Fall Harvest at Fail Better Farms

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We’re so excited to offer our first produce packages ready for sale! We’ve worked hard to grow tasty, nutritious veggies, and it feels good to know we’re feeding other folks wholesome food.

How We Do

All of our produce is raised organically with permaculture principles. Here’s what that looks like:

Instead of spraying our crops, we keep them covered with insect netting so cabbage loopers and other creepy crawlies can’t attack them. Also, we eliminate weeds between rows by laying down repurposed conveyor belts.

Once the produce gets to be a healthy size, we remove the insect netting in order to let our plants stretch out (and so we can take a closer look at our beauties!).

Regenerative Agriculture

After we harvest this produce, we’ll plant cover crop, which includes peas, vetch, daikon radish, and other cool stuff, which will pull nitrogen into the soil and make the land even more nutrient-dense for our planting next Spring. We believe it’s not enough to be sustainable. Our pursuit of regenerative agriculture means that we continually strive to leave the land healthier than we found it. Future generations depend on our success.

The Legend of One-Leg

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The Situation

A month ago one of our guinea fowl survived a car accident. This is new for us. Typically cars that hit our guinea fowl are driving too fast (at least 50 miles per hour) for the birds to survive. Aaron and I weren’t sure how best to handle our maimed bird, so we did what any self-respecting bird owners would do: we scoured the internet.

Our Options

Following the advice we found, we caught our hurt bird and identified where the break was. Sadly, we realized there was nothing we could do because the break was up too high on her leg for us to help her with a splint. We were faced with the ugly decision of putting our bird out of her misery or giving her a chance to push through her pain and fend for herself. We agreed to give the latter a shot. If she had the fight left in her, who were we to tell her otherwise?

A Word About Guinea Fowl

It’s not practical to take a guinea fowl to the vet when injured because the likelihood that s/he will run out into the road and get hit is nearly 100%. I’m not exaggerating. We lose nearly all of our birds this way. Though they have acres of safe land to run around on, they insist on crossing the highway daily. Interestingly, although they are very capable of flight, they choose to walk across the road. Slowly. They are not the brightest bulbs in the box, but we love them for their tick-decimating aptitude.

So How Did One-Leg Fare?

Our busted-up guinea fowl kept on hopping around on one leg, hence her nickname. She could no longer accompany her bird friends on their daily excursions across the highway, but that actually kept her safer than she would have been otherwise. She was grounded and couldn’t move very far from the coop, with its supply of fresh water and roost for protection from predators. If I can anthropomorphize my dear bird friend for a moment, it seemed she had found her happiness in appreciating the reality she was living rather than dwelling on what she had lost. Isn’t that a lesson we can all apply?

Getting to the Other Side

After a few weeks of sticking around the farm by herself while her flock went on their daily outings, she eventually decided she was ready to go with them. Staying in community with her bird crew on their adventures across the highway was, in One-Leg’s estimation, worth the risk of life and wing. I regret to inform you that One-Leg is no longer with us here at Fail Better Farms. While we aren’t sure exactly what happened to One-Leg, we like to think she eloped with a bird lover and settled down to start a family. Maybe she’s watching over us now, roosting up high in the copse of trees across the street. All we know for sure is she crossed the road and was never heard from again. That, dear reader, is the Legend of One-Leg.

The Life of an Egg-Layer at Fail Better Farms

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We’ve been raising egg-laying chickens for several years now, so we’ve made enough mistakes and learned enough lessons to feel confident to share our process.

Different Stages of Birds

1. BABIES! We receive a new batch of chicks every year between January - March. In this early stage of life, our sweet chicks need be kept warm and protected, so we raise them in a barn stall with heat lamps and a lot of attention. Starting the birds early in the year is key because they grow up before snakes come out of hibernation. (We learned that the hard way.)

2. TWEENS! When our girls are about 3 or 4 months old, it’s warmer outside, and they’re smarter and more resilient, so we introduce them to a chicken coop that’s half walled and half chicken wire. This acclimates them to the idea of being outside without letting them roam free.

3. TEENS! When our pullets are able to fly up to roost, they need their wings clipped. After clipping their wings, we open an exterior door on their chicken coop to give them access to lush pasture when they want it. (See “Clipping Pullets’ Wings” video below.)

4. ADULTS! Once our girls start laying eggs (around 5 months), we introduce them to the flock of egg-layers that are rotationally grazing on pasture with 24 hour access to a chickshaw. Drama ensues as a literal pecking order is established. The rooster is thrilled at his growing harem. Eggs are collected at least daily so there is no chance of incubation.

What is Rotational Grazing?

Rotational grazing is a natural pattern where all parties involved benefit from controlled periods of intense distubance followed by a year long period of rest after the disturbance has passed. A Zimbabwean ecologist/livestock farmer named Allan Savory (see TED Talk below) made a crucial observation while watching the herds of herbivores on the plains of Africa. He noticed the landscape sprang back to life following the intense disturbance of grazing herbivores eating and pooping on a single piece of land. Just when the landscape looked like it was getting degraded, the predators push the herd forward, leaving the land the rest of the year to rejuvenate. Other animals followed the herd, making easy meals of maggots in poop and scattering the fertilizer as they gleaned. Allan applied this observation to his livestock operation and found that the process was transferable.

Why We Rotationally Raise on Pasture

Rotationally raising chickens on pasture serves many purposes. Everybody on the farm is benefiting from everybody else. Our chickens follow in the wake of the rotationally-raised pigs. It works like this: pigs get fresh ground to eat grubs and roots and grass, spreading fertilizer (poop) the whole time. As soon as the ground has been significantly disturbed by the pigs, they are moved to a new fresh piece of pasture to repeat. The chickens move onto the land the pigs just vacated, where the birds truly free-range to eat a balanced diet of protein (bugs) and greens (grass, weeds, seeds, etc.). All the while our customers are benefiting from the heightened nutritive value of the eggs being produced.

How we Clip Pullets’ Wings

Watch the video below to see how we prepare our birds to live on pasture.

Check Out Allan Savory’s TED Talk

Watch minutes 8:30-12:45 if you don’t have time to watch the whole video.

Using Bti to Control Mosquitoes

We have quite a bit of standing water on the farm: two ponds, rain barrels, and animal troughs. A lot of water makes for a lot of mosquitoes. In order to control the mosquito population, we’ve had success with using Bti.

What is Bti?

Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelesis. It’s a naturally occurring bacteria that wreaks havoc on the aquatic mosquito larvae.

How does it work?

Well, when a male mosquito and a female mosquito fall in love and decide to start a family, they lay their eggs in water. They start dreaming of a bright future for their young. They paint their little mosquito nurseries, get all their mosquito onesies cleaned and folded just so, and even begin little mosquito college funds. They scope out the humans nearby and envision all the blood within them that their precious mosquito babies will suck. Everything in Mosquito Land seems promising and bright.

Stop it, Mary. Seriously, how does it work?

Okay. I’ll stop. We keep standing water around our property for mosquitos to lay in…on purpose. The water is shaded and provides perfect places for mosquitoes to lay…and for us to kill. We place mosquito dunks in each body of water. The dunks float on the surface of the water, releasing the bacteria and dissolving slowing to ensure the Bti lasts for about a month. As the mosquitoes develop in the water, the mosquito larvae encounter and consume the bacterial spores and eventually can’t digest food, so they die. A tragedy for the hopeful mosquito parents. A win for us.

Is Bti safe?

Not for baby mosquitoes, it’s not! Used as directed, though, it’s perfectly harmless for humans, animals, and even honeybees!

Who needs bug spray when you can prevent mosquitoes from growing to full size in the first place? Use Bti to control the mosquito population and keep your fa...