Last week was full of activity, we had a business training workshop on Saturday and worked on planting some of the cover crops and forage for the chickens in our poultry operation, Martha Ortega, of Agstar was there as well as a trainee and to share her experiences working with beginning farmers as a financial associate with the organization. This new effort, added to last year’s training on farming and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operations management. Here is a slideshow of those experiences including last Saturday’s group, tomorrow (Wednesday April 23) we have a continuation of this work at the Northfield Community Resource Center from 6 to 9:30 pm.
Yesterday, we had a larger crew finishing the roof on the outdoor chicken house (serves as night shelter, and watering and feeding area for the birds) and planting more cover crops.
We are experimenting with four different cover crops, two types of clover, a mix of pasture grasses, legumes and clover, and black beans as foraging material (worked well last year). We will be documenting how the birds utilize this forages this year so that we can make more informed and better decisions in the future. We will keep experimenting with other plants as well, including Portulaca oleracia L or Pursley (I believe is commonly called), which is allegedly much richer in Omega 3 than flax, Camelina sativa or spinach.
Here is a slideshow on yesterday’s activities, including all of the attention that the little birds are getting from customers and neighbors visiting our operation.