May-June 2006 Passages Newsletter, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture

8/9/2019 May-June 2006 Passages Newsletter, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture

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Agriculture at the Crossroads:National Animal ID

Agriculture at the Crossroads:National Animal ID

By Brian Snyder What follows are some considerations

and conclusions that have resulted from dis-cussions within the PASA board of directorsregarding the USDAs proposed National Animal Identication System. Since NAIShas proven to be somewhat of a moving tar-get, this does not exactly represent a boardpolicy on the matter, rather more a statusreport on our thinking.

For those who are not familiar, the NAISconcept was developed by the feds following

9/11 and the discovery of Mad Cow diseasein this country, and has been fueled lately by fears surrounding the deadly H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza, which many analystsbelieve may reach our shores sometime thisyear. In brief, the proposed identicationsystem, when fully implemented, wouldcontain three levels of information 1) premises ID for every farm, 2) individualID for animals, and 3) records that detailmovement of animals throughout their life-times. This column is not intended as aprimer on NAIS; those who wish to know

Serving the Community of Sustainable Farmers,Consumers and Businesses Throughout Pennsylvania and Beyond Number 60 May/June 2006

Newsletter of thePennsylvaniaAssociation

for SustainableAgriculture

PassagesSustainable Food and Farming Systems

continued page 6

more should consult the designated website, www. usda.gov/nais (note: if you do nothave access to the Internet, give us a call and well mail you printouts of the most perti-nent information).

Whatever else is said about the NAIS, itis a complex issue that deserves carefulthought. To some, it is seen quite simply asthe last nail in the cofn of small and mid-sized livestock farms across America. To oth-ers, it is perceived as a necessary step for any farmer in retaining the value of his/her yearsof hard work and careful animal husbandry. And if you happen to get representatives of

these two points of view in the same room,prepare yourself for a heated argument!The system is already being implemented

in all 50 states, at least to the extent thatpremises identication is now available. A few states have made premises ID mandato-ry by law. Such a bill is also pending in thePennsylvania Senate (SB 865), which is cur-rently held up due to election year jittersover a condentiality provision.

In fact, condentiality is itself one of themost controversial parts of this whole issue.To state it as briey as possible, the data

maintained in a government mandated identication system is subject to the Freedoof Information provisions of state and/ofederal law, while that collected in a volutary system is not. A privately held systee.g. managed by the livestock industry itseis also protected by law from public access

This is why so much has been said aboukeeping an ID system either voluntary ounder the control of industry or in thelatest, more complicated versions, as a panership of government and industry working together. It needs to be understood byeveryone concerned about this issue that thleaders of big livestock industry groups avery much interested in controlling all anmal data through privatization. To that endsome of the more amboyant warnings ithe small farm community about loss ofreedom and privacy have actually been wcomed by the ag industrialists.

Another important consideration whether individual animal ID would baccomplished using electronic devices, e

FIELD DAYANNOUNCEMENT

PASAs 2006 Farm-Based Educationseries will soonbe underway.Check out theback cover of this issue formore infor-mation andmark youcalendars!

DIRECTORS CORNER

Graphic courtesy of Wolfpack Design.


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May/June 20061 Directors Corner:

National Animal ID

3 Are You Over-Applying Compost

or Manure?

4 Farmer Prole: Creekside Farm

4 Farmer Prole: Creekside Farm

7 Presidents Corner

10 Singing the Praises of Stinging Nettles!

12 Educational Outreach

14 2006 Fundraising Campaign

15 Farmland Preservation

Is It for You?17 Book Review: Hit by a Farm

18 General Information

19 Consumer News

21 2006 Business Members Listing

22 Editors Corner:The Grapevine

24 Classied Ads

26 Calendar

27 Membership & Contribution Form

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Pennsylvania Associationfor Sustainable Agriculture

P.O.Box 419Millheim PA 16854

Phone:(814) 349-9856 Fax: (814) 349-9840Website:www.pasafarming.org

Passages STAFF & OFFICEStaff Editor : Michele Gauger

Layout : C FactorAdvertising Sales : Michele Gauger,

PASA ofce, [email protected]

BOARD OF DIRECTORSPresident: Kim Miller,Westmoreland County

Vice President: Kim Tait,Centre CountySecretary: Lyn Garling,Centre County

Treasurer: Chris Fullerton,Huntingdon CountyMary Barbercheck,Centre CountyDavid Bingaman,Dauphin County

George DeVault,Lehigh CountyJennifer Halpin,Cumberland County

Mena Hautau,Berks CountyJohn Hopkins,Columbia County

John Jamison,Westmoreland CountyDave Johnson,Tioga County

Don Kretschmann,Beaver CountyBrian Moyer, Berks County

Anthony Rodale,Berks CountyKim Seeley,Bradford County

PASA STAFFHeadquarters

Brian Snyder

Executive [email protected]

Jackie BonomoExecutive Assistant

[email protected]

Lauren SmithDirector of Development& Membership [email protected]

Heather HouseDirector of Educational Outreach

[email protected]

Michele GaugerMembership & Research Assistant

[email protected]

Brandi MarksOfce Coordinator/Bookkeeper

[email protected]

Western Regional OfcePhone:412-697-0411

David EsonDirector of Western Programs

[email protected]

Julie SpeicherMarketing Manager

[email protected]

PASAs Mission isPromoting protable farms which produce

healthy food for all people while respecting the

natural environment.PASA is an organization as diverse as the Pennsylvanialandscape. We are seasoned farmers who know thatsustainability is not only a concept, but a way of life.We are new farmers looking for the fulllment of landstewardship. We are students and other consumers,anxious to understand our food systems and thechoices that must be made.We are families and chil-dren,who hold the future of farming in our hands.Thisis an organization that is growing in its voice on behalf of farmers in Pennsylvania and beyond.Our mission isachieved,one voice,one farm,one strengthened com-munity at a time.

PASA is an Equal O pportunity Service Provider and Employer.Some grant funding comes from the USDA and com- plaints of discrimination should be sent to:USDA Ofce of Civil Rights, Washington,DC 20250-9410.

Passages March/April 2006 ContributorsContributors: George DeVault, Barbara Gerlach, Vern Grubinger, Mena Hautau, Heather House, Julie Hurst,Kim Miller, Sandra Miller, Linda Moist, Claire Murray, Eric Nordell, Fritz Schroeder, Lauren Smith, John Smith, BrianSnyder, Julie Speicher,Tim Schlitzer,Jennifer Tucker,Sarah Young. Photographs courtesy of: Pat & Elwood Brubeck,Heather House, Gerald Lang,Merriell Oliver,Brian Snyder,Jennifer Tucker, the U.S.Dept. of Agriculture.

PASA in the NewsHave you seen articles about PASA in your local news-papers or other media? PASA is active across the state,

and wed love to know what coverage we are gettingin your area. Please clip any articles you see on PASAand mail them to our Millheim headquarters to theattention of Ofce Coordinator Brandi Marks.

Do you have a greatarticle idea for Passages ?

Want to share a farming practice with members? Wedlove to hear from you. Please contact the newsletterstaff at [email protected].

Deadline for July/August 2006 Issue: June 23,2006

Passages is printed on recycled,chlorine-free paper


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Are You Over-ApplyingCompost or Manure?

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By Vern Grubinger Its common practice among organic

growers to apply compost or manure tovegetable elds nearly every year in orderto fertilize crops and add organic matterto the soil. This is benecial in the short-term, but in the long run it can lead to abuildup of excess nutrients.

If a little is good, a lot may be betterIn some cases, when new land is put

into organic vegetable production it islow in organic matter, soil tilth, biologi-cal activity and available nutrients as aresult of previous cropping practices. Tocorrect this condition as quickly as possi-ble, it makes sense to put on heavy appli-cations of compost and/or manure forseveral years. Typically, growers will apply 10, 15, 20 tons, or even more, dependingon soil conditions, the materi-al being applied and the cropsto be grown. Application of fresh or slightly aged manure

is preferable if the priority is toprovide available nutrients toa crop that follows and toimprove soil tilth. Well-agedmanure or nished compostalso improve soil tilth, but aregenerally more effective atincreasing soil organic matter.

Too much of a good thing After just a few years of

high application rates, the

more soluble than P, and more of it isremoved by the crops.

As soil organic matter levels increaseover time with high rates of compost ormanure applications, the amount of Nthat is released from the soil each year, ormineralized, will also increase over time.This poses a problem if the sum of themineralized N plus the N thats availablefrom the annual compost or manureapplication substantially exceeds what acrop can take up.

Where do excess nutrients go?Extra added P is mostly held in the

soil in unavailable forms, but it can belost through erosion or even leaching if levels in the soil get high enough. If soilN becomes available beyond a crops abil-ity to use it, the excess will either leachinto groundwater as nitrate, or volatilizeinto the air as nitrous oxide, a greenhousegas. In a home garden situation this is nota big deal since a relatively small amountof nitrogen is involved, but on a farmscale there is signicant potential for pol-lution. In addition, high available N lev-els in the soil may result in uptake above

plant needs, leading to greater pest prob-lems (like aphids and some foliar dis-eases), as well as high nitrate levels inleafy crops, such as spinach or lettuce.

Managing soilorganic matter equilibrium

We know that soil organic matter isdesirable because it improves soil water

holding capacity, aeration, inl-tration, nutrient holding andrelease and more, but in eldsthat already have plenty of

nutrients, how can soil organicmatter be increased or main-tained if we want to avoidadding excess nutrients in com-post or manure? And what levelof soil organic matter is desir-

Are You Over-ApplyingCompost or Manure?

Manure offers many benets to soil fertility,includ-ing available nutrients for crops, but even if a littleis good, a lot may not be better if it contributes toexcess soil nutrients.

Mature compost is good for improvingsoil tilth,although it does not provide alot of immediately available nutrients.However, repeated applications over the years can build up soil phosphorus,in some cases to excessive levels .

amount of compost or manure appliedeach year can, and should, be reduced.Otherwise, its likely that nutrients willbe added above and beyond crop needs,accumulating in the soil where they may pose a threat to water quality.

One reason that growers sometimesapply relatively large doses of compost ormanure to their elds, even after many years in production, is to meet the nitro-gen (N) needs of their crops. The prob-

lem comes when the rate of manure orcompost necessary to meet the N needsof a crop is higher than what is necessary to meet the crops phosphorous (P) andpotassium (K) needs. In that case, soil Plevels can build up to moderate, thenhigh and even excessive levels as the yearsgo by. Potassium may also build up, butit poses less of a problem because it is

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By Michele Gauger It started out with a picnic table at

the end of our driveway, comments

Patricia Brubeck, co-owner of CreeksideFarm in Marysville, Pennsylvania (Perry County). Pat and her husband Elwoodbegan their farming enterprise about 20years ago as avid gardeners. We alwaysloved working with unique owers andshrubs, but many varieties we wanted toplant were either too expensive or notreadily available. So we started a minigrowing area in the cellar of our oldhouse to grow our own plants, says Pat.

An over abundance of plants led to thecreation of Creekside Nursery (a few pic-nic tables and homemade sign), whichgrew over the years to also include land-scaping, pond installation and moregreenhouses. Several years later, theBrubecks have returned to growing veg-etables and herbs exclusively.

Currently Creekside Farm consists of eight acres, with seven greenhouses andtwo high tunnels. A wood red stoveheats three of the 30 x 96 greenhousesand one of the high tunnels. The othergreenhouses are still heated with propanebut they plan to switch to an alternativefuel in the near future. The small family farm, just north of Harrisburg, growsmicro greens, culinary herbs, edible ow-ers and other specialty greens year roundin their greenhouses.

Some of the unique micro green mixesinclude Asian, Italian, Spicy and South Western. Varieties include everythingfrom Amaranth, to Curly Cress, Fenu-greek, Mizuna, and Wasabi. In additionto micro herbs, they also offer edibleowers and garnishes.

Most of the farms customers are chefsfrom restaurants in the Harrisburg,Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg, Hershey,Lebanon and Carlisle areas. According toPat, We take pride in offering only thefreshest produce to discriminating chefsand custom growing is our specialty forthose chefs who wish an exclusive itemon their menu.

One of their clients, Chef Jerry Labooty, of the Greystone Restaurant inPottsville (Schuylkill County) drives toLebanon County to pick up his orders(Creekside doesnt deliver to SchuylkillCounty). According to Chef Jerry, Patand Woody grow the most pristine pro-duce I have ever used. I am proud to haveCreekside Farm associated with my restaurant.

Chef Barry Crumlich, of the Gover-nors Residence in Harrisburg enjoys theeclectic variety offered, We get novel,fresh produce such as popcorn shoots,baby bok choy and oka hajiki (also calledland seaweed).

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Pat declares, The key to success isthe ability to grow year-round and togrow different varieties what the chefsare looking for. Creeksides winter veg-etable production includes several vari-eties of radish, baby bok choy, baby fennel & baby leeks.

Customers even have input as to what crops are planted the next year.

According to Pat, Every year afterChristmas, we ask them on their invoic-es if there is a special crop they want usto try out next year. We are growing favabeans as a baby size for the rst timethis year, along with more heirloomtomato varieties. Last year we grew Asianyard long beans for the rst time and will grow them again in 2006.

Creekside not only sells direct to areachefs, but also wholesale to a few grocery stores and through Four Season Producein Ephrata. Pat points out that in orderto get a good price by selling wholesale,you need to offer specialty crops, some-thing different that not every farm canoffer. Items such as popcorn and peashoots, edible owers and assorted spe-cialty greens are unique items restaurantsand specialty stores are looking for.Wholesaling allowed us to expand ourbusiness, even though we dont have a lotof land to grow other crops, she says.

The Brubecks once had a farm standselling surplus vegetables and greens

after orders were lled, but now they sellthe remainder through Collectible Trea-sures, a local retail store right across fromthe farm. The store regularly offersCreeksides salad mix, spring transplantsand some vegetables. Cut ower bou-quets are also available on request.

For more information on CreeksideFarm contact Pat and Elwood Brubeck,2025 Valley Road, Marysville, PA 17053, visit www.creeksidegrown.com,call 717-957-3479, or email [email protected]

Creekside FarmSupplying Custom Grown Produce for Creative Chefs

Far left:Pat Brubeck shows off a bountiful harvest micro greens ready to go to area chefs and restaurants.

Left:Elwood Brubeck prepares to make their week-ly deliveries.

The key to success is

the ability to grow year-round and to grow different varieties what the chefs are looking for

Patricia Brubeck

FARMER PROFILE


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PASA Awarded a Northeast SARE GrantFrom interviews and surveys conducted with farmers and agricultural profes-

sionals, PASA discerned a growing need for a comprehensive approach to small

ruminant education that addresses issues specic to small and medium size oper-

ations. Therefore, we were delighted to learn that our grant proposal entitled

Diversifying with Small Ruminants for Protability was funded by a Northeast

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NE SARE) grant. PASA aims toserve the small ruminant community by positioning ourselves as the focal point for

disseminating information and providing access to expertise relevant to small

ruminant production.Specically, we will serve commercial farmers who currently

raise or would like to raise meat goats and lambs for ethnic markets and/or dairy

goats and sheep for milk and value-added products such as cheese and yogurt. To

this end, PASA will coordinate and/or facilitate over the three-year duration of this

project farmer-to-farmer eld days, hands-on intensive learning programs, confer-

ence workshops,and producersgroup meetings.Be sure to check out the Field Day

calendar listings on the back cover for workshops being offered this year.

PASA: What are some of the criticalissues concerning agriculture today?

Pat Brubeck : Number one I wouldhave to say is urban sprawl. This is espe-cially true in our area as many family farms are being sold off to developers.The cost of existing farmland is muchmore than the average person can afford.Re-education of todays farmers might bean answer to the dwindling farmlandproblem. So many young people are con-tent to follow old practices just becauseThats the way Dad did it. More atten-tion needs to be paid to new methods,from machinery to crop selection. From a

vegetable growers standpoint, re-educa-tion of the consumer should be a top pri-ority also. So many commodities arebeing imported that its becoming dif-cult for the average consumer to deter-mine when a particular vegetable or fruitshould be in season. Pennsylvania hasmade great progress in promoting locally grown produce but more needs to bedone. Please dont misunderstand me,having fresh produce available year-round is a wonderful thing, but havingfresh LOCAL produce available is evenbetter.

PASA: What is unique about yourfarm?

PB: First of all, were not the typicalvegetable grower with acres of sweet corn,beans and pumpkins. In fact, we donteven grow sweet corn. Most of our eldvegetables are grown by request for chefs,such as heirloom tomatoes, unique vari-eties of peppers and eggplant, and justabout anything that can be harvested

baby size from beets to zucchini. Year-round growing of specialty salad greens,culinary herbs, edible owers and microgreens is done in greenhouses and hightunnels. There are many challenges fromtiming of succession plantings to variety selection, but the rewards are great.

Everything in the greenhouses isgrown in waist-high bench beds. Wevefound this makes for cleaner harvesting,not to mention being much easier on theback! Since our soil is heavy clay, all theoutside beds are raised with layers of

compost. The high tunnels have perma-nent 10-inch high raised beds and arelled with aged compost. Its taken yearsof trial and error to come up with all thedifferent methods we use and we are stillin learning mode.

PASA: How has your operationevolved over the years?PB: We were very fortunate to have a

Dad who wanted his son to live close tohim in Perry County. He scoured thenewspapers for public sales and auctionsfor land for sale. His searches paid off and we were top bidder for the land welive on now. That was over 25 years ago we could never afford to buy theseacres at todays prices.

Creekside started out as a hobby thatslowly evolved into a business. We both

worked full-time but always had time forgardening. We had been selling a fewplants in our backyard when the truckingcompany Elwood was working for closedits doors. He decided to build a smallgreenhouse to expand our growing spaceand one thing led to another. The job Ihad was very stressful and I looked forward to the evenings and weekends whenI could spend more time with plants andother people who loved them. My deci-sion to stay on the farm was a spur of theminute one after a particularly stressfulday at the ofce. Weve been doing thisfull time ever since.

We really had no formal training, justcommon sense and a love for what we do.Over the years, weve met many growers whove shared experiences, read many,many books, articles and traveled togrowers meetings when time permitted. We have several grower friends in other

parts of the country who share ideas,problems and successes.Several years ago, I had lots of basil

plants producing much more than Icould possibly use. A conversation with afriend led me to her nephew who was inthe process of opening a new restaurant.He loved fresh herbs and would buy all Icould grow. That started a chain reactionthat led us back to our rst love herbsand vegetables. Today, all signs of retailare gone and its just gotten much bigger! Working with chefs is challenging but so

rewarding! They are some of the mostcreative people I know and are always fullof new ideas.

PASA: Why did you join PASA?PB: PASA stands for everything we

believe in. The land we live and work onis only as good as what we put back intoit. Membership allows us to keep intouch with other growers and keepabreast of current issues affecting allfarmers. Even though we chose not to becertified organic, sustainable practicesmake us good stewards. And good stew-ardship is what PASA is all about.I

Interview withPatricia Brubeck


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Without the diseases and various othersecurity risks introduced by so-calledmodern or advanced agriculturalmethods, a national ID program wouldnot even have been proposed.

But this does not mean we have lostthe dream or even failed to notice thatthe industrialists are still trying to block the ongoing progress of sustainable agri-culture any way they can I did just

say in my last column that there areTough Times Ahead. In fact, with thefast-growing public interest in safe,healthy, naturally produced food, wemay be entering a new phase of thestruggle altogether. Sustainable farmerslong ago discovered and implementedthe only reliable solution to concernsabout food securitythe farmers ownreputation clearly staked on every pack-age of food. As Kim Miller mentioned atthis years conference, a time isapproaching when civil disobediencemay even be needed to drive home thatpoint.

USDAs published NAIS implemen-tation plan cynically asserts that the sys-tem is entirely voluntary, unless of course we dont all volunteer by the tar-get date of 2009 conveniently placed,by the way, in the rst year of the nextpresidential administration. The princi-ple goal of PASA and other like-mindedorganizations, however, should not be tovolunteer our compliance, but to assert

the ethical and scientic strength of sus-tainable systems in general. We are indeed at a crossroads in

America, living as we do between twocompeting food systems. The federalNAIS program is clearly the intersectionat which these two systems will nally meet. This is no time for those of us inthe sustainable/local food systems move-ment to get bogged down by fears of ter-rorism, rampant disease or evengovernment dominationbecause forus, the light is burning bright green!I

D i r e c t o r s C o r n e r

with RFID tags that can be used to track animal movements through Global Posi-tioning Systems or other means. In thiscase, cost becomes a potentially majorfactor, in addition to the obvious worry

about civil liberties.So, privacy and cost are the two

biggest concerns that farmers of allstripes and sizes have expressed aboutNAIS in general. But sustainable farmershave an additional concern that is a littleharder to summarize in a word, itmight be called fairness. And where doesfairness count? It will count most in howsmaller operations are treated when areason for using the animal ID databasearisesas with an outbreak of H5N1 Avian Inuenza or other deadly animaldisease.

It is difcult to say where anyone cango these days to nd a consistently even-handed approach for any of agriculturesills. But one place we denitely knowNOT to look is within the greedy clutches of the big livestock industry groups. For many of us, the governmentmay only seem slightly better thanindustry in ensuring a fair system, but we need to keep in mind that it is easierto affect change in government, especial-

ly state government, than it would be working through the industry.Furthermore, with respect to the pri-

vacy issue, we also need to keep in mindthat for farmers who already rely ondirect, local markets for their livelihood,an open-door, nothing-to-hide policy has been a tremendous market advan-tage. In fact, the NAIS can be under-stood in some respects as an industry attempt to gain some of the advantagesthat sustainable farmers already enjoy, while still avoiding the true public trans-

parency that sustainability wouldrequire.

In short, before we make privacy themain issue, we need to realize that open-ness is our main advantage in the mar-ketplace. We thrive on transparency, andshould insist on it at all levels of modernagriculture!

As an organization, then, we at PASA believe there is little to be gained in try-

ing to pretend that the whole movementtoward better premise/animal identica-tion can be avoided, or that it wouldeven be desirable. This is especially true when it comes to protecting the generalpublic from some of the risks to the foodsupply introduced by modern, industrialfarming systems. It is clear, however, thatmuch remains at stake in the ongoingprocess of implementation.

Our strong preference is that farms of any size that already take full responsi-bility for the animals they produce by going so far as to put a name on the label a face on the food should beexempted from participation in theNAIS, beyond the voluntary establish-ment of premise ID. This is in contrastto the full animal identication require-ment that should be upheld in normalcommodity marketing channels. We alsobelieve that the interests of sustainablefarmers, i.e. standards of fairness, arebest maintained by state and/or localgovernment, and not by the highly politicized halls of the USDA or the self-interested board rooms of the livestock industry.

It has always been a hallmark of PASA that we attempt to cut throughthe propaganda and hype that is unfor-tunately the normal, everyday fodder of agriculture today. That attitude in thiscase leads us to say that industrial agri-culture, which is not going to disappearovernight, has brought us to this point where something like the NAIS is prob-ably necessary to ensure public safety.

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Before we make privacy the main issue, we need to realize that openness

is our main advantage in the marketplace. We thrive on transparency,

and should insist on it at all levels of modern agriculture!

National Animal IDcontinued from page 1


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diseconomies of scale become moreobvious and less tenable we will needmore and more folks who know what adays work is and how to go about it. We will need people who can think on theirfeet and adapt to situations as they arepresented. People who will take respon-sibility for their own well being will bemore successful than those who wait forBig Brother to help out. Corporatism

P r e s i d e n t s C o r n e r

By Kim Miller Against the wishes of my mother, I

have always worked for myself. There was a time in this country when most of us worked for ourselves. Back before it was called entrepreneurship or even self-employment, prior to the promise of anine-to-ve job with plenty of benetsand free time from corporate America.

As I think about the problems thatbeset our country and our world I cant

help but think wed be a lot better off if more of us worked for ourselves. Thoseof us that do, start each day with a list of things to do that is a mile long and weknow it often feels like we are workingfor everyone but ourselves. We are. We work for our families, our bankers, thetaxman, the feed mill, our animals, ourcrops and our farms.

We pretend that our schedule is ourown. It is, as long as we choose to work every waking hour. We come and go as we please, as long as we dont want to goanywhere and are pleased to keep work-ing. We can have the best health insur-ance in the world and unlimitedvacation, as long as we pay for it our-selves. I guess Mom is right I oughtto head for the safety, security and free-dom of corporate America.

Of course there is more to the story.It seems to me that the corporatism that we willingly suffer today breeds a saddependence. It is a dependence that weakens us collectively. Too many of us

look to someone else to provide our jobs,our heathcare, our leisure, our food andclothing, our communication, our edu-cation and even our sense of self worthas measured by ranking our possessionsagainst our neighbors. This has fosteredan unhealthy dependence on a systemthat is not built to deliver what we need.

Those of us who work for ourselvesdo so for a number of reasons. We likethe sense of independence that we get. We also like the interdependence that working for yourself requires. We

absolutely depend on other similarly inclined folks to run complimentary enterprises. My farm cannot function without the local feed mill, the equip-ment dealer, the mechanic, the cattlehauler, the butcher, the hatchery, thehardware, neighboring farmers and cus-tomers. Alternatively, these folks dependon me to be their customer, to supply their food or to lend a hand.

will not provide the solutions for thesechallenges.

In fact, most big business enterprisesand institutions will fail as the availabil-ity of big oil vanishes. Those of us whoknow how to manage enterprise on amore modest scale will provide themodel needed to live in the 21st centu-ry. Cheap and accessible oil has allowedus to get too big for our collective britch-es. We have lost much of our work ethicand replaced it with a belief in entitle-ment. Its time we regain some modesty and humility in our human enterpriseand go back to working for ourselves.I

It is this interdependence that createsthe symbiotic relationship that is at theheart of the rural community. Wedepend on each other and sometimeseven recognize that it is in our best inter-est to support each other. We are in amutually supportive relationship. Tofacilitate each of our own work we counton the goodwill of like-minded smallbusiness folks.

Those of us who work for ourselvesknow that our endeavors are complicat-ed and challenging. It takes not just work, but ingenuity, diligence andserendipity to be successful. Contrastthis understanding of what it takes tolive a successful life with the philosophy of entitlement so prevalent in our corpo-rate culture, and youll start to under-stand why I think that encouragingmore people to work for themselves is inour collective best interest.

As we move past the peak in world oilproduction we will face challenges andchanges in the way we live and work unlike any seen in generations. As the

Working for Myself

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We have lost much of our work ethic and replaced it with a belief in entitlement.Its time we regain some modesty and humility in our human enterprise and go back toworking for ourselves .

Stayconnected!

Visit PASA online atwww.pasafarming.org


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R e g i o n a l M a r k e t i n g

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Cook and the Reading Terminal Marketcome together to bring the City of Broth-erly Love this 2nd annual week of funand food lled events to educate peopleon where and why to buy fresh, healthy,locally grown products. Highlightsinclude a Kick-Off Celebration at Yards

Brewery and Local Foods Festivals at twoof Phillys Historic Public Markets.

I 4th Annual PhiladelphiaLocal Food Guide Release Date Thursday, June 29

This extensive directory of farmersmarkets, CSAs, restaurants and retail gro-cery stores offering farm fresh local foodhits the streets as an insert in the June29th edition of the City Paper. Be sure topick one up and use it to vote with yourdollar for local, sustainable agriculture!

Additional copies available: [email protected], 215-386-5211 x103.

I Buy Fresh, Buy Local Week Kick-Off Event at Yards Brewery Sunday,July 16

This 3rd annual celebration will fea-ture wonderful local food, Phillys nestales, local music and more! If you lovelocal food and support sustainable agri-culture in our region, come eat and drink like you mean it! Tickets: [email protected], 215-386-5211 x103.

I The Book and The Cook: SummerHosts The Barbecue Queens, Julia

Childs executive chef Nancy Verde Barr,Marinade King, Jim Tarantino, and othercookbook authors in the kitchens of ourpartner restaurants, at farmers marketsand at the Di Bruno Bros. KitchenAidTheater. For schedule call 215-545-4543or visit www.thebookandthecook.com.

I Good Beer,Good Food,and The Rest Is History July 22,5:308:30 pm

Ten ne restaurants and ten localbrewers present their best at this tastingevent in colonial Philadelphias NewMarket, 2nd and Lombard Streets. $30for 5 or $22 for 3 sample food plates.Fundraiser for the Philadelphia SlowFood Convivium, for tickets visit www.slowfood.org (click on GeneralStore, then Events) or call Slow Food718-260-8000. For more information goto farmtocity.org/news.asp.

opportunities and those who can speak from experience on the need for morefacilities and for making the connectionsthat are the basis of a strong food systemnetwork. It is such facilities and connec-tions that can help us shift the agribusi-ness focus from one of quantity to one of

quality, promoting taste and nutrition fora healthier community.From these meetings, it is clear that

this project is vital to strengthening ourstruggling rural communities and we arealways interested in hearing more ideas.

For more information on this project,contact David Eson, Director of WesternPrograms, at 412-697-0411 or [email protected].

I Lancaster CountyBuy Fresh, Buy Local Week Kick Off Event Friday, July 14, 69pm

Learn about the Lancaster County Buy Fresh, Buy Local Campaign, meetlocal food producers, sample local fareprepared by Carrs Restaurant, and enjoy live music in Lancasters historic CentralMarket Square. Tickets are $30 (benetsBFBL), make checks payable to Friendsof Central Market/BFBL to reserve a spotand mail to PO Box 1623, Lancaster,PA 17608-1623. For questions call 717-283-8699.

I Upcoming Chester CountyBuy Fresh, Buy Local Events

During Buy Fresh, Buy Local Week inmid-July, Chester County will host minifestivals at the producer only farmersmarkets. We are also in the midst of plan-ning an event similar to dining out forlife. Our dining out for local farms will happen on Wednesday, July 19th atvarious restaurants around ChesterCounty highlighting specials that featurelocal produce. A percentage of thenights proceeds will go to supportBuy F resh, Buy Local efforts in Chester Coun-ty. Contact Claire Murray: 610-563-3116 or [email protected].

I Philadelphia Buy Fresh, Buy Local Week: Celebrating Locally GrownFood July 1622

The Fair Food Project, Farm to City,The Food Trust, The Book and The

SOUTHEASTERN REGION

I Changes at PASALaurel Rush who worked in PASAs

Western Regional ofce, resigned fromher position in the organization at theend of April. PASA staff and board of

directors thank her for her work onbehalf of the organization and we wishLaurel the best in her next endeavors. Anyone with questions about the West-ern Regions Buy Fresh, Buy Local cam-paign should continue to contact DavidEson at 412-697-0411 or [email protected]

I Western Region LocalFoods Week Scheduled

The Western Region will kick off theirannual Local Foods Week on Septem-ber 10, 2006. Special events at variousfamers markets will be held throughoutthe region, as well as several local restau-rants, retail outlets and breweries holdingspecial dinners and programs to promoteawareness of the regions bountiful localproducts. Stay tuned to Passages for moredetails or contact the PASA WesternRegion ofce at 412-697-0411.

I Regional Food InfrastructureNetwork Project Underway

The Regional Food InfrastructureNetwork (RFIN) Project, which aims tostrengthen the Western PAs regional foodsystem, is well underway with its initialregional assessment of agricultural pro-duction and opportunities for value-added food products. The soon-to-bepublished Structural Analysis Report is acomprehensive look at what is going onin agricultural production and trends inthe regions nineteen counties. Under-standing the economic roles of meat anddairy industries, vegetable production

and other agricultural commodities on acounty-by-county basis will help to buildthe foundation for the future businessplan to be developed in the later stages of the project. That plan will outline waysto make a big impact on regionaleconomies and local communities by cre-ating a stronger local food systemthrough locally produced, processed andmarketed value-added products.

On the ground, we have been meeting with the people in the region already involved in efforts to create value-added

WESTERN REGION


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R e g i o n a l M a r k e t i n g

9

I Mark Your Calendars! We look forward to seeing our South

Central region members at some of theseevents:

July Dinner at Bricco, (HarrisburgRestaurant featuring local foods) date TBA Contact: Jenn Halpin, 717-423-6703

September Saturday, September 23 FoCCA Farm TourContact: Melanie Dietrich Cochran,717-423-6828

October Saturday, October 14, Harvest FestGrassroots FarmContact: Jenn Halpin or MattSteiman 717-423-6703

SOUTH CENTRAL REGION Friday, October 20, Keswick Creamery Field Day Contact: Melanie Dietrich Cochran717-423-6758

Saturday, October 28, Open Houseat Keswick Creamery Contact: Melanie Dietrich Cochran717-423-6758

The Pennsylvania Farmstead & ArtisanCheese Alliance will hold their annualmeeting on Tuesday, June 27 starting with a potluck dinner at 6pm. At 7pm abusiness meeting will commence that willinclude election of new Alliance ofcers,followed by an educational and market-ing program.

The meeting will be held at theDauphin Co. Cooperative Extension/

Conservation District office at 1451Peters Mountain Rd, Dauphin. Direc-tions and further information can befound at www.pacheese.org or by con-tacting Sandra Miller at 717-423-5663.

The Valleys of the SusquehannaBuy Fresh, Buy Local Campaign SteeringCommittee has been meeting and devel-oping ideas over the last few months. After attending several events in the

region, they have been able to educatemore consumers about the campaign and where to nd local products.

Amanda Burbage is coordinating theValleys campaign, which is ready tobegin accepting Buy Fresh, Buy Local campaign partners. Those interested inmore information on the campaign,including how to participate as a partner,contact [email protected] or 570-524-4491, ext. 250.

The steering committee is also plan-ning the 2nd Annual Local Foods Week in the region in September, look for moredetails in future issues of Passages .

I A Reminder to PASA Members Get in the Guide

Attention PASA members you cannow go to www.buylocalpa.org and apply to have your farm or business included inthe Local Food Guide online searchabledatabase. This guide allows PASA mem-bers to create an extensive custom entry listing all products available from thefarm/business, hours of operation andmuch more. You can even include yourlogo and a link to your website (if appli-cable) with your listing.

The searchable guide is designed tohelp facilitate consumer connections with healthy fresh food, neighbor farmersand those markets, grocers and restau-rants that are committed to using locally grown food in their enterprises. We wantconsumers to be able to nd you andpurchase your local farm products.

Be sure to visit www.buylocalpa.org,

click on Get in the Guide, and ll in allthe needed information about your farmor business. Members not having accessto the Internet may contact JackieBonomo at PASA headquarters and she will send you a paper form, which youcan return for us to create your listing.

NORTH CENTRAL REGION

Western

NorthCentral/Eastern

SouthcentralSoutheastern

REGIONAL CONTACTS &DISCUSSION GROUP ADDRESSES

Western [email protected] Eson:412-697-0411 [email protected]

Southeastern [email protected] Moyer:610-944-9349 [email protected] Hautau:610-378-1327 [email protected]

Southcentral [email protected] Hurst:717-734-2082 [email protected]

NorthCentral/Eastern [email protected] Tewksbury: 570-437-2620 [email protected]

Out of State discussion group addresses:

States North and East of [email protected]

States South and West of Pennsylvania

[email protected]


10/2810

foundations or fences, in the manure-richrun-off soils of pastured areas, and offery-repellant services in return for a place

to grow. Humans and animals arent theonly eaters of nettles, they are theexclu-sive food of several species of buttery and moth caterpillars.

For a delicious and nutritious eatingventure, tender nettle tops, like many other garden vegetables, should be har-vested when young for best eating, beforethe tiny male/female owers appear onthe stalk. Nettles change chemistry withthe summer season, and even if cut back the new growth will be gritty as a veg-etable and not palatable. Lightly steam

the tender young nettle tops, and followany cooked spinach recipe.

In addition to more whole foods inthe diet, regular use of nettles as fresh sea-sonal wild vegetable food, and driedherb, in tea (infusions), will normalize weight gain or loss, stabilize blood sugar,reduce fatigue, stimulate hair growth andbring a healthy glow and vitality to skin!

By Jennifer Anne Tucker

Editors Note: This is a continuation of a seriesof articles started in the March/April 2006 issue

of Passages , by Jennifer Tucker.She is an herbal-ist, artist, and PASA member who owns HillCrystal Farm with her husband and photograph-ic collaborator, Gerald Lang.She can be contact-ed at 814-422-8257 or [email protected].

Eaters today are more interested inlearning about and enjoying the nutrientriches of locally grown foods and thetrue pleasures of the season are literally inour own backyards. Spring vegetables tomost people are asparagus, peas, spinachand lettuce crops that require the ded-ication of a gardener and Im not one.So I rely on hardy, wild volunteer vegeta-bles, free for the effort of foraging, gath-ering and washing. These wild plantsvolunteer every spring in cultivated soils where they are often despised as weedsand disposed of a mistake as theseplants are truly more nutrient rich andadd a variety of tastes to the dinner bowl.

Weed vegetables now available arestinging nettle Urtica dioicaand slendernettle Urtica gracilis , if you haventalready met these amazing plants, you will never forget the stingy handshake if you try to harvest it without fully payingattention! A formality of wearing gardengloves, long sleeved shirt and pants toprepare for work in a nettle patch, is wisefor most people. Nettles have a well-developed protection system and unfor-tunately for many people, the sting of nettle has prejudiced them against thisplant. My antidote for the sting is to bebrave and crush several nettle leaves withmy bare hands to release the green juiceand apply to neutralize the reaction.

Other plants (often found growing nearnettles) to use as an antidote are Jewel- weed leaf juice, or the juice of crushedDock or Plantain leaves. When harvest-ing quantities of mature plants intendedfor drying, or when washing them to pre-pare for cooking, use tongs or weargloves. Cooking nettles before eating de-activates the sting.

Look for nettles in rich soils, cultivat-ed ground, along streams and rivers, par-tially shaded trails and moist woodlands.On farms they love to grow near barn

Singing the Praises of Stinging Nettles!

For winter use, blanch and freeze nettles,save the cooking broth for soups, and dry nettle stems and leaves.

Nettles as a Medicine As an herb, dried nettle is the founda-

tion for many of my custom herbalblends for diverse health challenges,including adrenal exhaustion, allergiesand stressed immune systems. Nettlesnutrients contribute to healthy skin, hair,and bone and are specic for healthy kid-ney and lung function.

One of my recipes for a healthfultonic infusion:

1 part nettles, 1 2 part red clover blos-

soms, 1 2 part raspberry leaf, 1 2 partlemon balm, 1 4 part lemon verbena, 1 4part black walnut leaves. (1 part = 1 cupof crushed dried herb.) Combine all of the herbs in a bowl (wear dust mask).Mix until herbs are well blended, store inglass jar away from heat and light.

To make an infusion, use 2 heaping

Common nettle,Urtica dioica is aEuropean plant, also found in Asia and

North Africa,brought here by immi-grants and it quickly naturalized.Cultures around the world have valued this abundant plant as food, medicine,ber, cordage,paper and dyes.

continued page 17

PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNIFER TUCKER AND GERALD LANG (ORIGINAL IN COLOR)


11/28

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E d u c a t i o n a l

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12

A teachable moment, that time at which a person is likely to be particularly responsive to being made aware of some-thing, can have a powerful life-changingimpact. With cold, early spring winds whipping outside Keswick Creamery inCumberland County, twenty novicecheesemakers gathered for three days of instruction lled with such moments.Led through a hands-on workshop forcommercial scale cheesemaking by Kathy Biss, internationally respected cheese-maker from Scotland, this group of cow,goat and sheep dairy farmers transformedvats of fresh, raw milk into Leicester,Gouda, Ricotta and more. Once pack-aged and aged properly, some of thesecheeses could fetch as much as $18 perpound at a farmers market.

After I graduated from college, Iknew I wanted to come back to thefarm, said Melanie Dietrich Cochran,PASA member, founder and proprietor of Keswick Creamery. Making and sellingcheese from our Jersey cows is how we were able to generate enough farmincome to support me, and now my hus-band and new baby.

The Dietrichs make a variety of

cheeses, including cheddar and feta, which they sell directly to customers atfarmers markets in Washington D.C.and Maryland. Melanies husband, Mark, was thrilled to have Kathy Biss instruct-ing at Keswick Creamery. We got a lotof helpful feedback about how to makeour product better, and weve learnedhow to make some new cheeses that welladd to our product line.

Value-added is more than a buzz- word these days; its the saving grace of many farmers bottom line. When afarmer transforms their raw products likemilk or berries into other consumableslike cheese or jam, they can substantially increase the price per pound they receivefor their product. During the cheesemak-ing class, one farmer who currently shipsall of the milk produced at his 400+ cow

Left: Kathy Biss tests whether curded milk isready for cutting.

Above: Jeff Trout uses a special slicing imple-ment to cut curds before placing them in amold.

dairy turned to Keswick Creamerysmatron and exclaimed, If my math isright, we just made $1400 worth of cheese from $200 worth of milk!Melanies response: Thats right.

But adding value takes time and con-siderable energy, which is why PASA offers trainings like the three-day cheese-making course. Before a farmer invests alot of money and time in a new venture, we want to give them a chance to actual-ly experience the work that goes intomaking and marketing a product likecheese, explains PASAs program coordi-nator Heather House. Many of our par-ticipants go on to start their owncheesemaking business, but others decideafter taking the course that cheesemakingreally isnt for them. Either way, we feelgood about helping them make aninformed decision.

PASA will be offering a home-scalecheesemaking class October 28 and 29 with Ricki Carroll, author of Home Cheesemaking and owner of the NewEngland Cheesemaking Supply Compa-ny. For information contact HeatherHouse at 814-349-9856 or visit PASAs website at www.pasafarming.org.I

Renowned CheesemakerHosts PASA Workshop

If my math is right,we just made $1400 worth of cheese from$200 worth of milk!


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By Linda Moist,Womens Agricultural Network

Its hard to pick up a newspaper these

days without being reminded of thelooming threat of bird u. The H5N1strain of avian inuenza (AI) has sweptacross bird ocks in 47 countries on threecontinents and is expected to surface inNorth America this summer.

Yet, despite all the hype, its importantto remember that so far this is a bird dis-ease, not a human one. Those most atrisk for suffering health and nancialrepercussions are poultry farmers. Tomeet their need for specic avian inuen-za information, the Pennsylvania Associa-

tion for Sustainable Agriculture, PennState Cooperative Extension, the Penn-sylvania Womens Agricultural Network,and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture recently brought together agroup of experts for a panel discussion.

The four-hour event, which was held April 18 at the Farm Show Complex inHarrisburg, was chaired by Dr. David Fil-son, Penn States Emergency Prepared-ness and Response Coordinator. Toprotect your ock, you must understandhow the virus spreads and practice goodbiosecurity. Consider taking the follow-ing precautions:

I Know the symptoms of AI: a dropin fertility and/or egg production, respi-ratory infection with coughing andsneezing, diarrhea, and bloody oral andnasal discharge associated with a highmortality.

I Know how the virus can be spread through direct contact, shared foodand water, manure, and airborne dustand dander. The AI virus is destroyed by sunlight and heat. It may live only hourson surfaces in the summer, but last fordays in cool weather. In ideal conditions(for example, in frozen manure) the viruscould live for 30 days. The virus is quitevirulent and the incubation periodbetween exposure and illness can rangefrom 12 hours to 4 days., in cool andmoist conditions AI can survive in lakesand ponds as well as liquid manure forseveral months.

I Make sure that you dont track in

the virus when you mingle with otherpoultry farmers. Keep specic boots for wearing around your ock and require

anyone who enters your ocks premisesto wear shoe covers or use a disinfectingfootbath. Shower and change clothes when you move between ocks. Cleanyour farm boots frequently and leavethem on the farm.

I Be aware of possible reservoirs of the virus. Prevent your poultry fromcoming in contact with wild birds, par-ticularly wild water birds, which can besilent carriers of the disease. (In poultry,there is no chronic carrier state). PreventCanada Geese from frequenting yourpastures and keep your birds away from wetlands.

I Make sure you have no trafcbetween your farm and live-bird markets,or smuggled birds and poultry products.

I Keep a closed ock: dont bring inany new birds unless they have been test-ed, and then quarantine them.

I Disinfect (with chlorine or alcoholcompounds) all crates used for movingbirds and dont share crates with otherproducers. A dime-sized particle of birdmanure can contain a million particles of virus.

I Keep cats (which have been knownto spread avian influenza and aviancholera) away from your poultry.

I Prevent manure transmission by composting poultry manure at high tem-peratures.

I Conne your birds or raise free-

Avian Inuenza Panel Held

Assessing the Status of Small- to Mid-Size Cider Press Operations

PASA has been awarded grant funds from the Pennsylvania Department of Agri-

culture (PDA) to assess the status of small to mid-size cider press operations in the

state. These funds will be used to look at small apple cider processing facilities,

while providing educational and marketing opportunities to support portions of

the industry.According to federal law, producers who sell apple cider wholesale must pas-

teurize their cider and juice. Producers who sell directly to consumers are not

required to treat their products, but must label the product with a warning state-

ment. To comply with new regulations, many producers found they will have (or

had) to invest $30,000(+) on pasteurization equipment,plus several thousand more

per year in maintenance and record keeping. This may seem an insurmountable

cost to many small and mid-sized cider presses.The purpose of this project is to

determine whether this change in regulations has impacted,for better or for worse,

the nancial viability of small- and mid-sized cider producers.

Our goal is to provide PDA with the information necessary to assist cider pressoperators to successfully make the transition to comply with federal regulations.

Our recommendations may include the need to support fruit grower cooperatives,

provide more grant and loan opportunities,or offer legal counseling to operations

that may not otherwise seek or be able to afford it. In the end, for cider press oper-

ators and fruit growers,it is our hope that PDA will be understood as playing a sup-

portive not regulatory role. This should result in more compliance among

producers.

For more information about this project, contact Michele Gauger at 814-349-

9856 or e-mail [email protected].

continued page 19


14/28

$51,940MAY 16

$51,940MAY 16

14

F u n d r a i s i n

g U p d a t e

Spring Appeal GivesTomato New Growth!

By Mena Hautau,Fundraising Committee Chair Thanks to the involvement of various volunteers and staff,

the fundraising campaign is being conducted in variousphases and is well on its way. Donations are just starting toshow up at PASA Headquarters in Milheim.

The spring appeal letter was mailed in April and May to amajority of PASA members and friends. In addition, boardmembers will be having direct conversations with individu-als. If you would be in a conversation with a board member, Iam sure they are interested in getting your thoughts on thestate of PASA,as we know it.

Staff will be coordinating three fundraising dinners inearly summer. If a dinner is in your neighborhood, getinvolved by attending the dinner or other numerous ways tosupport the event (i.e. rafe donation, direct donation, invit-ing friends or colleagues).

These are all good ways that together we can help growour tomato!

Our goal

VOLUNTEER LISTINGPASA staff and board would like to thank the following volunteers:

Bob Ambrose A.J.Bashore Amanda Birk Tonya Boston-Sager

Greg Boulos Stan Caldwell Eileen Clark Pete Comley Naomi

Costello Jennifer Daurora Jack Duff Betty & T.Lyle Ferderber

Emmit & Phil Glatfelter Donald L. Gibbon Kris Good Todd,Emily, Anna & Molly Hopkins Cathy Kelley Rose Marie Kendall

Nancy Laidacker Dorothy & Barry Leicher JenniferMontgomery Jamie Moore Patti Neiner Anne & Eric Nordell

Seamus OKelly Patti Olenick Rita Pollock Rita Resick

Bob Sager John Scott Rick Stafford Sandie & John Walker Sarah Young Kim Tait Bucky Zeigler

$150,000

$100,000

$50,000

0 Illustration courtesy of Phyllis Kipp

Hungry Parasites,Predators on PatrolUse Biocontrol in the Field to Control:

Corn Borer, Mexican Bean Beetle, Manure FliesUse Biocontrol in the Greenhouse to Control:

Aphids, Whiteies, Spider Mites, Thrips, Fungus Gnats

IPM Laboratories, Inc.www.ipmlabs.com [email protected]: (315) 497-2063Healthy Benecials Guaranteed

$44, 772MARCH !&

$44, 772MARCH 17


15/28

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Pennsylvania is leading the nation infarmland preservation by the number of farms and total acres being preserved foragriculture. The Bureau of Farm Preser-vation administers the Commonwealthsprogram, called the Pennsylvania Agri-cultural Conservation Easement PurchaseProgram, which has been creating agri-cultural easements since 1989.

Want to preserve your farm?First you need to have your farm

claimed as part of an AgriculturalSecurity Area (ASA), which is done by apetition to your local township commis-sioners to create the ASA. Application forthe farmland preservation program may then be made to the county program

administrator.The farm is then evaluated against

other parcels of land under the criteria of:I Quality of the Farmland the

regulation is that easements can be pur-chased on farms with a minimum of 50acres. Parcels of 10 acres and higher may be preserved if adjacent to existing pre-served farmland or used for the produc-tion of specialty crops (crops unique to

the area). At least half the tract musteither be harvested cropland or grazingland and it must be considered land thatcan be farmed.

I Likelihood of Conversion the

farmland is ranked for other uses besidesagricultural based on proximity of farmto sewer and water lines, extent and typeof non-agricultural uses nearby, amountand type of agricultural use in the vicini-ty and the amount of other preservedfarmland in close proximity.

Farmland Preservation Is It for You?

COUNTY NO. OF FARMS

Adams 101Allegheny 9Beaver 13Bedford 9Berks 386Blair 31Bradford 4Bucks 83Butler 28Cambria 5Carbon 12Centre 29Chester 184Clinton 14Columbia 18Cumberland 76Dauphin 89Delaware 2

COUNTY NO. OF FARMS

Erie 36Fayette 8Franklin 54Fulton 2Huntingdon 2Indiana 3Juniata 6Lackawanna 27Lancaster 454Lawrence 14Lebanon 85Lehigh 185Luzerne 13Lycoming 50Mercer 32Mifin 12Monroe 71Montgomery 99

COUNTY NO. OF FARMS

Montour 9Northampton 62Northumberland 11Perry 28Potter 3Schuylkill 57Snyder 17Somerset 5Sullivan 4Susquehanna 21 Tioga 7Union 42Washington 18Wayne 29Westmoreland 53Wyoming 8York 163

15

The number of agricultural easement purchases by county,as of 2/16/06.

continued page 23


16/28

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17/2817

By Sandra K. Miller Catherine Friend followed along

when Melissa, the love of her life, pur-chased fty-three acres of nothing butoak trees, unfenced pastures, bad soil,erosion problems and soggy creek land with the dream of farming. Lulled by theidyllic fantasy of rural life, Friend soonrealized that real farming was hard work both physically and emotionally compared to her career as a writer.

Throughout Hit by a Farm, Friend wrestles with the relationship betweenthe farm, her lover and her writing. Any-one who has ever added farming to anexisting career will identify with Friend when her agrarian life continually col-lides with her professional life duringlambing season, fencing projects and bro-ken farm equipment.

Unlike many practical books aboutsmall-scale farms and sustainable agricul-ture, Friend unloads the reality of farm-ing. She boils it down to sex, manure,natural disasters and death conceptsthat most non-farmers overlook when

admiring picturesque farms and contem-plating life as a farmer.

Friends honesty about the mistakesshe and Melissa made are comforting tothose of us who have also made nowlaughable blunders in our farming ven-tures. Planting grapevine cuttings upsidedown, getting milk in a bottle-fed lambslungs and having it die, blowing up thetractor engine from not putting in any oiland uneven fence rows are all frustrations with which both beginning and experi-enced farmers can sympathize.

In addition to the harsh realities of

farming, Friend candidly shares herstruggles that led her to consider leavingthe farm and Melissa on several occa-sions. At the 2005 Womens Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Burlington,Vermont where Friend was promotingthis book prior to its publication, there

was a seminar given by a successfulfarmer with a diversied operation simi-lar to Friends. In his closing remarks, heheld up his hand pointing out the fact heno longer wore a wedding ring. Hisadvice was to make sure your partnershares your dream of farming because it isa backbreaking, emotionally consuming way of life. Had Friend heard him speak 22 years ago, her life may have turned outvery differently.

After helping Melissa get the farmstarted, Friend admits stepping back and

returning to her passion for writingbefore her relationship was destroyed.She compared herself to a mermaid part of her being a farmer and the otherpart a writer. On writing and farming sheconcluded, You do it because you love it,because you cant stop.

Hit by a Farm has already delightedmaster storyteller, Garrison Keillor, and isentertaining to both farmers and non-farmers alike.

Catherine Friend currently lives onRising Moon Farm with her partner of 22 years. She has written ve childrensbooks and works as a freelance editor.I

tablespoons of the dried mix to a quartglass canning jar, tea pot, or non-alu-minum pan, add boiled spring or ltered(not tap) water, cover, and steep the herbs

(loose not in a tea-ball) for 30 minutescovered, strain off the herbs thru a nemesh strainer and discard. Enjoy the tea,hot, room temperature or chilled. Thestrained tea will keep for up to 2 days inthe refrigerator. 1, 2 or 3 cups of the teacan be enjoyed daily as a tonic, stay attuned to how your body responds toeach herb and to a combination of herbs.

Nettle Uses on the FarmBundles of fresh nettles can be used in

barn doorways as a natural y-repellant.

Hit by a Farmby Catherine Friend Published by Marlowe & Co.$14.95,240 pages

BOOK REVIEW

After the bundles are dried, nettle is agreat hay/grain additive for livestock cows give richer milk and hens lay eggs with higher food value when powderedleaves are added in small amounts to theirmash. Even manure from nettle-fed ani-mals makes better fertilizer.

The brief introduction to stinging

nettles medicinal attributes is meant toperk your interest and encourage you toadopt, even begin to cultivate and usenettle plants! For more ideas and ways touse nettles refer to the books at the end of this article. I

Safety guidelines Knowledge of poisonous plants &look-a-likes you must be 100% sureof what you are picking for food andmedicine. Use at least 1 to 3 eld guide-books as cross-reference.

Practice ethical harvesting allowplants to mature, re-seed, sustainingplant communities. Gather plants from healthy soils never use plants for food from sprayedsoils.Introduce the wild eatables intoyour diet in small amounts, as you learnhow your body responds.

Books for further resources,recipes and research

Healing Wise , by Susun S. Weed

Stalking the Healthful Herbs and Stalk-ing the Wild Asparagus,by Euell Gibbons

The Green Pharmacy , by James A.Duke, Ph.D

The Wild Vegetarian COOKBOOK , by Wildman Steve Brill

Eat the Weeds , by Ben Charles Harris

Stinging Nettlescontinued from page 10


18/2818

The North Branch Land Trust Presentsits Annual Stewardship Award to PASA

By Tim Schlitzer, Tioga County In an event that featured a menu of

locally grown foods from area farmers,the North Branch Land Trust (NBLT)awarded its highest honor the Stew-ardship Award to PASA on April 27 atthe Genetti Hotel in Wilkes-Barre.

Kim Seeley, vice president of PASAsboard of directors, accepted the award infront of nearly two hundred supporters.NBLT chairman Douglas Ayers present-ed the award commenting on how PASA is creating a thriving natural environmentby promoting and providing educationalprograms about sustainable agriculturalpractices, building coalitions with envi-ronmental and statewide organizations,and promoting policies that support apositive relationship between agricultureand the natural environment.

In Seeleys keynote address, entitled

(Bradford Co.), Kim talked about whatlocal farmers are up against with risingenergy costs, taxes, pressures from devel-opment and market prices.

Without local farmers who are stew-ards of the earth, who choose to farm theland naturally without chemicals and

who can provide healthy food to our localcitizens, we become more and moredependent on other countries to feed us,as well as on chemically dependent farm-ing systems, stated Seeley.

He continued, As energy costs con-tinue to skyrocket our food costs will alsorise. You cannot have a system that bringsfoods thousands of miles to your diningtable without using large amounts of fos-sil fuels. By depending on countries whohave little regulation as to what chemicalsthey can use, we are not even certain of

the safety of our food supply.Kims talk became even morepoignant after a photo presentation by Rick Koval, NBLTs Land PreservationSpecialist, of some of the 6,200 acres theland trust has acquired thus far.

Kim continued in his speech Iapplaud the efforts of the North BranchLand Trust for recognizing that land con-servation is more then just preserving ourpristine farmland and wooded areas. Inorder to have healthy ecosystems with wildlife, healthy water, and places that will remain safe for our children, we mustalso preserve the stewards of the land.Ricks photos reminded me that when Iused chemicals to farm I would never see wildlife on our farm. But as I made theswitch to a natural style of farming, which I learned from PASA, wildlifereturned and so did my family my goal became to manage an operation where the youngest and oldest membersof our extended family, from 8 to 80,could enjoy the land and work together without unnecessary risks of any kind.

For more information about theNorth Branch Land Trust, visit www.nblt.org or call 570-696-5545.I

P A S A I n f o r m a t i o n

Helping a Fellow PASA MemberBy Barbara Gerlach

We all love it when a plan comes together and that is exactly what happened foran energetic group of PASA volunteers at the Bullock farm in Bradford County on

Saturday April 15.Alan and Susan Bullock have a sustainable pastured poultry andmaple syrup operation. Last year Alan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Hehas chosen alternative medical treatments that require large amounts of organicproduce, which has had amazing results. Alan has been almost pain free sinceChristmas and is slowly regaining strength. He is still in a wheelchair but managesto participate in farm planning and light chores.He has occasional are ups but todate each has been followed by increased improvement.

The North Central Region of PASA scheduled a work day to help erect two hoophouses for organic vegetable production on the farm. Fourteen workers managedto get one hoop house complete, less the ends, and the planting beds and anoth-er hoop house framed. Part of the group helped Susan prepare another 1 4 acre of land for planting that was previously used for pasture. Everyone in the groupagreed that it was worth the time taken from their own busy planting season to gettogether to help another PASA farmer.In fact, someone commented that they hadso much fun it didnt seem like work.

In addition to producing food for Alans needs, the Bullocks intend to becomecertied and add organic produce to their market stand.Their commitment to pro-ducing healthy foods could now play a direct roll in saving a life.Their determina-tion to maintain the farm during Alans recovery has been an inspiration toeveryone they touch. Future workdays are being scheduled and PASA memberswho may have extra organic produce to share please contact Barbara Gerlach atBerry Fields Farm at 570-924-3019 or [email protected].

Farming Against All Odds, he outlinedthe need not only to preserve land but

also to think about our local food sourcesand how they are being lost as rapidly inPennsylvania as the loss of open spacesand forested areas. Reecting on his lifeand work at Milky Way Farm in Troy

From left to right:Frank Oliver, executive director of the North Branch Land Trust and wife Merriell Oliver,Kim Seeley and Tim Schlitzer.

Stayconnected!

Visit PASA online atwww.pasafarming.org


19/28

The 100-Mile Diet: Local Eating for Global ChangeWhen the average North American sits down to eat,each ingredient has typical-

ly traveled at least 1,500 milescall it the SUV diet.On the rst day of spring, 2005,Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon chose to confront this unsettling statistic with asimple experiment.For one year, they would buy or gather their food and drink fromwithin 100 miles of their apartment in Vancouver,British Columbia.

Since then, James and Alisa have gotten up-close-and-personal with issues rang-ing from the family-farm crisis to the environmental cost of organic pears shippedacross the globe. They've reconsidered vegetarianism and sunk their hands intocommunity gardening.They've eaten a lot of potatoes.

Their 100-Mile Diet struck a deeper chord than anyone could have predicted.Within weeks, reprints of their blog at thetyee.ca had appeared on sites across theInternet. Then came the media, from BBC Worldwide to Utne magazine. Dozens of individuals and grassroots groupshave since launched their own 100-Mile Diet adventures.The need now isclear: a locus where 100-milers canget the information they need to trytheir own lifestyle experiments, andto exchange ideas and develop cam-paigns. That locus will be at100MileDiet.org turning an ideainto a movement.

Visit http://100milediet.org to ndyour 100 mile foodshed and helpspread the word.

C o n s u m e r N e w s

19

ROASTED ASPARAGUS1 pound asparagus, break off woody ends, lay spears

in single layer on baking sheet34 garlic cloves (minced)Olive oil

Sprinkle with garlic then drizzle with oil. Bake in pre-heated 400 oven or grill, shaking the pan or partially turning every few minutes. When asparagus starts tolook wrinkled and brown in some spots, about 5 min-utes on the grill, a bit longer in the oven, remove fromheat. Season to taste with salt & pepper. If desired, driz-zle with balsamic vinegar or lemon juice immediately before serving. Serve hot or at room temperature.Cheese topping variation:Combine 1 oz. crumbled goatcheese,1 2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary,1 2 table-spoon chopped fresh chives,1 4 cup chopped walnuts, it will have crumbly texture. Spoon over cooked asparagusSummer variation:Substitute raw green beans for aspara-gus. May add a thinly sliced yellow or red onion.Recipe from Simply in Seasonby Mary Beth Lind andCathleen Hockman-Wert, now available from PASA with a $100 donation to the Annual Fund.

Seasonal vegetables and fruits soon to be available from your local farms

Asparagus April to June

Greens Kollards, Kale, Mustard June to October

Lettuce May to October

Peas May to June

Peppers-sweet July to Dec.

Peppers-hot July to October

Rhubarb May and June

Spinach May and June, Aug. to Nov.

Squashsummer June to October

Tomatoes June to October

Tomatoes-cherry June to October

Tomatoes-greenhouses April to July, Oct. to Dec.

Watermelon July to September

Strawberries June

Raspberries/Blueberries June to July

Blueberries July and August

Source: Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program,2001

range birds under bird-proof netting.Use of this netting is common in thegame bird industry now, and has been

successful in preventing transmissionof other viruses.

I Monitor your ocks through theNational Poultry Improvement Pro-gram (NPIP) to assure your customersthat you are AI-free. If you participatein NPIP AI Clean program, you may receive up to 100 % indemnity fromthe USDA in the event that your birdshave to be destroyed. The appraisalprocess is based on the actual value of the marketed bird (i.e., pastured bird,commercial layer, etc.) You will also beable to use your AI-clean status as amarketing tool. For more informationon participating in the NPIP, contactNPIP Director Andy Rhorer at 770-922-3496.

To hear what the experts had to say,visit www.pasafarming.org to accessthe videotaped presentations.I

Avian Flucontinued from page 13


20/2820

able? The answers have to do with tillageand rotation practices.

When land is repeatedly tilled for

annual crops, organic matter is burnedoff, or oxidized, and the level can droprapidly in the absence of amendmentsthat return carbon to the soil. But withany given tillage and cropping system,there is an equilibrium level at which theamount of soil organic matter stabilizes.Generally, the less intensive the tillageand the heavier the soil texture, the high-er the soil organic matter equilibriumlevel. Since you cant change your soilfrom a sandy loam (or whatever it is) to asilt loam (or whatever you wish it were),a more practical option to increase thesoil organic matter equilibrium is toreduce the intensity of tillage, and thereare lots of ways to do that.

Rotate with sod crops Adding perennial eld crops to the

rotation is one way to reduce tillageintensity . Growing forage grasses andlegumes is a tried and true means of increasing long-term soil organic matterlevels without the negative side effect of nutrient buildup. Sod crops accomplishthis because the soil is not tilled, preserv-ing existing soil organic matter, andextensive root systems are formed, addingnew organic matter, especially over sever-al years of growth. And, by growingclovers, alfalfa or other legumes, youll

lessen the need to use compost or manureto supply N in subsequent years.

Reduce tillageIf you cant t sods into your cropping

plan, less aggressive tillage may be anoption. Start with less frequent use of therotovator and the moldboard plow. Use achisel plow, eld cultivator, spader orother less aggressive implement whereand when you can. While true no-till sys-tems do the best job of avoiding tillage,these can be a challenge for organic veg-etable growers who cant use herbicides tokill the ground cover. And even if you cankill the ground cover mechanically, incold locations the extra residue on thesurface slows soil warming. Many grow-ers are nding innovative ways other thanno-till to cut back on soil disturbance inannual cropping systems with striptillage, untilled permanent wheel tracksand use of mulches to suppress weeds.

Quality, not just quantity While many growers aim for high

organic matter levels, that goal may notbe realistic, especially in coarse-texturedsoils and with crops where relatively intensive tillage is required. Its importantto recognize that good levels of soil bio-logical activity and fertility can be main-

tained, even at modest soil organic matterlevels, so long as there is sufcient organ-ic matter in the active form, i.e. in theprocess of being broken down. With thatin mind, a key strategy for maintainingsoil health under low to moderate soilorganic matter equilibrium levels is rapidcycling of organic matter through thesoil, primarily through the addition of cover crops and the use of organicmulches, like hay and straw.

Take home messageOnce a eld has reached optimum soilnutrient levels and has sufcient tilth toproduce good yields and quality, heavy applications of manure or compost areunjustied. At this stage, a eld needsmanagement that maintains and cyclesorganic matter without adding unneces-sary nutrients.

Strategies to accomplish this includethe following:

Reduce tillage as much as possible to

prevent oxidation of soil organic matter; Use cover crops and organic mulches

to add active organic matter to soil; Include permanent sod crops in your

rotation; and Apply manure or compost in moder-

ation, and only if soil P and/or K levelsare not already in the high or excessiverange. If soil P and K levels are high, rely on legume plow-downs and bagged,organic fertilizers high in N (such asblood meal, sh meal or Chilean nitrate)to meet crop needs.

The author is a vegetable and berry specialist with University of VermontExtension based at the Brattleboro ofce.He can be reached at [email protected]

Editors Note: This story originally appeared in the April 2006 issue of Farming magazine and has been reprinted with permission. For moreinformation, please call 800-422-7147 or visit www.farmingmagazine.com. Photos courtesy of the USDA.

A perennial crop like alfalfa can help maintain soil organic matter by reduced frequency of tillage and anextensive root system.Its also a good way to add nitrogen to the soil without adding phosphorus.

Growing forage grasses and legumes is a tried and truemeans of increasing long-term soil organic matter levewithout the negative side effect of nutrient buildup.

Compost/Manurecontinued from page 3


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2006 Business Members These farms, businesses and organizations are committed toworking with other progressive members of the business com-munity in the struggle to protect & preserve Pennsylvaniafarmers and farmland.It is our pleasure to publish the full list of Business Members on an annual basis.

1934 GroupBerwyn, PAAccokeek Found. ~National Colonial FarmAccokeek,MD

Agri-Dynamics ConsultingMartins Creek,PA

Agri-Service LLCHagerstown, MD

Agricultural SystemsInternationalSalunga,PA

Agro Pro,LLCLewisburg, PA

Alba AdvisorsGlen Mills,PA

Albert Lusk Wilmington,DE

Alberts OrganicsBridgeport,NJ

Alice Ferguson FoundationAccokeek,MD

Allegheny College CEEDMeadville, PA

Allegheny East MH/MR Center, Inc.Pittsburgh, PA

American Culinary Federation,Laurel Highlands ChapterExport,PA

American Farmland TrustWashington, DC

American Livestock BreedsConservancyPittsboro, NC

American Pastured PoultryProducers Assn.Blodgett,OR

Amsterdam ProduceMechanicsburg,PA

Animal Welfare InstituteNortheld, MN

Animal Welfare InstituteWashington, DC

Bakewell Reproductive Center,LLCRose Bud, AR

BCS America,LLCFactoryville, PA

big Burrito Restaurant GroupPittsburgh, PA

Brookmere Farm Vineyards

Belleville, PAC.T.Miller VineyardsAvella, PA

Camphill Village ~Kimberton HillsKimberton,PA

Center for Rural PennsylvaniaHarrisburg, PA

Center for SustainableAgricultureBurlington,VT

Centre County ConservationDistrictBellefonte, PA

Charles Chrin CompaniesEaston,PA

Chesapeake Bay FoundationHarrisburg, PA

Chester County Econ.Development CouncilExton,PA

Chilly Philly Corp.Philadelphia, PA

City of JohnstownFarmers MarketJohnstown,PA

Clearwater ConservancyState College,PA

Concerned Citizens of Nippenose ValleyWilliamsport, PA

Countryside ConservancyPeninsula, OH

Crawford Conservation DistrictMeadville, PA

Creekside Mushrooms Ltd.

Worthington, PACromwell Valley Park Baltimore, MD

CURA Hospitality, Inc.Schnecksville, PA

Dairyland Sales and Service Troy, PA

Delaware Valley CollegeDoylestown, PA

Dickinson College StudentGarden ProgramNewburg, PA

Earths Best/Hain Celestial GroupEugene,OR

East Coast OrganicsBaltimore, MD

East End Food CooperativePittsburgh, PA

East Park Revitalization AlliancePhiladelphia, PA

Eastern Alliance InsuranceLancaster, PA

Eat N Park Hospitality GroupPittsburgh, PA

Eberly Poultry FarmsStevens, PA

Edible ChesapeakeBaltimore, MD

Endless OrganicsHonesdale, PA

Environmental DecisionsNewark,OH

Environmental Fundfor PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA

Fair Food/White Dog CafFoundationPhiladelphia,PA

Fertrell CompanyBainbridge, PA

Flint Hill FarmCoopersburg,PA

Foodshed AllianceBlairstown, NJ

Formans Grain & Fertilizer Turbotville,PA

Frankferd Farms FoodsSaxonburg, PA

French Creek ProjectMeadville, PA

Frick Art & Historical SocietyPittsburgh, PA

Future Harvest CASAEldersburg, MDGarrett CollegeMcHenry,MD

Gary Gyekis WoodworkingSpring Mills,PA

Glasbern InnFogelsville,PA

Goodwill at Homeelds FarmMillersville,PA

Goodwill Industriesof PittsburghPittsburgh, PA

Greater PittsburghCommunity Food Bank Duquesne,PA

Greenmarket Council on the Environment

New York, NYGrove City County MarketGrove City,PA

Grow PittsburghPittsburgh, PA

Gryphon CafWayne, PA

H. Rockwell & Son,Inc.Canton,PA

Hacienda ShilohGettysburg, PA

Harris SeedsRochester, NY

Harvest MarketHockessin,DE

Heifer International-Mid-Atlantic RegionBrooklyn,NY

Heritage OrganicsDoylestown, PA

Homestead Nutrition Inc.New Holland,PA

Hope Springs FarmHershey, PA

HopewellMesopotamia, OH

Horizon OrganicBroomeld, CO

Hotel State College & Co.State College,PA

Innovative Farmers of OhioLogan,OH

Institute for Innovationsin Local FarmingPhiladelphia, PA

IPM Laboratories, IncLocke,NY

Johnnys Selected SeedsWinslow, ME

Kegels ProduceLancaster, PA

Kencove Farm Fence SuppliesBlairsville, PA

Keystone Development CenterState College,PA

Keystone Farmers CooperativeAssociationUniontown,PA

Kimberton Whole FoodsKimberton,PA

Kings AgriSeedsRonks,PA

Lady Moon FarmsChambersburg,PA

Lakeview Organic GrainPen Yan, NY

Lancaster Ag ProductsBird-In-Hand, PA

Lancaster Farmland TrustLancaster, PA

Landis Valley Museum/Heirloom Seed ProjectLancaster, PA

LeRaysville Cheese FactoryLeRaysville, PA

Lidias PittsburghPittsburgh, PA

Ligonier Country MarketGreensburg, PA

Lionville Natural Pharmacy& Health Food StoreLionville, PA

Longwood GardensKennett Square,PA

Main Street FarmersMarketWashington, PA

Martindales Natural MarketSpringeld, PA

Maysies FarmConservation CenterGlenmoore, PA

McGeary Organics Inc.

Lancaster, PAMcGinnis SistersSpecial Food StoresPittsburgh, PA

Mette Evans & WoodsideHarrisburg, PA

Milton Hershey School AEEHershey, PA

Moby Grape LLCBernville, PA

Mountain WatershedAssociationMelcroft,PA

Moyers Chicks, Inc.Quakertown,PA

Natural AcresMillersburg, PA

Natural Dairy Products Corp.West Grove,PA

Natural Science OrganicsWater Mill, NY

Natures Best Organic FeedKreamer, PA

Neighbors in the Strip,Inc.Pittsburgh,PA

Northeast SAREBurlington,VT

Northstar CafColumbus,OH

NY Farms!Candor, NY

Oakland Planning &Development

Documents

May-June 2006 Passages Newsletter, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture