Sustainable farming begins and end with diversity. Having more than one agricultural operation in operation makes for a more balanced farm. We have a couple of different operations here at Camps Road Farm, but let’s focus on two for a second. Chicken and hops.
Chickens
These are a group of our laying hens. They love coming out of their coops each morning and searching for bugs that landed in the pasture over night.
The main focus of the farm for now is pastured poultry. All the other areas of the farm revolve around what is best for the chickens. We go to great lengths to make sure our birds are happy, and that they place nicely with the rest of the farm.
Chicken manure is a great fertilizer in the right dose. We keep our birds moving around farm, and they keep us supplied with manure. Both our egg laying hens and our broilers rotate on pasture and live life out doors.
Our pastured broilers are different kinds of birds completely. They live their lives in chicken tractors which suits them just fine. There are no floors on the tractors and they are moved daily to ensure fresh pasture and no manure build up.With the expansion of the farm to incorporate the Chicken CSA we got busy building more chicken tractors for our birds in the field. We have a total of 24 tractors that house 30 birds a piece. If you do the math, that’s a lot of birds to manage.The broilers in the chicken tractors have certified organic feed that is free from GMOs. You can see they have plenty of grass, water from the orange bucket, and lots of fresh air. Those are the ingredients for the best chicken you have ever had.
Hops
As we are working toward having a production brewery on site, having a hop yard up and running is a big focus around here. When Kent Falls Brewing Company opens its’ doors for the first time our beer will have hops from the farm and grain from local growers. It takes a while for hops to get established, so we had to get an early start.
Farm Manager Barry is tying one of the 1000 plus strands of coir that is used to trellis the hops. The hop bines (bines not vines) grow up the coir and are harvested in the fall. The hops reach 18+ feet high during the growing season. It has been no small task getting all those lines up.Brewer Barry and Farmer Sarah spread mulch around the hops plants. The mulch keeps weeds down, helps with moisture retention, and will keep the plants a little warmer in the winter.
Put it Together
Putting chickens in the hop yard holds several benefits. It helps fertilize, the chickens mow the grass down, and they even add pest protection. Last year we had a problem with Japanese Beetles until we put the chickens in the hop yard. The beetles flew into the chicken’s waterers and the chickens ate them right up. Everyone was happy (except the beetles).
These are our chicken tractors moving through our hop yard. It’s a beautiful relationship.
Spring on the Farm is Beautiful!
There has been a good balance of rain and sun here. The color green is exploding everywhere, and the farm is simply stunning.Of course I had to show off Mabel. She is getting bigger every day. In the last couple weeks she took her first steps, said, “Da Da!”, and her top teeth are poking out. She’s been busy. It feels amazing to be able to raise a kid on a farm.
