I just heard the most amazing thing on the radio – Monsanto is a sustainable farming company.  It’s true; they told me so.  The biotechnology giant has once again given new meaning to painting shades of grey.  Of course, their view of sustainable agriculture centers upon their own corporate sustainability by creating “frankenfoods” (that the majority of the world doesn’t want), to be sprayed with their trademark “Roundup,” creating weeds that cannot be killed, and giving us food that is poisoning rats in Scottish test studies.  It was Monsanto to gave the dairy industry rBGH/rBST, the synthetic growth hormone that many dairy farmers used to boost production in their cows.  Cows went from 5-7 lactations or more down to 3 or fewer.  The consumer rebelled, and now its hard to give away milked produced by using rBGH.

The fact that a company like Monsanto would try to pirate the term “sustainable” should not surprise anyone.  Monsanto is certainly not the first to attempt subtle shifts in the meaning of words, and quite frankly, both the left and the right are guilty of language manipulation.  Unfortunately, modern culture makes this task all too easy.  Put some glitz and spin on something, turn it just a little to the side, and most people will never notice.  We can put a person into space, but can’t figure when we’re being hoodwinked by the PR machine.

I just had to endure the annual visitation of our bishop.  I saw firsthand how concepts that are fixed in scripture can be spun into new meanings that completely gut the original definition.  By the end of the day, the unsuspecting thought all our troubles could be solved by group hugs, social activism, and marches.  An incredible dumbing down of the basic teachings of Christ.

So what does this have to do with farming?  Part of being involved in authentic sustainable agriculture is honesty.  Honest work, honest food, honest living.  It’s the honest food part that grabs most people and makes them want more.  Whole food (no, not the hyped-up store) has always been in style.  Processed foods are a lot like the PR machine that sells them – a lot of calories without a lot of nutrition.  Quick and easy is seldom the path to success in any venue – nature is simply not made to work that way. 

Slow is what we have this spring, as the temperatures warm up ever so slowly, leaving us wondering about harvest timing and succession plantings.  We have put the row covers on to warm up the soil, and we continue to seed and work in the greenhouse.  We have outgrown of current propogation greenhouse, and have ordered a 16x48 replacement.

In a world of confusing words, and subtle shifts in meaning, the key is to listen attentively to what is being said – and what isn’t.  Thinking, like farming, is not an armchair sport.

          This has been a busy week.  The April showers I longed for in the previous post have come, and now we spend every dry day getting plants from the greenhouse to the field, and seed sown into the rows.  We are not especially mechanized.  I have an assortment of tractors and equipment for tillage and general farm work, but when it comes to the final stages of field preparation and planting, it’s my BCS walking tractor, and hands in the soil.  Most times I have the help of the family.  Working together takes the edge off the monotony of the job.  One of the things we all noted as we handled plants which only a month before had been little seeds in a packet, was how amazing the web of life is.

            I subscribe to several farming papers.  In one recent edition of Acres, USA the late Charles Walters wrote about the miracle, and inexplicability of life.  Some of his examples:  There is not enough calcium in an egg to account for the amount of calcium in a just-hatched chick.  The dairy cow gives more calcium than it takes in, and maintains a negative balance of both phosphorus and calcium.

            Though we know that seeds become plants if given the right conditions, it boggles the mind to consider just how this happens.  I have come to realize that I am simply a servant of something much greater than the sum of the parts.

            We are nearing the end of Holy Week.  Tonight we will go and observe the Great Easter Vigil, and once again participate in the story of Life’s power over death, Light’s overcoming of darkness.  This is a story I’ve known and accepted all my life, and yet continue to be amazed at how it intertwines with everything around me.

            We began the process of reinventing our farm two years ago, after some pretty serious personal struggles.  Because we believe the story, we prayed for guidance and direction.  It was during this time that my wife started talking about a CSA (community supported agriculture) for our farm.  Being the wise husband, I listened.  Several months later, The Lamb’s Quarter was born.

            Lambs quarter is an interesting weed.  It is edible, and my daughter tells me it is pretty good with a vinaigrette.  It also indicates fertile soil, and is a real chore to pull up if it gets to any appreciable size.  A lamb’s quarter could also be a place for lambs to live, and it is in our master plan to make that happen this year.

            But our name also reflects the miracle of the Easter Story, the miracle of life, and the community that we are becoming together through the miracle of food.

Happy Easter

While March 1 marks the meterological start of spring and March 20 it's astronomical begining, it is April and its promise of rain that will make or break the spring season.  We have entered April with a deficit rainfall for the year, receiving only 50% of normal percipitation year to date.  The Lancaster Farming  newspaper gives our region a 50/50 chance of a dry year.  Hard to go wrong with that forecast.

Of course, weather is one of the many variables we deal with in farming.  Another variable, "how many members will we have this year?" has been answered.  As of March 31, 2009, we had 60 members.  That is a milestone for us, as this has been our goal for years.  We have always believed that if we could feed 60 families from our farm we could secure a good living for ourselves and the families we serve.

"Good living" is more than income, it is also about balance, health, and quality of life.  While we could and may do more in the future, we always want to keep our lives in some semblance of balance.  Many times, that is a very elusive goal. 

One of my barometers for balance is whether I can be alone at a mundane task for several hours without the feeling of anxiousness, the thought of something else not getting done while I'm at the present task.  The greenhouse is a good place to check this.  There is nothing more mundane than "potting on" seedlings.  But its got to be done. 

We recently purchased 6 feeder pigs.  I've got them turning over the manure pack in the cow shed.  I'm amazed to watch these little critters work.  They go straight at it for a while, and then go over to the corner and take a nap.  Their antics make for some of the best entertainment we've had here in years.

We eagerly await the arrival of our new pullets (young laying hens).  We've moved their houses out to the far field, near the cows, and presently have the goats in their fenced area to eat the grass down before they arrive.  In other words, we've got a lot going on.

Spring planting is taking shape as we prepare land, dodge showers and get the seed in.  Stay tuned - it promises to be an interesting spring.