Blogging and this farm

Hello followers-

I have decided that I am going to use this blog to not only let you all know about the great happenings in Long Beach, promote good food and our hard work to make it for you but I'm also going to share with you all the pitfalls. I'm not going to go all the way back with my story. Only start from now. You can ask how I got to this point and I'll tell you but why waste the space going into it now.

Last week was the perfect example of the trials of small scale farming in a city. Since we do not have an actual farm supply store here in Long Beach (or anywhere close) I have to order everything. I try and stay out of Home Depot as much as possible. They work if you are in a pinch but every time I purchase from them I feel like I'm getting ripped off and its not really what I wanted in the first place.

I tried to order a 25lb bag of Sluggo from Peaceful Valley and because of a new law that took place 3 weeks ago they cannot sell this product to me with out a Pest ID Certificate. ok, no biggie. How do I get one of those? Call the agriculture department of course. No problem, I have their number already in my phone. I call and they are not really sure what I'm talking about. They transferred me to someones voice mail who has yet to call me back. I let that go a day and then called again. This time they put me on hold so long it disconnected. I call back, not sure who can help me, let's transfer you again. This went on and on for a few hours. Not kidding. I finally got an inspector on the phone who declares that this product is not on the restricted use list therefore I do not need a certificate. Great, I mean its organic that's why we use it. I call Peaceful Valley back with the news but they need something faxed to them. I call the ag inspector back to ask him if he can fax the company and he tells me in a very long and roundabout way that "its not my job". Great, thanks. So I cancel my order with Peaceful Valley until I can get this straightened out. What a hassle.

Blog

I'm not liking the look of this blog yet so stay tuned as I tweak the look a bit.

testing

Test blog post to see if we are feeding to our site...

Are we connected to www.longbeachlocal.org?

Farm Box and fresh chicken!

We are pleased to announce a new relationship with New Frontier Family Farm. Fresh chicken!!

I met Dave recently and tried some of his wonderful chicken. His product will be available for pick up on Farm Box days. We are currently biweekly, our next pick up is June 22nd. Please order directly from Dave and pick up with us in front of Bella Cosa in Bixby Knolls. You do not have to purchase a Farm Box to purchase chicken. If you have any questions Dave will be at our next pick up or you can contact him:
Dave Fikel
951-533-5329
Chino, California
www.newfrontierfamilyfarm.com

Here is a little bit about Dave, Heather and their farm...

     Our family would like to introduce you to our family business, New Frontier Family Farm.  We are not a large farm that mass-produces tens of thousands of birds weekly without respect or consideration for our responsibility to the chicken, land, or consumer.  We are a small-scale family run farm that emphasizes showing respect and appreciation to the earth and our dependence on it.

     We raise our chickens for their entire lives on our farm & process on site.  This way, there is no stress of loading the birds into cages, onto a large truck, and driving them to a processing facility, all of which increases the stress on the birds and affects the health & quality of the meat. 

     While the chickens are with us, they enjoy fresh, new pasture every day.  They are outside to feel the sunshine, fresh air, and be able to forage for the food nature intended them to eat.  We absolutely do not keep our birds in any type of enclosed hen house; this is an unhealthy and unnatural way for the chickens to live.  Our birds are raised in moveable outdoor pens, called chicken tractors, which protects them from predators and ensures they get fresh pastureland everyday. 

     Last, our chickens are not medicated, given antibiotics, or fed any type of hormones to enhance growth; rather, they are given wholesome organic food, fresh pasture, fresh air, and respect.

     We would love the opportunity to share with you; our delicious, healthy, and locally grown chicken. 

Farm and garden tour

Thank you James Johnson, 7th District City Councilman for your support for our small farm as well as the restoration of the entire parcel. If you have not toured the gardens this is a perfect opportunity to do so. If you can't make it don't worry, we will be having an open house for the farm real soon.

If Long Beach has a final frontier, it could be here. A 56 acre undeveloped property surrounded by the City of Signal Hill, but mostly owned by the City of Long Beach, Willow Spring Gulch (aka California Gardens) is a little known nexus of many things: geology, history, water, wildlife, oil and moving forward, opportunity.

Join Councilmember James Johnson as he leads a tour to explore and learn about the rich history of this incredible property, and share ideas on developing the Willow and Spring Gulch into the 3rd largest park in the City of Long Beach. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes and clothing!

Entrance is located at 27th St. and California Ave. Willow Spring Gulch is located behind Sunnyside Cemetery. Plenty of parking available on 27th St.

To RSVP, please call (562) 570-7777 or e-mail us at district7@longbeach.gov.

Moving into the farm

If all goes well we will be here full time starting in August. Please keep checking for our Open House information. I can't wait to have everyone over for a meet and greet.

Soil samples

Took some soil samples today. Sending off to our friends at VONS to get our custom compost blend made. Very excited to be part of their Community Recycling program.

Thanks Eric and Bill!