Mid-Chatham Farmer's Alliance CSA, Pittsboro/Raleigh (beef, pork and egg shares)

At the Farm...just call for an appointment to make sure we're there when you arrive.

Proud Suppliers to:

Flights Restaurant, Renaissance Hotel, Raleigh (eggs)

Angelina's Kitchen and Catering, Pittsboro

Umstead Hotel and Spa, Cary (employee service)

Tarheel Foodie, Raleigh

The Pig,  Chapel Hill

Chatham Marketplace, Pittsboro (produce)

Chapel Hill Creamery, Chapel Hill (hay)

Okfuskee Farm, Siler City (grain)

Paula Turner Training Stables, Pittsboro (hay)

                                                                     919-742-4433        

Bring your coolers, there will be plenty of Beef, Pork and Eggs for sale!!

Box Turtle Bakery will be joining us on Sunday with lots of samples of their wonderful breads.  The spelt and wheat you see growing as you come up the drive were planted specifically for Abraham to use at the bakery.

The bakery will have a variety of scones and pita flatbreads for sale! 

As you're driving up,  look left and you'll see the deep green organic spelt, an ancient grain enjoyed by many people unable to tolerate modern wheats. To the right,  the bright green wheat. We raise all our own organic grain for our animals, and part of the wheat from this field will be ground for feed.  Barley is across the street and appears as a bright green patch in the far left field.

As you continue up the drive, you'll see an old wooden structure: the last of the tobacco barns left on the property. A number of years ago we needed to decide if were going to save the barn, or let it go back to nature. Kip Johnson restored the barn to its original look. The walls are original, as are the tobacco hanging poles inside the barn. I now use them to hang garlic, as it is cool and well ventilated with a dirt floor. The stone foundation has been replaced with cement. Circa 1860.

Look right and you'll begin seeing lots and lots of chickens.The aqua structure is a mobile chicken house built several years ago by Allison of Chapel Hill Creamery. Right now it houses 13 Barred Rock hens, 1 rooster and if you look closely, you'll see a black and white Lakenvelder. She's a bit flighty and spends most of her time under the shelter of the house.

Next comes the orignal brooder house, circa 1860. The small chimney coming out of the roof vented the wood stove that kept the biddies warm. Someone would have had to stay with the birds for most of the time right after hatching; a problem with the stove would have cost them the entire flock of biddies. Right now you'll see a great variety of hens and several different roosters. They lay their eggs in layer boxes inside the house, and rest on roosts that are angled so that they are not directly on top of one another while sleeping.

Next up: more chickens. 60 Barred rocks and their rooster. We are in the process of building a mobile house for them as well, but until then, they have plenty of room to roam, as well as shaded shelter in the alleyway behind their present house. Behind the caution tape are freshly sowed grazing greens.

Ahhh...the pigs. Very curious animals; if you stand still, they'll come right up to you. Please watch the kids as the electric wire is hot. The 3 sided shelter is another old brooder house, circa 1860. The animals come and go between pasture and shelter all year round. In the winter, deep straw bedding keeps them warm and in the summer I keep their self-made wallows filled with fresh water. Pigs do not have sweat glands, and need to be able to find relief from the heat. They don't mind the chickens running around them...the pigs root for grubs and the chickens keep the fly population at bay.

There is lots more to see...farm machinery used in getting up hay, the combine we're still working on that will get up the grain, the mill that grinds the grain into feed that the animals can use. Depending on the number of people, kids will be able to help collect eggs. (You may want to bring some plastic supermarket bags to tie around their shoes, as a lot of whats in the coop you don't want to bring home.) And if Forrie cooperates, you'll be able to pet this nanny cow.

And then, there's GUSSIE !!! 

LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU HERE!!

ESTA AND MURRAY 

“Take care of the land, and the land will take care of you”

                                                          Murray Cohen

After the trees were cut, Murray spent 7 months picking up rocks and clearing stumps. Once the land was cleared of obstacles, he broadcast organic hairy vetch seed. The hairy vetch was harrowed in after it had flowered and again gone to seed. We spread chicken litter the following year, and harrowed that in. We then broadcast lime, harrowed it in and finally planted chickling vetch. You can see how rough the field still was in this photo, and how spotty the hairy vetch covering was the year it was planted.

The hairy vetch, which continually reseeds itself, started filling in during the third year. You can see in the background how rough some parts of the field still are, and some remaining bare patches. This vetch was again harrowed in when it was in full bloom. We spread chicken litter from the Thomas farm, just a half-mile up the road from us, each year.

 Hairy vetch in full bloom.

Close-up of flowering Hairy vetch.  This gets turned in, adding organic matter and nitrogen to the soil. This increases the fertility of the soil, enabling it to support future crops.

For photo enlargements, rest curser on Farm Photos for drop down menu. Click on Fields, then click on photo.  The more clicks, the bigger the image.

           Barnswallows arrive on schedule each year in mid-April, and depart suddenly each August. They eat a tremendous number of flying insects while here.

 Nests are made of mud and lined with grass and feathers...these  feathers are from our chickens. The barnswallow pair (both parents) gather mud, roll it into a pellet and carry it back to the nesting site in their bills.

         Just beginning to peak over the side, waiting for food. Both parents take turns incubating and caring for their young.

    They sense food coming...its actually just me taking the photo.

          Just before first flight. They don't go very far, and we often find them lined up on the insulated electric wires in the barn. Thats about as far as they want to go.

                      I love this shot!!! Mom in flight.

For photo enlargements, rest curser on Farm Photos for drop down menu. Click on Nature. then click on photo. The more clicks, the bigger the image.