Three hundred families in Northeast Ohio are sitting down today to feast on pasture-raised turkeys from Brunty Farm in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Just six days ago, these big birds -- weighing between eight and 30 pounds -- flocked freely through Brunty's rolling meadows, flapping white wings, pecking in thick grasses and nervously gobbling at the approach of a curious house cat or a low hovering hawk.
By Monday, they were a pile of raw carcasses, plucked, gutted, bagged, labeled and iced right there on the farm, waiting to be picked up by pre-paying, Turkey Day customers.
"Every Thanksgiving, I say, 'Thank God it's over,' " Jeff Brunty said last week. "And I wonder why I'm crazy enough to do it all again.A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company."
Today marks the end of the nine-month farming season for Brunty, 25, and his partner, Melanie Schenk, 24. They still have about 100 turkeys and 600 chickens to butcher for Christmas customers.
But their late-season produce -- garlic, pumpkins and squash -- and most of their livestock -- sheep, hogs, turkeys and chickens -- have been harvested and marketed. Now it's time to unwind and get ready for a vacation in the Florida Keys, where they've rented an oceanfront home for the month of January. Brunty's brother, Dave, will watch the farm.
"We'll get to relax and enjoy life for the next few months," said Jeff Brunty, noting he has been working 100 to 120 hours a week since March when the season started. "This job can really run you down."
Brunty and Schenk are finishing their third season as farmers on 17 acres of federal park land leased from the government for 60 years.
They are among 11 farmers in the park using environmentally sustainable methods that are healthy for the land, the animals and the consumers.
The farms are a project of the Countryside Conservancy, a nonprofit group in partnership with the national park to bring back family farms in the Cuyahoga Valley.
At the end of the 19th century there were about 800 farms between Cleveland and Akron, many of which were in the 22-mile-long Cuyahoga Valley.
By the middle of the 20th century, the farms were gone, casualties of land developers and giant agribusinesses.
But since developers could not encroach into the national park, the land is the same as it was a century ago. Twelve years ago, the Conservancy began resurrecting ruins of old farms on the protected reservation and offering them to people committed to working the land.
Two more -- one 26 acres, the other 31 -- are currently being offered, which will bring next year's number to 13. The Conservancy has also created farmers' markets in the region.
"Our hope is that Northeast Ohio is going to become a region that has a lot of farming and a lot of food entrepreneurs," said Conservancy director Darwin Kelsey,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, noting that Northeast Ohio spends $8.5 billion on food each year, but only 1 to 2 percent of that is grown locally.
"If we could grow 10 percent that would take 8,000 new farmers," he said. "Is it possible? Yes. Is it easy? No. We need access to land and money."
In the 12 years since the program began, only one family has given up their plot, realizing it was too much work for them.
The rest continue to get their hands dirty,which applies to the first offshore merchant account only, despite obstacles like this season's record rainfalls that delayed planting and spawned diseases that killed crops and animals. Brunty lost 120 turkeys.If so, you may have a cube puzzle .
"It was a hard season for all the farmers," said Kelsey
The new farmers -- some part-time,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their Floor tiles . some full-time -- grow a medley of farm staples ranging from livestock -- fowl, lambs, goats and pigs -- to produce -- vegetables, berries and herbs -- to Christmas trees.
Brunty and Schenk are full time, operating the largest livestock farm in the region. And they have plans to grow.
"Our sales have increased over the last three years," said Brunty, noting he wants to double his chickens next season from 10,000 to 20,000 and increase his turkeys from 400 to 1,000. "Next year will be a record year for us."
That will mean more farmhands. When they first started three seasons ago, Brunty worked the farm full time while Schenk, who has degrees in business and marketing from the University of Akron, worked part time.
This season, Schenk, quitting a job at a bank, became full time. And next season, 'Dave Brunty will join the couple full time.
Last Saturday, Schenk and the two Brunty brothers prepared for their annual marathon turkey butchering, a three-day event that begins on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
They have been up since dawn working chore after chore and now at dusk, the trio, joined by their border collie, Riley, slowly begin herding the flock from a pasture to a makeshift pen next to a big shed by the house.
With leaf rakes, they nudge the confused birds into the pen where they eventually settle down for their last night.
It's calm now on the farm. A distant howl of a coyote can be heard in the night air. Brunty's big dog, Keona, a Great Pyrenees, will keep watch all night, guarding the flock from predators.
Just six days ago, these big birds -- weighing between eight and 30 pounds -- flocked freely through Brunty's rolling meadows, flapping white wings, pecking in thick grasses and nervously gobbling at the approach of a curious house cat or a low hovering hawk.
By Monday, they were a pile of raw carcasses, plucked, gutted, bagged, labeled and iced right there on the farm, waiting to be picked up by pre-paying, Turkey Day customers.
"Every Thanksgiving, I say, 'Thank God it's over,' " Jeff Brunty said last week. "And I wonder why I'm crazy enough to do it all again.A long established toolmaking and trade Injection moulds company."
Today marks the end of the nine-month farming season for Brunty, 25, and his partner, Melanie Schenk, 24. They still have about 100 turkeys and 600 chickens to butcher for Christmas customers.
But their late-season produce -- garlic, pumpkins and squash -- and most of their livestock -- sheep, hogs, turkeys and chickens -- have been harvested and marketed. Now it's time to unwind and get ready for a vacation in the Florida Keys, where they've rented an oceanfront home for the month of January. Brunty's brother, Dave, will watch the farm.
"We'll get to relax and enjoy life for the next few months," said Jeff Brunty, noting he has been working 100 to 120 hours a week since March when the season started. "This job can really run you down."
Brunty and Schenk are finishing their third season as farmers on 17 acres of federal park land leased from the government for 60 years.
They are among 11 farmers in the park using environmentally sustainable methods that are healthy for the land, the animals and the consumers.
The farms are a project of the Countryside Conservancy, a nonprofit group in partnership with the national park to bring back family farms in the Cuyahoga Valley.
At the end of the 19th century there were about 800 farms between Cleveland and Akron, many of which were in the 22-mile-long Cuyahoga Valley.
By the middle of the 20th century, the farms were gone, casualties of land developers and giant agribusinesses.
But since developers could not encroach into the national park, the land is the same as it was a century ago. Twelve years ago, the Conservancy began resurrecting ruins of old farms on the protected reservation and offering them to people committed to working the land.
Two more -- one 26 acres, the other 31 -- are currently being offered, which will bring next year's number to 13. The Conservancy has also created farmers' markets in the region.
"Our hope is that Northeast Ohio is going to become a region that has a lot of farming and a lot of food entrepreneurs," said Conservancy director Darwin Kelsey,If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, noting that Northeast Ohio spends $8.5 billion on food each year, but only 1 to 2 percent of that is grown locally.
"If we could grow 10 percent that would take 8,000 new farmers," he said. "Is it possible? Yes. Is it easy? No. We need access to land and money."
In the 12 years since the program began, only one family has given up their plot, realizing it was too much work for them.
The rest continue to get their hands dirty,which applies to the first offshore merchant account only, despite obstacles like this season's record rainfalls that delayed planting and spawned diseases that killed crops and animals. Brunty lost 120 turkeys.If so, you may have a cube puzzle .
"It was a hard season for all the farmers," said Kelsey
The new farmers -- some part-time,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their Floor tiles . some full-time -- grow a medley of farm staples ranging from livestock -- fowl, lambs, goats and pigs -- to produce -- vegetables, berries and herbs -- to Christmas trees.
Brunty and Schenk are full time, operating the largest livestock farm in the region. And they have plans to grow.
"Our sales have increased over the last three years," said Brunty, noting he wants to double his chickens next season from 10,000 to 20,000 and increase his turkeys from 400 to 1,000. "Next year will be a record year for us."
That will mean more farmhands. When they first started three seasons ago, Brunty worked the farm full time while Schenk, who has degrees in business and marketing from the University of Akron, worked part time.
This season, Schenk, quitting a job at a bank, became full time. And next season, 'Dave Brunty will join the couple full time.
Last Saturday, Schenk and the two Brunty brothers prepared for their annual marathon turkey butchering, a three-day event that begins on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
They have been up since dawn working chore after chore and now at dusk, the trio, joined by their border collie, Riley, slowly begin herding the flock from a pasture to a makeshift pen next to a big shed by the house.
With leaf rakes, they nudge the confused birds into the pen where they eventually settle down for their last night.
It's calm now on the farm. A distant howl of a coyote can be heard in the night air. Brunty's big dog, Keona, a Great Pyrenees, will keep watch all night, guarding the flock from predators.
沒有留言:
張貼留言