Our Natural Life

Chemist Paul Connett, PhD, spoke with us compellingly last month about the case against mandatory flouridation of tapwater as practiced in most American municipalities. He is author of The Case Against Flouride: How Hazardous Wasted Ended Up in Our Dri...

Rashel and Andrew Harris are a young homesteading couple in Texas expecting their first baby in June. Rashel discovered the Weston A. Price Foundation and nutrient-dense food after buying a copy of Nourishing Traditions. After a period of seeking out nutritious food from local farmers throughout Texas, they decided to start producing their own closer to home on their 66 acres. They are eating great now, becoming self-sufficient, and loving their new lifestyle. Jon and I really enjoyed talking with them and hearing about their journey. It was so exciting to hear from Rashel and Andrew about how Sally Fallon's book literally changed their lives as they began to think about where their food came from and purchase directly from farmers. In their frustration in finding nutrient dense food, they realized that they could take charge of their food by producing it on their land. In a community where free ranging cows are the norm, growing vegetables, meat chickens, and keeping a milk cow is not. They have been inspired by Podcasts and learned to make their own soap and other needs on the farm. One thing I really admire about Rashel and Andrew is the way that they have embraced and applied their new found information and they way they are eager to share with and teach to others. Rashel followed a pre-pregnancy diet rich in vitamins A and D in order to achieve health prior to conception. For example, Sally Fallon states that pastured eggs contain 8x more Vitamin D than a grocery store egg. And vitamin K2 from the green grass Rashel's cow is eating puts K2 into the raw milk. This prevents calcification of arteries and improves brain function, Sally says. Real foods are those that you hunt, pick, fish, dig, or milk. Rashel is doing her share of these activities! Rashel attributes the easy pregnancy she is experiencing to eating real, nutrient dense food and tells her friends she will be hoeing the garden with baby in tow like a real farm woman soon! Nothing is going to slow her down. Rashel and Andrew recently started a website where you can track their journey. Be sure to book mark it so you can check back in the future. I encouraged Rashel to consider serving as a chapter leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation in her part of Texas. She would be a great resource for the community and such an articulate and passionate spokesperson. Jon and I have been very busy this spring. We're planting our first large garden - 1/10th of an acre - with organic vegetables. I'm replanting our raised bed gardens. We now have three breeds of heritage rabbits in a 16X24 foot lattice rabbit barn. They are reproducing nicely and selling quickly. We're excited at the prospect of helping other heritage farms get started with rabbits. We're learning about biodynamic methods and permaculture principles to apply to the farm. And we attended a vermiculture class to learn how to incorporate worm beds under our rabbit cages. Such fun! Our English Shepherd Cody and shelties Nicky and Sheila were recently treated to a special bath thanks to Natural Affinity Soap. Our groomers loved the way the soap lathered and it left their fur clean and soft. Even better, we have not seen any fleas or ticks on them in a month! This is a small company that makes quality products artisan style. You can follow them on facebook. The big struggle for me right now is record-keeping and book keeping. It is hard to find time to get into my office and get organized when there is so much to do outside in the fresh air and sunshine. By the time it is dark I am exhausted and ready for bed. We were fortunate to get an intern to move into our new barn apartment to help with the garden and chores so hopefully I'll apply some discipline to these tasks soon and get a handle on things. I was recently reflecting on how much my life has changed in the last 11 months. It is almost a year since I retired from my teaching career and began farming. I have learned so much,

In this show, Cathy recaps her weekend at the Georgia Organics conference in Savannah, paid for by Georgia Organics as part of the Farmer-to-Farmer Mentoring program. Jon and Cathy discuss heritage breed rabbits, biodynamic farming, their new rabbit barn, clicker training their English Shepherd dog, and building housing for a future intern and apprentice. Last week I attended my fifth Georgia Organics Conference. I did not think I'd be able to budget for a trip to Savannah or have time to leave the farm. So imagine my surprise when I received an email from Georgia Organics saying that my registration was paid for and that I could stay in a host home for free! As a recipient of this year's Georgia Organics Farmer-to-Farmer mentoring program, I get these perks and mentoring from three fantastic farmers. Russ Green of Greendale Farm is helping me with the business of running a farm profitably. His farm is a showcase of sustainability and diversity, with his artisan cheese dairy, and "beyond organic" beef, lamb, pork, and egg production. Michael MacMullan of McMullan Family Farm is helping me with the use of organic fertilizers, cover crops, and growing produce. He is a fifth generation farmer. Finally, Mac Wade, fifth generation farmer working with his mother Tink of Tink's Grassfed Beef, is helping with pasture development and mineralization. I think this team is awesome! Each of the mentors has visited the farm and given me homework to do. And I thought that was behind me when I finished my doctoral program seven years ago! A highlight of the conference for me was a workshop titled, "Biodynamics is the New Organic" with Daron Joffe aka Farmer D of Farmer D Organics. Daron took a somewhat esoteric subject and made it so much more accessible to me. In order to have a sustainable farm there is a cycle of soil - plants - animals - compost. The first priority is to nurture the soil. I already have a small library of books on biodynamics and doubled it by the end of the conference. Time to crack the books! Friday afternoon I visited Hope Grows Farm in Sylvania, Georgia. This two year old, 5 acre farm produces chicken, eggs, pork, produce, and pecans. They have a unique CSA program. People pre-pay the amount they want to support the farm, then shop for the items they want in a mix-and-match program. The farm was started with a budget of only $300 and a lot of hard work. The farmers, Arianne and Elliott, are only 25 years old. Saturday I attended several workshops, the members meeting with a speech by Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, and the Farmer's Feast. In the past, we've enjoyed keynote speakers at the Farmer's Feast including Joel Salatin and Michael Pollan. This year Vandana Shiva was on the docket. Unfortunately, a family emergency required her to be in India and there was no time to replace her on 24 hours notice. However, sharing dinner with my friends Tim and Lucy Heil, Jessica Lara, bottles of wine and delicious farm-to-table food was still quite a treat. Broad River Rabbitry is growing its heritage breed rabbits. We're building a rabbit barn to house our Silver Fox, Beveren, and now American rabbits. By the end of the summer we will add a fourth breed, Lilac. As we grow, my friend Krystal Beers and her husband Tom of Two Hunnyz Rabbitry have been a great resource. As owners of two English Shepherds, they've been a support with Cody as well.

Dr. Kim Bloomer and Dr. Jeannie Thomason, veterinary naturopaths and co-hosts of the popular Podcast, Animal Talk Naturally, spent an hour talking with Jon and me about their journey in promoting naturally health care for pets. Just as humans thrive on a holistic approach to health care and eating traditional, real foods, pets thrive on a species specific diet and a holistic approach to wellness over treating of symptoms. Their passion for healthy, whole animals is reflected in our conversation as well as in the work they do for holistic health through a variety of venues. Our interview can be downloaded from the link below or on iTunes, Zune, Tivo, or Stitcher. Podcast ONL073 It's been a couple of years since we talked about holistic pet care. While many of our listeners may not (yet) have farm animals to tend to, the average American is a pet owner of one or more species. Pets are part of the family and cared for as such. I see a huge parallel between the health issues in our pets and those of the pet owners. Diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease, joint issues, and thyroid problems are way too common in cats and dogs these days. Many if not most of these issues could be linked, as in human health, to inappropriate diet, vaccinations, and chemical exposure. Our newest house dog, Cody, is a five month old English Shepherd. While he is a family companion, he is also a working dog on the farm, expected to help with herding, vermin control, keeping livestock from getting to rough with us, and guarding livestock and family. He needs to be sound, of good temperament, and athletic to perform his duties. We are helping him develop the best of his potential with training, a species appropriate diet, and minimal exposure to chemicals and toxins in his environment. Kim Bloomer and Jeannie Thomason have been teaching about natural animal care since 2004. They were pioneers in the areas of chat, blogging, webinars, and audio podcasting. Kim and Jeannie are adjunct professors in the animal health program of Kingdom College for Natural Health. They recently founded the American Council of Animal Naturopathy. Their primary focus is on prormoting health versus disease management and in empowering pet owners to rear naturally healthy dogs through proper diet and holistic care. They require their clients to use a species appropriate raw diet for carnivores. Their motivation and passion stem from a love of animals and education. Kim has written two books including Whole Health for Happy Dogs: A Natural Health Handbook for Dogs and Their Owners , co-written with Jill Elliott, DVM. Visit their websites at www.aspenbloompetcare.com and www.thewholedog.org. You can download past episodes of Animal Talk Naturally on iTunes. Be sure to listen to our Podcast interview with these knowledgeable practitioners! Jon and I will be guests on Animal Talk Naturally February 9th. Broad River Pastures Farm Updates Our first Silver Rabbit doe's litter has 4 healthy kits, age 18 days now. They are out of the nest box, fully furred, and hopping about with their eyes open. It is very rewarding to see the life process unfold from breeding to birth and maturation in such a short span of time! I've added a rare white Beveren doe to the rabbitry. She came bred and we are looking for a litter in mid February. Jon brought home an additional trio of rabbits from Maryland via Whitmore Farm. One of those does is also expecting a litter in mid February. We are adding additional room to our barn to help with feed storage and to allow us to remodel the rest of the building and apartment. Things are developing quickly and professionally. We will have an apartment ready for our next intern very soon! Our 13 Orpington and Orpington-cross hens are all laying medium to large eggs now. Our 8 Black Copper Marans hens began laying small eggs recently, too. The ducks continue to lay extra large and Jumbo sized eggs.

Today's show is an interview with Stanley A. Fishman, author of Tender Grassfed Meat: Traditional Ways to Cook Healthy Meat. Stanley shares his remarkable story of healing with traditional foods and how a lawyer became a researcher and cookbook writer....

Selina DeLangre, CEO of Selina Naturally spoke to us at length recently about her personal story that led to her lifelong passion to discover "healthy new products that not only improve wellbeing, but enhance the quality of life." She spent some time sharing information and background on many of the "products to inspire ultimate wellbeing" featured in her current Selina Naturally line. At the end of this blog look for a coupon code to get free shipping from Selina Naturally, exclusive to Our Natural Life readers, from December 6-20, 2010. Happy shopping! Jon and I love Selina's products. When we first started using them, the company, then run by Selina's Father-in-Law, was known as the Grain and Salt Society. I have enjoyed seeing the product line grow under Selina's leadership. She is obviously dedicated to promoting total health, and supports product lines for people dedicated to following diets such as those endorsed by the Weston A. Price Foundation, The Maker's Diet, GAPs diet, the Body Ecology Diet, and raw diets. It is obvious that she makes it her business to stay informed and involved with her product lines. Her staff is also well trained and informed. In the spirit of full disclosure, I need to let you know that Our Natural Life (Alchemy New Media) is an Affiliate of Selina Naturally and other stores found on our "Go Shopping" page. That means if you click our link prior to making a purchase, we get a percentage of the sales. This allows us to purchase the equipment we need to keep our podcast going and the server space to host this blog. I like to put together little gift baskets for relatives at holiday time. I found some great items for this in the recent catalog. The ones I chose included a set of three Organic Fresh Gomasio Toasted Sesame Seed Salt Grinders, our favorite creamy Really Raw Honey, and some amazing organic Raw Chocolate Truffles. She also has tools for food preparation, natural health and beauty products, and bath salts and soaps. I decided to join the Buyer's Club in order to save 10% off all products purchased for the next year. I have my eye on a new nine-tray Excalibur food dehydrator, and the savings on that alone will be significant. If you are a regular listener to our podcast, you've probably heard me mention that we take Green Pastures Fermented Cod Liver Oil as a supplement. We get this from Selina Naturally, as well. If you'd like to take advantage of FREE SHIPPING between December 6 and December 20, please shop through our Go Shopping affiliate page and use the coupon code ONLSHIP. Thank you so much for your support of us and Selina Naturally! Farm Update By the time this podcast airs we will have our first three rare meat rabbits for breeding. We will be raising Silver Fox and white, blue-eyed Beveren. These rabbits are good-tempered, in danger of extinction, and valued for both furs and meat. They are very hard to find here in the southeast, so we hope to be the ones to bring them to Georgia. Jon worked hard all week to get my rabbit hutch finished, and put in his longest day today to get it done. He is amazing! We are driving to North Carolina to get our custom cages from Charles Bryant at Wooleyboogers, then coming back south to South Carolina to Garden Gate Rabbitry to get the bunns from Loretta and Gloria Hayward. I'm sure we'll have photos to share with our next post. We'll need to add some of pup Cody and the milk goat, Frannie, as well.

Neal Foley is a master of many skills. Although he once dreamed of veterinary school, an apprenticeship at a raw milk dairy inspired him to look at agriculture. He is now an accomplished chef, entrepreneur, media host, blogger, videographer, educator, butcher, food photographer, homesteader, and "accidental agrarian". He has influenced and inspired me through his various social networks and is always ready to give a word of encouragement when needed. We recently had an extensive conversation about his journey, farming, raising Silver Fox Rabbits, and English Shepherds. I first connected with Neal on twitter, where he tweets as Podchef. This led me to his podcast, The Podchef's Gastrocast, available on iTunes. The first episode I listened to was about raising rabbits. I remember coming home to Jon and asking him if we could keep a few in the basement or back yard. The more I learned about Neal, the more impressed and fascinated I became. So I was thrilled when we finally sat down in October and connected for an early morning interview. It was great because we learned more about how his background and what brought him back to the East coast and to Claddagh Farms. Neal embraces the Farm to Table concept as a producer of heritage breeds, processor/butcher, and "nose to tail" gourmet chef. His farm includes Jersey cows, pastured pigs, Silver Fox rabbits, English Shepherd dogs, and Roen ducks. He is also an accomplished gardener. With twenty years of experience, he generously shares his expertise through videos and workshops. For example, this week and in December he is hosting a two day Porkshop that will include slaughtering and processing a pig and making blood sausage, head cheese, pate, bacon, ham, and lard. Next week he hosts Duckfest, a chance to learn how to turn ducks into confit de canard, terrine de foie naturale, and le grande cassoulet. Neal shared with us that the fuel keeping him going is the dire state of our food system and his motivation to teach others to live, farm, and eat more sustainably. Letters from appreciative fans let him know that he is making an impact in people's lives. I steered much of the discussion in this show selfishly to the raising of Silver Fox rabbits. I first learned about this breed from Neal and am excited about the opportunity to help preserve this critically endangered heritage American breed. Rabbit meat, or lapin in French, is very high in protein. With correct cooking it can be very delicious with a rich depth of flavor and texture. With only 1/4 acre of space, a doe can produce about 120 pounds of meat in a year. If her daughters are also bred, the meat produced in a year with the meat produced by a steer in two year's time. The rabbit manure can be used to side dress garden vegetables, assist in vermiculture, make compost tea, or benefit vermiculture. In addition, produce from the garden can feed your rabbits, resulting in a harmonious cycle. Rabbits are easily dressed out at home. Parts not consumed such as entrails, heads and feet make healthy food for canine and feline companions. The pelts can be cured and made into bags and garments. Absolutely nothing is wasted. In the 1940s both my father and Jon's uncle raised rabbits along with victory gardens during World War II. We also discussed English Shepherds. Our clear sable and white ES puppy is now 3 months old and already demonstrating early skills in herding, hunting, and guarding, the three hallmarks of this landrace breed. We hope that Cody's conformation and temperament will make him eligible to contribute to the continuation of this rare and important American breed. You can find out more about Neal by following him on facebook, or at his blogs including The Gastrocast, Claddagh Farms & The Kitchen Garden Company, and The Accidental Agrarian. If you're looking for a unique holiday gift, consider purchasing the Gastrocast Cookbook. More Holiday Shopping Ideas:

Jeffrey M. Smith, expert on Genetically Modified Organisms and author of Genetic Roulette and Seeds of Deception spoke to us recently about his campaign to ban the release of genetically engineered fish into our food system.

How often do you dream of animals? What do they mean? How do animals impact your life on a conscious or unconscious level? These are some of the issues explored by Valerie Harms in her Eco-psychology book entitled, Dreaming of Animals: Dialogue between...

What a joy it was interviewing Birke about his passion! He is an amazing voice for the real food and sustainable farming movement. By now you have probably seen his YouTube video, but even more moving is to hear him live and unrehearsed sharing his story. Jon and I talked with him about his family's lifestyle choices, his concern about healthy food, his message, and his future plans. This is a young man who wants to leave his mark on the world. I'm so encouraged by his leadership for the next generation! In our blog we have a GIVEAWAY for 3 copies of the new  Our Natural Life - Podcast App for your iPhone.  Good luck! Recently I blogged about a conversation with Birke's mother about how he came to make his speech at Tedx Next Generation in Asheville North Carolina. Several people have commented to me that they had assumed, as I had, that Birke was heavily impacted by his family. In fact, the opposite is true. Birke is consumed with healthy eating and the slow food movement and has been the one influencing the adults and other kids in his circle. Some farmers who have influenced Birke include Bill Keener of Sequatchie Cove Farm, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, Jason Mann, director of Full Moon Farm Cooperative, and Jeff Poppen, aka the barefoot farmer, farm manager of Long Hungry Creek Farm. He runs in good company! Birke volunteers on farms while his family travels, supplements his home school curriculum with independent study, and recently took a cheese making class. He is not afraid of hard work and wants his life to make a difference in the world. He is interested in saving money and take part in a future apprenticeship or intern opportunity in farming. In the meantime, he is sharing his message on his facebook page and offering his services as a public speaker to adults or children. Birke appealed to our listeners to oppose Senate Bill S510, entitled the Food Safety and Modernization Act, due to the negative impact this bill would have on small farmers as it is currently written. Since Birke will not be of voting age for another 7 years, he has asked those who can influence their congressmen to do so. I think we will be hearing much more from Birke Baehr! We've had a busy week at Broad River Pastures with sales of duck eggs, garden produce, and Lucky Dog liver treats. We had a farm tour for 4 people on Saturday, and processed parts of two deer shot behind our farm to use as dog food. I wrote a guest post for the Agriculture Society blog.  I'm leaving in the morning to visit a South Carolina rabbitry that raises Silver Fox rabbits, to visit grandkids, and to bring home our English Shepherd puppy and 11 French Black Copper Marans. We just processed 8 cockerels and have chicken in the freezer. Jon and I have a GIVEAWAY this week for the Our Natural Life - Podcast App. We will have 3 winners! This is the most convenient way to access Our Natural Life Podcast on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode. Instant access, just touch and play! This App contains the following features: Streaming access to play episode from anywhere Always updated with the latest episodes- and an archived back catalog Download the episodes and play them when offline Playback resume (when interrupted by a call or other distraction) Favorites (mark the episodes you want to return back to over and over) Quick access to all the contact methods for the show We will also have bonus content available only through this app in the future. The app is available on the iTunes store for $1.99. Be sure to choose the Wizzard Media version in the Lifestyle category, released October 4. (Or just click this link!) Up to 10 chances to enter our GIVEAWAY! Blog about this giveaway and Birke Baehr and link back to this page on your blog. Post a comment below with a link to your blog. (2 entries) Sign up for the Our Natural Life newsletter or RSS feed.

Today's blog launches a GIVEAWAY of Sean's "Secret Weapon." Two lucky readers will win this product, a $50 value. Sean Croxton, host of Underground Wellness, had the tables turned for this interview, as Jon and I were asking him the questions. It was obvious during our conversation that Sean is truly passionate about what he does. He has set some big goals for his future that he shared with us. Sean's show and interview format has influenced mine. You can download the podcast of our visit with iTunes, Zune, or Stitcher or use the player embedded below. Sean, a self-proclaimed "nerd," had an early interest in fitness and nutrition. In college he got a degree in kinesiology and started a career in personal training. He followed all the conventional advice learned in school, and blamed his clients when they did not make the expected progress. Not one to give up easily, Sean dug into the books and discovered what he did NOT learn in school. The "underground" information helped him work with his clients more successfully, and he became dedicated to spreading the word. Sean now uses a holistic, functional approach to build his clients' health from the ground up. He is a certified Metabolic Typing advisor and currently enrolled in a Functional Medicine program. In addition to his Blog Talk Radio show, Sean has a YouTube page, twitter presence, and facebook page. During the interview, I asked Sean about the product he had been hinting at on facebook for the previous two weeks. We spoke just two days before he revealed it on his radio show episode "The Antioxidant Myth." Sean has been taking a bit of heat for getting involved in network marketing, but he has done his homework and passionately believes that this product will not only help promote health, but will help himself and others produce income needed to support their dreams. From Sean's website: "Protandim is the ONLY supplement proven by peer reviewed, published scientific research to reduce oxidative stress by an average of 40%, slowing down the cellular aging process to that of a 20 year-old! Formulated with a powerful blend of natural phytonutrients, Protandim signals your genes to increase production of antioxidant enzymes, giving your cells and body the ultimate protection from oxidative stress." This product has a plethora of research backing it up, but the best way to determine its effects on your body is to give it a try for 30 days and see for yourself. You can order it from Sean's website. However, the LifeVantage company has agreed to give away two bottles - one each to two readers of this blog. Good luck to all of you who enter the GIVEAWAY! TEN CHANCES TO WIN A 30 DAY SUPPLY OF PROTANDIM - A $50 VALUE The GIVEAWAY period is from October 4-10, 2010. On October 11, we will announce the winners. To claim your prize, respond via email to OurNaturalLife@gmail.com with your contact information. LifeVantage will mail the products directly to the winners. HOW TO ENTER Blog about this giveaway and link back to this page on your blog. Post a comment below with a link to your blog. (2 entries) Sign up for the Our Natural Life newsletter or RSS feed. Leave a comment below telling us that you signed up. You can also get an entry if you already subscribe – just let us know in the comments! (2 entries) Follow ONL2 on Twitter – Tweet about this contest including the URL to this page and put @ONL2 in the text. (1 entry) Post a link to this page on your FACEBOOK page. (While you’re at it, join the Our Natural Life page on facebook.) Let us know in the comments and give us a link to your post. (1 entry) Leave a review on iTunes about our Podcast if you have listened to one or more shows. Let us know that you have done so by listing your iTunes byline in the comments below. (2 entries) "Like" us on facebook at the Our Natural Life Podcast Page. If you already "like" us, leave a comment on the page regarding the contest.

In this episode we talk to Howard Athas, distributor sales manager of the Stay-Tuff Fence Company in New Braunfels, Texas. He spoke with us about how to properly install a quality field fence. In particular, he represents his company's high tensile, fixed-knot fences. This is the kind we decided to erect on the perimeter of our farm. Completing this fence was the first step toward adding livestock to our farm. Click on the link below to listen to the interview or download from iTunes, Zune, Stitcher, or Tivo. Who knew how important the topic of fencing was going to become to us? As a city dweller most of my life, my only experience with fencing was something to keep rabbits out of my garden and my dogs inside my yard. Those basic needs are the same on the farm - you need a fence around the perimeter that will keep predators out, and livestock in. How you achieve those goals is what makes it complicated. Every farmer we visited or asked had a different response. Many of them were not thrilled with the field fences they actually had on the farm and had experienced both losses from predators and the escape of animals. Since installing the fence was going to be a large expense of funds, labor, and time, I wanted to make sure that it was a good decision. However, since I had never done this and had varying advise, it was very difficult for me. We didn't even own any livestock to base a decision on. I was thinking about raising horned meat goats, though, and reasoned that any fence effective for that type of animal would be effective for any other livestock we may get. I joined a Yahoo Group for meat goats and asked about what kind of fences they used. I got a few responses, but more than one recommended the Stay-Tuff Goat-Tuff fence. When I checked out the website, I was intrigued with the heavy-duty look of the fence and reassured with charts that matched various fence models with their purpose on the farm. And they had local distributors. One was less than an hour's drive from us. When I contacted him, he offered to deliver our fence wire and posts at no charge! That was an offer too good to refuse. And the Stay-Tuff website included step by step instructions to assist in installation. Our UGA summer interns provided the manual labor to install our field fence. Once we knew what kind of fencing we would use, we needed to plan out our fence line and determine where to locate the gates and braces. It is always better to have more gates than less for easy access. We are actually using different kinds of fencing on the farm. The first, most essential in my opinion, is the perimeter fence. I have seen farms without a perimeter fence but they have problems with predators and must keep their animals in confined housing or portable fences only. The perimeter fence can be high tensile electric, barbed wire, woven wire hinged, or high tensile fixed knot. There are various spaces between the wires that keep animals from entering or escaping from your property. Cross-fencing is an interior fence within the perimeter or field fence that keeps animals within a designated part of your property. Its purpose is primarily to keep animals in. This can be a woven wire or portable electric wire or electric netting fence. Portable fencing wire with step in posts allows you to move animals frequently onto clean pasture to increase nutrition, prevent erosion, and minimize parasites. Creep fencing allows smaller animals to enter but keeps larger animals out. In the case of sheep, a creep feeder gate allows lambs to leave their mother and eat grass uncontaminated by their mother's parasites. In the case of chickens, it allows them to eat grower feed rather than a lower protein layer mash. We used portable poultry netting around the chicken coop when we first let our pullets on pasture so they could leave the pen to eat bugs but the big chickens could not enter and steal their food.

Here is a podcast conversation with Kimberly Hartke, Publicist of Weston A. Price Foundation, on the health benefits of eating farm fresh foods. We also cover the controversy surrounding the USDA dietary guidelines.

Ann Marie Michaels aka CHEESESLAVE spoke to us today about her exciting new online class, Surf and Turf: Cooking Wild Seafood and Grass-fed Meats. Have you ever wondered about the difference between farm-raised and wild caught fish? Are you afraid to p...

Jimmy Moore is the energetic host of the wildly popular podcast show, Livin' La Vida Low-Carb. In this show we talk to him about his 180 pound weight loss, the lessons he has learned through personal experience and his interview guests, and his two books. We also discuss the USDA proposal for the 2010 dietary guidelines. Jimmy does not mince words, and I think you will enjoy the interview.