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Farm Updates

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

July 4, 2020

Good Morning and hello from the farm,

June is an "extra" busy month on the farm - especially for Beth - as that is when our garden vegetables are ready. As you probably guessed, when it is ready you have to make time to harvest and then comes the canning, etc. You cannot procrastinate or simply put off till another day.

When it comes to varieties like zucchini an extra day or two past optimal and you have an overly large specimen that is typically shared with the hens.

Now that July has arrived, most of the garden is only a memory.

Speaking of gardens - did you plant a garden this year? The Most Radical Act You Can Do IS Grow Your Own Food. This is the title from a recent article by Ray Archuleta a.k.a. The Soil Guy. Ray is partners in Understanding AG with Dr. Allen Williams and Gabe Brown.

Ray begins the article by illustrating how fragile our food system is and list three primary reasons. Bottom line - less than 1% of our population farm who feed the other 99%.

Then he recognizes the Dervaes Family Urban Homestead that only requires 1/10 acre lot. They grow over 400 different veggies, herbs, flowers, and berries. Plus, they harvest over 2,000 eggs and up to 50 lbs of honey. The homestead provides 99% of their food. The balance is sold providing annual gross sales greater than $20,000 per year. Read the article here!

Dervaes-Family-Urban-Homestead.jpg

Let me encourage you to learn more and get started preparing for your 2021 garden!

“In our society, growing food ourselves has become the most radical of acts. It is truly the only effective protest, one that can—and will—overturn the corporate powers that be. By the process of directly working in harmony with nature, we do the one thing most essential to change the world we change ourselves.” Jules Dervaes, Founder (1947-2016)

Last Week I introduced you to our new pigs

This week, I set up their rotation through the pasture and gave them the first section. They have really settled in and made themselves right at home and are enjoying the thick diverse forages available. I missed a great photo of them Wednesday, but will try again this week.

July 4th Independence Day Celebration

Most of you know that I served 36 years in the USAF and retired a full Colonel in June 2015. Needless to say Patriotism runs deep & strong in my family. I am proud to be an American and thankful for the wisdom of Our Founding Fathers in writing our Constitution and Declaration of Independence that guarantees liberties and rights we have enjoyed.

I'm reminded that just because we "have these guarantees does not mean we "always will". Just like Our Founding Fathers who risked and sacrificed their lives and possessions to bring us the Constitution and Declaration of Independence as well as the many lives lost in wars over the years to guard our liberties and rights - now we have a responsibility to stand up for our American values or risk loosing them.

Until next week,

Ben Simmons

More from the blog

Taste Test

Greetings Ben and Beth, I'm really looking forward to my next order pick up. I'm trying to improve my cholesterol numbers, thus eating more chicken, and ran out of your chicken products. I ended up buying some industrially produced chicken, and man was that a mistake! It smelled terrible raw, also while it was being sauteed, and also later when I reheated it to put into an otherwise healthy salad. I have enough of this subpar stuff to last until I pick my order, but I don't think I can ever buy this CAFO stuff again.

Beef Update & A New Product

Beef Update – Typically this time of year folks are hesitant to buy bulk beef for their freezer due to hurricane risk. That is why we have delayed our next custom half & whole beef processing until September. If you are interested, our next harvest will be September 2nd with pickup on September 22nd. If you want to be included then please email me your name, email, and cell number to be added to our wait list - and be the first folks contacted and guaranteed to receive an order. Beef prices continue to increase and hit a new All-Time high this week fueled by strong demand and limited supply. For example, based on what a 700 pound steer sold for at the Hattiesburg Stockyard Monday, I could make more than feeding him till he weighs 1100 pounds and sell as packaged beef - but our mission is to provide nutrient-dense, clean food to our customers. Effective immediately custom beef half and whole prices will increase $0.50 to $6.25 per pound based on the hanging weight. Retail cuts will increase for September deliveries as well.

Real Health Is NOT A Pill. It's A Practice!

Two Great Must Read Articles – Typically I don't make a big deal about articles we have read, but these two are so good that I felt they needed to be shared. The first is by Joel Salatin titled "Food Think" that is part of his The Lunatic Farmer blog. You can read the full article at this link. The second article is one Beth forwarded to me from the Health Viewpoints section of Epoch Times titled "Americans Spend Trillions on Health Care but Remain Unwell - Here's Why" Dr. Yang, FAPA, a board certified psychiatrist, begins by stating the difference between treating disease and building true health lies in a proactive and preventative lifestyle. Note - Beth and I would agree with other folks who commented that his article is spot on and very important for folks to read and understand. You can read at this link.