Hartman Family Farms

03/25/2022

08/21/2021

A beautiful summer so far…

07/13/2020

03/30/2020

https://www.gardengatemagazine.com/articles/vegetables/getting-started/calculate-how-many-vegetables-to-plant/?fbclid=IwAR1fL20LPFJ8rnuCBtFToCc23lSq9RoceEhlJNfjg77wQ8_nWH_tjs8rHiM

03/26/2020

07/05/2019

04/13/2019

Vegan Sabotage on the Farm. Many of you have been following the Vegan Zealot posts these last couple of days wherein Taranaki Farm has been assailed by rabid vegan activists on social media. But did you know in April 2017 a posse of vegan 'activists', under cover of darkness, attempted the thief ('liberation') of hens from our pastured A-Frame as it passed our front gate. In their foolishness, they accidentally (or perhaps intentionally) released 200+ hens from the safety of their electric fence enclosure - birds that were then savaged by dogs and foxes throughout the night. 100% of those released died.

We arrived in the morning during chore time to dead bodies all over the paddock; as far as the eye could see. These were 5 month old pullets just at the point of lay. Birds my daughters and I raise from one day old under heat lamps. We kept them warm, fed them and moved them daily for 5 months. Their death cost us at least $40,000 in lost income and expenses (probably much more) and set up back almost 6 months.

We later discovered the fence locations they had cut through and astonishingly, they even returned the following night for a third attempted theft. Trophy hens rescued for boasting rights. Only this time we were there, and they were almost caught.

So consider this - when you see photos that militant vegans post of the hens they've 'liberated' or the sheep they've saved, consider it likely these animals were stolen. It has happened to many small farmers. On our page alone, vegans have even boasted of it and I could name names.

So don't think we're only assaulted or threatened online and that it's just a cause of us rising above and ignoring them. They can represent a very clear threat to our efforts to farm regeneratively - make positive changes to agriculture - to improve the welfare of livestock and to farm ethically. These acts of sabotage are criminal and demonstrate the hypocrisy of the vegan abolitionist agenda.

Most of you know that Taranaki Farm is a small family farm, that I run this place and parent my daughters solo. I wonder if these militant vegans, in their desire to score points within their social groups and to impress each another with their 'activism' really understand the consequences of what they do. 200 deaths in their bunkering attempts to liberate chickens from our pastured hen paradise.

That's why they attack small farms like mine. Because we're low hanging fruit and easy targets and because they are cowards. Cowards that threaten the livelihood of this farming Dad and his young girls. This will be the last post I make on the subject but I want to remind people that this isn't just an online problem for small farmers, but a very real one...

Ben Falloon
Taranaki Farm

04/11/2019

Certified Organic: it's gotta be healthy. Right?

The Real Organic community is abuzz about new confirmations that organic certifiers are okay with hydroponic plants grown in pots sitting on black plastic over glyphosate-laden soil.  Black pots the size of a 5-gallon bucket sit on acres and acres of land.  How do you maintain tha

03/31/2018

Virginia “Louise” Hartman, 95, of North Freedom, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully at her daughter’s home on March 30, 2018. She was known affectionately as “Gommy” by her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and hundreds of Sunday school students throughout the years.

Louise was born March 28, 1923 in Oak Ridge, Pennsylvania to Bessie Marie Crawford Bowser and Foster Francis Bowser. She graduated from New Bethlehem High School in 1939 and worked as a bookkeeper at Sylvania from 1942 until the end of the war in 1946. On February 2, 1946, she married the late Merle David Hartman Jr., a WWII Navy veteran and dairy farmer. They were dairy farmers for nearly 50 years. Throughout her life, Louise was a faithful church-goer and Sunday-school teacher, instructing generations of children and adults in the Christian faith. Even in her elderly years, children at her church flocked to her because of her kindness to them and interest in their lives. She was a powerful intercessor and prayed for everyone she knew, from individuals to greater cultural issues.

Louise was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Merle David Hartman Jr., and her younger brother, Jerry Lee Bowser. She is survived by her two daughters: Karen Dianne Shay and her husband Glenn Shay of Mayport, Pa; and Cathy Susanne Vallosio and husband David Vallosio of Brookville, PA; by three grandchildren: David Glenn Shay and his wife Emily of Shannondale, Julie Kathleen Swartfager and her husband Mark of Grove City, and Sarah Rebecca Masterson and her husband Cory of Franklin; and by nine great-grandchildren: Erin Olivia Shay, Kharis Christiana Shay, Eden Elisabeth Alexandra Shay, Judah-David Emilio Shay, and Priscilla Hope Anneliese Shay of Shannondale; Marcus Andrew Swartfager, Erin Kathleen Swartfager, and Andrew Isaac Swartfager of Grove City; and Hudson David Hartman Masterson of Franklin. A testament to her faith and faithfulness, all of Louise’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are serving Christ.

Her family will receive visitors at Furlong Funeral Home in Summerville, PA on Monday, April 2, from 6:00-8:00pm, and at Living Church in Summerville on Tuesday, April 3, from 10:00-11:00am, with the funeral service following (Pastor David Shay officiating). A luncheon will be held following the service. Her body will be laid to rest at the United Methodist Cemetery in North Freedom, PA.