July 23, 2021
With farm stands hitting their summer stride, we have once again started picking up left over vegetables. Items too old, or blemished, to sell, and that would otherwise get thrown out, are put to good use by our animals. It's not a money saving venture as it takes a fair amount of time and energy to go pick up a truck load, but it reduces local food waste (approximately 9 tons a year!) and I have to believe it's better for the animals to be eating a nutrient dense and varied diet.
During the winter, the pigs and chickens get grain, which is very easy to store and feed, and I think it's basically a healthy and balanced diet, but the grain industry is not an industry I want to support. I don't think the huge swaths of this country that are used to raise livestock feed are well cared for. There are millions of acres of chemically dependent monocrops which aren't sustainable, much less regenerative. So when the corn and tomatoes start coming in, we happily cut off the grain and start hauling.
The pigs get first dibs, enthusiastically eating their fill, then the chickens pick through the remaining scraps. Once the chickens are done, the earth worms take over, processing the rest - and becoming dinner themselves when the chickens are motivated enough to scratch the surface to uncover them. Any of our eggs that we can't sell, or use, get hard boiled and fed to the pigs as a sure fire source of protein. Feeding the animals grain is faster, easier and certainly neater, but there is something satisfying about turning 9 tons of “solar powered” vegetable waste into 2 tons of delicious pork, lamb and eggs.