Market Farming

["Liz Pike" <liz AT laughingbrookfarm.com>]

Wow, I know I've consumed more than my share of feces, urine, etc & lived to
tell about it...though of course, not knowingly ; )))

Chickens in the garden doesn't necessarily mean IN the garden, among the
producing plants.  I rotated a sort-of-chicken-tractor before I knew about
"official" chicken tractors through my permanent beds for years.  I put a
cage with an attached run, built to the width of my beds, on beds of ground
cover 6 months before planting veggies. 30 days before planting, I removed
the chickens and let the bed sit.  (This was long before the 120 day rule.)
By the time I planted, the ground cover was digested (by chickens and soil)
& nicely incorporated.  All the beds needed were a mild rebuilding with
rakes, no tilling.

In this day & age I begrudgingly approve of the sanitation practices of the
farm Bob mentioned, but if the farm didn't want contamination on the line
(geez, this IS food we're talking about here, right??? not a factory
assembled widget...) they shouldn't have opened up the line to inspection by
outsiders, even for goodwill.  Congratulations John Stossel.

Liz Pike
Laughingbrook Farm
Westfield NC
http://www.marketfarming.com
http://www.laughingbrookfarm.com