Thursday, December 26, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Solstice Sale on Facebook!!
We are officially on Facebook now. Check out our page here- https://www.facebook.com/regionalagriculturesupply
It's been fun connecting with everyone from the online community. Good farm marketing during the off-season as well. We have had a lot of great response on our works, coffee, soaps, and the new t-shirts as well. The word spreads quickly through the medium of Facebook, and we're giving thanks.
In honor of the Winter Solstice, and the warm reception from the Facebook community, RAS Farms is going to let go of a few items that have been stashed away in the vault. Over the next few hours, several items will be posted for sale on Facebook. All sales will be first come first served (PAID on Paypal!), and final. The first 3 people to order will also get a small selection of gifts from the vault, such as the original RAS Farms stickers, magnets, and old school flyers with original artwork.
Stay tuned to our Facebook page for details, and please spread the word about our projects.
It's been fun connecting with everyone from the online community. Good farm marketing during the off-season as well. We have had a lot of great response on our works, coffee, soaps, and the new t-shirts as well. The word spreads quickly through the medium of Facebook, and we're giving thanks.
In honor of the Winter Solstice, and the warm reception from the Facebook community, RAS Farms is going to let go of a few items that have been stashed away in the vault. Over the next few hours, several items will be posted for sale on Facebook. All sales will be first come first served (PAID on Paypal!), and final. The first 3 people to order will also get a small selection of gifts from the vault, such as the original RAS Farms stickers, magnets, and old school flyers with original artwork.
Stay tuned to our Facebook page for details, and please spread the word about our projects.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
RAS Farms Holiday Gift Pack 2013
Our Holiday Gift Packs always seem to change with the season (as in seasonal produce). It's a nice way for us to do some home grown marketing, stay connected with our people over the winter, and keep our small farm's cash flow going in the off-season. This year's version includes 1 can of Farmer's Select Batch #4 coffee (the Tafari Espresso), along with the accompanying t-shirt, and 3 soaps for $45 plus shipping if applicable.
You can add a reusable, hemp shopping bag as well to make a complete package..... no wrapping paper resources necessary. Add the bag for $20. www.rasfarms.com is Paypal ready, and we usually ship priority mail.
Please email rasagriculture@yahoo.com for more details.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Special Batch
RAS Farms and Conscious Coffees have brewed up a collaborative run of T-shirts to compliment the release of Farmer's Select Batch #4 coffee- the Tafari Espresso. Like the coffee beans, the sourcing of the t-shirts in this project has been meticulous and thorough. Each shirt is certified organic cotton and certified Fair Trade. The shirts are comfortable and durable as well.
The detail in the shirt includes a slight design difference from the can label, and is pulled off with a very high quality print job. Ras Scott Mosher of Seattle, the designer of all four of the Farmer's Select series thus far, has scaled the heights once again. The printing was done by some new associates, A Small Print Shop in Denver, CO. http://www.asmallprintshop.net/ They took their time, and produced some great work.
Get 'em while their hot. Shirts are available for $25.00 (plus shipping if applicable) directly from RAS Farms online at www.rasfarms.com , or by email- rasagriculture@yahoo.com . Conscious Coffees can be hit up via the web, www.consciouscoffees.com or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/consciouscoffees
The detail in the shirt includes a slight design difference from the can label, and is pulled off with a very high quality print job. Ras Scott Mosher of Seattle, the designer of all four of the Farmer's Select series thus far, has scaled the heights once again. The printing was done by some new associates, A Small Print Shop in Denver, CO. http://www.asmallprintshop.net/ They took their time, and produced some great work.
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| Slate with black print |
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| Print detail- Sage green with earth brown print |
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| Print detail- Slate with black print |
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| Print detail- tonal brown on brown print = straight fiya! |
Get 'em while their hot. Shirts are available for $25.00 (plus shipping if applicable) directly from RAS Farms online at www.rasfarms.com , or by email- rasagriculture@yahoo.com . Conscious Coffees can be hit up via the web, www.consciouscoffees.com or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/consciouscoffees
Thievery, Fraud, Fistfights: The Other Side of Community Gardens
http://modernfarmer.com/2013/12/robbery-drugs-fistfights-dark-side-community-gardening/
We haven't seen to many articles that portray the actual human side of the labor in farming. You till up a little piece of land and you start to build that connection...... country, city..... doesn't matter. Long hours in the hot sun (or pouring rain) can make one tired, grumpy, and a lot more apt to cut romantic notions of food production done to size.
I have to admit that I chuckled (not the thievery part) while reading the article above. I kept thinking that while I haven't seen any full blown brawls at any Farmer's Markets, this article could easily be talking about the gritty side of those events as well.
I also came across this blog posting as well by a farmer in Maine. It's title is "A Bold, Accurate, and Reasonable List". http://thegreenhorns.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/a-bold-accurate-and-reasonable-list/#more-22043 It starts out with a discussion that has been held many different times in our farm fields of Durango and Boulder County. It grabbed me right away.......
"Wendell Berry wrote in Conserving Communities of the need for farmers to stop looking for help where we continually fail to find it. Sadly, in my decade of food work in Maine I have found little direct financial support for farmers, and about zero discussion of improving wages and conditions for farm workers. We won’t get where we wish continuing the centuries old practice of devaluing farm work, pretending a generation of farmers and entrepreneurs can fix everything with low-interest loans. Or treating farm labor as an afterthought and separate from the “good food” movement."
The most poignant paragraph is not the popular opinion, but it's the truth (Holler Jah Tiller!!). No offense to anyone, but..... "A farmer once told me the idea of a “food system” was created by academics and non-profits for funding and job security. She said if farmers had what they needed to produce we would feed the State because that’s what we do."
The Wendell Berry poem that concludes the post is a must read as well.
Forward Ever~
We haven't seen to many articles that portray the actual human side of the labor in farming. You till up a little piece of land and you start to build that connection...... country, city..... doesn't matter. Long hours in the hot sun (or pouring rain) can make one tired, grumpy, and a lot more apt to cut romantic notions of food production done to size.
I have to admit that I chuckled (not the thievery part) while reading the article above. I kept thinking that while I haven't seen any full blown brawls at any Farmer's Markets, this article could easily be talking about the gritty side of those events as well.
I also came across this blog posting as well by a farmer in Maine. It's title is "A Bold, Accurate, and Reasonable List". http://thegreenhorns.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/a-bold-accurate-and-reasonable-list/#more-22043 It starts out with a discussion that has been held many different times in our farm fields of Durango and Boulder County. It grabbed me right away.......
"Wendell Berry wrote in Conserving Communities of the need for farmers to stop looking for help where we continually fail to find it. Sadly, in my decade of food work in Maine I have found little direct financial support for farmers, and about zero discussion of improving wages and conditions for farm workers. We won’t get where we wish continuing the centuries old practice of devaluing farm work, pretending a generation of farmers and entrepreneurs can fix everything with low-interest loans. Or treating farm labor as an afterthought and separate from the “good food” movement."
The most poignant paragraph is not the popular opinion, but it's the truth (Holler Jah Tiller!!). No offense to anyone, but..... "A farmer once told me the idea of a “food system” was created by academics and non-profits for funding and job security. She said if farmers had what they needed to produce we would feed the State because that’s what we do."
The Wendell Berry poem that concludes the post is a must read as well.
Forward Ever~
Friday, December 6, 2013
Last field work of the season.
We finished getting the garlic planted before the REALLY cold weather set in. Big up to bro Chris for helping get some cloves in the ground..... La Plata..... Siberian...... Music........Spanish Roja!!! Foundation planted for next season.
Cold weather........ drinking coffee
Conscious Coffees is CRUSHING it on this season's Ethiopian coffees. Been drinking the Tafari Espresso, and picked up some Unwashed Yirgacheffe at The Cup in Boulder. Both coffees are some of the best I've ever had. Berrylicious.......
Monday, November 4, 2013
How Sustainable Agriculture Helps the World's Poorest Farmers
Here's an interesting article. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anita-casalina/sustainable-agriculture_b_4172113.html?utm_hp_ref=food-for-thought
What sticks out for me is that the plan for agricultural self-reliance involves a move away from trying to produce commodity crops on a small land base. A mixture of crops (polyculture) not only produces a greater yield per hectare than monocropping; the system also promotes nutritional stability, better resource usage, and builds a more resilient agricultural system due to an increase in biodiversity (Altieri, 1987).
Think in terms of coffee (one commodity crop that hits home for many of us). A farmer trying to produce coffee at world commodity prices off 2.5 hectares against bigger operations (producing for the commodity market) will never get ahead. In this case (coffee), it does indeed make sense, and traditional agroecosystems allow for a greater mixture of crops to help the farmer develop a more sustainable system. Growing some food crops in the family garden, or intercropped with the coffee will certainly allow folks to get on the path towards self-sufficiency.
I feel that it is also important to point out that this "biodiversity" was a concept that was a component of the ethnobotanical knowledge of many cultures around the globe. Biodiversity is key to healthy ecosystems.
This point is illustrated by Gary Nabhan in another recent article "Seeds on seeds on seeds: Why more biodiversity means more food security". http://grist.org/food/seeds-on-seeds-on-seeds-why-more-biodiversity-means-more-food-security/ "Why? Because such food biodiversity may be the most prudent “bet-hedging” strategy for dealing with food insecurity and climate uncertainty".
To bring everything full circle........ Nabhan has also written a new book called "Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land: Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty". In the book Nabhan points out the strategies and lessons from traditional farmers the world over that might be the basis of how we adapt to an ever changing world. The techniques and vision put forth in the book can be the foundation of improving food security.
Coincidentally, Nabhan will be presenting at the Boulder Bioneers Conference. It would not be a waste of time for people to show up!!! Schedule for the event is here http://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/bioneers.
What sticks out for me is that the plan for agricultural self-reliance involves a move away from trying to produce commodity crops on a small land base. A mixture of crops (polyculture) not only produces a greater yield per hectare than monocropping; the system also promotes nutritional stability, better resource usage, and builds a more resilient agricultural system due to an increase in biodiversity (Altieri, 1987).
Think in terms of coffee (one commodity crop that hits home for many of us). A farmer trying to produce coffee at world commodity prices off 2.5 hectares against bigger operations (producing for the commodity market) will never get ahead. In this case (coffee), it does indeed make sense, and traditional agroecosystems allow for a greater mixture of crops to help the farmer develop a more sustainable system. Growing some food crops in the family garden, or intercropped with the coffee will certainly allow folks to get on the path towards self-sufficiency.
I feel that it is also important to point out that this "biodiversity" was a concept that was a component of the ethnobotanical knowledge of many cultures around the globe. Biodiversity is key to healthy ecosystems.
This point is illustrated by Gary Nabhan in another recent article "Seeds on seeds on seeds: Why more biodiversity means more food security". http://grist.org/food/seeds-on-seeds-on-seeds-why-more-biodiversity-means-more-food-security/ "Why? Because such food biodiversity may be the most prudent “bet-hedging” strategy for dealing with food insecurity and climate uncertainty".
To bring everything full circle........ Nabhan has also written a new book called "Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land: Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty". In the book Nabhan points out the strategies and lessons from traditional farmers the world over that might be the basis of how we adapt to an ever changing world. The techniques and vision put forth in the book can be the foundation of improving food security.
Coincidentally, Nabhan will be presenting at the Boulder Bioneers Conference. It would not be a waste of time for people to show up!!! Schedule for the event is here http://www.colorado.edu/ecenter/bioneers.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Farmer's Select Batch #4
R.A.S. Farms and Conscious Coffees have teamed up once again for their annual release of Ethiopian Coffee. Batch #4 is Tafari: a medium roasted espresso from the Southern state of Sidama, grown and harvested by small-holder coffee producers organized into local cooperatives. The coffee has classic Ethiopian berry notes throughout and lots of cocoa flavors. Although developed as a semi-bright espresso, all brewing methods work well.
“With respect, this blend of washed and un-washed Sidama coffees is named in honor of Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. To this day, his name represents a way of life for many people around the globe who maintain a strong commonality and union. Two coffees, One Love.”
Farmer’s Select Batch #4 comes in a reusable, recyclable, and collectable steel can, with a limited edition label. Cans of Batch #4 are available directly from R.A.S Farms online at www.rasfarms.com or by emailing rasagriculture@yahoo.com for additional information and ordering. TAFARI is also the house espresso at Innisfree Poetry Bookstore and Café, 1203 13th St. Suite A, in Boulder, Colorado.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
Marley Coffee Mixer- images from the event
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| The gates.... |
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| Mural on inside. |
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| Images along the patio space. |
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| Regional Agriculture Supply. Like Minded Productions. |
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| turntables |
Pictures from the Marley Coffee Mixer last Wednesday.
1 love~
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Mother Nature Strikes Back
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| This big cottonwood fell on the Johnson's house!!! |
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| Root ball |
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| This tree fell on the edge of the farm field. |
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| Even the outhouse got hammered. |
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| Close up of chard showing hail damage. |
Man....... what a season. This year has been very challenging. Max (the best intern ever!) and I had almost finished sinking all of our winter squash transplants, then this. I was finally starting to feel caught up from all of the late snow/ rain from March and April. This is the other side of farming..... you can be having a great season then something like this happens, and all of your work can be gone in 5 minutes!
We'll pull through. Some crops were destroyed, but some will grow through the hail damage. That's why we diversify on the small farm. We'll always get something....... and we are thankful for that!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
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