When You're Going Through Hell,Keep Moving!

Winston Churchill said that...it is on my fridge and it helped as the farming business has grown so quickly and for all intensive purposes been successful. Why? Been thinking about that and while on vacation, not vacationing, at least in my definition, I have some thoughts to share:

1. The environmnet/demand: People want REAL food. They want to trust that what is going into their mouths has the stuff they need and none of the stuff they don't. We are not stupid people here on the West Coast and we don't believe nor trust everything we hear. We investigate and make better choices. As an example, here is a link to a blog that says High Fructose Corn Syrup is good for you or at least not worse than real surgar http://www.corn.org/HFCSfacts.htm. Interesting article in that it lists all the things HFCS is in that sugar wouldn't be in and that is the big rub. We didn't know it was in so much and those calories were not expected. We didn't know that HFCS inhibits Leptin, a hormone that tells you your full. The article says no "credible source" says it does anything bad. The article is written by the Corn Refiners Association and evidently written for a 5th grad level reader.
You make a decision.

2. People: if you build it they will come. People to carry out the work. People with passion. And energy and ideas. It has been such a pleasure to work with the team here eager to learn and produce (which means mistakes but I have counted on you, my more mature client to understand and know you are always right when it comes to our mistakes).

3. Knowing how to run a business. That helps, a lot. Wearing the 3 hats of Entreprenuer, Manager and Tech expert has been exhausting but I have the best in class around me to take up the load a bit at a time (and of course Craig who is the genius). Knowing when to add expenses and being willing to live inside the business, literally, with no privacy because building a house would be a huge distraction (and I haven't gotten over the permit fee of $90K to begin OMG).

4. Finally it is the day to day events that make it worth while and here are some:

One of the little goats broke a leg (she got it stuck in a fence) so I found myself holding her in my arms while we put 6 chop sticks for support held by bandage tape around the leg....

Baby owls, did you know that parent owls will swallow a rodent whole, it digest the meat and regurgitates it to feed the baby owl. The rest it poops out in an slighty furry oblong object. If you break it open you will find the bones, quite intact. Amazing.

Pigs, I love the pigs. The babies, all 23 of them are like a herd of water buffalo roaming around the farm as they get the urge...you can hear them coming. They move together like a flock of birds and if you chase them they haul it back to the big herd....unless you have ice cream (which is why I think they are maurading in the first place given they avoid the garden...what child would do differently?). The larger pigs are just the most peaceful, pleasant crowd. They love the mud wallows when it is hot, covered for sun protection they can get itchy as the mud dries so there is an ongong need for scratching and we are human poles for such. The occasional runt that lives in the front yard...Emily being the first. She was loved by many a child and had 4 good months before she went to sleep one night for good (runts do that).

Pesky calves, they are so curious, love to run around a night and have been found at our porch dinner table...munching salad greens...that was interesting.

And laslty the turkeys...all enbolden by their lineage (decendants of velociraptors) they put out their little chests as male 2 week old, telling the world they are here to dominate the kingdom, even in the little one they have. Now out on pasture the Turkeys are like teenagers, digging for bugs, making tunnels (not sure where they are going).

The stories and education are fascinating to me and I hope you also. I promise to write once a week to keep you informed on our progress and thanks for reading!

Fall at the Farm

Okay, farming is a hell of a lot of work! No time to talk...but here is an update!
Halloween, Pumpkins on Pikes...OMG it was fabulous...see the website for the video at the bottom of the front page...it was amazing....plan for it next year the night before Halloween!

Turkeys came next...it was crazy...turkey's weight so much more than chickens..I tore a ligament in my hand from lifting the big Toms....the feed back was overwhelmingly fabulous on the flavor...

5 new baby pigs born the day after Thanksgiving. They look just like little puppies except for the flat nose and the 500lb mom that feeds them....

The weather is 25 degrees and cold....nobody told me that cement walls for an office would hold the cold...let's face it, I am a city girl and freezing to death but I am still here and about to put up some insulation for the chick brooder. New chicks on Friday and it is way too cold to keep them without some upgrading.

All else is coming along...love having Auntie liz cooking breakfast and dinner. The lack of any heat in the old house is only a nusance really...sort of...well it is really a complete drag in the morning....2 cats, a dog, blankets and slippers and I am still cold....have to work in a handy man to fix the furnace! No time...

Pictures to follow.....

Farm Thoughts from Kara

A Farm Weekend By: Kara Holmes (Tara and Craig’s niece, and Auntie Liz's daughter)

If you were to ask me a year ago what I thought about all of this farm business, I would have said I didn’t want anything to do with it. I would have said that I am sick of hearing about chickens and pigs and sustainable crops every time I went to visit my aunt and uncle in San Francisco. I would have said that since we are a military family, my husband and I had different plans for our life that would never include taking care of animals and crops on a farm up in Petaluma (which seemed to me to be the middle of nowhere). I would have said I liked the whole sail boat venture WAY better than this new farm idea. That was last year…before I was able to see the dream of owning this farm put into action. I just got home from a weekend trip up to the farm to visit my mom, Auntie Liz, and drop off her dog, who we have been watching for the summertime until she got settled on the farm. I was anticipating a lot of work, which I didn’t really want to do on my little mini-vacation, but what I experienced was more than I would have ever expected. There has never before been a time in my life where my favorite family members have lived all together in one place, and I have never even dreamed of all of them actually eating meals together every day, or working together toward a common goal. That was completely out of the question…until my aunt and uncle decided they wanted more for their lives. Their willingness to risk everything in order to start and build an organic farm hasn’t only benefited them, but has benefited our whole family, and the community around them. The farm is open to all kinds of people from all over the world who share a common goal of wanting to work hard to produce fresh, healthy meat and produce for the community, and people who are willing to open themselves up in order to teach other people how to do it too! Everyone on the farm comes together to take care of something…whether it be people, chickens, pigs, turkeys, cats, dogs, vegetables, or fruit, and each of them gives their all to make sure that everyone and everything has everything they need to grow and thrive. It was wonderful to spend quality time with my mom, Auntie Liz, who is in charge of taking care of the people on the farm by making sure they have a hot meal for breakfast and dinner every day, and gathering the eggs from the laying hens. When you know deep down inside that you are providing healthy food to busy, hungry, hard working people, it just warms your heart. Though everyone on the farm has certain tasks that they are responsible for, it is also amazing to see everyone come together to do whatever needs to be done, and help out wherever they can. If you were to ask me years ago whether my family would be living and working all together in order to improve the lives of others, I would have said no way because they were all in different states, working various jobs, and devoting their lives to their own little families within the family. Today, it is amazing to see that what started out as a little idea has now become the foundation for bringing my family together, and strengthening not only my own family, but the families in the community as well.

A year ago I would have told you that my husband and I were completely devoted to the military, and to his career above all else, but after experiencing our first deployment, we realized that what matters most in life is just spending time with each other. Although we don’t know for sure what our future will hold, we do know that we want to have a close family, and that some time on the farm is somewhere in our future. When Matt leaves for deployment next year, I will be heading up to the farm to stay for 5 months while he is gone. I can’t wait to experience that time on the farm with my family, and to contribute whatever I can in order to provide the food and experiences that will strengthen our family, and the community. I used to think happiness was mostly about having money, and having enough money to go on expensive vacations, or on the sail boat out in the Caribbean, but the more I experience time with my family on the farm, the more I realize it wasn’t the vacations or the boat that made me happy, it was being able to spend quality time with my family. Now that the farm has gone from a dream to a realization, there will always be a place where my family can come together, and spend quality time with one another. What more could I ever ask for? I want to thank Tara and Craig for not being afraid to take a risk in order to bring true abundance into their lives, and my mom and step-dad and everyone else on the farm for supporting them in creating that abundance…abundance of learning, love, family, food, and helping others. It is an abundance that has touched my life and my heart forever, and something that my husband and I want to do all we can to support it in order to bring that same abundance into the lives of our future family.

Harvest Celebration!!!

Pumpkins on Pikes! Saturday, October 24th!

A visual site for Halloween that you have never seen before!
Pumpkins on Pikes! When the light disappears and the night mist appears, pumpkins seem to float and fly in the wind!
Come and spend an evening carving pumpkins, eating community shared food and enjoying a visula site that compares to no other.
Pumpkins are carved by all attendees, some fancy some simple all up to the carver!
As each pumpkin is completed they are perched on a platform on a stake in the ground.
When the darkness sets in the pumpkins are all lit for a stunning visual sight!
Pumpkins will be lit each night through Halloween!
Bring dish to share, carving tools, a beverage and be ready to carve'em up!

Halloween!

Tara Firma Farms Halloween!

Come One Come All
1st Annual Harvest Celebration!
A Halloween Event for the Whole Family!

Scarecrow building, Sack Races, Pumpkin carving, Biting for Apples
Ice Cream Making, Hay Maze, Corn Maze, Bon Fire at dusk, Petting Zoo!

10-22 Pumpkin Patch Corn Maze opened through Halloween!
10-31 Halloween !!!An Old Fashioned extravaganza, games, treats & fun for everyone! Noon through the evening!

Labor Day Weekend for Our Fresh Food Enthusiasts!

Orders over $50 receive a 20% discount!

Free Delivery on Saturday for the Holiday Weekend!

Call in Your Order before Friday Evening....707 765-1202

Or e-mail Tara@tarafirmafarms.com.