We Are Delivering To You On July 3rd, This Week!

It is no sign of health to be well adapted to a profoundly sick society. Krishna Murdi

Happy Independence Day!  Because this holiday happens to fall on the day we deliver to the Tampa Bay area, we will be delivering to you one day early, on Wednesday the 3rd.  Same time and places, just one day early.  This applies to you if your pick up location is:  High Springs, Gainesville, Ocala, Dade City, Tampa, Largo, Clearwater, St. Pete, Brandon/Seffner, or Bradenton.

Fellow Farmer's this is for you, customers and others read between the lines to realize what this means for you. NOW is the time to plant field peas! In October you can plant rye into the peas before grazing them and the rye will go nuts from all the nitrogen that is fixed by the peas. Right now, you probably have way too much grass to properly utilize.  So, take half the ranch and plant peas into the grass and leave it till October, then as soon as the grass deteriorates in October, the peas will be ready to graze. As with anything, the details are important so here is what I have learned, but still perfecting. This time of year, in Florida, the grass just goes crazy and you cannot use it all so take half the farm and plant peas for stockpile till October and for the rest of the summer rotate around fast in the other half. I spin out pea seeds on top of the grass, in front of the cows in the rotation, allowing the cows to step in the seed.  After planting, I do not return to this half of the farm till October. The last time that the cows are in the newly pea planted pasture, I will often mow afterwards so that the peas can come thru, but sometimes I skip that part, depending on how tall the grass is. I also watch the weather a bit to plant when rain is coming but also getting seed out there so that it can sprout once rains come works great as well. I plant peas on half of the land I have and graze the rest of the farm till October. The following year I plant peas on the other half of the farm switching every year so that peas are planted on my land every other year.  Peas are a legume so they are an amazing soil builder, fixing nitrogen all summer long, and when you plant rye into this land while still grazing the peas, the added nitrogen will grow a lot more rye grass without chemical nitrogen. Pea seed costs lots less than hay and makes more meat, milk, and growth than hay. Hay is dried and must be reconstituted in the rumen and then nutrients can be extracted from it, not as good or easy as green pea plants. The cows do so much better on peas than hay.  I get more milk on peas by far. Also, hay is hard to find, locally, that is chemical free and of good quality.  Our poorer soils in FL compared to PA where I grew up and our constant rain in summer does not lend itself to hay production. So, this is an alternative that really works. Basically, you utilize our amazing growing season in the heat of summer to grow your own "hay" and no harvesting expense is needed, just let the cows go and get it themselves, they LOVE it. Many hunters in our area use these peas to attract deer to their hunt plots. Deer love them just like cows do. When I first moved here, fall was the hardest time of year for grazing, specifically October, November, and December. It is now my best time for grazing! The cows feel relief from the intense heat of summer and just do incredibly well on the peas. The peas fix nitrogen for the winter crop of rye etc that I plant into the peas while grazing them and the rye does better than before. I used to have rye to graze by Mid January now I have it a month earlier and increased yield due to the nitrogen fixed by the peas. Read this several times before attempting this and call or email me if you need clarification on some point. I sell seed as well. I priced them at Mayo Fertilizer and they were $40 for a 50 lb bag, I have them for $30/50lb bag. thisisdennis@windstream.net if I can help.

Guardian Pups for Sale:  Lily has another set of puppies coming if anyone needs a good guard dog. These dogs work all night so you don’t have to. We could not do what we do without them.

Thanks for supporting a small, family farm and contributing to a more REGENERATIVE future,
Dennis and Alicia