves safe interaction with animals in
a carefree environment where the child can let his or her
guard down. One grandparent raising a child due to parental
addiction says, “During our visits at Good Acres Sanctuary,
Connor is so happy and at peace. He is not thinking about
missing his parents. He is able to control his behavior and he
really loves the animals and the atmosphere. We are blessed
to be involved with such a wonderful program.”
 This is Connor, a 9-year-old child suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome resulting in a host of physical and
psychological issues. He is being raised by his grandparents due to the mother having substance abuse issues. He
came to us because he has problems with impulse control and cannot focus on anything.
After meeting Charlie just twice, he went through the effort at home to write a letter to Charlie. Considering
that even writing a few simple words is an enormous effort for him, this was remarkable. His grandmother helped
him a bit but he wrote,
“Dear Charlie, you are important to me. Love, me”. The photo shows him bringing the letter to Charlie.
it may be food, alcohol, or abusive relationships. Smart
During warm months the farm hosts “Open Barn”
Recovery is about consciously redirecting life decisions and
potluck dinners which expose some guests to healthy eating
goals.
options for the first time. Even the Shaffners’ Angus-raising
The therapeutic benefits of animals have long been
neighbor regularly attends an annual blessing of the animals
documented, but Good Acres Sanctuary programs are
by a local pastor which is followed by a vegan buffet. “We
different. Interacting in a peaceful, non-judgmental
have a very good relationship despite our different paths,”
environment with animals that are usually considered “meat”
says the radiant vegan who became a vegetarian when a
allows people to see the world and their own potential
teenager. She knows that people don’t instantly change
differently. While each animal has a back-story, so do the
lifetime routines, but after being bombarded with recipe
humans who meet them and every story is important in its
requests for dishes served at such affairs, she’s learned to have
own right, but the simple message conveyed at the farm is,
pre-printed cards on hand.
“Hey, we’re all safe here.”
Diana has edited Tales of Kindness, short bedtime stories
As the optimistic founder says, “For ‘kindness’ to be
for children on the timeless topic of kindness. She also
honest, it must include all living beings…. Every single day,
publishes Prison Life, a newspaper now distributed to prisons
everything we do affects the world around us.”
nationally which features stories, book reviews, and news
Of course Good Acres Sanctuary won’t “fix” America’s
relevant to those behind bars.
drug epidemic, or solve society’s collective injustices, but
Smart Recovery is a recent and timely collaborative
when one life is changed, the world is changed and positive
program designed for women and based upon established
changes do happen here.
Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy. Essentially, the group
https://goodacres.us
meetings provide tools for empowerment that can help
achieve personal goals. Addiction is not limited to drugs;
Karen Kirsch is a freelance writer from Louisville, Ohio.

Farming Magazine [ 59 ]
[ 60 ] Farming Magazine
Farming Magazine [ 61 ]
 Book Reviews
The Art of Loading Brush
By Wendell Berry
Counterpoint Press, 2017
192 pages Hardcover
$26.00
Reviewed by Tom Grissom,
Pleasureville, Kentucky
Except for ten years while
attending college or teaching,
Wendell Berry has lived all of
his 84 years on a patch of land
between Cincinnati, Lexington,
and Louisville, which he calls the
“Golden Triangle.” The area, just
south of the Ohio River, sits inside three interstate highways
between the cities. The land, with its fertile and hilly limestone
soils, contains small farms and farmers who cultivate Burley
tobacco and breed premium livestock. For the last half
century, he and his wife Tanya have made their home on a
small farm bordering the west bank of the Kentucky River
which dissects the triangle.
Berry has devoted his life since 1964 to restoring the
fertility and abundance of this small badly eroded farm.
Still surrounded by his children and grandchildren, he has
chronicled life’s lessons learned from his home place through
acceptance into the “Port William Membership,” a living
remnant conversation between kinsmen and neighbors.
Born into well-settled farm families during the Great
Depression, Mr. Berry grew up unaware of his agrarian
inheritance. He first heard the word “agrarian” when an
instructor used it to describe his submission of a writing
assignment at the University of Kentucky. Berry has used
his life’s work of essays, poems, and novels to give voice and
meaning and principles to agrarianism beyond its controversial
American origin. The southern version of agrarian thought
and literature first appeared in I’ll Take My Stand, a 1930 book
authored by professors at Vanderbilt University. It was a
full-hearted criticism of the cultural influences of economic
capitalism and industrialized agriculture upon a disappearing
southern way of life. Widely read by literary academicians and
politicians mired in an economic downturn, it was viewed as
a racist, sexist, and evangelical defense of the Civil War’s Lost
Cause.
Some of Berry’s early essays caused him to be labeled
unfairly a sexist racist southern tobacco man. In his recently
published book, The Art of Loading Brush: New Agrarian Writings,
Berry uses his lifetime experiences to articulate a precise
definition of agrarian thought and life. He characterizes
agrarianism as a balanced alternative to industrial agriculture,
the liberalism and conservatism of contemporary American
political life, and the consumerism and scientism of progress
upon which it is based. The book clarifies his early writings
[ 62 ] Farming Magazine
and places them into a 21st century context based
upon his life of eight decades.
Using the grace of poetry, the humor of
fiction, and the rigor of scholarly essays, Berry
utilizes the fictionalized Andy Catlett to pen a largely
autobiographical volume about the friends, family,
scholars, and teachers who have schooled him in
agrarian attitudes, language, and values. The range
of personages is immense—Albert Howard, Gene
Logsdon, Aldo Leopold, Alan of Lille, J Russell
Smith, Homer, William Shakespeare, F C King, Maury
Telleen, and even David and Elsie Kline of Farming
Magazine.
Departing from recent agrarian literature, Berry
focuses on what he calls the local landed economy
and introduces his audience to sustained yield
forestry management in America. After detailing the historic
exploitation of Kentucky’s woodlands by “high-grading”
foresters, mechanized loggers, and exportation of unfinished
saw logs to distant processors, he imagines a different future
based on exemplary agrarian alternatives.
He introduces us to the Menominee Forest of 220,000
acres in east central Wisconsin, a woodland with one and
one-half billion board feet of standing timber, a reserve equal
to its base in 1854 when continuous logging began. We meet
Jayson Rutledge, a Suffolk breeder practicing horse logging,
and located in the mountains of Virginia who practices
“worst-first” tree selection. Too, there is Troy Firth, another
horse logger in northwest Pennsylvania who has started the
Foundation for Sustainable Forests and practices a form of
“loving and observational” forest management. Firth defines
a good logger as “one who goes to the woods thinking of
what he can leave.” In forestry, farming, and his own life,
Berry writes of Gary Snyder’s warning that “understanding
and information about the natural world are only available to
those who stay put and keep looking”.
Of Andy’s agrarian education, Mr. Berry gives thanks
for the providence in his life, which enabled him to meet
“teachers and friends exactly when he most needed them and
was prepared to meet them.” He required their examples and
their language since the agrarian conversation has become
rare, almost unheard. Among Andy and his friends, described
as a surviving remnant, the argument still lives and continues.
This remnant believes the human use of natural resources
must obey the laws of nature which Berry posits as the Law
of Fullness, the Law of Diversity, and the Law of Frugality.
These laws imply human laws that must also be observed: the
Law of Humility and the Law of Neighborliness. Together,
these laws comport agrarianism and the limits that it implies
for use of nature’s resources and man’s behavior toward
others and nature’s creatures.
In many of Mr. Berry’s writings, there is a complimentary
admiration of Amish community life, Amish farmers, and
what he perceives to be Amish spiritual beliefs. As an
Englishman and acknowledged outsider, Berry is to be
commended for these careful observations. His respect is due
to the Amish reliance upon animals for motive power, their
neighborliness, recognition of limits, communal absence of
greed, and acceptance of human skills and physical work.
“The Art of Loading Brush,” from which the book’s
title comes, is a true life story centering on Andy Catlett’s
need to repair and replace a decrepit fence row on his farm.
Employing the artistry of creative writer and humorous story
teller, Berry takes his readers through a charming account of
foolish employment, inadequate supervision, mishap, and,
happily, positive resolution.
Resolution comes as Andy instructs a young man on
loading brush much as he had been instructed years earlier by
an older man about the correct way to hand someone a stick
loaded with tobacco. That man, about whom Andy’s brother
once said, “He couldn’t make an ugly job of work to save
his life.” This is Berry’s way of illustrating one of his eleven
definitions of agrarianism. Namely, respect for work and (as
self-respect) for good work. Though he has entertained his
audience with a countrified, wry, and self-deprecating humor,
Berry is not done with his tale!
Upon the completion of his lesson on loading brush,
Andy now turns to piling brush. To his young friend, Andy
says, “The art of piling brush begins and ends with knowing
where to pile it.” Allow me to urge you to buy the book and
read Andy’s lasting lesson. It is a wonderful sequel to an
instructive story in an essential agrarian reader.
The Lean Farm Guide
to Growing Vegetables
By Ben Hartman
Chelsea Green Publishing
85 North Main Street, Suite
120
White River Junction, VT
05001
227 pages, Softcover
$29.95
Reviewed by Joni Miller
With excited anticipation I looked forward to delving
into this thick manual of making a comfortable living off the
land of a small farm, even just one acre. We need books like
this one, especially we fathers, to provide income at home
with the rest of our families. There is great value in providing
all the work our growing children need, working alongside
their parents in a homey, natural atmosphere.
From a voice of experience, Ben Hartman teaches us to
“lean up” in all we schedule, in all we do, and all we manage on
our plot of land. “Lean” does not mean cheap. Ben shows the
reader so many areas where we all can improve to minimize
waste, avoid costly overproduction, and save time, labor, and
space, to increase pure profits for your pocketbook. In simple
words, lean means to eliminate waste in every aspect of the
business—from taking the order to collecting the payment.
We can learn from the industrious Japanese and Chinese
who farmed small plots of land without depleting their
soils to feed their population of millions. Their secret, it
turns out, was simple: Waste nothing. And then, Toyota,
the Japanese automaker, developed the Toyota Production
System. They not only reduced labor, but created the capacity
to produce each vehicle per customer’s order using Henry
Ford’s continuance-flow concept.
The author, Ben Hartman, and his wife Rachel own
and operate Clay Bottom Farm in northern Indiana, and
they show each reader in great detail how to implement
lean thinking in every aspect. From finding land to assessing
building and tool needs, to raising profitable crops, and then
selling perfect produce at the markets, this book touches
every angle to improve your methods in simple ways.
Schedules to order seeds, which varieties do best,
ordering only what you need, and planning for the year are
neatly listed. Receiving customers’ orders, needs, and wants,
plus planning for the year are done early in the “slack” time
of the winter. Scheduling which fields and grow beds need
cover crops is very helpful.
The Lean Farm Guide shows how to make and apply your
own compost, specifying which crops need more amendments
than others. Make your own germinating chamber to maintain
the even germinating temperature needed for each specific
variety’s highest possible germination percentage.
Ben teaches us which crops to start as transplants and
which to direct seed. The most lean methods of winning
against the weed-pressure battle are explained so no weeds
go to seed. A simple flame-weeder, wheel hoes, and mini
cultivators are preferred. Chemical-free pest control, plus the
best backpack sprayer to foliar-feed plants are explained in
well-written detail. The best ways to efficiently harvest, wash,
and package vegetables are taught well. Delivery to the right
markets and “stacked” production eliminate overflow waste.
And best of all, collecting the cash and leaning up the sales
part allows the farmer to be sustainable, and to support his
family and the community.
I learned a simple new technique—the Japanese paper-
pot transplanter, “the little planting buddy.” A neat chart
explains which crops are most efficient with this method.
Seeds are sown in a honeycomb configuration of 264 paper
cells per tray. Paperpots are linked in a paper chain, which
feeds through the transplanter. Simply pull your “little buddy”
down your garden bed and seedlings are automatically planted
at 2”, 4”, or 6” spacing. Adjustable metal sweeps hill the soil
over the sides of the paper-pots and pecking wheels tamp it
down. A single person can transplant 264 seedlings in less
than a minute! What a clever way to cut time and labor costs!
In directly seeding tiny seeds precisely, Ben has
experimented with different seeders. He has settled on a Jang
JP-1 push seeder to optimize spacing, save seeds, and reduce
Farming Magazine [ 63 ]
 labor. The Jang works by dropping seeds from a hopper onto
a small roller with divots. As the roller spins, seeds fall into
the divots, resulting in almost perfect spacing and singulation
of seeds. The hopper is clear Plexiglas so a worker can easily
view when the roller drops seeds. This unique hopper can be
removed for easy filling and emptying at the end of the row,
unlike other seeders in which you must lift the entire seeder
to dump it out. The roller is propelled by chain drive rather
than a commonly used belt that can slip. Several Jangs can be
grouped together to plant multi-rows at once.
These tools can be obtained from Johnny’s Selected
Seeds. (Perhaps they are also available locally, or should be. Ed.) For a
full line of tools and supplies plus vegetable, herb, flower, and
cover crop seeds, simply ask for their free commercial catalog
by dialing 1-877-564-6697.
Even if you’re on a tight budget, paying $30 for this 272-
page guide to the most efficient ways of vegetable farming
will pay for itself before the upcoming harvest. As stewards
of the land, all of us can use some leaning up to help put a
dent in the waste around us.
The Lean Farm Guide to
Growing Vegetables
By Ben Hartman
Chelsea Green Publishing
85 North Main Street, Suite 120
White River Junction, VT 05001
227 pages, Softcover
$29.95
Reviewed by Betsy Erickson
It all comes down to “goals.”
In his first book, The Lean Farm,
Ben Hartman told the story of how he and his wife, Rachel
Hershberger, began their vegetable growing business and
adopted Japanese factory principles of efficiency on their
farm. Hartman’s new book, The Lean Farm Guide to Growing
Vegetables, details the procedures by which they work at
making their farm “leaner,” to use his term, from season
to season. He emphasizes that this is an ongoing process,
[ 64 ] Farming Magazine
one that is never finished. Year after year they implement
changes and refinements to increase their efficiency, thereby
producing more income through less labor.
Japanese systems of both farm and factory have
profoundly influenced Hartman. His choice of Japanese
terms to describe the improvements they continue to make to
their vegetable farm is indicative of the high regard he has for
the efficiency that many businesses in Japan display. Toyota’s
revolutionary factory processes led to smaller businesses
employing similar procedures and eventually to changes in
farms like Hartman’s.
This book is chock full of practical advice for the
vegetable grower. It discusses new products such as the paper
chain pots, seeding and transplanting techniques, tool choices,
cleaning procedures, and more, all geared toward increasing
efficiency and profit. Anyone desiring to make a living on
limited acreage growing vegetables as a full-time job can
benefit greatly from the research Hartman has done and how
he has put those discoveries to work.
Ben Hartman is definitely not a “fly by the seat of the
pants” guy. He has probably always been a planner, but he
has obviously honed this skill and has ultimately developed
a whole system of vegetable growing based on efficiency,
maximizing profit, and working less to achieve more.
He is adamant that in farming of this type it is essential
to work close to one’s market. While someone raising food
far from a center of population can still benefit from his
ideas, distance beyond a few miles is an obvious challenge.
So, who would find this book a valuable addition to a
farm library? Here it comes back to “goals.” Hartman’s new
book will be a definite asset—probably even a “must”—for
potential vegetable growers with good organizational skills,
or for those who want a guide for developing that expertise.
The book will be useful, too, for home gardeners who are
interested in new techniques and in efficient use of their
gardening hours. In fact, anyone who grows food crops,
either for the home table or to sell, could glean dozens of
great gardening tips from Hartman’s guide.
But, as Ben Hartman himself explains, there are many
ways to grow food, and his is the path he and his family have
chosen to allow themselves to earn a good income without
spending every daylight hour working. Others for whom
efficiency is not a goal may have other ways of attaining their
objectives.
So, are there legitimate concerns about Hartman’s
methods? One major issue, it seems to me, appears to be
neglected in his book. Although Hartman devotes a lot of
space to the process of eliminating or reducing waste, for
which he uses the Japanese term muda, he does not address
the great challenge of our era—the use of water. Though
he does use drip irrigation in some places, on open ground
Hartman relies primarily on overhead sprinklers because they
are “faster to set up than drip tape.” This does not seem like a
defensible position, considering that responsible water usage
is probably the greatest challenge of our era. This is definitely
an issue of muda that Hartman ignores in the book.
One of the finest parts of Hartman’s book is the
paragraph in small print that explains his philosophy of
composting. He writes:
“When making compost, I think of myself more as an
animal farmer than a plant farmer. That is because the basic
task of composting is to create ideal conditions for tiny
organisms—aerobic bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, and other
microscopic beings that turn waste into priceless humus.
Raw materials give them food. Turning gives them fresh air.
Irrigating gives them water. Then I step out of the way and
let the tiny animals get to work.”
For the potential reader or purchaser of Ben Hartman’s
new book, it really does come down to the gardener or
farmer’s goals. Does he or she want a step-by-step, detailed
plan for decreasing waste, increasing profits, cutting back on
labor, and operating a more efficient business? Ben Hartman’s
book will provide valuable advice.
Or, does the seeker of information want an in-depth
guide to organic vegetable farming that is comprehensive,
a volume one can consult for an answer to whatever home
or market gardening question comes up? Stick with Eliot
Coleman’s books.
Better yet, have copies of both on the shelves.
The Round of a Country Year:
A Farmer’s Day Book
By David Kline
Preface by Wendell Berry
Counterpoint Press
$16.95
Reviewed by Curt Gesch
The Round of a Country Year is David
Kline’s new book, which once again
chronicles life as he sees it as an Amish
farmer and community member. The words
round or cyclical may be used to describe a
vision of a world gone through endless, meaningless cycles.
In this regard, think of Yeats’ The Second Coming. Or think of
the world-with-God weariness (Weltschmerz) of the opening
of Ecclesiastes in the Bible.
Kline’s world as he describes it in his “Farmer’s Day
Book” is anything but meaningless. He sees things as
ordinary as food—s’mores, peach cobbler, or the “hundred
thighs and legs of chicken” provided by Ivan Miller for a
neighborly ice cream social. (I presume there was plenty of
ice cream, too.)
Work for Kline is entering a new phase as he is more the
senior advisor than the manager of his home farm, having
turned that job over to his daughter and son-in-law. But
Kline stills helps with milking, plowing, mowing, caring for
chickens. . . the many labors of a mixed-farming operation.
It is in the silence of work with only the creaking of harness
and the heavy breathing of the horses that Kline finds time
to observe, meditate, and relax, no matter how physically
demanding the work is.
Kline’s book also documents his dedication to finding
time to observe the creation and the Creator: he “can’t
help but see God in natural events and places on the
farm.” Larksong Farm is anything but a sterile landscape
of exploited fields; it is an organic operation that—under
the tutelage of Kline and his family—has
become a haven for wildlife. More than 300
pairs of cliff swallows are seen not as pests
but as creatures to encourage by providing
nesting ledges for them on barns. Working
the fields with horses in healthy crop rotation
that involves wheat, legumes, corn, oats,
pastures and woodland means that the soil is
regenerated. Kline is happy to lift the plow
to avoid a nest of killdeer or horned larks or
mow around a milkweed patch to save the
home of threatened monarch butterfly larvae.
David Kline also records his dedication
to making time for neighbors. He visits and
helps out his neighbour; his family visit others
and host guests. They “make time” for these
Farming Magazine [ 65 ]
 things by conscious choice and received tradition. And he
makes times to be involved in local and regional agricultural
conferences.
Finding the time to do all these things is something that
Kline records matter-of-factly. He doesn’t proselytize or
pontificate but simply records the life he lives, a life which
deals with challenges such as cancer, dementia, and death, a
life of eight-hour communion services and the kind of daily
work that is itself a sort of sabbath, a picture of the shalom
described in the Old Testament and the contentment in the
New.
The word round can suggest futility, but it can also
describe a continuous loop, year after year of opportunities to
serve and to observe, to grow food and to eat food, to speak
loudly and to meditate in silence, to labor and to stand in awe.
Thanks to David Kline for taking the time to witness to
the possibility of such a life and to his family and community
for supporting him in this work.
Oh, yes: be sure to buy the book. And a couple copies
for your friends and family.
Curt Gesch is a writer, farmer, and musician. He and his wife, Betsey, own 153
acres in Quick, B.C. and publish an e-newsletter called Just Farmers (Contact
cgesch63@gmail.com for information).
Water My Soul
By Darla Weaver
Herald Press
Harrisonburg VA
$12.99 softcover
200 pages
Harboring a critical and discontented attitude is a sure way of
forgetting our blessings. The positive things had been there
but he didn’t see them as long as he focused on all that was
wrong.
You will see why Corrie ten Boom had a reason to
thank God for fleas while in a concentration camp. It kept
the guards away and they could read the Bible and worship
unhindered. So perhaps we don’t need to appreciate those
imported beetles when we’re cleaning house, but God’s Word
still says, “Be thankful.”
There is a message about the lowly wriggling worms that
her son enjoys in the garden. Darla doesn’t especially enjoy
them, but has learned to appreciate that they do contribute
to the health of her gardens. Maybe those things that are
distasteful in life, the derailed plans and disappointments, are
some of the things that keep our soul garden healthy.
Winter comes to a garden too, and you think everything
looks dead. But trim back those old, brown stalks and you will
see there is still life waiting for the warm springtime sun to
warm the soil. Sometimes the soil of our heart seems frozen,
but that doesn’t mean it’s dead. Amidst the bleakness, pain,
sorrow, distress, and surrender, God can teach us about life
and Himself. Hope flourishes underground even in the dark
season and it blooms once more when the sun shines again.
Then there is the lesson of her husband training horses,
waiting in a dentist’s office, having a servant’s heart, and lots
more. Read and be inspired.

Reviewed by Sarah Stoltzfus

Refresh yourself with glimpses

of this Mennonite housewife
and mother’s life. How she takes
everyday happenings and writes a candid reflection around it.
The stories in Water My Soul will refresh your soul. Especially
if you are or have an interest in being a gardener, housewife,
or mother yourself. (You may even enjoy the book without
being any of these.)
Not only does she inspire you with lessons from
everyday living, she digs deeper and brings forward lessons
from the Bible and other books in ways that touch your heart.
It is full of short, two-page lessons which make it easy
to grab and read a story when you have a little bit of time.
(I did not say it is easy to lay it down again.) At the end of
each piece there is a short prayer and a reflection to ponder—
What can I do to become a “better” me?
Read about the farmer who became dissatisfied with
the farm he had lived on all his life. He wanted to sell it. But
when the real estate agent read to him the description of the
farm, he decided it’s just the farm he had been looking for.

[ 66 ] Farming Magazine
 The Contrary
Gardener
—Anna Miller
Drawings by author

Y
with your messy garden.
New plants you’ll love— Brussels sprouts,
ou may be the gardener that always kidney beans, and popcorn. I planted my small
plants Incredible corn, white potatoes, plot in Japanese hulless popcorn and loved
bush beans, snap peas, beets, carrots, and it. The weeds were scared! On second
the rest of the regular row. You weed, hoe, thought it may have been on account of
and till on schedule. Weeds are your enemy. the yellow summer squash inhabiting every
You garden the way your mother or your inch that the popcorn didn’t. The popcorn
neighbor always did. grew and in fall I harvested it and hung it in
red beets
There is another breed, with a gypsy mesh bags under the lean-to roof. No rain hit
strain, positively called “the contrary it and it had circulation, meaning no work again
gardener.” He isn’t related to Gene Logsdon’s until I rubbed if off the cobs.
contrary farmer except he differs from the I bought brussels sprout seedlings at Mt.
conventional. This gardener will always plant some E a t o n Greenhouse which proved to be accommodating.
new plant or seeds and often dislikes it in maturity. T h e y grew happily in the sun, not being bothered as
Sometimes he will not take care of his garden because much by pests as cabbage or other members of the
he is reading a good book or has gone fishing. It is no f a m i l y. If they were nibbled it was apt to be the large
surprise that the contrary gardener does not like weeding, l e a v e s , instead of the cute little brussel bundles. Frost
except under perfect conditions; therefore, he mulches to came and snow came. The sprouts grew when they could and
extravagance and uses no-till methods. once it was too cold they remained in their snow-covered
You may have guessed that I am under my own caps, keeping the sprouts nice and crisp until I acquired them.
classification, a contrary gardener. I like new plants, new Kidney beans are valuable, for they take care of
tastes, and do not make work out of gardening. I will not themselves. They grow with no need for attention or
always pick certain weeds such as purslane, because they continual picking. I have had few severe problems with bugs
are really, truly good for you. In springtime you may not see or diseases with any of my plants, so except for harvest I
my plants for a long time—they are growing up through leave the kidney beans unattended until the pods turn brown
the mulch. Following contrary gardener techniques would or dry. It is important to harvest and shell the beans in proper
damage the dignity of our careful cultivators; but a few tips time. You don’t want them to get rained on too often once
may improve their politically correct plots. Gardening is they’re dried out or they might get moldy. Dry the pods
a lot about trial and error; one can expect to have several completely before shelling or then dry the shelled beans on a
good laughs with and at nature. Here are some points of cookie sheet after shelling. It is imperative to put your shelled
contrariness I follow in my garden. beans into clear glass jars so visitors can appreciate their
Weeds you shouldn’t waste— Dandelion, purslane, beauty and your labor.
chickweed, and lambsquarter. These weeds are high in Don’t trust or pity zucchini— Yes, they do grow fast,
vitamins and minerals and can be eaten raw or cooked. are a prolific producer, and taste sublime with sausage or fried
Haven’t you heard “Eat what bugs you”? Snack on these in flour and butter. Do plant only one seedling or start one
plants as you hoe weeds, or let them grow to the dimensions seed, unless you have 20 children who like zucchini relish,
of salad greens. They will provide more nutrition than pickled zucchini, zucchini pancakes, zucchini cake, zucchini
the revered iceberg lettuce. The only time it is a necessity muffins, zucchini bread, or zucchini something every day. If
to uproot these weeds is when company is coming that is you fail and keep several plants that take over your garden and
reputed to be narrow-minded. They may well be disgusted damage your family relations, have the courage to exterminate

Farming Magazine [ 67 ]
 them. Pull up the plant(s) by the roots and drag it far into
the woods so your conscience won’t hear its pleas for mercy
later. Zucchini will control your summer if you don’t keep
an eye on it.
Bugs to squash— Some bugs are better squashed,
others better beheaded. No, I’m not cruel. The fact is that
it is cleaner and easier to simply behead instead of finding a
mammoth rock to kill your tiny foe and risking flying matter
following the smash. We behead chickens. Tomato worms are
an exception; I am agreed on pureeing those.
Rows don’t have to be straight— At one time in life
I didn’t like when people passed by as I was putting in my
garden. First off, its surface was covered with composted
horse manure, bits of leaves, and dead vegetable matter
from the previous year. I pulled the hoe through this to
make a row, cutting labor dramatically. I didn’t want
passersby to note that stakes and string were missing.
I was counting only on my eyes and judgment for
layout. It was disconcerting to have locals revered for
having perfect gardens see me dropping seeds into a
jungle. After several years of good harvests and few
problems with bugs I concluded that it is my own
business as to how I come by with results, and I will
sip oolong tea while others cultivate.
Compost your garden, not a pile— I find it
convenient to dump scraps on the garden rather than
letting them fuss on some far-off spot first for several
weeks or months. Do it in an inconspicuous way;
heaping it in a corner where weeds are prone to grow,
or beneath the foliage of growing plants. Put it on the
side away from the road. If you have a layer of mulch
you can work it into that, making it disappear.
Hens like potatoes— One idyllic year I grew
tomatoes: Beefsteak, grape, yellow pear, Celebrity,
and some unnamed blackish one. I canned salsa,
okra
tomato juice, and tomato chunks to juice
later. I ate tomato sandwiches, tomatoes i n
salads, tomatoes on hamburger sandwiches, and t o m a t o
soup. One evening coming in the lane from the garden past
the chicken run I saw a solution. I threw in a tomato that
had a crack and the chickens swarmed around, taking out
chunks and running away with them. The main part was
gone and they squabbled over the remains the greedy ones
were hogging. They came in a rush to the fence, stretching
their necks and fixing me with their yellow eyes. My canner
worked a lot less after that and the chickens came close to
having acid reflux. I learned it was not just tomatoes, but
beet tops, my abundance of comfrey, and other greens. The
chickens weren’t quite pigs, but as long as they were kept in
their run they could get rid of my garden’s surplus. They
didn’t eat the leaves but pushed them around, picking off
bugs and eventually working them into the earth. I benefited
with nutritious eggs.
New plants can be disasters— Okay, I know I never
had to try new plants; yet how do you know until you try?
[ 68 ] Farming Magazine
Huckleberries were a bit difficult for me to grow, and when
they did grow they were beautiful. Lovely dark blue berries in
abundance on one plant. Masters of deceit. To me they tasted
weird and watery, somewhat like elderberries. Mom came
up with an edible mess by adding a lot of sugar and grape
gelatin. There may have been better solutions, but I cut off
every flourishing plant two inches from the ground, freeing
the sunshine and water for plants of merit.
Lentils are tiny—too tiny. They disappeared. Between the
beans and the touring tomatoes they were well taken care of.
Celery is stubborn; with the immaculate, crisp, tall
ideals found in supermarkets, who wants to present what
resembles blades of sedge?
If you ever planted the variety of tiny tomatoes you’ll
know why I didn’t appreciate a forest of them. I didn’t
plant them; my sister, bless her wisdom, planted them
along the edges of her garden. Our plots lie side by
side. We got hordes of these tiny beasts everywhere. I
say “we” because they traveled from her side to mine,
thirsty for new sights and new lands. In my darker
moments and with no witnesses I took the pruner to
them. Memories dim after several years, but since we
never harvested all of them we have their descendents
intruding in both gardens every year. They spend vain
efforts in trying to grow, bloom, and travel. I eradicate
all of them.
The Chinese restaurant in Millersburg, Ohio,
has delicious breaded okra. I decided to plant some.
I started them from seed and they grew to tall, healthy
plants. How luscious and pretty were the purple stems
and the broad, lobed leaves! The harvest was abundant. I
picked the four-inch pods and put them in the refrigerator.
They got moldy after a week so I threw them away. There
was something distasteful about fresh okra, too purple and
smooth. I didn’t taste one fiber of homegrown, pesticide-free,
organic okra. I did keep cutting off the pods, but now they
dropped into the foliage. I couldn’t eat it, yet I couldn’t kill it.
Poor okra.
Peanuts suffered the same fate as the lentils; although
not as small, they got smothered by the tomatoes. (What we
all suffer from tomatoes.) Mom harvested my garden at busy
times and failed to notice the carpet of peanut plants between
the overbearing tomatoes. The blossom ends broke off and at
harvest time I had no idea where to look for peanuts.
Things I have to admit— I know a portion of you have
labeled me weird, lazy, or irresponsible. A fitting respectful
adjective is contrary, although you may have forgotten that.
To redeem myself let me tell you that I do thin my plants,
especially radishes, I pick off egg clusters from cabbage, I
water my garden when I have to, and I will pick weeds on a
sunny morning when the dew has dried. I look after and love
my patch of earth.
Anna Miller enjoys nature, farming, coffee, and bicycling. She can be found in
her garden near Wooster, Ohio.
 Advertiser’s Index
Backyard Herbs and Flowers.....................................................66 Paul A. Miller-Attorney at Law..................................................25
Bee Culture...................................................................................36 Pioneer Equipment......................................................................2
Betterbee.......................................................................................36 Rural Heritage .............................................................................69
Bowman Harness........................................................................43 Schlabach’s Nursery....................................................................25
Byron Seeds..................................................................................71 Simpson’s Bee Supply..................................................................34
Charm Tractor Sales....................................................................37 Sunrise Metal Shop......................................................................60
Classifieds.....................................................................................69 Superior Bee ................................................................................35
Cloverland Ag Service.................................................................24 Tillers ...........................................................................................60
Coblentz Collar............................................................................11 Trail Farm Supply........................................................................37
Critter Blankets............................................................................24 Tri-Valley Engine Repair.............................................................11
Crystal Creek................................................................................15 Twin Oaks Barns..........................................................................43
DAPNet........................................................................................61 W-M Roofing................................................................................69
DCBAA........................................................................................43 White Horse Machine................................................................28
Des Eck Welding..........................................................................69 Wooster Book Co........................................................................65
Dr. Paul Dettloff, DVM..............................................................43 Yoder Nylon Works.....................................................................29
E-M Equipment...........................................................................11 Yuneek Metalkraft.......................................................................43
E-Z Spreader Mfg........................................................................10
E-Z Trail.........................................................................................4
Elk Creek Custom Blending.......................................................28
Eli Allen Miller...............................................................................4
Farm and Garden Books and More..........................................65
FD Miller Feed & Supply............................................................45
Fedco ............................................................................................23
FitLine...........................................................................................57
First Financial Bank ...................................................................60
Gerber Feed....................................................................................6
Graze............................................................................................25
Greenprints..................................................................................61
Harold’s Equipment....................................................................19
Heartland Midwifery...................................................................64
Hiland Supply, Ltd........................................................................6
Horse Progress Days...................................................................20
I & J Mfg., LLC............................................................................60
Iva Manufacturing.......................................................................45
JDS Seeds ....................................................................................31
Lehman’s.......................................................................................72
Local Roots Market & Café........................................................51
McCarville Dairy Supplies..........................................................11
Merit Seed.....................................................................................15
Midway Repair Shop...................................................................43
Miller Farm Machinery..................................................................5
Myers Poultry Farm....................................................................43
OEFFA ........................................................................................61
Organic Valley-CROPP Cooperative.........................................15

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Farming Magazine [ 69 ]
 Grocery Getters
W
hen Jeff Bezos, the founder, chairman, and CEO
of giant online retailer Amazon.com, Inc., paid $250
million for the money-losing Washington Post in 2013,
market analysts downplayed the purchase as little more
than a bored techie billionaire using pocket change to buy
a hobby.
They were wrong. Bezos buys businesses, not hobbies.
By 2015, the Post had turned a profit. In 2016, the
newspaper announced it would hire 60 more journalists,
making it the third largest newspaper (behind the New
York Times and the Wall Street Journal) in the U.S.
Some of the same market analysts are now
downplaying Bezos’ latest leap into another business
—Alan Guebert
Earlier this month, German supermarket giant Aldi
announced plans to spend $5 billion over the next five
years to add 900 stores to the 1,600 stores it already
operates in 35 American states. Its German counterpart,
Lidl, just opened its initial 10 U.S. stores.
Still, Amazon bought Whole Foods because it sees
a new path to profit. Already on that path is the 60
percent of all millennial-aged Americans—people who
have reached adulthood since the turn of the century—
who use the e-platform to buy everything from laundry
detergent to energy bars.
As such, Amazon doesn’t need to reinvent the
grocery store, it only has to reinvent the grocery cart.
Only two percent of today’s $700 billion in annual grocery

store sales are made online. Market experts predict that

known for its low margins, steep competition, and
fickle customers. These naysayers see Amazon’s recent
$13.7-billion move to buy upscale grocer Whole Foods
Market Inc. as a risky bet on a tough business slogging
through another of its periodic flat markets.
Maybe, but the “Bezos Effect,” the boss’s legendary
Midas touch, helped turn the Whole Foods deal into gold
The Last Row
figure will explode to $100 billion by 2027.
Big food retailers like Walmart, Kroger, and Safeway
hope to share in that growth. To date, however, none
have had much success in figuring out how to get their
customers out of packed parking lots, crowded stores, and
long checkout lines to buy most of their groceries online.

Amazon might. Besides, having already paid for

in less than a day. After Wall Street learned of the buyout Whole Foods in one day on Wall Street, it has nothing to
June 16, Amazon’s share price rose from an already- lose in trying. It only has billions—many, many billions—
fat $964 to an even fatter $988. The rise ballooned the to gain.
company’s value by $15.6 billion to effectively pay for the
entire Whole Foods purchase and bank an extra $2 billion Alan Guebert is an award-winning agricultural journalist and expert who
in less than 12 hours. was raised on a 720-acre, 100-cow southern Illinois dairy farm. He began
Now that’s bringing home the bacon. the syndicated agriculture column “The Farm and Food File” in 1993 and
Still, the retail grocery business is a minefield it now appears weekly in more than 70 newspapers throughout the United
compared to Amazon’s online distribution business. States and Canada.
Anytime anyone, including Jeff Bezos, steps into grocery
retailing, they confront problems unique to selling food. © 2017 ag comm
Or, as one market analysis firm told the Wall Street
Journal in reviewing the Amazon-Whole Foods deal:
“The entire fulfillment process is more complex and
time consuming from the moment a grocery shipment
arrives… [There’s] the need for refrigeration and factors
such as expiration dates, smell, and color…” And, of
course, price.
Even if you successfully navigate the ordering,
transporting, storing, pricing, and timeliness issues, there’s
the customer issue: grocery selling remains an incredibly
crowded, highly competitive business. Two years ago there
were an estimated 262,800 food stores in the U.S., a 15
percent increase in just the last decade.
Many of these “new” marketplaces are “old” stores—
like the big box retailer Target and retail pharmacy
Walgreens—that now sell food basics like milk, bread,
and canned foods. Others, like Whole Foods, were upscale
specialty retailers that expanded rapidly (Whole Foods
now has 460 stores) to chase a growing generation of
affluent, urban shoppers.
And the crowded field is about to get more crowded.

[ 70 ] Farming Magazine
Farming Magazine [ 71 ]
Farming Magazine
PO Box 85 Mt. Hope, OH 44660