Announcing: Veganic CSA from Animal Place!

Animal Place’s Veggie Box!
Pre-order/reserve your weekly produce box today!

Share the harvest this season with Animal Place’s veganic farm! Join the only veganic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in Sacramento and Nevada County, California. All proceeds directly benefit the rescue, care and advocacy for farmed animals at Animal Place.

What it is: Members receive a weekly box of fresh produce grown at Animal Place’s 2.8-acre vegan farm located in Grass Valley, California.

Also included in the CSA membership is a weekly newsletter with updates from the farm, what’s in the box and vegan recipes. Members will be invited to an annual member celebration day in the fall and are encouraged to visit Animal Place throughout the year during our open hours.

Why veganic agriculture: Most farms (organic and conventional) use by-products of animal farming, including blood meal, bone meal, fish emulsion, feather meal, and manure. At Animal Place, we honor the animal residents and nonhumans everywhere by not using their bodies and excrement to grow food. Our growing practices are 100% plant-based, organic*, and compassionate.

Our farm serves as a working model for farming without using animal by-products and furthers our mission to end animal suffering while living more compassionately.

How it works: Each week, we harvest seasonal fresh vegetables and herbs from our farm for our members. The season runs for 22 weeks from late May/early June through October. Exact dates are dependent on the weather. Members may sign up at any time for a pro-rated amount, but space is limited.

Members near Grass Valley can choose to pick-up their weekly box at Animal Place sanctuary on Wednesdays. If you choose to pick-up at Animal Place, a weekly box is $25 ($550 for all 22 weeks).

For members in Sacramento, a weekly box is $27 ($594 for all 22 weeks). Pick-up is from 4 to 7pm on Wednesdays, at Sacramento Grange Hall, 3830 U St.**

Payment can be made in full by March 31, or in two installments due March 31 and August 1.  We accept payment by check or credit card.  Members who pay in full by March 31 receive a 5% discount. For more information on payment schedules, please see our FAQ.

We grow a diverse selection of crops, providing you with an ample variety of healthy food in your diet. Our one-size box will be at least 2/3 full, about the equivalent of a full brown grocery bag, with around 6 to 10 different items.

A typical spring box includes: arugula, beets, carrots, green onions, lettuce, radishes, carrots and peas. Summer brings on the tasty tomatoes, along with summer squash, cucumbers, eggplant, bell peppers, potatoes, honeydew melons and green beans. In the fall, you can expect to enjoy butternut squash, yellow onions, kale and all of the fixings for a hearty vegan soup.

Farmers Steph & Greg

To sign up or learn more: contact Steph Litus
Visit our farm on facebook: Grow It Kindly
Animal Place website: www.animalplace.org

*Animal Place is in the process of attaining organic certification.
** If this time is inconvenient, please let us know. We may be able to accommodate!

 

Q&A: Tofu left-overs feed the soil

Question from Shlomy Goldman in Cranston, Rhode Island:

I’m inspired by what you guys are doing. I’m growing my first garden ever this season (I’m on the east coast) and I’m doing it veganic! I brought in some leaf mold compost which I put on top of turned sod to start my garden. I think the compost is a bit carbon rich. I’ve already got a mixture of vegetables beginning to grow. Can you make a recommendation on amendments I should add? I am about to start making my own tofu. would the okara, the left over pulp from making soymilk be nitrogen rich? Is okara different from soybean meal? how would I use it for the crops? Any other suggestions?

Answer by Greg Litus, Animal Place horticulturist:

I had assumed that the leftovers from tofu manufacturing would be depleted of proteins and most other minerals.  However, that isn’t the case. In a study about the various uses of okara published by the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Characteristics and Use of Okara, the Soybean Residue from Soy Milk Production, the okara was found to be high in crude fibers but also contains 25% protein and other minerals as described in the article.  The one thing missing from the article is okara’s potential as fertilizer.

Okara would be useful as a fertilizer in the same way that your leaf mold compost is a good soil amendment.   All organic rich soil amendments depend on healthy soil microbial activity to break down the carbon.  That process takes time and can initially cause a reduction in available nutrients to plants as the soil microbes sequester those nutrients.  For that reason it is usually best to apply amendments like okara a few weeks to months before it is time to plant.   That time period allows microbial action to take organic forms of nitrogen and phosphorous and make those nutrients available to the plant in an inorganic or mineralized form.

In the case of nitrogen, microbial activity will eventually cause slow denitrification while excess water will leach some nitrogen out of the root zone.  Therefore, more nitrogen needs to added depending on the rate of loss.  That can be achieved by growing green manures such as legumes (beans and peas) that have a symbiosis with bacteria that actually fix nitrogen into the soil from the atmosphere.  When those crops are turned into the soil, the process of mineralization and denitrification starts all over again.  In lieu of the green manures many of us just add compost or other plant-based amendments such as leaf mold compost, alfalfa or okara.  These plant-based amendments will also add other nutrients like phosphorous that will not be lost to the atmosphere but have their own specific cycles in the soil/plant environment.  The best gardens are ones that develop good fertility over time such that new additions of compost and other amendments replace the elements lost through harvest.

Even when focusing on long-term soil development, there are times when we get it wrong and the plants starve because we intercepted the soil nutrient cycles at the wrong time.  In those cases, readily available nutrients must be added to the soil to assure good plant growth.  At our micro-farm we keep alfalfa tea brewing for that purpose.  We also use very small amounts of synthetic fertilizers occasionally.   One teaspoon of 10-10-10 goes a long way on young seedlings.  When small amounts of synthetic fertilizer are applied to soils rich in organic matter and healthy microbial activity the whole system is enhanced.  The negative side of synthetic fertilizer is obvious but when directly compared to blood and bone meals and fish emulsions the synthetic fertilizers have less environmental impact.

Like you, we have a strategy for long-term soil fertility that will eventually eliminate need for any emergency inputs.  FYI we add soybean meal directly to the soil and take all other plant waste from the field and kitchen directly to the compost heap.

For those able to travel to Grass Valley, Greg will be giving a free introductory course on veganic farming at Animal Place on Tuesday, June 5, 6:30-8:30pm.

Growing Food and Breaking Hearts

As a new activist, I am still experimenting with how to most effectively speak up for animals.  I recently learned, secondhand, that my remarks about [the journey of] going vegan were perceived as chastising.  This was not my intent, and clearly, I need to work on refining my message.  If only I’d begun all of this sooner.

A dozen years ago, I hosted a dinner party for a circle of friends and one apologetic vegetarian.  Annoyed that the latter had messed up the evening’s menu, I remember muttering to my then-partner, “I could never date a vegetarian”.  How does one go from staunch omnivore to vegan activist?  It didn’t happen with the snap of fingers.  But it could have.

As I learned more about nutrition, I made small adjustments to my diet over the decade that followed.  No red meat.  Less dairy.  Cage-free eggs.  Organic.  Local.  When I heard reports about the environmental destruction caused by animal agriculture, I may have even patted myself on the back; after all, I wasn’t eating cheeseburgers anymore.

It wasn’t until I attended a passionate speech by activist Colleen Patrick-Goudreau in 2009 that I took a hard look at the torture I was putting on my fork.  She spoke of the rape and slavery of dairy cows, the cruelty of egg production, the purging of our oceans and other horrific truths about eating animals.  With great skill, she told the hard-line truth.  It broke my heart enough to also break down all of my defenses.  In a snap, I went vegan.

The truth about animal agriculture hurts, and most people don’t want to accept it.  We get defensive about our past and present actions. It is less painful to buy into the message from

Douglas and Linus, two male “discards” from the dairy industry, were bottle-fed in the barn and pasture beside the micro-farm.

popular authors like Michael Pollan; it’s OK to kill animals and the planet, as long as you don’t do it too often.  Even better if it’s local. Attached as we are to the prevalent culture and comforts of certain foods, we resist making changes that may seem overwhelming.  We don’t know how to prepare vegan food.  Many people worry about protein.  We imagine the awkwardness that our new veganism may inspire in social situations.

There are so many excuses for not doing the right thing.  For this reason, I believe that it usually takes more than opening someone’s mind.  In my own personal experience, an open mind put me on the path of baby steps for a decade.  In order to make urgent, meaningful and necessary change, a heart must break.  I wish that I had crossed paths with a hard-line, truth-telling activist earlier.

The talented and eloquent Colleen reaches audiences nation-wide through public speaking, podcasts, articles, and most famously through her beautiful cookbooks, such as The Vegan Table and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge.  At Animal Place, my internship in the veganic micro-farm gives me the opportunity to be truthful with volunteers, visitors and people in the community who are curious about what I am doing.  This is my venue to – as best as I can – speak up for animals.

Our model farm is not isolated from the rest of the sanctuary.  One can see and hear the animals while tending to the tomatoes, and it is important to relate the stark differences in our cruelty-free farming practices in contrast to how food is produced in animal-based systems.  Most not-yet-vegan inquiries are polite.  When others respond defensively or not at all, uneasiness hangs heavy in the air.  Now what?  Well, at least they will leave with that dis-ease in their minds, and perhaps that feeling will sink down into their heart someday.  Perhaps this is better, even, than polite.

I’ve yet to break any hearts, but I’ll keep on trying.

Of Carrots and Compassion

Whole foods. Urban gardening. DIY. Ethical eating. Self-sufficiency. As these worthy ideals gain ground in the mainstream, interest in the micro-farm at Animal Place grows among supporters and green thumb wannabes alike. It is the visitor who comes to play in the soil as a volunteer, or to buy our farm fresh produce (someday), that gives us a new channel for the vegan message: they come for the carrots, we tell them about how they were grown with compassion.

Americorps volunteers plant broccoli in the micro-farm

Last week, we gratefully hosted a community service project for a crew of six young women and men from Americorps. With a work-ethic honed from months of physical work in the outdoors, they buzzed around the field with hoes, rakes and wheelbarrows. After all the seedlings were transplanted and watered in, we toured the sanctuary together. They met the Turlock hens. They tickled Ivan. Fingers sunk into Aiden’s woolly coat for a scratch. Douglas got friendly and licked one of the volunteers. They asked thoughtful questions. We discussed the trifecta of why people go vegan; for their health, for the environment, and out of compassion for all beings.

But what about poor people?  In this group of enlistees who have committed 10 months of their lives to making positive change, one young woman from Seattle pondered aloud about the inaccessibility of veganism for disadvantaged populations.  Veganism, she said, is a privilege for the middle class and above.  It is easy to see how this perception could take hold in the USA, where the high quality foods at hip vegan restaurants command a decent penny.  Rice, beans, and veggies may be inexpensive to cook, but the processed meat and dairy alternatives certainly cost more at the check-out than the subsidized cow.

In the country where she lives and serves, she may have a point.

In a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) that compared vegetarianism by nation, results indicated that “in countries where GDP is relatively low, people are vegetarians due to necessity”.  The hungry in Africa, for example, may choose plant-based foods because it is a less costly diet.  In most parts of the world, vegetarianism is the diet of choice for people with limited means.   As those people become more affluent, they then choose to add meat to their diet.  This diet brings negative health issues, wastes natural resources, and, in turn, contributes to the poverty of the people left behind.  It is a terrible cycle.  In the United States, our poor suffer more from obesity and diabetes, eating at KFC or McDonald’s because there is little choice in the “food desert” where they live.

Food choices can be complex – income, education, culture, accessibility, willingness to change –  and one only needs to visit the Food Empowerment Project website to learn about the myriad of injustices that punish humans, society, animals and nature every minute of every day.     We could go on to further study and debate the why’s of vegetarianism here and there, for the poor and the rich, and we would learn much in doing so.  Our concern for the poor may make it difficult to accept that our meat consumption in rich countries is causing more deprivation for the hungry, as we devastate their land to grow grain; we pollute their water, deforest their trees and deplete their soils to feed not them, but meat animals.  Meanwhile, the poor in the US live in the aforementioned food deserts, or perhaps suffer from asthma caused by a neighboring factory farm.

Are you reading this as a middle- or upper-class person, wanting to make positive change?  With compassion for the poor?  With compassion for animals?   If any of these apply to you, you don’t have the privilege of veganism.  You have the duty of veganism and for activism, and for making veganism more accessible to those in need.

Please support the Food Empowerment Project in their fight for food justice for all.

Please support the Animal Place micro-farm, in our quest to grow food ethically, inspire compassion and educate eaters and fellow farmers.

Please support the world’s poor…go vegan!

Do the best you can…

“Do the best you can in the place that you are, and be kind.”  - Scott Nearing

Helen and Scott Nearing’s “Living the Good Life: How to Live Sanely and Simply in a Troubled Word”, inspired me to change my life.  Fleeing a Depression-ridden New York City in 1932, the intellectual Nearings created the ultimate DIY project in rural Vermont; they created a small maple sugar business on their hand-built homestead, grew their own food using mindful farming techniques, and promoted peace in their community and all over the world with their books and public speaking engagements.  They inspired thousands in a back-to-the-land movement that began in the 60s and has resurged today with the small organic farms that are popping up seemingly everywhere, including our backyard micro-farm at Animal Place.

The book that inspired me to take up veganic farming and live more simply.

Scott was labeled a radical not only for his activism for peace, but for his outspoken opposition to the child labor that was rampant in his time.  In the spirit of my hero, a fellow vegetarian, I propose something equally incredulous in our time:  let’s put an end to the rampant slavery of animals, who, like children, cannot defend themselves from whatever cruelty we impose.

But I’m already vegan.  What about the farmers?  Are they doing their best?

Eat local.  Eat vegetables.  From popular books like the Omnivore’s Dilemma, and blockbusters like Food, Inc., consumers know what they are supposed to do, though I think both of these resources underestimate what our “best” could be.  If you haven’t gone vegan yet, there are plenty of educational materials to help you on your journey, and I hope that you begin today.  Check out the totally accessible 30-day Vegan Challenge from Oakland’s darling Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.  Do your best…for you, for the planet, and for all beings on this planet.

Even if you are already vegan, more than likely there are feathers, bones, blood and other animal atrocities in your kale, turnips and tomatoes.  Whether you buy your organic produce from Whole Foods, the local co-op or farmer’s markets, there are dead animals in the compost, fertilizer and potting mixes used to grow those seemingly kind foods.

Attending a soil class at a local, organic supply store – the popular Peaceful Valley Garden Supply, to name names – the educator told our group of young organic farmers that bat guano was not sustainable and no good farmer should ever use it.  In the next breath, she turned our attention to the store catalog for her all-time favorite fertilizer: fish emulsion.  In her opinion, it’s sustainable to use (and make a profit from) the byproducts of the diabolical fishing industry, even if it ravages our oceans in the process.  This is how the next generation of farmers that will grow your fruits and vegetables are being educated.

In simple terms, three of the most important nutrients that plants need to grow are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, or N-P-K.  While most organic farmers feed their soils with animal products, there are kinder, more sustainable products and methods that provide these ingredients which do not enslave animals or destroy aquatic life.  The North American Vegetarian Society’s article about plant-based agriculture gives a great introductory to veganic farming.  For the nitty gritty details, I’ve just started reading Iain Tollhurst’s Growing Green about stock-free farming in the UK using green manures and crop rotation.

Our mission at the Animal Place micro-farm is to create a successful and sustainable farm using only plant-based inputs.  This will serve as a model for other farmers, most importantly our neighbors who are using and promoting the use of animal products.

But I’m not a farmer.  What more can I do?

It downright sucks that there are so few options for us when it comes to buying stock-free produce.  Like Scott says, just do the best you can in the place that you are:

• Ask the growers at your farmer’s market to offer stock-free products.  You may have to educate them about what this means to you and our planet.
• Tell the hobby gardeners in your social circle to use plant-based amendments and techniques; Google “veganic farming”.
• Help us establish our veganic farm at Animal Place through volunteering or donation.  Or, though few in number, support a veganic farm near you.
• and be kind.

And on this farm he had a goat.

Gilbert, the goat.

This week, in my new world of vegetable farming, I’ve had three experiences with or about goats.

Compost

“I dig a trench [in the compost pile] and fill it will hooves, stomachs, offal.  Cover it up, and in one week’s time you’d never know it was there”.

I have recently gotten involved with a network of local farmers that provide training and mentorship to apprentices and interns like me.  While grateful for the opportunity to learn, for free, from folks who are donating their time and energy to train the next generation of vegetable farmers, it comes at the price of heartbreak in this cult of omnivores.  In what would seem like an innocent “Intro to Compost” class, the instructing farmer spoke offhandedly about his mass grave of animals as if he was recycling old newspapers.

This grave of stomachs sunk my own belly down into a pit of sadness.  Why kill innocent, sentient beings when plant-based composting is just as effective, and a whole lot less cruel?  Read about how to create your cruelty-free compost heap on the Vegan Organic Network.

Weed Control

Carmen is not a goat, but she, too, was kept as a weed eater.

I’ve also been interning 1-2 days per week at the aptly named Sweet Roots Farm, where two sweet young farmers named Deena and Robbie are in their second year of organic vegetable farming.  It’s not a veganic farm, i.e. there is animal manure in their compost, and while those conditions are not ideal for me, they are tolerable for me in this work-learn relationship.  This week, as we propagated veggie and flower seeds in the greenhouse, we chatted about weed control.  I’ve been conflicted with our use of plastic weed barrier at Animal Place, and looking for other manageable ways to suppress these crop killers on a larger scale.  For vegetable beds, we spoke of the importance of soil cultivation and timely tilling, cover crops, and other carefully planned techniques that could minimize the manual labor (or use of plastic) over time.

And then, the goats.  I wondered, inwardly, about their cheerful idea to keep pet goats on the property to eat up the thistle weeds and invasive blackberries along their babbling brook.  Was this just another form of animal slavery and would I be able to continue my internship in that setting?  I did some research…

According to the Puget Sound Goat Rescue, goats not only like these weeds, but need them in their diet to be healthy.  Animal Care Manager Jamie London at Animal Place backed this up with, “Goats LOVE blackberries, they’ll take them right out of your hand!”  It’s a relief to me to think that my new teachers at Sweet Roots could cultivate a caring, symbiotic relationship with their companion animals.  Over at Animal Place, I’ve fallen in love with Carmen, a tri-pod lamb who was rescued from neglect in a pasture where she, like so many goats, was kept merely to mow down unwanted vegetation.

Compassion

8pm, Wednesday, March 14, 2012.  I was putting the finishing touches on our late meal of baked potatoes and lentils when my boyfriend Greg radioed me to put on all my rain gear, bring the headlamps, and meet him at the Animal Care Room to help with an emergency.  One of the old-timer goats, Gilbert, had been acting strangely; he would not follow his herd into the barn at bedtime, and was standing obstinately in the pasture, drenched and grinding his teeth in distress.  It took three of us to urge Gilbert into his bed of straw in the trailer, pushing and pulling and coaxing.  With empty bellies and pounding hearts, Greg and I jumped into the truck’s cab and zoomed off to the vet hospital at UC Davis for emergency care.

Temporarily blinded by what turned out to be a urinary blockage that is common in castrated male goats, Gilbert lay shaking on a cold metal examination table while a fourth year student shaved his abdomen for an ultrasound.  A people-shy goat by nature, I imagine that the touch of multiple human hands on his body, in addition to the loss of eyesight and physical pain he must have been feeling, was hugely traumatic for Gilbert.  The tickle of the ultrasound device sent him thrashing into Greg’s arms on the floor.  We stayed for a little while longer – not really much help to the skilled vets, but unable to tear ourselves away from this critter, so clearly experiencing physical pain and strong emotions.

We’re not sure that Gilbert will survive, but at least he was able to live a peaceful life at Animal Place.  Read more about Gilbert’s life as a peacemaking and curious goat on Animal Place’s website.

photos by Marji Beach, Animal Place