Our Visit to Natural Farm
We visited a "natural" farm near our neighborhood. We took a tour there and learned about the way they farm. The farm is not certified organic, but the farmers use natural ways to farm.
The farmers mostly farm meat such as sheep, chicken, turkeys, cows, and lambs, but they also have a small garden. The farmers have a cycle of moving different animals from pasture to pasture. This helps both farm land and animals. The horses eat first because they are picky eaters. Then the cows are moved into the pastures. The cows eat a lot of the grass. After the cows come the chickens. They use chicken pens that are mobile so they can move easily. The chickens eat mostly the grubs with the turkeys. Finally the sheep eat the re-grown grass. This cycle provides the grass fields to not be overused and is healthier for the animals. They use mobile electrical fences to help move the animals around.
They also have a small garden. Even though the farm is not certified organic, the garden is grown in an organic process.
Here are some pictures we took on our tour.
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This is a picture of the garden. Natural Farm mostly sells meat, but they also have a small vegetable garden. They grow a lot of basic vegetables and some flowers. The flowers are used to attract good bugs. |
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This is a picture of the green houses. Little plants and plants that don’t survive the winter easily are kept in here. The green houses also extend the growing season. |
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This is another picture of the gardens, mainly the flowers. The garden is very small but they still sell the vegetables. The flowers are used to keep away bad bugs and attract good bugs. |
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This picture shows some empty plant beds. There are grass paths. These can help keep weeds from the gardens. They also prevent people from getting dirty. |
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In this picture there are raised beds. The raised beds help with water drainage. Right now there are weed mats on the beds to keep weeds from them. |
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These green houses are also raised beds. But these are kept in place by wood retainers. There are plants still in it. The cover will seem to make the season longer for them. |
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This is a picture of the turkeys on the farm and they get them when they are little. They also slaughter and sell the turkeys at their shop for Thanksgiving. |
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These are the farms Black Angus cows that they sell. They raise these cows until they are two years old. The farm also has meat chickens and egg chickens that are moved to a field after the cows are moved so they can eat the grubs. They also have sheep that are not on the farms right now. There is a riding academy instead of working horses. |
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This is a picture of the herb garden the volunteers built for Natural Farm. |