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

As you're driving up,  look left and you'll see the deep green of volunteer organic spelt, an ancient grain enjoyed by many people unable to tolerate modern wheats. It was an entire field of spelt last year that was planted and harvested for Box Turtle Bakery to mill into flour. The seeds that remained in the field returned this year as "volunteer plants".  Hairy vetch and Austrian winter peas were planted as green manure cover crops;  they'll be turned back into the ground in May. To the right, barley. Its already matured and will turn completely golden by the time its harvested in June. We raise all our own organic grain for our animals, and the barley from this field will be ground for feed.  All of our grains, hay and pastures are certified organic by ICS.

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 left and beyond the garden, and you'll see the new mobile chicken house built by Josh Laramie. It houses 72 hens and 3 roosters. Its sturdy enough to be moved into the cow pasture once we need the garden space, and high enough off the ground to let the chickens move around underneath in plenty of shade during the heat of the day.  The ventilation keeps it really cool provided that  the low side of the house faces west.

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, everywhere!! 60 Barred rocks and their roosters...Buff Orphingtions, Aruacanas, wild game birds and their forever hatching chicks! And some really beautiful roosters!

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.  The present group of 10 pigs arrived here on April 16, 2012

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 then, there's GUSSIE !!! 

LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU HERE!!

ESTA AND MURRAY 

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.

After 4 years of land preparation, a beautiful crop of certified organic oats was finally harvested in June, 2011.

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.

 April 03, 2012 By: Tabitha

Posted Sunday, July 4, 2010

 Pittsboro, NC - The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association was honored to host influential farmer and activist Joel Salatin as he visited Pittsboro, NC on June 30. Joel started his day with a brief stop by the CFSA office where staff filled him in on CFSA activities. Roland McReynolds then escorted Joel to Piedmont Biofuels and CFSA member Doug Jones’ Biofarm, where Joel learned about Doug Jones’ season extension and variety trials work.

At 4 PM, a group of fifty CFSA farmer members and friends gathered at Cohen Farm for a CFSA member exclusive pasture walk with Joel. Cohen Farm, owned by CFSA members Murray and Esta Cohen, is a longstanding organic farm with 40 head of beef cattle, pastured hogs, heritage chickens and organic hay production.

While standing in the middle of a gorgeous pasture, Joel enthralled the crowd with his provocative discussion of farm management, using the Cohen’s farm as a case study. Joel described in detail his mob grazing techniques, putting 350 beef cattle in a small area with four foot tall grasses and moving them daily, on a six month rotation. “My neighbors think I’m nuts! But it works.” Joel believes that the mob grazing forces the cows back into their natural behaviors — they eat more aggressively lest their neighbor eats a plant first. “The cows don’t just eat the ice cream and ignore the spinach.” To Joel’s pleasure, this has been leading to better plant biodiversity in the fields.

Following the herd, he deploys two chicken tractors with 800 birds each, commenting that it takes just as much time to handle a large flock as a small one. “We need to build in efficiencies on the farm.” At a minimum, he recommends one chicken per cow to complete the mob gazing system.

When asked about liming and seeding, he said that he had never sown a seed or put out lime in thirty years. He said that proper grazing and letting the grass grow tall will build soft and rich soil; management is the key problem, not the soil ph. He’s not opposed to some soil amendments and does purchase greensand, but doesn’t see that as the place to start. Joel talked extensively about fencing and preferred to buy or lease land with no fencing in place since so often it is in the wrong place. “No straight fences!” he extolled. “Let the fencing follow natural pathways and good access points.”

When the discussion moved to water, Joel suggested investing money in ponds and building them deeper and bigger to make a farm more drought tolerant. “We are stewards of the land and it is our duty to honor the land by making it resilient. Water is critical.”

When asked about shade, Joel extolled the virtues of portable shade devices and described his equipment, joyrigged from old wagon chassis, piping and shade cloth. His equipment is made to withstand strong winds, which is important. One of his devices, he said, can provide shade for up to 100 head of cattle.

What about predators getting his chickens? For flock protection from ground predators, Joel strongly suggested well-trained guard dogs, whether exotic breeds or mutts. “Start them young.” For aerial predators, he likes having a goose — just one goose per flock has worked for him.

After the pasture walk on Wednesday evening, Joel spoke about food issues to an overflow crowd of 300 at Central Carolina Community College. He complimented the college on its sustainable farming program and new Natural Chef program (cosponsors of his visit.) Joel then gave an engaging hour-long talk on the perils of our industrial food system and how it is affecting our health, our communities and our rural landscape. When asked whether sustainable farming could feed the world, he brought up the events of the 1940s. Just when composting and a profound biological view of farming was emerging, World War II hit with its massive investment in bomb-making. Chemical fertilizers, cousins of bomb-making materials, received a massive subsidy from the government. It is just now that biological farming is finally catching up!

CFSA thanks Joel for visiting the Carolinas and appreciates the support of the NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, CCCC and an anonymous donor for making his visit possible. We also want to thank the Cohens for opening up their farm and Angelina’s Kitchen for refreshments.

Pigs: The shelter is a 3 sided dirt-floor shelter available year round, with unrestricted access to the outdoors.  In the summer the pigs burrow down into the dirt to stay cool, and the shelter protects them from sunburn. In the winter there is lots of straw bedding to keep them warm; the building protects them from drafts, and keeps them dry. When we first get the pigs we confine them to a small area, as they are comparatively tiny, and vulnerable to coyotes.  During the summer, we make sure that their mud wallows have plenty of cooling water in them.  Pigs have no sweat glands, and they need the mud to draw off heat.  The grass patch that you see here will be totally flattened by the time this years 2012 farm tour starts.  The pig in the middle is from last summer, about half-grown.

Chickens: There are 2 mobile houses, and 4 stationary ones.  The stationary houses all had other uses at some time. The smaller aqua mobile house was built by Allison at Chapel Hill Creamery; it turned out to be more than they needed, and we were glad to have it here. We use it for meat birds, which we raise only during the colder months; too many flies for us to home process the birds during warm weather. The large yellow shelter was built by Josh Laramie on the frame of an old trailer, and has worked out really well. The important thing to look for: lots of ventilation! Chickens can take the cold as long as they are protected from drafts, but the summer heat and sun can be brutal. This mobile house is high enough off the ground that the birds can get underneath comfortably for shade,  and is large enough to throw a significant shadow. As long as the low side faces west, the inside of the house remains shaded with lots of cross-ventilation.

When you are looking for animals, keep in mind that they are not fond of heat and strong sun.  We try to provide as much shade choice as we can. Even the stationary chicken houses have outdoor shade access with cross ventilation.  As of now, the birds go pretty much wherever they want, so please be careful driving.

Garden: we grow great produce! Just not very much of it. Our focus is on hay, grains and raising animals which puts the garden at a disadvantage. This 2012 season in particular...I'm not sure that you'll see a single plant in the ground this farm tour.  The soil is in great shape after 40 years of organic care so what we grow is pretty good, but its not at the top of our list of things to do. Especially when so many of our neighbors grow beautiful produce.  Alot of the market producers have greenhouses for starting their own transplants. We do not raise our own plants; we obtain our plants from 2 great neighbors...Sun Meadow Greenhouses, and Backyard Edibles both of Pittsboro. You can find Backyard Edibles Saturday mornings at the Chatham Mills Farmers Market, and Sun Meadow Greenhouses at the Carrboro Farmers Market. We're looking forward to showing you our farm!            

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

Natural Chef Program, Central Carolina Community College, 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