YOU DECIDE...
Conventionally raised chickens have their beaks clipped so they can’t peck each other in their confined / crowded barns. Someday Farm chickens have their beaks in tact because they have plenty of room to range and thus have no interest in pecking each other. They also need their full beaks to dig for worms and to find needed grit. The grit helps in breaking down their various sized foods. Conventionally raised chickens have artificial lights on in their confinement barns 24/7. These intense lights encourage birds to eat 24/7. Someday Farm chickens are outside thus have all the natural light they need and want. They have limited grain for ½ the day which means that they are encouraged to fill up on pasture plants and bugs. Who would want to eat only one food type their whole life? Conventionally raised chickens are fed hormones and antibiotics to encourage growth. 20 percent of these additives are absorbed by the birds, which then can be absorbed through human consumption. The remaining 80 percent is left behind in the barn floor litter. This tainted litter is spread on fields as fertilizer which then contaminates soil and water. Someday Farm chickens are fed unadulterated grain, given no growth additives, and are encouraged to consume pasture plants and bugs. Someday birds, of comparable size to conventional birds, take two –three weeks longer to reach a mature weight of 4 lbs. You can guess why. Conventionally raised chickens are fed grain that contains arsenic. Arsenic is known to cause cancer in humans but the chicken industry claims that arsenic is in low doses. The arsenic adds pink color and plumpness to the meat. Someday Farm chickens are already pink in color. Pinkness occurs when a bird has exercise. Someday birds are plump because they are grown for 2-3 weeks longer than conventional poultry. They are mature and not pushed to being harvested prematurely. Conventionally raised chickens are cage free which means they are “free range”. Free range in a window-less barn that is. Someday Farm chickens go outside every day. They actually range on range. They experience sunshine on their backs and feel the soil under their feet. They do what chickens are supposed to do. Conventionally raised chickens often lose the strength in their legs making them unable to walk. This is because their bones cannot grow in proportion to their bodies particularly their oversized breasts. Someday Farm chickens go outside every day and get plenty of exercise. Their legs are strong and match the rest of their body in growth rates. Conventionally raised chickens are raised by corporations. These corporations often are vertically integrated. They own the hatchery, the feed mills, the processing plants, packing facilities, and of course the farmers too. The word to describe this system is “Chickenization”. Someday Farm is a family operated small business and relies on other small businesses to supply them with chicks and feed. Someday has its own State inspected processing plant. Someday is transparent where it counts and is community dependent for its infrastructure and markets. Conventionally raised chickens are sold to wholesale markets. The people who are commissioned to grow out the birds are numbers, not families. It is hard, if not impossible, to trace a chicken to its home barn. Someday Farm chickens are sold locally and by those folks who grow them. They are grown and processed, packaged and marketed all by one family. You can trace each chicken right back to the pastures and brooding barn that they were raised on and in. The Someday Family eats the same birds that they grow out for their community. Conventionally raised chickens make no sounds as they grow. Maybe it’s the huge fans that are constantly blowing the ammonia-laden air around the barns that dims the sound of the chickens. Someday Farm chickens chirp and make nibbling sounds. They make little stomping sounds when they run out to pasture each morning. Ever heard a chicken slurp up water? Pretty funny! NOW YOU DECIDE WHICH CHICKENS YOU PREFER…
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Unexpected it was to have a third lamb from old ewe Arlene. "Patience" is catching up fast to her siblings. And due to unexpected expenses two of our cows will soon become beef, beef to barter with and beef to sell. The animals are our investments and they have lead a very good life. Does justification make this easier? Maybe. On a more up beat note so unexpected are the colors and textures and flavors harvested for salad in the greenhouses. There is such satisfaction to know we are providing for you despite the teenager roller coaster weather. Must admit to eating salad near every day here too. Now if we could just get those tomato plants to bear sooner we would be in paradise! To go along with the harvest of greens is the unexpected bounty - harvest of eggs from our 400 layers. The food cupboard is content to get the fresh boxes of muli- colored eggs these last few weeks. Speaking of layers we have 250 new layer chicks in our brooder barn. Unexpectedly they came on the coldest day of winter. Fifty came dead on arrival. The hatchery gave us a break on some replacements. That Saturday was hard in too many ways. the weather has us also , unexpectedly, delaying our spring outdoor plantings. Usually we seed down greens and roots outdoors by now. My beloved grandfather always gave the advice, " Don't have a profession that depends on the weather Sorry granddad!( He was in the ski industry himself) And in closing we have had unexpected visitors coming to help, new neighbors that have saved us of many calamities, and share holders who have trusted us again with their prepayments. On those bad unexpected days we have those unexpected delightful notes in our mailboxes, those visitors that just want a task to help with and the fridge empty of the dozens of eggs we s before put within.
We will have greens starting second week of March !These harvests will be at the self serve store at 3 Farm. We keep experimenting with micro greens and pea shoots. So far we have spent close to $1000 on propane for the greens greenhouse. W e have to make that back in micros in order to say it was worth starting the greenhouse a month earlier. We do supplement the gas with wood but the stove is frightfully inefficient. ( Its like heating your kitchen with a toaster oven!). After this spring we should be able to decide whether an interior wood boiler would pay for itself in what we harvest in early spring and into late fall. Why go to all this trouble? We are determined to feed you all as much as possible as well as add to our meager income..
Surprised we use the word "meager" to describe our income? Actually most farmers in Vermont have outside incomes to float their farms.At Someady we are trying to make a sole living on farming. You would think that an 8 days/week schedule would produce the funds to keep us in the black. We keep readjusting greenhouse production crops, number of birds, market avenues. Perhaps its just how it is with farming.As Mara learned in her visits to various farms throughout Europe outside farm incomes are just part of small scale agriculture. There is just something more to farming than making a profit. We feed ourselves, feed you, and are leaving our tended lands healthier than when we first set foot in our furrowed fields. Gotta get back to the greenhouse tho. Bet that toaster oven woodstove needs stoking. Wonder if i can snip off a few pea shoot tendrils in the dark....mighty tasty any time of the night or day! Scout from Someday We are proud to grow diverse forages for our turkeys and pheasants. Turkeys, like pheasants, need the diet of a wild game bird, therefore we grow millet and sorghum and organic corn and rape and pumpkins and we make 'em harvest their own meals for themselves. Eben manages them so they can graze actively and are protected from other wildlife. Hence the flavor and quality of our holiday birds are far superior to what you might find in a grocery store. Please call the farm at (802) 362-2290 to order as soon as possible before we sell out!
All good things in life start with garlic. Like fresh salsa. And we're bringing the season's first hot peppers to market tomorrow! Come and get 'em.
Beating the#tomatohornworm. August #harvest is priceless.
#farmdogs watching over day-old #turkeys @somedayfarmvt. Who knew turkey chicks love dogs?
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January 2017
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Someday Farm