Colonel’s Blog, Earthdate 13 June 2023…
Hey Y’all!
Good evening and happy Tuesday from Air2Ground Farms! We’ve had another beautiful day here in the Ozarks with a cool 55 degree morning and mild 80 degree sunny day. I included a few pics from the garden today. We’ve already harvested some herbs, cucumbers, jalapeño peppers, greens, and lettuce. We really enjoyed the greens, a mix of collards, spinach, and Swiss chard. We are being able to pick greens about every other day and lettuce every day. We are anxiously awaiting the tomatoes. They seem to be doing well and have lots of green fruit. I also included a pic of Tank and TJ watching over their flock, by day. The last pic is in the milk barn, notice Smokey the barn cat on the top of the wall in the background. She came to visit to keep us company. The bottle lambs are all doing well and seem to be growing at a pace similar to those in the pasture. We charged the batteries on the truck overnight so started the day with fresh, charged batteries. I removed the alternator, returned it, and purchased a new one (not rebuilt). After installing it, there seems to be no change; still no charge. I should be getting about 14.5 volts when the truck is running and it’s 12.5 volts, slightly less voltage than the batteries when the truck is off. I’m not inclined to believe we got two bad alternators, so moving on to other possibilities. The ground wires are all fairly new and I checked to make sure they are all tight and connected. The next thing to check is a wiring harness and associated wires that tell the alternator to charge, and a series of different fuses inside the engine compartment. If I don’t have success soon, it’ll be off to the professional mechanic. We delivered a shipping order today (thanks Robert!) and made things with milk.
I know I risk being accused of beating a dead horse with the daily CAFO discussion. Please bear with me one more time as we look at beef. Most beef in the grocery stores originate as a cow/calf operation on a farm or ranch. The rancher/farmer raises calves through weaning until they weigh around 400-500 pounds. They then go to a livestock auction where they are sold and transported to feed lots. At the feed lots, they are concentrated into huge groups in a very confined space. They are fed grain, lots of it, to quickly grow and fatten the calves. The result is a tender (because it doesn’t have to walk very much), fat, rather bland flavored beef. The fat can be trimmed and flavor can be added by aging the beef. This is the beef that most all of us are used to and buy from the grocery store. The contrasting way to raise beef is by feeding them grass, in open pastures, until they are big enough to butcher. It takes longer to finish them on grass, up to a year longer than on grain, but the flavor is a fuller, even beefier, flavor. The reason we started consuming grass-fed beef is for the health benefits of the elevated levels of Omega-3 fatty acids. Grain-fed beef has a higher ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids than grass-fed. Or said differently, grass-fed beef has a higher level of Omega-3s than grain-fed. Yes, the food that the cows eat changes the make-up of the meat. We are what they eat! Omega-3 fatty acids have many health benefits to include: heart, brain, eye, bone/joint health, and anti-inflammatory properties. If you recall our discussion on cholesterol, inflammatory foods can cause damage to arteries that eventually can lead to clogged arteries. Tomorrow, I’ll share how to find great food in your local area. Final thought: Your beef doesn’t come from a grocery store, it comes from a CAFO!
Local Farm Report for 12 June 2023:
Harvest:
24 Chicken eggs
1 Duck eggs
2 Goose eggs
5 1/2 Gallons of milk
Chard, collards, cucumbers, jalapeno peppers, cilantro, lettuce, spinach
Cheers!
Psycho & Shelley
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