It's been a long time coming, both buying a farm and posting about it. Last month we closed on a spectacular place west of Power, Montana, close to where both of us grew up (45 miles north of Jacob's hometown and 20 miles south of Courtney's). The house is a well-maintained and beautiful 2-story home built in 1911.
1911 farm house.
The outbuildings are incredible, with a barn, 4 animal sheds, 2 garages, 2 chicken coops, a quonset, and a cinderblock building that was once a butcher shop (watch out, turkeys!).
The Farm from the road.
The place even came with 2 mouser cats, 4 laying hens, and a halfpipe ramp in the quonset. I unfortunately had to dismantle the ramp since it took up almost the entire space. I also had to remove any temptation to take a skateboard down it just once, knowing it would be that just once that puts me in the hospital.
An invitation to break a bone or two.
Even though there is nothing empty or "clean" about the farm, it's like a blank slate. It's a place to make plans and decisions, knowing we'll be living with them for a long, long time. So, we can plant trees and bushes, fix up a building, build a deer fence, all knowing that in 2 or 3 years, we don't have to abandon it.
We're already making plans to put in an orchard, working with an extension agent as part of a larger orchard research project across the state.
Our high tunnel will be moved (for the first and last time) and we'll finally be able to build a permanent greenhouse.
We've been very busy this past month, moving, planning, preparing for next spring. I determined where the veggies would go, and Willa helped me mark the field for breaking up with a plow, to allow the sod to break down over the winter.
Willa, her red wagon, and flags to mark the field.
With a borrowed tractor from a very supportive friend and a borrowed plow/disk combo from a very friendly, just newly-met neighbor, Clyde (the indispensably-helpful-from-day-one father-in-law) broke ground. We'll plant garlic in the next few days, as our first crop on the new place.
Breaking ground.
It's all been a bit heady and surreal around here, but it'll soon settle down and we'll find our groove and routines and the place will simply be home to us.
Prairie
Heritage Farm is now taking signups for 2012 Grain and Bean Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm shares. "Shares" are $200
and include 50-70 pounds of a variety of organic, family-farmed
ancient and heritage grains and legumes. (Sign up information here or at the bottom of this page.)
Once
you get to know the suite of grains and legumes we grow at Prairie
Heritage Farm, you'll love them forever. You'll use them every day.
You'll want to name your children after them. (Seriously, Sonora -
one of the heritage wheats we grow - is a great name, right? How
about Lucile Emmer?) (Lucile Emmer is the variety of Farro we grow.)
But,
we know from our own experience that cooking with fresh whole grains
and legumes takes some getting used to.
With
that in mind, here are seven things you can do, and reasons you
should join our Grain and Bean CSA:
1.
Bake with fresh flour.
And
not just bread. Crackers, (graham crackers, even), pancakes, cookies,
pizza. We even use our whole wheat fresh flour to thicken soups and
best of all, make dynamite roux. Fresh flour is more nutritious. Did
you know that most of the flour that you buy at the grocery store has
gone through an enormous amount of processing, even the "whole
wheat" flour? The store-bought flour has been stripped of most
of its nutrients then "fortified" by adding a few of them
back in. And, the store-bought flour is certainly not fresh, as it's
been sitting on the shelf for months, necessitating preservatives and
stabilizers.
2.
Cook with whole grains.
And
we mean really, truly whole grains. (We don't pearl or process
our grains or lentils in any way, meaning they are fully in tact when
they get to you.) Most of our grains simmer for about 45 minutes and
come out plump, chewy and ready for folding into your favorite dish.
Pilafs, soups, salads, risottos (or “farrottos” as they're
sometimes called) are gorgeous with whole grains. The possibilities
are endless. One of our favorite members calls our grains “rice-like”
grains, not because they're like rice, but because he uses them
instead of rice. Brilliant way of looking at it. We serve gumbo over
Bronze Barley or Prairie Farro. Barley mushroom risotto anyone? Or,
vegetable-fried Farro?
3.
Cereals and porridge.
Your
blender or Vitamix will crack these grains (just throw them in and
run for a minute or two) into quick-cooking cereals of all kinds. One
of our members likes to mix all the grains up, crack them and boil it
all up for multi-grain cereal. Bronze Barley porridge was one our
daughter's first foods.
4.
Pack in protein with legumes.
Oh,
the lentils. They're not just for soup, you know. Spice them up and
use them as taco filling. Puree them with tahini for hummus. (Lentils
make great hummus too!) Make lentil burgers that will put anything
store-bought to shame. Shame I tell you!
5.
Connect with a food history.
And
not just for educational purposes, either. These older crops are not
only more interesting and more flavorful, but they're also better for
you. We raise these crops because of their valuable genetics and to
preserve these endangered seedstocks. The varieties we grow are known
as landrace varieties. Landrace crops are genetically diverse and are
able to adapt to changing environments and climates. Their
development over the millennia by farmer selection has allowed our
bodies us to adapt alongside them. In the past half-century, crop
scientists have rapidly and dramatically changed the structure of our
staple grain crops for higher yields, genetic homogeneity, short
stature, and drought resistance - all to the detriment of our ability
to enjoy these grains. The gluten structure in these modern varieties
has changed to such a degree that many people have developed wheat
allergies and can no longer eat any wheat products made from them.
6.
Support sustainable, family farming.
Prairie
Heritage Farm is owned and managed by Jacob and Courtney Cowgill, who
both have returned to their roots in Central Montana. We believe that
family farms nourish not only the people who work them, but the
people they feed and communities in which they live -- which is why we moved back to rural Montana. We wanted to be part of reinvigorating the land and communities that raised us. We believe
organic agriculture, diversification, and a robust local food system
are good for the health of our farm, our customers, ourselves, and
our planet.
7.
Experience a taste of place.
Members
in the Grain & Bean Share experience what is known as terroir
-- or taste of place. We want people to think about grains like
wine drinkers think about grapes: a particular piece of land is going
to impart certain characteristics on a crop (and different from year
to year) and knowledge of those characteristics is going to create a
better loaf of bread, a better cracker, a better pasta. And, members
will be supporting local farmers with the staple foods they eat. One
of our friends and customers put it this way, “there is something
almost magical about eating what actually grows in Montana. I love
that this special place -- which has been my family's home for four
generations -- is veritably in the food I am feeding my children.
They eat Montana.” We couldn't put it better ourselves.
To
sign up, send your check to: Prairie Heritage Farm P.O.
Box 914 Conrad, MT 59425 (Please include your
address, phone number and email address with your check so we can
keep in touch with you.)
In honor of the Red Ants Pants Festival this last weekend (a music festival that supports family farms, women in leadership and business and rural communities -- all things we wholeheartedly believe in), we are giving away a Prairie Heritage Farm Grain Share to a lucky raffle winner today. Here's how it worked: If you signed up for a Grain Share during the festival, your name was entered into a drawing for a free share (donated by our very
good friends Matt and Bridget C. and their wonderful children).
And so, with Willa's help, we put all the names of our newest shareholders into a hat and drew the lucky winner.
Here's how it went down:
The suspense is just killing you, isn't it?
And the winner is...
Linda M. of Helena!
Even if you didn't win, you can still get in on the Grain Share this year. We are taking sign ups right now for the program, which means a delivery this winter of 60-80 lbs of our delicious ancient and heritage grains as well as lentils and chickpeas. This year, we're growing:
And this year, thanks to a grant from the Red Ants Pants Foundation, we're working toward buying a larger, stone mill to grind some of your share into fresh flour. So if you don't have a grinder? No prob. (But, these aren't just for breads. Read on for some ideas on how to use fresh, whole grains.)
Sign up here now to get in on the grain goodness and be "local" right down to your staples.
Why Grains and Beans?
You can go local with the biggest level of your food pyramid: bread, cereal, and
pasta. These are amazing grains and legumes you can use in almost every meal, every
day. And, it's more than just about bread for the flour and soup for the lentils. Think of protein-packed lentil cake, casseroles, lentil burgers, hummus-yummus. The possibilities are endless. And the grains: The grains are great as cereals (don't ever buy pre-packaged wheat cereal again), porridge (barley porridge was one of Willa's first foods) or simmered up and used whole in casseroles, soups or salads. One of our favorite shareholders uses these grains as a local (and protein rich) substitute for rice. Oh, you've never had vegetable-fried Farro? You haven't lived, my friend.
But Wait, Why Ancient and Heritage?
What makes our grains and legumes unique are the varieties we’ve chosen
to grow. We grow older varieties, commonly referred to as ancient and
heritage varieties, because of their rich flavors and textures as well as their valuable genetics and also to preserve
those endangered seedstocks. Additionally, older varieties are able to
adapt quickly to changing environments and our goal at Prairie Heritage
Farm is to establish many different seedstocks uniquely adapted to both
our particular climate in North Central Montana as well as the changing
climate we are sure to face in the coming decades.
We had just a fantastic time this weekend at the 2nd Annual Red Ants Pants Festival in White Sulphur Springs.
It's nothing short of amazing to watch a big pasture outside of a small Montana town come to life the way the Jackson Ranch does for this festival. And, to know that one incredible woman's vision for women in leadership and strong family farms and viable rural communities is the reason for it all makes it even more so. That's the reason we go -- because even in dust and heat (and with a toddler in dust and heat) -- it's just magical to watch it all come together and feel that energy.
This is the second year we've done the festival and this year, the music
was even better (Mary Chapin Carpenter!) and we were able to do a
demonstration of our bike-powered fresh flour, in addition to selling
whole grains and our sourdough Farmer Bread.
About 125 people showed up for the demo (called, Tour de Flour) to hear us talk about heritage and ancient grains, fresh flour and the renaissance of family farming. And, at least 15 brave people signed up to compete to win flour and bread with our grain-grinding bike time trials. (We did, however, had to call it at 7 contestants because the mill got so hot it started to gum up -- basically baking -- the flour. We've never tried grinding that fast, for that long or in that kind of heat. :)
To top off the excitement, the Red Ants Pants Foundation -- which is why the whole festival was started to begin with -- announced on stage Saturday that we are one of their first grant winners. Pretty darn cool, especially considering how highly we think of the foundation (and of our friend Sarah Calhoun, the owner of Red Ants Pants). Basically the organization was founded:
-To develop and expand leadership roles for women
-To preserve and support working family farms and ranches
-To enrich and promote rural communities
To that end, this year, the foundation used the proceeds of last year's festival to dole out community grant awards to people and organizations working toward those goals. We were so honored to be on this first list.
We won for a project we've been dreaming about for some time now: stone-milled ancient and heritage grains. So, thanks to the foundation, we're shopping now for an electric (our legs are so happy!) stone mill that will get fresh flour to our Grain CSA farm share members (sign up now!) as well as individuals, restaurants and bakeries across the state and the region.
So, even despite the dust and rain and sunburns, it was a tip-top weekend.
Here's the proof:
Willa and her Papa had a grand time walking around the festival, collecting rocks, listening to music and watching all the people. This girl did not get her Mama's aversion to crowds.
We got to hang all weekend with both our Aunite Hannah and Emily, our amazing, awesome apprentice. Here's Willa and Emily (or, "Ammee" to Willa) watching Mary Chapin Carpenter, sipping on a lemonade slushy and yelling "Good job people!" after each song. (That was Willa's idea.)
Oh, Mary Chapin Carpenter, your voice is like home to me. Here's one big reason why, and why she was just the perfect voice for this event.
