Archive for February, 2015

Monthly Archive

Tue 17 Feb 2015

Round the Bend 2015 Meat CSA

Posted by admin under CSA, Food Systems
No Comments

A letter from our farming neighbor Geoff Kinder about his 2015 RTB Meat CSA offering:

Hello everyone,

Many, many thank-yous to all of you for your commitment to my meat CSA.  It brings me peace of mind knowing that so many of you are committed to my product and trusting enough to pay ahead of time and wait patiently for your returns.  I hope that you have been satisfied with the quality of your experience.  Please know that your commitment has allowed me to continually focus on animal and land health without having to spend a whole bunch of time peddling meat.
So, it is a thank you from Geoff Kinder.  But more importantly I believe; a thank you from our local ecosystem and human community and the future of agriculture.
The farm is under snow…. amazing how different it is from season to season!  Cows, pigs, and sheep are all snuggled in down by the barn with dry bedding and feed and hay that has all been harvested from less than 1/4 of a mile from the farm.  Everyone is healthy, expecting lambs soon, just weaned our latest litter of pigs.  The daily routine of barn chores gives life a structure that is a welcome change to the chaos that can ensue during the growing season.
I have gone around in circles a few times about how to construct next year’s CSA offering and have settled on a very similar model to last year’s. (lamb optional). I was feeling as though the sheep business was not the best fit here at RTB, but my tune was changed when a neighbor from down the road offered their property as a place to graze.  And so, the sheep will have new ground to graze on next year and will hopefully have a lesser internal parasite load.  I am hopeful.
I hope this email finds each of you healthy and happy and doing what you love.  As CSA members you have first priority to sign up again.  I will be sending it out into the big wide world in about a week….. so please consider signing up sooner than later.   Please also, and always, feel free to give feedback about your experience and what you may like to experience in the future.
Thank you all,
Geoff

Tags: , , , ,

 

Sat 14 Feb 2015

Winter Reading, Geology, & Snow

Posted by admin under Resources, Uncategorized
No Comments

It’s snowing again… a good excuse for more wintertime reading and celebrating the bountiful winter conditions with the family.

I really appreciated the perspective John Slack (Boreal Agrominerals, Ontario, Canada) brought to this year’s Soil & Nutrition Conference.  His presentation on the “Agricultural Landscape:  The Geochemical Province” inspired a trip to the library to pick up James Skehan’s Roadside Geology of Massachusetts.  John is fond of testing soils well beyond the top 6” weak acid Morgan analysis… favoring a deep soil analysis, examining soils through the A, B, & C horizon using a stronger Aqua Regia extract to determine geochemistry; with a bit of help from US Geological Service – (USGS) Maps.  Really excited to learn that John Slack will be working with the Bionutrient Food Association to carryout a soils mapping project in the Northeast this April.

For those looking for a quick perspective of Massachusetts Geology – Check out the article by Barosh & Miller (.pdf) posted on the Environmental Engineering Geologists Website.  Of course there is always the Wikipedia perspective.

I found the Bedrock Geological Map of Massachusetts (published in 1983) on the USGS website and also their online maps quite helpful – check out their Digital Geological Maps by State, to learn about your state…  Learned something new, we’ve got Alaskite (an alkali granite) as the bedrock under the farm on Bakerville Road in Dartmouth.

MIT Open Courseware has an Introduction to Geology Course available for those looking to gain a basic introduction to the topic.

Enjoy the storm.

Tags: , , ,