Archive for the ‘Farming’ Category

The novel _Cold Mountain_ by Charles Frazier is an excellent story of the struggles of two star crossed lovers who are driven apart by the American Civil War. Inman was horribly injured and barely escapes death, he is plunged into despair and depression by the things he has seen yet he cannot sit and be forced back into fighting when he heals so he takes off, still injured and on foot, to go back home to Cold Mountain and the Woman he loves. Ada on the other hand is left by her father’s death penniless and clueless on how to raise the only asset she has left, a 300 acre farm. She is likely to starve until a local woman shows up to help named Ruby. Ruby shows her how to farm the land and Ruby is going to show me as well.

This is not a review of the book, I haven’t finished it yet but just an introduction. What I am finding, and the reason I picked it up was that the book is reputed to be an excellent guidebook for sustainable farming and I’m amazed already. The review in Wise Traditions, the Weston A Price Foundation Newsletter, mentioned this in some detail so I had to check it out. I trust the reviews from that newsletter and so should you. If you want to get the newsletter then join the organization, it’s well worth it for the fantastic articles on health and nutrition an Book Reviews.

We are slowly, so slowly, staring up our family farm. Though I come from a long line of farmers I find myself disconnected and cut off from that heritage. My parents had little interest in farming and for my mother it was not happy memories of childhood on her parent’s ill run and unhealthy farm. I do remember fondly my father’s grandparent’s farm and the delicious home cooked food she made with such ease until old age took their toll. Some of my few happy childhood memories are in the house and I miss them dearly. I knew unconditional love and that I was always welcome, and always safe while I was there. And I was always well fed. We did not go hungry as children but we did not eat a healthy diet by any means. Ours was the typical diet of the low income people we were with no fresh vegetables, little fresh fruits and the rest processed foods.

I am so inspired already with Cold Mountain and I am just a few chapters in. I have decide to take some notes and then do research on the great things I a learning and blog about it with you all. So we will have a weekly Cold Mountain blog theme with tips from the book backed up by research and enjoy this adventure together. I will be finished with the book rather quickly, it’s too good to put down for long, but the research can go on for awhile. Then as we step up our farm efforts I can blog about putting to good use what we’ve learned from the guidebook, er I mean novel.

I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I am already.

A Red Barn

I remember many hours spent in history courses in grade school and then in college that talked about the building of the United States.  A country that’s backbone was agriculture.  Now that backbone seems to be rotting to the core.  What happened to us?

It seems to be mainly due to two things.  Firstly a lack of respect for farming, nature, and agriculture in general.  Secondly government interference which include subsidies and “regulations” that don’t solve any of the real problems and create a thousand more.

Today’s discussion is about respecting our means of nourishment, food.  Such a simple word for something so important and vital that effects us so profoundly physically, emotionally and mentally.  Over the coming weeks we will discuss the government’s role in destroying the agriculture of America piece by piece.

Before the industrial age agriculture was part of the every day lives of most people.  Even if you didn’t live on a farm you weren’t far from one and had a closer connection to the people that raised your food.  But with the industrial age people began abandoning the small towns to move to the big cities for work.  The food needs went from buying from your local farmer and raising some necessities yourself such as a family cow, a few chickens and a vegetable garden to relying on purchasing food from 3rd parties.

Eggs are taken for granted

The connections were lost.  No more appreciation for each and every egg, knowing the chickens that produced it and instead taking for granted they will be there on the grocer’s shelves.  I was so disconnected growing up that I never realized what a real, fresh egg tasted like.  How the yolk was a dark golden yellow or orange.  The egg white wasn’t watery but thick and stuck around the yolk with a tenacity that the store bought eggs had never shown.   Even making a hard boiled egg was a new experience as the fresher eggs were harder to peel because the eggs hadn’t spent considerable time breaking down during shipping and shelving.

My meat came from plastic wrapped packages with dyes added to make it look more red, and more fresh.  The meat was so bland it had to be helped with unhealthy chemicals to induce flavor such as steak sauces and corn-syrup based ketchups.

I had no idea what herbs were, or spices, nor how they were used.  I never saw fresh ground pepper until I saw a chef cooking on TV.

Is this the sad legacy that has fallen onto America?  The once strong agricultural based country is now based on overpriced, nutrient lacking, mass marketed, psuedo-food.  Our very existence is ruled by what marketing companies have trained us to want and feel we need.  It’s a hollow and empty existence.  It surely explains why our country’s moral center is also starting to atrophy.

It is no wonder we have no respect for the animals that provide our food, for the farmers that work so hard to produce that food and get so little for their efforts, and for the resources that it takes to get that food from production to our plate.  We are disconnected from them behind a wall of middle men that also take the big chunk of the  money we pay for these products.

Our values are all out whack.  It’s time to take our agricultural heritage back.  If you can’t raise a couple of inconspicuous hens for eggs or have a milk cow (or a couple of goats) then find a local farmer who can and support them.  Buy directly from that farmer, get to know them, get to know where your food come from.

For some things we do have to rely on markets, especially those of us that are financially challenged.  For other reasons we also must rely on some food made from a distance, such as coconut oil, but we can buy with discernment.  Buy from companies with integrity and honor, also run by people and not corporations.  Let’s get back to the people and not the profit share.

Easy to use glass jars, labeled and refilled as needed.

We all need affordable items to augment our kitchen but we can make good choices.  Organic spices and herbs are more nutritious and not irradiated.  If you cannot grow your own herbs (even some in a pot in the kitchen window) then buy organic from places like Mountain Rose Herbs.  Not only is buying in bulk cheaper it saves resources as you can reuse the glass container you store the herbs in.  Join a buying club or form a group of friends to divide up a pound of organic black peppercorns or a 5 gallon pail of Virgin Coconut Oil.  The possibilities are then endless.

Respect the food you cook with, waste less of it and make judicious choices.  It will save you money in this current depression we are experiencing and it will also make you feel better.  When we respect and honor our food, we are respecting and honoring our bodies and ourselves.  It’s the first step to a new world and if we each take a few steps together it will be a brighter place.

Next week’s article will discuss farm subsidies and how they are ruining our agriculture and serious economic and health problems not just for United States Citizens but for our neighbors in Mexico.  The  subsidies have a broad impact, and it’ s not a good one.

In the mean time check out this great article on Nutrition and Physical Regeneration about Farm Subsidies, “Subsidizing Cheeseburgers”

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