I have a group of friends that really appreciate my urban farming experimentation. They partake and celebrate the paradox of lush food in backyard and urban street life in front yard. However, these same friends refused to put a fatally sick hen down, or even quarantine her from the rest of the flock. This had disasterous results.

I’ve even had one chap tell me he was excited that the leaf curl fungus was living on an apple tree. He felt they were supporting one another…

Uhm, so this is where we learn the difference between naturalists and farmers. Agriculture is hands on. Farmers are in it for the full game- cultivate, grow, harvest, prepare and eat. Naturalists are hands off. They observe what nature does on her own. Which means you may end up with some real sour apples (Hard cider, woowoo!).

My point is this, farming is for utility. When it comes to animals called livestock, they’ve been bred with very specific intentions. For example, the Chantecler is a breed of chicken developed by Trappist monks in Canada. These birds are extremely cold-resistant, and suitable for both egg and meat production.

Which brings me to my next point, moral distinctions. As a novice agriculturist, I am just learning the science, art, and busniess of producing crops and raising livestock. I learned quickly not to view my animals as pets. I do not eat my pets but I do eat animals. This is a crucial distinction to be made and its not always an easy one. Not everyone can relate to the ability to draw this line but a lack of clarity can ultimately be a burden on you and those around you.

Stefani at Sicilian Sisters Grow Some Food did a great piece on Pets vs. Food. I highly recommend reading it (click here). My thought on the matter, is that if you are not comforatble with the full lifecycle of a livestock animal, whether it be for food or to retire its use and support it as a family pet, don’t raise it.

I am not trained in agricultural science and I did not grow up on a farm. I am an urban hack that loves food, plants, dirt, animals and most combinations thereof. There is simplistic beauty to just rolling up your sleeves and jumping into something so vibrant as growing your own food and raising livestock, but still I know little. Thus far, I have had the great fortune of not having a sick mammal on my hands. I’d feel pretty buried if that happened. Part of my farm equation is to not spend loads of money on my activities which means no $1,000 vet bills. No way.

So as I continue to flirt with the idea of having a small scale subsistence farm beyond the backyard, I am grounded in the reality that I have much to learn. For example, this cottage industry law thing got me thinking “Wow! Maybe it’d be possible to sell milk and cheese too.” Yet, the regulations are so tight around milk. A fellow blogger El, from Fast Grow the Weeds, directed me to some resources to understand the history of milk regulation, Milk by Anne Mendelsohn and Real Food by Nina Planck.

Another reader commented that “The regulations started when they connected cattle to tuberculosis.” I did a cursory search for information and found a paper from UC Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine, entitled Tuberculosis in Cattle. Apparently, bovine carry a form of tuberculosis that can be passed to humans with one source of bacterial exposure being raw milk products. It appears goats suffer from tuberculosis far less than cows. Technically they can be infected but it is less common. Good to know.

Though my summer reading list is ever growing, I am adding Milk to the list and will keep writing on the topic. I like the direction of the cottage industry laws, no, I love the direction of the cottage industry laws and eager to understand their economic, public health and political context.

After writing about the ridiculous farm raids on backyard farmers, I noticed a post by fellow blogger El on Fast Grow The Weeds. Apparently, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is about to sign two cottage industry farm bills that allow home producers to make or package certain foods in their kitchens instead of having to use a commercial food operation. Baked goods, jam and jellies, candy, vinegar, dried fruit, herbs and mixes made in your kitchen could all be sold publicly provided they are properly labeled to reflect that they are homemade and identify all ingredients under guidelines provided by the state. An individual residence could make up to $15,000 gross annually from such sales. Michigan Rep. Pam Byrnes, D-Dist. 52, co-sponsored the bill package.

Specifics on House Bill 5280 (2009), (PA 112 of 2010)

Specifics on House Bill 5837 (2010), (PA 113 of 2010)

You can read about the Michigan Cottage Food Law at the Michigan Department of Agriculture website.

This makes me wonder about the history of legislation for dairy products. Why do cow/goat dairies have such stringent regulations? Looks like I have something to research.

I’ve heard of farm raids in Humboldt County and the like, even stings for illegal workers. However a recent article in Grist (click to read) claims raids are increasing on farms and private food supply clubs for the FOOD being supplied. Undercover agents are going to farms to expose criminal milk and eggs. Hmm, does law enforcement ever go undercover on big ag farms to discover criminal working conditions? No, you say? Oh, I didn’t think so.

The article does offer tips for surviving a farm raid:

1. Be wary of strangers who want to join your private buying group or herdshare: Before they seek out a search warrant, regulators invariably nose around and infiltrate private buying groups or raw milk herdshares to gain information on “probable cause.” They’ll often make up sad stories as to why they should be allowed to join. Gary Cox of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund recalls how an undercover agent from the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets infiltrated Meadowsweet Dairy LLC, a private organization of 120 Ithaca consumers who bought shares to gain access to raw dairy products, in 2007: “He was insistent. ‘I live so far away, and I only come here so very infrequently, so can’t I at least have some (milk) today, PLEEEEEEEASE, because otherwise I won’t be able to get any for a long time.’ Barb Smith felt sorry for him and relented. We know what the consequence was of her kindness.” The consequence was an open-ended search warrant that agents used several times in late 2007 and early 2008 to confiscate product, leading up to a legal challenge to the LLC that is currently under appeal following rulings in New York state courts against Meadowsweet.
2. Have a video camera at the ready: Since search warrants are usually specific as to what can be searched and/or seized, a video recording of events inhibits abuses by regulators and other law enforcement personnel. Regulators and law enforcement officials definitely don’t appreciate being videotaped, and sometimes will simply disconnect videos or order targeted individuals to put the videos away. According to Aajonus Vonderpanitz, in the June raid of his Rawesome Foods outlet, “They unplugged our surveillance camera to hide their actions. They threateningly refused video capture of their raid when members commenced filming.”
3. Have a plan of action: Much like planning how your family might escape a fire, decide in advance who will handle the video camera, who will collect business cards or take down the names of all agents, and who will interact with the regulators. The regulators and police count on the element of surprise to sow confusion, and keep the targets from responding intelligently.
4. Read the search warrant fine print: Sometimes there are limitations on the search warrants that targets can exploit. Vernon Hershberger, the Wisconsin dairy farmer, was able to slow the regulators down because he knew the search warrant in his case likely wouldn’t allow forcible entry, so when agents returned a second time, after he cut the seals on his fridges, he locked his farm store doors and they were forced to leave. They eventually returned with an amended warrant that specifically allowed them to take his computer.
5. Keep computer backups: In nearly all such raids, the authorities confiscate computers so they can document transactions and customer interactions. If you don’t have a backup of what’s on your disk, you can literally be put out of business. Moreover, it’s advisable to monitor what information you keep on the computer in the farmhouse or in your food club. There’s something to be said for backing up every few days onto another computer kept off-site.

Ok. I have to admit, while I enjoyed the Outstanding in the Field dinner, I was irked by a comment made where a speaker referred to someone alive and in the East Bay community as “the grandfather of urban farming.” This bewilders me. Urban farming…like any other small scale subsistence farming is not new. No one gets to claim inventing agriculture. Growing food and raising livestock has been a human practice for a really long time. We are talking for the last 10,000+ years. When our habitats became urbanized, which occurred in the Neolithic era, we grew our food within the city limits. As cities became more dense and technology introduced…we still grew our own food in the city. Today, in highly urban and dense cities around the world, people still raise livestock and grow their veggies- look to Beijing, China or Havana, Cuba.

Early cities like Machu Picchu, Persia’s Parsa, Mexico’s Tenochtitlan, and Egypt, to name a few, maintained a symbiotic relation with agriculture. All offer models of urban farming. And it’s not like this occurred in ancient times, was forgotten, then got picked up again at the turn of this new millennium. These places have maintained their practices. Urban farming is old people, really old. The grandmothers and grandfathers of this practice are not alive today. They’re certainly not from Alameda County.

If you aren’t buying that urban environments are ancient, as are their urban agricultural practices (I suggest reading up on the topic), let’s fast forward to industrialized nations. Agricultural practices have always been around even in those cities and continue to be practiced heavily in immigrant communities. My own grandparents kept squab, rabbits and veggies in the Mission District of San Francisco. Interestingly, we did not flaunt the fact because we did not want trouble. Ironically, in 2006, I knew of some folks that reported a gentleman named Jose for keeping chickens in Berkeley, CA. They felt it was dirty. He felt it was a great and cheap source of eggs and meat for his family.

I am beginning to think this whole urban farming thing may have some of the typical power struggles that seems to tinge other politicized activities, activities that garner attention, potential markets, and funding. Did you see the film The Garden? I strongly suggest it.

If you’d like to learn more about ethnic practices of urban agriculture read the delightful book The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic America by Patricia Klindienst.

The beauty of practicing urban farming today is that we get to preserve, share, and celebrate deep wisdom on nurturing ourselves, our land, and each other. Plants, animals, and food tie into many cultural practice. They are common mediums used by everyone for millennia.

I know nothing. Its all trial and error. Lots of trial. Lots of error.

I enjoyed a recent Grist article on raising your own meat. The last paragraph especially stood out for me:

“…livestock aren’t pets. They are on a farm because they serve a purpose. If I can’t raise an animal to eat, then I shouldn’t keep sheep whose purpose is to become meat. Furthermore, if I can’t eat meat that came from an animal I know was loved and respected, that had a good life playing in the sun and eating grass, then I should go back to being vegetarian.”

What I most appreciate in this statement is the emphasis that livestock are not pets. There seems to be some urban confusion about that. The truth is, each domesticated livestock species was bred for a very specific function, even flavor. So if you are considering raising livestock it is useful to know what you want out of the experience.

For instance, acquiring Yokohama chickens because they are neat looking without knowing anything about the birds will land you will chickens that take longer to mature (food costs and coop clean up without the reward). Once they do lay they don’t lay well and they can’t tolerate foul weather. If you want ornate feathers, great. If you want eggs, not so great.

That said, the basic considerations are:

Identify your need- meat, byproducts (honey, eggs, milk), activity.

Assess the amount and type of space they will need to be healthy. For instance, chickens need dirt to scratch on. If you raise them on concrete, they can develop problems with their feet. Or rabbits don’t do well in direct sunlight all day. They get overheated easily.

The next thing is food, shelter, other physical needs, and life cycle. I also look for information on temperament. Some animals are known for being easier to handle than others.

I am also research the amount of sound, mess and smell they might produce. If you are not prepared for a noisy, sloppy and stinky animal in your urban setting, it could be disastrous.

I encourage others to consider breeds listed on American Livestock Breeds Conservancy watch list. I try to select breeds that are listed as Critical or Threatened. This preference is balanced with availability and cost of the preferred breeds. I also consider the source of the animals. I had a bad experience with chickens from a hack breeder. The pullets were infected with a common avian virus and the entire flock died within the first month or so.

I research by finding books and sites on breeds. I seek out resources that are affiliated with a university. As we well know not all sites/forums are equal and I am less interested in cute anecdotes.

Once I have narrowed down some selections I jump on online forums, and call breeders and farms to discuss specifics, to find sources, and to get gems of knowledge.

Regarding poultry: chickens are by far the easiest, most self-sufficient and resource efficient birds to keep. Ducks were not. They go through crap loads of water, make a huge mess of their pen and are really noisy. However, FYI- Novella Carpenter informed me that Muscovy Ducks do not quack.

Though a bit of a pain relative to chickens, I like keeping turkeys. They need more space,  make more of a mess with their huge droppings, and are harder to handle but I enjoy their company. The heritage breeds I’ve kept have tasted great. I’d really like to keep a couple of geese for the holidays. I did not think to do it last year and when I went to purchase one frozen I was stunned by the price of $70 for one little goose that would not even feed my family. Being water fowl, I suspect they are also messy. Geese also make great watchdogs because they are territorial and honk at intruders. Things to consider…

All this is assuming that you’ve check your city ordinance to at least know how you are breaking the law.

If I missed anything about choosing breeds and you have questions, let me know!

A recent brief interview with Chow writer Helena Echlin led to the following article:

About That Rabbit Slaughter Last Night …

The etiquette of urban homesteading

By Helena Echlin

It’s increasingly common for people to keep chickens and bees in their backyards (not to mention rabbits, goats, and pigs). But it isn’t always appreciated by one’s neighbors. I interviewed some urban farmers and got the scoop on their three biggest etiquette challenges.

1. Should you ask neighbors’ permission to keep critters?

Absolutely not, insists Cameo Wood, owner of Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper. Misplaced fears may lead them to refuse. For instance, people often wrongly claim they are allergic to bees, says Wood, though this is true only of .01 percent of the population.

One beekeeper she knows made the mistake of consulting the neighbors first. “[They] said everyone in their family would go into anaphylactic shock if stung. They said she was basically trying to kill their family, and they were going to call the police and the fire department and throw ant bombs into her yard.”

People are also afraid that bees will infest their gardens or worse, swarm and attack. In fact, bees typically like to forage further afield than next door, says Wood. And, explains Andrew Coté, who has 35 beehives in Manhattan and Brooklyn, bees look scary when they’re swarming in a giant clump while searching for a new place to build a hive, but they’re actually at their least dangerous then. “Since they have left their old hive, they have nothing to defend.”

Bees aren’t the only species to be misunderstood. Esperanza Pallana, who keeps rabbits and chickens and other poultry in her Oakland backyard, says: ” A lot of people think birds are dirty and carry disease.” One of her ducks escaped, only to materialize inside the local 7-11. A panicked employee called the police. “People are so disconnected from animals and nature, they don’t know what may or may not harm them,” says Pallana.

The answer is to keep your urban farm on the down low while installing it. Once people realize that your chickens haven’t given them avian flu and your bees aren’t interested in mauling their toddler, they’ll be more likely to accept your activities.

2. How do you avoid upsetting the neighbors if you’re slaughtering livestock in your backyard?

Slaughtering a rabbit is like watching porn. Your neighbors may not have a problem with it on an intellectual level, but they certainly do not want to see—or hear—you doing it. K. Ruby Blume, founder and director of the Oakland Institute of Urban Homesteading, says she kills rabbits in parts of her yard that the neighbors can’t see into and puts up a tarp if necessary. Thankfully, if you do it right, slaughtering shouldn’t create a lot of noise or smell. According to Pallana, “If you hear the noise of an animal in pain, something has gone terribly wrong.”

3. What’s the best way to placate neighbors who complain?

Make concessions if you can, even if you think their complaint is unjustified. That makes them feel heard. A neighbor of Blume’s was convinced her bees were ruining his barbecues and invading his house. In fact, the troublesome insects were wasps. Nonetheless, Blume mollified him by turning her hive to face away from his yard (bees fly in the direction their door faces).

Distribute the fruits of your labor. “I give people honey and eggs,” says Pallana. “If I have meat, or preserves and pickles, I will share them.”

Or, once your farming is going nicely, invite the neighbors over and give them a tour. Thomas Kriese, creator of the blog Urban Chickens, received complaints about noise when he first got his two birds. “They sing an egg song when they lay an egg. It can be just a couple clucks or a real ‘ca-caw’ that is audible over several yards.” Eventually, people got used to the noise, but visits definitely helped improve neighborly relations, Kriese says. Letting kids pet your chickens or giving them an impromptu lesson about where eggs come from can help placate their parents.

Follow the urban farmer’s code of etiquette and eventually, your neighbors may even come to enjoy pitching in when you’re out of town, says Kriese. “It’s much easier to get a chicken sitter than a dog sitter.”

So I really did mean to write about the Oakland Food Policy Committee. Great group. Good thinkers, visionary and practical with a nice infusion of wit. However, time slipped away and by now I have attended my pig class. Luckily a nice write up was done of the OFPC, click here to read.

OK- about pigs. A good friend and convert to urban farming, Conan, introduced me to TLC Ranch where they “work to raise healthy animals using beyond organic practices, to steward natural resources upon which we [all] depend, and to nourish people with incredible tasting food. [They] work to not only sell you products, but to educate you about animal husbandry practices.”

I pulled into the driveway of one of the TLC locations (apparently there are two) a 28 acre parcel where the farmers, Jim and Rebecca, reside with their child. Stepping out of my car I was greeted by a farm dog and sent a loose flock of chickens scattering. Two large pig pens were within sight. Large sows and a boar (uncastrated male) were lumbering around followed by clusters of colorful piglets.

In the distance was what looked like a well built lean-to with metal tables, a rope and pulley, a large metal drum, and a couple of men- an idyllic staging for what I had driven all the out to Aromas for, a pig slaughter. The two men turned out to be Jim Dunlop, farmer and co-owner of TLC Ranch and Lorin, charcutier and owner of Rib King Barbeque. They were boiling water in the large drum for when we would later dip the pig to remove hair and scurf.

My original purpose in attending the class was in preparation for a boar hunt I am determined to do. Luckily, the set up Jim and Lorin had were using tools that were designed to be portable for hunting, such a the below gambrel and pulley. The set up was surprisingly simple.

The small group attending gathered for introductions. It was a surprising mix of urban and suburban attendees (though this would be a tough activity in a suburban setting. all I have to say about that is lawn furniture).

Jim explained the ages, stages and diet of the pigs. The boar that would be killed and butchered was seven months and had fed on a diet of grain, pumpkins, and other produce. The boar was waiting in a trailer he was accustomed to travel in. The pigs go between farms to be fed different produce so the trailer is a welcome sight to them.

Jim offered the boar a last meal of kiwis and used a .22 caliber rifle pointed at the imaginary X crossing from ears to eyes. Jim shot and the pig was immediately down. No noise, no struggle. I’ll say now, I am posting limited photos of the postmortem pig. It was a solemn event that is by my values to be witnessed if one eats pig, but perhaps not viewed on a public forum.

The next step was to bleed the animal so Jim made a vertical incision just under the chin about 4 inches in length. He then reached through the incision and severed the jugular and carotid veins and inverted the pig. From there we schlepped the carcass to the 50 gallon drum of water at 150F to dunk and scald the outer skin. Lorin added soap to the drum at this stage to rinse the animal.

The scalding took three to five minutes at which point we got to work with bell scrapers to remove the hair (apparently boars are hairier than castrated males) and scurf.

Tough hair and facial hair was shaven off with a straight edged razor. Remaining hair was burned off with a torch.

At this stage the carcass and table were rinsed off and “dressing” begun. I recently watched a hunting education video on field dressing a boar. They had a different method. I am not sure what the benefit is in the way we did it (seemed a bit harder).

However, in both cases, the first thing to do is remove the pizzle. Jim did this to demonstrate that you have to “tease the pizzle” to remove any urine as boars have a strong musk in their urine is persistent and unpleasant if it contaminates the meat. So he grabbed hold and milked the urine out while spraying it away lightly with a garden hose. Once done, with light slices we cut down to the testicles and open the scrotal sac. With this done, an incision was made around the anus to loosen it and the rectum from the carcass.

We next sawed the sternum to access the upper cavity of the carcass. This is an apparently delicate process as you do not want to over exert pressure and cut through abdominal wall. This cut was made to align with the initial incision made along the neck.

Once this was done, the large tendons that run just behind the hind hooves were hooked to the gambrel and the boar was hoisted.

This last step of dressing was to neatly slice open the remaining skin/muscle between the upper and lower cuts made. The method Jim used was more about demonstration than efficiency. The linked field dressing video had a great method of covering the tip of the knife with your finger. Inserting the knife into the cavity and with your finger still over the point cutting along the abdominal cavity from the inside. With this last incision, gravity and light pulling does the rest of the work.

What you have left is a clean carcass with a head. After making a cut to severe the muscle of the head, Brian stepped in to do the last deed of snapping it off.

What we had at this point resembled what you can find at a butcher’s. The last cut for this portion of the class was made in sawing the carcass in two.

The carcass was rinsed. The class washed off and took a lunch break which featured the Rib Kings pulled pork sandwiches. After lunch we started the butchering for culinary use. Since I have covered this topic in my posts on the Poetry and Science of Meat and Pig Butchery, Among Other Things. I will say that in comparing cost of class and gained experience, I found the TLC class worth while since it was hands on. What I did gain from the 18 Reasons class on pig butchery was culinary preparations of the meat cuts (and seeing Morgan Maki in action which was great). We did not have time to discuss that at TLC.

The class was very straight forward, as are both Jim and Lorin. However, if you’d like to read an amazing post on the heritage of a pig preparing ritual, read Linda Colwell’s piece, Pig Kill.

Lets start off with this- keeping livestock is not for the weak at heart. This is true for breeding more than anything as it deals with things vulnerable, cute and tiny. Last weekend, I knew my bunny was pregnant. She was lumbering and taking frequent breaks to pant and lay about. I made sure to put extra straw in her nest box. A doe will kindle (give birth) between 28-31 days. The morning of day 28, I checked. No babies and I noticed no fur lining the nest. In fact, other than having munched on some of the straw I put in, “Lisa” was not making a nest. During pregnancy, a doe grows exta fur which she pulls out and interlaces in nesting material to create a well insulated and very soft nest.

Days 29-31 brought the same result, no babies. Normally rabbits kindle by the 31st day so when I checked that morning I was perplexed. However, sometime between that morning and the next, little Lisa did in fact kindle 8 fully developed kits. Sadly, without a proper nest they were exposed during the long cold night. The result of which was what appeared to be box full of dead kits.This was especially odd as Lisa had cleaned the placenta off of each of them and not harmed them. I thought maybe some were alive and that Lisa would gather her wits so I left them there while I went to work, but even before I left, she hopped around on top of them. Stupid rabbit. On my hurried return from work they appeared to be in the same state of scattered deadness.

Feeling sad and confounded, I called the breeder who provided Virgil and Lisa to find out if Lisa is prone to postpartum psychosis. Apparently, she has a good track record of maternal behavior. I then discussed what I may have done. It seems all the right things were done, with the exception of one suggestion made by the breeder. She’s heard from some of the women who breed rabbits that they take newborn bunnies that appear dead but are just cold and place them in their bras. I did not do this. Even now I am having a hard time imagining having gone to my new office job with a bra full of baby rabbits…likely dead ones. Should this occur again, I will intervene with a hot water bottle. I will also feed Lisa herbs to help bring her milk in. This should prompt her into appropriate action.

The breeder read off the list of litters Lisa’s had in the past and they had a high rate of success. She believes this lapse in maternal instinct uncommon for Lisa and suggested I try again. I will. Little bunny foofoo has three chances.