Quick, tell me what a working farm looks like! It's not as easy a question as it seems. Most folks would say that a farm is a big, open, sanitary looking thing, with trucks, equipment, probably some silos, and a couple of portopotties. We, as a society, have gotten used to the picture of the modern factory farm - all chrome, hydraulic, sanitary and toxic. Often, the vision of a modern farm doesn't even include humans. I know that I've always been amazed when driving through the Sacramento Valley and Delta at how I never see any people working in the fields. So, now that folks are accustomed to the image of an industrial farm, they sometimes don't even recognize true farms when they see them.
I started thinking about the image of a farm this weekend at our Open House. The Open House, by the way, was incredible. Thank you so much to everyone who came out and took our super, exciting, self-guided tour. We thought the day was so fun that we've both found ourselves taking the self-guided tour as we've been working around the farm. Ok, back to the intended topic... More than a few people told me that they had driven by the farm many times and never noticed that there was a farm there. Likewise, last summer, at the roadside stand, people would stop and ask where the farm was. When I would tell them that they were on the farm, they hardly believed me. I'd have to walk 10 feet over to where the squash was growing and physically pick a zucchini to convince them.
I think the reason people don't think our farm looks like a farm is because it's so wild and alive. The farm, especially right now, is bursting with life and activity. The cover crop is waist high, bugs are everywhere, bees are flying, and the ground is soggy and saturated, which, to us, looks like fertility, health, and promise for the coming year. If we asked a conventional farmer to walk around the farm, however, they would probably have a nervous breakdown. All they would see would be weeds and bugs everywhere...and weeds and bugs are not tolerated on factory farms.
A lot of Jeff's farming methodology hinges on treating the farm like its own ecosystem. From the aquifer running below the ground to the birds flying in the sky, all things on the farm are connected and alive. Everything connected to the farm must be healthy for the farm to be fruitful (even the farmers). A good sign that things are healthy is the presence of weeds and bugs. After all, weeds are simply plants that we have decided are undesirable or a scourge. But if you have a diverse and bountiful selection of weeds on your land, it means your soil is strong. If a weed can grow well, so can a veggie (in theory). Likewise, if you have a lot of bugs, it means you have a lot of bug food, which is another symptom of a healthy ecosystem. Furthermore, if your ecosystem is strong, you'll also have an incredible number of good bugs that will control the bad bugs. Right now, the farm is overrun with some of the biggest lady bugs I've ever seen. These girls are getting fat and happy while standing guard against any potentially pesky pests. Sure, sometimes a really healthy farm gets to be a pain because I have to battle weeds and every raccoon in the area is attracted to our tasty chickens, but I'd take this any day over the alternative.
So,the moral of this story is to keep your eyes open as you make your way through the world - you never know where you might find a farm or something else similarly spectacular.
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