Puppies Are Here
Nothing cuter than a baby and we have 7!
Seven – 2 week old Jack Russell Terrier pups born to the mama Jackie June 21st. Puppies available to good homes early August.
The Piglets Are Here!
We are so excited to announce the newest members of our farm, The Four Little Piglets; their mama is a Large Black and their daddy is an 800 pound Tamworth. We found them @ Monarch Family Farm in Pilot Hill. Glen and Kelley Turney are doing a great job raising and loving pigs. THey know so much and are helping us keep it all going. Greg, our newest crew member has worked with pigs before and will be the key ‘pig daddy’, ha, so fun. We will be breeding and finding homes for the little snorters soon enough. Stay posted as to how to start your own pig family.
Our Heritage Breeding Efforts Are Growing!
The farm seems to be popping right now ~ Spring has definitely sprung. Babies are everywhere; 4 owl babies are hatched in their owl box, 21 frisky adorable baby goats (so far), 28 brand new Narragansett Turkeys (100 more eggs to go), 200, 3 day old, Delaware (a heritage breed) chicks, and 4 little heritage breed piglets! And, our farm doggie, Jackie, is pregnant with Jack Russell Terrier pups. Let us know if one is calling to you.
Bryan’s efforts to bring heritage breeds back is working stupendously. We are so excited to have this new breed of chicks! Soon enough we will be hatching our own eggs; no more mail order chicks. IF you read the earlier article on heritage animals, you can see why this is so important! It is amazing to see how much healthier and vibrant this breed is. They are the quintessential chicks ~ so fuzzy and yellow and peeping.
We are, in turn, supporting fellow breeders who are bringing endangered breeds back. THese chicks and turkeys are from fellow farmers who are supporting this exciting movement.
Please stay posted for more fun & important news on our hatchery.
Animal Activity Growing
Animal activity is really growing on the farm. Just this morning Farmer Bryan & Tes watched a baby duck poke it’s crammed little body out of it’s shell. After about 24 hours of dedicated pecking (we could hear the tiny tapping when we held the egg to our ear) , a crack was made in the shell, then more tapping and a beak was seen, then a little black eye, and , just this morning it’s little black sticky being was born into Bryan’s farmer hands, and is now is Tes’ pocket! A ducks gestation is 28 days. Not much for a whole new being to come to life. The miracle of life and death happens often in farm life. We look forward to this new little ducky (and his friends still on the way) living a wonderful life here at NTC.
Developing Sustainable Flocks
Farmer Bryan’s newest inspiration is to bring more heritage breed animals to his farm. Bryan has had a love of animals, especially birds, since he was a baby. He has raised ducks, homing pigeons, parakeets, jungle birds etc. When he was in 4th grade, his mom let him stay at home to watch his little duck be born. During high school, his Ag project was to raise lambs for the Alameda Co. Fair, while also raising racing pigeons. He describes his back yard as an aviary.
Here he is now, 30 years later, with a much bigger yard full of open pasture, mobile hen houses, coops, and bird houses.
THe exciting news this year is that he is now raising heritage breed poultry and pigs; turkeys – Narragansett & Bronze, Large Black & Tamworth pigs, and coming soon, heritage hen breeds.
Do you know that 99% of all poultry you buy is a very hybridized variety, even the organic stuff. The birds do not know how to breed or sit or raise their young. They are bred by artificial insemination and incubation. The entire commercial turkey and chicken industry is like a factory. They are also genetically controlled by the companies that own them. So, If farmers and folks don’t raise sustainable flocks, we are all dependent on questionable companies to “create” baby chicks for all (just like Monsanto with seed). THis could be very dangerous.
Here at Natural Trading Co. we are committed to seeing standard breed poultry back on kitchen tables. We will do our best to promote and encourage sustainability; selling poultry locally, raising animals that can reproduce, not relying on outside sources for our chicks. We are helping to preserve genetics that are reproducible. We are also committed to raising animals with a humane and conscientious attitude; allowing our animals to behave naturally, ensuring social interaction, comfort, physical and psychological well-being. We agree that the best welfare for the birds is to have their genetics be of standard or heritage breeds (not hybrid).
How can you help with this important work? Please support us by purchasing our turkey, pig & chicken. While it may seem strange to grow these birds only to be eaten at a dinner table, it is quite the opposite. This cycle of life and death helps keep the breeds going. With out demand for them, they will perish. THey are beautiful and fun to get to know. Remember you are always welcome at the farm. Spring time is full of new life.
How To Create Community
Turn off your TV*Leave your housen
Know your neighbors
Look up when you ae walking
Greet people*Sit on your stoop
Plant Flowers
Use your library*Play together
Buy from local merchants
Share what you have
Help a lost dog
Take children to the park
Garden Together
Support Neighborhood Schools
Fix it even if you didn’t break it
Have Pot Lucks*Honor Elders
Pick Up Litter* Read Stories Aloud
Dance in the Street
Talk to the Mail Carrier
Listen to the Birds* Put up a Swing
Help Carry Something Heavy
Barter For Your Goods
Start A Tradition*Ask A Question
Hire Young People for Odd Jobs
Organize a Block Party
Bake Extra and Share
Ask For Help When You Need It
Open Your Shades*Sing Together
Share Your Skills
Take Back the Night
Turn Up The Music
Turn Down The Music
Listen Before You react To Anger
Mediate A Conflict
Seek To Understand
Learn From New And
Uncomfortable Angles
Know That No One is Silent
Though Many Are Not Heard
Work To Change This
Nourish yourself daily
Enjoy our Placer County pasture raised eggs.
Our healthy egg laying hens spend nearly all their awake hours outside; free to graze the hillsides for bugs and greens. With all this sunshine, exercise and the best organic feed available, these eggs look, feel and taste better. They are never fed antibiotics, synthetics or hormones. Their custom made mobile hen house is moved around the farm about every ten days; giving them fresh grubs and grass while working symbiotically to fertilize our precious soil. These hens are respected and live a healthy farm life, the way they are meant to live.
Our chicken feed ingredients: Organic corn, organic soybean meal, limestone, organic sun-dried alfalfa, organic flaxseed, organic wheat millrun, monocalcium phosphate, organic kelp meal, diatomaceous earth, Redmond conditioner (clay), Redmond salt, DL methionine, poultry vitamin & mineral premix, organic garlic, organic horseradish, organic anise oil, organic juniper berry
Springtime is CSA Time
Enroll. Now. Community Supported Agriculture is a way in which people can directly support a small, local farm while getting a weekly supply of fresh, organically grown products. For city dwellers, becoming a CSA member provides a connection with nature, a convenient, safe, and reliable source for healthy, high quality vegetables.
Each week, Natural Trading Co. subscribers receive a box of freshly picked, organic, seasonal produce. Each week’s box is carefully designed to provide you with a week’s worth of fruit and vegetables.
Wheatgrass Wonders
Wheatgrass juice is the juice extracted from red wheatberry grass. Wheatgrass juice has been used for thousands of years around the world for its healing properties and health benefits. Feel the difference an ounce or two a day makes!
Energizer: Wheatgrass gives one a remarkable feeling of vitality. Just 1 ounce of wheatgrass juice is equivalent to the nutritional value of roughly 2 pounds of organic green vegetables in vitamin and mineral content. Say goodbye to caffeine!
Nutrition: Wheatgrass is a “whole food” containing all the nutrients required for human existence. Wheatgrass has every essential amino acid and is 47.7% protein dry weight. It is high in Vitamins A, B, C, and E, and contains over 90 minerals that are needed by the body to maintain good metabolism. Enzymes, the life force of our food, are found in abundance in wheatgrass juice. Enzymes found in wheatgrass assist in nutrient digestion, keep heart muscle tissue toned, slow cellular aging and neutralize harmful pollutants common in our modern environment. It is a supreme contributor to running your body in an alkaline PH balance.
Healer: Wheatgrass juice is one of the best detoxifiers; helping to eliminate hardened mucous, heavy metals, pollutants, crystallized acids and decaying matter. Chlorophyll-found in abundance in wheatgrass-is a blood builder and cleanser that increases the function of the heart, the vascular system, the intestines, the uterus and the lungs. Wheatgrass juice is also known to help dissolve tumors and scars in the lungs. It can repair ulcers, reduce high blood pressure and overcome the physiological effects of radiation from televisions and computer screens. It can also help relieve sore throats, cleanse the skin and prevent tooth decay.
Adding Wheatgrass to your diet: 1 ounce a day for the first week is a good dose to start with. Some people feel a little queasy as the wheatgrass begins cleansing the body of toxins, but this will soon pass. Let your body get used to it and gradually increase consumption to 2 – 4 ounces per day. Taking an occasion break is recommended to give your body a break from its cleansing effects.
The Natural Trading Company grows fresh organic produce and wheatgrass in accordance with the California Organic Foods Act of 1990. CDFA #31-1019.
naturaltradingco.com 