Pens to Pasture ~ Chustnut Farms

When friends and family began forwarding me weekly CSA newsletters and farm e-mail updates sent from their farmers, I knew these stories needed to be shared with a wider audience. Welcome to Pens to Pasture: Fodder from the Field where each week we feature one farm and the stories they share with customers through CSA newsletters, blog stories and e-mail updates. We celebrate the agricultural life, the hard work of farmers and the grace and openness with which they share it in writing each week. Dig in, enjoy and (especially this week) give thanks to those who sustain us by growing delicious food.

Chestnut Farms ~ Hardwick, MA 

Kim & Rich 

“Connecting Communities Through Agriculture”

www.chestnutfarms.org

It was a warm and blue-skied June day when I met Kim at the Chestnut Farms Open Barn Day. She was answering guests’ questions near the pen of very cute young piglets playing keep away with a piece of orange baling twine. Despite hosting a farm full of CSA members, she was willing to spend time answering our aspiring farmer questions with genuine enthusiasm, even though we didn't happen to be her CSA members.

Kim’s friendly and open demeanor wasn’t a surprise to me, as I’d been reading the Chestnut Farms monthly CSA newsletter for a while. My dear friend Darcy, who did subscribe to the Chestnut Farms CSA, thought I would appreciate the farm tales, especially the ongoing rooster saga, which I did. Much like the weekly e-mails from Puzzle Peace Farm, the monthly updates from Chestnut Farms inspired the Pens to Pasture project.

Chestnut Farms is a family owned operation in central Massachusetts, offering pasture-raised beef, lamb, goat, pork, chicken and turkey to community members using the CSA format. Members are guaranteed a certain poundage of meat each month, but the CSA ‘risk’ is in the type of meat provided in each share. Beyond conscientiously raising a variety of livestock on grass, Rich and Kim are keen to share their farm experience and promote larger agricultural issues through their enterprise. The passages below are selected from the Monthly Updates which are sent out by e-mail before each CSA distribution.

Beyond good writing and delicious meat, Chestnut Farms is beautiful. We spent the remainder of our Open Barn Day ooohing and aaaahing at the school bus-turned-chicken coop (which I loved enough to use as the main image on this blog), relaxing while taking in views of the sheep in their pasture, investigating the brand new manure management system and finally spotting the trouble-making rooster himself.

You can find all the monthly updated, recipes, farm photography, a very thoughtful pricing policy and much more at the Chestnut Farms website. Please do enjoy the excerpts from their monthly updates below. As usual, we welcome your submissions of your favorite farmer’s writing, just send it along by e-mail, and we'd love to share it! 

From: Chestnut Farms

Date: April 3, 2010 8:31:55 PM EDT

Subject: Chestnut Farms Meat Shares to be Distributed

Spring Chickens are here!! The first batch arrived in our henhouse this week and we will continue to raise all the way through next December.  January through March is a good season for New England Chickens to be in the freezer, as the growth rate slows considerably, meat birds can freeze (because they don’t move around like layer hens) and we don’t have an indoor structure to raise them in. We have both meat birds and layers in our first batch and are working hard to expand our layer hen population this year.  We are still looking for an additional school bus if anyone knows of one…

Finally, the ROOSTER.  We have a rooster who is roaming the barn,  He is a beautiful Arucana Rooster who believes he owns the homestead.  This has caused a bit of a personality conflict between Rooster and Kim.  I (Kim) have repeatedly tried to put him back with the hens on the other side of the road and up in the school bus.  Rooster responds by repeatedly escaping and coming down to the barn and eating the piglets food.  The last time this happened, Rooster added and attack. He clawed and pecked at me stating that there is no way he will leave the barn.  I was not pleased and noted that I need Rooster Stew. However, I have not been able to catch him.  This provides a high level of entertainment to the rest of my family.  Stay tuned for further adventures of Kim vs. Rooster!

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow.  As always, THANK YOU for supporting local farms  We really appreciate it – It DOES matter and makes a huge difference.

Naturally yours,
Kim and Rich

Chestnut Farms
Hardwick, MA 01037
www.chestnutfarms.org

From: Chestnut Farms

Date: May 3, 2010 8:31:55 PM EDT

Subject: Chestnut Farms Meat Shares to be distributed on TUES May 4th from 4 to 7 pm in Arlington

Kim vs. Rooster- Chapter Two:  When we last visited the saga there was a stand-off between Kim and Rooster – Rooster had attacked Kim literally causing bodily harm and Kim tried to kill Rooster without success. (I couldn’t catch him).  Then Rooster flew at a child who was looking at “his” piglets (the Rooster is the self appointed guardian of the piglets in the barn).  This time Sam caught the Rooster. Kim tied up his feet (not very gently) and carried him up to one of the Schoolbuses full of hens.  The theory was that 247 female chickens would keep his attention better than three sows and 27 piglets.  Like many scientific theories this one was bunk.  Within an hour, Rooster had fled the bus and the attached pen and was dancing around the farmhouse – not to be caught again. 

Hmmm – we have lots of coyotes thought Kim.  Let’s leave the Rooster alone and see what happens….  So all day and all night the Rooster was completely free and out of the barn.  The next morning at 4 am the singing began.  Just underneath Kim and Rich’s bedroom window the Rooster starts crowing and crowing and cocka-doodling – loudly – for HOURS. With 106 acres – barns, schoolbuses and sheds Rooster managed to find the ONE square foot below our bedroom window and crow.  Kim got out of bed and tried to catch Rooster – stew it is she vowed.  So at 4:30 am as the sun was thinking about rising, Kim was out on the front lawn in a nightgown and no shoes chasing Rooster.

Rooster won.

Rooster finally (two days later) returned to the barn and his beloved sows and piglets.  His picture is on the website. 

Rich and I will look forward to connecting with you tomorrow for your May shares. Happy Spring and THANK YOU for supporting local farms : )

Naturally yours,
Kim and Rich

Chestnut Farms
Hardwick, MA 01037
www.chestnutfarms.org

From: Chestnut Farms
Date: 03 August 2010 11:29:21 AM
Subject: Meat Shares are coming TODAY!!!

Farm dogs, turkeys and coyotes: Like all farms, we love dogs and even have three.  Not well chosen, but well loved.  We have a yellow lab that is a farm dog (nine years old) and the Lexi our female Saint Bernard is four.  We also have three year old Dozer (a 178 lb male St. Bernard) who was dropped at our farm.  So with 100 sheep, 100 cattle, pigs, poultry and a coyote problem we have an old lab and two huge, but rather limited dogs that are useless.    

Unless of course it is 2 am and the coyotes are howling. Then all three suddenly spring into action. Then the dogs will wake the dead in an effort to get OUT of the farmhouse and onto the front lawn where they can bark at the coyotes from a safe distance.  They bark, The coyotes bark back, Our dogs howl. The coyotes howl.  Then, apparently drawn to canine noise, the energetic turkey will wake and try to fly over their fence to taunt the coyotes. So we have turkeys (last night it was 12 of them) flying around the field, coyotes howling to call their friends in for a turkey dinner and three large dogs sitting right in front of the farmhouse barking.  Sleep over for awhile, Rich and I grab gun (him) and flashlight (me) and head down to the barnyard.  We put the dogs in the house and tell them somewhat ineffectively to BE QUIET.  As we head to the barnyard we can see and hear the pack of coyotes. In the moonlight I make out a turkey running to and fro and taunting a coyote as it slinks down in the pasture.  I shine the light and Rich shoots. It is tough at night to get the coyotes We were not successful last night, but I know we will have another chance tonight.  After a shot goes off, the coyotes all leave the pasture, but we know they are just over the stonewall in the woods.

So far we have only lost one turkey this year.  We have clipped wings and will do it again within the month. Clipping wings on poultry is like giving them a haircut. It doesn’t hurt and prevents them from flying over fences (usually) and into the mouths of foxes, skunks or coyotes.  We have learned to clip only one wing.  That way, as the feathers grow back in, the bird remains off balance. With one long set of wing feathers and one short it is hard to flap for an even take-off.  We like to say we have punk poultry!  If you would like a delicious, fresh, coyote-avoiding turkey for Thanksgiving, please fill out the form on our website.  We will be collecting for the turkeys at the Sept or Oct distributions.

Our sheep have enjoyed a great summer on grass and will be heading to the first appointment in early September for the harvest (slaughterhouse). We will then process by weight throughout the fall and winter.  As I noted last month, we like the lambs to be 100 lbs or so before we send them.  This results in the best yield and the most cost-effective harvest.  The goat herd has been fabulous at their secondary career of brush clearing.  They have cleared a whole pasture of multi-floral roses and are moving onto the next fenced area.  We are so pleased with their ability to take out the scrub and leave the grass.   They are also growing really well.  As I watch them loving the heat and hot of July, I recall the sad January where we lost so many kids – clearly our vet was right – goats love a warm climate.  They have thrived this summer.

Recently I spoke at the Livestock Forum at Tufts University.  This was put on by the New Entry Farm Program run by Jen Hashley of Jen and Pete’s Backyard Birds.  It was well done, well attended and so encouraging to see so many people interested in livestock farming.  I hope we are at the beginning of real growth in the family farm. 

Our cows have had a great summer, our pigs are doing well and continue to have wonderful litters.  We did spend last weekend chasing over thirty pigs through the woods, but they all came home and are now happily chewing on some fresh grass and roots in a pasture additions.   Pigs, like horses get bored and will try to get out of pastures when there is more exciting or fun things on the other side  They believe that the grass is ALWAYS greener outside the pen

Tomorrow is a play-off game for Sam's Little League Team. After much back and forth I have decided to attend Sam's game.  Anna and Theresa will be doing our CSA distribution. While I will miss personally connecting with you tomorrow, I hope you understand my parenting commitment.  I have not missed a single Arlington distribution in four years and really feel torn between my son and the shares - I will be there next month and hope you have a great August.  If there are any share questions or concerns, please let me know.  As always I personally packed your share and if there is a mistake it is mine.  

Thank you SO MUCH for being part of our farm family.  We really, really appreciate it.

Naturally yours,
Kim and Rich

Chestnut Farms
Hardwick, MA 01037
www.chestnutfarms.org