Home Grown

The fruits of labor are pouring in here at Leafhopper Farm, and it has great feasting, preserving, and harvesting from the land. Cucumbers, Mushrooms, Apples, Tomatillos, and more fill the fridge and freezer. The pork which has hung in the cooler is now being butchered into fine cuts for family and friends. What abundance!

The pork is beautiful, clean, ethically raised using organic practices, and now wrapped and ready for your dinning enjoyment. I’ve been eating the scraps so far, and it’s fabulous! I’ve got a whole leg salted and prepped for prosciutto ham. There is so much meat, my freezers are full and I am planning a shipment of pork in the next few days to family on the east coast which will open up more space because there is still a second pig in the cooler to take apart.

I also got my deer for the season, a nice two point buck. The wild venison will add to the larder in a big way, and I look forward to sharing this special hunted food with the community. Hunting continues to be a big part of my learning for self sufficiency and engaged wild harvesting. I’m adding waterfowl and game birds to the menu too. I’ll have to invest in a shotgun for the geese and ducks, which will also demand more shot practice and better familiarity with new gauges of firearms.

The intension to cultivate food has grown leaps and bounds as I learn more and more divers ways of feeding myself, and sharing the bounty with those around me. It feels so good to feed, and be fed by what I cultivate and harvest.

The young chickens are another reminder of bounty on the farm. They are growing up fast and will continue to grow the flock here at the farm. I hope they are good layer hens, but the roosters will be meat birds. Every little life on this farm that I feed and care for goes to feeding me, and it’s a great life for all involved. Seeing the full process and understanding what it takes to provide healthy food for the table is a wakeup call to what’s most important in this life. I hope to pass on these skills, demonstrating simple systems of production that most anyone can implement at home, no matter the set up. From bucket gardens on fire escapes in big cities, to a 40 acre parcel with a stream, you can cultivate your nutrition anywhere with a little ingenuity and a lot of personal drive.