Archive for May, 2011

Yes, We Grow Organic

Published by
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at May 26, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

It looks like summertime is here early again. Lets hope it does not stay as hot as last summer which was the hottest summer on record.

Vegetables from our gardens are coming in quickly now. We have lots of gourmet zephyr summer squash and heirloom green zucchini. Beets are ready as well as romaine lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, arugula, mesclun mix, and Swiss chard. We have a few tomatoes from the greenhouse.

We grow all of our vegetables using organic practices. We are not ‘certified organic’ so the USDA says we cannot use the term ‘organic’ on our signage. (Fines up to $10,000 and 5 yrs. imprisonment) In our opinion, something is wrong when good healthy food gets put in a category with illegal drugs. Anyway, we use the terms ‘no pesticides’ or ‘naturally grown’. I know these term are not very specific and have no legal meaning according to the USDA. By no pesticides we mean we use only organically approved pest controls. Naturally grown means we use only organic production methods.

I know someone is going to say, ‘Why don’t you get certified?” From our research it looks like we would need to have a PhD. in agronomy and another degree in book keeping just to fill out the application forms. And, by the way, it is a fee of $500 each just to submit the applications – one for crops, another for livestock, and another for poultry. And that is just the beginning. To top it off, we no longer have a certifier in NC so that means we would have to pay mileage for travel from some other state or foreign country.

We agree people need to have a way to have some certainty that what they are buying is what is represented to them. Since the certification process is such a nightmare probably the best way is to get to know your farmer. A farmer that uses the organic standards can tell you what he does in detail. One of the larger farmers at the market told me the other day he would not dare try to do what we are doing because there is too much to learn. There is a lot to learn and we will gladly answer your questions.

We have a good stock of ground beef and steaks from our premium grass-fed Jersey beef for those Memorial Day celebrations.

There is a good amount of pasture raised chicken and several dozen free range farm eggs.

Our hours at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market are Tuesday through Friday (10:00 until 3:00); Saturday (8:00 until 4:00); Sunday (10:00 until 3:00).

We will expect to see your smiling face at the market!

Blessings,
Joe

See You At the Market

Published by
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at May 12, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

If you have ever dealt with a government agency you know how frustrating it can be. We have been trying to get our production methods approved by the USDA and printed on our meat labels for over two years. It took over a year to find out what kind of documentation the USDA wanted. The application must be submitted by the meat processor and it took over six months to get them to do that. Now they tell us it will take at least three months to hear back from the USDA to see if they approved it or not.

The problem is, according to NC law, we can’t use any printed material at the point of sale describing our production methods unless they are printed on the meat label. Penalties for violations include substantial fines. So we can’t advertise what we are selling until the USDA decides to approve our labels.

If we were depending entirely on meat sales we would be out of business before this drawn out process is over. And even more troubling, a young beginning farmer would be hard put to hang in there until he could go through the process.

If approved our beef label will read: Raised without added hormones; Raised without antibiotics; Grass-fed. The chicken label will read: Not fed animal by-products; Raised without antibiotics; Free-range.

We have our first flock of pasture raised chicken ready for sale and will have them at the market Saturday. Prices right now are the same as last year. But be forewarned, the price will soon go up because all our inputs are increasing and we will be forced to pass them on to you as soon as we have determined the amount of increase.

We have whole chickens, split breast, boneless/skinless breast, leg quarters, backs, necks, livers, and hearts.

We have a good supply of grass-fed Jersey beef in steaks, roasts, ground beef, stew beef, etc. Our beef prices are still the same as last year but processing, marketing, and energy costs have increased so our price to you will soon have to increase.

From the garden we have romaine lettuce, broccoli, Swiss chard, mesclun mix, arugula, and red kale.

A couple of people have sent us an article about the meat industry’s ‘dirty little secret’. It is about taking meat trimmings and pieces and using ‘meat glue’ to form a much more expensive piece of meat such as a beef loin or steak. The process is so effective even experienced chefs sometimes can’t tell the difference. Besides being totally deceptive some of the materials used to make the meat glue are known to be cancer causing. Read the article and watch the video: http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=343971EC58025F481B4E7A59CC83EC08 http://www.naturalnews.com/032315_meat_industry_secrets.html

Our hours at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market are Tuesday through Friday (10:00 until 3:00); Saturday (8:00 until 4:00); Sunday (10:00 until 3:00)

See you at the market!

Blessings,
Joe