The winter weather has definitely decided to show its seasonal forces by slamming us with not only an early storm but following that with yet another storm right behind it. The farm is holding its own by plowing the snow for mobility around the farm and being able to keep the feed to the cows so they can stay warm, dry and healthy. I have recently returned from my annual ACRES USA conference where I get to spend time with fellow farmers and academic leaders speaking the great benefits of working with the natural biology in the soil and plants to grow nutrient dense food supplying its own nutrient and insect protection.
For years, the universities and chemical companies have been promoting chemical fertilizer and herbicide applications to enhance plant growth or using genetically enhanced seeds to “feed the world”. As these false claims seem to play out, it has been shown that plants can supply their own nutrition and plant defense using natures’ superior microbe population and carbon sequestration for optimal plant growth. It has been found that the use of chemical fertilizers and herbicide applications kills off the natural microbes in the soil that source the needed plant nutrients creating a dependence on the repeated application of supplemental chemical fertilizers. As the plants grow naturally, they actually send signals to the soil microbes to search out the needed nutrients in the soil, consuming the bound up nutrients and making them available to the plants root system as the microbes die off. In that same vein, a plant will take the carbon from the atmosphere and break it down to produce sugars which it sends down into the root system in the form of a substance called glomolin which are the sugars that feed the microbes. When a plant is growing rapidly, the excess glomolin produced that does not get consumed by the microbes gets stored in the soil as organic matter. This organic matter is very stable and can survive in the soil for many years.
Needless to say, when someone is working in harmony with nature and keeping the ground covered with vegetation and enhancing microbe populations with the addition of compost and decayed organic matter, the foods produced either through animal protein or vegetables is more nutrient dense supplying OUR bodies with the nutrition needed to stay healthy and fight against sickness. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
As our way of promoting our nutrient dense foods, we are offering to you this week 10% off our 100% grass fed, nutrient dense STEAKS. We want you to be able to experience the great taste of our beef and also supply your holiday celebrations with a great value in our highly sought out products. Please be safe out there as you travel and be kind to one another.
I hope to see you at the Fredonia Winter Market this Saturday, we will also be at the Jamestown Public Market this Saturday! Stop by and say hello!