We sell pastured animal products: chicken & duck eggs, chicken meat, duck meat & holiday turkeys. Permanent + Agriculture = Permaculture. Ag landscape design systems plus creative uses of resources and "waste products" yield huge returns in the way of environmental conservation, minimizing expenses, and keeping a tight lid on quality. Most practitioners of permaculture don't operate on a commercial scale so we've adapted the rules. We're not purists by any means but we do subscribe to the basic principles and glean some useful practices. Here's an example: Our latest greenhouse was built with a few uses in mind. First, we planted a green cover crop of oats and favas. Soon after, it would serve as chicken lodging when the weather turned sour in the fall (thanks to all the chickens for evenly distributing your 'waste' and the occasional feather--some people pay big money for that stuff!). The chickens would eventually go to the butcher and our crop of meat birds kept the farm in business over the long, slow winter. Thank you chickens. Next, the greenhouse is serving as a hardening-off house for tender veggie starts this spring, then it will house one early crop of cabbage (no compost or soil amendments necessary--sweet!). The cabbage will come out of the ground just in time to plant our heat loving crops like eggplant, tomatillos, and basil. This fall, we'll undersow those oats & favas and do it all again. And that's just one greenhouse!!
