Starting Them Young

Selling our organic-fed meats and eggs at various farmers’ markets, we get to meet our customers face-to-face.  Lately we’ve noticed a trend among them.  Many young parents are actively seeking naturally-grown meats, eggs, and produce in order to give their little ones the best start in life.  Starting young is important, both for growing healthy bodies and for developing healthy habits.  We instituted our summer camps in an effort to help these attentive parents fulfill their desire to instill in their children an appreciation for wholesome food and ecologically-sound farming.  

Held in mid-June, our Farm Workers’ Day Camp gives 10-14 year olds a chance to try out life as a farmer.  Over the course of a week, the kids are given a taste of all of the jobs on the farm, from moving chickens to feeding calves.  It is our goal that they will come away from the experience with a realistic picture of what farmers do to grow the food they eat each day.

A little later in the summer, on the second Monday of July, 5-9 year olds assemble at the farm for their one-day Farm Explorers’ Day Camp.  These kids get to help collect eggs, pick garden vegetables, play with baby chicks, and feed the livestock.  They experience first-hand why animals are happier and healthier when they live outside in the fresh air and sunshine.

A little bit of education can go a long way towards improving the chances of today’s healthy food choices becoming lifelong habits.  If you’d like more information about our camps, please contact us through our website.  We’ll be happy to help your children or grandchildren see firsthand the connection between our farm and your table.

Hope springs eternal.  After a long, cold winter like we just experienced, those words ring true more than ever.  We hope that the blustery winds and deep snowdrifts will fade into distant memories, and they do—spurred on by new leaves on the trees, and sales at the local garden center.  Who can resist spring, with its promise of new life?  Just planting a row of lettuce seeds, then seeing those tiny seedlings lifting their heads out of the soil, is gratifying enough to make one forget all about those below-zero days. 

Do you garden?  Many Wisconsinites do, even if only a few tomato plants beside the garage.  I’ve gardened for as long as I can remember and have fond memories of growing things in my youth—picking and nibbling on homegrown carrots while waiting for Dad to come home from work and, later, keeping a few bedding plants outside of my rental house in college.  Gardening keeps us connected—with the earth, with our food, with each other.  For city dwellers, even a small garden can be a way to feel like one can be, even in a small way, self-sufficient.

At Morning Star Family Farm, this year the focus of our garden will be growing ingredients for products from our processing kitchen.  Strawberries and black and red raspberries will provide a luscious palette from which we’ll create honey-sweetened jams.  If our young orchard makes a sizeable contribution, there will be plums, peaches, and apricots to turn into preserves as well.  We’ve made fresh, raw sauerkraut for ourselves for years; this year we’ll be making some to sell.

It is an experimental year of sorts, as we offer our products to our loyal customers for the first time, gathering feedback for next year’s products.  Is there something you would like us to grow or make?  Drop us a line and let us know.  Our customers are the driving force behind what we do here.  Looking for your feedback is one more way we seek to make the connection between our farm to your table.

"Eat Local" Starts Here

Duck….duck….duck….goose!  That old children’s game will come to mind later this month as baby chicks and ducklings descend on Morning Star Family Farm.  Having hatched the day before just an hour away at Abendroth Hatchery in Waterloo, the little chirping puff balls take their first road trip up to the farm.  It is a noisy ride home, but also one filled with excitement and anticipation.

Supporting a local hatchery, like Abendroth’s, is important for many reasons, some more obvious than others.  We vote with our dollars.  The money we pay to purchase these chicks and ducklings helps to support local agriculture.  Our customers buy our meats in order to do the same thing; buying our animals from neighboring farmers simply adds another layer to the “Eat Local” idea.

Buying from a hatchery within driving distance also decreases the stress that the birds endure.  Most chicks and ducklings must be shipped via the postal service in order to reach their new owners.  Two and even three days are not an unusual length of time for birds to travel by mail.  Freshly hatched chicks are able to last up to three days without food or water, as they are still consuming their yolk sac which they swallowed prior to hatching from the egg.  Long days and nights riding in trucks still do take their toll on the hatchlings, however.  In our experience, mail order birds are not as perky as those we get locally, and are more apt to succumb to sickness in the early days.  

And so, later this month, our newly hatched Abendroth chicks and ducklings will complete their short road trip and arrive at our farm.  We will carry the boxes of chicks into a special room in our barn that is set up for their arrival.  There will be freshly ground, certified organic feed available in various feeders around the room.  Warming lamps will be suspended above soft, clean bedding.  Waterers spiked with raw apple cider vinegar and sugar, two old time tricks for giving chicks a good start in life, will also be available.  This will be a temporary home for the birds, as they will be moving out to the pasture in just two weeks.  To introduce them to their new home, we will lift each chick from the box individually, help it to drink from a waterer, and then place it under the heat lamp.  Their pleasant, persistent chirps tell us that all is well on the farm.

March Comes In Like a Lion...

March in Wisconsin has always held the promise of coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb.  At our farm, it may come in like a lion, but it goes out with several lambs—Icelandic ones, that is.   
  

Born in March and April at a friend’s certified organic farm just 20 minutes away, the lambs spend each day at their mothers’ sides, learning about milk and hay and grass—it is their education in how to be a sheep.  After a few months, the lambs are ready to be weaned, leaving our friend’s farm for our pastures.  

Brought to Iceland by Vikings 1100 years ago, Icelandic sheep have remained pure as a result of their isolation there.  It is said that the Icelanders’ survival was dependent upon the Icelandic sheep’s meat, fiber, and milk.  As one can imagine, the rugged, cold terrain of the country also encouraged the sheep to become extra hardy themselves.

Because growing grain in Iceland is considered to be a difficult proposition, the Icelandic sheep evolved to grow efficiently on grass—thriving on quality pastures, but also surviving when given poorer grazing land.  Our sheep get the best of both worlds—excellent pastures, combined with a small amount of certified organic grain.  It is this formula that gives our lamb a taste that simply cannot be compared to store-bought meats. 

Raising heritage-breed sheep like the Icelandic has given us the opportunity to participate in maintaining this beautiful breed.  Our customers, in turn, get to experience the taste sensation of true organic-fed, pasture-raised, heritage lamb.  It is a situation which makes one look forward to the cold, wet days of March, knowing that they signal the coming of another lambing season for Morning Star Family Farm.

Philippine Typhoon Relief Fund Progress--Thank you!

With many thanks to all who have sent donations, we have collected $850 to date for the Philippine Typhoon Relief Fund.  A wire for the entire amount, less the bank's transfer fee, will be sent to Fr. Bart Pastor this coming week in order to arrive before Christmas.   We will send another donation in January to help with their ongoing needs, so don't despair if you haven't gotten a check sent yet.  There is still time!

[We have sent the final wire and are no longer accepting donations.]

Thank you again to all who have donated, either to our fund or through other organizations.  The need is so great, but even our small efforts are making a difference.  We look forward to sharing with you happy news from Fr. Bart after he receives the wire; we will update you all then.  Thank you and may God bless you for your generosity.

Help Us Help Others

200+ mile per hour winds.  Seafaring ships picked up and carelessly dropped in residential areas.  Roofs and walls of homes and buildings blown out of existence.  Over 1800 killed -- that's more than double the body count of Philippines' second most deadly typhoon.  These are the results of Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan which struck central Philippines in early November.  According to news sources, over 673,000 are displaced and they still need help...your help.

As we remember all that we are thankful for on this Thanksgiving weekend, I would like to thank all of you who have expressed concern for my family in the Philippines.  Thank God they have been spared as they reside in northern Philippines while the typhoon ravaged the central region of the country.  Our family friend, Fr. Bart Pastor, a priest in Tacloban City, was not so fortunate.  He and his community were trapped in the middle of this natural disaster.  The following bio about him is written by my mother:

Fr. Bart Pastor is close to us, even from our Jakarta days.  He is a Thomasian, UST (Univ. of Santo Tomas) Theology grad in 1967.  He has written books, workshop materials, organized conventions and conferences, discipleship programs attended by local and foreign participants in their Paraclete Renewal Center in Tacloban.  His community has developed and formed self sustaining projects from farming, constructing school projects which their own qualified members implement...all these project assets and property and housing, farms were all damaged or destroyed by [Typhoon] Yolanda.  He is a simple, unassuming, gentle, fatherly, resourceful, selfless servant of God...and anyone who meets him for the first time surely gets beholden by this holy priest.

Fr. Bart Pastor has a unique ministry; he runs a retreat center sustained by its own farm which, in turn, provides jobs and opportunities for the locals.  My parents lost touch with him after Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan struck the area on November 8, 2013.  About a week later, they finally received a text message from Fr. Bart saying that he was safe but that the typhoon claimed the lives of at least ten people from his community.  

Here are some actual excerpts from his text message to my parents:

...no electricity, batt, cellsite, load, radio, tv, food, water.  We lost 10 members and counting. Physical damage to Paraclete, agricultural n livestock estimated 12-15 million (Philippine Pesos).  D gudnews is we r still alive n surviving, d paraclete students n der families although no roofs n walls over dem.  So i invited dem to stay @ paraclete....  We r eating root crops blown coconuts unripe bananas by students who r still in hi spirits n prayin am n pm.

...Yes u deposit to metrobank ac later coz no banks r open yet afteryolanda....  I got out...we had to break d fallen cement posts just enuf height for the survivor to pass....  People der r hungry esp children in fact I invited several to stay at paraclete chapel, dorm....

...Foundational centr not destroyed, infact it was instrumental insaving lives of our immediate neibors who took refuge n 2nd n 3rd flrs. 4 floating bodies r still behind.  Our next neiybors homes r totally out.  the place where I stay completely gone walls n roofs.

...Stations 10-13 n risen Christ chapel gone.  Annies 10 cottages my residence all gone.piggery n poultry n veggies n fruit n foresttrees n coco trees complete gone.  Trees n coco r headless....  We shall rise agin by Gods grace n ur help!!!!!

People's faith persists in the wake of the typhoon as they worship in a roofless church.

Sometimes when we hear about tragedies that occur halfway around the world we can wonder if there is a way we can help, or if they are just too far away for us to be able to make a difference.  We would like to give you the opportunity to help someone who is on the front lines of this disaster, and to help his efforts directly.  

We are setting up a Philippine Typhoon Relief Fund account at a local bank here in Hartford.  Soon you will be able to send checks directly to that account so that we can wire the funds to Fr. Bart in Tacloban City.  

[We have sent the final wire and are no longer accepting donations.]

This is not a tax-deductible donation, but will go directly to Fr. Bart and his efforts to feed, clothe, and house those in his area who were struck by the typhoon.  

If you would like us to keep you informed about the progress of the Philippine Typhoon Relief Fund, including the amount of money collected and the dates that the funds are wired to Fr. Bart, please include a note with your check, or send us an email.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.  May God bless you and reward you.

More Fun than Expected

Our education about healthy living should not begin as an adult, but rather, as a child.  In order to bridge the gap between the farm and one's dinner plate, on Monday, July 15, 2013, a group of young children descended upon our farm. 

The children came here because their parents had signed them up for Farm Explorers' One-Day Camp, a camp designed to allow children to get a glimpse of farm life, plus learn why animals are happier and healthier when they live outside in the fresh air and sunshine.  

10:00 -- Orientation
After checking in, the group gathered under the canopy and began working on an activity packet that included coloring pages of the animals they would see later in the day.  At the sound of the cow bell (what else?) we started with a prayer, an explanation of the day's plan, and, most importantly, a discussion about how to stay safe around the farm.

10:15 -- Morning Activities
The children were divided into two groups and rotated through two learning stations.  At the Chick Station, Group 1 learned all about the one week old chicks growing in the granary of the big barn.  

The Chick Station
(It was 90 degrees in there!
But that's how the chicks like it.)

Gently playing with baby chicks

At the Pasture Station, Group 2 learned about the animals we raise on the pasture: broiler chickens, cattle, and sheep. 

The Pasture Station

Learning about the origins
of grass-fed beef

Meeting our pasture-raised chickens

Feeding the hogs broccoli from
 our garden while waiting
for the lunch bell

12:00 -- Lunchtime!
The sound of the cow bell called everyone to the canopy for lunch.  Plenty of shade and ice water made a wonderful combination!  A little free time after lunch gave the kids time to pet the farm dog, cats, and rabbit.  The more "mechanically-inclined" enjoyed riding on the parked tractor, skid steer, and riding lawn mower.

12:30 -- Afternoon Activities
In the second half of the day, we offered two more learning stations for the children.  The Egg Station involved collecting eggs from the chickens' nest boxes, washing and drying them, and then packing the eggs into a mini-carton to take home.  

The Garden Station gave the kids a tour of the 1.2-acre fruit orchard and vegetable garden.  The children were happy to identify plants like corn and pumpkin, and learn about others like grape vines and potato plants.  Then the kids got to harvest a basket-full of sugar snap peas to take home with them.

2:00 -- Dismissal
While our main goal in hosting this camp was to educate the kids about why we do the things we do, we also had, at the forefront, a desire for the kids to have a lot of fun.  While it was obvious that the children had a good time (one little boy even said, "That was more fun than I expected!"), I think the adults may have enjoyed the camp even more than the campers.  

We have to make many decisions on our farm; we always make those decisions with an eye towards those who will be eating the foods that we produce.  There is something special about seeing firsthand the children who are benefiting from those decisions that we are making.  Fifteen happy, healthy children enjoying the safe, chemical-free farm we have worked hard to create--it was a beautiful sight to see.

The tractor, Old Red, carries the happy campers during the group photo.

     

Thanks for a great Farm Camp, everyone!

We hope to see you again next year.