Tiny Footprints

As I drove home from Kalona the other day, I saw this young Amish girl pulling a wagon. She was not far from a dry-goods store and was probably sent on an errand to pick up a few things for mom.

 New buzzwords are always popping up. Nowadays, it's "Becoming a Minimalist" a few years ago it was "Going Green." We talk about having a "Carbon Footprint" and admire those that have "Tiny Carbon Footprints." None of these things are new to our Amish friends.

 Raising most of what you eat in a garden near the house, hanging handmade clothes on the line, driving a completely organic powered vehicle, and not ever turning on an electric light. Now that is being a minimalist! The picture below shows two teams of horses hauling manure in a wide open field. Those horses raise their own fuel and produce no emissions that need to be controlled by the government. That is what organic farming should look like.

 These children in the picture below don't have to plug in their toys. 

We should do everything we can to encourage and empower our Amish neighbors and friends to continue living their very "green" lifestyle. I suggest purchasing Amish made products and visiting Amish communities to buy produce. While you are there, look around and learn something about how your own grandpa and grandma lived life as a child.

Horse Progress?

My book signing booth

 Have you heard about Horse Progress Days?

I'm super excited about my upcoming trip to southern Indiana for this event! Horse Progress Days is the Amish equivalent to the Farm Progress Show, a national event for farmers to learn about the most up-to-date farm equipment and practices.

I will be there with my books, which happen to be about farming with horses.



Obviously, farming with horses does not qualify as "the most up-to-date" farming practice. However, farming with horses is an extremely "Green" style of agriculture that should be embraced by the most forward thinking people.

If you are going to be at the 2015 Horse Progress Days, look for my booth, stop in and say, "Hello!"

If you can't make it to this year's event, visit the website and start planning for next year.

In the meantime, order a copy of Under the Heavens and start reading about farming with draft horses. Under the Heavens is a "Huck Finn style" Amish adventure-novel about a boy that spends a summer on his grandpa's Amish farm.

Hay Sale

 Hay is a precious commodity this time of year. Mountains of bales, round and square get stacked up one day and hauled off the next.

Kalona is one of many rural communities that are fueled by hay.  Cattle, horses, sheep and now days goats all need their staple, hay!  Almost all Amish farms in the Kalona area now have milk goats, only five years ago they all milked cows.

A local Amish man I know said recently, "When I go to sell my dairy herd, I will have to take them to the exotic sale!"

If you are looking for good hay, check out the Kalona Sale Barn, they have a hay sale every week.
http://www.kalonasalesbarn.com/home/

There is also a Auction house near Frytown that has a hay sale every Wednesday.  Here is their link
 http://www.yoderauctionservice.com/

Check out Amish Horses Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses

Mennonite Dairy Farm

                    I arrived at my good friend's dairy farm around 6:30 am and found morning chores going strong.  I asked Calvin if I could interview him and post a blog about his Organic Dairy Farm, he seemed happy to oblige.  I started out with the obvious, "So, Calvin, organic farming means no herbicides or pesticides?"  He shook his head yes, but added, "No toxic fertilizers either."

          Calvin opened my eyes to a whole new level of understanding.  He started by explaining, "It's not just what we don't do... but what we do."

          I was glad to be there while morning milking was being done.  I love the smell of a dairy parlor, the sight of cows calmly being milked, and the continual pulsing sound.  He continued milking cows while he explained, "Our goal is to promote life and not destroy it."  He looked over at me for a moment as if to be sure I knew how serious he takes that  life principle.  "We rotate our crops and use natural fertilizers."
He told me, "I went to a meeting in 1977 about organic farming and learned that one good handful of healthy farm soil has 3-4 billion living organisms in it, approximately the amount of people living on earth at that time." 

          Obviously that meeting struck a cord within Calvin because he  has been committed to organic farming ever since.  "The way I see it, God knew what he was doing when he put all that life in the soil... it has a purpose.  We are interested in the dynamics of our soil, healthy micro-organisms, fungi, natural bacteria and earthworms.  Earthworms are probably the most important life in the soil."  He explained how keeping the soil healthy is his goal, I perceived he believes it is his moral duty.  He communicated to me that a foundation of healthy soil produces healthy crops, resulting in healthy livestock, and healthy food for humans.

                 

           He reminded me, "the Bible says, 'You reap what you sow.'  If you put toxins in the ground what do you expect to get in return."   He quoted another verse, "... Overcome evil with good."  implying that he doesn't want to use poisons to battle the pests and weeds that all farmers struggle with.

          Calvin's philosophy of life encompasses every aspect of what he does.  I felt healthier just walking on his farm.  Drinking that healthy milk, produced by cows that have been eating hay and grain raised on healthy soil, filled with life, seems rich.  When you drink that milk you are drinking in all that commitment to a healthy cycle of farming.  

          Echo Dell farm is part of Organic Valley, Family of Farms.  Iowa City, New Pioneer Co-op sells their milk and other organically produced products.