True Leaders and Visionaries of Organic Farming: Bill Niman and Steve Clausen of BN Ranch, Willie Benedetti aka The Willie Bird and Jason Diestel aka Diestel Turkey Ranch.

Farming, like most businesses is competitive. With fewer than 1% of the population buying REAL food, the opportunity is in educating the other 99%. Those companies that lead an industry, that has little to no real market penetration, welcome the “competition”. They understand the dollars spent in marketing to the 99%, whether it is their own company or a competitor, benefits them directly. In the beginning of an emerging market it pays to have as much marketing/education dollars out there as possible. It turns the tides. In the case of REAL food marketing it drives up the demand for REAL food, bringing more opportunity for more farmers to be successful and eventually brings down the costs of doing farming which brings down the cost of product as competition truly increases (for any of you economic majors, if I screwed that up, keep it to yourself, you get the point). My point, was actually not to talk economics but to honor 3 of those Visionaries/Leaders in the REAL food market place. Here is the story…
We placed our order for day-old turkeys last October. At the end of June we were sent 100 with the promise of the 350 coming the following week. They didn't show. After calling 17 hatcheries and no luck I was told that disease at many of the hatcheries had caused a low hatching rate and only the large orders were filled, not the little guys' orders like mine. Now I am not a victim. I slept on it for 2 weeks and trusted something would show up. 3am (when I get most of my ideas) I woke up and had a potential solution. I would call my competition. I would ask them to sell me 6 to 7 week old birds. Now the problem with this is that the hardest part of turkey raising is the first month. After that it is all turkiness in the pasture and easy. So this was a long shot. But I have no fear (that is how I ended up farming in the first place) and I would help out a struggling new farmer so… I made the calls, 3 of them - left messages then sent e-mails. The communication was short and specific and well, yes, I begged. Within 10 minutes I had 3 answers. For all of you that know me I sat in front of my computer reading the e-mails as they came in one after the other and cried. All three were short and concise “Happy to help.” I went with the first one to respond, Bill Niman and Steve Clausen, because that seemed like the right thing to do. Someone else might have tried to negotiate between them but to me a gift is to be accepted with grace and gratitude…(I offered marriage when I spoke to Bill the first time even though my husband and Bill's beautiful wife, Nicolette would probably have rolled their eyes…I was so happy. He graciously declined by the way).
I am proud to be part of an industry that takes care of its junior partners and I will be honored to do the same in the future hoping to live up to their easy way of showing Leadership and Vision…Happy to Help! We now have 350 seven week old turkeys lazing in the field enjoying the sun. Come visit and don't forget to place your order for turkey!
Your Farmer,
Tara Smith

Warning to our members..... You may wish to edit if you are reading out loud....

Storms...all kinds of storms. There are hail storms, ice storms, your basic thunder storm. Then you have Desert Storm, The Perfect Storm and Brain Storm. Here is one from your Farmer...

Riding back to the house at night on the ATV, Roland running alongside. As I ride into the big barn my head lamp shines up to the rafters and frightens a flock of wild turkeys which proceed to fly straight at me to get out of the barn (they could have gone the other way, but no). As they come upon me they take a severe turn upward and altogether let fly their bowels. You guessed it… The perfect shit storm. I was pelted from head to toe, along with my trusted companion, Roland. I yelled out "holy shit" realized what I said, started laughing and I kid you not, Roland flipped over, did the dog wiggle on his back and I swear he said "that's what I'm talking about!"

We showered, honest....!

Time to order your turkeys...we ran out last year...

Your Farmer,
"Tara Shit Storm Smith"(sort of has a nice ring to it).

Pigs and Water

As most of you know, pigs don’t sweat so in warm weather they need water. Plenty of it. Water to drink. Water to dig mud wallows (covering their skin with mud acts as a sun screen and cools them off).
Yesterday, at 3am, I woke up in a panic. I realized that the water lines for the pigs, in their current new pastures, are laying out on the ground and the pipe is black. That means when the sun hits the line it heats up so hot they can't drink it. I got up, got dressed and headed out with a headlamp and started burying line. It took most of the morning and then I had help from one of the guys that knows all the stuff on the parts and gravity and fittings etc. It was a hard day up and down hills in the heat, standing and watching the pro do the work and me doing the learning, holding tools, digging 4" troughs to bury line, managing tools. By 3 pm I was hot, sweaty (unlike the pigs I do sweat and probably smelled worse than a pig) and at first pissed off that I didn't plan the original move well.
That's when I noticed the breathing. The unmistakable labor breathing all moms that give birth have. Right there next to me one of the mama pigs had 9 of the dearest, cutest, sweetest, litters yet (one of them stumbled over to me. She was red on top, white on bottom with a tan backside and 5 black spots on her butt!). She sniffed at my hand, grabbed a finger looking for milk. I carefully put her next to her mama to drink and she latched on with gusto!
All the work laying the line didn't matt
For a moment, all was right with the world (probably is always that way but somehow I need a push a lot of the time to see it). Come visit.

Your humbled Farmer,
Tara Smith

I have been irritated most of my life by the comment “I need to have a balanced life”. I say this comment when I am exhausted or stressed out. Lately that seems to be a lot. Moving the cement chunks out of the store (making more room in the back for packing), while a physically moronic move for a 50 year old was actually brilliant as it caused my right knee to swell up which then caused me to have to sit and think about what caused me to make the “moronic” move.

I started with “I need to get a balanced life”. But what does that actually mean? The judgmental side of me thinks it means “I work until I have put in the required hours (set by someone else). It doesn’t matter if what needed to get done got done. My time is up and I have a balanced life. My life is not about work. I work to live not live to work”.

The defensive side of me toward the “balanced life scenario” says that leaders, business owners, movers and shakers don’t have balanced lives. They work to live and must work 7 days a week to be successful in the beginning of every endeavor. As they train others they can back away from the day-to-day and focus on the vision and future (which fills the time the “day-to-day” was occupying).
The dilemma…what about the people that do what they love and are successful (whatever that means to them)? What if my day is filled with more of the stuff I love to do and it turns out it is the work I am doing or some part of it? What if I delegate more of the stuff I don’t like to do? If I am working but doing what gives me peace, fulfillment and pays my bills so I am not a burden on society, can I do that and call it a balanced life?

Can I get up every morning face my fears and still manage to get the kids off to school or listen to their successes and struggles with a listening ear verses trying to save them from the pains of growing and learning themselves?

Here is an example of what I am thinking for those of you that don’t follow my writing (which is not a strength and I know it). Here is what is fulfilling to me:
6:00 – 6:30 Getting up at 6am to have coffee to talk about my day with my husband
6:45 – 10:30 Moving Chicken Tractors
10:30 – 11:30 Breakfast with my 13 year old
11:30 – 1:00 Run in shower and deliver a talk on farming somewhere in the 2 counties.
1:30 – 5:00 Check in with office staff, e-mail, voicemail, ancillary paperwork.
5:00 – 7:00 Laundry, house work etc. Conversations with my older kids. Dinner?
7:00 – 9:00 Maintenance/Closing chicken tractors/hen houses/check all water
9:00 on is hearing how the family is doing, work, girls, work, girls…hmmmmm

Not sure if it sounds good to you or not but during the day I feel like I am testing my armor. What is possible for me. I know that moving the cement chunks was mentally an ego thing. I did it! I am the WoMan. I still got it going on. Not a smart move given the swelling in my knee. However, I love the peace and quiet putting new clips on the chicken tractors, sitting on the ground talking to the chickens while I fashioned each wire clip to fit. I like learning how to use a new tool and build a solid fence. It feels satisfying to see the business report with all the numbers going in the right directions and not have to create it myself.

I guess what I am saying is that I get juiced when I am exhausted from a day, can see results of my work and the work is good. I feel like my life is meaningful.
There is some draw for me to test the limits of my capability, to see what is possible from my mind and hands (and knee). It is something I don’t get from shopping (unless it is at the salvage yard, love that place). Fear is actually a strong player in my life. The fear that I might be one of the “cold and timid souls, that know neither victory nor defeat” as George Bernard Shaw put it. To play in the arena of life, risking failure for the potential of victory! That is what I am all about and I don’t think “balance” has a place here. But that is just me!

Your gimpy farmer,
Tara Smith

Innovation

I haven’t been willing to stray from or change anything we learned from Joel Salatin. I found it to be risky and mostly to the detriment of the animals (safety) and workers (efficiency). Until now. Innovation usually comes to me in the middle of the night. The bad news I wake up at 3:15 and realize the mouth guard I use to stop the GRINDING down of my teeth has been worn thin. The good news is I usually have a solution to the problem at hand within the hour. Just laying there giving my brain a moment to speak -it is quite surprising and I count on it.

Two nights ago it was all about the bigger meat chickens. This time of year we are low on green grass. We put in lots of garden vegetables to compensate. But the 6 to 10 week old chickens just seem, well, bored. It is nice out and they are big enough to not get picked up by a hawk so I tried an experiment. We propped up one end of the chicken tractor so they could walk out on the pasture and graze on bugs and plants. It worked. They come out in the am and graze around. They go in for shade if it is too warm. At night they go in on their own for protection. Seems to be working well. We still move the tractor each day to allow pooh to concentrate only one day in any given patch. Everything else seems to be working fine. Chickens seem to be happy. So we have extended the privilege to the rest of the birds that are big enough to not be prey to a hawk. So far so good.

There was one little glitch. I also thought that if I put a batch of 3 weeks olds next to a batch of 8 week olds that they might blend in well enough to be safe. The attack was not from hawks or crows, it was from the 8 week old birds. Apparently they are not interested in sharing pasture with their fellow siblings. They peck at them, drawing blood. Fortunately no one was around to see my reaction. I jumped yelling “Stop it. What are you crazy? Get away. Leave him alone. Have you lost your mind? You don’t bite other chickens”.
Realizing later that this sounded just like talking to a child. I did look around to see if anyone was laughing (that happens a lot). And I still am the boss and get to make the decisions. So there.

Come and visit…
Your Farmer,
Tara Smith

Most people in the world want to live here in the US (regardless of all the complaining we might do). I believe it has to do with our freedoms. Especially the freedom of choice.

The perception is that we always have a choice. In my opinion we do have choice, but it is more complex than that. Let’s take food for instance…

Eating organic, pasture raised, local food meets so many levels of “being green” and it requires a well-informed purchaser to be able to pull it off. Marketing is hard core for bad food and overcoming the lies in our food system is one of the most trying and frustrating things I have done in the last 3 years.

Understanding what REAL food is and what it is not is key to making informed choices. I recommend the following:

http://www.sierraclub.org/truecostoffood/movie.asp
This is a 15 minute video with sources to follow up on.

Food Inc. – DVD movie that fills in the back story of “The True Cost of Food”. You will be amazed. (It is not graphic – great for those sensitive or who are a bit younger) On August 9th, PBS will show an encore presentation of Food, Inc. at 10pm ET (check your local listing. Food, Inc. was just nominated for two News and Documentary Emmy Awards!
Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan. There are 2 versions and I recommend the “young persons” edition for easier reading. He can get very technical.

The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer by Joel Salatin. This is a fabulous perspective of how one man models a healthy, sustainable practice building a food system that in turn builds soil which in turn grows grass that photosynthesizes greenhouse gases (CO2) back into the ground…this book is a hoot and gives hope and solutions you can tackle without becoming a farmer.

There is more and we have a library full of it (also in Farmigo for your shopping enjoyment).

Come visit…bring a friend!

Your Farmer,
Tara Smith

Justifying My Actions

Action: Carrot cake for breakfast.

Justification: I read somewhere that walking 10,000 steps a day will keep you in shape.
I wondered how many steps I take, evidently I wondered out loud and someone gave me one of those pedometers. From 7am to 11:00 each morning I walk 17,000 steps, give or take, on hills, in the heat tending the chicken tractors.

Action: Stealing three bites of steak tartar that Tiffani made and gave to Paige for lunch (Paige can’t see me from her office).

Justification: The stuff is amazing and Paige can’t see me from her office.

Action: Eating a huge dinner of massive sautéed vegetables over a beautiful medium rare pork chop.

Justification: Walking through the fields at night with Roland checking sniffing all things adds on some steps along with the work of hosing him down to get all the duck weed out of his coat because he HAD to jump into the pond. There are steps to get the goats out of the garden (they have discovered the garden) and out of the chicken feed (they discovered that too).

The bottom line is that I am in much better shape than when I was an executive in the insurance industry.
Sitting at a desk on the phone or eating hotel food while traveling had all its appeal (it was clean and my fingers and toes were pretty). But I was fat and unhealthy and frankly bored. Not that that was a reason to go into farming. But it was a reason to take pause, consider what I wanted my life to be like, what I wanted to contribute back…okay I didn’t take pause, I jumped in but that would not suffice to make this point: Working physically as well as mentally rocks. Just like my “pipes” as my son calls my arms. I feel good. I sleep well and I get to eat cake for breakfast!

Warning: If you are having thoughts of going into farming and you are over 45 I would suggest a gym first.

Your Buff Farmer!
Tara Smith

Just when I think we are a fad I get a call. This guy wants to know what to do with the $2 million dollars he has from selling shares in a company. He wonders about organic food as an investment. I sent him to my friend that is an investor doing just that. He buys farm land with investors’ money, turns it into organic producing land within 5 years and the return is 8% starting at the 5 year mark. I was surprised to learn the surge of people putting their money into such an investment and the reasons why. Not just the return. The majority say it is to guarantee organic food for their grandchildren. Most of these investors are over 50 and believe the stock market is not trustworthy but organic land (or land becoming organic) is a safe and smart investment for their families futures. I found that fascinating.
So those occasionally fleeting thoughts of selling the farm because my hands are cut up from moving chickens or I can’t get out of bed without groaning like an old man are just that...fleeting. If anything I would like to lease more land with investors to allow us to raise more chicken on less challenging ground (those hills are tough). Maybe a manicure first…

Your Farmer,
Tara Smith

It’s All About the Twinkie Defense

I have to say congratulations to you as members. Not because you want to feed your kids and selves real food and not because you want to support the farm so you can choose real food (even though those are great reasons). There is another reason.

Remember the Twinkie defense? The defendant killed 2 well known leaders in the community and claimed he was depressed from eating too many Twinkies causing him to lash out and murder. It didn’t fly and he was convicted. Read on and keep the Twinkie in mind…









There was a meeting in Marin yesterday that addressed the availability of healthy food for those that are at or below the poverty line. Now, you know my stand on those that are above the poverty line. The stand about choices. We have a choice to buy a new gadget or pay for real food. However, those that are below the poverty line have less options. Some much less.

In the San Rafael Canal district there are 5 fast food restaurants and no grocery stores. Has something to do with zoning. Really? Are you kidding me? Our county and city planners don’t have a bigger vision than that? Wait…hold on…it is really complicated. So complicated that there is no accountability at any level of government. No one has the authority to make a better choice to plan for growth and distribution of healthy food. What would it take to put a farmers market in the Canal District? A lot of bright minds to get past all the zoning etc. But that wouldn’t be the show stopper.

The show stopper is the cost of the food. The supply and cost to raise it with land prices, workers comp and labor board requirements are cost prohibitive, today. They will remain that way until enough of the middle to high income families and leaders in our communities decide that enough is enough. But why would we decide that? Best to look closely at why. There is a huge health care cost for children that grow up eating from a convenience store or seniors that can’t physically access healthy food and end up eating processed “plastic” food delivered by well-meaning volunteers.

It’s called welfare, food stamps, Medicaid and Medicare. Programs that are creating a wave of higher costs because they cannot address the problem adequately. And the unhealthy are growing in numbers beyond control. The food system, or lack thereof, is feeding the health care system. Nice little monopoly.

Sitting in this meeting my head wanted to explode. All I could think about is why it is okay to sell Twinkies in the store? My husband, the level headed one in our marriage, said it had something to do with some document called the Constitution. Yeah, whatever. I think it is more about leadership.

Leadership like they have in Fairfax. The community decided to ban “polystyrene” from use in restaurants and stores. Makes great sense. The stuff doesn’t biodegrade, creates landfill and litter issues so they ban it. Seems simple.

So why not create a vision that by 2015 we have only real food in any outlet for food i.e. restaurants, grocery stores, farmers markets, schools etc. What would it take to do it? The best way I know how to accomplish a huge goal is to write down all the reasons why it can’t be done and work on each issue one by one. That process puts all the overwhelming stuff in to bite size pieces and it is amazing how much can get done in a short time. Utilizing many people for small projects vs. few doing all the work is another method to Get Sh*t Done.

Can you feel it? The insanity. Anybody interested in leading us out of it?
Your Farmer,
Tara Smith

What can a Goat tell you? If you pay attention it can tell you to “Move On”. From a philosophical stand point and a literal one. One of our goats has taken to pushing me forward with it’s head squarely behind my knee. It’s a gentle push but she evidently is tired of listening to my farm tour blabber and seems to want to move ahead with the walk! The “Move On” message is what it is like here day to day. There is maintenance of course but it changes with the seasons. There are predators and mistakes. There is always someone with a suggestion of what to add to the farm (some of them are great ideas as long as the person suggesting it wants to do the work!).

In our 2 long years here we have built the basics and continue to improve our processes toward the perfect plan and it NEVER comes out that way, but it is close. Trying new ideas while keeping our core values in place i.e. Animal happiness first, then soil building, then humans and the rest we work hard on like trying to impress you with the bounty.

Moving on, improving practices is tricky. Sometimes what seems like a more efficient method thwarts the purpose of the original idea i.e. the meat chickens are in chicken tractors out on pasture but the hills in some areas of the farm make it difficult to move them each day so we are trying out a new idea today. Using a flexible fence to surround 5 of the tractors and allowing the meat chickens to graze outside of the tractors. It gives the older chickens, 5 to 10 weeks, free range opportunity and they are big enough to not get picked off by a hawk. I will let you know how that goes.

The fun part is that it is my farm and I get to try stuff. I like that. It is your farm too so feel free to come up with ideas and let me know. Like the front yard. The plan is to create a kid friendly garden. Lamb’s ear, pineapple sage, a brick path through it. If you have any ideas or want to work on it, let me know. Should be fun! Because I can!

Your Farmer,
Tara Smith

Moo

The 3rd day we lived on the farm there was a cow here, from the previous owners, that was having twins. The vet was called because of the twins and sadly it is common for the female of the twins to be stillborn. It was true in this case but the male was healthy. Much to my chagrin the normal process for the male was to send him to be processed (he was a Holstein breed and as we now know that is primarily for milk, not meat. He wouldn’t produce enough meat to be considered worth raising). Of course that wasn’t acceptable so we asked if we could have him and they agreed. However, he would be sad to be alone so we were given another day- old calf from the neighbor (he would have gone to processing also. Not the neighbor, the calf).









The neighbor showed us how to feed the calves and care for them. It was easy and for the next 8 months we had so much fun with those little guys. We named them Spot and Sparky and all the visitors could bottle feed them. The kids loved it and the calves would follow us around on tours just like those now pesky goats.

One Sunday about 6 months in, we were graced with a visit from Albert Straus of Straus Family Creamery. After the tour, Albert introduced himself, was kind enough to compliment our efforts. He then pulled me aside and said…”Tara, the calves are great but you do realize they are bulls, right?” “Yes” I replied looking all innocent…because I WAS. “Well”, he replied “they will want to “mount” something pretty quick here (I think I understood what he meant) and you don’t want it to be one of your guests. Probably after the 6 month point you should keep them in a fenced area verses going on tours with you and you can still allow the kids to bottle feed them” (at this age the calves were only getting water but they loved it and the kids did too).

He was right. Several days later the cattle were mounting each other and frankly, while it was an eye raiser, I could see his point. So, into the pasture, behind a fence and sadly no more calves on tour.

Then we got the baby goats. They are still fun to take on tour, safe with the kids albeit not safe for the grape vines or any other plant we want to keep. Still, we missed those little calves.

Guess what…we have a little calf and will have 2 by next week that we can take on tour again. One of the mama cows had a little brown male and for some reason she was not interested in raising him. So we began bottle feeding today. He is soooo cute. We need a name. Send in your ideas and next week we will pick and post to the newsletter.

More importantly, we invite you to come visit and feed them yourselves. Not to mention all the baby piglets and chicks…ducks on the pond and of course Roland the protector (sadly, and those of you that know him understand, he does need valium).

P.S. Just an FYI…I don’t want you to own any problems we have. It is not yours to deal with, but I do want you to know what we deal with in order for you to understand what farming is about, and when we are not willing to cut corners to make the bills. Eggs and chicken. We are short on eggs again. 600+ laying chickens was not enough and we are growing more and adding from other organic flocks that want to sell. Meat chickens are another matter. We upped the baby chick quantity from 400 to 500 every 2 weeks. That will handle growth for the next several months however we do have a shortage outside of membership. Membership has its privileges and this is one of the times your membership pays off.

Thanks for supporting us in our efforts. We know you want our success as much as we do.

Come visit, Mooooo…Your Farmer,
Tara Smith

Just got back from vacation. Can you believe it - I went on a 2 week vacation. The highlight of the vacation was “the incident” and it went like this…

We were in Greece on a boat anchored in a small cove off a little tiny island. On top of the island was a rock outcropping and I thought it would be fun to hike up and see the view. With my handy dandy team of 3 (two whiny woman and my son Joe), we ventured off.
We got to a small road that was lined with an eight foot rock wall on the side I needed to get to so I walked along looking for an opening and of course there was one. I was going to get to the top.

As I walked through the opening something grabbed my arm. I looked down as my arm was pulled back and what registered all happened in an instant.
The thing grabbing my arm looked just like a thick string of yarn. It was white.

My thoughts as they occurred:
“That is from a spider”
“It is really thick and huge webbing”
“That means the spider is huge and a monster”
“Screaming and jumping is in order”









Yes, yes, your charming farmer ripped off a blood curdling scream, jumped 5 feet into the air and started frantically flailing to get the monster off of me. There was web stuck all over me and the web was full of dead insects the size of quarters and I am sure there was a few large beasts like bears and mountain lions stuck in there. My whiner friends were laughing. The one that actually peed her pants shall go unnamed (Kim Galatolo)….and the other one who had said it was crazy to go climbing due to the venomous snakes we were warned about (being such a chicken she will go unnamed also, Dr. Kathy O’Connor), pointed out how many of the large beasts were all over which sent me into fits of jumping and screaming and more flailing.
Okay, so the beast itself…it was HUGE. It was spitting and hissing. It said my name. It said it would hunt me down with its brethren and eat me during the night. Its brethren echoed my name and said death to the organic woman that wants to climb the mountain. She will be good eating.

I continued to flail but manage to make my way back to boat without injuring myself or anyone else (as far as I know)…

I have recovered but on returning to the farm Elijah asked me to come to the garden to see what he had found…yes it was a tarantula. He had covered it with a glass cup and wanted to show me before he let it go. I won’t be working in the garden anytime soon.


Your wussy, rested Farmer,
Tara Smith

The Burger Edition

Now that you have read up on chickens, let’s have a refresher on Pig!

What kind of pigs do we have on the farm?
We have 5 different breeds: Duroc, Hampshire, Berkshire, Tamsworth and Gloucester Old Spot. We mix the breeds to create a strong, healthy animal that will do best in our unique area.

How long is a pig pregnant?
A mama pig (sow) will be pregnant for 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days, give or take. When the babies are born they come out really clean. The mamas don’t have to lick them at all so they are not used to being touched. If you pet a baby pig it will jump straight up in the air and squeal from the odd sensation of your touch.

Why are the pigs at Tara Firma Farms so friendly?
Well, we coax them with a little organic Straus ice cream when they are little! They stick their heads into the bucket and we pet them until they are used to our touch. Doesn’t take too long!

Photo of our pigs by Nathaniel Coon, aren’t they cute?

How long do pigs live here on the farm?
We raise our pigs to approx. 8 months old & 250 lbs.

What do the pigs do on the farm?
They fertilize and dig up rocks! We have certain pastures with lots of rocks and the pigs dig those up when they are rooting for bugs, grubs and turnips!

Why are pigs always playing in the mud?
Pigs don’t sweat! So when it is hot out they need to cool off. By making mud holes to lay in, they can cover themselves with mud, kind of like sun screen. Good news it works, bad news is they get itchy when the mud dries and then they want to be scratched. You can be a scratching post for them!

What it the funniest thing about Pigs?
Around 5pm, as the days cool off the pigs wake up from a lazy, snoozing day and start to play. And when I say play I mean Play Big! They run, jump and twirl. The 8 week old piglets will sneak out and run around the farm like a gang from New York! However, the second they are startled by anything they run as fast as they can back to their mama!

All in all the pigs are the most fun here on the farm! And we have lots of babies just born, so come out to see then and maybe you and a piglet can go for a walk!

Your Farmer,
Tara Smith

Now that you have read up on chickens, let’s have a refresher on Pig!

What kind of pigs do we have on the farm?
We have 5 different breeds: Duroc, Hamshire, Berkshire, Tamsworth and Gloucester Old Spot.
We mix the breed to create a strong healthy animal
How long is a pig pregnant?
A mama pig (sow) will be pregnant for 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days, give or take.
When the babies are born they come out really clean. The mama’s don’t have to lick them at all so they are not used to being touched.
If you pet a baby pig it will jump straight up in the air and squeal from the odd sensation of your hand.
Why are the pigs at Tara Firma Farms so friendly?
Well we coaxed them with a little Organic Straus ice cream when they are little!
They stick their heads into the bucket and we pet them until they are used to our touch.
Doesn’t take long!
How long do pigs live here on the farm?
We raise our pigs to approximately 8 months old and 250 lbs
What do the pigs do on the farm?
They fertilize and dig up rocks! We have certain pastures with lots of rocks and the pigs
dig those up when they are rooting for bugs and turnips!
Why are pigs always playing in the mud?
Pigs don’t sweat! So when it is hot out they need to cool off. By making mud holes to lay in they can cover themselves with mud, kind of like sun screen.
Good news it works, bad news is they get itchy when the mud dries and want to be scratched. You can be a scratching post for them!
What it the funniest thing about Pigs?
Around 5pm, as the days cool off the pigs wake up from a lazy, snoozing day and start to play. And when I say play I mean Play Big!
They run, jump and twirl. The 8 week old piglets will sneak out and run around the farm like a gang from New York! However, the second they are startled by anything they
Run as fast as they can back to their mama!

All in all the pigs are the most fun here on the farm! And we have lots of babies just born, so come out to see then and maybe you and a piglet can go for a walk!

MEAT GLUE OMG

The latest, most outrageous, hysterical thing about food I have heard yet…..

MEAT GLUE…..you got that right. MEAT Glue.

You have to Google it. My explanation won’t do it justice but it goes something like this…

Pig and Cow blood has coagulants that are processed into a pounder.
The pounder is mixed into meat (chicken, beef and pork) trimmings.
The mixture is then formed into the shape of, let’s say a filet mignon or chicken breast.
Wrapped in plastic wrap to hold its form and refrigerated for 6 hours and voila!
You have something that looks like a filet or chicken breast that isn’t!

But what the heck. It looks like it and costs like it and with some good seasoning and sauce taste fine.
What’s the problem…..OMG
And it is everywhere in the U.S. Restaurants in particular and you wouldn’t be able to tell. The U.S. approved it's use in 1998. If you have had nuggets of chicken or round ham slices and crackers or turkey rolls or been to a restaurant in the last 10 years you have probably eaten this stuff.
BTW, people diagnosed with Huntingtons and Parkinson's have high levels of this stuff in them (transgultaminase).
You have to see the You-Tube…..just put in Meat Glue.

Another reason to “Know your Farmer”….I swear we don’t even have a bottle of Elmer’s glue on the property let alone Meat Glue….

Evidently you all understood the laying hen thing not to be confused however with the meat chicken thing.

The Meat Chicken and the Laying Hen used to be the same bird. Birds lays eggs and can also be great for eating. The only reason they are separate is the demand for more of them to eat or the demand for eggs. The bird industry practiced natural selection and identified birds that layed more than others and bred them. Those that were bigger in breast or leg meat were also selected and bred. They tended to be different birds. So we ended up with layers and meat birds. Here is the crazy thing…..laying hens, as you recall from last weeks lesson, start laying around 6 months old. Meat birds are full size at 8 to 10 weeks old! Not kidding. The grocery story bird is processes at 5 and 6 weeks old to deliver a 3 lb bird. That has been going on since the 60’s and the reason for the is due to…..drum roll…..COST! Birds at 5 weeks old get really hungry like a 14 year old boy. They require more food and being in cages and/barns will kill each other for more food. The food cost more so they began processing the younger bird. Less meat but costs less. The 8 to 10 week old bird, raised on pasture will grow to full size, have 1/3 more meat on it (higher meat to bone ratio than the 5 week old bird) so it is more efficient. The Omega 3’s, CLA’s and other important nutrients will be in high quantities in a pasture raised older bird vs little to none in a caged or barned bird. Another critical point is the food they eat. Corn and soy free food is important for not only the birds but for us as well. The overuse of corn is so prevalent in processed food and meat we are all practically made of corn and corn is a just a step from sugar. Soy has so many reason to not eat it I don’t have the space so read the books. Nourishing Traditions has a good chapter in the front that nets it down if you need too. So back to the meat chicken….we have ours shipped in from Iowa. 500 birds, 2 times per month. Sounds ridiculous. I know. We can’t get a hatchery to ship without a vaccine in the egg and antibiotics in their water. The assumption is that because we are ordering a larger quantity we must be using cages/barns and we are not ordering enough for them to change their process. Understood. We also are not ready to begin a hatchery. Not enough space to pasture all the chickens that we would need to lay all those eggs. Maybe next year. Unless one of you is interested in starting a hatchery….No? I digress. Just before the birds arrive we fluff up the wood shavings in the brooder, spray with water to get the composting started (the ammonia from the chicken pooh and pee bonds with the carbon in the wood shavings). This creates a warm floor for the birds to sit on and it also creates an environment for little insects to grow. Those insects are the birds first real protein. The birds are shipped here overnight and we pick them up at the post office. Weird but they are nice people at the post office, in the back, at 6am. We bring them home and put them in the little chick brooder. They need 95 degree heat to start, water and chick feed (corn and soy free of course). After 2 weeks we move them to pasture in to chicken tractors (10x12x2). We move them every day so they are on a fresh jungle of grasses, cow pies and have lots of bugs to eat! They dig through the cow pies to get to the fly larvae that have hatched. The act of digging through the pies spreads out the pies and fertilizes the ground better.

After 8 to 10 weeks we process here on the farm. They weight 7lbs or more and dress out at 4lbs. The goal is always more than 4lbs. Some birds are just smaller by default but most are 4.5lbs. Birds don’t need to be cooked to death like our parents taught us. You can tell when it is done by checking the inner thigh where it connects to the body. If there is raw meat there or blood it is not done. Don’t over cook. Samonella comes from stressed out birds. The salmonella is a natural in the intestine of a chicken and a necessary balance but if the bird becomes acidic from too much stress the salmonella will grow out of proportion and infect the bird. Birds processed in the USDA plant are washed in bleach and water or hydrogen peroxide, some form of astringent to kill infection. We don’t do this, our birds are happy birds right up to the end.

Back in the day, the layers and the roasters were the same bird. Over the years commercial farming followed a practice known as “selective breeding” creating 2 types of birds: those that laid more eggs and those that grew bigger breasts and legs. The layer tends to be skinnier and the meat chicken more like a bouncer (you know, the big guy at the bar that kicked you out in college because you were out of control). Laying hens will begin laying around 6 months old and will lay for 3 to 5 years if they are raised on pasture, 2 years if in cages or forced to lay by using lights (keeps them thinking it is summer vs winter with less light when they will slow down production to rest their bodies in preparation for the laying season. Not natural or good for the bird).

The rooster does have a purpose. He warns the hens should prey such as hawks, coyotes, raccoons etc. come along. He helps heard them into the hen house in the evening and he does the tango. Okay, not necessarily the Tango we know but a good rooster will socially engage the hens. And there are bad roosters. Those bad boys that really don’t serve up anything useful but they fertilize anything with a feather and they are pushy about it. We call those bad boys Stew.

On the technical side the question of “Are the eggs fertilized?” Most likely they are. Rooster sperm lasts in the hen about 10 days or so and matures overtime fertilizing the egg just before the shell forms. Because the eggs are laid in nesting boxes and the chickens don’t sit on them they don’t become chicks (they need 99 degrees for 21 days to hatch a chick). Fertilized eggs are not different than non fertilized eggs technically. Ideally a chicken has pasture to be a chicken in and mating is a normal process for chickens to engage in. So a fertilized egg indicates that a chicken has a life worth living but I digress.

We have mostly Rhode Island Reds and White Leg Horn chickens and they lay the brown and white eggs respectively. We also have some of the Araucana’s that lay the pink, yellow and green eggs. We got those for the kids knowing they would be excited to look in the carton to see if one of the special eggs was in there. Personally those birds, the Araucana’s, are not nice. They pick on younger birds so we have to keep the younger crowd separate until they are old enough i.e. big enough to join the larger flock.

All poultry are omnivores. They are meant to eat meat i.e. insects, bugs, worms, mice and small rodents or fish should they get the chance.

Things I find interesting or disgusting or it just makes me mad to be mislead (marketing gone awry):
• The free range chicken – I always thought of this chicken as being out on the range, cowboy hat, spurs, 6 guns, taking on the insect world. The truth is that free range only means “access to the outside”. No requirement of what that outside means or length of time. And it doesn’t apply to laying hens only to meat chickens. Lovely.
• Organic eggs from a factory farm means the chicken is fed organic soy or corn. It does not mean the chicken was out on pasture.
• The Vegan egg means the chicken has no access to any kind of meat. That means no insects, grubs, worms etc so it is defiantly in a cage and by the way it also means someone makes sure in that stinking barn, full of caged or crammed in chickens with dead animals and feces all over the floor that the chickens choose to NOT eat the flies because they know that their eggs are supposed to be meat free.
• The latest legislation to increase chicken living space from ½ x ½ square foot to 1 x 1 square foot is a huge step….what?
• There is an ugly truth to roosters and hens in hatcheries. The roosters are sold the day they hatch to make cat and dog food. 2 million a day. There is a solution to this that I want to tackle before the end of the year. It’s to hatch our own hens/roosters. Grow the rooster for meat birds. If grown on pasture they taste just as the meat birds but with less meat.

At the end of the day you get what you pay for and you pay so much more for food at the grocery store. Don’t forget to view the 15 minute movie at: (Tiff can you put in the Sierra club movie link here) if you haven’t already.

Vote with your dollars….your farmer.

Someone asked me our pasture management philosophy could feed the world. The answer is yes and no. The Yes part is the philosophy that (bring back your boxes and bags) pasture management and bio intensive gardening could feed the communities they surround. There are some caveats. We all eat too much meat. A 12 oz steak even if it is organic and pasture raised is too much meat for one person. 4 to 6 ounces is plenty. We need to eat more greens and legumes. Cut out the white stuff like the white breads, pastas and sugars. The NO part is that we cannot feed the world. We can only feed our community. Other communities should feed themselves as well. We can teach others if needed. The arrogance disguised as compassion to feed the world is what has gotten us into this mess. More and cheaper is not better. Communities need to live within the means of their environment in a sustainable fashion. We think the global economy is a good thing and in many ways it is but in so many ways it is not. In particular the food system. Let’s face it, the farther away the food has to travel the less nutritious it is, the more oil is used to transport and the current mass production of animal meat turns our food that isn’t real and is full of hormones, antibiotics and comes from sick animals. That is our food system and we have had it for 60+ or years and seem to be just waking up to the fact that it is horrible in every facet.

Feeding the world….I want to discuss that part a bit. While it is a grand idea, those that hold that idea are wanting to feed the world with processed food. So really we are not feeding the world, we are poisoning the world. I have to stop myself from getting frustrated with this question because 2 years ago I would have asked it myself. So shame on me. But, and there is always a butt….(mine is smaller by the way because I eat clean healthy pig fat with my pork chop and pig fat breaks down human fat and turns it to energy or waste)…but I digress….moving toward a healthy economy, world wide means we have to consider the long term, not just this year. We have to think in decades and centuries not next week. So I ask you…..outside of reading my drivel and buying our food, which I love you for…..what are you doing to save the world?

The economy is improving….that’s what I heard. Interesting that the word “ improving” is used. There is an assumption that a growing economy is a good thing. Is it? A growing economy is all about consumerism and our society tends to consume unconsciously. Consuming without a consciousness, without regard to consequences, is the cancer that has brought us to our world condition. I am preaching to the choir but you are the only ones listening and maybe some of what I will say will show up in your conversations with your circle and it will spread. Every time we spend a dollar we are voting for the thing we are buying. We tend to be buying what the media says we should be buying or what we have become accustomed to having. Unconsciously we are conveniently destroying the planet. Craig asked me this morning if I wanted to continue with the farm. We will be profitable with 150 more customers. It is a battle up stream for stronger or maybe younger people than I. It’s holding a believe so strongly that the day to day trials or the bumps in the road are just that, bumps in the road. Nothing more. They only need solutions to move forward. The critical thing for me is to remain inspired. To keep the focus of the farm day to day without losing sight of the bigger mission. Keeping that focus and inspiration comes by accident or maybe by divine intervention but it comes….as it did a moment ago… I am sitting here talking to one of our customers. He is working on our computer system. His name is Leo and he just had a conversation with a friend about our food. The friend was intrigued and asked what he was paying of his food. Leo replied “I don’t know. All I know is that I get $50 worth of meat a week and we love it. I know it is healthy. The farmer isn’t feeding my cows other cows and I know I am doing the right thing by buying local and environmentally healthy food”. The friend said “That’s crazy. Your probably getting ripped off. I don’t care if they feed my cow car tires, I just want to have the meat cheap”. Leo didn’t really have anything left to say that wouldn’t inspire a food fight so being Leo he inspired the food fight and I can’t print the rest of the conversation…. So the cost of the food. You can look at our P & L. It is sitting on my desk. Happy to show it to you. You won’t get that information from the food in the supermarket. What is missing from the cost of your steak in the super market:

• the oil costs to grow the grain for the cow to eat


• the antibiotics to keep it alive while it is eating the corn or soy (as it is poison for a cow to eat grain)


• the antibiotics are also used to keep the cow from becoming ill standing knee deep in manure and urine


• the cost of the cleanup of the manure ponds leeching into local ground water


• the cost of the millions of gallons of water to feed confined cows and clean the buildings in which they suffer


• the cost of hauling the animals from the farm to the feed lots to the butcher to the distribution center to the grocery store and then you to your house and back from the store.

There is more AND you get a special gift for participating….ill health. The cost of your health and the cost of health care. (This same friend of Leo’s won’t hesitate to spend $100 on bar tab for microbrew or a cabernet). So why doesn’t the food in the supermarket cost more? Insidious as it seems, the costs are subsidized by our government. Your tax dollars at work created this nightmare. The system that is supposed to feed you is killing you, your children and your planet. Okay, maybe not you because you are a member. The answer to Craigs questions was yes. Your Farmer Check out a fabulous video from SierraClub.org. Search the site for "the true cost of food". The 7 minute video is great and has all sources listed below the video.

What do I do with my days?

For those of you that care, here it is:
Everyday is different.
Wednesday: Got up at 6am, made Joe’s lunch for school, emptied the dish washer, put in a load of laundry, got him up for school at 7am, made his breakfast, made Craig coffee (he was on a conference call at 6am), drove Joe to school, drove out to Pt Reyes to do a speaking gig, home by 11:00 to teach a class to 11 Berkeley students, prepared some paperwork for the Missouri group (25 prospective farmers on an educational tour from Missouri – discussing farm business strategy, numbers, accounting, etc), responded to e-mail, messages, in box, more paperwork, met with my ops manager to cover the next days items and headed up to the house at 6pm. Took Joey to a class in Marin, did e-mail while waiting, took Joe home, helped with Math, finished laundry and went to bed at 9:30. How exciting was that!

In comparison here is a given Friday. Up at 5:30, run to the post office to pick up baby chicks and put them in the brooder. The postmaster has gotten used to us. Make Joes lunch, get him up at 7 and breakfast – eggs and sausage (he doesn’t get bacon either), sometimes pancakes – if he’s lucky. Off to school. Meet with someone at school for fundraising efforts ,I’m a Board Member).
Home by 9:30 to finish moving chicken tractors, we move them every morning. Check on the pigs, where we are moving them too and get a hit list from Elijah for what we need for the next week, be it grain, bedding for the chicks, seeds.
Respond to e-mails about farm tours and bills, return messages about our producer’s certificate & insurance for the coming year, in box sorting through the massive amount of mail we get each week – farm tractor catalogs mixed with high end apparel – and the occasional letter or thank you note, meet with office staff to check in about the weekend’s farm tours, plan out the next week – checking calendar for speaking engagements, building our subscription list and figuring out how to get the word out about TFF.
Done by 3 to pick up Joe from school, take him to swimming, watch him swim, checking e-mail, home by 6pm. Walk around in the rain with a flashlight checking the animals (this is really fun and that is not a sarcastic comment – the piglets get all snuggled up in a pile at night). Maybe watch a movie, last week it was a documentary about water while knitting a Christmas stocking to be felted. Go to bed around 9:30/10:00.

By the way, Fridays are my day off. Or so I’m told.

So it is really not that exciting and sometimes it is….the details in between are what make it so interesting. The goats walking around with me getting stuck in the mud (that is amusing), hens running around in the rain soaked and skinny looking (they don’t have to be out of the hen house but they choose to play in the rain for some reason), piglets, we have lots running around, love the rain, if it isn’t too cold and they are a crack up to watch.

My point is two fold: the work is more with people than animals. The animals don’t need much. The perception that farmers have this hard life is wrong, well, at least this kind of farming. And I don’t do it alone. While I have always worked hard, I’m in better physical shape with this work than the previous desk work. That’s okay with me. The “why” I do it is different than the “what” I do.

The Why is all about doing something to make a difference. I don’t have small children to care for anymore and a lot of experience/energy and that makes me bored easily. So I work toward what I believe will leave something behind that is useful, good and let’s face it, someone might remember that I was here. Oh, and maybe, in the near future, I’ll actually get paid!
Your Farmer.

March 17, 2011
I used to swear people still went to the grocery store because the veggies and meat cost less. Even the organic stuff. Well it happened. I went into Whole Paycheck and the Grass Fed Burger was $9.00/lb, Ribeye was $22/lb. These meats are much higher in fat and water content as they are not dry aged 3 to 4 weeks. Spinach was $3.59 for 5 oz in plastic container. I was shocked and curious (okay a bit of ego is in play here) so I asked the manager what was up. He told me the cost of vegetables would double in the next month with meat to follow. The gas prices to haul the meat and vegetables from farm to processing to grocery and/or from other countries to here was driving up the costs. What does that mean to us and you? To us it explains the sudden growth we have had with the membership. For you it supports your decision to eat directly from the farm and gives you ammunition if your spouse complains about the costs . But there is still something really bugging me. The parking lot was totally packed at Whole Paycheck. Why? It is because people don’t know we are here? They don’t realize they are paying higher prices? Maybe they pick up dates(not the fruit) in the produce section. Not really sure but I think it is non of those. Is it convenience? It is easy to go to the grocery store. We have done it all our lives. Changing to a bag of meat and box of veggies is not easy. It takes commitment to get used to it. I want to know for sure though. So I am going to go back to ask. I will stand in the parking lot and ask why people shop there and offer a dozen eggs to those that will talk with me. I think that is illegal. Maybe I will send someone else like a student so they can get credit for doing research…..I am such a chicken…but a healthy one. Your Farmer

March 10, 2011
A little bit of lice is good for you!
Knowing me as the positive person I am, many of you might now think I have lice and am trying to come up with a silver lining on my way to have my head shaved.
Which I would do “the shaving part, maybe.However, what I have learned about lice makes sense. Why I learned it is a different story.
This time of year the pigs will get lice. A little lice is fine for the older pigs but the piglets get depressed. They really do. It is a bit overwhelming for them.
The internet cure for piglets is all about pesticides,lovely. The treatment most recommended for you and your children is also a pesticide and highly toxic. It is the ingredient Permethrin. It is a synthetic chemical pesticide that works as a neurotoxin. It kills the insect and in quantity can kill brain cells. It is bad stuff to put on your head. It doesn’t work much anymore on the lice because it doesn’t kill the eggs of the adult lice. The stronger of those that hatch build a resistance and hence the Permethrin only kills the weaker of the pesky things. Leaving a stronger strain to deal with while you poison yourself…isn’t that special.
But there is something that actually kills not only the adult lice but the eggs too. Natural and non toxic to humans Tea Tree, Neem and Karanja Oil. The eggs are killed and the lice is gone. The best mix out there we found is by Access Nutraceuticals Inc. (you can google licekiller.com).

Not willing to wait for an order to be delivered I took the Tea Tree oil off my shelf and mixed it with an organic shampoo. Armed with a bucket and brush I walked out to the piglets. Now piglets are not excited about cold water in winter and they do not wish to be bathed in a tub. But sometimes mom’s gotta to do what she’s gotta do. Just like holding the dog in the tub, we put the piglets in one by one and gave them a Tea Tree oil bath. The sound that comes from a piglets mouth when it does not want a bath is something one should not put on a bucket list of experience to have in ones lifetime. OMG. It is the worst screeching, high pitched nasty sound on the planet. If you didn’t know better you would think they were having a leg cut off and they don’t stop until you put them back on the ground at which time the just stop. Instant silence and they walk away. Just like a human baby, one of them had to poop and at the same time try to jump out splashing poop water all over me, particularly in my face (I love my job, I love my job). After getting 9 or so cleaned up I took a break staring at the little herd digging around the greens in their pasture. Half of them were so clean compared to the other half that were not bathed yet. The difference was striking. I remembered Wilbur and how he glistened when the farmers wife gave him a buttermilk bath. I also remember that he stood there enjoying it. Not my expereince. Covered in mud, pig pooh and feeling good about the morning I walked back toward the house that would offer a shower. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, even a little bit of lice (kicks in your immune system). I stopped to talk to one of our members walking with her young daughter. The sweet, cute little darling scrunched up her nose at me and whispered to her mom “she smells bad”. That I did.
Your Farmer, still.



March 3, 2011
I just spent a morning writing to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (I tried walking into the office in WA where supposedly Bill works. It is not the public office for the Foundation, which is in downtown Seattle but rather a private office where Bill and Melinda work in Kirkland, WA. There are no names for the foundation in the lobby and the 4th floor is not labeled nor accessible. The receptionist in the building told me that there was no office for Bill or Melinda in the building and I must be mistake. The guard chuckled as I left. He asked me what I was thinking walking into the private offices of the richest man in the world. Had to try).

I sat down and wrote to the foundation, an e-mail, to see if I could gain an audience. Why, you ask? Because I believe that in 5 to 10 years we will experience the first demand for oil being higher that the supply. We already are seeing the market move to higher prices in our gasoline. Shipping to and from other countries will become obsolete unless a new form of energy shows up. What does that mean for our food supply? Grain coming from China, veggies from Chile, Mexico, Argentina…meat from unsustainable feed lots, poisoned with herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics…..but I am preaching to the choir…you already know these things and hence are members of our farm.

I want to build a non profit educational program that attracts young people to local, sustainable farming and that includes profitability. I want to show the world that food needs to be grown locally in order for it to be nutritional and sustainable.
So I walked into their non office and was not able to speak to anyone but I did write the e-mail. It took a minute to push the send button, wanting each sentence to be perfect and the other concern I have went flying out the window. That concern about starting something that I am too old to finish. What if they replied and wanted to talk with me. What would that mean to my life? Would I go forward and build a national training institute? Teach thousands of young people how to build a successful business in farming and boost them into their own businesses here and around the country? Or the World? Have I lost my mind? Maybe, but I know it’s the right thing to do…. Any other ideas? Your Farmer.


February 28, 2011
A long time ago, like a year or so Elijah (our Master
Gardener from Kenya) came running up to the house
yelling “Bobby cat in the cage, bobby cat in the cage!”.
Something had killed a turkey in the middle of the night so
we put out a live trap. It is a cage with bait in it and
traps the predator inside without harming it. Craig was
not home so I got the neighbor, who brought a gun with
him. As we walked out to the field where the trap was
sitting I was really nervous.
Remember this was in the first few months of us being
here. I told the neighbor that I didn’t want to rush into
anything, that we needed to assess the situation before
any shooting occurred. Perhaps we could relocate the
animal as we were clearly encroaching on its hunting
ground. As we approached the cage was moving and the
hissing was loud. Black and looking huge in the cage I
moved nearer to get a good look (it was dark out and
we didn’t have flashlights, duh…) Suddenly, I burst
out laughing…it was our cat and Elijah has used tuna
in a can for bait…needless to say poor old kitty was
not happy. Elijah was not used to cats. Cats are not
common where he comes from…and there are other differences.
Like last week…we had a few chicks attacked in the
brooder. We checked every nook and cranny. Filled any
gaps. Next day there were more chicks attacked. Again
we covered any possible entry site. In the morning Elijah
was walking past the brooder and heard loud crazy
chirping. He was carrying a shovel and entered the
brooder. The animal ran toward him to escape and in his
surprise he swung and hit it on the head. Being the kind
of guy he is he came to get me to view the burglar. He
was certain it was something like a gopher…but not a rat.
Not a rat because rats are small little cute things that run
around the house on occasion (another story). He had
covered the animal with a pail. I was really curious what
it could be. He said is was a huge animal. With anticipation
he lifted the pail and there was the rat. Definitely a rat.
After I explained the difference between rat and mouse,
I mentioned that Jake,our now 20 year old, had a pet rat when
he was little. You know, the cute black and white ones. How smart
they are…etc…so far Elijah is quite concerned that we would
have a pet rat. He shook his head then and brought it up
again today, wondering if I might be wrong. That the pet
was some other animal I am calling rat.
Can’t blame him. How weird it is to have a pet rat all cute
and friendly. They were too. The first one was named
“Breakfast” and the second one was named “Lunch”
(remember the black cat…). They would sit on my shoulder
and nuzzle under my ear. They came running to me and would
play around my neck. Both of the rats died of old age,
not by the paw of the cat, but I did cry. I cried because they were so
friendly.

Elijah thinks I am insane with this story and perhaps I
might be making it up. But truly I am not. Your Farmer.

February 21, 2011
How are we doing building toward our vision?
Our first goal was to educate our community about
REAL food.
We are doing a lot of that.
Our second goal was to provide that food.
We are doing a lot of that also.
Our 3rd goal was to do it sustainably. What does that
mean actually?
The pillars of sustainability are: People, Profit and
Planet.
The People: We have great people working here.
They hold our vision and work toward making it a
reality. We provide workman’s compensation, health
insurance and pay over minimum wage with a promise
of profit sharing…and the working environment is
pretty nice…

Profit: Getting there. We will break even with
approximately 100 more weekly members and have a
solid working plan to get there within 2 months. You
can help with that by referring your neighbors and
friends to come take a tour…we can do the rest…

The Planet: We have this down given the work we are
doing. Proper pasture management grows the grasses
that sequester the carbon, through photosynthesis,
back into the ground. The animals assist in the mowing,
fertilization and maintenance of the land (and bug
control). They are happy animals out on pasture. They
are able to produce optimum omega 3-6 balance in
their fat along with CLAs, amino acids and a plethora of
other nutrients we need in our bodies.
It is important to me to hit profitability. I want to walk
around with a smug look on my face. I want to say
“YES. Farming can be fun, green, profitable and a
career any young person would want to strive towards”.
The smug part is about all those people that continue to
say ..."it can’t be done here…". I don’t get the “here” part
but then…I don’t care!
Thanks for the support to us, your families, friends and
to your planet!
Your Farmer.

February 14, 2011
My farmer actually showers…..
I have been doing a lot of speaking lately to various groups in and around Sonoma and Marin County. Every time, and I mean every time I speak, at least one person comments on my clothes or how I look…”You don’t look like a farmer”. It has caused me to pause and consider our perception of the local “farmer”.
The perception is fairly dreary; old guy with a weathered face, broken down truck, complaining, driving through town with his grandchild riding along in tattered clothes…his house is 100 years old and falling apart and he doesn’t EVER have a day off. Farming is hard work. I hear that all the time…”farming is hard work”.
Yeah! I like working hard. I like to earn my way. I like to make a difference in our world and hopefully leave behind a path and example for others to do the same. However, I don’t believe a farmer should be broken down, poor, scraping by and never have a day off. I believe farming REAL food should be a sought after career. That vacations, 401k’s, a decent vehicle and savings for college is a given. That retirement is possible in the future without concern about how to afford it.
If we believe that water and REAL food are essential to our environment and health (clearly you do), then why does our society continue to support everything but that?
The only way to get REAL food is to vote with your dollars. Every dollar we spend is like a vote.
The most important votes we have are about our food and water. If we buy cheap processed food we are voting for a food system that depletes and destroys our planet, irreparably destroys our health, and is not sustainable in any way whatsoever.
I wish I was a prolific as Joel Salatin but I am not. However, I can share what I have learned from going down the path he has forged. I do this not only to congratulate you but wish to help you verbalize your choices to others in the hope of moving our culture to local, sustainable, affordable and possibly re-create the perception of the “farmer”.
The most often used reason that people say they can’t afford to buy organic is that they can’t afford it. Most people can and just choose other priorities. Joel has a lists of items he believes no one ever “needs” to buy: Fast food, TV, movies, soda pop, alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, drugs, diapers, baby food, vacations, new cars,
new clothes, processed food, junk food, breakfast cereal, candy, eating out, recreation, gadgets, toys, furniture, cell phones, $100 designer jeans with holes already in the knees…etc…
I agree with the statement and clearly have chosen some of the items anyway. The difference between you, me and those that say they can’t afford REAL food is that they don’t see it as a choice.
There is a gap between you and people who say they can’t afford it and that gap is about their choices. Those that truly cannot afford it are not the ones complaining about it…they are focused on survival.
How do we close the gap? Hmmm, well back to voting with our dollars…buy only local, recycle everything you can from your clothes (have a girlfriend party and trade, it is a lot of fun), to furniture, appliances (buy used or hire a local guy to fix that fridge). If you want to really make an impact on both your farmer and a family that really can’t afford healthy food, buy a subscription for them, a Double Shot for REAL food and those that are barely making ends meet.
You get the point. I am preaching to the choir, I know that, but I do want to bring up ideas for your dinner table discussion, potential action and impact. Let me know what you are doing so we can share your efforts with the community.
Lastly, what college kid would ever want to get into agriculture that would produce REAL food given the perception of the “FARMER”? Maybe it is time to change that. Farming can be done following the sustainable pillars of priority: People, Profit and Planet.
Thanks for helping us to set an example.
Send your friends for a free tour, we can do the rest.
In Gratitude and freshly out of the shower,Your Farmer!

Chickens are doing well. Pigs are, well, happy as pigs
in….grass actually. Moving up the hill past the pond. It
is a lovely sight to see happy animals. Cows are grazing
out there, loving the warm weather…,sneaky as it is.
And the laying hens have been fooled into thinking
summer is here and the eggs are doubling up. I
packed 120 dozen eggs on Saturday. I like packing up
the eggs. Something about all the colors and trying to
make sure to parcel out the green eggs so more kids
get the excitement of seeing a green, yellow or blue
egg (okay, admit it…you do too).
It is a different life to read the news and then wash
eggs. The news is, as usual, hopeless. The U.S. debt,
entitlement of our generation and those to come,
global warming, starvation while eating, starvation in
general, war, etc….goes on and on… and then I wash
eggs. Sun streams in the window. Something tells me
we might be in for a hard time but it will turn out okay
because we are the generation that is educated,
creative, critical thinkers. We solve problems when we
get involved. Thomas Jefferson was quoted as saying:
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take
away from those who are willing to work and give to
those who would not.” I like that because I don‟t like
throwing stones, unless I am willing to do something
about the issues I am throwing stones at…. My 12 year
old Joe is the one that reminded me of that saying 3
years ago when I was complaining about “the food
system”. He said “stop complaining or do something
about it, get a farm".so here I am washing eggs.
I want to make sure that we can supply food. Healthy food. REAL
food. To as many families as possible. I want to share
our knowledge with young farmer wannabes and help
them to supply food also.
Doing what I can…thanks for helping, learning along
with us and being part of the effort. Your Farmer!

January 31, 2011

I was tricked....it is not summer.
It looks like summer.
Feels like summer.
Not summer.
I feel like getting under the covers with a cup of tea
and a good book but...I don't want to miss the sun....
Hmmmm....so sitting here in....OMG check this out...
Our NEW Office......YEAH Baby! We have graduated
to a new space. No longer in my kitchen, living, and
dining room. It is so nice to have personal space again
and have the Office stuff in its own space. It’s in the
gray house on your left when you come in the
driveway... (it will have a sign that says office soon)
and it is fabulous! Come visit when you are here...
In recent months many of you have asked what I think
about the FDA gaining the power to move the food
industry in whatever direction they deem appropriate.
Whether it is sweeteners added to your food without
requirement to be listed on the label, to cows being
fed the same so they fatten up faster (you read that
right), it is all so boring. I go down the rat hole and
end up with a hopeless feeling...then I remember....we
do know how to eat. What to choose, when to cheat
and how much. It is everyone else I am concerned
about...how can I help? I suppose doing what we do
and continuing to educate as much as we can. Send
your friends....
On that note of education, look for our Tara Firma
Farms Institute, nonprofit, coming soon. An
educational component of the farm, separate from the
"business" of the farm (we still have our goal of
demonstrating profitable REAL food farming and are
getting close to that). The education will encompass
not only farming and the business of farming but all
things farming. That’s where you come in....what do
you want to learn? We have a huge community that can
teach you pretty much anything from fermenting to
canning. Maybe you have something you would like to
teach? Let us know as we are brainstorming the list....
And finally, a contest! We need a name for our
educational nonprofit...A turkey to the winner!
Send us your thoughts....i.e. Tara Firma Farms Institute
sounds a little boring to me....
Enjoy this fake summer! Your Farmer, Tara Smith

January 24, 2011
Ever wonder about the TRUE cost of food? The
following link is a 15 minute, straight forward fun to
watch (albeit, still disturbing) video created by the
Sierra Club.
http://www.sierraclub.org/truecostoffood/movie.asp
Give it a look see. It will remind you of another 15
reasons you buy REAL food and that the REAL food you
are buying from Tara Firma is less expensive that store
bought food.
But I digress. And digress even further.....I and the
staff wish to thank all of you that have moved onto the
Farmigo system. You stayed with us during the
transition and that means a lot not only to our mission
to provide REAL food, but in the calculations of our
future inventory. When we can see what the demand is
we know how many chickens, pigs and cows we need to
have out on pasture each month and we assume a 10%
increase in demand along with that.
Interestingly enough, we are already hitting 15% growth
over the last few weeks....seems like a lot of discussion
and sharing occurred over the holidays and those
people that you talked to are coming out in droves on
Sundays (with or without boots). Don't forget you earn
Farm Bucks for your referrals....and we can continue to
move forward.
We were lucky again to be able to see Joel Salatin (the
farmer and mentor who inspired us). He spoke out at
Point Reyes this past week. It was informative,
inspirational and frankly the guy is just funny. He has a
new book out. Really worth the read as it too is
poignant, informative, full of stories that mean
something and overall hilarity. You can purchase from
his website; www.polyfacefarms.com. The title is:
The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer.
We are close to publicizing our spring, summer, fall
event calendar and look forward to seeing you here to
hike, fish, dance, garden, commune with the animals
and generally enjoy the amazing bounty that you are a
part of creating.....Your Farmer!

January 17th, 2011
Remember the Vampire scene where the woman hears
something below and in her white flowing gown, she
walks down the grand staircase, candelabra in hand,
asking "who's there?" I sat there yelling at her not to
go.....
Last night at 3am, Roland, dog protector
extraordinaire, went nuts barking. I got up and
walked, in my sweat pants and tee shirt, to the front
door and he bolted out. Tearing across the front yard
he went straight for the back porch but the fence was
closed. He was jumping and snarling and barking.
Honestly, I was thinking about the woman in the
flowing gown at that point, how she innocently walked
right into the vampire’s arms. But I still scuffled to
the fence and opened it for him. He ran out, jumped
up and, I kid you not, 6 feet up in the air. Over my
head. And of course, came back down and jumped
again, snarling and barking. There was just enough
light to see 2 shapes in the tree. Scuffling back into
the house I got a flashlight. Shining it up into the tree
the red eye glow of 2 bandits (raccoons) stared back at
me. Roland was still losing it, jumping up and down,
there were no vampires, I went back to bed.....
It seems the movies are always different than real life,
sometimes more exciting but perhaps not as safe!
What does this have to do with REAL food. Absolutely
nothing.
So here is the education piece.....its about vaccines
and food. From the early 1900's to 1930 there was a
90% drop in the diseases that vaccines were later to
take credit for extinguishing. However the drop
occurred BEFORE the vaccines were introduced in the
30's. The drop was due to increased knowledge and
practice of nutrition. The good news was that the
information on nutrition was good information and the
food to go with it was healthy REAL food. But then it
wasn't. Goodbye nutrition, hello plastic, irradiated,
dead food. We are on a different slippery slope now.
But I am preaching to the choir.
Thanks for caring about the food you eat and feed your
families. Thanks for believing in us and supporting our
trial and error with billing.....we love the new system!
Remember to come out anytime to visit, wear boots
and tell your friends to come to a Sunday tour (you get
a $10 food certificate for referrals that sign up). Stay
warm, see you here soon. Your Farmer, Tara

January 10th, 2011

Farmigo: Farm-me-go or Farm-i-go? Either is fine or you can call it a "miracle". We do! What is It? Do you have it? If not, you will! It is the next step in bringing REAL food to your table without the hassles of billing, missed orders, missed vacations etc.

Now you can see it, change it, order more and cancel for the week within your own account and at your own convenience. If you are set up already, great! If not, please call as soon as you can: 707-765-1202. We can spend 10 minutes setting you up and giving you a quick tour. It is important to get you on the system no later than January 15th (billing cycle gets confusing after that and we certainly don't need to add to the confusion).
With that I want to give a sincere thank you for those of you that have weathered the billing and filling errors, being part of the solution, while we grow and learn our business. You are the customer and are always right. We are grateful for you and your desire to eat REAL food as it is our desire to grow and raise it for you and do it well.
As for me, life is becoming easier here. We are not on such a steep learning curve but still learning:
- Sun is good.
- Grace, the runt pig, is no longer a runt and has taken up with her fellow brothers and sisters. She has a beau in mind.....
- After turkey processing I practically had a 6 pack stomach (turkeys are heavy) but now I have a holiday pooch (you can only eat so much pumpkin pie and not out do your work out).
- Having a staff with a sense of humor who holds the vision of what we are doing as their own and does what it takes to get it done, is how a business is successful. We have that going on!
My husband, Craig, has a saying: Want everything, need nothing, and accept what shows up. We wanted to provide REAL food. I still can't believe it's working, and what has shown up is you. So thank you for demanding healthy food. Thank you for working with us to provide it, being a partner more than a customer, your gratitude and your graciousness, and your words of encouragement. Those words always show up when I need them most.
Your Farmer, Tara Smith

December 27th, 2010
Stories from the Farm....

Here are some thoughts or stories that you can relate
too and chuckle at....enjoy....

Mice are cute and are much smaller than rats.
My shoe size is a 10 and holds a nice size rat... in my
closet...2 feet from my bed...OMG.

Little children love the chicks in the brooder most of
all (so do all the grownups).

Chicken processing is not at all the shock we expected
and most people seem disappointed that there isn’t
more to it.

Roland has fleas.....

Remember the baby owls in the barn? Yeah, they were
really cute. Until they started eating baby chickens in
the chicken tractors. They could squeeze in but one
night they couldn't get out. Busted. No, I let them
loose, closed up the hole they were getting through...

Hens slow down laying eggs in the winter, as we are all
painfully aware. We could put lights out there but they
need the winter rest so we suffer without the eggs
....but then there are those hens that have gone to the
dark side.....pecking at eggs....breaking them in the
nesting boxes. One of our customers said "golf balls" in
the boxes. It worked...think about it. (thanks Brian!)

Clarification...chickens and pigs are omnivores. They
eat meat. Bugs, grubs, worms, insects, etc. We don't
give them meat, they find it in the ground.
The pigs don't eat children (ours don't anyway, they are
happy, well fed pigs).

Female pigs will line up and chant along with a mama
about to give birth. Kind of like birthing coaches...It is
amazing. Hens will lay eggs in front of birthing mama
pigs to give her extra protein...that's what it looks like
anyway.

An e-mail from a potential intern stating that he was in
college studying Political Science and felt his time was being wasted with the drivel.....could he come and get
his hands dirty...
My response: I have 2 B.S. degrees one of them is
Political Science. What do you think got me here? Go
back to school (his mother would love me).

Gracie the runty little pig is getting huge. She thinks
she is a goat and the goats think they are house pets.

Roland is needing more valium every day...had a bath
at the dog clinic and still has fleas.

Piglets are sneaky. Found a gang of them sneaking into
the garden....could have been a disaster but they are
also easy to scare...we knelt down behind some plants
and growled...the squealing was hysterical....as they
sprinted back to mom....haven't been near the garden
since...they are smart...sort of....

An intern, on his first day of training, came into the
chick brooder, stoned. "Really?" was my response. He
said his back hurt and he needed to relieve the pain.
His back hurt? And he came to work on a farm?

Coyotes are creepy sounding. Turkeys don't like it.
When the coyote howls they walk together in a huge
group, knocking down the feather net, away from the
sound, until Elijah and I come out to scare off the
coyote. Then they come back...on their own.

While petting one of the goats a 30-something aged
man asked me what the difference was between a goat
and a sheep... what do you say to that..?
Another tour question: What do you feed grass fed
beef?
I learn everyday and am happy to have been here to
serve up a dream, along with a great team, to bring to you
REAL food and a connection, whether strong or not, a
connection still to our earth and our short stay with
her.....Happy Holidays. Christmas, Hanukah any
tradition that brings you together in the spirit of
love.......your Farmer.

Christmas Poetry from your Farmer!

Twas the night before Christmas
And all across the farm
The only thing dry
Was the tractor in the barn

The animals were happy though
Fresh grass to eat
They had food and warm coats
Straw under their feet

Baby chicks were nestled
All snug in their beds
While the turkeys for Christmas

The cows were out grazing
The chickens were nesting
The coyotes far off
The worms safe and resting


Rounding up the piglets
Mama pigs, they were busy
The piglets running around
Creating a tizzy.

The goats had settled in
With Gracies the pig, as you know
Who was happy and full
Dreaming of pastry doe

The Turkeys were gone
A memory they make
The tasty dinner for Christmas
We could hardly wait

The miracle here
On the farm as you know
Was brought to fruition
By your bucking the status quo

The soil is rich
The grasses grow fast
This sustainable farm
Has a food source that can last

Its your farm



December 20th, 2010

NOTES FROM YOUR FARMER
We had a dream, a vision.....(sounds like MLK...)
A community of people coming together to share REAL
food and family. Walking, hiking and enjoying the
property. I didn't think much further, too busy learning
about animals and plants. One day I looked up. There
was a birthday party in the tent, families with children
everywhere, a group of college students from Berkeley
talking in the garden. That was last spring.
Our mission was clear, not easy but clear:
 Provide REAL food to our local community.
 Educate as many people as we can about the
food they eat and what it means to their
families, their community and the
environment.
 Create a path for young people to see farming
as an attractive, sustainable and meaningful
profession.
We have hit the first two goals. The third one,
Growing Farmers, we have struggled. There are
few young people that want to work hard and learn
the skills of building fences to reading profit and
loss statements. Not giving up on that goal however.

We did all of it with you as our partners. Your
feedback and referrals. Your patience and stories.
But most of all your willingness to be
inconvenienced occasionally and change your
shopping habits. To believe that what we are doing
is the right thing and wanting to be part of it
enough to make the change. You are Tara Firma
Farms.
However, (there is always a however with me)
being a person of "never good enough" I want to put
out another vision and ask for you feedback....or
really ask if you want to play....

What if we were the first counties (Sonoma and
Marin) in the country to be only eating local? What
would have to happen? I think about that a lot.
What if we made a list of all the things we need
that we currently get locally and a list of all the
things we get that are from outside the
watershed. What if we started looking at what we
could do here locally and began funding businesses
that would supply the things we need...what would
need to happen?
Just food for thought as you enjoy your families
and holiday events... I will enjoy mine knowing you
are out there and eating well! Your Farmer.......