A Perspective for the Future

by John Jeavons

in the book How to Grow More Vegetables than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine.

"We 'farm' as we eat. For example, if we consume food that has been grown using methods that inadvertently deplete the soil in the growing process, then we are responsible for depleting the soil. If, instead, we raise or request food grown in ways that heal the Earth, then we are healing the Earth and its soils. Our daily food choices will make the difference. We can choose to sustain ourselves while increasing the planet's vitality. In the bargain we preserve resources, breath cleaner air, enjoy good exercise, and eat pure food.

"It has been estimated that about 1/3 of the health care costs in the United States could be eliminated through an increase in exercise and by eating a nutritious diet. Gardening and mini-farming provide both of these, resulting in a win-win proposition. By doing something that is wondrous and fun--growing food--each individual becomes important again in the face of an otherwise overwhelming global environmental challenge. The Earth, the soils, and each individual will be better as a result of these efforts."

My First Year as a City Chicken Owner

or What I Wish I'd Known 12 Months Ago :)

It's been just over a year since I inherited my first chickens. I now have six hens, two of them new this year. Here's what I would tell someone who is considering chickens. (Please add your comments too!)

1. City chickens are healthiest when housed on the lawn, but it doesn't work so well in the Enumclaw winter. My chickens love the lawn and the greens make their egg yolks a bright orange color. However, moving my chicken tractor around in soggy weather just tears up the grass! Although it's not ideal, I have a permanent pen where my hens stay in the winter. I spread straw on the ground to minimize the mud. The chickens do enjoy a chance to dig in the dirt.

2. Grow lots of cool-weather greens! (See this post.) Kale and chard during the rainy season help to make up for the hens not being on the grass.

3. Three square feet per (full-size) chicken isn't really enough. (That was a measurement I got from the Chicken Tractor book.) My hens grew A LOT over their first winter, and seemed to totally fill their tractor by spring! They also produced more manure than they had in the fall, so I had to move the tractor more than once a day if I wanted them to be able to find any grass on the ground.

4. Introducing new hens to the flock is a tricky business. I was oh, so careful, but my two new girls are still sometimes picked on even after six weeks. The "pecking order" is a real thing!

5. Keep your chickens entertained. Vary their food, let them run a bit (I have some portable fencing that I use to give them more space), or visit them often. Bored chickens get into trouble--like picking on each other and eating eggs. I learned this the hard way, and had to take an egg eater to the auction. :(

6. Be patient when your girls are molting. For some, it is a long process. They don't lay well, and they're grumpy. This, too, shall pass.

7. Chickens breeds are not all the same! I have three kinds now, and I think my favorites are the Buff Orpingtons. Every breed has its fan club, however.

While I would LOVE to have a more land and the chance to let my chickens run free, life with city chickens is pretty good too.

Permaculture: Farms for the Future

Below is an excellent and beautiful film by a woman farmer about the future of farming. I guarantee the 48 minutes it takes to view will be well worth it. Even though the film has not been easy to access, it is provided here by http://www.permaculturevisions.com/links/

Enjoy... and leave a comment afterward!

BP's oil spill and organics

"The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the worst environmental disasters in history but we should not forget the damage done to the Gulf from chemical agriculture. Runoff from petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides created the massive 'dead zone' unable to support marine life---demonstrating the ills of an industrial food system dependent on fossil fuel.

Agriculture and our food system use nearly 20% of all the energy consumed in the US. Energy is used to manufacture fertilizers, pesticides, tractors and other machinery, and to transport refrigerate and store food. All this results in an astounding fact: It takes seven to 10 time more energy to produce your food than the energy you gain from eating it.

Organically produced food is more energy efficient than chemically grown food. Research shows that organic methods use 30% less energy and emit fewer greenhouse gases. That's because organic standards prohibit synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which account for 40% of all energy for agriculture.

The BP oil spill in the Gulf is a reminder of how important it is to rethink how we produce food. We can make decisions that help our nation transition away from fossil fuel. Choosing foods that are organic, local, seasonal and unprocessed can help protect the Gulf, and improve food and energy security in the future."

Source: The Center For Food Safety
PCC #447

Restructuring the Food System

"I grew up on a 1950's vintage poultry farm. Back then here in New Jersey there were thousands of small poultry farms with a few hundred to a few thousand birds. Every evening we would collect eggs and the whole family would be in the basement washing candling grading and boxing eggs in 30 dozen crates that we shipped to a co-op.

You might be surprised to know that this nightly ritual was repeated in millions of households across the United States. Everybody was small scale, everybody made a little money, nobody got rich or dominated over anybody else. Every county had small feed mills, poultry vet services, and spent bird haulers who shipped birds to soup canneries. The system worked, the supermarkets and food processors were always supplied with eggs.

It was all over by 1970. How did it end? the same way it always ends, somebody got greedy and wanted to dominate the industry in the good honorable guise of progress and efficiency. They destroyed the infrastructure and the system collapsed then they moved on to conquer the broiler, cattle and hog farms. It doesn't have to be this way.

Sadly we have an entire generation of adults in America that never knew a time when corporations did not dominate commerce. When little people work together they have more power than you can imagine."

Bob
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ
permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Slow Money Alliance

Do you ever feel like things are just moving too fast??

With trillions of dollars zooming around the planet, we should not be surprised to end up with cheapened, low-nutritional food, millions of acres of GMO corn and soy, billions of food miles, dying Main streets, kids who think food comes from supermarkets and obesity epidemics side by side with persistent hunger.

There is a better way. It is a new movement that is bringing money back down to earth, appreciating the energy of small food entrepreneurs who are forging new, healthy relationships in our communities. I'm helping them to build a new kind of investing, a new kind of investor, a new kind of economy. Want to join in too?

Google slowmoneyalliance.org and sign their principles to get involved.
Also check out www.acresusa.com - ACRES (The Voice of Eco-Agriculture), Nov. 2009, Vol. 39, ##11 - "Bringing Money Back to the Earth - Slow Money: 'Nuture Capital' for Communities and the Environment."

- What would the world be like if we invested 50% of our assets within 50 miles of where we live?

Hands That Feed

A documentary film called Hands That Feed has begun filming. The movie will explore the agricultural collapse in Haiti, it's role in the post-earthquake food crisis, and the emerging grass root development models that seek to restore Haiti's food supply and environment. It will focus both on permaculture and sustainable agriculture rural development projects, and hopes to show the world that a different kind of economic development is possible.

Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps http://nouvelleviehaiti.org/ is working to train a new generation of young Haitian leaders in Permaculture design. Also featured is the MPP Haiti (of recent fame for organizing the burning of Monsanto's "gift" of seeds), and a number of other organizations.

Things to Ask Your Farmer

FOOD, Inc. is now a book. (In a very untraditional manner, the book followed the film.) This book has many interesting articles, including a chapter called "Questions for a Farmer" which is a great source of things you might want to ask your local grower about his or her farming practices. The article is arranged according to types of food. For instance:

Questions for a Farmer: Beef

1. Was the animal raised on pasture?

2. Was the animal fed anything else besides grass (supplements, byproducts, additional feed)?

3. How was the animal finished?

4. Was the animal ever given antibiotics?

5. Were hormones, steroids, or growth promoters ever given to the cow?

Questions for a Farmer: Eggs

1. How was the animal raised? On pasture, indoors, confined? Was it caged?

2. How much time do the hens spend outdoors each day?

3. Was the hen force molted?

4. What was the hen fed?

5. Was the hen fed antibiotics?

Each question also has additional explanations as to why that issue is important. This article was put together by the group Sustainable Table. You can find more questions on their website or in the book Food, Inc.

Profitable Farm Workshop

The folks at RuralRoots.org are offering a self-paced workshop for farmers, teaching how to increase farm profitability, expand into or increase your direct-market sales.

Planning for Profit:

Register Now for this Self-Paced Workshop

How the workshop works:

· Participants Register for the Workshop On-Line or by Mail

($10 for RuralRoots members; $15 non-members)

· Participants receive, by mail, workshop educational materials

· Participants receive workshop instructions, presentations and assignments via the web (for those with high speed internet) or on CD-rom (for those with dial-up or slower internet service)

· Participants can request review of assignments and feedback from trainers (up to one hour of assistance) between June 15 - Sept. 1, 2010.

Topics covered in presentations, assignments and educational materials:

Components of a Successful Farm Business

· Goal-Based Decision Making

· Identifying and Addressing the Weakness in your Farming Operation

· Developing a Financial Plan

· Monitoring to Ensure Profit

Tools for Successful Direct Marketing

· Profitable Marketing Strategies

· Assessing the Market Potential of Your Product

· Maximizing Your Sales

· Identifying and Managing Legal Risks

Understanding the Regulatory Environment

· Food Safety & Good Agricultural Practices

· On-Farm Labor

Workshop Trainers:

Diane Green, Greentree Naturals, Sandpoint Idaho (Direct Marketing, Understanding the Regulatory Environment)

Craig Madsen, Healing Hooves, Edwall, WA (Financial Planning, Holistic Management)

Cost: $10 for Rural Roots members; $15 for non-members. Registration fee includes all workshop educational materials (valued at over five times the price of the workshop!); presentations, assignments and up to one hour of assistance from workshop trainers (via email).

Registration is by farm/family/business and fee is the same regardless of number of participants registering from a particular farm/family/business. One packet of educational materials will be sent the registration address. Please indicate names of all people who will be participating in the workshop on the registration form. Thank you!

Click Here to Register On-Line! Or Download the Workshop Brochure

For additional information and to register, call: Pat Munts, WSU Spokane County Extension, 509-477-2173; Colette DePhelps, Rural Roots, 208-883-3462

The Beginning Farmer

* Turning Challenge into Opportunity *

"Having successfully cleared the major hurdle most new farmers face--securing land--Orting Valley farmer and owner of Crying Rock Farms, Joel Blais, now is wrestling with the realities of what it means to be a small-scale organic pork producer. Joel shared the following reflections about his biggest challenges:

'The biggest challenges for a small-scale new farm are twofold: inputs and outputs. Inputs include a consistent network of necessary supplies such as hay, feed, medical treatment and information. Take hay, for example: all the hay was sold off the land before I came on to the property and I need some carbon material for my pigs. Where can I get hay locally? Can I be certain it wasn't treated with things that I'm trying to keep out of my farm? How about feed---who is the nearest organic feed supplier?

Considering outputs, where can I sell one pig's worth of sausage, one time, to generate enough revenue required to hold a slaughter date for the main crop? Where can I sell the rabbits in time to pay for the sausage grinder? The answers are easy for large-scale producers because it's all done at one processing plant.

I resolved not to fit into the factory model for many reasons, and to look at these questions and challenges as opportunities. Now that the ground is drier and the grass growing, my sows are tilling up the new hop fields. This is what I want. I can't afford a tractor, so out of necessity I have found a great process that is very healthy for pigs, and the land.

There are also the operational challenges typically planned for...but you really can't plan ahead for the magnitude. For instance, I never imagined what a diverse and complex predator problem I would be up against, when I buy a pregnant sow who's really pregnant only 10 percent of the time. Serendipitously, this has forced me to focus on smaller and slower growing breeds, most of which are turning into promising boutique offerings. I may have passed that opportunity by if I was focused on the conventional model. '

Joel's experience is not uncommon. As land prices, operational costs and equipment costs continue to rise, the challenges to new farmers are ever-increasing---requiring growers and producers to be creative, nimble and thick skinned. Follow Joel's story on his blog: http://cryingrockfarms.blogspot.com/

- Melissa Campbell
Stewardship and Land Associate, PCC Farmland Trust

Upswing in Washington State Farms

"The number of Washington State farms rose 6% between 2000 and 2008, with 90% owned by individuals or families. Washington now has about the same number of farms as it did in 1970.

The total acreage in farming has shrunk but net farm income is higher than it's been in nearly 20 years.

Local food processing also has grown, and the number of farmers'markets has more than doubled since 1998.

-The Seattle Times
PCC Sound Consumer, 4/10

Orting Valley Farms

- PCC Farmland Trust announces the preservation of 100 acres in Pierce County -

"As you make the drive down state route 167 and through the Kent Valley toward Orting, you can see a dramatic evolution of place occurring throughout Washington, and, in particular, areas just outside of Seattle. Preserving Orting Valley Farms means 100 acres of farmland will be producing organic food. Organic farming methods protect water and air quality, prevent soil erosion, provide food and cover for wildlife, and eliminate the problems created by petroleum-based, high-nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals used in industrial farming.

In the United States, every minute of every day we lose about two acres of agricultural land. Why should we be concerned about losing large expanses of dirt to concrete and buildings? The American Farmland Trust states it succinctly" 'No Farms, No Food.'

Every year our food becomes less safe. We open our newspapers and Web browsers to more stories about food scares from a massive industrial food system. Add to the mix a vanishing way of life for American family farmers, and a dwindling ability to sustain our country's rich, rural agricultural heritage, and we have created a series of preventable tragedies.

Preserving farmland ensures local, organic food production, opportunities for small farmers into the future, and allows the public to know HOW their food is grown. If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week made from local, organically grown produce, we would conserve one million barrels of oil in one week. Equally as important, research done by Sustainable Seattle found that shifting just 20% of our food dollars to local choices more than doubles the number of dollars circulating among local businesses.

To date, Orting Valley Farms has two of its (eventually) three farm families on the property, already growing an array of produce. Kim and Dan Hulse of Tahoma Farms and Terra Organics were the first to break ground on their 40 acres last Spring, growing a variety of vegetables. Ken and Carrie Little will operate their Little Eorthe Farm on 30 acres, growing berries, flowers, mixed veggies, honey, eggs and organic sees, as well as ingredients for beer, wine and mead. The final parcel is in advance negotiations, and those farmers will be planting in 2010.

Stay tuned for details about a 2010 tour of Orting Valley Farms."

PCC Sound Consumer, 12/09.

For more information visit http://www.pccfarmlandtrust.org/ - "Saving local organic farmland forever."

Why Organic Video

Since 1989, Seeds of Change has been preserving biodiversity and supporting sustainable organic agriculture. They are embarking on becoming carbon neutral, and teach urban permaculture courses in urban gardening basics, design and community gardens.

Click on their site http://www.seedsofchange.com/ for a short video on "Why Organic", how this company operates responsibly, and what is available to you:

• Certified 100% organic seed: vegetables, flowers and herbs
• Over 1200 seed varieties, many heirloom, native and hard to find
• Quality performance in your garden or farm are guaranteed

Choosing organic seeds is smart money-wise too, the prices are equivalent to non-organic.

The Safe Seed Pledge

Two seed company catalogs I recommend checking are http://www.bountifulgardens.org/ and info@abundantlifeseeds.com. Both are heirloom, untreated, open-pollinated seeds for sustainable growing, and both have signed the safe seed pledge. Type High Mowing Organic Seeds into your search engine for good selection, cost comparison, pelleted seeds, and other resources. More seed companies are signing now due to customer request for tested seeds. Territorial Seed Co has recently become suspect for the future because one of their suppliers--Seminis*--was purchased last month by Monsanto.

*"Seminis controls 40% of the U.S. vegetable seed market and 20% of the world market---supplying the genetics for 55% lettuce on U.S. supermarket shelves, 75% of the tomatoes, and 85% of the peppers, with strong holdings in beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, broccoli, spinach and peas. The company's bigest revenue source comes from tomato and pepper seeds, followed by cucumbers and beans." http://www.seedalliance.org/: seed news.

The Safe Seed Pledge: "Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations. For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants. The mechanical transfer or genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods and between genera, families, or kingdoms, poses great biological risks as well as economic, political, and cultural threats. We feel that genetically engineered varieties have been insufficiently tested prior to public release. More research and testing is necessary to further assess the potential risks of genetically engineered seeds. Further, we wish to support agricultural progress that leads to healthier soils, genetically diverse agricultural ecosystems and ultimately healthier people and communities."

For a current complete list of all companies who have signed the above pledge go to http://www.organicconsumers.org/ for "U.S. Seed Companies Pledging To Be GE Free" and "Ten Reasons Why We Don't Need GM Foods".

Organic vs. Non-Organic Seeds

"Are you growing corn, yellow squash or zucchini, which have been genetically engineered? If so choose organic seeds because organic standards prohibit genetic engineering. Beyond that, the vigor and attributes of any plant starts with good, healthy seed. If you are going to be eating your produce, why not start with the best possible seeds---Organic (or tested Heirloom)---from plants grown without synthetic pesticides and toxic sludge in fertilizers?"

PCC Sound Consumer, February 2010

Seeds for Life

"We are living in a time of unrest and worry, but the same crocus will grow near the Black Sea as grows in Spain, and these flowers don't need passports and frontiers. The seed is beyond frontiers and beyond nationalities, and the growing of things and tilling the earth is one of the most international...one of the most unpolitical things we can possibly do.

Don't ever forget that the seed is the most important thing in this whole world."

- Clare Leighton, garden writer, 1948
Grandma's Garden Catalog, January 2010

Consumers Still Buying Organic

Even during these tough economic times, consumers that buy natural and organic food are staying loyal to foods that are healthy. A recent survey from Mintel, a market research firm, shows that nearly 40% of consumers claim they haven't changed organic product purchasing habits because of the recession, and only a mere 3% have stopped buying organic products altogether.

December 30, 2009 ATTR Weekly Harvest Newsletter, maryt@ncat.org

CSA Farmer-Trainees Wanted

CSA's are bringing financial stability to small, Organic farmers. If you are interested in learning the skills and techniques needed to start, below is a excellent opportunity!

"The Community Supported Agriculture Training Center at Historic Greenbank Farm on beautiful Whidbey Island, WA is seeking eight to ten new farmer-trainees for 2010. The CSA Training Center will select new trainees on a rolling admission through November, December and January. Selected farmer-trainees will be exposed to a diversified cropping system of fruits and vegetables on almost ten acres of organically certified land using a CSA model.

Applications and information about the program can be found on the NABC website: http://www.agbizcenter.org/. This year, housing is also available through the Whidbey Island WISH Foundation. The Wish housing application can be found on the NABC website.

The CSA training program will begin in early February, 2010 and run through October. Farmer trainees receive a monthly stipend of $500 and a $1,000 educational award at the completion of the year for supplies, tools, and/or equipment need to future farming activities. Participants in the program will be expected to work on average 30 hours per week, with most of these hours coming during the summer growing season. Our goal will be 50 CSA shareholders.

Sebastian Aguilar from Port Townsend has been hired as the new CSA Coordinator and will begin his responsibilities in late November. Mr. Aguilar has been farming organic vegetables full time for the past 13 years. He and his wife, Kelly, have three children and have managed farms in New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Washington State. Sebastian's goals of top quality produce, healthy soils, and social outreach have guided his farming practices and are an excellent match for what is being done at the Training Center at Greenbank Farm.

On the Aguilar's farm in Port Townsend, they use minimum tillage, cover cropping, compost and bio dynamic preparations to build and maintain healthy, fertile soils. He has done seed trials for the Seed Alliance and sold produce to the Port Townsend Food Coop. Farm apprenticeships, CSA's youth education and community involvement have always connected Sebastian's farm to the local community, thereby building relationships that strengthen the local food system and the awareness that supports it.

Sebastian grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico and spent summers gardening with his grandfather in France. He started farming full-time at age 20 and has been passionate about developing a model of small scale organic agriculture that is ecologically, economically, and socially healthy ever since. Having started as an apprentice, Sebastian has learned how to host apprentices of his own---striving to offer them a thorough and holistic agricultural education.

The CSA Training Center at Greenbank Farm, the first of its kind in western Washington, is an innovative community response to what is an alarming reality across our nation: the steady decrease in farmland, a food system dangerously dependent on fossil fuel, and an impersonal food chain that transports food items an average of 1,500 miles from the farm to our dining tables.

The second year of this project is made possible by a grant awarded by the USDA Farmer Market Promotion Grant and matched by the Northwest Agriculture Business Center. The partnership funding brings together mentor farmers, food activists, agricultural organizations and local officials as a team growing new farms and more food for direct distribution to consumers.

For application materials, a CSA brochure, or more information, visit the NABC website at http://www.agbizcenter.org/, or contact CSA Project Director, Maryon Attwood at 360-336-3727 or CSA Coordinator Sebastian Aguilar after November 23rd at the CSA training enter Office: 360-222-3171."
(News from Tilth Producers of Washington)

BLACK GOLD..... For All You Backyard Gardeners

FARMER FOCUS SERIES
Enumclaw's
Dinkelman Worm Farm - Part I

Composting animal manures along with plant biomass produces "black gold." Even compost without farm animal manures fosters biodiversity in your garden. Above ground, the good bugs keep the bad ones in check and, below ground, a rich microbial community means more beneficial relationships that improve the soil structure, fight disease, and segregate carbon so plants take up water and nutrients more efficiently. How do we backyard food growers and gardeners enhance compost without manure? WORMS! Vermicomposting is the art of using worms and their castings in composting piles or bins.

Earthworms are incredible creature! They are nature's waste disposal units...or rather...it is more accurate to call them waste renewal units. They don't simply consume the waste, they turn it into nutrient-rich compost. How? The Wikipedia dictionary gives a clear description. "Worms turn large pieces of organic matter (e.g. dead leaves) into rich humus by pulling down the organic matter deposited on dried dirt (such as leaf fall or manure) either for food or when it needs to plug its burrow. Once in the burrow, the worm will shred the leaf and partially digest it, then mingle it with the earth by saturating it with intestinal secretions." Excretion of mucus also allows them to slide through their tunnels pumping air and opening passages for water to traverse. Sounds like a lot of unrewarding work to me, but I guess they simply know what to do and then do it.

A worm cast or vermicast is a structure created in the soil that gives an appearance of multiple worms. "Vermicasts can contain 40% more humus than the top 9" of soil in which the worm is living." According to Nature Watch "earthworm castings have five times as much nitrogen, seven times as much phosphorous, 11 times as much potassium, and 1,000 times more "beneficial bacteria" than the stuff the worm consumes in the first place." Literally speaking, what goes in is far less valuable than what comes out. How did worms get so smart to create gold out of waste? I wonder why we humans don't understand this process.

Earthworms not only restore and make our soil rich for food and plant life, they have the potential to "detox"the organic parts of industrial sludge flowing out of industrial or hazardous waste. According to Indian researchers the method is ideal for industries such as paper, food processing, oil, textiles, dairy, distilleries and agro-chemicals. In other words, these small, underground, neglected creatures also have the capacity to help save life on Earth! Not all worms function at such high levels, however, only vermiculture worms: Tiger worms, red worms, manure worms, red wigglers, and eisenia foetida.

With all this talk about worms you are probably wondering, "How did our hometown people, Duane and Lori Dinkleman, get started in this business? How are their worms farmed and harvested? What do they do with all of them? Can I get some?" Very soon I'll acquaint you with these fine folks in our next issue of FARMER FOCUS. If you can't wait, and want to contact them directly the e-mail and phone numbers are dinksdirt@comcast.net, (253) 632-6184 or (360) 825-2394.

In the meantime here is some worm trivia courtesy of the Dinkelmans.

Worm & Vermiculture Trivia:

• Have no teeth or eyes
• Eat rotting foods "our garbage"
• Do not like bright light or loud noise
• Do not like vibration
• Like temps 40-75 degrees
• Need to be fed once a week
• Bins should be odorless
• Live 1-4 yrs.
• Eat by grinding waste in the gizzard
• Can double population in 90 days
• Need oxygen to live
• "Crawl" if not maintained and fed right
• Like environments that are 75% water
• Worms are bisexual. They move in clusters. As they "cluster up" they create more.
• Produce castings
• Castings will not burn plants
• Castings are rich natural fertilizer

FARMER FOCUS SERIES

Enumclaw's
Dinkelman Worm Farm
Part II

The Dinkelman Worm Farm has been a chemical-free environment since 1998 and is certified organic. Lori's father, a third generation dairy farmer, purchased the farm in 1930. Lori grew up on her dad's 120 acres, but as a teenager wanted to leave the farm for city life. Duane's mom's side of the family had a farming heritage too, even though he was a city kid and grew up in West Seattle. It was there he and Lori met and continued to live their city life together. In 1992, one year after Lori's dad died of cancer, she and Duane moved from West Seattle to Glacier Vista. They wanted to work the inherited 33 acres and make something of the farm. A significant side benefit in returning to the farm was noticeable health improvement for Lori who had been diagnosised with Multiple Sclerosis.

Duane and Lori's original idea was to start a nursery. However, they soon realized a waste management problem on the land---an abundance of horse manure. It was Lori's mom who casually suggested cultivating worms because they came naturally. Duane says, "The process is simple. Manure piles into compost, and if there is proper moisture and feeding---worms will go to it." Recognizing their immense waste management problem, and how worms could recycle it into a valuable resource ('black gold') for growing healthy food and plant life now and in the future, clarified how the farm would be cultivated. Here was a solution to no fertile farmlands.....no food.

According to The Ecologist: A Blue Print for Survival "worm compost not only improves soil quality, prevents plant diseases, speeds up seed germination, combats soil erosion, increases the soil's ability to store water (thereby diminishing the amount of water needed by trees and plant life), it also reduces mineral leaching from the soil and fixes heavy metals." Science Daily News informs that "just one pound of (specific species) worms can turn 1.3 million pounds of raw manure into high quality fertilizer in approximately 60 days that will increase plant life to thrive." The Ecologist also publicizes research showing increase in plant yields that are significant from vermicomposting: "40% for broccoli, 80% for tomatoes and as much as 259% for carrots."

Although the Dinkelman's Worm Farm is in it's early stages of development and not yet ready for large-scale commerical use, current indications suggest vermicomposting is finding new fans---some in unusual places. "Around 32% of the European Union's annual municipal waste (around 120 million tons) is food and garden waste," according to Waste Management World. "30% of U.S. waste (announced by the EPA) could have been composted in 2000---representing 92 million tons of organic waste that otherwise sat rotting on landfills." Local governments and companies are grappling with how to safely dispose of waste. "McDonald's aims to decrease the amount of waste it sends to Hong Kong's rapidly filling landfills by 80%-----after signing up for a vermicomposting program that will have 80 million worms feasting on between 50-200 tons of organic waste a day", informs Reuters News Service. Treehugger.com announced another US company, IKEA of Illinois, is conducting vermicomposting trials. If all goes well, it aims to use worm composting to boost its 70% recycling rates to 90%.

The Dinkelman's farming efforts happen on weekends and evenings as they both daily commute (and have for 15 years) to full-time occupations in North Seattle. Since 1992 they have gradually restored a deteriorating 20th century homestead, and have plans to expand their worm farm operations. Their efforts go beyond good farm stewardship. They are committed to helping avert a food crisis by educating children, and all who want to understand, how each of us can be more self-reliant. They speak at schools and community groups, as well as participate in local and Puget Sound fairs. Word gets around about Dink's Dirt vermicomposting. In fact at this point all their advertising is word-of-mouth-----whether for restoring City pea-patches, community and business soil improvements, individuals wanting to amend their soil, or apartment and condo dwellers beginning compost bins on a back porch in order to grow food. Give them a call at (253) 632-6184 or (360) 825-2394, or e-mail Lori at dinksdirt@comcast.net to find out how they can help you.

Even with all of it's demands, the Dinkelmans are excited about farming. Lori said, "We feel it is our moral responsibility to be good stewards of the land before passing it on." They both agree, "Farming is our passion.....we are following our bliss." As I was leaving the farm that beautiful Fall night, Lori showed me a T. S. Elliot poem she lives by:

"We shall not cease from exploration,
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."