"The best farming systems are ones where animals and plants are put into a synergistic relationship."

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma

The cool, damp weather of early spring seems to want to hang on longer than we would all like this year, and it has pushed back many of our garden plantings. But many plants that we started indoors are finally in the ground, and most of the seeds have been planted. Just a few late crops to get in yet - sweet potatoes, okra, summer and winter squash, some late corn. We plant a big garden each year, trying to grow as much food as we can to feed ourselves here on the farm, with a few extras that we sell along with our meat and mushrooms.

Some folks might ask...why not use all of your land to grow vegetables? Wouldn't that be healthier for ourselves and the planet? Given the recent news about meat shortages, there are some vocal advocates for having everyone eat a vegetarian or vegan diet. I recently read Jonathan Safran Foer's article The End of Meat is Here in the New York Times. I was considering writing a response, and then I read Jon Darby's response to a Facebook posting of this article, and found that he had written exactly what I wanted to say. Jon is the Education Director at the Horn Farm Center in York. We have partnered with them for several years, we respect Horn Farm's work, and Jon's voice carries weight with us. Here's what he wrote in response to the article:

"An end to industrial meat? Yes please. But one of the best strategies to repair land ecology, restore carbon to the soil, and improve biodiversity is rotational grazing of cattle mimicking the way large mammals existed on the land prior to western civilization. It’s a nice slogan, but meat isn’t murder if done with natural systems in mind. It’s actually living in relation with the land and it’s inhabitants and becoming fully human again. So don’t quit meat, support regenerative farmers doing it right. This article starts with a completely false premise and ignores the fact that not all meat is equal."

Exactly. Ruminant animals like cows and sheep turn sunlight into protein, and they enrich the soils, the land and our bodies in the process. We don't eat meat every meal here, and  we have community members and friends who are vegetarian and vegan - we respect their choice. We do our best to treat all living things here on the farm - people, animals, plants - with respect and value, and we thank all of you who support your local small farmer who is doing their best to provide good food for you.

Kay

What's happening on the farm...

What's cooking here on the farm...

UPCOMING EVENTS

“We need acts of restoration, not only for polluted waters and degraded lands, but also for our relationship to the world.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

The Trout Lilies, Spring Beauties and Violets are blooming all through our woods, just below our pasture. Despite the upheaval that all of us are feeling, spring comes, with its erratic weather and unexpected beauty, just as it always does. Many birds have returned to the woods and pastures - tree swallows, bluebirds, herons, flickers, robins, cardinals, blue jays, and sparrows abound. New life has also arrived - ducklings, goslings, chicks, piglets, and lambs are soon to be born. We find solace in observing the natural world and its rhythms, as we are finding most of the normal rhythms of our lives in such disruption. 

We hope that all of you are also finding ways to be outside connecting with the changing season, wherever you live. In rural areas, suburban neighborhoods or on city streets, the trees are budding and the birds are singing, and time spent observing these changes can calm our anxious thoughts and slow our breathing. 

Taking care of ourselves is vital in these challenging times, and we also want to take care of our communities - those of us who do not have stable incomes or food supplies. There are ways we can help, and find help, if we are in need. Mutual aid groups are really taking off right now in response to the virus, and we are heartened to see so much coalescing in the face of disaster. We can donate to local food banks (like the Community Cupboard of Elizabethtown), provide financial support to local immigrants in danger of deportation (through Lancaster Neighbor Fund), and we can start a cooperative community garden (see below). Together we will get through this.

What's happening on the farm...

Cooperative Gardens

UPCOMING EVENTS

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
― Lao Tzu

We had this month's newsletter opening mostly written, and then realized that our thoughts and conversations have been so focused on the constantly changing news regarding the Coronavirus, that it seems to be a much more appropriate topic to address.

All of us have concerns about ourselves as individuals and families, and most of us have worries about people we are close to who are more vulnerable to this virus. How will it affect us as individuals and as a community? What will happen as schools, businesses, restaurants shut down?

Here on the farm we have an ample supply of our own meat, eggs, dried mushrooms, homegrown and stored vegetable and fruit. We buy in bulk to feed the community, so we always have the staples we need, to avoid going to the grocery store very often. The off-farm income that helps support the work of the farm is secure, and can continue from home. We are already fairly isolated compared to most, but our personal resiliency does not help us to rest easy at night, knowing that so many do not live in the place of privilege that we do.

We've discussed what we can do as a farm business and community. We know that the food we offer is nourishing and is important for our health. If you have a CSA share with us or just want to place an order and decide to isolate or quarantine due to becoming ill, we can work out a doorstep drop-off for you. Please contact us if this applies to you. We're also doing our part by following the recommended WHO (World Health Organization) protocols for hygiene. 

So, what can we do more broadly? We are open to conversations about how and where we can help, if things become difficult. What are your ideas about ways to help? Can we begin a conversation about how to create more resiliency within our communities? How can we support each other through difficulties? 

Times like these are when communities need to come together to take care of one another. Through mutual aid, kindness, compassion, and sharing resources we will foster resiliency. Stay up to date on medical advice put out from the WHO and CDC but don't let the facts put you into a state of fear. Do self-care to stay healthy and check in on your elders and community members who have pre-existing illnesses. If you are an elder or someone who is immuno-compromised please reach out if you're in need. We will get through this together. 

What we're cookin' here on the farm...

SPRING GRAZING BEGINS

UPCOMING EVENTS

Winter is a season of rest and reflection on the farm, where the shorter and darker days are meant to help us look inward towards ourselves and the inner workings of the farm. And we have been doing that here, adjusting grazing plans and garden plans, adding beneficial components to the farm like a small nursery to propagate plants we need, and cutting out parts of our work that weren't serving us or the farm mission. But after two months of cold, wet mud and dreary days (where has the winter gone?) sometimes you need some inspiration and sunlight to come back into your days and move past reflection. Right on cue, every year in early February, the PASA conference provides the spark that is needed when the winter blues start to take hold and we are ever so grateful for it.

PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture) is a pivotal organization in the state for providing education, policy, resources, and networking for the sustainable and regenerative farming and food system movement. They have been the most important organization personally for my continuing education in farming. It's also the best place to find mentors, friends, and resources. This particular conference most of the members of the farm were able to go and learn about useful topics such as grazing to support native plants, soil fungal networks and their benefit in agriculture, fruit tree pruning and organic care, marketing and telling your farm's story, and just hear inspiring stories. Also, we met so many wonderful people and got to catch up with people we haven't seen since the last conference. It is communities like the PASA network that drives this work forward.

And it's not just for farmers, but for any individuals interested in or working towards a better food system. Whether it is how racial and wealth inequalities affect food distribution and health, how to increase community gardens and deepen people's connection with land, or how to run a small diversified farm, PASA is working towards connecting the dots and inspiring people to get their hands dirty towards more earth care, people care, and fair share. We are inspired once again by the people and possibilities we saw and are looking to take that inspiration into our work this year on the farm. Oh, and spring is right around the corner!  

- Harrison

Learn more about PASA and the many resources they have to offer here:
http://www.pasafarming.org

What we're cookin' here on the farm...

LOOKING FOR LOGS

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wow, that's a strong statement! But what if we took it seriously? Could we make the leap to see our food as our medicine? I know this is something that I struggle with, even though I have been considering it for quite some time. So many of our food choices are the result of the traditions we were brought up in, the choices we were offered as children, and the incessant marketing for food products we are exposed to on a daily basis. So many choices, and so many temptations, full of sugar, refined flour, and unhealthy fat! 

I just spent four days away at a retreat center where I was offered only whole, unprocessed food, homemade food. It was so easy to make good choices in this environment, where there were no potato chips, chocolate, and ice cream. Most of us can't give up these things completely, but one useful piece of advice I received was to follow the 70-30 rule. Eat well 70% of the time, and indulge in what you need to satifsy your food yearnings 30% of the time. (Or 80-20, if you are feeling more ambitious.) So, try to eat local, organic, unprocessed food for the bulk of your food, and happily enjoy your bag of cheetos now and then, if that's what makes you happy. (Dieffenbach's potato chips are my guilty pleasure.) Here on the farm we are doing our best to raise the most healthy food possible, working to build up our soil so that everything we produce - meat, eggs, mushrooms, fruit, vegetables - will be as nutrient dense as possible. Healthy soil leads to healthy plants, which leads to healthy animals and healthy people. If the kinds of food we eat are the building blocks of our body, mind and soul...what are you building?

-Kay

What we're cookin' here on the farm...

UPCOMING EVENTS

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
-African Proverb
 

This was the hottest summer ever, in my opinion, anyway. I gave birth to my son in August and have since then been spending the 4th trimester relaxing, reflecting, and enjoying our time of bonding. This postpartum period has introduced intense emotions of love and devotion, that which I've never experienced before. It has also conjured up great sadness. Bringing such innocence into this broken world has felt irresponsible and careless. But, as my friend and doula put it, more healthy humans is what this world needs. His existence is a drop in the pond but the ripple created extends outward and affects every other molecule that is touched. 

I'm sorry, Julian, for bringing you into a world wrought with so many problems. But, I can show you a place where beauty and productivity coexist. I can show you the good that comes from collaboration. 

The trees we plant benefit his future as the climate crisis continues. The edible perennials are for his nourishment in the years to come. The diversity we cultivate is for his resiliency. And the spaces we rewild are his to find the magic within. 

I can only do so much as one human to improve the injustices that exist. I can't fix all the broken systems. But each of us individually (it's more fun to work together!) can all do something that would contribute towards positive shifts. As I learn to navigate this new version of my old life, I'm energized to return to this Purposeful Work we do here to build community and heal people and land while growing nourishing food, not only for the benefit of all creatures, but for my son's future. 

-Donna

FALL CSA TIME IS HERE!

FALL CSA PRICES

BIOCHAR WORKSHOP

UPCOMING EVENTS

Spring flew swiftly by, and summer came; and if the village had been beautiful at first, it was now in the full glow and luxuriance of its richness. The great trees, which had looked shrunken and bare in the earlier months, had now burst into strong life and health; and stretching forth their green arms over the thirsty ground, converted open and naked spots into choice nooks, where was a deep and pleasant shade from which to look upon the wide prospect, steeped in sunshine, which lay stretched out beyond. The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green; and shed her richest perfumes abroad. It was the prime and vigour of the year; all things were glad and flourishing." 

We were very grateful for all of those who helped to plant hawthorn trees to form a living hedge and riparian buffer trees to create more habitat and erosion control in our pasture and on the bank of the Little Chiques Creek. We continue to enjoy the increasing wildlife, and our latest new species sighting was  a woodcock on the pasture in late June. In addition to our own farm events like the tree plantings, we were happy to host a two-day Tractor Safety and Maintenance for women, sponsored by PA-WAGN (Pennsylvania Women in Agriculture Network) and taught by Shane LaBrake, tractor guru extraordinaire!

Interns Erica and Rachel have settled in to the farm routines, and have been a welcome addition to the life of the farm community. With more hands we are accomplishing more than ever, yet still have many more ideas than we can put into practice! We hope that your lives are also full of good work, good play, and more ideas than you have time to explore! - Kay

ANNOUNCEMENTS

ROTATIONAL RESTORATION

FOOD AND JUSTICE

UPCOMING EVENTS

SPRING GROWTH

While spring always brings change, transitions, and new beginnings for the growing season, this year in particular seems to have us welcoming more into our lives than normal. We are excited to welcome our first ever interns Rachel and Erica to the farm this season. We are hoping to teach and show many aspects of regenerative agriculture and living in community with them as we also learn from the skills and experiences they bring to our farm. And it is always good to have more helping hands as our list of tasks and farming systems grows. We also are focusing on new areas of cultivation and stewardship on the farm this year that we haven't had the time or designs to create yet. Particularly, we are hoping to spend a great deal more effort on healing our riparian woodlands through invasive species removal and planting more diverse native trees and shrubs; building an outdoor kitchen for cooking with wood from the farm and also an earth-sheltered greenhouse that will provide year-round growing space; and working with new organizations, groups and people to help foster connections to our local ecology and the beautiful world that we live in. The projects and task lists abound!

One of those recent community connections was an ecological design course taught by our good friends Ben Weiss, Robyn Mello, and Wilson Alvarez that used our farm as a teaching ground this past Sunday for their 30 students. It was a wonderful day for everyone to learn from each other about different farming systems as well as how to look at the whole farm landscape from an ecological perspective. We met many new faces of people interested in these topics whom we hope to see again and collaborate with in the future. It is becoming more apparent to us that spending the time to make these human relationships flourish is often what is needed to find better and more creative ways to make our natural landscapes flourish too. We can learn so much from each other. I hope you can make the time amidst the spring bustle to build deeper and more growth-oriented and collaborative relationships in your lives whether it is with people, animals or trees.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eggs - We have so many tasty pasture-raised chicken eggs available for sale at the farm now till June when our CSA starts so come and get them! $5/dozen

Summer CSA Shares Available - Our Summer CSA offers egg, shiitake mushroom, and grass-fed meat shares beginning in June and running through the end of October. Egg and mushroom shares are weekly or biweekly pickups whereas meat shares are every 4 weeks. You can choose any combination of the different shares and buy multiple shares if you would like. Click here for pricing and more info. The pickup locations are here on the farm, at the Horn Farm Center in York County, or at our Mulberry Street drop-off point in Lancaster City. Call 717-967-4012 or email us at risinglocustfarm@gmail.com to order. If you are picking up at the Horn Farm Center, we encourage you to also join the Horn Farm Center Vegetable CSA near York so that you can get vegetables, eggs, mushrooms and meat all in one place (same pickup time). Thanks!

Looking for Logs 
We're still looking for logs to make next years mushroom harvest. Do you have a small woodlot that needs thinned? A tree that needs to come down this spring? We can provide some tree felling and sustainable forestry services, or simply come pick up wood that's already been felled.  We can use oak, sugar maple, beech, and sweetgum. Trees need to be freshly cut and free of disease and rot. We need wood that is 4-8" in diameter cut to 3 ft lengths to make mushroom logs, but we can take other sizes for firewood if some of it falls in the appropriate range. Call 717-693-3381.

PIG POWER

FOOD AND JUSTICE

UPCOMING EVENTS

CHANGES

Ah, what a year 2018 has been. Trials and tribulations aside, as I sit here sipping on my hot cocoa I can't help but reflect on all of the gifts this year has brought to me and my community as well as the goals we've accomplished. For starters our farm has grown in a couple ways. Our newest community member, Laila Davis, has joined us in our quest bringing along with her thoughtful insights, fresh energy, and many new skills added to our collective tool box. We've also expanded the property by acquiring the blue house next door which now serves as housing for our growing community, lengthens our stewardship of the Little Chiques creek, and provides more opportunities for the foreseen (and unforeseen) future!

This fall also added more diversity and abundance to the Rising Locust landscape with the addition of a willow thicket across the way in an otherwise very wet area once planted with corn, soy, and alfalfa. This thicket will act as a coppice, or in other words, trees that can be cut over and over again to provide us with renewable fuel, basket making rods, and wood chips for the orchard all while preventing erosion and pesticides from entering our little piece of the Little Chiques watershed. Thank you everyone who came out to the work party and helped! Because of you we planted 500 trees in just one day!

We've had our first successful meat CSA this fall and plan to continue to offer shares! Thank you every one of the community members who've now joined us in our vision. We hope you enjoyed what our CSA shares have to offer and look forward to continue working with you. If anyone is interested in joining the winter meat CSA please see details below.

I would also like to take this time to express thanks and gratitude to everyone from Philhaven health center who have come to visit us this year, with an extra special thanks to Sue Wagner-Fields for organizing the field-trips. We love sharing what this land has to offer and very much appreciate the extra hands in the garden. Eli the dog loves the visits too and can barely wait for the next one!

Now the darkest time of year has passed. Light has been reborn with the returning of the Sun. May he grow strong to provide all of us with the fire and energy for making lasting positive changes.

Cheers,
Jono 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

2019 Internship Application Now Open - We are interested in partnering with self-motivated individuals to share in the work that we do while providing foundational knowledge and hands-on experience in regenerative agriculture, permaculture design, homesteading and community living.Please click here for more information and access to the application form. Share widely!

Winter Meat CSA Shares Available - What's a CSA? Community Supported Agriculture! When you become a member you are buying directly from your local farmer with no middle man. You will be supporting a local farm, one dedicated to regenerating the soil, the environment, and the ecological balance and diversity of your region.  In return you get the convenience of a months worth of pastured meat in one day, receiving a sample of diverse cuts. We have full and half shares of beef and pork available. More info here on our website. Email us to reserve a share.

From Bones to Bloom: Ecological Design Course & PDC March 3- May 26
Friends and colleagues of ours will be teaching a Permaculture Design Course featuring Rising Locust Farm as one of the on-site "class rooms". A class on regenerative ecology for the 21st century landscape with Robyn Mello, Wilson Alvarez, & Benjamin Weiss. This course will embody the permaculture principle: “design from patterns to details.” Students will begin at the foundation of ecological design by understanding ecological concepts and principles, learning to deeply observe natural patterns. During the course, we’ll take students on a journey through ever more detailed aspects of ecological design, developing towards a tool-kit of land-based techniques for building a new paradigm of community and economy. 
Click here for full class description and registration

Looking for Logs 
Its that time of year again. Do you have a small woodlot that needs thinned? A tree that needs to come down this winter? We can provide some tree felling and sustainable forestry services, or simply come pick up wood that's already been felled. We are looking to source logs for mushroom inoculation this winter and early spring. We can use oak, maple, beech, some birch, and ironwood. We need wood that is 4-8" in diameter to make mushroom logs, but we can take other sizes for firewood if some of it falls in the appropriate range. Call 717-693-3381.

INSIGHTS FROM THE PAST HELP US DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE

Finding Land to Farm

Upcoming Events

HARVEST

Even as the days are now visibly waning, the wet season seems to not want to follow suit. 2018 has given many trials to food growers: a very cold late winter with almost no spring, followed by a hot and muggy summer that is runner up for Pennsylvania's wettest year on record. Despite this being bad for several of our garden plants, it's been quite the opposite in the pasture and forest.

We've observed baby saplings, planted this past spring, fall and spring of '17, grow 6 to 9 ft! The pasture grass is the most healthy the cows and sheep have ever seen, and flooding has brought a tiny stream back to life that now meanders its way to the Little Chiques creek. In general all of the woody perennials and so-called "invasive" medicinals are thriving thanks to the abundance of rain. Even some of the annuals did well despite the elements and fungal rot that effected others.

In the river hills we've eaten the sweet nectar of paw-paws like children leaving a sloppy mess all over faces and hands. Wild mushrooms such as chanterelles, boletes, chicken-of-the-woods, and oysters have been plentiful, their mycelial web decomposing dank wood, turning sick and dying to healthy earth. And, as we anticipate foraging black walnuts and hickories, acorns have been dropping upon us from the oaks above.

So now as we celebrate the years harvests and prepare for the coming winter we begin to slow down and reflect on what's working and what isn't, balancing light and dark. We also give gratitude to the water that brings us life, and to you, our community.

Hog Heaven

Food and Justice

Upcoming Events