PotterWatch
Overrun with beasties
1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?
I'm in Southern California. We have hot summers, very mild winters.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?
There are four of us. My husband, myself, and our two boys.
3. How would you define your farm?
We are an organic (not certified) farm raising chicken, Dorper sheep, and LaManchagoats for milk. We also sell beef that is raised for us by a local rancher who has lots of range land.
4. Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer?
I have always been interested in farming. I grew up reading James Herriot and other such authors who of course make farming sound very romantic but also lots of hard work. When the opportunity to start a business raising chickens came up, we jumped on the chance. It's not exactly been easy going so far, but I think we will be able to make it work.
5. Is it a hobby or an occupation?
Occupation. My husband is a a retired firefighter/paramedic and I have had a few jobs I liked but never a career. We now both work 100% on the farm.
6. In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more?
Very knowledgeable in raising chickens for meat and eggs, reasonably knowledgeable about turkeys. Reasonably knowledgeable about sheep and goats, though I am always looking to learn more. We have had goats for several years but sheep for just one year.
7. What types of farming will you never choose to do?
Commerical-type farming that doesn't allow the land to rejuvenate itself. We keep our numbers low and give our animals enough space so that our pasture is kept in good condition at all times.
8. Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply?
It would be great if we produced 100% of our own food but I don't think we will ever get to that point. I would settle for producing all the meat we consume and 70% of the produce. I don't think we will ever be producing our own grains, we just don't have the space.
9. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
I love gardening though I've only kept a garden of my own for a few years. We hope to have a CSA garden if we are able to move to a larger property. Right now, we just don't have the space. We do have a community garden on our farm that is run by a friend of ours. It provides many local families with a place to grow their own produce.
10. How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country?
We own a house, but we are renting it out to someone so that we can live at the farm which we rent from someone else. It is a 10 acre parcel with 8 acres of pasture.
11. What is your farm specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?
Our specialty is meat animals, we raise chicken and lamb on our property and beef is raised on a local ranch.
12. Are you interested in herbal animal medicine?
Definitely.
13. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?
PNW probably. Though it is really nice that here in So. Cal., we can garden year-round.
14. Are your family or friends also interested in animals?
My immediate family, husband and kids, are very much into animals. The rest of my family, not so much. I think they all think we are a bit mad for choosing to be farmers, especially farmers raising animals that we process for meat.
15. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?
I like cooking a bit more now that I have a little more knowledge and am fairly confident that I can turn out something decent. I try to use local, in-season foods as much as possible. When we have dairy animals, we do not pasteurize any of the dairy products we consume. We only use eggs from our own birds if at all possible.
16. Do you process your own meat? Can or preserve?
We process all our chickens ourselves, lamb is done locally but not by us and our beef has to be slaughtered at a USDA facility since we sell cuts to the public. I love canning and hope to be able to buy a pressure canner soon so that I can preserve more of what we produce.
17. Do you use alternative energy sources on your farm? Would you like to?
Currently we don't but we would love to add some wind and solar power.
18. Has the experience with animals changed your attitude or habits?
Definitely. I think our family feels much more connected to nature now. We depend on the rain to water our pasture, we deal with the wind when it knocks water buckets down and tears roofs off, we notice much more the effect the weather has on our daily activities. We also pay much more attention to where our food comes from. I now very rarely eat meat that is commercially grown and I try to do the majority of my food shopping at farmers markets.
I'm in Southern California. We have hot summers, very mild winters.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?
There are four of us. My husband, myself, and our two boys.
3. How would you define your farm?
We are an organic (not certified) farm raising chicken, Dorper sheep, and LaManchagoats for milk. We also sell beef that is raised for us by a local rancher who has lots of range land.
4. Who or what inspired you to be a farmer/rancher, hobby farmer?
I have always been interested in farming. I grew up reading James Herriot and other such authors who of course make farming sound very romantic but also lots of hard work. When the opportunity to start a business raising chickens came up, we jumped on the chance. It's not exactly been easy going so far, but I think we will be able to make it work.
5. Is it a hobby or an occupation?
Occupation. My husband is a a retired firefighter/paramedic and I have had a few jobs I liked but never a career. We now both work 100% on the farm.
6. In what areas are you knowledgeable and in what areas would you like to learn more?
Very knowledgeable in raising chickens for meat and eggs, reasonably knowledgeable about turkeys. Reasonably knowledgeable about sheep and goats, though I am always looking to learn more. We have had goats for several years but sheep for just one year.
7. What types of farming will you never choose to do?
Commerical-type farming that doesn't allow the land to rejuvenate itself. We keep our numbers low and give our animals enough space so that our pasture is kept in good condition at all times.
8. Are you interested in providing more of your own food supply?
It would be great if we produced 100% of our own food but I don't think we will ever get to that point. I would settle for producing all the meat we consume and 70% of the produce. I don't think we will ever be producing our own grains, we just don't have the space.
9. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
I love gardening though I've only kept a garden of my own for a few years. We hope to have a CSA garden if we are able to move to a larger property. Right now, we just don't have the space. We do have a community garden on our farm that is run by a friend of ours. It provides many local families with a place to grow their own produce.
10. How much space/land do you have or rent? City farm? Country?
We own a house, but we are renting it out to someone so that we can live at the farm which we rent from someone else. It is a 10 acre parcel with 8 acres of pasture.
11. What is your farm specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?
Our specialty is meat animals, we raise chicken and lamb on our property and beef is raised on a local ranch.
12. Are you interested in herbal animal medicine?
Definitely.
13. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?
PNW probably. Though it is really nice that here in So. Cal., we can garden year-round.
14. Are your family or friends also interested in animals?
My immediate family, husband and kids, are very much into animals. The rest of my family, not so much. I think they all think we are a bit mad for choosing to be farmers, especially farmers raising animals that we process for meat.
15. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?
I like cooking a bit more now that I have a little more knowledge and am fairly confident that I can turn out something decent. I try to use local, in-season foods as much as possible. When we have dairy animals, we do not pasteurize any of the dairy products we consume. We only use eggs from our own birds if at all possible.
16. Do you process your own meat? Can or preserve?
We process all our chickens ourselves, lamb is done locally but not by us and our beef has to be slaughtered at a USDA facility since we sell cuts to the public. I love canning and hope to be able to buy a pressure canner soon so that I can preserve more of what we produce.
17. Do you use alternative energy sources on your farm? Would you like to?
Currently we don't but we would love to add some wind and solar power.
18. Has the experience with animals changed your attitude or habits?
Definitely. I think our family feels much more connected to nature now. We depend on the rain to water our pasture, we deal with the wind when it knocks water buckets down and tears roofs off, we notice much more the effect the weather has on our daily activities. We also pay much more attention to where our food comes from. I now very rarely eat meat that is commercially grown and I try to do the majority of my food shopping at farmers markets.
! I never thought there would be that many! I just hope they won't be disappointed at how little there is to actually see.
