11.19.2008
11.17.2008
DOCUMENTARY: The Disappearing Male
The Disappearing Male is about one of the most important, and least publicized, issues facing the human species: the toxic threat to the male reproductive system.
The last few decades have seen steady and dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm count, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer.
At the same time, boys are now far more at risk of suffering from ADHD, autism, Tourette's syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia.
The Disappearing Male takes a close and disturbing look at what many doctors and researchers now suspect are responsible for many of these problems: a class of common chemicals that are ubiquitous in our world.
Found in everything from shampoo, sunglasses, meat and dairy products, carpet, cosmetics and baby bottles, they are called "hormone mimicking" or "endocrine disrupting" chemicals and they may be starting to damage the most basic building blocks of human development.
WATCH this thought provoking documentary online, CLICK HERE >>
The last few decades have seen steady and dramatic increases in the incidence of boys and young men suffering from genital deformities, low sperm count, sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer.
At the same time, boys are now far more at risk of suffering from ADHD, autism, Tourette's syndrome, cerebral palsy, and dyslexia.
The Disappearing Male takes a close and disturbing look at what many doctors and researchers now suspect are responsible for many of these problems: a class of common chemicals that are ubiquitous in our world.
Found in everything from shampoo, sunglasses, meat and dairy products, carpet, cosmetics and baby bottles, they are called "hormone mimicking" or "endocrine disrupting" chemicals and they may be starting to damage the most basic building blocks of human development.
WATCH this thought provoking documentary online, CLICK HERE >>
11.14.2008
Nov 16th Market Day UPDATE
Hope everyone can make it out to our farm this Sunday for the Monthly Market Day (2-4pm). Besides the great farmers that usually make it, we have teamed up with Matt Family Orchard to provide us with fresh local fruit and to help forage for other local treats. LOTS of artisan cheese this market day plus heritage pork sausage from Sand Creek Farm.
LOCAL Produce at the market: persimmons, lemons, satsuma oranges, kumquats, squash, zucchini, lettuce, cabbage, winter squash, radishes, arugula, sweet peppers, kale, baby greens, eggplant, cucumbers, and more. NOW IN THE
FARM TOUR AT 3pm! Come see the beautiful fall gardens. 12 acres of produce, ponies, chickens, ducks and other surprises. We want to share with everyone the building of our new farm store, opening next spring. Hope you can come share our vision.
The Stufflebeam Family
HOMEsweetFARM
979.251.9922
11.11.2008
the sound of rain
The sweet sound of rain
A farmer can relax
And then
After a few hours
“Lord, please not too much”
11.08.2008
Monthly Market Day and Farm Tour - Nov. 16th
EVENT: Monthly Market Day
INFO: Visit our website for directions and details >>
Come on out next Sunday the 16th for a farm tour at 3pm and enjoy our Monthly Market Day, a cooperative effort of local family farms dedicated to providing the highest quality food to our community.
Farmers will bring ALL LOCAL drug-free grass-fed beef, pork, sausage, chicken, artisan cheeses, fresh baked bread, persimmons and veggies (we have six varieties of baby greens, chinese cabbage, beautiful radishes and other seasonal treats).
Fall Veggie transplants include 5 varieties of head lettuce for your garden.
Local Cheese! 4 varieties from Veldhuizen Farm and wonderful feta and chevre from Blue Heron Farm.
Sausage! Sand Creek Farm is featuring heritage pork sausage.
Things to see at the farm:
12 acres of organic horse farming
Our new barn to house a farm store (opens spring 2009!!!)
ponies, chickens, ducks, great folks and local farmers
11.04.2008
The Small Farm: Training and Education
This was originally published by The Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Assoc (TOFGA). I have had a lot of questions and requests for this information, so I thought I would post it once again since it is no longer available on the TOFGA website. More coming soon, stay tuned.
- Farmer Brad
The Small Farm: Training and Education
The small farm is more than just a dream. It can be a reality, and your vision and decisions in life must have a focus towards that purpose. Our family has been on that path for over fourteen years. We are mainly self-taught, having the single focus and obsession that we could one day have the independent family farm. Now that we are achieving that goal, we would like to share with others our (not always simple) homesteading lifestyle, and how we have achieved that goal. It is rich and rewarding; to work as a family, but the steps can be a long and bumpy journey, definitely worth the perseverance.
Step 1: Acquiring training and education to prepare for your small farm.
Our education has been explored through many avenues. Early on we pursued the collegiate route, to find major disappointment in the institutional system. Our interests focused early upon organic techniques, nutrition, and more holistic approaches towards health and the environment. This led us towards the pursuit of self-education… reading every book and researching every website we could come across. I will try to list the best resources that we have found useful in our search.
Books…
Permaculture: A Designers Manual by Bill Mollison
Family Friendly Farming by Joel Salatin (and any other book by Salatin)
The New Organic Grower by Elliot Coleman
How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons
A Farmer’s Guide to the Bottom Line by Charles Walters
Buying and Setting Up Your Small Farm or Ranch by L.R. Miller
Paddock Shift, Changing Views on Grassland Farming by Allan Nation
The Biological Farmer by Gary F. Zimmer
Magazines…
Acres USA (512) 892-4400 www.acresusa.com
Growing for Market 1(800) 307-8949 www.growingformarket.com
Farming, People, Land, and Community 1(800) 915-0042 www.farmingmagazine.net
Small Farmer’s Journal 1(800) 876-2893 www.smallfarmersjournal.com
The Heirloom Gardener (417) 924-1222 www.rareseed.com
Websites for Research…
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) www.attra.org
A&M has put together a great list of alternative agriculture resources at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/alternatives/alternativelinks.html.
Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC) www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/
There are many other sites to list here for specific topics.
Internships…
Consider an internship/apprenticeship program with an organic farm. ATTRA has a listing on their website (www.attrainternships.ncat.org). You can also find farms advertising directly in many of the magazines I suggested above. International opportunities are available through MESA (Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture) www.mesaprogram.org and WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) www.wwoof.org. I served as the Farm Operations Director for World Hunger Relief, which offers a 12-month internship program in Elm Mott, TX, and the experience was rich and rewarding for the interns and myself. I recommend maybe a shorter program of 3 to 6 months during the peak of production, but you do get a better idea of the big picture when you can experience every changing season on the farm.
Organizations…
Holistic Resource Management of Texas www.hrm-texas.org
Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) www.ssawg.org
Schools/Conferences…
Ranching for Profit is a highly recommended program exploring a more holistic approach utilizing rotational grazing www.ranchmanagement.com
Texas Organic Farmers and Growers Assoc. (TOFGA) host their annual conference, which is always rich with information specific to our state.
Practical Experience…
Nothing beats practical experience. Grow a backyard garden, get a job at a nursery or commercial grower, volunteer at a farm, find a skill that is farm related i.e. carpentry, mechanics, welding, horticulture, marketing, etc. My greatest learning experience was owning and operating a retail nursery and having my own garden every year.
The new farmers need to be innovative and highly motivated to educate themselves in sustainable agriculture. It also helps to visit other farms and to see what other folks are doing. I hope these resources can be help in the pursuit of the small farm.
- Farmer Brad
The Small Farm: Training and Education
The small farm is more than just a dream. It can be a reality, and your vision and decisions in life must have a focus towards that purpose. Our family has been on that path for over fourteen years. We are mainly self-taught, having the single focus and obsession that we could one day have the independent family farm. Now that we are achieving that goal, we would like to share with others our (not always simple) homesteading lifestyle, and how we have achieved that goal. It is rich and rewarding; to work as a family, but the steps can be a long and bumpy journey, definitely worth the perseverance.
Step 1: Acquiring training and education to prepare for your small farm.
Our education has been explored through many avenues. Early on we pursued the collegiate route, to find major disappointment in the institutional system. Our interests focused early upon organic techniques, nutrition, and more holistic approaches towards health and the environment. This led us towards the pursuit of self-education… reading every book and researching every website we could come across. I will try to list the best resources that we have found useful in our search.
Books…
Permaculture: A Designers Manual by Bill Mollison
Family Friendly Farming by Joel Salatin (and any other book by Salatin)
The New Organic Grower by Elliot Coleman
How to Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons
A Farmer’s Guide to the Bottom Line by Charles Walters
Buying and Setting Up Your Small Farm or Ranch by L.R. Miller
Paddock Shift, Changing Views on Grassland Farming by Allan Nation
The Biological Farmer by Gary F. Zimmer
Magazines…
Acres USA (512) 892-4400 www.acresusa.com
Growing for Market 1(800) 307-8949 www.growingformarket.com
Farming, People, Land, and Community 1(800) 915-0042 www.farmingmagazine.net
Small Farmer’s Journal 1(800) 876-2893 www.smallfarmersjournal.com
The Heirloom Gardener (417) 924-1222 www.rareseed.com
Websites for Research…
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) www.attra.org
A&M has put together a great list of alternative agriculture resources at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/alternatives/alternativelinks.html.
Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC) www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/
There are many other sites to list here for specific topics.
Internships…
Consider an internship/apprenticeship program with an organic farm. ATTRA has a listing on their website (www.attrainternships.ncat.org). You can also find farms advertising directly in many of the magazines I suggested above. International opportunities are available through MESA (Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture) www.mesaprogram.org and WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) www.wwoof.org. I served as the Farm Operations Director for World Hunger Relief, which offers a 12-month internship program in Elm Mott, TX, and the experience was rich and rewarding for the interns and myself. I recommend maybe a shorter program of 3 to 6 months during the peak of production, but you do get a better idea of the big picture when you can experience every changing season on the farm.
Organizations…
Holistic Resource Management of Texas www.hrm-texas.org
Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) www.ssawg.org
Schools/Conferences…
Ranching for Profit is a highly recommended program exploring a more holistic approach utilizing rotational grazing www.ranchmanagement.com
Texas Organic Farmers and Growers Assoc. (TOFGA) host their annual conference, which is always rich with information specific to our state.
Practical Experience…
Nothing beats practical experience. Grow a backyard garden, get a job at a nursery or commercial grower, volunteer at a farm, find a skill that is farm related i.e. carpentry, mechanics, welding, horticulture, marketing, etc. My greatest learning experience was owning and operating a retail nursery and having my own garden every year.
The new farmers need to be innovative and highly motivated to educate themselves in sustainable agriculture. It also helps to visit other farms and to see what other folks are doing. I hope these resources can be help in the pursuit of the small farm.
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