This past weekend Ella and I went with our friends Nell and Jeep to an organic farm. It's called Blue Gentian Farms. I learned a blue gentian is a wildflower that grows down in the wet meadows of the farm. The guy who owned the place started as a hobby (he had a real job at Lockhead) and when he retired he created a bigger farm and business. He was an excellent tour guide and we learned a lot about the animals he raises. The cutie pie in the above picture is a Hairy Coo calf. They're highland cattle. I'll be tasting one of his kin shortly :)
Ella is getting up close and personal to where her bacon comes from. And I can honestly say that these guys make fabulous bacon. I learned why bacon has nitrates - to prevent the bacon from turning grey - and that cherry and other seasonings taste better in my bacon to prevent the grey. Oh, and the pork roast we had was excellent!
We were being followed. These are heirloom turkeys. It means they are tasty and expensive! They also like shiny things so they were fun to mess with.
Adult Hairy Coos. We learned how to tell the difference between the females, steers and bulls based on how their horns were pointing.
The turkeys were shy at first until we learned Jeep spoke "turkey" and they came running right over.
Ella is getting up close and personal to where her bacon comes from. And I can honestly say that these guys make fabulous bacon. I learned why bacon has nitrates - to prevent the bacon from turning grey - and that cherry and other seasonings taste better in my bacon to prevent the grey. Oh, and the pork roast we had was excellent!
We were being followed. These are heirloom turkeys. It means they are tasty and expensive! They also like shiny things so they were fun to mess with.
Adult Hairy Coos. We learned how to tell the difference between the females, steers and bulls based on how their horns were pointing.
The turkeys were shy at first until we learned Jeep spoke "turkey" and they came running right over.So why organic? I've never really been one to be a major organic freak. It's been a slow change, beginning with the first time Billy got sick. He was put on a low sodium diet. That's when I started becoming a label reader and now you'd be hard pressed to find many boxed or canned items in our cupboard. Now that organic food is much more readily available I've been paying more attention to what organic means. According to Webster's dictionary - organic means "pertaining to, or involving animals, produce etc. , raised or grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or drugs." The farm dude was telling us about the pig farmer down the road who raised his pigs for a big giant company you are familiar with. This farmer is told, by said company, to give the pigs steroids. This gets the pigs to market 2 weeks faster. Nell piped up with an excellent question "So is this why kids are bigger than parents?" I had never thought of that but it's definitely true in my family.
Lately, and this is weird, I've been having dreams that I get sick and know that I'm going to die leaving someone else to raise my kid. Now, don't get me wrong, I have a will naming some very capable, loving people to raise Ella, but given the choice I want the person raising her to be me. So I want to do everything I can to make me a healthier person. In fact, I also tossed all my make-up and headed to the Origins store. I really do feel better about the crap I slap all over my face in the morning.
Is organic more expensive? Yep. I do love Trader Joe's because they are cheaper and try to get there at least once a month but we also have a great co-op in town. Is it worth it? So far I think so. In fact, I think the health effects are great. I don't know if this is related to what I eat but I came down with a terrible cold Monday night, today is Wednesday and I'm perfectly fine. I have NEVER gotten over a cold that quickly. Is everything I consume organic? Heck no. Should you do it? Only if you want to.
