Last Friday, two thirds of The Six Arrows gave a presentation about Six Arrows Farm at The Athlete Lab, Kate Klaers’ gym in the Twin Cities. We would like to extend an especial thank you to Kate Klaers for inviting us to her gym! Kate has invested in her clients, we can see they are truly her friends and she has a passion for healthy and responsible living.
The message at the gym that evening was healthy food. Our part was to present our farm story. We really enjoyed revisiting the path God has taken us and reviewing our methods in providing food to our customers and our family. By His grace, we are thankful for the wisdom we have received from others who are good stewards of the land and animals.
A few slides from our presentation...
1998...
The Lenz Men at Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm in Virginia in 2003... The Hens and their Eggmobile...
Pigaerator Pork...
After our farm presentation, Kate showed the film, FRESH. We couldn’t have planned it better, the movie featured Joel Salatin, the farmer the Lenz “boys” visited in 2003, to learn about raising poultry, hogs, and cattle. Joel Salatin is a farmer practicing sustainable agriculture, who understands his responsibility as steward of the earth including “respecting the ‘pigness’ of the pig, the ‘chickeness’ of the chicken, the ‘cowness’ of the cow and the ‘tomatoness’ of the tomato”! :o) We have personally learned and benefitted so much from Mr. Salatin; he has developed so many wise and practical methods that are very helpful for farmers trying to practice alternate and sustainable farming. On the flip side, the film also interviewed farmers who know first-hand the regrettable state of the current poultry, cattle, hog and crop industries. Industrialized agriculture has had consequences we’re sure farmer’s didn’t imagine. The film discussed farmers who are producing antibiotic-resistant bacteria through over-medicating their animals. When animals are placed in huge factory farms, they must use chemicals and antibiotics to keep the animals alive! When farmers use antibiotics as a means of disease prevention rather than treatment, the danger of promoting mutant, antibiotic-resistant bacteria is almost inevitable. Also, when land produces one crop, repeated over many years, this can be a proponent to problems, like the development of the soybean aphids infestation. There seemed to be an especial focus on raising pigs that we particularly enjoyed. :o) Much of what was communicated we know to be very true. However, as with most films, we have a little disclaimer…not every view portrayed by the film can be endorsed by Six Arrows Farm.
Once again, a big thank you to Kate Klaers for hosting us and all our gracious listeners! Now we are really excited for Spring!
Eight happy workers who keep the process going
Some who take it very seriously...
And some who don't...
And our lovely camera lady to record it all...
They have finally learned to obey the fence, although they continue to insist on sticking their heads through the netting to graze the other side of the fence. It’s always greener they say. Of course when they do stretch their necks out to reach that blade of grass and happen to touch the fence, they jump and jerk in an offended and surprised manner. These creatures are definitely not birds of the air.
See this undecided chap on the right, surveying the ground suspiciously after forgetting that it existed for a whole night? Turkeys especially like to roost, and always struggle with which side of the pen to get off of. I wish you could have seen him sway and flap on the edge of his perch before toppling over and making a nose-dive on the earth at his companion’s feet. They always get up like a cat… “It was deliberate, nobody panic. I meant to do that. Carry on you good fellows!”
Don't they look happy??? :)
And these turkeys are trying to figure out how to get back in the pen they just escaped from.