If it were two hundred years ago, or even one hundred for that matter, having a fully stocked larder to pull food from all winter was a necessity. In today's modern world with mass distribution of food, it is possible to enjoy fresh produce year round.
But is something missing? After three seasons of successfully growing, harvesting and preserving our own produce, meat, and eggs, we have gleaned the following from our firsthand experiences:
The food we grow and raise ourselves tastes significantly better and in turn is much healthier. We believe this to be true for several reasons:
A) Our river bottom soil is loaded with minerals, and when we grow organically with added compost, our vegetable plants pull up an amazing amount of macro and micro nutrients from the soil and into their plant tissue. Note: Many studies now show that over the past fifty years or so, the nutrient levels in our food supply in this country have dropped by 40%.
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| Dave recently turned a couple of acres to test growing grain crops for feed |
B) We aren't dumping synthetic nitrogen fertilizer on our soil. Nitrogen makes plants grow quickly and produce more foliage, but by growing so fast, the uptake of other micro-nutrients from the soil that are critical for human health can be limited. More water is also required and contributes to the lower micro-nutrient pulling capabilities of the plants.
C) Our healthy soil has plenty of beneficial microbes. These micro-organisms allow plant roots to better pull a broad spectrum of nutrients from the soil.
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| These five got a pardon for Thanksgiving - breeding stock |
D) Our freshly harvested vegetables and fruits are either sold, eaten or preserved right away to optimize flavor and nutrient levels.
E) Our chickens and turkeys (and deer we harvest during hunting season) enjoy an all natural diet of organic grains and naturally occurring plants they forage upon daily outdoors.
F) Oh, and of course there is quite a bit of added satisfaction that transfers to the food itself when your realize and remember all the care and effort that went into producing these quality foods.
If you've ever enjoyed a true free range heritage breed turkey or chicken eggs you will realize there is no comparison to even "organic" or "cage-free" products now available at various stores.
So during the holiday time of year we give thanks for those full freezers, our well stocked pantry shelves (pickles, sauerkraut, tomato sauce, jams, dried beans, and honey) and of course to that spare bedroom floor covered with squash!
As we reach the winter solstice, we reflect on yet another productive building year for Old School
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| Freya, our resilient ewe is a leader sheep who heads our small flock |
Farm.
We plan on learning from, and leveraging our past success in the coming year, and we will be re-inventing ourselves a bit too.
This coming year we will attempt to sell more products on the farm and hope to hold weekly wood-fired pizza events. We also want to try some experimental bread baking in our earthen oven. We will be expanding our grazing areas and Icelandic sheep flock, adding back some more bees, and significantly increasing our asparagus crop that does so well in our silty river bottom soil.
The big news this time around however, we have saved for last. Old School Farm owner, Al Benner has been hard at work for the past 18 months working on a new healthy lifestyle brand for kids. The business,
Powerful Plants is officially launching this holiday season with a
Kickstarter campaign focused on funding the last educational phase that needs to be completed by early spring.
The company’s mission is to get kids re-engaged with nature and the
outdoors and encourage them to become involved with growing and preparing their
own food. This is accomplished by “edutaining”
children, and creating a bridge between technology, useful information, and the
outdoors. Powerful Plants’ initial
products are an interactive storybook, heirloom organic vegetable seeds, and
free contests and prizes on their website.
The characters in the book and on the organic vegetable seed
packs come to life when viewed through a tablet or smartphone using a free app.
This cutting edge technology is called augmented
reality. The characters animate and
come to life to complete each chapter in the book once a child has read each
page and answered three questions. These
answers are accumulated and score points toward a grand prize contest. The characters on the seed packs come to life
to share growing and preparation tips and other fun facts.
Powerful Plants is a way for parents and grandparents to
connect with kids and get them interested in plants, food, and help foster a
healthy lifestyle. The company is about to launch its’ products to the
marketplace and has just recently posted a
Kickstarter campaign to help fund the final educational phase of animating the remaining
characters for the vegetable seed packs.
To learn more and help support the project and
receive some pretty amazing thank you gifts, click here
Until next time, enjoy the holidays, stay warm, and be well!
Your friends at Old School Farm
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| Butternut Squash soup doesn't last long |
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| Quite a buck rub on an Austrian Pine down in the pasture |
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| Our sheep enjoy kale, brussel sprouts and broccoli plants |
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| The living edge siding on the cabin continues to go up |
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| The long lost game cam...found while "watering a tree" up back |
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| Oyster mushrooms with a late flush of fruiting bodies on our poplar logs |
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| The first snow starts - newly plowed 2 acres shows up white first |
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| The privy in orchard |
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| Our 350 year old Sugar Maple in the upper pasture |
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| Adjacent falls coming from Lake Elsie |
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| The family enjoyed an Old School heritage Turkey at Thanksgiving |
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| "Kids" table - we can tell who is 8 ;) |
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| Snowball breaks up - too powdery |
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| A Midget White hen will be breeding stock for next season |
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| A nice evening to hike the farm |
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| Two deer were taken from this tree stand a few days after this photo was taken |
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| Wendy & Matthew from Philly that also own a converted barn upstate |
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| Their lamas |
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| Pony and Hafling draft horse |
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| The Benner family enjoys an excellent meal at Dyberry Forks in Honesdale |
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| Chef Ben says hi to his friends from Old School Farm |
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| The nicely re-worked dining and bar area |
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| A nice place, good local food, and a good time. |
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That's one big snow person !
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