What’s Growing in Oregon

What’s Growing in Oregon: Article Repost

Posted by Sophie Ackoff on Thursday, February 14, 2013 ·

It’s the height of conference season, and I was delighted to travel this week to Oregon for the Organicology Conference, a three-day gathering of folks from all across the organic food chain in Portland, OR. The event seeks to bring all stakeholder groups to the table to not only develop skills in their own areas of activity but to gain exposure to the challenges and accomplishments of those in other areas of the organic movement. The great takeaway? There are many different opinions on what organic should look like, but the more united we become, the stronger our movement will be. And without supporting the next generation of organic farmers, the organic movement cannot continue!
Excited to meet the brilliant and innovative young farmers of the beaver state, I rented a car and started touring. I met with Leah and Nellie of Oregon’s FarmON!, a one-year old coalition of young and beginning farmers in the state and a proud affiliate of NYFC. I had a drink with Megan Fehrman of the Rogue Farm Corps which has a beginning farmer training program down in Ashland, OR and Dan Bravin from the Beginning Urban Farmer Apprenticeship (BUFA.) BUFA is a partnership between Multnomah County and Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Service and trains 20 urban farmers each year.

Rowan Steele, who co-owns Fiddlehead Farm with his wife Katie Coppoletta, is starting a brand new incubator program- Headwaters Farm Incubator- on land leased by the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. I joined in for a tour of the land, and was inspired by the excitement of the potential incubatees.

Evan and Rachel of Boondockers Farm in Beavercreek, OR are pioneers in breeding rare heritage poultry. The breeds they focus on raising are listed as critically endangered by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. The couple told me about how conventional hatcheries often kill male babies when they’re not needed. They believe anyone raising pasture-based birds shouldn’t ignore the inhumane practices of the commercial hatchery! They also grow and sell heirloom seeds, breed heritage turkeys, and raise Great Pyrenees dogs to protect their flocks.

My last stop was Lonesome Whistle Farm down in Junction City, OR where Jeff and Kasey are working to preserve and promote rare and unique dry bean and grain varieties through a bean and grain CSA. Starting out as veggie farmers, Jeff and Kasey quickly taught themselves bean and grain growing, and are happy to be producing quality product not easily found locally. They grow: Dakota Black Popcorn, Red Fife Wheat Flour, Purple Harless Barley, Emmer Berries, a diverse array of heirloom beans, polenta, and more!

Farmers in Oregon are busy fighting plantings of Roundup Ready GM Canola in the Willamette Valley which threatens its lively organic seed industry. And GM sugarbeets are grown just up the road from Lonesome Whistle Farm. There’s certainly plenty to organize around here, but the state’s supportive policies and markets for local food make Oregon a great place to be a young farmer.

MORE PHOTOS FROM SOPHIES ARTICLE : http://www.youngfarmers.org/news/2013/02/14/whats-growing-in-oregon/

Still time to order Ancona and Saxony ducklings this Spring!

We still have mid-May and June spots available for Ancona and Saxony ducklings this Spring!!

Let us know if you would like to order! Thank you for supporting rare heritage breeds!

- Evan and Rachel

We have Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs

The Gloucestershire Old Spot Pig

The Gloucestershire Old Spots is a historic pig breed known for its distinctive white coat with black spots. The breed was developed in the Berkley Vale of Gloucestershire, England, during the 1800s. Its exact origins are not known, though it was likely based on two breeds – the original Gloucestershire pig which was large, off-white, had wattles and was without spots, and second, the unimproved Berkshire. Both of the old breeds used to develop the Old Spots are now extinct.

Gloucestershire (pronounced Glostersheer) pigs were selected as excellent foragers and grazers. The pigs are thrifty, able to make a living from pasture and agricultural by products, such as whey from cheese making, windfall apples in orchards, and the residue from pressing cider. These easy keeping qualities gave Gloucestershire Old Spots the nicknames “cottage pig” and “orchard pig.” British folklore claims the large black spots are bruises caused by the apples falling onto them as they foraged the orchard floors for food.

In 1913 the British Board of Agriculture announced a livestock development scheme that included the licensing of breeding boars. Farmers of the Berkley Vale realized this plan threatened the very existence of their beloved local pig breed. Subsequently, the Gloucestershire Old Spots Breed Society was formed in November of 1913 placing the breed among the oldest spotted pedigreed pig breeds known. The breed hit a high point in popularity in Great Britain just after World War 1 when the naturally large proportions of lean meat from Old Spots was perfectly suited for to the production of lean, streaky bacon that was fast becoming popular in Great Britain at this time. Old Spots reigned supreme as the pork of choice for discerning palates and in livestock shows through the 1920’s and early 1930’s. The breed became rare after World War II, when the shift to intensive pig production reduced interest in pigs that could thrive out of doors. The remaining population nearly became extinct in the 1960s, though it has increased slowly since then.


Gloucestershire Old Spots pigs were imported to the United States during the 1900s, and they made genetic contributions to several American breeds, especially the American Spot and the Chester White. The breed never became numerous in the United States, however, and was practically extinct by the 1990s. In 1995, Kelmscott Farm Foundation of Lincolnville, Maine, organized an importation of twenty Gloucestershire piglets to reestablish the purebred population in America. A breed society was founded, and the number of animals is increasing. As of 2009, there are about less than 1000 Gloucestershire Old Spots in Great Britain and fewer than 200 breeding animals in the US. The breed notably benefits from continued support of the British Royal Family who favors pork from these pigs for their table.
The Gloucestershire Old Spots pig is known for its docility, intelligence, and prolificacy. Boars reach a mature weight of 600 lbs (136 kg) and sows 500 lbs (125 kg). The pigs are white with clearly defined black (not blue) spots. There must be at least one spot on the body to be accepted in the registry. The breed’s maternal skills make it able to raise large litters of piglets on pasture. Its disposition and self‑sufficiency should make it attractive for farmers raising pasture pigs and those who want to add pigs to diversified operations.  From http://albc-usa.org/cpl/gloucestershire.html

Crazy busy right now on the new farm!

This is the first full season of production for us in Beavercreek and its going to be a very exciting year of expansion for us. 

We are expecting to have more ducklings and chicks this year so let us know if you need any new additions to your backyard there are still spots remaining for May deliveries.

We are in the middle of making sure all the ducks have nests this year, we have more than ever so this is taking time. Keeping them in diverse breeding groups requires many pasture houses and moving of pasture poultry nets more often this time of year.

Flowers, tomatoes, peppers and peas are germinating, potatoes are about to go in on St. Patty's Day. The veggie season is rolling! Seeds are available on our site and special limited releases at the farmers markets around Portland. Let us know if you would like to see us somewhere we are not, we will see what we can do.

Aurora

We will be at the Oregon City and Hillsdale Winter Markets through the rest of the winter (Every other weekend) and continuing at the summer markets. We will also be at the Montavilla Farmers Market and hope to be at Hollywood Farmers Market in Portland. Lake Oswego didnt want us at their Farmers Market, oh well their loss :) We will make a couple of the West Lynn Farmers Market this year as well.

We kept another one of Amalie's puppies this year, we named her Aurora. She is my pal, she follows me everywhere. She likes to plant with me. Our Pyrenees are taught respect of the land and animals and all chores involved, so they can be dualistic and serve as a companion as well as an amazing guard dog. It is possible.

We are putting in a moveable greenhouse actually two of them (17x48) here in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned for the moveable feast as Elliot Coleman puts it. It will give us eight zones to plant in early and extend the season throughout these rough cold nights we have here.

Keep checking for updates we will be posting more as the season progresses! Sorry about the lack of updates! Many more to come this year, stay tuned!  -Evan

Most of us don't need to search for meaning in our lives; we see it everyday" Tanya Tolchin from the greenhorns 50 dispatches book

With the start of Spring 2013 let’s talk heat units!

With the start of Spring let’s talk heat units!

With all the weather oddities we have been having it’s an easier way to see the true way to tell if you can get a harvest out of a crop for your area. Figuring your heat units that the crop requires and how many units your garden or farm has are the next steps...

Here is the way you calculate them, you take the day's high temperature (maximum) and the day's low temperature (minimum) and add them together. Then divide by two and subtract 55 from that. That gives you the heat units.

Example: Daytime high (maximum) 75 deg. F, nighttime low (minimum) 45 deg. F. Add those together and divide by 2 you get 120/2 or 60. Subtract 55 and you get 5 heat units. If you get a negative it means you dont add any that day.

It is helpful to keep track of your own min and max with a thermometer that does it for you. Its also fairly easy to find out the median heat units for your area if you look at temperature data highs and lows online for the closest weather stations temps, then you can figure the average for your area. It’s better to test the heat units where you are growing so you can see what your specific location is rather than the weather stations temperature. Happy planting season!!

Great Pyrenees puppies!

We will only have the last few for a week before everyone is snatched up! Reina's litter starts going home this weekend. Contact us for more information, www.BoondockersFarm.com

Puppies, Dec 28 2012

Great Pyrenees puppies near Portland Oregon

Reina

We have a couple Great Pyrenees puppies remaining for Reina's litter for sale, they dont go home until next week, they are 8 weeks on Saturday. Let us know if anyone is interested. We have not lost any ducks/chickens to ground predators since we got the Pyr's six and some years ago, why invest that much money on poultry just to lose the poultry to a raccoon! http://www.capitalpress.com/oregon/dr-guard-dogs-w-art

New pictures of Great Pyrenees 2012 Litters 12-25-2012

CLICK ME!

AKC registered Great Pyrenees Puppies!

Its that time again we have spots open for our AKC registered Great Pyrenees Puppies!

You can go to our website and see this page to see the litter updates.

Craigslist Joe

Craigslist Joe

The end of an era for us. Well not really... but it might feel like that when we lose an intern and friend Joe Fritz this next week.

 Many of you have met Joe over the last 6 months and grown to love him. He brings a warm appearance to our customers when they stop by the farm and he will be sorely missed. This was Joe’s first farming apprenticeship and ours at our new relocated farm in Portland making it really challenging for all of us having to deal with still moving in on top of learning the new systems on the farm, where to put things, where do animals go, a different everything!

Joe has learned valuable skills from Permaculture principals, to butcherimg chickens, to the whole process of raising ducks. He has proved to be a valuable team member to get things done here in the timeliness farmers need… no matter how long it seemingly takes sometimes. Farming is very frustrating sometimes and Joe has learned when it’s not that easy to get something done you’ve really got to figure out a way to do it, that is farming in a nut shell. Joe came to the farm with love and passion for our animals even though he doesn’t have a immediate farming background but his grandparents used to have a small farm proving it’s in everyone’s blood.

He definitely feels more confident and passionate about going out and being able to be able to get involved in raise some of his own poultry or another partnership. He is moving back to Minnesota where his brother lives before Christmas and he and his brother have plans to grow hops back in Minnesota as well as he is going back to school while still seeking a farm to work on.  Hopefully he will incorporate the ducks in a rotation in the hops! We said we would send some his way when he is ready for them.  

I really think the hardest thing we do on the farm is learning to work with people on a down-to-earth level. Joe has learned so much more than he already has right now. He will once he leaves and starts to absorb the information that we have been bombarding him with and he takes it all in, then the reality sets in. The food system is broken; our goal is to teach others that there is another way to produce food in many ways even if it’s in your backyard, or on a farm but in a truly sustainable way, with keeping the animals in the most humane way!

You have helped us out to get this amazing place started in a very stressful time!!  Joe you will always be welcome on the farm and if anyone needs an amazingly hard worker in Minnesota he is your guy!

Joe we love you! Cheers and Merry Christmas

-- Evan, Rachel(Us)- Mike, Matt and Keenan(interns)- Jori Reina, Amalie, Chips, Sequin, and Bizuo (dogs) Sundae, Cinnamon, Tiara, Fanny (cows) Housh and Suni and the Holdereads (the Ducks) Sparkle and the gang (Chickens and Turkeys) and of course the itty bitty kitty Chara (the Fat house Cat)!

Preserving the past, farming for the future

Two new Beavercreek farmers look to preserve heritage breeds while educating the public about growing food

• By: Bethany Monroe -Photo By: Bethany Monroe                
• Published: 11/2/2012 2:47:16 PM

Boondockers Farm
Evan Gregoire gives some attention to two of the Great Pyrenees dogs who make their home at Boondockers Farm in Beavercreek, guarding the farm's ducks and chickens from predators. Click on the photo to view more.

A Beavercreek farm is taking on a new life, seeking to preserve heritage poultry breeds and heirloom seeds while educating others about growing food sustainably.

Boondockers Farm moved from Eugene to Beavercreek last spring, with chickens, ducks, cows, dogs and people now inhabiting a 75-acre piece of land at 25720 S. Beavercreek Road.

Evan Gregoire and Rachel Kornstein are the farmers behind Boondockers and have a passion for not just producing sustainable food to sell to area restaurants and at farmers markets, but also educating others and preserving heritage breeds.

“I don’t want to grow everybody’s food, but I want to get everybody growing their own food,” Gregoire said.

The farm is focused on conservation rather than high-production, specializing in heirloom varieties of vegetables and poultry breeds not found on most commercial farms. The chickens are free-range, with a shelter for nighttime, and the ducks are moved between fenced areas of pasture. Kiddie pools filled with water are scattered throughout the pastures, serving as duck ponds.

Boondockers Farm was re-certified in October as Animal Welfare Approved, showing their practices meet the program’s stringent requirements for humane farming.

Six Great Pyrenees dogs also make their home at the farm and serve as guardians for the chickens and ducks. The breed works well for protecting poultry, Gregoire said, because they are mellow and don’t have strong herding instincts. And although they’re not known for being aggressive, the giant, fluffy white dogs are still an effective deterrent to any wild animals looking to snag a quick chicken dinner.

“The dogs are priceless. They’re the hardest workers on the farm,” Kornstein said.

Originally from Los Angeles, Gregoire earned a business degree from California State University, Long Beach. He spent years managing sporting goods stores, but wanted to get out of the city. Kornstein brought her passion for gardening to LA, even growing her own seed starts under the bed of her studio apartment, moving them out to the patio for sunlight. Attending culinary school fueled her interest in local, sustainably-produced foods.

About six years ago, Gregoire and Kornstein started farming in Eugene. They first learned about ducks when snails became a pest in their garden. Now, they raise Ancona, Saxony and Silver Appleyard ducks, all breeds listed as critically endangered by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

They currently have about 500 ducks and 100 chickens on the farm. Besides producing eggs, the poultry also keep slug and snail populations down. Boondockers Farm also incubates some of the eggs and ships the ducklings to 49 states.

“We’re the largest breeders for the Ancona duck,” Gregoire said. “We’re a farm of life. We’re not just trying to raise tons of meat.”

Still, butchering has its place at the farm and they sell turkey and chicken broilers.

They also raise Dutch belted dairy cows and sell jams, vegetables, frozen blueberries and heirlooms seeds for carrots, tomatoes and other veggies.

Gregoire and Kornstein searched three years before finding the Beavercreek property and purchased the land with help from investors. They made the move to be closer to a metropolitan area where they could have a stronger influence and outreach.

Besides a century-old farmhouse, the farm also has several outbuildings and barns and a second home, where they currently house two interns. Eventually, they hope to set up a farm stay program, where weekend visitors can come and learn more about farm life.

The farm is open for tours, but they suggest calling ahead at 503-632-7934. They can be found online at www.boondockersfarm.com.

Time to put in orders for Thanksgiving and Christmas Duck!

Time to put in orders for Thanksgiving and Christmas Duck!
Having a heritage duck from Boondockers helps promote the Ancona and Saxony breed by using the extra males for meat and keeping the females for breeding. You can order from the link below. Thanks for supporting pastured heritage breeds!
RESERVE THEM HERE

Amalie is officially on puppy watch 2012!

Great Pyrenees puppies on the way!

Amalie is officially on puppy watch 2012!

Amalie is inside the house tonight after a long day bathing, blowdrying and brushing her.  Puppies should be born in the next two weeks our guess is Nov 7th.

They will be going home around the first of the year at 8 weeks old. We have spots left so get the word out! Our Pyrenees are registered with the AKC and are from the best Pyr lines in the US. Genetically heatlhy Pyr's are not easy to find with especially with this great of a temperment all around for working and companionship.

Soaring Feed Costs cause a price increase

 Feed Costs causes a price increase

Due to the drought our feed costs have increased drastically which means we need to grow our own feed!

So we are going to have to make some cuts in our flock. We are selling some breeding stock from this year to help compensate but we have to increase 2013 prices a little bit this year even though we don't have a drought here in Oregon.

So if you want to get a order in for spring now is the time! Through October only we are offering... 2012 pricing on all orders placed for spring of 2013 for ducklings.

Chicago Tribune food and wine tour

We were delighted to get a call from Mary of the Molalla farm this week asking us if we would be the first stop on a private tour of our farm for the Chicago Tribune. We were excited to be able to participate and scheduled the tour for this last Friday September the 28th (yesterday).


It is an honor to be focused on with a couple other farms for this tour. We are so excited to be in Portland finally after our May farm move and are even more excited to be very involved in events with the great restaurants in and around PDX.

The best part was Chef Pascal Chureau from Allium was gracious enough to extend a invitation for Rachel and I to attend the dinner at the tour on Friday morning! We couldn't turn it down. Even though we are always nervous when a new chef prepares our products not to mention food critics. Chef Pascal was a wonderful host for the evening. We didnt expect to spend that much time with the chef on a busy Friday night but was nice to come out and get us all kinds of goodies including his amazing duck fat fries, right up our alley!

Rachel in front of Allium on Friday evening

A little about the Mollala Farm Loop:

Farm Loop Maps and good wine!

A Farm Loop helps people find the answer to that question, "Where does my food come from?"

Visiting a Farm Loop is a great way to get to know your local farmer, and to get out to the country life. You can learn about the veggies and foods you use every day, and about the farming techniques used to produce them. You can pick up a map at places around Clackamas county or view or download it online here.

Ancona and Saxony Duck using our wild harvested Blackberry Jam

Ancona Duck Liver Mousse

Again, many thanks to wonderful private heritage duck dinner prepared by Chef Pascal from Allium. Allium is an intimate neighborhood restaurant. Chefs Pascal Chureau and Ian Ragsdale and Pastry Chef Kim Wilson offer local, sustainably minded epicurean plates. Allium's creativity stems from its inspiration from the small, small quaint village bistros of France, while taking advantage of the amazing bounty Oregon has to offer. You can read more about Allium on their website here.