Thursday, April 19, 2012

Silvopasturing in NY

This is fascinating. I don't think I've ever heard the word "silvopasturing" before. Anyone know anything else about it?

Experts Suggest Grazing Cows, Sheep, Ducks in Forests

Putting cows, sheep and other livestock into forests to graze could prove to be a valuable tool for New York woodland management, say Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) agriculture educators and colleagues in the Cornell Forestry Program. ...

Monday, April 02, 2012

Sugaring...

We had approximately 3 days of good sap collecting weather this year. We didn't even try, though one of Bill's coworkers got a few gallons of sap. Next year will be easier when I don't have to worry about scheduling sap boiling on a weekend.

This is the second article I've read about syrup issues this year. Creepy sad stuff.
The overall pattern is clear, though - Vermont maple producers on average sugar a full month ahead of the starting point 100 years ago. In my region those on south-facing slopes sometimes start as early as January. And it is pretty clear that sap runs will get shorter over time.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

We are the 2% - Farmers

So, I quit my job on Monday. Starting April 28, I will be a full time farmer!!!!

I love it when blog articles have the courtesy to come to my attention when I make such life-changing decisions.

We Are the 2 Percent: Occupy Our Land, Occupy Our Food

But talk is cheap and while there is an overwhelming embrace of local food and agriculture, there is an enormous chasm between those who eat well and locally and can afford to do so, and those who cannot. The nutritional divide has never been greater, the number of hungry people in the world growing at staggering rates.

How is it possible that there is such an uprising of people who are passionate and enthusiastic and inspired by the new food movement and yet so few whose hands are actually in the soil doing the work?

In the end there is not so much a food crisis as there is a crisis in participation.

The real shift we need cannot take place when only two percent of us is doing the work to grow the food for the rest, while everyone else is cheering us on. We love the attention, but farming is not a spectator sport.

I found this article from this post, which further emboldens me:

even if we didn't have energy and environmental issues to contend with, we have a gigantic demographic crisis in agriculture - the average farmer is nearly 60 years old, and their children and grandchildren have already left the land to do other work. Who will grow our food in the future? For the very first time in human history, it will be grown by people not raised to the work.

Bring on spring!!! I'm ready.

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

US sheep industry report

Bill and I were just talking about a potential 10 year plan to becoming sheep farmers. I like that sheep seem to be profitable on a small scale. They seem to be a great option for local, sustainable farming.

This report (though it's 3 years old) just popped up on the Purdue Cooperative Extension Sheep and Goats blog.
During the past 60 years, the number of sheep and lamb in the United States have Linkbeen declining, a fact that has been attributed to a confluence of forces. Despite the downward trend, the domestic sheep industry has taken steps toward transforming itself into a more efficient and competitive industry. This report examines the current and future challenges and opportunities that the sheep industry faces and concludes that, with a concerted industry effort and focus on new technologies, products, and markets, the downward trend can be stopped and possibly reversed.
Also popping up in my Reader this morning...the newest collection of yummy, yummy patterns from Brooklyn Tweed. Brooklyn Tweed also has yarn lines that are US grown wool spun in a US factory - and his yummy, yummy patterns all use that wool. I'm not sure how rare the US grown and spun wool is, but the sheep report says "from 1995 to 2005, wool accounted for only about 0.6 percent of all fiber use in the U.S. mills," and that doesn't sound like much. I haven't tried his yarn yet (pricey, very pricey), but it's on my list. It is spun woolen, so it's fluffier, warmer, and a bit more prickly than most yarn I typically use or spin.

Go sheep!