THAT WHOLE GMO THING.

We went to visit an Amish friend of ours who got me thinking. She'd recently (and regrettably) raised chickens on some cheap GMO feed (corn and soybean) and the experience disgusted her. I mean that literally. She said that when it came time to butcher the chickens, the livers all fell apart and were rendered inedible, that their insides were mush. And she––who had probably been processing chickens her whole life––couldn't stand to eat them.One of our local friends who has stopped growing or feeding GMO crops told me he recently took some hogs to a processor and the processor said the hogs had the cleanest insides they'd ever seen. A buddy who was with him said he'd never heard the processor say anything like that. (Notably, our poultry processor said the same thing about our turkeys last year––best they'd seen.).Yet another neighbor, who does raise some GMO crops, told me how he's noticed the deer and cattle won't graze the GMO corn stalks, and that all of his animals vastly prefer the non-GMO stuff.So what then happens to our insides when we consume GMO crops through our burgers, our soy milks, our BABY FORMULA, our soda, our processed foods or what have you? Probably the exact same thing. Now, I keep hearing these scientists proclaiming there is nothing wrong with genetically engineered crops––that we're all overreacting––but if I have a number of relatively conventional farmers, and their animals, telling me they don't want to use GMO crops anymore, that tells me something. Really, that tells me everything I need to know.- Jesse.

GROWING OUR FARMERS.

The Young Farmer Movement is interesting in that many of us young farmers are really only getting a year or two experience before striking out on our own. That's what Hannah and I did originally, before coming back to Bugtussle. And looking back, I realize how little experience I actually had because––six years in––I continue to learn many of the things I should have known then.People do this in other industries, obviously. People start restaurants that have never trained under chefs. People can start a dance or photography studio if they are self taught. But what's unique perhaps to farming is that farmers don't really have a choice in the matter. You could technically train under a chef for years. You could be an assistant to a photographer or a professional dancer (sorry, these are the best comparisons my 5 a.m. brain can come up with). Sure, there are a few small farms in the country who can hire full time employees for several years––long enough for them to get the proper experience––but most can't. And most young farmers can't work for free or for stipends for six or seven years until they're ready to take over their own place. It's just not reasonable.If we want more small farmers, we need a way to help small farmers get the training and experience they need to be successful. Of course, this was intended as more of an observational post than a proposal, but I do think there are things we could do. One: what about taking some of those subsidies out of the hands of Big Ag and putting them into the pockets of small farmers specifically for hiring help and training young farmers? Maybe we could start more debt forgiveness programs for young farmers. What about encouraging more established farmers to sell small amounts of land to their apprentices (like some farmers you know)? I don't know what the answer is, or if young farmers really want to train for that long. But speaking from experience I can honestly say, I don't know what I would do without these past few years still working with my mentors. We would have made a lot more silly and costly mistakes, that much I can be sure of.- Jesse. 

PARENT EXCUSE.

I would like to put up a quick post apologizing for my absence on the blog. Strangely, it has not been because I've been too busy (busy is kinda the norm here). I haven't put anything up because, to put it simply, everything I've written lately has been pretty blah. That's just the way it goes sometimes. And rather than subject you to my worst writing, I figure I'd prefer to subject you to some silence.I suppose that my creative energy is just focused on the farm right now. It's spring, the air is full of potential, who can blame me? Oh, and of course there's the whole parenthood thing. That definitely––and joyfully––eats up some creativity. But I do love a good challenge, so I'm going to try and get back to posting more regularly. Last year to combat the creative ebb, I did the day-in-the-life posts, which were fun and easy. Maybe we'll see a few more of those. And I'm also working on several different projects that I think you all will enjoy hearing about and seeing in the future. Anyway, thank you for hanging in there. Here are some cute pictures of Further to make it up to you.- Jesse 

THIS & THAT.

Some random photos from the past week.These little guys are the newest members of the farmstead. Anybody need a kitten? Further loves his new bouncy swing, but he is not so amused by "Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation." Gathering water from the spring. Yep, we still don't have running water.Ginger sprouting!Little feets and hand knit blankets.