COPE Farms Caretakers Of Planet Earth

The new barn / learning center

2010-11-15T09:51:00.002-05:00

This is coming right along and we should be able to teach in it by the beginning of next year. Yeah.

New Warner Robins Farmers Market

2010-06-24T18:01:00.000-04:00

Warner Robins Georgia has a new farmers market called the International City Farmers Market.
Local Growers and small farmers are encouraged to come sell their crops.
There is no fee at this time.
The market will be held on Thursdays starting July 8th from 2pm-6pm at the corner of Watson Blvd and Davis Dr. There will be a "SNEAK PEAK" on Friday, July 2nd from 9am-1pm. Please help spread the word.

We are looking for vendors of Georgia Made, Georgia Grown produce consumable products such as produce, herbs, fruits, plants, soaps, etc. Please contact me for more information you can find us on Facebook or phone 478-225-7626 and ask for Jodi.

Curtis and his new friend

2010-05-25T20:03:00.001-04:00

Curtis and his new friend, one of the many new baby free range chickens that will be laying in the weeks ahead.

COPE Farms selling at Market on the Green

2010-05-25T19:54:00.004-04:00

Curtis my WWOOFer and Pam the Lavender Lady of COPE Farms sitting at the Macon Roots tent selling COPE Farms wares. This was at Market on the Green in downtown Macon.

We will be selling at the Centerville market and Wesleyan Market as well.

Unfortunately Curtis is leaving the farm to go back home. Curtis you will be missed you got alot done in the short time you were here. Thanks for a week of VERY hard work. Thanks Mike :)

2010-05-18T16:13:00.003-04:00

I have a WWOOFer now. He's is from North Carolina and named Curtis. Man can he work. Ive gotten more done these last two days than I have in several weeks.

Having the well in and irrigation running too has really helped out alot. YES we have power and water at the upper field now.
4 different varieties of potatoes coming up, 10 different varieties of tomatoes, pole beans, pink eye purple hull beans, white acre peas, squash, and zucchini and more.

Been very busy these last few weeks or so.

2010-05-06T16:22:00.003-04:00

We are selling now at Wesleyan Market at Wesleyan College in Macon Georgia, and the Center Market in Centerville Georgia.
Free Range antibiotic and hormone free eggs, Pams Pecan Tassies, Pams Lavender Cookies, Lavender Scones, and more.

For farm news the upper field is totally fenced now and growing lots of things for this summers harvest. Tomatoes, corn, squash, zucchini, peas, and beans as well as other produce. The well is in and irrigation is being put in as we speak. I will need to order drip tape soon. Just waiting on the electric company to come out and hook up the service.
Been mentoring under another local farm and they have really helped with information on things for me to do and places I can get supplies. We also have two goats now that are 3 months old. We hope to breed them and use them for goats milk at some point.

Latest Update

2010-03-15T20:24:00.003-04:00

We have the top field fenced in now and limed and fertilized for this springs planting.
We have potatoes ready to go in now and have started tomato seedlings and will introduce them when ready.
I also have more housing for more interns another camper with two more beds available for a total of 4 interns possible now.
My easter egg chickens have started laying colored eggs now and I just got 25 new ones today from the post office to add to the flock. We should have close to 50 birds now with the new additions.
James my helper also got the new chicken coop done just in time and I will post pics as soon as I can on here for those of you who would like to see.
Julia a volunteer from another local farm came over to help me clean out the raised beds and weed. She did a great job and they look much better now that the briars have been cleaned out.

Farm Infrastructure

2009-12-08T12:25:00.005-05:00

Well I have been busy working on the farms infrastructure so the WWOOFers will have a place to stay and live and use. Here are some pictures of some of the buildings on the property we have in place so far.

This first building is the sunporch room its nice to be in on a cool winter day as it warms up nicely with all the windows. You can also open up all the windows during the summer and have a nice breeze without all the bugs since all the windows are screened.

From farm infrastructure

This picture is of the outdoor kitchen. Still working on the roof and adding more to it. We have a nice woodburning stove / oven we are working on and will setup here eventually. The door is an enclosed pantry to keep the wildlife out of the food items. Raccoons and possums as well as coyotes have a bad habit of getting into food items left outside so we built this room to remedy the situation.

From farm infrastructure

Inside the pantry with shelving.

From farm infrastructure

This is the camper trailer. There is no electricity, bathroom, or water to this unit. It has two beds one large one small and lots of storage or shelving for sheets, clothes, books, and more. Its basic living at its best.

From farm infrastructure

This is inside the camper / trailer. This is the large bed with blanket, sleeping bag, and pillow. To the left you can see some of the shelving.

From farm infrastructure

This is the outdoor veggie washing station / potting area. To the left you can see potting soil, peat moss, pine bark nuggets, and more. The 3 bay stainless sink can be used to wash off veggies in. And the large white tank catches rainwater off the roof of the building for use. We hope to add more to this building in the near future.

From farm infrastructure

Here is the outhouse or bathroom facility. Again very primitive but useful. We will cover the waste product with peat moss, leaves and other various materials to help with the composting and keep the smell down. Once full we will empty the bucket and compost the waste for use at a later date around flower beds and fruit trees on the property. Here is a side view and front view of the outhouse. I hope to add a door at a later date.

From farm infrastructure

New Updates

2009-11-07T10:00:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in some time because I have been so busy this last few months.
I will post pics as soon as I can. Computer problems have caused other problems as well.
We now have a miniature donkey named Jack who is our new pet.

Alot of my time has been used tearing out old wood and insulation out of an old deer camp trailer and sealing up holes and fixing up the new intern camper. Pictures of before and after will be online soon I hope. This will make it much more comfortable for new interns here at the farm for the WWOOFers.

More time was used in building a shelter in the woods to be used for veggie cleaning / seed starting. Rain water collection was upgraded at our house and a small rainwater catchment was setup on the shelter in the woods.

Getting ready to start the outdoor kitchen for the interns along with the outhouse and solar shower. I just bought two wood burning stoves, one has a two burner stove top and the other is a 6 burner with oven. A large stainless steel sink with 3 bays is for the veggie washing station and another two bay stainless steel sink for the outdoor kitchen is available as well.

Land Clearing

2009-08-05T13:23:00.001-04:00

Finally more is being accomplished a little along. This is a long journey but it is going in the right direction.

We finally got a bid from a contractor we could afford and who knew what he was doing and had the equipment to do it.

We had several areas cleared on the property.

The Barn area. This is where my barn will be built in the future. It will house goats, chickens, feed, tractor implements, tools, interns, classes and more.
A pond area this is my dream play area and isnt really a function of the farm as much as a personal pleasure for me. It would be a very small pond or a very large goldfish bowl LOL :) It wouldn’t be large enough for a boat or to fish in but its for decorative and relaxing purposes.
Large growing field. This is the main field we will grow most of our crops in for the farm.
Small growing field. A smaller more secluded area that can be used for growing crops and housing an intern.

The orange areas are trails I have cut with the tractor thru the woods.

Green areas are growing areas. The small area in front of the house are raised beds.

The green area with no color in it is for parking.

The green area with red inside is for the barn.

Green area with blue is for pond.

Green area behind the house is where our fence is located and newly put in goat fencing will be.

The large green area in the bottom left is the large field its just over an acre, the smaller field is just under a half acre. My coloring is not to scale and probably not exactly where they are located but its close and you get the idea.

My next thing in order of importance is to buy a root rake for my tractor and start removing the debris from the field that the bulldozer cleared. Then I can start to level it better and plant a cover crop and start amending the soil with compost, organic matter, manure and more.

Guinea and Chicken House Update

2009-08-05T13:13:00.003-04:00

Well its been built for a while now and they have been living outside but I havent been able to update you as I have been busy with different things going on here.

The lower half swings up to allow ease of cleaning, moving perches, waterers, feed trays, and more around. Thanks to a friend it has an opaque roof on it where sunlight can enter in and there is airflow up top for the heat to escape. It also gave them lots of roosting room up top that they use at night now.

I can easily close off the ends in the winter to keep the heat in when need be.

They have only been outside once to see how they would do with the rest of the flock. They are still much smaller than the older chickens. And I learned something. BOY can those Guineas FLY. WOW!!!! The little babies can get on the roof of the house already. I was amazed. They fly much better than the chickens. I had no idea. You can see in my picture up top that I keep two nets close by to catch the ones that dont want to go back in after their fun time outside.

Hopefully soon they will be big enough to release in the yard and I wont have to worry so much about them getting pecked on by the bigger birds. They will be able to fend for themselves then. Plus it will cut my feed cost as they will be able to free range for most of their food which will really help out alot. And the guineas will then be on pest patrol for most of the property which is what we intended them to do.

We shall see how it goes.

Here are a few more pics of the babies and the new house.

Just an update

2009-07-18T13:58:00.002-04:00

Heres a pic of the new water tank along with the new roof, new tractor, and new fencing waiting to be put in. I’m lazy and am waiting for it to cool down some before putting up the fencing.

Some of the new babies. The chickens are Americauna or Easter Egg Chickens. They are called this because they lay pastel colored eggs.

Here are two 330 gallon tanks waiting to be taken off the truck and hooked up. You can see the large 1200 gallon tank in the background to the right.

Between problems here and there and doctors appointments going back and forth I have been so busy I havent accomplished much here as I would have liked, even with the new tractor.
I have managed to keep the driveway cut back and scraped which is a much needed improvement. Some underbrush has been cleared and trails have been cut thru the property which makes it nice to be able to get out and walk the land with some comfort and enjoyment.

The compost piles got a much needed turning and are looking good with the front end loader which saved my back from having to do it with a shovel.

The new chicken / guinea house has been completed and the new residents are in place rather than on the back sunporch like previous residents have been. Soon they will be big enough to integrate into the rest of the flock.

I have cleared land and passageways to get started on fencing for goats.

I have a friend coming over this weekend to see if he thinks he can build a barn for me with another guy he knows. It will be a slow process but he thinks he can do it with just the one other guy. If so that will give me some protection for my tractor and equipment from the weather as well as a shop to work on things and goat and feed housing as well. It will also provide housing for migrant WWOOFERs or farm hands to come and visit and help out until I can get a full time live in helper.

We have our new roof on and water barrels are working fine. We have also purchased some more water tanks for storage for drinking as well as watering the crops and livestock.

So thats where I am at waiting for the heat wave to leave us called summer in Georgia to start on a bunch of new projects. I will try and keep you all posted.

Whitetail Deer at COPE Farms

2009-07-18T13:54:00.002-04:00

A Whitetail Doe grazes around my field and driveway. This is the good and bad of wanting to live with nature. The deer would wipe out my apple trees, and blueberry bushes in one night if allowed to graze freely. This is why we have to fence in everything we grow to keep out the deer and rabbits we have here on the property.

I do enjoy seeing the wildlife here though and thought I would share this with yall.

Thanks Mike :)

Too Hot!!!!

2009-06-29T17:48:00.002-04:00

With the heat index well over 100+ its been so hot outside nothing has been getting done here.

Weeds have taken over the raised beds area, plants have withered and leaves burnt up in the heat.

How is it that weeds flourish but my plants die in this heat and drought LOL :)

The guineas continue to grow and get bigger in their galvanized tub on the sunporch and yet I have no place to house them because I cant stand to be outside for an hour at a time in the heat and thats in the evening or mornings when its cooler to work on their house.

I'm already looking forward to fall and cooler weather where I can get outside again and clean up the raised beds and get things growing again.

Bee Hive Entrance Video

2009-05-31T13:20:00.000-04:00

Is your Organic Food REALLY Organic

2009-05-31T10:38:00.001-04:00

Is your Organic Food REALLY Organic

When you buy food with a "USDA organic" label, do you know what you're getting? Now is a good time to ask such a question, as the USDA just announced Monday it was putting 15 out of 30 federally accredited organic certifiers they audited on probation, allowing them 12 months to make corrections or lose their accreditation. At the heart of the audit for several certifiers were imported foods and ingredients from other countries, including China.

Chinese imports have had a bad year in the news, making headlines for contaminated pet food, toxic toys, and recently, certified organic ginger contaminated with levels of a pesticide called aldicarb that can cause nausea, headaches and blurred vision even at low levels. The ginger, sold under the 365 label at Whole Foods Market, contained a level of aldicarb not even permissible for conventional ginger, let alone organics. Whole Foods immediately pulled the product from its shelves.

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Ronnie Cummins, the national director of the Organic Consumers Association, emphasizes that most organic farmers "play by the rules." They believe in organic principles and thereby comply with organic standards. Unfortunately, Congress' pitifully inadequate funding for enforcement, including for organic imports from countries like China, "guarantees it'll be easy for unscrupulous players to cheat, and that's obviously what's going on here."

Farms that produce USDA-certified organic food are not personally inspected by anyone from the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). As a small and underfunded agency within the USDA (it has fewer than a dozen employees), NOP relies on what it calls Accredited Certifying Agencies -- ACAs -- to do the legwork. The ACAs take responsibility for ensuring that any farm or processor bearing the organic label meets the strict requirements for certification.

Since the Chinese government does not allow foreigners to inspect Chinese farms, an extra step is involved for oversight of organics from China: Chinese companies, which are allowed to inspect Chinese farms, subcontract with foreign ACAs. Cummins believes "the safest course of action is ... to say we won't certify imports from China because their law won't allow inspections."

For Americans who shop at the growing number of farmers markets springing up around the country, the status of organics from China -- or even organics from faraway U.S. states -- may be irrelevant. Just as the hippies who founded the movement intended, ethical eating extends beyond pesticide-free food for these shoppers, some of whom call themselves locavores, meaning "one who eats food produced locally." They wish to support small farmers and to ensure their food was produced in an environmentally friendly manner by workers who were treated well and paid fairly.

And not matter how strict a law may be, there will always be those who game the system. Even if a Chinese inspector notices illegal pesticide use, he or she might feel pressured to stay silent, says Dr. Robert E. Hegel, professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at Washington University in St. Louis. "Everybody there is so proud of increased production that few people ask much about the farmer's production methods," says Hegel. "And there's no 'organic' food tradition in China." According to Hegel, in China "everything was just 'food' and it was, until the 1950s, mostly 'organic' by our contemporary definitions -- fertilized with human and animal waste, compost ... and ashes."

Jill Richardson is the founder of the blog La Vida Locavore and a member of the Organic Consumers Association policy advisory board. Her first book, about food politics, is due out in June 2009.

More C.S.A. News

2009-05-31T10:36:00.000-04:00

More C.S.A. News

By SUSAN SAULNY

Published: July 10, 2008

CAMPTON TOWNSHIP, Ill. — In an environmentally conscious tweak on the typical way of getting food to the table, growing numbers of people are skipping out on grocery stores and even farmers markets and instead going right to the source by buying shares of farms.

On one of the farms, here about 35 miles west of Chicago, Steve Trisko was weeding beets the other day and cutting back a shade tree so baby tomatoes could get sunlight. Mr. Trisko is a retired computer consultant who owns shares in the four-acre Erehwon Farm.

“We decided that it’s in our interest to have a small farm succeed, and have them be able to have a sustainable farm producing good food,” Mr. Trisko said.

Part of a loose but growing network mostly mobilized on the Internet, Erehwon is participating in what is known as community-supported agriculture. About 150 people have bought shares in Erehwon — in essence, hiring personal farmers and turning the old notion of sharecropping on its head.

The concept was imported from Europe and Asia in the 1980s as an alternative marketing and financing arrangement to help combat the often prohibitive costs of small-scale farming. But until recently, it was slow to take root. There were fewer than 100 such farms in the early 1990s, but in the last several years the numbers have grown to close to 1,500, according to academic experts who have followed the trend.

“I think people are becoming more local-minded, and this fits right into that,” said Nichole D. Nazelrod, program coordinator at the Fulton Center for Sustainable Living at Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., a national clearinghouse for community-supported farms. “People are seeing ways to come together and work together to make this successful.”

The shareholders of Erehwon Farm have open access to the land and a guaranteed percentage of the season’s harvest of fruit and vegetables for packages that range from about $300 to $900. Arrangements of fresh-cut blossoms twice a month can be included for an extra $120 — or for the deluxe package, $220 will “feed the soul” with weekly bouquets of lilies and sunflowers and other local blooms.

Shareholders are not required to work the fields, but they can if they want, and many do.

Mr. Trisko said his family knows that without his volunteer labor and agreement to share in the financial risk of raising crops, the small organic farm might not survive.

“It’s very hard for them to make ends meet,” he said, “so I decided to go out and help. We harvest, water, pull weeds, whatever they need doing.”

Under the sponsored system, farmers are paid an agreed-upon fee in advance of the growing season, making their survival less dependent on the vicissitudes of the market and the cooperation of the elements. The arrangement involves real farms and real farmers and is distinct from community gardens and other forms of urban farming, where vacant or public land is typically put to agricultural use by residents.

The average share price is $500 to $800 a season across the country, Ms. Nazelrod said, though community-supported agriculture seems most popular on the coasts and around the Great Lakes region. The states with the most farms, she said, include New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California.

“The C.S.A. provides a base that’s certain, and we get the money when we need to spend the money,” said Beth Propst, who farms the fields at Erehwon, using the abbreviation for community-supported agriculture. “Having the money upfront and guaranteed, that gets us through at least the beginning of the season.”

The operations are as diverse as they are numerous.

Erehwon — the word “nowhere” spelled backward — started with two shareholders, reached its goal of 140 last year, and now has raised its target to about 200 members. Another farm in the Chicago area where the community sponsors the crops, Angelic Organics, makes weekly deliveries to more than 1,400 families in Illinois and Wisconsin.

At least 24 vegetable farmers serve an estimated 6,500 members throughout the five boroughs of New York City, said Paula Lukats of Just Food, which connects farmers with residents there. In 2005, there were 37 C.S.A. groups in the city; today, there are 61.

The Golden Earthworm Organic Farm, on 80 acres on the North Fork of Long Island, grew from 10 members in 2000 to about 1,300 this year, according to Matthew Kurek, one of the owners. About half of the members live in Queens, he said, and the farm delivers their weekly shares to six different sites there, mainly churches and community centers, 26 weeks a year. The farm grows arugula, strawberries and sugar snap peas in the spring; watermelon, eggplant and tomatoes in the summer; and broccoli, potatoes and carrots in the fall.

At the Cattleana Ranch in Omro, Wis., Thomas and Susan Wrchota offer grass-fed meat and organic produce through a community-supported arrangement. They have 55 members, and a seven-month meat membership costs $715.

Mr. Wrchota developed a taste for grass-fed beef while working for the Peace Corps in Costa Rica in the 1970s. When he returned home, he said, he was at a loss for that particular flavor and eventually decided to raise animals himself, starting with just one cow.

“We don’t do millions in revenue, but we make a living, which is rare,” he said. “Our goal is to provide a full portfolio of products for folks who want sustainable products. Up until about five years ago, we had to do a tremendous amount of guerrilla marketing. The consumer who is interested now, they’re doing their homework. They know the health and taste benefits.”

Teresa Crisco is one such consumer in Little Rock, Ark. She is a member of the community-supported agriculture program at the Heifer Ranch, an international humanitarian relief organization that is experimenting with how to make such arrangements more popular and profitable for farmers around the world.

“You feel like you’re doing more than one thing: you’re helping the project and you’re helping yourself,” said Ms. Crisco, a document specialist at a mortgage company who heard about the program from a friend. “The whole premise is really neat.”

Here in Illinois, Erehwon sold out of shares last year and had to turn people away.

Tim Fuller, Ms. Propst’s longtime companion and business partner in running the farm, said: “People are coming to us. We do very little marketing except for explaining what we do. It’s amazing.”

With a wry smile, Mr. Fuller said he considers himself both personal farmer and personal trainer, because shareholders under his direction are going to break a sweat.

“There’s always pressure on,” he said. “This is a complicated business, growing so many crops. We do everything by hand for more than 100 different crops.”

The farm expects to gross between $80,000 and $90,000 this year.

Some shareholders said they found the arrangement a bargain compared to grocery shopping, while others considered it a worthwhile indulgence. Most agreed that the urge to buy and spend locally — to avoid the costs and environmental degradation that come with shipping and storage — was behind the decision to join. Shareholders can pick up their goods at the farm or at a store across the street.

“From a ‘going green’ standpoint, it’s an appropriate thing to do,” said Gerard Brill, a musician who bought a share of Erehwon. “Like everything organic, it’s not a bargain, but what price do you put on being healthy? Considering all things, it’s actually a very good deal.”

The downside for people who are used to grocery shopping comes when they want fresh blueberries in January or, as was the case at Erehwon last week, the tomato plants needed more time in the ground because of a cold spring.

“We eat with the seasons, and there’s no guarantee that Mother Nature will cooperate,” Ms. Propst said. “That’s all part of the deal.”

Cost Effective Residential Wind Energy

2009-05-31T10:35:00.000-04:00

Cost Effective Residential Wind Energy

In today’s tough economic climate the cost of fuel for cars and energy for homes is ever increasing but what can we do about it? In response to this, various groups, economists and environmentalist are now promoting alternative energy. One of these alternative energy sources is wind power, in fact the use of residential wind power has increased dramatically over the last few years.

Residential wind power works in the way of placing a wind generator on top of a high tower so that the wind turbine can collect the kinetic energy and convert this kinetic energy into clean and green electricity. The electricity is then supplied throughout your home like normal electricity that you are use to having in your home. Because a residential wind turbine can be even more effective generating more electricity then is required for an average home utility companies offer a buy back system where they will purchase any unused electricity that has been generated by the residential wind power. The turbines used for residential wind power is small but efficient making them very effective. Using this alternative energy will help significantly when it comes to reducing your electricity bill.

By using residential wind power not only will you be giving the environment a better chance of survival, you will also be decreasing your electricity bill. Residential wind power is great for the environment as you are using a natural product to turn the turbine and create electricity and as such there is no pollution created. You are also reducing the amount of pollution put into the air by the utility company when producing your own power from the wind. During the lifetime of a residential wind turbine, the wind turbine can prevent 1.2 metric ton in air pollutants entering the environment. This alone will help preserve the earth for future generations, especially our children. The cleaner the air around us, the better we breathe and the healthier we will all be.

Many residential customers think that converting to residential wind power will be difficult or that they will need to replace all the wiring in their home. The fact of the matter is that residential wind power can be connected directly to any home with out the need to change any of your current wiring or appliances. The only extra add on may be that your utility company might install a second utility meter so that they can measure any surplus electricity they will be purchasing from the residential customer who is utilizing residential wind power. Wouldn’t you love to be paid by the utility company instead of having to pay them every month. Wind power for residential housing is a fantastic source of clean power. The earth provides us with all of the energy we need to live, it is up to us to convert this free energy into electricity.

More Free Ranged Chickens

2009-05-31T10:28:00.001-04:00

Here at C.O.P.E. Farms we allow our chickens to free range. At night the chickens are brought in to the coop and locked up for safe keeping. Unfortunately EVERYTHING likes to eat chicken. Where we live we have foxes, coyotes, hawks, owls, possums, raccoons, and the occasional stray dog. If we allowed our chickens to stay outside overnight chances are we would be a few less chickens the next morning. Thus we protect them with a nice large chicken house that only a bear could tear into.

During the day our chickens are allowed to be chickens and free range on our property eating natural greens, insects, and seeds. this natural diet produces a superior egg, with less cholesterol, more omega 3’s, and a deep orange yolk that stands at attention, bringing you a fresher, healthier, better tasting egg.

At C.O.P.E. Farms our chickens are never fed antibiotics, hormones, arsenic (found in most commercial chicken feed), GMO corn, or other contaminates.

Our chickens are hard workers here on our farm. In our commitment to being self sustainable our chicks provide us with pest patrol of the gardens and manure to be composted to fertilize crops. Their natural curiosity to scratch and peck keeps insects in check so we don’t have to use pesticides or herbicides on our crops, keeping with out organic growing commitment.

Our chicks are a mixed bag of breeds that provide those wonderful old farm style brown eggs. You could receive eggs from any of our named chickens such as Nugget, Tyson, KFC, Popeye, Zaxby, or more.

All Natural Sprouts

2009-05-31T10:26:00.000-04:00

All Natural Sprouts

Sprouts are a nutritional powerhouse. Where else can you find such a concentration of vitamins, minerals, proteins, phytonutrients and enzymes in every mouthful?

■A sprout possesses all of the energy, vitamins and nutrients and power that enables it to be transformed from a small seed into a strong plant. At this stage the nutritional value of the plant is at its highest. For example, Alfalfa sprouts contain iron, magnesium, all 8 essential amino-acids, chlorophyll, vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin C, vitamin D, fiber and more.
■Sprouts are often much higher in concentration of nutrients than the fully grown plant too. As an example - sprouted seeds can contain 400% more protein and 3900% more beta-carotine than fully grown lettuce. A sprouted Mung Bean has the same or more vitamin A that a whole lemon, the thiamin of an avocado, riboflavin of a dry apple, niacin of a banana, and ascorbic acid of a loganberry.
■And further to the above point - due to their size you are able to eat hundreds of sprouted seeds at a time. In so many sprouts, you are eating the equivalent of hundreds of fully grown plants all at once â€“ when else would you be able to get the goodness of one hundred mature plants in one meal?!
■Studies have also shown that broccoli and other types of sprout contain exceptionally high levels of a natural cancer fighting compound called sulforaphane (20 â€“ 50 times more than in mature broccoli) which helps support antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E.
■Sprouts are an alkalizing, living food which continue to grow and gain vitamins after being harvested, which when compared to food bought at the supermarket which begins to lose their nutrient content as soon as they are picked (and are not then consumed for weeks on end) become very attractive an especially if you are trying to add more raw food to your diet.
■The nutritious value of sprouts is remarkable with sprouts containing a greater concentration of vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, phytochemical, anti-oxidants, nitrosamines, trace minerals, bioflavonoids and chemo-protectants (such as sulphoraphane and isoflavone) which work against toxins, resist cell mutation and invigorate the body’s immune system than at any other point in the plants life an even when the plant is fully matured.
■The abundant enzymes in sprouts also makes them easily digestible as their delicate cell walls easily release elemental nutrients.

Gourmet Garlic

2009-05-31T10:25:00.000-04:00

Gourmet Garlic

Our garlic is grown naturally without the additives of traditional farming such as, pesticides, herbicides, and petroleum based fertilizers. Using a more natural way of growing produces a safer natural alternative from commercially grown garlic.

Free Ranged Eggs

2009-05-31T10:24:00.001-04:00

Free Ranged Eggs

Our chickens are not fed hormones, antibiotics, or arsenic like other commercially grown and fed chickens. They are allowed to be chickens free ranging on a more natural diet of seeds and insects. Allowed access to the great outdoors reduces cramp conditions which become a breeding ground for sickness and disease.

I Finally got a tractor!!!

2009-05-31T10:22:00.001-04:00

Finally got a tractor!!!

Its a 34hp Kioti (pronounced Coyote like the dog) a CK35 with a PTO of 27-29 hp.

I got the front end loader, scrape blade for our long gravel driveway, 5ft bushhog, and 5ft rototiller. I’ve been scraping the driveway to get the ruts out of it, and clearing out land and making trails over the property.

My new play toy and where I can actually start to accomplish something now.

The Right to Farm

2009-05-31T10:21:00.000-04:00

Do you have the right to farm?

So do you have the right to farm? Some states think so. Each states laws vary and you would have to check your local states Department of Ag to find the laws in your state. For those who do most states have enacted a "Right to Farm Act". The statute protects established farms/ranches from nuisance suits brought by "nearby neighbors who have come to the nuisance". In application, this translates to protecting an ongoing operation from defending suits IF, and only IF, the farm/ranch operation was in existence and has not expanded its operation after the neighbors move into the neighborhood. The state Commissioner of Agriculture sets out criteria that a farmer/rancher must follow to enjoy the protection of the Right to Farm Act for each state. The criteria sets out the Best Management practices, as defined by each state. Farmers/ranchers are obligated to comply with the state criteria to receive protection from nuisance suits.

Zoning

But what if you are like me and wanting to start a farm where there wasn’t one previously. That could pose some problems. First you need to check with zoning to see if you are allowed animals on your property. We currently have chickens and will be wanting more along with goats and maybe a mule. Our zoning board said for where we live there were no restrictions on animals so we are in the clear.

The next part would be to ask neighbors what they think or how they would feel about a farm being set up next door. This can be good or bad. Smelly loud animals in an otherwise quiet neighborhood might not be to pleasing to the neighbors. But there are ways you could butter them up.

Giving away fresh eggs to neighbors. Giving away fresh composted manure to those who garden can help flower beds or small backyard gardens flourish, taking over extra bumper crops and more. These are just a few things you can do to keep peace with the neighbors.

Can you land be zoned as Ag land? If so this could help you with your taxes. Agricultural land is often taxed at a much lower rate than residential or commercial. Check with your local county zoning board to see what the qualifications are to change your zoning.

Heres a link on Suburban Farming you should check out.

Suburban Farming

You Pick Option

Will your farm have visitors? Is it you pick? This brings up more issues such as insurance if some one is hurt on your property and having signs, a good driveway, and two lane traffic in and out of your property.

Are you in a residential neighborhood? Does zoning allow running a business out of your home? Would customers hold up or cause problems with traffic patterns in your area? Do you have parking for your customers to easily get in and out of? Are you handicap accessible? Do you have public bathrooms? What are your hours? You don’t want people stopping buy all hours of the day and night do you? Do your customers know your hours? Do you have a gate to keep them at bay or can anyone just come on to the property and help themselves?

You can see all the issues you could have with having a you pick operation on the farm.

Farmers Markets

In our area lots of little tailgate markets and farmers markets have popped up in little towns nearby. This is nice as its a good starting point for smaller growers than the big State Run Farmers Markets. It allows you to get your feet wet for a small fee and even free at some places.

These small markets are a good place to get your small farm up and running. You can see what other small growers are doing in your area as well as get an idea for pricing, customer base, traffic flow, and more. All of these are important when selecting a good farmers market or tailgate market.

Choosing to go to a market also keeps the traffic down at your place with people coming and going on the farm. You will need to do a bit more work though. Getting up things like displays to show off your produce, a nice pop up shelter usually 10x10 at most places can be bought relatively cheap and even customized for a bit more. A van or truck is a must in transporting the crops from the farm to the market. Keeping things cool and fresh can sometimes be a problem during the summer and no one wants to buy limp produce from being in the heat so.

Be sure to display everything as attractively as you can, be reasonable in your pricing, and please post prices so people don’t have to ask. Its much easier that way than having to explain or remember every time someone comes up and looks. Not having prices may keep some people away as well.

Be friendly have a smile on your face and tell the people about your crops. give them a story to take home with the food. People want to connect and have a story to take home. Tell how your small farm has grown, what you do on it, the trials and tribulations of growing, and more. People will feel more of a connection to you and your farm and will want to buy from you to support a small local grower rather than the faceless mega corporations that mass market produce sprayed with chemicals in their local grocery store.

C.S.A. Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture helps support farmers by promising to purchase foods either through a subscription service or other possible way to purchase the crops they will grow for a season.

This provides the customer with fresh locally grown produce that is usually cheaper in cost than a typical grocery store, and much fresher. This also keeps money in the local economy and helps support local small farmers in the process.

I could have pages upon pages of information about a CSA and how it works. Everyone seems to do them a slight different than the next. Some people charge a fee to join then money per food item. Others charge a flat rate and you get a box every month. Some people let you pick and choose what you want. Others grow to order you tell the farmer what you want grown and they grow it for a fee. The problem is so many different types of CSA’s exist there is not just one type that I recommend.

Personally I wouldn’t try a CSA until your third year of growing. You really need to get the consistency of growing crops down first. Once you have that down I would say you could try a small CSA to start out with. See how that first year goes and work out any bugs you may have. Then try again the second year, but still not adding any new people. If by the end of the second year you have managed to keep people happy and have produced crops consistently then I say the third year you grow larger your CSA. And keep going from there as you see fit to handle it. Its always best to take it slow and test the waters rather than jump right in and sink or swim.

You can check out these two pages for more info on CSA and what it means.

Understanding CSA’s

More CSA 2

I hope this gives you some ideas as to whats involved in choosing what type of farming you wish to do. It can be a difficult decision and your location may have alot to do with what choices you have available.

Thanks Mike :)

Starting a Farm from Scratch the Beginning

2009-05-31T10:19:00.000-04:00

The Beginning

So I thought I would start a blog page about how to go about starting a farm and what thoughts run thru my head from time to time.

FUNDING

The biggest part of course with any business venture has been funding. Wheres the money coming from to start this new business? How and when will you become profitable? What do you need to start your business?

Unfortunately you need alot when starting from scratch. And of course in typical Michael style I dont do anything small I want to start big from the beginning. LOL :)

Infrastructure

Infrastructure has been the biggest foreseen expense when starting a farm from scratch. Its overwhelming at times what all you require to start out a true farm instead of just a back yard garden like we have been operating.

The Barn

A multipurpose building (aka a barn) is looking to be a rather large expense. We could use it to house animals, house tools and equipment, house interns, a tractor, indoor classes on the farm, a cleaning station for crops, a storage place for crops in a cool room for delivery the next day, and the list goes on and on. You can see how valuable a barn would be if we had one on the property.

The problem then becomes how big of a barn to build, how big can we afford, and how do we plan the floor layout of the interior to utilize it to the max????

Clearing of Land

We are really starting from scratch we have 37 acres of woodland so we have no open plains or fields to till and farm. Everything must be done at the beginning. Those open fields you see with corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, etcetc all started out as woodland many years ago. Over time farmers removed trees with saws, horses, oxen, and good old hard back breaking work. Today we have bulldozers that can do it in a day or less. This is good for me as I am inherently lazy. But this also cost money. So the question now is how much do we clear, how much can we afford, do we just clear a little and as we grow call them back out to clear more later as we can afford it???? Ahhh questions questions questions!!!!!! And more money spent.

Fencing

Well now that you have land cleared you have to fence it. Oh yes fencing is just as important as clearing the land. Since we live in the woods we have deer, rabbits, raccoons, possums, coyotes, wild dogs, wild hogs, and more. These animals can tear up a garden in no time as we found out with our small backyard garden near the house. Fencing has to be tall enough to keep out deer as they can easily jump a 6ft tall fence to get to the goodies you planted and are growing in your farm. But guess what good fencing isn't cheap, so we are back to spending more money and trying to figure out the best way to create secure fencing that does the job. More money spent.

Electricity

OK lets say you have the land cleared, its fenced in, you have a barn, now you need electricity. You need the electricity to run the cooler for your crops to keep them in good shape when you pick them the night before you have to take them to the farmers market. You need electricity to run the lights to see at night when packing things away after a hards days work in the fields, and you need electricity to wash and clean the crops and yourself after playing in the dirt all day. So now you have to contact the electric company to run a new line and box out to your barn so you can have power. More money spent.

A Well

When putting in the electricity to wash and clean your crops and yourself you realize you have no water. Oppss. You need a well. So now we must contact a well driller and see what that will cost. That has a wide variance due to where in the world you live. The water table may be deep or shallow depending on where you live. It also has to do with what type of soil or rock you have to drill thru to get down to that water table. More money spent.

Irrigation

OK you have water but how do you get it to the fields and the crops? Irrigation and you guessed it more money. :) Digging trenches can be done by hand and backbreaking work. And depending on the soil you have could be easy or difficult. You could rent a ditch witch a gas powered machine that makes it look really easy and fast like drawing a straight line. This saves time and heartache trying to dig by hand and gets the job done much faster. Then go buy your pipe and fittings to run the lengths of the field and attach different drip nozzles for each specific crop and you’re set. Sounds easy right. Uh huh. Oh and More money spent.

Greenhouse

Well you have to have a greenhouse to grow year round unless you are lucky and live in Florida or California where the weather is consistent year round. Here in Georgia where I live we get in the teens and single digits in the winter and in the hundreds during the summer. So we have both extremes. A greenhouse can get you started earlier in the spring and can keep you going later into the fall. It can also grow things thru the entire winter. So having one can increase your year round growing seasons and your bottom line. Now the problem becomes money again. How big of a greenhouse can you afford, where to position it on the cleared land so it receives the right amount of sun for your region and so much more. Do you buy plastic that you must replace every 4-5 years or do you buy the semi rigid dual wall or triple wall polycarbonate that last 10 years but cost alot more? Ah more money spent.

Planning the layout

Remember that cleared land you paid for you only have so much of it. You already have a barn, irrigation, a well, fencing, and now you have to put a greenhouse on it. Plus you also need room for travel lanes for the tractor to drive, people to walk, trails for rolling carts and wheelbarrows to get crops in and out of the field. This ideally would be the number one thing you would do but it doesn’t always work out that way. Everything you do or buy will have hidden expenses and cost more than you first thought. So your expense budget is probably shot LOL :) Each of these things should be researched and then researched again. Then decide what you can afford and go with that.

If there’s one thing I would spend more money on than anything else that is clearing the land. Clear more than you think you will need. All of this stuff ends up taking up more room than you can imagine. Making plenty of room for it all and sitting down and drawing out on a piece of paper the layout makes alot of sense. Otherwise you are going to run out of room fast and you will be calling the land clearing people back out to do more work.

Also its easier to erase a piece of paper than to move a barn or greenhouse once they are in place. Proper layout and design is important. Think about how easy this will be doing routine daily task. if I have to walk 5 miles to grab a hoe it’s not as convenient as if I walk 5 feet. Making sure isles or walkways are large enough for wheelbarrows and or tractors is important as well. Everything takes and needs space make sure you have enough. And EVERYTHING takes more money spent.

Tractors

Well I’ve brought this up several times so lets talk about this. You need a tractor to get large amounts of work done quickly. Its a multipurpose tool around any farm or homestead. From scraping the driveway, to drilling fence post holes, to mowing down grass and weeds, to moving and turning compost piles, to tilling and harrowing the land for crops, there’s alot of work a tractor can do. Depending on how much land you cleared would determine how big a tractor you need. The more land the bigger the tractor in my opinion. Small tractors are good for hobby farms and people who need to do moderate work that a regular lawnmower wont do or cant do. Its easier and stronger than a lawnmower or a wheelbarrow at moving and cutting and do things and much more versatile.

Bigger farm means bigger tools. it just makes life easier and gets things done faster. You wouldn’t want to hoe and plant by hand 100 acre farm, but a back yard garden might be ok. You also wouldn’t want to rototill a 100 acre farm but a small hobby farm tractor might be ok. So size matter when it comes to using the right tool for the job and in being more efficient.

New or used? There’s a big ball of wax. What do you choose. Buy someone else's problems in a used tractor? Do you know anything about engines or working on one? if not maybe the new one is the way to go. New tractors usually come with a warranty although they dont cover new user abuse so be careful and don’t try to overstrain your tractor or make it do something it was intended to do. If you go new you spend ALOT more money but if taken care of it should last you a lifetime. If you buy used chances are its been used well and depending on how well it was taken care of it could have few problems or it could have alot. And that doesnt even go into all the implements that you need to do different chores with the tractor. Choices Choices Choices!!!!! Again more money spent.

What to do?

I could go on but for now thats all folks You see what I am having to go though to figure out what is needed where. Of course any help is much appreciated. We don’t have any of this at the moment but are looking closely into it. As we progress we will update our pages here to let you know how far we have gotten.

Cleaned the Chicken Coop

2009-05-31T10:16:00.003-04:00

Originally Posted Wednesday May 16, 2009

Cleaned the Chicken Coop

Not exactly my dream job but it needed doing.

We pull all the nest boxes, food and water trays out and spray down with the hose the coop cleaning out all the built up chicken poop over the year.

Then we take a spray bottle and spray a little bleach and vinegar inside to kill whatever might be left as far as mites, bugs, and smell.

Hose off all the nesting boxes and slightly spray our mix to decontaminate anything else and we are good to go.

Open up all the sides and door to allow to dry and air out and lock out the chickens so they don’t get in while it dries.

Knock on wood we have not had any health issues with any of our chickens to date. We think because they are allowed grass under their feet and allowed to free range, along with the design of the chicken coop which keeps the majority of the poop away from them, that this has allowed for better health.

Tilling the Field

2009-05-31T10:15:00.001-04:00

Originally posted Wednesday May 6, 2009

Tilling the Field

So our messy field that has grown over with weeds finally got cut with my new tractors bushhog. Then After a good mowing I started practicing with the new tiller to see how it would do on our hard clay dirt. It worked like a champ aerating the soil and tilling up the hard clay soil. I was very impressed. I may be able to grow in this field next year.

But before I plant in it I will bring in large truck loads of organic matter such as horse manure and woodchips and grass clippings and compost that I have accumulated over the last year and dump it all on the field and till it in again. Then I can plant a good nitrogen fixing cover crop in the fall and plant next spring.

Raised Bed Visitor

2009-05-31T10:13:00.001-04:00

Originally Posted on Wednesday May 6, 2009

I was working on cleaning out some of the raised beds from last year that weren’t in use and a visitor appeared from one of the blocks. Immediately I grabbed my camera to take a few photos before he moved along looking for a new place to visit since I was making too much noise and was removing alot of the briars that had sprung up over winter.

It was a harmless black snake and I dont mind really but I do like to keep an eye on them when working in close proximity. All Gods creatures serve a purpose some more in line with ours than others. But snakes perform a good duty in the garden keeping the rodents down. Even though it was the serpent in the garden that lead to mans downfall, I decided best to allow this serpent the right of way and to go about his business and I mine.

New Baby Chicks

2009-05-31T10:12:00.000-04:00

Originally posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Well as of the last month or so we have been fighting off the hawks again this year. Its spring time and mating season so there are more hawks than ever before. They have picked off quite a few of our chickens and we must stay ever vigilant to keep them at bay.
We decided we needed to restock our supply of baby chicks so w could have a new supply of chickens for eggs. Our local Tractor Supply store got some in today and we got a total of 7. Hopefully none are roosters and all are hens. I still haven’t figured out how to tell when they are that little. Here are a few pics to share of our newest members.

Weird Weather

2009-05-31T10:09:00.001-04:00

Originally posted Monday March 2, 2009

Ok 2 days ago it was 72 degrees and I was wearing shorts and had the fan in the window open at night.

Then yesterday it snows.

YEP SNOW LOL :) For Middle Georgia thats a big deal. And for us it was a BIGSNOW. You northerners would laugh at us southerners but we aren’t prepared for such down here. So today its melting but a hard freeze around 20 degrees tonight will freeze all the melted snow causing ice, which isnt good.
But wait thats not all. By Saturday and Sunday it will be 76 and 78 degrees. LOL :) Hmmmmm Climate change is real and its here now LOL :)

Heres a few pics for yall to enjoy.

The first pic is our place in the snow.

Second pic is two of the chickens in the snow for the first time.

Third is a forsythia in the snow.

Fourth is Gourds.

Fifth is a Mexican Farm down the roads cactus farm.

Sixth is Nugget in the snow.

Seventh is a chicken foot print.

Honey Bee Class Part II

2009-05-31T10:03:00.005-04:00

Originally posted on May 9, 2009

Honey Bee Class Part II

There was a good turn out today at the class, over 16 people showed up to come play in the cantaloupe fields with the bees. Every one dressed up and did hands on with live bees, learning how to handle them, spotting the queen, and seeing how they developed the comb in the hive.

It was a beautiful day for BEEing outside with nice blue skies and a slight breeze. Here are a few more pictures and videos from the day.

Here Jessie shows us how to load up a smoker with pine straw. It is important to create a cool smoke so as not to hurt the bees.

The Crowd Gathers round to see the hives for the first time.

The group studies and hunts for the elusive queen bee. You can spot her easily just look for the little crown on her head. :)

More future beekeepers hard at work practicing handling the bees.

The End

Honey Bee Class Part I

2009-05-31T09:59:00.002-04:00

Originally Posted on February 21, 2009

Honey bee Class

As most of you know I am constantly taking classes to further educate myself. I love to learn about all sorts of things that interest me. Today was honey bee class in a small town not far from here. This will give you the importance of why we need more beekeepers and why we need more bees.

My main purpose was for crop pollination on our upcoming organic farm, plus I like the by product of having bees which is HONEY!!!!

We did get to taste taste some different honeys from around the state from local beekeepers which was nice.

There were also bee wax candles as well as pollen to be taken by people with allergies.

It was noted that there really isn’t such a thing as truly “Organic honey” since bees have an approximate 2 mile flight range its difficult to control where they go and where they might get their pollen from. You may be organic but your neighbor may use pesticides on his lawn and garden. There’s no telling if your bees got pollen from your neighbors yard or not. Thus marketable “Organic honey” was difficult to truly prove.

Honey is antibacterial and is actually good to put on a cut or wound as it will help heal.

Here at COPE Farms we are looking at getting into beekeeping for the use of them as pollinators for our crops, honey production, bees wax, and more. This benefits both us and the bees.

1.The honey bee has been around for 30 million years.

2. It is the only insect that produces food eaten by man.

3. Honey bees are environmentally friendly and are critical as pollinators.

4. They are insects which are scientifically known as Apis mellifera.

5. They have 6 legs, 2 compound eyes made up of thousands of tiny lenses (one on each side of the head), 3 simple eyes on the top of the head, 2 wings, a nectar pouch, and a stomach.

6. The honeybee's wings stroke 11,400 times in a minute, thus producing their unique buzz.

7. A honey bee can fly for up to six miles, and as fast as 15 miles per hour, hence it would have to fly around 90,000 miles - three times around the globe - to make one pound of honey.

8. The average honey bee will actually make only one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

9. It takes about 556 workers to gather 1 pound of honey from about 2 million flowers.

10. It takes one ounce of honey to fuel a bee's flight around the world.

11. A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.

12. A colony of bees comprises one queen and 20,000 to 60,000 honeybees.

13. Worker honey bees are female, live 6 to 8 weeks and do all the work.

14. The queen bee lives for about 2-3 years and is the only bee that lays eggs. She is the busiest in the summer months, when the hive needs to be at its maximum strength, and lays up to 2500 eggs per day. Click here to learn more about the Honey Bee Life Cycle,

15. The male honey bees are called drones, and they do no work at all, have no stinger, all they do is mating.

16. Each honey bee colony has a unique odour for members' identification.

17. Only worker bees sting, and only if they feel threatened and they die once they sting. Queens have a stinger, but don't leave the hive to help defend it.

18. It is estimated that 1100 honey bee stings are required to be fatal.

19. Honey bees communicate with one another by "dancing".

20. During winter, honey bees feed on the honey they collected during the warmer months. They form a tight cluster in their hive to keep the queen and themselves warm.

"Unique among all God's creatures, only the honeybee improves the environment and preys not on any other species." ~ Royden Brown

"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live?" ~ Albert Einstein

The Classroom was pretty full of interested peoples.

Various books and publications on the honeybee.

Products such as honey, pollen, and bees wax candles were on display.

Winter 2008

2009-05-31T09:56:00.002-04:00

Originally posted December 19, 2008

Well its been a while since I updated anything and for good reason. We basically came to a stand still. Between health related issues, the economy, a bad growing season, seeds not sprouting and more we threw our hands up in disgust and GAVE UP!!!! We lost so many of the chickens to hawks, owls, and an opossum that we are down to only 6 now, 2 of which are banties. We plan on ordering some more chickens in Jan or Feb 2009. We now have to lock them up at night and let them out in the morning so nothing gets them. We were keeping the door open and they were allowed to come and go as they please but its obvious we can no longer do this.

On a brighter note the garlic has done well for its second year in a row and is come up nicely. The raised beds work really well for the garlic and carrots last year and look to do well again.

Sweet Sugar Snap Peas are just now flowering and am looking forward to some sweet peas from the vine. I’ll let you know how they turn out if they do.

Harvesting Rainwater

2009-05-31T09:50:00.010-04:00

This was originally posted on Sunday July 13, 2008

Well we are almost finished with the rainwater harvesting system. We do this to collect rain water for watering the garden. Its very important to note if you make your own NEVER use barrels that have held chemicals in them. Only use FOOD GRADE Barrels.

A 1/4 in of rain on a typical family household can fill up approximately 200 gallons of water. WOW!! Look at all that water you could be collecting to use in the garden.

Also remember the typical 55 gallon barrel once full of water will weigh over 440 lbs. per barrel. This is one heavy barrel so make sure where ever you put it its where you want it to stay and its secure and wont fall over or break anything.

Each of our barrels has its own faucet we can connect a hose to and each barrel has its own overflow hole that flows into the next lowest barrel on the setup.

So how much rain can I catch off my roof?

A rain barrel is generally fed by a downspout which is the ending point for a section of gutter. If you look closely at your house, it should be obvious what section or sections of roof drain into each downspout. This area of roof is the "catchment" area.

For those of you who haven't thought about geometry (yikes!) for a while, roof area is calculated by multiplying roof length by roof width. If the roof area feeding a particular downspout measures 30 feet long by 25 feet wide, the area will be 30 x 25 = 750 square feet.

A general rule of thumb to estimate the amount of rainwater that can be collected is: for every inch of rain that falls on 1000 square feet of catchment area, 468 gallons of water will be collected. This amount takes into account loss due to friction, evaporation and spillage.

For example, let's see how much rainwater might be collected from a roof area of 750 square feet during a 1.5-inch summer shower. A whopping 526 gallons-enough to fill almost nine rain barrels!

If you only intend to fill a single barrel, that can be accomplished with as little as one-tenth of an inch of rain. Every gallon of rainwater collected and reused relieves the overtaxed public supply, saves wells, benefits the plants, and saves money! It is a savings account that pays big dividends.

Homeowners with small garden plots, flower beds and containers will find that a setup of one or two 60 gallon rain barrels is all they need.

Muscadines

2009-05-31T09:49:00.001-04:00

This post was originally on Sunday July 6 2008

Last year was the first year we had an abundance of wild muscadines for sale. This year is looking just as good. The picture above was taken just 1 week ago. Last years abundance went to the making of homemade Muscadine Jelly sold at local Farmers Markets and through family and friends. We sold out so fast we hope to have even more this year.

We have also actively been planting cultivated Muscadine Vines and have setup a trellis system earlier this year in the spring so in the years to come it will make it easier for us to pick.

The cultivated varieties we purchased are also being grown as a natural fence to fence out some of the deer who like to browse our blueberry bushes and apple trees. This works with the Permaculture principles where everything serves multiple purposes in the landscape system.

Our Raised Beds

2009-05-31T09:45:00.003-04:00

We use cement blocks to create raised garden beds for growing in. There are many reasons one may want to use a raised bed to garden in.

.*Better drainage

.*Better Soil

.*Heats up faster in the spring

.*Don’t have to lean over or squat as far

Where we decided to grow, our soil was like concrete so it would have taken years to get the soil right for growing healthy plants. By building on top of that and filling the raised beds in with good top soil and compost we were able to create a much better growing medium for the plants in much faster time.

Most of the beds are stacked two blocks high. We didn't use any mortar they are just sitting one on top of another. This way its not permanent and they can be moved at a later date if need be. Also having the blocks two high gives deeper rooted plants like carrots something to grow into. It also is about the perfect height for sitting on the edge of the blocks to do the weeding and picking and planting.

We started by putting down newspaper and cardboard to keep the weeds down. We then laid our blocks out on top of this. After all the blocks were in place we came in with topsoil and compost layered one on top of the other until we filled the blocks to the top. After a good watering we filled in more compost and topsoil as after wetting it it tends to settle.

We had to fence all of our area in as we live in the woods surrounded by woods and deer and rabbit are very prevalent in our area.

The pvc pipe is cut to fit and stuck in the holes of the concrete blocks. This pipe acts as the framework for the floating row covers that we put on the beds during the summer and winter.

Floating row covers are a thin lightweight material that allows rain and light to go thru. It provides frost protection in the winter and insect protection during the summer.

Heres one of the beds during the winter with the row cover on. I was able to grow salad greens, carrots, and broccoli during the middle of winter with frost and snow on the ground and it was protected inside the cover. It acts somewhat as a mini greenhouse.

This is looking down one of the beds. The red plastic is a mulch that reflects the red light up into the tomatoes and bell peppers. It is said that it increases the yield up to 25% by using the red mulch. Any help is much appreciated.

This is the last of the Romaine Lettuce from this winter. You can cut the side leaves and the head will keep producing thru the season.

These are some of the beans coming up on April 4th 2008.

We have both bush and pole beans planted. Bush are out in the middle while the pole beans are up against the fence where they can climb.

Thats just a small look at some of our raised beds. As more produce is grown and starts producing I will add updates and more pictures.

Definitions of Words used in Agriculture

2009-05-31T09:42:00.001-04:00

I decided there are so many new terms out there that you may not be as informed as you would like to be. These are a few words used commonly around the Organic farming industry.

Organic - Means foods or crops produced without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Naturally grown foods or crops. Before World War II all farms and crops were organic. But the use of pesticides like Agent Orange found their way into the Agriculture uses on farms after the war.

Certified Organic - The same as Organic only you are certified by a certifying organization that makes sure you meet all of the USDA rules and regulations. Becoming a Certified Organic Farm means your farm and your practices on your farm meet strict regulations. It also allows you to use the words Certified Organic in your advertising. A uncertified farm is not allowed by law to use Organic or Certified Organic in their advertising under the USDA law. Because of the cost of becoming certified and the strict rules and regulations that have to be adhered to Certified Organic Foods often sell for higher prices.

Permaculture - Originally started in Australia, its a term that means much like being self sustainable and organic and green wise all in one. Permaculture can best be described as a moral and ethical design system applicable to food production and land use, as well as community building. It seeks the creation of productive and sustainable ways of living by integrating ecology, landscape, organic gardening, architecture, and agro-forestry.

Self Sustainable - means you or your farm are able to sustain itself without outside needs. Being able to grow your own crops and produce on your farm and sell them to make enough money to pay for themselves would help you be more self sustainable. Saving seed, having animals that create manure for fertilizer, growing enough for yourself and enough to feed your animals. These would also be ways of being self sustainable.

Composting - Recycling organic matter such as manure, newspaper, cardboard, leaves, grass clippings, vegetable scraps, and more. Allowing microbes and bacteria to break it down into its simplest form turning it all into rich organic matter that you can use to mulch and fertilize your crops and plants with.

Vermicomposting - composting with worms allowing the worms to eat the compost and creating worm poop called castings.

GMO - Geneticlly Modified Organisms

GM Foods- Geneticly Modified Food these are most foods you buy today in grocery stores. They have been created by scientist in a lab and their dna has been genetically altered to produce certain traits they need or want. Playing God with foods and seed is not always a good idea. There has been much controversy over GM foods and the cancer rate of people.

Eco- Friendly - Much like the Green Wise it means something or someone that is good for the environment. Aluminum Cans are Eco Friendly because they can be recycled over and over again.

Green Wise - Means someone or something that is good for the environment. You could say that compact florescent bulbs are green wise.

Green Energy - Energy that comes from non polluting sources such as Solar Panels, Hydroelectric, or Wind power from Windmills.

Heirloom Foods or Heirloom Seeds - Generally seeds that are handed down from generation to generation that are over 50 years old. They should be open pollinated and non GM.

Agro-Forestry - Agriculture and Forestry mixed together. Any of the fruit or nut bearing trees can produce food crops available to people. Also growing crops in a forest like setting Trees are often grown in rows and the crops grown between the rows of trees are another form of agro-forestry.

Open Pollinated Seed -Open pollinated varieties are the traditional varieties which have been grown and selected for their desirable traits for millennia. They grow well without high inputs because they have been selected under organic conditions. These varieties have better flavor, are hardier and have more flexibility than hybrid varieties. Breeders cannot manipulate complex characteristics such as flavor as easily as they can size and shape. These seeds are dynamic, that is they mutate and adapt to the local ecosystem, as opposed to modern hybrids, which are static. Commercial breeders lack the incentive to produce new open pollinated varieties from which farmers could save seed and replant.

Hybrid Seed- Hybrid seeds are the first generation offsprings of two distant and distinct parental lines of the same species. Seeds taken from a hybrid may either be sterile or more commonly fail to breed true, not incorporating and expressing the desired traits of the parent.
The development of hybrid seed enabled the beginning of the commercial seed market. Farmers were persuaded to buy new hybrid seed each season, replacing the traditional practice of farm-saved seed, due to the "hybrid vigor" which can improve yields.
Hybrid seed is also known as "high response" seed. These seeds require fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and lots of water to achieve their high yields.

Aquaculture is the cultivation of the natural produce of water (such as fish or shellfish, algae and other aquatic organisms). The term is distinguished from fishing by the idea of active human effort in maintaining or increasing the species involved, as opposed to simply taking them from the wild. Subsets of aquaculture include Mariculture (aquaculture in the ocean); Algaculture (the production of kelp/seaweed and other algae);Fish Farming (the raising of catfish and tilapia in freshwater ponds or salmon in marine ponds); and the growing of cultured pearls.

Hydroponics is crop production with mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil containing silt and clay. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel or rockwool. A variety of techniques exist.

Aquaponics is the integration of aquaculture and hydroponics. An aquaculture is used to continuously generate a nutrient-rich solution to feed a hydroponic garden. Aquaponic systems can be used to replicate controlled wetland conditions that are useful for reclaiming potable water from typical household sewage, in addition to generating a continual supply of food with minimal fertilizer use. Aquaponics takes advantage of synergy between self-organizing biological systems, emphasizing the one element/many functions principle of permaculture. This synergy benefits both systems and allows each to help maintain the other. For example, an aquaponic system consisting of goldfish and watercress would require less human intervention into each system. The goldfish would benefit from the filtration carried out by the watercress, and the watercress would benefit from the nutrient-rich waste excreted by the goldfish.

Why we dont say our products are ORGANIC

2009-05-31T09:39:00.000-04:00

When the U.S.D.A. took over the word and copyrighted the word “Organic” It made it tougher for the smaller farm and locally grown backyard farmers to use the word. The old saying hi we’re from the Government and were here to help rings in my ears. Unfortunately that never seems to be the case as they have changed the true meaning or organic.

Not only did they make it harder for the smaller producer they also allowed “certain” pesticides and chemicals to be used which undermines the whole purpose of being ORGANIC in the first place.

So we aren’t sued for using a copyrighted term, and since we don’t follow the USDA regulations by keeping books of detailed reports on every seed, field, and plant, we choose to not become “Certified Organic” under their certification system.

Plus we like to believe that our way is even better than theirs since we don’t even use any of the “approved” pesticides and chemicals under their new definition of what Organic is.

We like to say naturally grown and that we exceed the regulations of “Certified Organic”.

As a small producer we don’t make enough money to have to worry with all the paperwork, fees, certification process, or being tested to make it worth our while to become “Certified Organic”. We are quite happy to stay small and stay naturally grown beyond organic. The way its supposed to be.

Christian Agrarianism

2009-05-30T15:27:00.005-04:00

Well first you may be asking yourself what is Christian Agrarianism? I like to think its Christianity and Agriculture mashed together into one. At COPE Farms we believe in God and Creationism and that we were put here on Earth to be Caretakers of the Planet. Thus we came up with COPE meaning to deal with problems and COPE as Caretakers Of Planet Earth.

Here's a definition from a Christian Agrarian Herrick Kimball from his website (The Deliberate Agrarian). "God Himself planted the first garden, showing Adam how it was done. Gardening and caring for creation was man’s original calling. Did God ever tell us to leave this calling? I may be wrong, but I do not think that He did. God calls His people to do many different things in His word, but every one of those things can (and, I believe, should) be done within the original agrarian mandate.

Jesus Christ was born in an agrarian setting (a manger is an animal feedbox or torugh). His parables were almost all agrarian based and best understood by an agrarian culture. For example, references to sheep and the shepherd are understood by modern Christians, but a greater depth of understanding comes to those who have actually owned sheep and know their character.

I believe God is working in the hearts of many of His people in this time of history to bring them face to face with the reality of the ungodly industrialized culture in which we live. These people are realizing that the church of Christ has, in so many ways, taken on attributes of heathen industrialized culture. God is leading many of His fold, into a better understanding of what Christian-agrarian culture is."

This really sums up how we at COPE Farms feel about Christianity and Agriculture and the combination of the two.

About Us

2007-09-02T19:25:00.003-04:00

COPE Farms is a unique Christian owned farm in Middle Georgia. We promote eco-friendly green practices to protect God’s Creation in which we all live, Planet Earth. Using principles from Organic growing, Permaculture, and edible forest gardening we are promoting a clean healthy earth friendly alternative to traditional farming and agricultural practices. While we are a new small farm and the practices we are doing are unique and radical for our area they are hardly new and have been in use and proven for over 20 years or more. The farm is located on 37 acres of gently rolling woodland in between Macon, Warner Robins, Byron, and Fort Valley, Georgia where we call home. Its definitely not your typical flat open acreage we call farm land around us. By working with nature instead of against it we have more biodiversity of plants and animals on our little piece of heaven than most traditional farms could even imagine.

COPE stands for Caretakers Of Planet Earth. The definition I found also means "to adjust to new situations and overcome problems." I believe the problems are the chemicals and pesticides on our foods and cancers and diseases increasing have a direct relationship to one another. By growing organically and using no chemicals or pesticides I believe we can help eliminate some of the problems and provide a healthier safer food for us to consume.

We are always looking for students and volunteers to help out around the farm. We of course share our knowledge with them in return. We welcome you to make a difference in our planet and in Christ. Come join us and become a Caretaker Of Planet Earth.

By planting perennial plants that will provide us with crop sources in a wild and natural setting and without the use of chemicals, pesticides, or synthetic fertilizers. Our plants are allowed to grow in a natural state, which in turn is more natural for us to consume. By using time honored approaches to building up the soil we are able to create strong plants that are less disease prone, less pest infested, and better crop producers.

Starting out a farm of this nature is much more work to begin with because you do have to deal with pest and low producing crops to start with. After years of work your soil becomes better, plants produce more, and become more pest resistant. Its definitely not for everyone and its not a large scale process, but in the end with persistence and hard work you are happily rewarded. Your crops are better producing and better for you and have a much better flavor because of it.

Famous Farmer Joel Salatin said it best.....”We are caretakers of creation we dont own it what we are supposed to do is leave it in better shape than for the next generation than when we found it.

Part of our responsibility as stewards of the earth is to respect the design of creation.”

We at Caretakers Of Planet Earth believe in this with all our heart, mind, and soul.

Thanks Mike Rutherford Farm Manager of COPE Farms

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2:15 (NIV)

Who Is COPE Farms?

COPE Caretakers Of Planet Earth is the brainchild of Michael Rutherford. The 37 acres of land have been in his family for 15 years now and they have been living on the land for about 13 years total now.

Michael has had trials and tribulations in his life recently. He did a remarkable thing of losing 100lbs of weight from his heaviest known weight of 306lbs down to 206lbs. Feeling better from eating more vegetables, organic food, and farming and exercising he thought his life was going in the right direction, only to find out that his health had suffered over the years from bad eating and unhealthy lifestyle. He was diagnosed with CKD Chronic Kidney Disease and Inflamed Artery Disease and put on medicines and an even more strict diet. Michael also was diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder and after being unable to hold a job in the real world for many years and unable to cope with the stresses of 9-5 he was declared mentally unfit to work.

Depression set in and he gained back 30 lbs. , Michael had to go on Food Stamps and SSI something he vowed he would never do to ask for a handout, but things change and so do people and Michael is learning that its not a handout as much as its support to carry on. Trying to recover from the blow of his health and financial situation Michael looked for an answer. His faith had always been strong and he always had a love for nature and the outdoors. It came to him in a vision he was to farm his property and to educate others about how everything is connected, God, Nature, The earth, The Soil, The Food we Eat, Our bodies, Our Health. It was all connected. It wasn't till much later he found a website talking about Christian Agrarianism. He had no idea that such a philosophy or way of life existed and that this is what he had been searching for.

Then and there Michael decided he would COPE with the problems at hand and created COPE Caretakers Of Planet Earth Farms. Starting from scratch he has a long road before him but he hopes to accomplish the impossible with everyones love, support, and help in pushing forward with his dream.