Monday 4 May 2015

Joel Salatin's seminar

*addendum ~ this post was written by Belle months ago but she wasn't confident about posting it. I've just discovered it's existence and encouraged her to publish it. Cheers, Linda (Mum)*

Recently, we went to see a seminar by Joel Salatin. Joel Salatin is a farmer in america, on a farm called Polyface. He knows heaps about farming organically. I found it absolutely inspirational! He talked so much about everything! He took ages to explain one thing, when it could have been explained much more briefly, in my mind. But he wasn't just blabbing on boringly. He had so many examples, and personal experiences, that even as a kid, I wasn't bored! 

I  wanted to get home and start doing stuff! I wanted to build that shed , and shovel that manure, and plant that plant! Up until seeing Joel Salatin, we hadn't really considered our place as a farm. Yeah, we have a big property, and a few animals, but we weren't making a profit from our place and we don't grow hay or anything like that. He made us see that any place can be a farm (with a very long but entertaining explanation). 

So ever since the seminar we've been going hell for leather, working outside and turning our place into a proper farm. In the last two days we have planted eleven tagaste (lucerne) trees, made1 goat shelter out of pallets and iron and planted a garden around our big paulonia tree. We have also shoveled trailer load upon trailer load of horse manure, which is not a very pleasant job.

We have decided that we should start making a profit out of our place, and we've actually come up with quite a few businesses that we could run. My favorite one is an egg buisness wich we are hoping to start soon. We're going to buy about twenty day old ISA Brown hens and i've asked mum if i could be appointed the egg business lady, and she said yes! So i'll be in charge of he egg  business! we came up with "Henhaven eggs" as the name.