Bishop's Homegrown Produce/Face Of The Earth Seed

An idea to bring something special back to pekin....

2012-01-30T18:11:00.000-08:00

Some of you may not know but my hometown Pekin Indiana is well known for one thing; hosting the longest consecutive running 4'th of July celebration! It's something I am immensley proud of (along with much of the other local history of the area) and something that anyone else in Pekin or Washington County should be proud of. Unfortunately for the entirity of my lifetime the celebration has been on a downhill slide (minus the awesome Guiness world record breaking spoon playing of Pekin native Steve Tankersly at this past years celebration) and has moved away from anything which for the most part represents the town, the culture and least of all the history.

In the past several years short of a prince and princess and king and queen contest the celebration has failed to celebrate what makes this town unique, sinking down to having a small midway, cheap Chineese made crap trinkets, and a flea market. To me this is unacceptable. As well far too much money has been spent on far little.

Fortunately this year I decided to get involved and contribute some ideas. I don't expect all of my ideas to necessarily be well accepted and nor do I believe my ideas will change the festival in a single year, but you have to start somewhere. The biggest hurdle likely will be getting others in my age group involved in the festival (well that and the fact that the deed to the park includes a covenant against alcohol on the premises).

Ultimately, it all seems to be working out for the better as the Pekin Betterment (this is the organization, independent of the town, responsible for the festival) welcomed me in with open arms and they seem to be aware that new blood is needed and things need to change. Part of this is likely due to the deep deficit they have ran in recent years hiring in outside musical acts and over priced midway equipment.

Some of the valid points I have tried to bring to the table include:
-Why do we pay musicians and entertainment from out of town that are not related to our culture or history in any way and serve only to cheapen the event. Moreover, why do we pay at all, if this festival was where it needed to be it would be a privelage for these folks to play at the event.
-Why do we not have historical re-enactments including demonstrators as well as revolutionary and union and confederate troops on hand
-Why do we need a midway when we could instead bring the community together and make it a more memorable event for all involved by having childrens games such as sack races, cornhole, watermelon eating contests, exct as well as sports based contests with community teams.
-Why do we have a flea market that is litterally on the leading edge of the festival where it can be seen by all who pull up. It looks bad on the town and the culture.
-Why is it reffered to as "Pekin Park" when it was deeded as "Gills Grove" to the betterment/town and should be billed as such in honor of the family who donated it.

Luckily, for the most part these folks have been highly receptive to my thoughts and ideas. Part of this I believe is due to the fact that I am part of the new Washington County Artisans and Farmers project that is bringing a new market and commerce into the town and particularly the park. In fact, they have gone way out of their way to offer the new market a spot on the Saturday of the celebration for a way discounted price in order to allow the market to set up during the busiest time in the town. This is something that prior to my joining we were told was off limits and I've been told that we are given this chance so that eventually with can replace the flea market with something totally new, unique, and authentic! I am beyond excited about this

When I brought up the games, they were very interested in my ideas as well. I will follow up on that soon enough.

But most excitingly of all, when I pointed out to them how far the festival had fallen in terms of most of the town avoiding it up until last year when the local spoon player broke a world record and brought the community together again, they agreed and realize they need that "feeling" consistently from year to year and gave me permission to move forward with an idea for the mainstage for this year, so here I present it to you, my faithfull blogger and homegrown audience for review and commentary.

Before reading, here is a bit of history about a subject mentioned. The Pekin Panther is a local legend that has been bandied about for well over 100 years. Cougars are native to Indiana and were once common here although common knowledge dictates that they are all gone from the area (despite constant sightings in neighboring Illinois and recently Indiana). From time to time you will hear folks bring up this living legend as well as sightings therof. Buster Crockett was the town barber at one point, this automatically makes him the center of many past "liars circles" likely many that included Panther stories. Think of him as a modern day Floyd the Barber.

At the moment this is simply a rough concept of an event that will be held at the 2012 Pekin Indiana 4'th of July Celebration. To better cater the event to the town and community at large this page will stand as a way to solicit ideas for this contest as well as to form ...a committee who will help see this event to fruition. If you would like to serve on the committe which will entail helping work out details as well as judging and signing up participants or if you would be interested in participating please e-mail Alan Bishop at bishopshomegrown@gmail.com or call 812-967-2073.

The Ol' Liars Club
2012 Pekin Indiana 4'th Of July Celebration
A celebration of the long held small town tradition of stretching the truth to it's breaking point without cracking a smile!
By : Alan Reed Bishop

Every small town business establishment has one. It's not even discrete, in fact, if you walk into a locally owned resteraunt, caffee, gas station, barber shop, local tavern, or any other institution which actively fosters socialization, you are likely to wonder what all that ruckus over in the corner is about. It's the local Liars club, usually a group of older fellows sharing stories of bygone eras and conquests which may or may not be grounded in some amount of truth.

Often these clubs turn into events of their own, a reminder of our culture, a reminder of what having "character" is all about. Local legends are born this way. Pekin Panthers, 500 lb watermelons and fourty foot Tall mushrooms notwithstanding, it is through these stories that any local "everyman" can become something of a local institution. The best examples are the stories from which you can't seperate the milk from the cream or the lie from the truth, even better are those instances where one mans bending of the truth becomes a full on group effort with each of the participants taking their turn greasing the axels of what constitutes "truth".

We would like to see this local institution celebrated. Particularly in the year when Buster Crockett is being celebrated. Mr. Crockett surely participated and or overheard more than his far share of these circles in his days cutting the hair of some of the best lia...storytellers in the town.

Some may wonder why one would want to celebrate something as devious as a lie, it's quite simple really, it's entertaining and it keeps one on their toes, oftent the lie is told in front of a newcomer to see just how quick on his toes he/she truly is, this is often a sign of being invited into the community and an assurance that next time the joke won't be on you.

The idea:

Part one:

Do you have a story to tell, can you stretch the truth in a believable way? Can you do so without cracking a smile? If you can and you can do so in 15 minuites or less come and visit us at the festival. Tell the town your story and make whatever embelishments (family friendly) you can. The more mundane the story begins and the more exuberently it is skewed the better. At the end of the day we will pick ten "storytellers" to put on stage the next day. Props and audience participation will be encouraged!

Part two:
The next day we will put the ten winners on stage in a circle with Buster Crockett presiding as he would have in the days of his barber shop. The ten contestants will be encouraged to begin a dialoge, based on the local legend of the Pekin Panther, from there they will collaboratively craft a story for the audience based on local townsfolk and should be encouraged to use the names of townsfolk as they craft the story. Our special invited guest on stage at this time will be Steve Tankersly, in honor of his gift to our town via his world record breaking spoon playing at last years celebration.

The Rest:

We will actively seek the help of Traditional Arts Indiana or any other interested parties in recording the event for posterity.

Prizes:

I'm still not sure how to handle this part, perhaps a "key that opens any door in the town" would be a nice sybolic prize as it could be used in future contests as part of a story. I could possibly also work with Washington County Artisans and Farmers on a gift certificate.

New tobacco lath display racks available.

2012-01-29T17:05:00.000-08:00

Soap Drying Dish of Tobacco Lath. 4.50 each.

Soap Racks 25.00 each

Chapstick Rack 40.00 Each

We've been making a lot of new tobacco lath items lately, mostly in the form of various display racks including seed racks, soap racks, and chapstick display racks. I thought I would include a few photos here. If your interested in purchasing some let us know.

As well, we also have some new Face Of The Earth 9 Variety seed racks (five packs each) avalable for sale for 150.00. Seed rack included (you can see one of these on the very end of the market table below)

Above you can see our table from our recent farmers market event. Upfront is the four rail chapstick rack. It's made completely of tobacco lath and has a full back. There is also an area that's empty in the front for displaying either salves/creams/soap exct. These are 40.00 each. Directly behind this and to each side are our soap racks, these are 15 inches by 15 inches and fold down flat, they also have legs bolted on with wingnuts to tighten down. 25.00 each.

Another picture of the previously mentioned. ON the far end of the table you can (barely) see the seed rack. The seed rack is 10 x 10 inches with 9 seed compartments. 100% made of tobacco lath and all seeds are Face Of The Earth produced and grown. Seed includes: Paradigm Red Tomato Landrace, Prometheus Yellow Tomato Landrace, Phoenix Pink Tomato Landrace, Landrace Cucumber, Landrace Moschata Squash, El Diablo Tobacco, Aunt Nellies Mushroom Bean, Rattlesnake Bean, Astronomy Domine Sweet Corn, GNR Okra Grex.

We can and do also make other custom display Racks, just let us know what you want and we will quote you a price. E-mail: bishopshomegrown@gmail.com or call 812-967-2073

Your Friendly Neighborhood Artisans and Farmers Market.......

2012-01-29T16:53:00.000-08:00

A couple pictures of the Bishop's Homegrown/Uncle Penn's/Face Of The Earth Seed Co stand prior to opening of the market!

This past Saturday our new Washington County and Artisans Market had the privelage of hosting our third ever winter market (with the much appreciated assistance of The Salem Indiana American Legion) in Salem Indiana at the American Legion Bingo Hall in Salem Indiana. This was a big, actually huge, step for our organization as it was the largest event we have yet put together as well as our first independent event and the first yet in neighboring Salem Indiana.

We had about 21 vendors turn out for the event which was held in what had previously been a town grocery store. Everyone was in good spirits and there was a general feeling of excitement in the air as what is slowly becoming a community event unfolded in front of everyone . The melding of music with the exchange of money for locally produced and grown goods and the smell and taste of soup and sandwhiches (provided as a benefit to the market by board members) created a wonderful atmosphere which really brought forth what a market is all about.

Despite the event being held in late January there was some produce at this market as our new vendors R and D Aquaphonics were kind enough to bring along some hydrophonically grown greens and Joanne Jackson reminded us spring was around the corner with her beuatiful and flowering perrinial plants. .

If this is anything representative of what this new market is capable of I would say Washington County is in for a big treat this coming summer at our main market location at the Pekin Park in Pekin Indiana (also known as Gill's Grove). Big things are on the horizon and I for one am beyond proud to have been a part of it both as a board member and as a vendor!

Sustainability awareness in Washington County...perhaps it's getting through.

2012-01-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

The past seven months have been fairly busy for me between working on the farm and adding a lot of new projects to the business as well as working on community projects. All of these things have definitely contributed to my lack of presence here on the blog and at Homegrown Goodness but those sacrifices have been well worthwhile considering the payoffs.

I've heard more locally in common everday conversations and political conversations about sustainability in the "status quo" as well as in TEOTWAWKI situations that I ever have in the past. Conversations which might lead to bigger projects for the local community in the future but which are leading to fairly paradigm shifting moments in the present. Hell, I even spoke in front of the Washington County Chamber Of Commerce about plant breeding and sustainability this year and ran head first into folks more than willing to concede that we need a council to discuss and implement agricultural, cultural, and local economy based sustainability in this county. Something I will soon persue.

In the meantime I've been working towards agricultural history with my place at Old Settlers Days and hopefully the same will be said for my position in the Pekin Betterment.

The biggest and thus far most fulfilling (simply because it's further along) is the new Washington County Artisans and Farmers Market. Washington county has needed an alternative market for a long time, particularly one that was inclusive of local artisans and crafters so that they too have a venue through which to move their handmade and hopefully culturally signifigant work. The board is a nice mix of at large and producer members and we all share the same goal of both making the new market sucessful in terms of a farmers market but also in terms of economic development and agritourism opporotunities.

Me, I see it a little deeper than the other probably just because my awareness and knowledge of the shifting paradigm of government, economy, and agriculture and just how fucked were about to be by the system crash that's bound to come, so it's my hope (on top of those mentioned above) to also create barter and trade systems amongst vendors and community so that in the course of things going south we have some system which is still managable within the community of holding onto some level of sanity and comfort.

The one downside of the farmers market is our inability to have alcoholic beverages on the premises of the farmers market since it is on town property that was deeded over with the provision that no alcohol be allowed on the property. This is something that comes up over and over again in discussions with the board and in other areas of improvement and awareness of Washington County and it's unique wears. Since the Pekin Betterment also operates out of the park there too can be no alcohol via the Fourth of July Celebration. When it comes to Old Settlers Days in Salem, I'm still not sure of the opporotunities (probably if I joined the chamber I would have a better idea). This really is something that from an economic and tourism perspective we are missing out on as there are some fantastic beer brewers and wine vinters around and if anything draws a crowd it's good alcohol. This is the point of view by which most of my contemporaries also view the situation, purely from an economical and tourism view along with an express interest in seeing community members business flourish and artisan wares take off, but there is another side to it that relates just as much to TEOTWAWKI as well; alcohol and tobacco (also perfectly legal to sale uncut and in hands) will very well be a big part of the sustainability of Washington County should things get, shall I say, "That bad.". Nay, even in my opinion should be included some of the finest "likker" to ever roll off a still in the state of Indiana should be included (for the sake of either the Artisan status quo reasons or the other aforementioned) but would require an act of god to make happen given the start up costs of going "legit", none the less, we all know it exists and will be there when needed.

The third and newest part of this whole Washington County waking up paradigm is an article that one of my farmers market board members shared with the group today about a school on the other side of the county (West Washington) and some children there interested in growing a larger proportion of the cafeteria food in a hydrophonic, on site greenhouse (I'll hold my tounge and content about hydrophonic and sustainability but it's a step in the right direction). This gives me much hope that perhaps Salem and my own Alma Matter Eastern will begin to promote such ideas and begin the ball rolling on their own food growing enterprises. In fact, when I was in high school we had a fantastic and deep agriculture program which taught even quite advanced plant propigation, landscaping, botany, animal science, and horticulture at a college level (to those students like me who actually paid attention) so theres no reason that this could not be furthered. In fact, it's my opinion that not only should all schools have a greenhouse for production of food but they should include at least some number of chickens for producing eggs as well as a small research garden and a small orchard. Seed saving and gardening should be prerequisite courses for graduation as both can be applied to any situation in which you might be living your future life as there are now so many balcony, rooftop, and urban gardens.

None the less, if you appreciate such things, please take a moment to check out the link to the West Washington project that I am about to leave and donate a few dollars to further the cause of sustainability in Washington County. Much appreciated.

http://www.wccfmarketplace.biz/donate/details/cat/1/id/13

Evaluating Waxy Maize Germplasm

2012-01-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

This past winter my good friend Castanea at Homegrown Goodness was kind enough to send me some bulk packages of Waxy Maize seed from Lion Seed. Three varieties in total which I posted pictures of on the blog back when. Two of these were hybrids and a third was OP all being white and 90 days to maturity (he also sent a yellow flint which was high oil and ended up in a backcross to Amanda Palmer this season).

I set out to test the germplasm this summer past. Due to cross pollination concerns with the wide range of DTM in my Amanda Palmer and flint corn populations I didn't bother to plant the Waxy corn until late June/Early July. I knew this would have a major effect on it's productivity. As well it was planted on unamended soil which had not been treated with lime in several years.

The corn germinated quickly and seemed to grow well. It had a a bit of a nitrogen deficiency but continued on quite well regardless. By mid-October some of the corn was drying down and ready for harvest. As expected the harvest was a bit nill due to the late planting and fertility factors, none the less, I was rewarded with plenty of good seed for replanting this coming season.

A few observations about the corns growth that I made. It seemed to me the stalks were a bit fragile and pithy but this could be due once again to lack of nitrogen. The cob formation seems quite squat and the way the husk develops and connects to the handle is a bit odd with the husk itself having almost a vegetable quaility to it with a texture like that of the inside of a cabbage at the base of the cob. I did sample some of the corn in the milk stage and the flavor was similar to that of an SU sweet corn. Once I had dried ears in hand I took some of those that I rejected for seed and fed them out in an animal preference test to the pigs as well as the turkeys. 3 to 1 the animals seemed to prefer the waxy maize to Amanda Palmer, likely even they know they are able to process more of the starch than in a dent line.

This coming year I hope to grow a quarter acre and take a better look at the corn in more ideal conditions. One of the other major issues I experienced with the waxy corn was the preference deer and raccons and squirrels also showed for the corn so it's going to have to be planted somewhere a bit closer to the house and human activity that I am accustomed to planting Amanda Palmer for instance. This season I will also add a sample of colored waxy maize I recieved from my good friend Joseph Lofthouse as well.

New Peace Seeds Blog and 2012 seed list

2012-01-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

Check it out at peaceseedslive.blogspot.com lots of great stuff!

Also gotta love anybody who uses the term "OG since 73"

And I got a shout out in there too, that's kind of tantamount to Geddy Lee giving me a shout out at a Rush show.

Tobacco Lath Display Racks

2012-01-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

One thing that I've always been at a loss for at the farmers markets I've done is good display racks for handmade stuff and seeds. Recently I started building a few out of tobacco lath. I've had some luck selling some of these and thought I'd share with my blog readers as some of you might be interested.
These ladder racks are fantastic for displaying handmade washrags exct. Or if you screw some i-hooks into them are great for displaying earrings. 20.00 plus shipping.

Next up are these custom made soap racks, they fold flat with the addition of a bolt and wing nut. These are 15 x 15 inches. I can make them like this or vertical racking as well. 25.00 each plus shipping.

Next up are seed racks we did for Fresh Start Growers supply in louisville KY. We can make these of any size you might want or need and make custom signs for them if needed as well. We also currently have three Face Of The Earth 10 variety seed racks for sale at 225.00 (the seeds alone would normally be 300.00) with your choice of seeds from Face Of The Earth (Amanda Palmer is completely sold out however). We can make you a custom seed rack for your needs. Just shoot as an e-mail or phone call (812-967-2073) for particulars

Uncle Penns Circle W Old Fashioned Lye Soap shipping prices and cataloug.

2012-01-09T15:38:00.000-08:00

Left to right/top to bottom: Working Man, Grit Getter, Aunt Hazel, Honey Wine, American Castille, Mull Digger, Dumb Ass Country Boy.

Grit Getter and Polenta from our newest recipie; much better lather with a balance of cleansing and conditioning properties. We haven't yet designed a wrapper for Polenta so allow me to introduce it: Polenta is a spin off of grit getter, this time without honey and with the addition of chamomille, lots of corn notes in a fresh clean scent. Great lathering properties and fantastic for getting the dirt off at the end of the day. The corn is well ground and close to corn meal in consistency so is suitable for a body bar. 5 ounce bars.

Uncle Penn's "Workin' Man": That he was! And of course theres that song ("I get up, seven yeah, go to work at nine" so what if the lyrics were a bit of a late starter!). This ones a straight up coffee scrub with a bit of honey for some "smellum good". Lot's of coffee grounds (home roasted from Sweet Maria's fair trade) for that extra grit you need to scrub out those deep workin man stains and as always some honey to help moisturize. 5% superfated too with the light scent of honey

American Castille! This ones made from Sunflower Oil as opposed to Olive Oil. Sunflower and Olive oil share many similar properties with sunflower giving a bit of vitamin E to the mix. We use an Elderberry Wine base and add some homegrown honey to the mix with 5% superfat. A great skin conditioning soap for those with dry skin! 5 ounce bar.

HomeBrew/Honeywine/Yeah Buddy: A blend of homebrewed wine and beer meets up with old fashioned lard and lye (along with coconut and sunflower oil) and some Avena Nuda oats (farm grown) with a bit of honey and chamomille to give you that kick in the pants you've been looking for. 5% superfat and honey keeps you moisturized while the slight natural scent of honey and chamomille make you presentable for the speakeasy crowd.

Uncle Penns "Mull Digger": For those who don't know what a "Mull Digger" is down in the hills of Kentucky it's a term used to refer to a lazy or otherwise useless dog (or lazy person/a cheat) who digs for moles but never catches them, instead leaving only distruction and subsequent work in it's path. Here we use it to refer to our pine tar soap which harkens back to the days of "patent medicines...". Pine tar has been used for centuries to ward off bugs, deal with skin conditions, and mask the smell of hunters from prey. 3% superfat, coconut oil, sunflower oil, lard, rain water, and bees wax makes this superior to others. 5 ounce bars.

Uncle Penn's "Manda": Great grandma 'Manda Burns spent a lot of time rendering lard from homegrown hogs and screening potash for lye to make her families yearly supply of soap. This here is nearly as authentic and "real" as it gets. Straight up lye and lard by popular request. Pure as the driven snow and white enough to prove it. This one is 3% superfat but we can make it 0% by request. Old timers claimed it good for drying out poison ivy, washing stains from clothes, and dealing with other skin issues as well as washing out some "dirty" mouths when needed. 5 ounce bars.

Uncle Penn's Castille: Straight up olive oil with 5% superfat, a great conditioning soap with a long and strong heritage. 5 ounce bars.

Brand new and improved soap recipie and brand new shipping prices for the new year! All soaps are now 3.00 each and shipping is 3.00 a bar for single bars. Bulk prices: 6 bars for 30.00 (shipping paid) and 12 for 40.00 (shipping paid)

If you live local don't forget to check out our stands at Addison's Graphics in Salem Indiana and McCarty's Sunoco in Pekin Indiana.

Questions, inquiries, or thoughts about a custom soap order can be directed to bishopshomegrown@gmail.com or 812-967-2073

Send orders with either postal money order, check made out to Alan Bishop or well concealed cash to:

Alan Bishop

5604 S. State Rd. 60

Pekin IN 47165

A few (not anywhere near...) spring (wishful thinking) updates!

2012-01-04T17:25:00.000-08:00

I've used the past couple days of warmer weather to get a jump start on farm activities before the spring thaw (doesn't it have to freeze first?) sets in. Mostly I've focused on getting the greenhouse cleaned up after letting it go to weeds last summer and prepping the old goat pen for a new garden this year.

Here is the goat pen as it was after I moved the goats. The goats have been in this enclosure for about 3 years so there is a great layer of cold composted organic matter accross the ground. I added several five gallon buckets of wood ash and worm compost to the top of the soil by hand.

I then proceeded to turn with a soil fork. All that's left now is to add a thin layer of nitrogen (since goat manure is low in nitrogen) which is accomplished easy with a minimum of physical effort by simply luring the turkey and duck flocks into the enclosure and feeding them scratch grains accross the surface of the pen and then enclosing them for the day for a period of a couple of weeks. By the time planting time comes along the pathogen issue should be well taken care of and the usable nitrogen level should be acceptable. I always ask myself this; Why bust ass if you don't have to?

I did fire up the hotbed we built last year to make sure the heating element was still working ok and to prepare for starting onions and long season hot peppers in the coming days. All was good to go so I went ahead and built a box fram accross the top to help hold up the plastic this year as the condensation on that sheet of plastic last year was more than enough that a few mornings I came out and the plants were laid out flat due to the water collecting on the plastic. Somewhere around here I have some grow tunnel hoops that I need to affix to the box to help support the plastic and get some more light penetration, if I can dig them out in the coming days I may go ahead and do that.

I've still got to get the rest of the propigation equipment sterilized and the floor swept and ready to go but at least all the tables and equipment is in place and still functional for yet another year. As you can tell the greenhouse isn't much of a "commercial" destination, just one for utilitarian commerce and production of good plants. Nothing fancy here, just usable and functional.

Being the scavenger of materials that I am I long ago canibalized the cinder blocks and the hog pannels that I bought with the greenhouse and used for tables for years in order to make trellis systems for blackberries and raspberries and beans exct. Instead these days, as with most other things I build that don't have to be permenant, used pallets do the trick.

Finally, just for fun a pic of the turkey and duck flocks respectively.

Uncle Penns Circle W Old Fashioned Lye Soap

2012-01-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

Uncle Penns Circle W Lye Soap inventory.

We've been refining our products the past couple of weeks, changing up the recipie a bit and finding what shoes fit us best. It's our goal to provide a useful, healthful, and well rounded American product that is utiliterian in nature (no need to pretend to be Bath and Body supply for us!) and speaks to those folks who like life like us, simple. What we've come up with fits our personality here ...at Bishop's Homegrown: The Southern Indiana source for Eco-Logical produce! well and matches our needs (cleaning and conditioning of the skin) and we believe our customers would agree! In this spirit we have decided on a number of utiliterian soap types including Grit Getter (corn and honey), Polenta (corn and chamomille), Home Brew/Yeah Buddy (Elderberry Wine, Honey, Chamomille, and oats)Workin Man (coffe scrub), Manda (old fashioned lye soap with well water), Mull Digger (pine tar), Castille (Olive Oil and well water), American Castille (Sunflower oil, Elderberry Wine, Honey) to make up the bulk of our year round offerings. Other soaps will be seasonal in nature. All of these soaps use the same formula consisting of coconut oil, lard, sunflower oil, and beeswax (except of course Manda, Castille, and American Castille which are lard, olive oil, and sunflower oil respectively) and all (except "Manda" which is 3%) are 5% superfated for their moisturizing properties

honey to the mixAnother new one we came up with; American Castille. This one is made from Sunflower oil which has much in common with Olive Oil just with the addition of naturally occuring vitamin E. We throw in some homegrown honey and beeswax and superfat to 5% with an Elderberry Wine base.

For those with retail locations we do have soap racks available complete with retail racks for our other future products including kisser fixer. Get with us at bishopshomegrown@gmail.com or 812-967-2073 about getting a rack in your location!

All of our soaps are now 4.00 each. Were still working on some new bulk shipping prices and options. Individual bars are 3.00 each shipped. All soaps are at least 4.5-5.0 ounces.

Send order inquiries to bishopshomegrown@gmail.com or call Alan Bishop 812-967-2073

Now Accepting 2012 Farmstand Credit customers

2012-01-02T16:56:00.000-08:00

Tell me this isn't an awesome deal? More bang for your buck and more choices! Please pass it on!

Bishop's Homegrown Farm Stand Credit Program! A new local/regional CSA program alternative. Providing more convenience and better value to our community. For 2012 Season.Bishop's Homegrown is a small Eco-Logical and self sustainable farm in the town of Pekin Indiana. We are family owned and a fourth generation farm focused on providing quality produce from yesteryear as well as the new food and flower crops of the future to our valued friends and community members.

We use the strictest possible sustainable guidelines for on farm food production and make no exceptions. We feel that it is of utmost importance that locavores, members of the slow food movement, and community members, know who and from where their food comes from and how it is grown. We produce 90% of our own seed crops as well as 100% of our own organic fertilizer and we never ever opt for chemical options to control pests or disease issues on farm, feeling that growing food “eco-logically” is the only alternative to our failing food system in the United States.

We have searched the world over to bring you the most unique, exciting, and rare food crops from diverse cultures the world over with an emphasis on nutrition and taste! Our doors are always open to our community and customers who we encourage to visit the farm in order to see and know where and how their food was grown. Food security begins when a relationship is formed between the community and its farmers, this essential connection is what allowed civilization to flourish 10,000 years ago.This year we would like to introduce you to our newest program which we feel you will find immense value in!

The Farm Stand Credit Program: The concept of Community Supported Agriculture (AKA. CSA) is generally defined as a mutually beneficial arrangement between a farmer and his customer wherein the customer agrees to share in the risks and rewards of local farming for the benefit of their food production and the farmers well being. The CSA consumers become by proxy shareholders in the farm and it's well being by paying an upfront membership due which covers the production of food in a “Share” system. Generally a traditional CSA allows for the consumer to pay for up front costs of the farmers start up cost with the farmer reciprocating by preparing a predetermined amount of produce every week through the growing season which the shareholders pick up once a week. The farmer generally picks the produce that the customer will receive. Bishop's Homegrown is looking to create a viable alternative to the traditional CSA program by creating a farm stand coupon program which will allow customers to still share in helping us get our business going during the part of the season in which seed and implements and other essentials are being purchased while also making the relationship more convenient for the farmer and the shareholders. In this arrangement, instead of the farmer putting together a box of produce weekly he has selected for you you will instead receive credit from our farm which will allow you to visit our farm stand or farm where you can make your selection of produce that we have available including also a selection of seedlings, nursery stock, seeds, compost, poultry and other items from our farm.

This program gives you the opportunity to decide what you want instead of us deciding what you want. Every $100 you invest will also get you a 10% discount which means that you will actually get 10% more produce for your food dollars.

Our produce will be available to you via Washington County Artisans and Farmers market held at Pekin Park in Pekin Indiana on Saturday Mornings from 8 AM to 12 PM as well as at all subsequent “winter markets” held at the Pierce Polk Vol Fire Dept. in Pekin Indiana (as well as any additional events) For convineince you can also schedule a time to pick up things or peruse the fields here at the farm!. It is important to note that we don't usually deal in custom ordered bulk produce on a normal basis (i.e., a bushel beans, or a bushel of corn) but that when these items are available at market, as they often are, your credit can be used to purchase them as well.

FAQ
How much does it cost? The investment levels start at 50.00. An investment at the 100 dollar or above level will earn you a 10% discount which means that an investment at the $100 level only costs you $90! Thats right; $100 dollars of credit only costs $90! That's essentially the same as getting $10 of produce free just for paying ahead of time! Your credit is good for two years which means that whatever is not spent this season can be carried over to next season! The maximum investment is $500.

Here is the layout:
$50 credit for $50
$100 credit for $90
$200 credit for $180
$300 credit for $270
$400 credit for $360
$500 credit for $450

How will we keep track of your credit?
Good old fashioned pen and paper, anytime you make a purchase we will deduct that price from our ledger. You will receive a receipt after each transaction so you too can keep track of the amount of produce purchased.What if I make it to market late and you are out of what I want? Unfortunately this may happen from time to time which is why we are keeping the investment level low to start with. Sometimes we just flat out run out of an item due to popularity. The best bet is to show up to market early, the best of the best goes quickly!

There are occasions when we may not be able to make it to market from time to time due to emergencies or just the need to take a break here and there but we will inform you a few days ahead of time via e-mail (unless it's a last minute emergency) that we will not be at market in the coming week.

What can I purchase with Bishops homegrown credit? Does this offer only include produce? No, any item we bring to market is eligible for purchase via this credit, including seeds, plants, seedlings, poultry (chicks), occasionally rabbits, compost, fishing worms, handcrafts including soap and wood working or any other product we have at market or our farm stand. We also occasionally have winter produce available. This also covers poultry butchered here on the farm including a Thanksgivning turkey. This also includes nursery stock and our new Face Of The Earth Seed company seeds!

Payment is due by the February 2012 in order that we know what we have in the bank and can plan accordingly. Payment can be made by check, money order, or well concealed cash. Credit takes effect immediately and rolls over for a two year period.

Make checks or money orders payable to: Alan Bishop 5604 S. State Rd. 60 Pekin IN include a note with your full name, address, e-mail address, phone number and a list of people who you will allow to purchase items with your credit if you need to send someone to the farm stand in your place! If you have any questions feel free to e-mail bishopshomegrown@gmail.com or give me a call at 812-967-2073

2011 can kiss my Ass!

2011-12-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

Wanted to take a few moments to tell my online and real life friends Happy New Years and to say sorry I've been scarce here on the blog and over at Homegrown Goodness lately as well as to give some updates regarding the farm, life in general, and what is to come.

2011 was a freight train of a year, it sort of ran me over while I wasn't looking and just keeps soldiering on! It seems more than ever the world (even locally) has become increadibly polarized with those who "get it", those who "don't", and those still sleeping. Regardless, a lot of good came of it. We expanded the farm greatly by adding pigs and ducks to mix, learning some new tips and tricks and building some much needed new infrastructure (with more to come in the next few weeks which I'll report via this blog). We also expanded our business majorly by taking big steps into commercial seed production (even bigger in 2012) and adding two new lines of prodcuts in the form of Uncle Penns Circle W Lye Soap and Isla Tortuga Tobacco Lath work.

We finally smartened up and told our prvevious farmers market endeavor to "kiss both sides of our collective ass" and joined in the mix of community minded folks bound and determined to create a new paradigm in local food and art via a new local foodshed (Washington County Artisans and Farmers) and we even dipped into a bit of community service by joining a couple local organizations that piqued our interest (It's those community projects that have taken a great deal of my time in the past six months and the subsequent political bullshit that goes along with such involvment that explains my absence from most social media sites as of late).

Anyhow, 2012 promises to be a huge endeavor and the biggest year yet for Bishop's Homegrown. We have finished up most of our breeding projects and have a reliable repetoir of "Eco-Logically" grown seed to show for it as well as a solid set of homesteading, as well as land and animal managment skills to apply to our small but ever growing farm. This year, for the first time ever, we will finally be able to enter 100% into a full on small scale production model self-sustainable farm. Every day brings a new lesson and theres always going to be something new to learn and try, some new product to master, some new survival skill to implement, and some new infrastructure to throw together as well as a heap of challenges! Ultimately however, without the love and help of my friends, community, and family, none of it would matter as you are all the driving force behind my work!

This year we look forward to making unique contributions to Washington County Artisans and Farmers, Old Settlers Days, and The Pekin Betterment committee as we move towards bringing food, history, and future together for the betterment of all in the local community. We also look towards working closely with other online bloggers and messageboards to bring our collective message to the rest of the world.

I hope that you too have been watching the news and keeping an eye on your government and economy as we have (despite the lapse in recent blog posts regarding these topics). I hope that you too have been preparing and watching the paradigm shift as we move into this new year, and more than ever I hope your working to build your own community (and more importantly family) to prepare in whatever way possible for the shifts we are going through.

In coming weeks I'll be posting a bit about our animal projects, a new greenhouse were building, our new root cellar, soap making, and gasp perhaps even passing on some information regarding distilling (don't overlook it's importance in tough times!)

Until then, I'm taking a break until after the New Years Celebration has commenced. I'm worn down and worn out at the moment and need a few days to recoup (plus I've got a bit of a cold). I'll return to promoting the market, the farm, and other projects not to mention starting seeds, kicking ass and taking names, and in general being a shit kicker soon enough!

Happy New Year,
Your Friend,
Alan Reed Bishop

Interesting......

2011-12-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 21, 2011
update as of 10:29 pm: Apparently the "reviewer" decided to contact an intermediary realizing that she was digging a hole for herself to let them know she didn't like the other vendors soap that well either......(too bad I know you've tried it before and your all buddy buddy with them and so does everyone else.) so expect her review of their product (if she decides to do one to be somewhat less "flowery" to cover her ass). You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all the people all the time! Puh-Pow motherfucker, that shit makes me harder than a Methodist Ministers pecker!

Interesting......
So today someone decided to review our soap........Except it wasn't really a review and nor were it truthful, in fact one could argue it was a hit piece. You see, there are these other soap makers in the community, nay, in fact in their own eyes, they are the "SOAP MAKERS". That is to say, they believe that since they make soap, no one else anywhere near their market has the right to make soap, in fact, it might be punishible by death for you or I to even consider making soap if our marketing territory overlaps even the tiniest bit.

Market farmers likely know the type, the insanely jealous folks that will do anything to protect what they rightly believe is theirs even if it means running others into the ground so long as the end goal of being a monopoly is accomplished.That is the situation that I have recently found myself in here in Washington County, made all the more troublesome by the hard work and time I've put into promoting the new farmers market that I and they are a part of which includes promoting their product even as they continue to deride me and my products, once with the husband even taking to facebook to proclaim that I should throw myself head first into a wood chipper and once refering to my inability to perform a certain task for market due to a family member being critically ill as a "Lame Ass Excuse".

You see though, none of that suprises me, I have somewhat trained myself over the years to expect the worst of people, particularly those who you have tried your hardest to help over the years with gifts of seeds, labor, animals, exct.What does suprise me though is when those same people want to deride me and my product they choose not to do it themselves, instead relying on a good friend of theirs to do the job for them such is the case with this "review".I put "reveiw" in quotation marks as I'm not entirely sure you can call something a review if it is prefaced with the words: "NO. Its not about soap and never has been." But then perhaps that's my own critical thinking seeping into this blog post.

I accept full responsibility for this piece of bad publicity though and for good reason. You see the reviewer (who I'm sure will also review the competitors product with glowing admiration within the next 24 hours) was at our most recent winter market this past Saturday (wouldn't you know it, hanging with the competetors and even helping move product) and despite my better judgment (I should have known after the last round of drama ended and after she berated one of my customers and her review on my facebook page which I readily admit to deleting and further banning her. You can talk about me all you want, not my customers!) I sold her a bar of our soap which she procedes to dissect in her review.

Some of her observations I won't argue with such as packaging; yeah it's not for everybody and it's not meant to be, it's meant to be simple.

The catchphrase; this was actually something my grandfather used to say, I have nothing to defend myself with here other than go fuck yourself, it's obviously not something you'll ever get and nor do I have time or energy to waste my breath arguing with you about it.

The single point I agree with; yes, the ingredients label should be on the outside of the soap package, but for lack of time and space the night before market it ended up on the inside label, thanks for the tip though I'll make sure that happens in the future. ;)

Now, onto the things I disagree with or take issue with.

The soap not being cured in the center. Yes, the soap was well cured, over six weeks time. Honey is one of our main ingredients and in cold process soaps it takes some time to evaporate since it is unsaponified, as well the soap sat overnight in my truck where it likely did pick up some moisture (as the soap on the wrapper clearly shows). This in no way means the soap is somehow unsafe as you seem to imply as the saponification renders the lye and oils chemically into a different substance all together, it's called soap. It does mean it might melt a little faster, for that I do appoligize and am working to remedy that situation in future batches.

The soap containing ingredients not listed on the label: That is a bold faced lie, there was no "corn" in this soap (though there is in Grit Getter), what there is is dried lavendar and honey. Everything that's in the soap is on the label and given how often I clean the equipment the chances of cross contamination are zero.Regarding skin issues. Every persons skin is different and every person has a different set of aggrevators which may effect their skin in a negative way. IF there was something in the soap that aggrevated your skin you should know before using the soap (since I know you read the ingredients label) if there is anything which may effect you negatively. Since the soap was properly cured and since the lye is not longer caustic after saponification and since I have the math setting in front of me and know as a matter of fact that the soap is 3% superfated (complete with three different folks reviewing the math) I know that it's not due to chemicals. As stated above, I agree with you, the ingredient label should be on the outside of the soap and in the future it very well will be.

The fact that I don't generally accept checks and or credit cards. You can ask any customer of Bishop's Homegrown or Face Of The Earth Seed, we have almost completely relied on the well concealed cash or money order method over the past seven years for any number of our products and short an ocassional slow to ship complaint during busy times we've never had a complaint and nor has anyone ever claimed they never got their product, ask around, do a google search, were not fly by night, we've been around for quite a long time now. We did use Paypal for a short period of time but gave it up after reading a myriad of horror stories about treatment of their customers. When it comes right down to it we rely on our reputation in the community and at large which speaks for itself (at least when someone is not out running it into the ground to help out their friends and gain revenge for me telling you how I felt about the situation.)

About an unbiased review: hint; they never start with the phrase: "NO. Its not about soap and never has been." and nor do they close with a quantifier like: "Due to the nature of the beast I know I will be called out in regards to posting this review and will be called biased, and hateful. It was not my intent. I paid cash to purchase the item in question and did an honest review of the product as a whole. I did not take into account who made it other than in regards to the end paragraph regarding the buyer being protected from bad product or negligent sellers. Simply put buyer beware."

About the smell; the only smell you'll get from our soap is that of the natural products in our soap. As mentioned before we don't use fragrant oils or synthetic oils as our goal is to use what is available on the farm, this does not lend to a strong fragrance which is something that we have chosen to do purposely. Lard is our main base and depending on the forumla and what the soap is trying to accomplish, yes, sometimes it doesn't have a huge lather, other forumlas we use do. Different strokes for different folks. Nothing against those who use stronger oils to scent their soap but we are catering to a group who aren't after that and who want only a slight smell imparted by ingredients grown on the farm. Theres plenty of room for everybody to make soap regardless of your thoughts. If you had an issue with smelling bad after using the soap you should likely consult a doctor as it's likely clinical in nature and needs attention.

In closing, yes you did buy the soap, and your intentions are now painfully clear for all the world to see. Yes, you got shitty customer service because we all know your a deceitful little troll with absolutely no respect for others (ask your peers at the other market, I'm sure they would be glad to let you know) and you've caused me just as many problems as your omipotent soap making gutter trash friends (even prior to the review). So, if you think Kim or I are going to kiss your fat fucking ass to make four dollars (and destroy our reputation) dream on. For those reading this post, I appoligize for my attrocious grammar and spelling but I couldn't set back and allow somone to damage my reputation (even for a new product which is really only a small percentage of what we do) by running myself and my product into the ground while attempting to decieve her readers into believing that it's honestly only about doing a review (convinent too that here she just started doing reviews and the first product she comes to is soap with mine conviniently being first and her friends surely coming soon! It's the details you'll notice!)

For customers interested in our soap, please feel free to call 812-967-2073 or email bishopshomegrown@gmail.com for those concerned about our reputation a simple google search for bishops homegrown, face of the earth seed or hip-gnosis seed development should provide a list of nearly everything we've done over the years and just how reliable we really are. A look at alanbishop.proboards.com and a simple inquiry post about us should assuage any further reputation damage.

To the reviewer, I'll gladly refund your money post haste as soon as I finish wiping my ass with it!

Christmas time will soon be over!

2011-12-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas time will soon be over!

By: Alan Reed Bishop of Bishop's Homegrown/Face Of The Earth Seed/Uncle Penns Circle W Lye Soap.

This past Saturday morning I rolled out of bed at 5:00 AM to make my way down to Pierce Polk Vol Fire Dept for the most recent (only our second) Washington County Artisans and Farmers Market. Ambitions were high and the truck was loaded down with our Circle W soaps and tobacco lath work.

Vendors started filing in and setting up right around 7:00 and so too did customers. A nice steady stream of Christmas shoppers looking for locally made and handcrafted goods and a little produce to fill out their Christmas list. Everyone was in good spirits and hopes were high for a good turnout and another showing of what the Artisans and Farmers of Washington county are capable of.

At 8:00 Santa Claus arrived to share in the Christmas spirit and take a few photos with some delighted children (Thanks to Tanya Marie Davis and special thanks to Abigail Lengel for dressing up as an Elf!) while customers ate breakfast provided by Pierce Polk Vol. Fire Dept and commenced to shopping and spending quality time getting to know the vendors and their goods.

A slowly building but steady crowd made for a great day and good second outing for the organization. With Christmas nearly over we will recess until January 28'th at the American Legion Bingo Hall in Salem Indiana with space for nearly twice the number of vendors and a “Souper Saturday” Super planned to benefit the market organization from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. We will follow this event up with our Valentines market on Febuary 11'th, back again at the Pierce, Polk, Vol. Fire Dept. I'm sure that by that time I'll be asking yet again; “Is it spring yet?”

In the meantime Bishop's Homegrown would like to remind you that our soap and woodworking as well as our CSA option all remain available to you throughout the holiday season and thereafter. Don't forget, your gonna want to wash that old year (and possible hangover) away on New Years Day and we've got just the wares to do it with!

We would also like to take a moment to point you in the direction of our good friends at Addisons Graphic Arts in Salem Indiana who have a wide selection of unique printing materials and shirts and are now carrying our Uncle Penn's Circle W Old Fashioned Lye Soap in their shop! We hope to have some more retail locations secured in the coming weeks!

Anyone interested in becoming a vendor at Washington County Artisans and Farmers can either contact me at 812-967-2073 or send an email to wcaf@ymail.com

Merry Christmas to all!
Your Friend,
Alan Reed Bishop

Bishop's Homegrown/Face Of The Earth Seed/Uncle Penns Circle W Lye Soap newsletter

2011-12-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, would you be interested in recieving a newsletter from Bishop's Homegrown via e-mail on a twice a month basis in winter and once a month basis in summer? This would cover everything from seeds, plants, nursery stock, soap, produce, poultry, eggs, and anything else we produce here on the farm and the avilability thereof. If so please drop me a line at bishopshomegrown@gmail.com

Uncle Penn's Circle W Soap and Isla Tortuga woodworking cataloug.

2011-11-29T18:53:00.000-08:00

Uncle Penn's Circle W Old Fashioned Lye Soap is the newest addition to Bishop's Homegrown. Soap as it should be...simple.

If you want authenticity and only natural homegrown ingredients in your soap then we have the soap for you! We are sourcing a large portion of our ingredients from our own farm gardens and fields including grains (corn meal and oats), vegetables, dried herbs, fruit, and even local honey.

We are more concerned with sourcing ingredients that have been traditionally used in soap for their skin care properties (as well as sustainability) than with creating over scented bars using expensive essential oils or synthetic fragrant oils. Different strokes for different folks. Many of our soaps are one offs which are made in extraordinarilly small batches when and as ingredients are available from the farm while others are timeless classics (castille, raw, "Home-Brew")

We do use lard in our recipies along with a number of other oils simply because it's a reliable base fat that has been used since the begining of soap making and imparts qualities we appreciate, as well it is sustainable and and practical to produce on a small homested farm (which we are currently persuing). We use no artificial or natural dyes, just simple natural colors, imparted by our ingredients, which we feel speak to the earthiness and utilitarianism of the finished product. Completely bio-degradable and "Eco-Logical" just like all the Bishop's Homegrown products.

Most of our soaps use either homebrewed beer or wine bases or spring/well/rain water and nearly all include Honey in the mixture (a natural humectant and anti-bacterial), as well our soaps are all 3-5% superfated to help further moisturize your skin. Similarly the scet of our soap is in no way overbearing, owing it's slight scent to the presence of the natural ingredients inherent in the soap. We feel that there is an underserved soap market who appreciate a more subtle and earthy soap and share our appreciation of light natural scents imparted simply by on farm ingredients.

The main job of soap is to help water clean and moisturize your skin afterall.It's our belief that what you put on your body should be just as important as what you put in your body and the use of on farm ingredients assures that the two are one in the same (not to mention soap is another good form of preservation of the yearly harvest).

Keep your eyes peeled for further product introductions in the coming months!

If your after simplicity and quality over production and perfume we exist to cater to you!

Ordering information and custom orders: It seems like there is a growing trend when it comes to ordering from small business and farms online, utilizing credit cards, and unsecure digital forms and middleman services which cut into profit margins and play into the hands of the same big business we all seem so adamant to stand up against. Here we shun such practices and encourage ordering in the old fashioned way.

Give us a call and stop by the farm at 5604 S. State Rd. 60 Pekin IN 47165 or visit us at Washington County Artisans and Farmers market (spring-summer Saturdays 8-12 @Pekin Park. Winter @ Various locations) or order by mail the old fashioned way by sending well concealed cash or money order to Alan Bishop at the address above.

Shipping for wood products isn't currently available but will be soon

We also love custom orders, if you have something you'd like to see made drop us a line a bishopshomegrown@gmail.com

Tobbacco Lath wall hanger. This one is just sanded down to reveal the natural stain from years of hanging tobacco in our family barn. 4 inches deep x 4 inches wide by 4 inches tall. Great for hanging on a wall for your candles or soap or other items ot interest. 5.00 locally. No shipping at this time, check back soon.

Tobacco Lath Planter. Sanded down to reveal the natural tobacco stain. Great for a natural hanging planter complete with drainage holes and a bit of old barbless wire for hanging. 6 inches deep/wide/long. $15.00 locally, no shipping at this time, check back soon.

Tobacco Lath Ladders. We make these in several different sizes including miniatures and up to 5 foot tall. Great to lean against a wall or table to display items. Stained or unstained. Contact us for prices and sizes. No shipping currently. Locally available

Hand split tobacco lath coat hanger. Rustic and cool coat hangar made from a hand split tobacco lath over 100 years old. Would look great hanging in your home this winter. Stained mahogany. 10.00 each. Available locally. No shipping at this time.

Tobacco Lath Stars. We make these in a variety of sizes, both stained and unstained. Great for hanging on walls, doors, barns exct and look great decorated with Christmas lights! Small stained star 5.00, Small unstained 3.00. Large unstained 5.00 and large stained 8.00. No shipping currently.

Also for your Christmas shopping pleasure were proud to present some of our woodworking ventures. All of these products are handcrafted here on the farm using tobacco sticks (lath) that have graced our family farm fields for years (the hand split ones are sometimes near to or older than 100 years old and originally from Greensburg KY) First up is this hand split lath shaddow box window frame. The lathe were sanded and stained mahogany, would look great setting over a picture on your wall. 5.00 locally. No shipping at the moment, check back soon. Also available unfinished.

Uncle Penns "Dumb Ass County Boy": This ones all about the cooked down elderberry wine and fresh spearamint w/coarsley ground oats. This ones all about being unrefined and crude. 3% superfat with sunflower oil, coconut oil, lard, oats, honey, fresh spearamint, wine and mead. 5 ounce bars 4.00 each locally, 5.00 shiped. Bulk deals available.

Uncle Penns "Grit Gitter": We love gritts here on the farm, to us there isn't a thing in this world better than real grits from home ground corn flavored with some homegrown honey! What better way to pay tribute than to make soap with the same aesthetic! Lye, lard, coconut oil, sunflower oil, bees wax, and elderberry wine hook up with grits from homegrown Amanda Palmer corn (ground fine in a coffee grinder) and flavored with homegrown honey. Great exfoliating body bar with moisturizing properties that smells like breakfast, lunch, and dinner! 5 ounce bars. 4.00 locally 8.00 shipped. Bulk discount available.

Uncle Penn's "Anne-Marie": Uncle Penns sweetheart (my grandmother) was "Anne-Marie", this ones for her. Lavendar Meets honey and wine w/sunflower, coconut oil, lard and beeswax. Great for those who want that light old timey sweetheart scent. Five ounce bars 4.00 each locally 8.00 shipped. Bulk deals available.

Uncle Penns "Aunt Molly". Aunt Molly is one of those somewhat shrude weomen who remembers exactly where she came from. Straight up, she tells it like it is. This ones made in her spirit. Farm fresh spearamint blended with coffee makes for a great work soap to scrub the dirt of a hard day away. The base is spring water from "down the hill" as liquor would serve only to infuriate the aunt who it's named in honor of. 3 ounce bar. 5% superfat. Castille (olive oil) based. Excellent moisturizure. 3.00 locally 7.00 shipped

Uncle Penns Possum Fruit: Yeah, we went there, down in the hills of Kentucky nobody eats perssimmons, claiming their only good for possum feed! Good for us Hoosiers we know what they are all about! Luckily so to did those in the orient who used persimmon soap to aid in complexion and to cover body odour. True American persimmon meets lye, lard, coconut oil, honey, and elderberry wine. 3% superfat and honey means this ones great for moisturizing. Light honey-persimmon scent is reminicent of that famous pudding your grandma made. 5 ounce bar for 4.00. 8.00 shipped. Bulk discount available.

Uncle Penns Homebrew Soap: A blend of homebrewed wine and beer meets up with old fashioned lard and lye (along with coconut and sunflower oil) and some Avena Nuda oats (farm grown) with a bit of honey and chamomille to give you that kick in the pants you've been looking for. 3% superfat and honey keeps you moisturized while the slight natural scent of honey and chamomille make you presentable for the speakeasy crowd. 4.00 each. 8.00 shipped. Bulk discount available.

Uncle Penns "Turtle Creek": An homage to a small tributary to blue river where some of the best produce and homebrew are grown and brewed respectively. Beer base meets farm fresh cucumber (full of vitamins and nutrients and slightly astringent so good for oily skin) and oatmeal. Great for that early morning "wake up" call. 3% superfat, light oat and cucumber smell. Great lather. 5 ounce bars for 4.00 locally 8.00 shipped

Check out these gift baskets, they make great Christmas gifts. Included is your choice of one of two different types of handmade wooden totes made from antique tobacco sticks from our family farm which have been sanded down and stained mahogany with a gift bow and decorative poinsettas and your choice of any four Circle W soaps as well as a tube each of "Kisser Fixer" Chapstick (Latte and Butter Cream). 40.00 each local only.

Not Everybody is lucky enough to have an Uncle like Penn Wilson. A simple appalachian man who has an insatiable passion for life and liberty. Our soap, like him, is as it should be...simple. Straight up natural, farm grown "smelllum good" herbs, honey, homebrewed wine and beer, spring and rain water, lye and oils. Never any artificial colors or scents out of a bottle. Just good old fashioned mountain wisdom.

"Uncle Penn says to stay clean you gotta wash ass!"

Our article in Edible Louisville....

2011-11-23T08:16:00.001-08:00

Check it out Here

Community, cooperation, and local goods. Pushing the boundaries of a local market!

2011-11-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

Community, cooperation, and local goods. Pushing the boundaries of a local market

“Winter is no time for a local Artisans and Farmers market!”.....we blew that notion completely out of the water this past Saturday when 13 vendors and hundreds of customers poured into our first ever Washington County Artisans and Farmers event graciously hosted (along with a breakfast) by the Pierce Polk Vol Fire Dept.

A steady stream of community customers filed into the building to check out all the cool and local handcrafted and homegrown items on display (including a handful of local produce including tomatoes, lettuce, turnips, and greens the week before Thanksgiving). Local (and those from as far away as English) really seemed to dig the wide selection of items including jewelry, baked goods, assortments of soaps and body care items, local meat, hand sewn items, and folk art.

We (Bishop's Homegrown) were there in a corner set up between our friend Mary Beth Morgan and our friends Tye and Laura Gazarian taking in the awe that this project we've all worked (and are working) so hard to put together and promote seems to have begun to pay off in spades. We took the opportunity to use the event to show some of the other complex sides of what we do here on our small family farm by debuting our new Uncle Penns Old Fashioned lye soap (lip balms, body butter, and lotions too!) and Isla Tortuga trading company items (woodworking using 100 year old tobacco laths from the family farm). Of course our Face Of The Earth Seed Company also made a good impression despite the oncoming winter season (the persistence of hope in a gardener is hard to diminish even when the snow flies!)

We look forward to the next event on December 17'th, from 8-12 (once again in conjunction with Pierce Polk Vol. Fire Dept and their awesome home cooked breakfast and an appearance by the man of the season himself Santa Claus) and will use it as an opporotunity to expand on the groundwork the market as well as Bishop's Homegrown has done so far.

-Alan “The Working Man” Bishop

homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com
faceoftheearthseed.blogspot.com
812-967-2073
bishopshomegrown@gmail.com

Proof of Pre-Columbian New and Old World Trade.

2011-11-16T11:36:00.000-08:00

Check out the link HERE

Anyone who has read this blog for quite a while will know I have touched on the long history of new and old world contact and trade quite a few times (particularly in reference to corn, chickens, and peaches). Anyhow, there has always been proof of such movements but it's nice to see it broken down in such a way. Sure, similar organisms could have evolved in seperate circumstances, but not identical (well perhaps, but this would be pretty miraculous, tantamount to the Jesus argument, ie a man was born of a virgin, son of god, died and rose from the dead vs a man was born, had an inspired message, married, had children, died and lived on through tradition).

Back by popular demand; Bishop's Homegrown Farmstand Credit Program

2011-11-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we've heard our customes and listened. No traditional CSA here, seems the farmstand credit works better for our customers and since our customers keep us in business we do what makes 'em happy!

Tell me this isn't an awesome deal? More bang for your buck and more choices! Please pass it on!

Bishop's Homegrown Farm Stand Credit Program! A new local/regional CSA program alternative. Providing more convenience and better value to our community. For 2012 Season.Bishop's Homegrown is a small Eco-Logical and self sustainable farm in the town of Pekin Indiana. We are family owned and a fourth generation farm focused on providing quality produce from yesteryear as well as the new food and flower crops of the future to our valued friends and community members.

We use the strictest possible sustainable guidelines for on farm food production and make no exceptions. We feel that it is of utmost importance that locavores, members of the slow food movement, and community members, know who and from where their food comes from and how it is grown. We produce 90% of our own seed crops as well as 100% of our own organic fertilizer and we never ever opt for chemical options to control pests or disease issues on farm, feeling that growing food “eco-logically” is the only alternative to our failing food system in the United States.

We have searched the world over to bring you the most unique, exciting, and rare food crops from diverse cultures the world over with an emphasis on nutrition and taste! Our doors are always open to our community and customers who we encourage to visit the farm in order to see and know where and how their food was grown. Food security begins when a relationship is formed between the community and its farmers, this essential connection is what allowed civilization to flourish 10,000 years ago.

This year we would like to introduce you to our newest program which we feel you will find immense value in!The Farm Stand Credit Program: The concept of Community Supported Agriculture (AKA. CSA) is generally defined as a mutually beneficial arrangement between a farmer and his customer wherein the customer agrees to share in the risks and rewards of local farming for the benefit of their food production and the farmers well being. The CSA consumers become by proxy shareholders in the farm and it's well being by paying an upfront membership due which covers the production of food in a “Share” system. Generally a traditional CSA allows for the consumer to pay for up front costs of the farmers start up cost with the farmer reciprocating by preparing a predetermined amount of produce every week through the growing season which the shareholders pick up once a week. The farmer generally picks the produce that the customer will receive.This year Bishop's Homegrown is looking to create a viable alternative to the traditional CSA program by creating a farm stand coupon program which will allow customers to still share in helping us get our business going during the part of the season in which seed and implements and other essentials are being purchased while also making the relationship more convenient for the farmer and the shareholders. In this arrangement, instead of the farmer putting together a box of produce weekly he has selected for you you will instead receive credit from our farm which will allow you to visit our farm stand or farm where you can make your selection of produce that we have available including also a selection of seedlings, nursery stock, seeds, compost, poultry and other items from our farm. This gives you the opportunity to decide what you want instead of us deciding what you want.

Every $100 you invest will also get you a 10% discount which means that you will actually get 10% more produce for your food dollars.Our produce will be available to you via Washington County Artisans and Farmers market held at Pekin Park in Pekin Indiana on Saturday Mornings from 8 AM to 12 PM as well as at all subsequent “winter markets” held at the Pierce Polk Vol Fire Dept. in Pekin Indiana (as well as any additional events) For convineince you can also schedule a time to pick up things or peruse the fields here at the farm!. It is important to note that we don't usually deal in custom ordered bulk produce on a normal basis (i.e., a bushel beans, or a bushel of corn) but that when these items are available at market, as they often are, your credit can be used to purchase them as well.

FAQ

How much does it cost? The investment levels start at 50.00. An investment at the 100 dollar or above level will earn you a 10% discount which means that an investment at the $100 level only costs you $90! Thats right; $100 dollars of credit only costs $90! That's essentially the same as getting $10 of produce free just for paying ahead of time! Your credit is good for two years which means that whatever is not spent this season can be carried over to next season! The maximum investment is $500.

Here is the layout:

$50 credit for $50
$100 credit for $90
$200 credit for $180
$300 credit for $270
$400 credit for $360
$500 credit for $450

How will we keep track of your credit? Good old fashioned pen and paper, anytime you make a purchase we will deduct that price from our ledger. You will receive a receipt after each transaction so you too can keep track of the amount of produce purchased.What if I make it to market late and you are out of what I want? Unfortunately this may happen from time to time which is why we are keeping the investment level low to start with. Sometimes we just flat out run out of an item due to popularity. The best bet is to show up to market early, the best of the best goes quickly!

There are occasions when we may not be able to make it to market from time to time due to emergencies or just the need to take a break here and there but we will inform you a few days ahead of time via e-mail (unless it's a last minute emergency) that we will not be at market in the coming week.

What can I purchase with Bishops homegrown credit? Does this offer only include produce? No, any item we bring to market is eligible for purchase via this credit, including seeds, plants, seedlings, poultry (chicks), occasionally rabbits, compost, fishing worms, handcrafts including soap and wood or any other product we have at market or our farm stand. We also occasionally have winter produce available. This also covers poultry butchered here on the farm including a Thanksgivning turkey. This also includes nursery stock and our new Face Of The Earth Seed company seeds!

Payment is due by the February 2012 in order that we know what we have in the bank and can plan accordingly. Payment can be made by check, money order, or well concealed cash. Credit takes effect immediately and rolls over for a two year period.

Make checks or money orders payable to: Debbie Bishop and send to: Alan Bishop 5604 S. State Rd. 60 Pekin IN 47165Also include a note with your full name, address, e-mail address, phone number and a list of people who you will allow to purchase items with your credit if you need to send someone to the farm stand in your place!

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail bishopshomegrown@gmail.com or give me a call at 812-967-2073

Dear Seed Geeks......

2011-11-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

Don't forget that the official Face Of The Earth Seed Bazzare is up and running Here. The very first CSA orders as well as customer orders went out this week and between that and selling seed at Friday Night On the Square, Old Settlers Days, and at Beck's Mill we are already running low on some items. Now is the time to get your order in. There is a strong demand for these seeds growing locally and I don't expect it to slow down any time soon. We have six events planned between now and next March so get on it quick!

Bishops Homegrown 2012 CSA

2011-11-08T19:07:00.000-08:00

Hey local peeps, heres your chance to join our CSA for 2012~

Bishop's Homegrown 2012 CSA
5604 S. State Rd. 60Pekin IN 47165
812-967-2073

Introduction: Bishop's Homegrown is a small “eco-logically” grown farm in Pekin Indiana. We first started operating as an offshoot of my parents/grandparents former tobacco growing operation offering fresh produce, good plants, and compost all produced using traditional non chemical methods.. Much of our work in recent years has been focused on breeding and or collecting and replicating more nutritious and well adapted local plants and animals for the local/regional market and particularly catered towards low input farmers. From these enterprises we have seen much success and we have built an inventory of locally adapted – low input adapted plants and seed that is unmatched by any other in Washington County Indiana and likely by any in Southern Indiana in general.The Farm and Certifications:We feel that we are now in a position to be able to share these plants and their bounty more freely with the surrounding community as we have further modified our low input (no chemicals) production methods to fit a model which gives the greatest yield with the least amount of input.

In conjunction with the newly formed Washington County Artisans and Farmers market we would love to be one of the first blocks in the formation of a new local food shed! This is why we are offering a 2012 CSA program to interested locator consumers who want the freshest and best local produce grown with the least amount of chemical contaminants possible. This gives the consumer a chance to not only know where the produce that graces their table comes from but to also foster a relationship with the farmer and become more aware of the hows and why's of local food products. We are not organically certified but we are customer certified, meaning that we hope that you our discerning customers will take the time to come and tour our farm and fields over the years. We feel that this is far more “authentic” and meaningful than any government issued “stamp” of approval.

What We are Offering: Currently we are offering three membership options, first up is a general overview of all three plans: You receive Weekly Basket of Produce running from roughly May-Sept/Oct. Depending on climatic conditions and production conditions. This will run of the gammit of most commonly grown food crops as well as many rarities including some occasional fruit and berries. Discounts and first chance at bulk produce plus the perk of extra produce when available at no extra cost. 10% Discounts on other items such as heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving, seeds, plants, compost, and more. One turkey is included every Thanksgiving for family plan members. You will be expected to pick up your produce weekly on Saturdays from 8:00 Am - 12:00 Pm at Washington County Artisans and Farmers Market held in Pekin Park.

Perks of family plan: By signing up for a family plan you share with me in the risks and benefits of farming. Early in the season the basket may be sparse. Later on a rich abundance is expected which aught to more than compensate for the sparse weeks. Family plan members have my highest allegiance: You get my first of season vegetables before anyone else. And if there is just a tiny bit of your favorite crop left I will save it for you. If you have a favorite variety I may try growing it for you. You will also get the first chance to purchase any bulk quantities of produce we have on hand at a discount compared to farm stand prices. Obviously types of produce and amount thereof varies weekly. The family plan also includes one Heritage Turkey a year prepared specially for you for Thanksgiving.
Individual and couples plan: Couple and Individual plan members will also receive first and last of crop perks that don't go to market if there is enough quantity after the family basket orders are filled. Otherwise, they will receive all of the same produce, in lesser quantities than the family basket delivered with the same quality and care. They will also receive a 10% discount on turkeys, seeds, plants, and compost.

Prices are as follows:Family Plan (4 people): $15.00 a week. Running from (roughly May/June-Oct) – 300.00
Couples Plan (2 people) $10.00 a week. Running for same amount of time.- 160.00Singles Plan
Individual plan $8.00 a week. Running for same amount of time. - 130.00

I can also customize plans if someone wants to talk about doing so. All plans can be paid a year in advance or up to April 30 of 2012. We may be able to work out a week to week billing plan as well. The current prices will be somewhat discounted for those who wish to join a year in advance as such forwarded cash helps us prepare greatly for the year ahead, the advanced pricing scheme lasts until December and is as follows:

Family 290.00
Couples 150.00
Singles 120.00

Make Checks payable to Alan Bishop and either visit us in person or mail to 5604 S. State Rd. 60 Pekin IN 47165.

Edible Louisville Magazine

2011-11-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

Got a mailbox full of Edible Louisville magazine in todays mail complete with a two page article covering Bishop's Homegrown/Face Of The Earth Seeds mostly focusing on our "Kiva" turkey breeding project. Have already been contacted by multiple folks from Louisville and Kentuckiana about turkeys and seeds and other stuff for next year. It's nice to be recognized for hard work from time to time! If you get a chance check it out, should be available lots of places around town and I know at Fresh Start Growers Supply

There should be an internet version up sometime in the near future. I'm hoping the photographer will be kind enough to pass along some photos that weren't used for the article for use here on the blog as the ones in the magazine turned out beautiful. After our Washington County Artisans and Farmers meeting tonight I dropped one off to some friends at the local watering hole to show off my new "Centerfold" which they really got a kick out of!

Thanks to the editors and photographers of Edible Louisville Magazine as well as to the fabulous (and might I add highly underrated Loren Freed who went above and beyond to capture my rambling and tubling/stumbling incoherant ramblings on multiple ocassions and through multiple technical difficulties to get this interview!

Washington County Artisans and Farmers.

2011-11-08T09:41:00.000-08:00

One of the many projects which has kept me busy this year (and subsequently away from the blog and messageboard) is my hand in helping to foster the birth of a new local Artisans and Farmers Market. You may remember from a few months back that I had quite a falling out with my previous market over ego-trips and a general "do nothing" attitude as well as their disallowing of local artisans (and dismissal of some produce vendors). Luckily a local civil group called Washington County Awarness had targeted a Artisan and Farmers market as their class of 2011 project!

I was extremely lucky to hook up with these forward thinking folks made up of citizens, who also want to see a local food and art shed thrive, in order to develop and foster a new market for Washington (and surrounding) counties which will highlight the amazing breadth of local goods available to consumers living locally and regionally! To boot we got the support of my hometown Pekin Indiana who offered us the lovely Pekin Park (Gill's Grove historically) in which to host our main season market from April-October!

On top of all this we decided to exploit the winter months to offer artisans and farmers a place to sale their wares at a time of year when income on a farm is at it's lowest. Once again my community stepped to the forefront offering Pierce Polk Vol. Fire Dept. as a venue for a once monthly winter market hosting up to fifteen vendors in concert with the fire dept. holding a benefit breakfast. The first of these markets is knocking on our door as I type.

November 19'th from 7:00 AM - 12:00 PM we will be at the first ever Washington County Artisans and Farmers Market peddling our homegrown Face Of The Earth Seed, Wood Crafts, and our brand new project; Penn Wilsons Circle W Soap (which I will write about in short order).

Come see us if you get a chance!

By the way perspective local vendors, theres still room in our main season market for many more, just shoot an email to wcaf@ymail.com

-Alan Bishop, Vice President of WCAF and proud Anchor Vendor of a new and growing market for the betterment of mind, body, soul, and community!

A Few Seeds I'm looking for.....

2011-10-31T15:29:00.001-07:00

If you didn't know we do take trades for seeds too......reciprocal of course with anything you might want from the Face Of The Earth Seed Bazzare. Here is a little of what we are seeking for future breeding projects.

These Carrots If bulk is offered I'll match with bulk of what you want!

Good round raddishes in a multitude of colors as well as long winter type raddishes

Good sized sweet well netted yellow muskmelons

Spinach of many types

Mustard greens

My Resume.......

2011-10-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

Unfotunately being a farmer doesn't always make ends meet and ocassionally a job must be sought off farm to fill in the gaps. Unfortunately having a seven year work history working for yourself on a farm doesn't tend to get you hired anywhere for some reason, not to mention it definitely doesn't seem to get you hired doing something that you actually love that wouldn't necessarily feel like a job!

Yes the economy sucks. I get it. Yes, I don't have a long list of recent employeers you can call for verification exct. but surely theres got to be someone out there willing to hire me to do something for you or your business!

So, let me cover my qualifications, perhaps not in the most organized resume sort of way, but something similar anyhow.

I grew up on a tobacco farm In Pekin IN. I've been running farm equipment since the age of seven and I am proficient in cultivation, plowing, fertilizing, mowing, and planting and any number of other machinery driven jobs. I have a strong background in self taught plant breeding. I am an expert composter; both thermophilic and "cold" composting and I have an intense love for plants and animals and could be considered a professional seed saver.

I have tons of experience in plant propigation both from seed and cuttings including grafting, cloning, root cuttings, air layering, rooting and more. I have mixed potting soils using both professional materials as well as homemade compost and locally sourced sustainable ingredients. I have five years of experience in worm composting as well.

I have experience with woodland management and am proficient with a chainsaw and am familiar with trail making. I also am proficient at maintaining and increasing woodland bio-diversity such as ginseng and yellow root, both of which I have raised from seed to fruition. I know my local flora and fauna and have a bit of experience with grading timber and maintaining a stand with a good mixture of species.

I have experience with a number of different types of livestock including poultry of all types, pigs, and also goats. I have incubated eggs, raised poults, and even made my own feed from corn I grew and harvested on my farm in conjunction with other crops. I have butchered a few hundred chickens, turkeys, rabbits, guineas, quail, and squirrel at this point in my life; safely, quickly, and proficiently.

I have a strong connection to my community and the wider agriculture community via my blog at homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com and also my messageboard at alanbishop.proboards.com, both of which are focused on education of the general public. I also serve on the board of Washington County Artisans and Farmers as Vice President and I am working with the board of Old Settlers Days to improve the festival. I have done historical reenactments as a Yeomen farmer at both Old Settlers Days and Becks Mill. I am a former board member of Washington County Farmers Market and a previous member of Pierce Polk Vol. Fire Dept.

I have a lot of customer service experience due to my several years of working at farmers markets. I also have a strong background in advertising as I am the primary driver of business to both my produce business and also to my seed company. I also work on the marketing comitte of the Washington County Artisans and Farmers market. I am proficient at contacting newspapers and driving media attention as well as designing and distributing flyers and brochoures.

I have some carpentry skills due to the necessity of needing to build barns and animal pens on the farm as well as house repairs, building greenhouses, and generally making due with what I have on hand. I have some chemistry experience from making wine and soap by hand from scratch.

I have experience with conducting education and giving tours as I have done for several years to large groups here on my farm. I am excellent at giving presentations to large groups of people due to my many speaking engagements at local social clubs including the Rotary Club, Chamber Of Commerce, and Master Gardeners.

I have written articles for many publications including Permaculture.co.uk, Lost River Market and Deli newsletter, Not Just Heasay News, and several blogs.

I'm a hard worker capable of picking up 75 lbs of weight at frequent intervals and up to 150 lbs. I can and have dug ditches, ponds, root cellars and holes to put plants in. I'm not afraid to get dirty and I am certainly not above or new to mucking out a barn or pig pen. I am proficient with a wheelbarrow and a maddock. I have tons of landscaping experience including design including permaculture.

Oh yeah, I also volunteer to play Santa Clause on a yearly basis for my town Christmas celebration as well as the fire dept. Christmas celebration.

This is just a small sample of what I have done as a farmer over the past seven years, if this skill set might match your job or an employer that you know of please contact me at:

Alan Bishop

5604 S. State Rd. 60

Pekin IN 47165

or call

812-967-2073

Bishops Homegrown 2012 CSA

2011-10-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

Hey local peeps, heres your chance to join our CSA for 2012~

Bishop's Homegrown 2012 CSA
5604 S. State Rd. 60Pekin IN 47165
812-967-2073

Introduction: Bishop's Homegrown is a small “eco-logically” grown farm in Pekin Indiana. We first started operating as an offshoot of my parents/grandparents former tobacco growing operation offering fresh produce, good plants, and compost all produced using traditional non chemical methods.. Much of our work in recent years has been focused on breeding and or collecting and replicating more nutritious and well adapted local plants and animals for the local/regional market and particularly catered towards low input farmers. From these enterprises we have seen much success and we have built an inventory of locally adapted – low input adapted plants and seed that is unmatched by any other in Washington County Indiana and likely by any in Southern Indiana in general.The Farm and Certifications:We feel that we are now in a position to be able to share these plants and their bounty more freely with the surrounding community as we have further modified our low input (no chemicals) production methods to fit a model which gives the greatest yield with the least amount of input.

In conjunction with the newly formed Washington County Artisans and Farmers market we would love to be one of the first blocks in the formation of a new local food shed! This is why we are offering a 2012 CSA program to interested locator consumers who want the freshest and best local produce grown with the least amount of chemical contaminants possible. This gives the consumer a chance to not only know where the produce that graces their table comes from but to also foster a relationship with the farmer and become more aware of the hows and why's of local food products. We are not organically certified but we are customer certified, meaning that we hope that you our discerning customers will take the time to come and tour our farm and fields over the years. We feel that this is far more “authentic” and meaningful than any government issued “stamp” of approval.

What We are Offering: Currently we are offering three membership options, first up is a general overview of all three plans: You receive Weekly Basket of Produce running from roughly May-Sept/Oct. Depending on climatic conditions and production conditions. This will run of the gammit of most commonly grown food crops as well as many rarities including some occasional fruit and berries. Discounts and first chance at bulk produce plus the perk of extra produce when available at no extra cost. 10% Discounts on other items such as heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving, seeds, plants, compost, and more. One turkey is included every Thanksgiving for family plan members. You will be expected to pick up your produce weekly on Saturdays from 8:00 Am - 12:00 Pm at Washington County Artisans and Farmers Market held in Pekin Park.

Perks of family plan: By signing up for a family plan you share with me in the risks and benefits of farming. Early in the season the basket may be sparse. Later on a rich abundance is expected which aught to more than compensate for the sparse weeks. Family plan members have my highest allegiance: You get my first of season vegetables before anyone else. And if there is just a tiny bit of your favorite crop left I will save it for you. If you have a favorite variety I may try growing it for you. You will also get the first chance to purchase any bulk quantities of produce we have on hand at a discount compared to farm stand prices. Obviously types of produce and amount thereof varies weekly. The family plan also includes one Heritage Turkey a year prepared specially for you for Thanksgiving.

Individual and couples plan: Couple and Individual plan members will also receive first and last of crop perks that don't go to market if there is enough quantity after the family basket orders are filled. Otherwise, they will receive all of the same produce, in lesser quantities than the family basket delivered with the same quality and care. They will also receive a 10% discount on turkeys, seeds, plants, and compost.

Prices are as follows:
Family Plan (4 people): $15.00 a week. Running from (roughly May/June-Oct) – 300.00

Couples Plan (2 people) $10.00 a week. Running for same amount of time.- 160.00Singles Plan

Individual plan $8.00 a week. Running for same amount of time. - 130.00

I can also customize plans if someone wants to talk about doing so. All plans can be paid a year in advance or up to April 30 of 2012. We may be able to work out a week to week billing plan as well. The current prices will be somewhat discounted for those who wish to join a year in advance as such forwarded cash helps us prepare greatly for the year ahead, the advanced pricing scheme lasts until December and is as follows:

Family 290.00
Couples 150.00
Singles 120.00

Make Checks Cash able to Alan Bishop and either visit us in person or mail to 5604 S. State Rd. 60 Pekin IN 47165.

Pot Belly Pigs as Homestead Hogs?

2011-10-20T16:22:00.001-07:00

Banshe
O'Dale

Winehead-Given to me by an old friend of my fathers who pulled up to the farm one day in a 1970 rusted out stepside truck; barefoot, cutoff shorts, no shirt, hair to his ass, beard to his chest, with this big boy in the back of the truck. He was on his way to a David Allen Cole concert and I traded him a bottle of Bishop's Homegrown Elderberry wine for him!

The Girls Pen

I'm sure there are gonna be an equal amount of both farmers and animal rights activists both reacting with the same indignant and ignorant thought to that statement!

"Potbellies are pets not food!"

Wrong. Potbellies have a long history of domestication for exactly those purposes in the Far East! As a matter of fact they are the "Heritage" homestead hog of Vietnam and Korea!

We had been discussing raising pigs for meat for the house and possibly for sale for quite some time and I never could decide which breed I really wanted to go with, like all things I leaned hard towards creating my own uniquely adapted landrace.

I had a number of considerations to look at when selecting a type based around my production practices. Mostly I wanted the following:

-Efficiency. How quickly do they grow? How much do they eat? Can they forage?

-Cleanliness and Sloth: One thing I hate about most hogs I see even on pasture farms is their laziness. I want an active forager that's up doing stuff, checking things out, and generally being a "pig"....rooting around.

-Litter numbers and mothering instincts: I want a fair number of piglets come breeding time but I don't need 20 each from each sow I have. Eight or nine would be more appropriate and have a higher rate of survivability. I also wanted good mothering instincts. I don't want mothers that abandon piglets or roll over on them.

-Demeanor: I prefer to eat a pig not the other way around.

-Size: For home use I don't need a huge pig as I don't want to have to freeze or smoke (though I will build a small smokehouse soon to go with the new greenhouse and rootcellar!) several hundred pounds at a time. Meat on the hoof to me is far more secure than meat that is preserved via freezing.....even cured it has to be used in a certain amount of time. It's also a whole lot easier for me to sling around 150 lbs during butcher as opposed to 300 or 400 lbs.

I settled on the potbelly for all of the above reasons..........and because I got three of them for free from some local friends.

......And a fourth from another old friend.

My plan is still to create a landrace which will be made up of Potbelly (2 strains) and American Guinea Hog along with genetics from any other small breed pig which might suit my fancy in the coming years, Kune Kune would be nice but is nearly impossible of prohibitively expensive to afford at the moment.

My most important consideration is good foraging skills as I have plans to create some pasture areas for the pigs (ducks, turkeys, exct.) over the coming months as well giving them some amount of "free" range with the addition of some electric fencing. One thing I would really like to do is breed the pigs in January or so (both sows I currently have) and raise about 6 for meat the first year. I'd like to fence off a couple acres of Amanda Palmer and turn the pigs and turkeys loose to forage in the fall as the corn dries down (easier to take the pigs to the corn than the other way around) allowing them to forage and strip the corn plants, root up the field and of course fertilize it alongside the turkeys leaving nothing left for the following spring but to take down the fence and replant Amanda Palmer corn for animals! This eliminates plowing, fertilizing, hand harvesting, shucking, and grain storage and gives good, fresh, farm raised pork! Of course in time pasture stips can be established as well alongside the fruit and nut trees where the pigs can be actively encourage to eat low quality fruit as well as windfall fruit while improving the soil and plants on those terraces.

Of course there are other economic advantages of raising my own pigs on farm as well, extra piglets can always be sold to those with a similar interest or for raising as housepets and extra fatening hogs can be taken to butcher for sale to customers. Another reason we leaned hard on potbellies (and hopefully soon guineahogs) is for their lard content. These days lard is oft overlooked as unhealthy in the Western diet but it has been consumed for thousands of years and can't be any worse than some of the GMO based vegetable oils in the long run. Of course as well lard can be used to make a fantastic soap and since we just happened to recently venture into that business we will certainly make use of any farm byproducts we can get including the lard.

I spoke to an old family friend the other day while collecting persimmon germplasm for next season who told me his family used to raise potbellies and potbelly derrivatives for food and he spoke highly of them. The only real difference as I understand is you don't really get bacon of them which is fine with me as my main interest is ham, lard, jawl bacon, and pork chops as well as a whole roasting small pig for get togethers! (what other farm do you know you can go to and eat roasted potbelly, drink homemade elderberry wine, buy seeds, eat rabbits, eat duck, buy homemade soap, homegrown produce and discuss philosophy?)!

He also told me a cool trick for clearing up lard, which is aparently yellow when rendered, drop a few potato slices into your pot and it will pull out the impurities and turn the lard white!

Some of you may have seen some of the pics in this article before for an article I wrote for a magazine in the UK and posted on the blog before about creating hog houses. For those who are interested in getting into potbellies on a budget, definitely consider building out of pallets as they are freely available material that readily ends up in the landfill and make good sturdy enclosures. The pigs haven't even attempted to escape at this point!

Also, be sure to check out Wind Ridge Farm in Kentucky for more information on raising potbellies for meat.

Enoch's Garden

2011-10-20T15:00:00.001-07:00

A "Tire Garden" proper....

If there is such a thing as a proper tire garden!

Back in the 70's tire gardens were all the rage as the back to land folks made use of what sources they had due to a lack of money, jobs, or desire to be a part of capitalism (or perhaps all of the above). I've seen a ton of articles about tire gardening in old Mother Earth News Magazine that my friend Karen Padgett passed on to me but somehwere way back then the idea got dropped.....

Likely, as with most things, I'm sure some eco trend probably contributed to this as well as yuppy folks deciding they didn't like the looks of the black rubber monsters surrounding their house.....to be honest I had never even considered doing it until this year.

While working some business deals with a neighbor he showed me his tire garden. A few rows here and there spread out throughought his quarter acre garden filled with asparagus, garlic, beans, potatoes, squash and some various other crops. I still wasn't sold on it yet, I mean afterall what of the health and eco-logical consequences of all that rubber and heavy metal....I began my research and learned that the chemicals and heavy metals are actually so tied up in the rubber matrix that they don't present any problems until reduced to tiny particles.....I began hauling tires and compost from the neighbors farm, truck load after truckload!

Lots of hard manual labor latter I had a nice little tire garden on the hill behind the house and a second smaller one next to the drive.

Why tires you might ask?

Let me explain my theories and thoughts.

The tires warm the soil quite a bit earlier in the season than even an ordinary raised bed giving you a couple weeks early planting in spring and late harvest in the fall.

The tires can be used on sections of ground not suited to ordinary cultivation such as steep hilsides, areas of poor soil, and rocky ground opening up new opporotunities for planting that did not exist previously.

No till planting; part of what makes this work and proved its value to me was the no till method of planting. Essentially you are creating a nice habitat to culture useful micro-organisms which maintain fertility as long as you start with a good quality compost and top dress a little over winter and in the spring. In between the tires I leave a nice 2 foot walkway which I cover with straw and in time I will build these row centers up in every other row by applying straw through the growing season and compost in the off season, after a few years of building up humous in this way I can plant the center rows to low impact crops such as strawberries, onions, and garlic nearly doubling the productivity of the given pieces of ground.

Most of the articles I read in Mother Earth advocated cutting off the outside flap of the tires but I decided to keep them as the one on the bottom will help to retain moisture in dry weather.

The only down side of the tires is the high heat of summer which I handle with the straw in between rows by simply piling it high enough to cover the edges of the tires, even then the tires get dry, this of course could be remidied with some drip irrigation on the upper slope of the hill above each row of the tire.

Cover crops could really expand the soil line beneath the tire, Daikon raddish would be a great crop which could help to break up the hard ground underneath the tires and make some water channels as well as pull up nutrients otherwise not available in the tires.

We decided to name the garden "Enoch's Garden" in honor of Enoch and his wife Sarah who are credited on the deed to the land as the original owners of this farm and builders of the barn that I recently renovated. It is of course also an homage to my interest in Gnosticism as well. By next year we hope to have a fence built around the garde to preclude access to the ducks and turkeys. At the moment we are building u strawberry stocks, garlic, multiplying onions, walking onions, and potatoe onions there as well as about 50 varieties of garlic. We will also be overwintering our turnip and kale and collards there for seed production next season.

This past summer we grew a number of crops in the tires including late tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, sweet potatoes, potatoes, summer squash, winter squash and a few others.

Some messageboards of interest to agricultural explorers.

2011-10-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

Well as cool weather sets in I'll find myself with a bit more time to set behind this screen and type here on the blog as well as the ever growing Homegrown Goodness Messageboard where the conversations are already heating up with talk of many new breeding projects and seed trades as well as homesteading skills and more.

I'd be remiss however if I didn't also mention a couple other boards I thought my readers might enjoy starting with my buddy Dean Slater (Darthslater to those in the know) owner and operator of both PKS Seeds as well as The Tomato Garden messageboard the sister site of our very own homegrown goodness messageboard!

Darth will be growing out some of our toughest selections on some of his toughest land next season, a project which you can follow on Homegrown Goodness.

I should also mention that Rob Wagner and Tom Wagner of New World Seeds And Tubers have a new messageboard as well Here

Free Download: Post-Apocalyptic Personal & Family Security Book

2011-10-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Prepper friends,

If you really want to be ready and you desire to help others get ready then please give me a hand getting the word out there about this one!

Our good friend Bill Drake from cultivatorshandbook.com (Cultivators Handbook of Natural Tobacco, International Cultivators Handbook) has recently published a new ebook which will go a long ways in helping all of us prepare for the Shit to Hit!

The book is free of charge to you and free to distribute under the Creative Commons license and provisions in the document.

For those who would prefer to download the document please check this link at Shit Hits The Fan Blog

Theres a ton of useful information covered in this 76 page word document, much of it you will one day find useful.

Here is the introduction:

Introduction
I’ve been traveling and working around the world as a writer all my life and have seen the world go from relatively safe in the 40s and 50s to incredibly dangerous today. Early in my travels I began collecting US and foreign government and non-government security documents for personal use on the premise that if anybody knew all the tricks of the personal security trades it was government & NGO agencies. And it’s true – everything that anybody needs to know about how be secure at home or on the road has been published at one time or another by the government. Problem is that none of this critical information is available in one place; in fact, most of the information is difficult to impossible to find even through the internet.
That’s why I’ve taken the best of the information I've been able to find over the years, tried to edit it for clarity, and brought it together in one place as an electronic resource for easy access. This handbook contains information gathered from the government military, diplomatic and intelligence agencies, international non-governmental organizations, and even foreign governments including Israel and the UK. In short, I’ve tried to include as much as possible of what I think may be helpful about how to guard your person, home, family and property from the kind of violent chaos that all agree will follow an apocalyptic financial and social collapse of the US.
While I've lived and worked in a lot of different places, I'm a writer, not a security expert. - although I've been in some situations where I've wished I knew a lot more than I did then! That's why I've spent a lot of time the past few years preparing my home and property for what I believe is the coming breakdown of American society and the accompanying descent into mob rule and rampant criminality directed against anyone that owns any property perceived as worth having. That's also a big part of why I wrote this Handbook - to gather the knowledge of experts, usually writing anonymously in the public domain, and to create a useful resource for individuals and families who either want to create a more secure environment in their present home, or who are thinking about relocating to a more secure environment before TSHTF.
Please use this resource as a beginning reference point for your own research into how to make your home, yourself, and those you love more safe and secure in the increasingly likely event of society-wide breakdown of the rule of law. I could sling around a lot of self-protective lawyer talk here about not being responsible for any decisions you make based on this information but let's just say that the following information is offered in good faith but that each of us is the ultimate arbiter of our own life and fate. Please use this information as a starting point for your own research and don't just assume that it is either complete or accurate, or that it applies in your particular case. If you can't agree with that please disregard everything from this point forward. I wish you good fortune and safe passage through the terrible storms that many, including me, believe lie just ahead.

Face Of The Earth Seed 2012 Seed Bazzar is up!

2011-10-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

Check it out Here!

Expect a myriad of new blog posts soon! Finally catching up on some things that needed be done!

Face Of The Earth Seed CSA 2011

2011-09-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I weren't going to post about this until all the seeds were harvested and dried and packaged but since I've already recieved two orders at this point I might as well put it out there.

We are taking pre-orders for the 2011-2012 version of the Face Of The Earth Seed CSA now. For those not familiar I'll do a quick copy and paste of the info from last year which is much the same. If your interested in our offerings check out the link here

The offerings this season will be fairly similar with only a few changes here and there and I will be updating those in short order. The biggest difference is we won't have Astronomy Domine available in bulk but we will have multiple seed selections from the Amanda Palmer genepool available including Flint corn variations and Morado corn variations along with a few new items. Previous two year members, remember you have credit for this year, no need to send more money (unless your just feeling charitable, something I don't complain about, lol)

Please send check or well concealed cash (preferably) to
Alan Bishop
5604 S. State Rd. 60
Pekin IN 47165

Read on for info on the program:

2011
Face of the earth seed bazaar public catalog.

An introduction: Here is the completed 2011 Face of the Earth Seed 2011 list. This is not the entirety of the seed collection or our work as Hip-Gnosis Seed Development over the preceding five years but instead a library of seed that we feel comfortable releasing as quality seed this season.

In the future we will be releasing many more collections than what is represented here; it is likely given the time constraints of conventional plant breeding and seed production by a single person that each year will see the release of 5-10 new collections. All seed collections represented below are public domain, unpatented, and open source as well as GMO free!

You will notice that most of these collections are not pure varieties, they are various admixtures of new hybrids, segregating original crosses, and new open pollinated accessions, most of which we have breed on our own in recent history, and which with some selection work give rise to new adaptavar landraces and individual folk varieties. We do not recommend these seeds to those who are concerned with high yield or with producing a large market crop; instead we offer these collections as an efficient and affordable source of genetics which would otherwise be cost prohibitive to the average gardener, farmer, or plant breeder to obtain. Unless otherwise noted there are no named varieties within each package with which to affix a label.

Conditions: By purchasing these seeds you agree to all terms and conditions and unconditionally agree that you understand these seeds are genetically diverse populations which are not catered to high production agriculture under all circumstances and that genetic diversity within each package is to be expected, we are not responsible for you not understanding what is expressly stated and we make no refund or remediation for customers who fail to read and understand these conditions.

Guarantee: Face Of The Earth Seed Certifies that the seeds we supply are fertile and correctly labeled. We are glad to reimburse anyone dissatisfied to the cost of the seeds and no more, or to re-supply given kinds. We are not responsible for the mis-use of the seeds or the plants that arise from them. Our seeds exceed state and federal germination requirements and in the rare case that germination is lower than expected we package extra seed. We list minimum number of seeds and often we supply extra. All seeds are grown "Eco-Logically" at Bishop's Homegrown here in Pekin Indiana using on farm produced composts and no chemical intervention.

In Regards to acquiring seed: All seed packets are 3.00 unless otherwise marked. For orders under $15 send 3.00 shipping and handling. Indiana residents add 7% sales tax per order. Seeds are sent on a first come and first serve basis.

Shipping Times: Since we do not employ seed packers and operate on a shoestring budget out of my own personal expense shipping isn’t quite industrialized but we strive to make sure that orders go out in a timely manner as they are received.

To the greatest extent possible we are trying to escape the interventionism of modern technology and as such we no longer will be offering an online ordering option, instead we accept cash and postal money orders and preferably well concealed cash where possible. Make checks and money orders out to Alan Bishop.

Send a list of your selections along with price of items and sales tax (if applicable)along with payment to:
Alan Bishop
5604 S. State Rd. 60
Pekin IN 47165

Seed may also be obtained here at our farm or farm stand.

Non specific requests: As mentioned above these collections don’t represent anywhere near the full scope of seed which we are producing for sale and instead just cover what we feel comfortable offering to the public at this time and seed which we had large quantities of. We do have many various other OP’s, Hybrids, and Populations on hand at any given time, if there is something which you are looking for but that is not listed here, please feel free to e-mail us and we will see what we have on hand. There is also the distinct possibility that more seed selections could be amended to this list later in the winter or early next spring if we add a variety we will republish the list on the web-site.

Regarding treated seed: There are occasionally a small percentage of treated seeds present in our grexes as we make use of many commercial lines in breeding. We do not approve of this but in order to offer certain genetic traits this is currently the trade off we have to deal with. It shouldn't’t have to be said but do not use these seeds for feed, oil, human consumption or any other absolutely idiotic perusal of death that you can dream of. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR STUPIDITY. Any treated seed will be labeled in description and on the package

Projects which we are pursuing and which will see release in the 2012 bazaar:
Cabbage Grex, Carrot Grex, Winter Cabbage Grex, Collard Grex, Mustard Grex, Perennial Rye, Perennial Wheat, Kazak apple seed, Raspberry grex, individual lines of soup and snap beans, Beet Grex, Chard Grex, Spinach Grex and many others.

Contact and ordering information:
homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com
alanbishop.proboards60.com
812-967-2073
To join our physical mailing list e-mail your address to bishopshomegrown@gmail.com
We will be mailing seed lists in coming years.

A Hog Shed Update with pictures!

2011-08-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

The first shed worked out so well we decided to convert our old hogshed (one which Kim's father gave me, well he gave me two sheds, which I tore apart and reused to make one good one and then attached the back structure/run with scrap lumber I scavenged) which we had used for chickens previously back into a hog shed with a pallet fence run.

For this little guy who is still looking for a mate.

Here is our newest addition, a bore potbelly, he is still relatively young but phenotypically screams to me that he is indeed what we are looking for.

Going back to the original shed, here is the gate, fastened in "poor man" style to the pallets beside it with shoe laces and braced with a cinder block.

Here is the finished enclosure and fence. As you can see, on one side of the enclosure we made a small pallet box with a gate to close them in at night until they get large enough to dissuade predation by coyotees, bobcats, and stray dogs.

The aforementioned boar who we got from a friend via a trade. Likely the most "backwoods" trade I ever made, a friend, (think Rob Zombie with glasses) pulled up in his late 60's pickup in cutoff jean shorts, no shirt and wearing sandals and promptly traded me the pig for a bottle of homemade elderberry wine (all of this just hours before attending a David Allen Coe concert). The pig is now affectionately known as "Winehead".
Fence from a different angle. The feed bags are there to cover gabs that the small pigs could (and did get out of).
The newest pallet/pig project. A pasture box made of pallets. The roof is made from an old corrugated plastic cigarette advertisment which would have ended up in the county landfill otherwise. The box set's atop a skid so it can be drug by hand, four wheeler, or tractor to the necessary field to allow the pigs to pasture, root, and fertilize for planting next season. We will be making one of these for all of the breeder pigs we decide to keep with the sheds serving for dry season (to dry to root effectively, nothing to forage for) and also for farrowing.

The persuit of landrace genetics or the alchemical search for an Edenic garden.

2011-08-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

Part of our butternut and acorn squash landrace.

Throuought the course of aghistory mankind has faced any number of famine and disease threats closely linked to the food supply and the sustainability thereof. Often I find myself attempting to explain my intentions when it comes to my plant and animal breeding work to customers or under informed friends and family and often it comes off as far too archaiac, analog, and abstract to give a very real or clear understanding of what I do, so here, and on our future .com I will attempt to explain things a bit more clearly.

I, by my nature, am not an overly scientific person; I don't keep good notes, I'm a terrible organizer, and I really only use my minds capacity to it's full potential when confronted with abstract concepts when it comes to putting pen to paper (being previously an improvisational musician likely has a lot to do with this. I'm sure being an only child also has had some effect). I tend to think of my farming/breeding phillosophy as being equally as spiritual as it is scientific. The norms to me do not apply and neither does the judgment of the world outside of myself. The following explanation is posted here to the blog as much for my own rememberence and understanding as it is for those who would read the words.

To understand what is meant when I apply the word "landrace" to a variety of seed one must first understand the traditional definition thereof:

Wikipedia reports the following: A landrace is a local variety of a domesticated animal or plant species which has developed largely by natural processes, by adaptation to the natural and cultural environment in which it lives. It differs from a formal breed which has been bred deliberately to conform to a particular standard type. Landraces are usually more genetically and physically diverse than formal breeds. Many formal breeds originated from landraces, and sometimes a particular type has both landrace and formal breed populations. Sometimes a formalised breed retains the "landrace" name, despite no longer being a true landrace.

While I agree with it mostly I find myself identifying a bit more with my friend Joseph Lofthouse and his definition: "Adaptavar" Landrace - An adaptivar landrace is a foodcrop lots of genetic diversity which tends to produce stable yields under marginal growing conditions. Landrace crops are adaptively selected for reliability in tough conditions. The arrival of new pests, new diseases, or changes in cultural practices or in the environment may harm some individuals in a landrace population, but with so much diversity many plants are likely to do well under the changing conditions.
In the case of mostly self-pollinating plants like peppers, tomatoes, beans, wheat, and peas a land-race may be thought of as many distinct varieties growing side by side.

In the case of out-crossing plants like cantaloupe, squash, or corn, a land-race can be thought of as an open pollinated population with tremendous genetic diversity. Most of the seeds in an out-crossing land-race end up being unique F1 hybrids.

For a few years I struggled to find a term which might in fact fit as a descriptor for the breeding work I was engaged in here on the farm, coining a few terms myself here on the blog, which I find available via google from time to time but Joseph got it a bit more right than others.

Amanda Palmer Corn in it's second year.

My definition of Adaptavar Landrace: A selection process whereby genetic chaos is controlled marginally by the hands of men attempting to wrangle in the genetic diversity of genepool processes in a way which is intelligent enough to adapt a seed population or animal group to your particular region, micro-climate, and cultural conditions while providing an abundant and reliable harvest with an eye to cullinary or medicinal (sometimes aesthetic) qualities which will still prove profitable. To foster the development of plant/animal varieties in a population which can provide all of these things in self sustainable systems which might include disadvantageous conditions for individual cultivars or breeds including pests and disese as well as parasites, low fertility, or in the case of animals a lack of abundant and cheaply aquired grains (selection for pasture and forage ability) or an ability to evade predators via coloration and or evasion skills. All of this paired with crops and varieties being diverse enough to face the challenges of changing paradigms, both natural and manmade while understanding that the evolutionary chain of events requires a goodly amount of variables which one may not even understand until they see the need for them. In essence, my landraces are a type of "crop insurance" by maintaining diversity I maintain my ability, even in the worst years to produce a crop for home or market use with out relying on the government and their regulations or on a insurance corporation to cover my ass.

Confused yet? I thought perhaps.

In the last 100 years we have progressed more technologically than we did in the previous 10,000 years due in part to both transportation and the green revolution. A paradigm shift was caused with the rise of industrial agriculture and the control of resources such as petrol based fuels and fertilizers into the hands of a small few with access to mass advertizing. In one foul swoop a concentration of power (by big corporations) had changed basic survival needs (food and medicine) and methods of trade and barter with heavily regulated and government subsidized commerce and poisons. The seed trade was turned into a wholesale business by the advent of F1 hybrids designed not for adaptation by bio-region but by perfomance based on averages paired with chemical treatments (created and marketed by the seed compaines and necessary only to the survival of week genetics) to do "average" everywhere as long as you bought the necessary suppliments (cutting out completely the cycle of self reliance on farm waste products and food to animal to manure to food production). To put it simply growing ones own food and medicine the truly "traditional" way became......revolutionary......particularly if you weren't growing it using the new industrial methods and using the new hybrid seeds that Extension agents were reccomending. For a deeper understanding of this "new world" one must also understand the federal reserve, the breakup of the american family, and any other number of divide and conquer, slave/master relationship paradigms.

This concentration of power and marketing has led to any number of health issues and food scares and a great deal of erosion of biological resources. Big corporations do not favor bio-diversity as it does not make for easy, quick, efficient, and bottom line oriented processing in their favor.......and since they pay the bills of the industrialized farm owners and even market gardeners the responce was to settle on the easily sold in bulk, highly inbred, and totally inefficient varieties that the seed companies marketed. Many examples of crop failures exist as examples of how this lack of bio-diversity have already effected our lives (Perhaps you remember the corn blight) or have seen the cascade of crop failures in 2011 alone (inflating even more the price of basic staples on top of the inflation caused by the totally engineered global economic downturn). This all without mentioning the constant money flow out of the farmers pocket and into the seed companies hands annually in exchange for genetics which once existed in a grow it and save it yourself system. The current system works not only against the best interest of the farmer and the consumer but also against the common sense with which the agricultural world once exhibited by completing the cycles of food and seed production on a yearly basis, once again isolating us as a race from what is our basic instinct and cultural heritage in favor of a manipulated power/greed driven slave/master relationship.

The goal is not to reinvent the wheel, but simply to improve it (if improvement is needed. I don't advocate unnecessary work when a simple existing variety fits the niche for example). Prior to the green revolution of now 60 plus years ago we had a number of advantageous locally adapted varieties and landraces which have in the meantime been lost due to aging gardeners and farmers or the downfall of local, bioregionally based seed companies. The heirloom seed movement (as well as the heritage animal movement) has done much to preserve a portion of this bio-diversity much more has been lost than has been saved in certain regions (The Ohio Valley in particular) so we must attempt to locate and integrate necessary bio-diversity on our farms.

What we ultimately are looking for is what we feel works best within our cultural practices and what will provide a hedge against our bets in the worst years of farming and could still be grown practically if resources such as fuel and other commodities were no longer available. These populations are often built out of either local or regional heirlooms, other landrace varieties aquired from breeders, old open pollinated commercial varieties, and the occassional introgression of genetics from exotic locations (particularly if we are looking for short season crops or drought tolerant crops). We tend to try to access our genetics from other small farmers (homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com as well as local farmers and farm markets) via trade and barter where possible and from commercial sources as little as possible as we are also attempting to expand a network of trade between like minded individuals which fosters good will and cooperation. Ocassionally we lean heavily on wild relatives (particularly this was the case when breeding our previously mentioned "Kiva" turkey variety). Sometimes the genetics are particularly diverse as is the case in Amanda Palmer and Astronomy Domine corn and other times we are simply trying to add an infusion of genetics while selecting for a narrower pallet of particular traits (an example of this is a population of watermelons we are persuing based around the positive traits of Charleston Gray with the additon of yellow and orange fleshed genes and disease tolerance).

This allows us to grow out a vast array of genetics in the first generation while making both controlled and unexpected crosses and to eliminate any unwanted genetics from the future breeding pool. As the years cycle through we see the rise of new genotypes and phenotypes and make informed selections about which of those performs best under our conditions. This provides us with both farm adapted seed and the opporotunity to help foster the development of an entirely new population of plants from which we deprive or means of health, wealth, and livelyhood which saves us money on seeds and guarantees a harvest even in years when crops of the same species might have failed in the region over, something that is not provided by inbred lines, hybrids, or even most open pollinated selections.

Stepping into this fold is not neccesarily as easy as one might presume, but by no means is it difficult, it simply takes some understanding of how basic biology in plants and animals works as well as persistence and determination. The obvious starting point is identifying the need for a new and unique variety and understanding the challenges of producing a crop in your bio-region by incorporating the knowledge you have gathered about pests, disease, site fertility, and weather and then applying those criteria to your selection process regarding foundation genetics (stock you will use to develop a population) as well as selections from those populations in the succeding generations. This is essentially the same sort of method that would give rise to a single Open Pollinated line but we desire to go beyond that and incorporate a diversity of phenotypic and genomic traits (both for utility and for beauty) in creating a landrace. While it is fun to persue genetics from far off exotic places your best bet is to start with varieties already well adapted to your region or adapted to regions similar to yours by ammasing open pollinated lines, other landrace strains, and even.....gasp F1 hybrids which match your wants and needs. (though in some crops cytoplasmic male sterility may be an issue as a new paper written by Joseph Lofthouse explains)

A few other things one may want to take into consideration when creating a landrace:

-Take advantage where possible to allow natural pollinators into your crops to ensure cross polination. Where there is no reason to persue the hard work of hand pollinations and controlled crosses one would be wise to allow nature to take it's course

-Always hold back some samples of seed of the past two or three years to mix back into your stock for the sake of maintaining diversity if you end up skewing your project away from it's intended destination

-Share your seed with other locals and encourage them to make their own selections, working in cooperation to develop new varieties.

The end game and desired solution is the creation of a vast stock of bio-regionally genetically diverse crop seeds. If your at all involved in agriculture you have seed the profusion of local gardeners and farmers, many organic based, speaking to the need for local "food sheds" but oft overlooking the need for a solid foundation for this food shed.......seeds. To be sustainable you have to have seed and if you aren't saving those seeds your not sustainable and you have missed the point entirely.

Kiva Turkey Landrace Poults.

Super Congress

2011-08-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

U.S. July 4 1776 - August 2 2011

Definition: Six bloods and Six Crips arguing over how to finish destroying the neighborhood while being led by a corporate Marionette.

"Forgive them father, they know not what they do."

2011-08-04T20:06:00.001-07:00

A more optimistic man might still believe this, me, I don't. I know that because I'm a self sustainable farmer that makes me an enemy of the state and I know that the goons involved in enforcing unconstitutional laws and doctrines are just as bad as the assholes who put them up to it. There is no acceptable level of "I'm just doing my job" when it comes down to law enforcement agencies enforcing a strong arm agenda from a transnational corporation or unconstitutional alphabet agency on a small business or farm. The S.S. were simply performing their jobs, it was still murder.

If your reading this thinking to yourself; "What the hell has happened to set him off" I'll simply refer you to a few links:

1. Industrial Turkey Recall due to Salmonella

"The illnesses date back to March, and the CDC said Monday that cultures of ground turkey from four retail locations between March 7 and June 27 showed salmonella contamination. The agency said preliminary information showed that three of the samples have been linked to the same production establishment but did not name the retailers or the manufacturer."

To boot they didn't release the names of the offenders until today and what are they gonna get, a slap on the hand? How about a big government subsidy to help them tidy up the place..........might as well given what else happened today.

Meanwhile "back at the ranch" as they say.....

2. Rawesome Foods gets raided by government goons carrying live weapons for selling products containing raw milk which never made anyone sick in the first place! To boot, the owner is being held on $123,000 dollar bail!

Seems all of our liberty hating, slave mongering, regulatory enforcing, bullshit, useless, tax eating, cock sucking alphabet agencies were invovled too. Hmmm, perhaps they haven't checked their budget (along with their constitution) but where do they get their money for carying out such operations when we are fucking broke as a country?

Theres a word for these behaviors; RAPE. Plain and simple. It's time to start standing up and getting the word out that consumers will not be told what can and cannot be put in their body and that the days of open doors between agriculture and industrial transnationals and alphabet agencies are coming to an end and that the police in particular have a constitutional duty and obligation not to carry out illegal orders!

I also happened across this particularly disturbing bit of news I'd missed in the spring.

And for what? What fucking law and under what authority? Maybe if you ignorant punks would spend some time doing your actual job and focusing on the over processed, over anti-bacterialized, dyed red to look good in the case, sprayed with chemicals to preserve it over a period of months, agri-businesss bullshit that is marketed daily to the American public we would truly have far fewer deaths due to food related illness. Instead, you would rather put truly small (don't give me any shit Perdue and Tyson producers, though they have you tied up where they want you you signed up for it) farmers out of business. And why? Because it doesn't behoove them for self suficency to thrive, for you to know how to grow your own food or how to make money not working for a nameless, faceless, death loving, corprate scum fuck corporations or at the very least understand how all of this is spiralling out into an endless shithole third world country type of situation.

We all know how all of this is going to end. One look at the geo-political situation coupled with the economy and over burdensom government and it isn't hard to suss out.

Some pics from around the farm for fun.

2011-07-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

A nice cut flower arrangement Kim made for the county fair.

Dry Land Acorn squash in the new Tire Garden

Various C. Pepo Winter Squash (and a few True Gold Crookneck)

The Tire Garden (AKA Enoch's Garden, more coming soon)

Bush Butternut in the tire garden.

Two Saucerful Of Secrets Sunflowers Kim picked as specimens for the fair.

Quite possibly the ugliest (but scrapiest) bantam I've bred yet. A cochin x polish cross.

Amanda Palmer first place at the fair. (Peck of Shelled Corn)

Luna, one of our two new potbellied pigs (and coincidentally a "pot bellied" me in the background)

Batman and his duck Harem.

Kiva turkey poults.

Pallet based hog shelter!

2011-07-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

The newest sustainable building experiment to hit the ground here at Bishop's Homegrown is a hog shed made nearly 100% of pallets! We have been talking about adding a smaller type homestead hog to the homestead for quite some time now and put a ton of thought into the phenotypic traits we would be looking for within the genetics of our line but hadn't put much thought into available materials with which to build a hog shed proper. Then it occured to me....

Pallets! I'm all the time scavenging these things for various other building projects including but not limited to gates, fences, and blackberry/raspberry trellis systems. I had recently come accross some nice eight foot long pieces and some brand new standard four foot by four foot ones as well as various other sizes via two local businesses that just pile them by their trash bin for disposal.

I started by cutting some posts from Sasafrass on the Northern fence border of the farm (got covered in poison ivy doing it, which I've never had a reaction from until now) and I salvaged a couple of posts from the neighbors throw away pile as well (and a couple "old bones" my reference to dead cedar posts I cut while gathering wood for winter). The dimensions came out to eight foot by twelve foot and required a total of 11 short posts. The roof is made of two eight foot long by four foot wide pallets nailed to the inside of the posts and then nailed accross and to each other via the 2 x 4 support board of the pallets. The sides are two standard sized pallets nailed to the posts and the roof and then covered with heavy duty plywood scavenged from shipping boxes and fastened to the existing structure. The back wall is cobled together by some short three foot by three foot pallets and covered with whatever scavenged lumber I could find from pallets that weren't in great shape in their whole form.

roof

Inside

Side (covered with plywood from shipping crate)

I don't yet have any pictures of the fence which will encompass the yard (this is just a night time shelter, during the day the pigs will be pastured) but the fence is also made up of pallets of various sizes. The fence pallets are recessed into the ground about 6 inches to dissuade the hogs from burrowing out of the enclosure and are reinforced by nailing scab wood between pieces to tighten the joints as well as by using some old greenhouse frame (bent) driven into the ground and woven through the pallets. Since we are dealing with small hogs they will not have the brute physical strength to push their way through the fence and once they bump their nose on the hard surface this should dissuade them from even trying.

Along the fence I will build a feed trough out of two pieces of rough cut two by six nailed together in a V shape and a automatic waterer will be provided in the form of a 50 gallon plastic drum (salvaged from a food processing plant) with a screw in antique pig fountain. The roof will be covered with an old piece of bilboard tarp (verizon wireless side down so as not to give any free advertising to passenger planes above) though you could go old school and simply create a hay stack or thatced type roof which would shed rain water and snow while providing insulation just the same.

More pictures as I finish up the project. We are also converting a small chicken coop, which was once a hog shed on Kim's fathers farm into a secondary hog shed for overflow. More on that soon too!

White Blackberry updates.

2011-07-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately guys, but working on saving seeds, building some hog sheds, cutting wood, harvesting produce and helping start a new market has taken up a ton of my time. Anyhow, here are some long promised pictures and updates detailing the growth and taste of the two white blackberries; Snowbank and Nettletons.

Nettletons

Snowbank

Both the Snowbank and Nettletons proved to be vigorous and excellent producers which flowered within one or two days of each other lending credence to my thought that they are likely related with Nettletons likely having originally been the long lost "Iceberg" Burbank released prior to Snowbank, transplanted of course by the homesteader who's farm the Nettleton brothers later found the plants. The Nettletons began to ripen just after the fourth of July and are still now ripening a few berries as of July 31'st. The Snobank was a bit less productive and took a while longer to ripen and seemed to drop quite a few berries (possibly weather related). Phenotypically the nettletons produced a larger more oblate berry than the snowbank which tended to produce a longer more Hymilaian type berry.

In regards to tast, the Nettletons is particularly hard to pick in a "prime" state. There is a bit of a tendency towards an acidic to very acidic taste, particularly if picked even just a tad underripe. The best ripeness indicator I could find was when the berries actually turn quite a bit noticably translucent in color and even then the berries still maintain and amount of acidity. They will I do believe (and I have every intention of doing so with the frozen fruit in my freezer) make a nice Jelly or Jam and I'm thinking with the addition of a champagne type wine yeast make a wonderful dry "sparkling wine". Definitely one to relegate mostly to the world of further preparation.

The Snowbank on the other hand had the full on flavor of a wild type blackberry and actually stayed more creamy white than the Nettletons. Excellent for fresh eating but a little underproductive, it also tended to fruit a bit lower on the plant allowing easy access to our flock of turkeys, ducks, chicken, and guineas who did find and eat them with great relish.

The two types were planted right next to one another in anticipation of many crosses which could improve the germplasm, we also made many controlled crosses between the two as well as local wild blackberries. Seed of all of the above will be available via Face Of The Earth Seed this coming fall, so too should rootlets be available for both types.

Dear Un-Sustainable Department Of Agriculture.....

2011-07-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

Why would you struggle so hard to cover up the truth, it just makes people like me want to blast it out there on my blog, on homegrown goodness, on my facebook, and in e-mail

Would those of you in the interest of knowledge and food safety like to know what I'm talking about? Prepare yourselfs to become very angry. Here it is

A little late, but still relevant!

2011-07-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, been incredibly busy here on the farm and away as well. Engaged in finishing up the last of the plant breeding for quite some time and setting all the wheels to spin for the winter 2011 season as well as the 2012 season as a whole (lots to come on this later including pictures!)along with helping to create a new farmers and artisans market in my hometown (Pekin Indiana).

Anyhow, though the Oak Park Controversy is now seemingly settled with the charges having been droped it brings to light many issues that need to be addressed, particularly issues dealing with self sufficiency, personal beauty aesthetics, and control grid society.

By now I'm sure you've heard and read all about it, but for those who haven't, apparently Oak Park resident Julie Bass was facing charges (including 93 days in jail) for simply planting a vegetable garden in her front yard.

Yeah, I know right? Fucking asinine to say the least!

First of all were dealing here with property rights, if I own it, it's mine, I'll do what I want how I want as long as it's not in violation of city laws and since the laws there only vaguely refer to "living plant material" a garden fits right in. Take it and shove it! Of course "rights" in today's world is an objective term.....

That said, let us point out all the reasons everyone should be ripping out their lawns to replace them with thriving gardens.

-The economy and the U.S. Dollar is gone. Food inflation isn't coming, it's here, and it isn't going to get any better any time soon.
-Oil production (regardless of weather your a "peak oil" believer or not) isn't going to go up or get any less expensive due to regulations and price manipulation coupled with the devaluing of the dollar, it isn't going to be long before gas powered machinery is a luxury (and that includes you too my farming friends with tractors!)
-Natural disasters; 2011 is a case in point, things politically and climatically globally are far more unstable than they have been in quite some time.

Since we know this isn't the first or the last time that someone has tried to make it illegal for the cultivator to put the earth to good use and we know there are far more ignorant town managers, mayers, and neighborhood improvement ass hats out there we can pretty much be assured this will happen again, particularly as (the wrong) people in power (and nosy neighbors with nothing to share or offer) become more agitated by the world and circumstances surrounding their pitifully empty lives. When everything they know is gone they look for a reason to act absurd, when they don't find one they make one up. So to them I offer this promise...........

Your cities and comfortable lives will fail, maybe not today, tomorrow, or next year, but the world you know has forever unalterably been set on a different and uncharted course. Everything that you know that brings you comfort through "suburban and urban normality" will soon be a long lost memory, I know that makes you feel vulnerable and lost and your pitiful mind longs for reason and understanding (or, more likely thrives on the chaos you inflict on others)but you can pretty much forego any comprehension skills you might have once had because they no longer mean shit.

When it comes right down to it were going to need all those front yard, side walk, median, abandoned house/property gardens. Were gonna need to rip the useless landscape plants out of the pretty little cul de sac your overpriced, cheaply built, no equity home sits in front of and were gonna need to replant it to things that matter. Life sustaining food and medicine, domestic animals, fungi, and so much more, and your going to have to learn to deal with it, weather you like it our not, your life may depend on it.

Until then I encourage everyone in every town, city, state, municipality, county, country, everywhere; globally to take to "green grafiti" as we have discussed here on the blog before. Start making seed balls full of life sustaining seed and pelting empty spots in landscape beds, traffic medians, empty lots, ditches, and particularly in overpriced subdivisions for the sake of long term sustainability! We can all produce far more seed than we will ever need, why not put it to good use.

Oh, and just think about the possibilities when it comes to seed of that "illegal" plant..............the most traveled seeds in the world (riding in 1 out of 3 cars) being sent flying out the window at 60 miles an hour (Fukuoka Revamped!) into ditches and public property everywhere. Police that!

Social experiments prior to total economic colapse (get your shit ready, this ain't the real deal but it's coming!)

2011-07-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

"blah, blah, blah, im on the left and I say the right is wrong." "Blah, Blah, Blah, i'm on the right and I say the left is wrong." "Wait whos the third guy behind the cutrain tuging on those ropes?" "Who me, oh, nevermind me, pay attention they ain't gonna send out the social security checks!" Yeah and Micki Mouse craps rasins too. It's all part of a social experiment to see just how absolutely bat shit insane they can drive the populus before we really get pushed off the edge. Just how much resistance will we put up. Not to mention it keeps us distracted from the real wolf in sheeps clothing, the Federal Reserve and their manipulation of the monetary supply as well as that illegal war in Libya and those other two continuing illegal wars (what countries were involved in those again? why are we there? Seriously, there are teenagers now that have no clue, growing up believing "that's what we do")

Oh and pay no mind to what's happening in Quartsite Arizona either.....that's just another one of those "social experiments" which will be coming soon to a town near you.

Are you growing food now? Are you saving seed? Are you finding non purchased alternatives for fertilizer and pesticides?

Kimi’s Redneck School for the Domestically Challenged

2011-07-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

So, Alan has been telling me for a while that I need to start posting to the blog, as he talks about me, and what we do on the farm, and yet no one has seen or heard from me since we started the blog, thusly that makes me make believe. However, here I sit. I had an epiphany this past weekend while doing some canning of my own on the farm and helping my Daddy do some canning here at home, and now born of this epiphany is Kimi’s Redneck School for the Domestically Challenged. This will be hopefully a weekly, maybe bimonthly installment on the blog. The idea being that I will to the best of my ability break down ‘domestic’ tasks for today’s young women and men in a bare bones simplistic way with little tips and tricks that I pick up as I learn these things. Let me clarify, domestic tasks do not include “this is how your run the sweeper” or “this is how you wash the dishes”. The domestic tasks I speak of are things that our grandparents, great grandparents, and great Aunts and Uncles did to survive when times were tough. They made their own clothes and blankets, they made their own soap, they grew and preserved their own food. Most of the time with out the assistance of the luxuries we have today such as chemical fertilizer, and commercial preservatives, or industrial machines, and most definitely with out the aid of the local department store. Trips to the department store were a once in a great while thing when times were tough, Seeing as how ecomonic times are what they are now, and things are getting tough again, I believe its time to revisit these tried and tested practices with the younger generation. This is by no means a ‘how to…’ this is just a tool to get you started. You will be learning as I learn, and hopefully you’ll gain the confidence to seek out those in your life who can really teach you how to do these things.

Adventures in Canning

What better way to start off than with Canning, as I said it is what inspired me to start this article for the blog. My family has been canning for as long as I can remember. When my Mommy went into labor with my sister she was canning green beans, and caring for my little brother who was just starting to break out with the chicken poxs. My great Aunt Jean who baby sat us as children, can’s everything she can, green beans, corn, pickles, beats, etc. I remember standing over the stove with Daddy on a chair stirring the blackberry juice making jelly at around the age of 7 or 8. These are all great memories, but until the couple of years I’ve not really actively pursued participating in canning as an adult. But these times as they are its become a necessity.

Last year my Aunt Jean taught my sister and I how to make her famous dill pickles. Aunt Jean makes other pickles, but dill is our favorite. This year I attempted it by myself, and I have to say it was a success. First thing is first when pickling anything, when you’re learning, it’s okay to use a mix…You can try actual pickling recipes once you’ve got the method down.

We use Mrs. Wage’s Kosher Dill Pickle Mix as our brine. You will also need powdered Alum, vinegar, and water. A table spoon of Alum to your brine will help to keep your pickles crisp. You’ll also need jars, I recommend pint jars for hamburger chips and quart jars for spears, and lids and rings for your jars. Though its not required, I highly recommend a jar clamp for aiding in the moving around of hot jars, and a lid and ring magnet, and a jar funnel. You will also want three kettles, one to heat your brine in, the second with a rack of some form in the bottom to hot water bath your jars to insure proper ‘pickling’ and sealing, and a third to sanitize your lids and rings in. Finally, you’ll need cucumbers, the recipe calls for between 9 and 11 lbs of cucumber.

Preparing your work area is probably the single most important thing to do before you start canning. You want your work area to be clean, sanitary, and uncluttered. You need room to work as you’re going to be dealing with scalding hot jars and liquids. After your work area is prepared its time to prepare your jars and lids, it’s always best to boil your clean jars for about 5 minutes as it will help to kill any remaining germs, the same applies to lids and rings.

Lay a towel out on the counter top in the area in which you plan to work.. Set your jars in place. Clean and cut your cucumbers and pack them into the jars. Packing a jar is a special skill that is only acquired through time and practice. This is one where the older folks in your family can show you how it should be done. Back during the depression they packed their jars tight so as to use less material and resources but to preserve as much food as possible at the same time.

Mix your brine according to the package directions. Again, start with a mix, just to get your feet wet. Add the table spoon of Alum to your brine, and heat till dissolved. While your brine is heating, turn on your kettle with the rack in the bottom with enough water in it to come about halfway up your filled jars. You want this water to be brought up to a gentle boil.

Once your brine is ready, using a jar funnel fill the packed jars up to the bottom lip on the rim of the jar. Once your jars are filled using a clean moistened paper towel, wipe off the rim of the jars, and using the lid magnet place lids and rings on the jars and tighten. Do be very careful not to touch the seal or the bottom side of the lid. If you do, you can compromise both your seal, and the integrity of the product in the jar, as though you are being as careful as possible, you never know what you may have accidentally laid your hands in during the course of this process.

Once your jars are lidded, place only as many as what will fit with out clanking together onto the rack of of the hot water the bath. The rack is necessary as it keeps the water bubbles from getting trapped under the jars.. Cover and let boil gently for the time allotted on your mix package. For the mix that we use, its five minutes for pints and ten minutes for quarts.

When the boil is complete using your jar clamp, gently and carefully remove the hot jars from the bath and set on the towel to cool. Then repeat until all jars have been through the hot water bath. DO NOT bang the jars together as they could explode. DO NOT touch the button on the tops of the lids either, this could create a false seal that will fail and your product will go rancid on you.
Finally…Listen for the pops. As each jar seals it makes a popping sound. I count the number of pops. Sometimes sealing can take several hours, so don’t freak out should not all your jars seal with in a few hours. Any that doesn’t move to the refrigerator and eat them first.

So as you can see there really is nothing to canning pickles. Pickling is an easy and quick way to get your feet wet in the wide world of canning and preserving your own foods. Next time we’ll discuss canning green beans, and likely after that we’ll delve into adventures in jelly making.

Happy Canning y’all!
~Kimi..

FDA, reckon that might be short hand for federal dumb ass?

2011-06-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

So after years of denial somebody finally decided to admit the truth about arsenic accumulation in U.S. grown CFO chicken meat and yet won't admit that it's deadly because in all their grand naivity and all their presumptious pseudo scientific posturing (as well as, I am sure, a pat on the back and revolving back door deal with Pfizer) they won't admit just how carcinogenic and dangerous it is. Funny how they can ignore the effects of scientifically proven and studied effects of long term exposure to any carcinogen in small doses, known as chronic exposure, and the effects of a lifetime of consuming what amounts to "junk meat", poison meat at that.

And yet we don't have the liberty to drink raw milk or use nutritional supplements (even when clearly labeled with no medical claims) despite the clear fact that we are the sole owners of our bodies and sole decision makers when it comes down to what we put in them (and don't let any beurocratic asshat setting behind a desk tell you otherwise! Assert your liberty!)? I vote for the "you can kiss my ass and I'll consume what I want option" period.

Of course if they were really doing their job we'd have up to date stats on the Fukishima fallout over the midwest too, but that ain't happening any time soon, couldn't have the mass panic they and other alphabet agencies know is coming at some point in the future due to a simple reading (chronically) a few hundred to thousand times the background level now could we, least not until they get the fences built for those of us not so easily domesticated!

No, they'd much rather spend their time sending swat teams after Amish families and food co-ops, can't have the cattle feeding themselves and foraging for healthy items, it doesn't put money in their back pocket and they need someone to remind us they are always in control.

All of this after a commission says what those of us with half a brain have known all along; that roundup ready causes birth defects. I guess my regulatory friends it's a good thing that people are so tied up in fighting with each other over the petty things the shiny box in the corner of the room tells them makes them so different from one another that they don't much notice what your up to right? It is a shame though that so many are waking up all at once, and that even includes some of those voices your buddies in big ag likely thought they had in their pockets. Oh but of course all of these things must be coincidence right? No spider web to weave together here I suppose......

Unless you wonder what ever happened to Epicite corn announced way back in 2001 and just how that might relate to the fact that the U.S. birth rate has actually fallen to an all time low in recent years (sorry dear "the world is over populated and I hate humans" crowd, but the number is falling, happy now?)

All in all it don't take a telescope to see where were headed from here. I am fairly confident we all know we are living in unsustainable times, relying on regulatory agencies and trans national corporations, as well as incompitent government, all of which are tied up in money and bad decision making (as well as puppetry) social engineering, and the sound of war drums, terrorism, and "humanitarian efforts" including the spread of "democracy" via guns, bombs, and god (or whatever they think will get you "behind" them) funded by the same handful of powerful "smiling glad faces with hidden agendas", this only ends one way really, the logical way, back to the earth, grounded in reality.

Great High Mountain.......

2011-06-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

No blogs for a while now, not on purpose and most certainly not set to the "ignore" function. Lots and lots of work to do right now, but soon enough I'll be back to my ever "ranty" self. Lot's of good stuff happening, lots of photos coming, lots of theories being formulated, and as ever lots of hard lessons learned which have taught me much.

Daily I am humbled by just how much I still don't know or understand about nature (or mankind for that matter) and yet even when things are not growing (or for that matter going) the way I wish them to, hope persists, though not paralyzing hope as it is not entangled in the web of faith.

Working hard on myself spiritual and investing that energy in the land and animals, it certainly is a tall mountain, but none shall conquer my existence.

I'll be home soon
-Alan

New Alan Kapuler Interview.

2011-05-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Dr. Kapuler recently sent me a link to this new interview with him. Be sure to check it out, as always filled with wonderful insights from the mind of a brilliant man who has made a real difference in the course of history.

Parts one and two are also available via youtube which I will embed below:

Indiana: Road to tyrany.

2011-05-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

So it looks like my home state has forgotten just what rights and liberties "We The People" have been granted. Recently they passed the Endangered Nosey Pig Law

This law essentially protects the endemic "problem pig" population by allowing them to enter your home, root around a bit, and deficate anywhere they want without a warrant to do so or even probable cause. You know, if I remember right the Brittish crown tried something similar to this during the revolutionary war and we beat their ass all the way back to the isles, perhaps we will do the same in court to our own government or if necessary take it to the street.

To those cops drawn to drama (and many of you piggies are, not all some of you are truly great men, citizen servants in the true spirit) I would suggest taking a listen to Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter" and by the way don't be suprised if things don't always go as planned when you poke a normally docille hornets next with a stick.....afterall "Pigs get what pigs desserve."

Another White Blackberry?

2011-05-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

Recently Julia Cadenhead contacted me about another white blackberry (this time a dewberry) that I had previously researched here on the blog. This time one from Florida. Apparently her grandmother had cultivated this curiosity and provided plants in Northern Florida some time ago and she herself is now on the search for this valuable cultivar. She was kind enough to send along to me with her e-mail an article written about her grandmother and this rare cultivar.

If anyone knows where one might obtain these plants it would be worth a trade of a collection of rootlets of both burbank and nettletons to me.

Picture updates volume 3!

2011-05-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

Snowfence; keeping gooseberries from becoming "turkey berries".

Gooseberries setting on

Snowbank, flower buds swelling, as of today they are open

Nettletons, curiously undergoing the blooming cycle at the same time, leading me to believe this was originally Iceberg quite possibly.

Raised tire garden.

Tom Wagners potatoes from TPS

Flying Dragon Trifoliate orange seedling, sorry for the poor picture quality

Runner and Pekin Ducklings in the new pond.

Dandelions being prepared for wine

This Week At Bishop's Homegrown

2011-04-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Grafted Apple trees for sale - 15.00 in a gallon pot Seedling apple trees- 3.00 in 4 inch pot. Turkey hatching eggs 12.00 a dozen. Tomato plants in 4 inch pots 3.00. Tomato slips 6 for 2.00, cabbage slips 6 for 2.00 Turkey Poults 6.00, tobacco seedlings in 4' pots 3.00, tobacco slips 6 for 2.00, Cultivators handbook of natural tobacco 20.00

Picture updates volume 2!

2011-04-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Blanches elusive guineas hiding in the rafters of the barn!

Runner/Ancona crosses hatching today!

A redneck "Johnny Cage" scabed together from recycled stuff in order to catch and recall quail.

This was originally going to be a quail tractor, it's about 8 foot long with a wire bottom and bread pallets with wheels on the bottom in order to be pulled around the farm to various areas. I instead put it to use to move larger chicks, keets, poults, and ducklings around and give them a taste of outside. You just wheel it around and flip it over when you find a nice area of green grass and weeds for the little ones to eat on. Pictured here are Pekin ducks and first generation Kiva turkeys from the selected stock we are keeping for breeding season next year!

Snapped a quick pick of the quail run complete with ramp into coop!

Some of the baby bunnies! Harlequin crossed to New Zealand Red is the mother, the "kits" are crossed back to new Zealand black which totally doesn't explain the white! lol.

A trellis built from some scavenged 8 foot pallets. We just planted 12 Jewel blackberries along the north side of the trellis. Also pictured is a temporary "snow fence" to protect our growing gooseberry crop from the meandering poultry marauders!

The new duck enclosure with the pond now full from the recent rain. It does leak slowly but once the ducks are old enough I'm supremely confident they will do wonders with sealing it up. The plastic is in place because originally I had hand dug this as a root cellar and the walls are steep, the plastic is essentially there to catch soil that caves in and hold it in place (it's old greenhouse plastic so it's full of holes!) Once the ducks are in place the plastic will be cut along the top edge and allowed to fall to the bottom where it will make a much tighter bottom seal when combined with the red clay and duck muck!

Dear FDA.........

2011-04-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

It's spring time, I don't have time for your stupidity, I've got plants to get in the ground, eggs to hatch, birds to brood, logs to inoculate with mushrooms, and I might even like a little time to sit around and scratch my ass or go fishing if the good lord permits. That said, why would you decide to issue such a stupid statement at this time of year? Is it because you know that real farmers are too busy working to call you out for the liberty hating pieces of trash you are? I'm not even sure I need to comment on your having said “there is no ‘deeply rooted’ historical tradition of unfettered access to food of all kinds.” and “there is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular kind of food [because] comprehensive federal regulation of the food supply has been in effect at least since Congress enacted the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906. … Thus, plaintiffs’ claim to a fundamental privacy interest in obtaining ‘foods of their own choice’ for themselves and their families is without merit.”

Really? So, would you mind telling me my almighty king, is Milk now Schedule 1 or Schedule 2? I'm unclear on that (as well as why Marijuana is Schedule 1). I wonder what the founding fathers would have thought of your transgressions against our god given rights. That's right, god given rights, rights you can't take away. Think you can? Lets see you enforce it in mass you cocksuckers!

See where your wrong is that I do have the right to put anything in my organism I damn well please, period, end of story. Your Orwellian language not withstanding, I don't need words to sum up anything that I and millions of others feel......

Me using my god given (and constitutionally protected) right to freedom of speech!

At the next available opporotunity I would advise you and your lackeys to take the time to look up the definition of "free market" and start enforcing the laws you already have on the books on the long list of corporate interests that have violated the actually safety of the uninformed junk eating society that is the United States, oh, and while your at it, consume some raw milk laced with antifreeze, I hear it's ever so sweet.

Least you think we've not been busy pt 1...more to come soon.

2011-04-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Finally decided to get some ducks too so we dug a pond and built a shelter from wooden shipping boxes and a roof from a tightly constructed eight foot deck board pallet.
Finally managed to scavenge enough material to build a turkey run. They won't be cooped all the time, just during planting season and while the plants get up and going and then it's back to free ranging.

Rounded up some scrap wood and chicken wire to make a quail run, shortly I'll coop them up and plant some amaranth, quinoa, and millet in the run for shade and shelter as well as forage when the seeds shatter from the plants.
Got tired of loosing cortunix quail to racoons when they stuck their head out the single layer of chicken wire so built a double walled "racoon protection panel" our of 6 foot pallets and wire.
Shirazi, Frog Eye Orinoco, and New Mexico N Rustica seedlings.
A "scrap wood" box I threw together with currants, gooseberries, and Josta cuttings rooting!
Bill Drakes New Mexico N. Rustica seedlings growing happily alongside Telsing's (Ottowa Gardener) red cabbage crosses! Yeah, that's worm compost by the way, 100%, cut with nothing!

The new hotbed I built from untreated lumber complete with a heating cable, four varieties of tobacco, several varieties of cabbage and collards and some Kazak. apple seedlings.
Lots and lots of fruit trees and shrubs this year, determined to head in a more permaculture influenced direction now that the bulk of my annual plant breeding is approaching completion!
The cold frame is coming along nicely. Lined the bottom with composting turkey manure/bedding and back filled with some amazingly rich cold compost. Lot's of stuff germinating, including weeds, but mostly tomatoes and medicinal herbs. The two barrels are heat sinks filled with water.
Some of the Alpine/Domestic crosses that somehow managed to survive last years turkey rapture, there should still be plenty of great genetics to ensure the development of some great cultivars in the future!

In other news we also got 500 lbs of seed potatoes in the ground today along with several pounds of sugar snap and snow peas, lettuce, spinach, raddish, turnips, kale and more. Lots more stuff to come!!!!!

Is it weird when Nine Inch Nails Year Zero seems to be fulfilling it's own dreadful prophecy?

2011-03-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Just a question I was pondering today given the environmental and humanitarian disaster underway in Japan coupled with the revolutions in the middle east and rising tensions in the US as well as the oncoming collapse of the U.S. economy and dollar.

Shock, Horror, the other side still misses the point!

2011-03-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

So I checked out "The Other Side" blog today, not so much because I give a shit about anything they have to peddle or mutter on about but because I sometimes become curious about the thought process behind their propagandizing of their pro-GMO Stance (note: this does not apply to Anastasia, who I tend to find fair).

And what do you know, first post at the top of the page just called to me, lit the coals and stoked the fire.....again. As always, any asshole slanted coverage of Organic or Sustainable farming can almost always be attributed to this same short sighted, simple minded, over achiever of totally useless goals who wrote the article in reference.

The article itself addresses a supplier of Organically certified fertilizers who defrauded consumers by using "cheaper" synthetics to fortify his mixes, all in all, I agree, the guy is obviously an asshole giving a bad name to more scrutinizing and trustworthy organic suppliers, that said, the author of the article, instead of taking time to report about the incident and make commentary based on the flaws of actual USDA organic certification instead decided to take the time to speak from the wrong end about how "organic" can't feed the world.

Two points of contention exist within the article, at least from my mindset, first and foremost, his flawed understanding of soil sciences, nitrogen demand, and sustainability.

The second, that most and or many of us believe certification and buying in of nutrients is or should be an option in the first place.

I'll tackle the nutrient cycle/availability issue first and I'm completely sure this will piss off not only chemical/GMO advocates, but also those who think certification is a viable option. From the perspective presented in the article it would seem that once again those engaged in more sustainable and localized agriculture are getting the short end of the stick from this site , as always the support for big ag is evident in the blog and the enemy is made out to be certified organic farmers and producers of supplies, those of us who don't fit neatly into the preconceived side get no input/output whatsoever.

The author of the article presents an uninformed statement that there is not enough manure in the world to feed the world "organically" (I'm taking this to mean sustainably as well) and then in the next paragraph says there is not enough nitrogen in the "natural" world (hmmmm, one in the same much?)

This is a huge misconception, first of all, chemical nitrogen is very limited as it is mined from a dwindling supply as well as extracted from petrol chemicals, both sources of which are dwindling leading to a rising price and a slump in demand both due to price as well as the awakening and education of the public to the dangers of unsustainable farming and where it will/would lead us if we continue to follow the path laid down by the so called "green" revolution.

Meanwhile sustainable cycles of raising either animals for meat which are in turn fed by food grown on the farm which is in turn fed by the composted manure of the animals as well as the use of cover crops and local waste streams to return carbon, nutrients, and humus to the ground is a completely and utterly fascinating sustainable model that big ag can and will never hope to duplicate but one which humanity has relied on for nigh 10,000 years. To boot there is tons of archaeological evidence to support the theory that human population has been incredibly dense but sustainable in many locations across the globe in the same time frame comparable to modern population densities.

Granted, using such methods in an attempt for one farm to cultivate a few thousand acres isn't going to happen, however when we are speaking in terms of sustainable agriculture which realizes the flaws in both plans of action presented by big ag and USDA managed organic, and as such we realize that current civilization is not and will not be sustainable over the next 20 years so variables including methods of farming, size of farms, and who is farming will change, shrinking down to only local, small scale farming at some point within the next 20 years if not incredibly sooner out of necessity.

It seems that he is supposing that all farmers interested in and pursuing sustainable farming practices are buying in some if not all of their nutrients which is a complete supposition on his part and incredibly ignorant as many of us are producing 90-100% of our own nutrient and soil building needs while filling the gaps with excesses from other local farms using long term time tested methods like thermophilic composting and cold composting as well as vermiculture, terra pretta, and the food chain cycle of raising farm animals.

It is unfortunate to me that he can't see the Forrest for the trees, believing that big ag has all the answers and that nutrients from mining and drilling operations is in any way sustainable or capable of continually supplying the nutrient needs of modern agriculture, it's a shame he has a pedestal from which to proclaim his ignorance to the world when instead he could be spending his time drawing pretty pictures for his moms refrigerator with crayons.

This is without mentioning breeding work that his been done using traditional methods to improve nitrogen efficiency in many if not most crops by amateur plant breeders across the globe with a great deal of success, but I suppose he believes the current system of using GMO to "improve" plants while propagandizing the reduced use of fertilizers and pesticides while the opposite often proves to be true is "The Way Of The Future." Right, try on a different hat and see if it doesn't improve the blood flow to that tiny brain.

The second point of contention centers on his next assumption that most if not all suppliers of organic supplies or organic farmers in general must be even less trustworthy. This makes the assumption once again that all interested in sustainable farming must be or should be certified to be even recognized as part of the conversation in question.

I and others have tackled the issue of organic certification in the past and it would be a moot point to say that certification is not necessary as any single one of my customers can attest to the power and reliability of a tour on our farm or any other farm in question over any piece of paper "certifying" anything. On top of all of this I will add that buying in nutrients in any large amount while considering yourself organic and or thinking you are part of a sustainable farming movement is tantamount to not knowing how to or refusing to save seeds, it's unsustainable, doesn't make any sense and I will once again reiterate that it makes you part of the problem facing the future.

Relying on certification by the USDA for any product you grow or consume is tantamount to trusting the Japanese government to tell you the truth about the current nuclear situation there.

That said implying that other organic producers are somehow now not to be trusted is the move of someone concerned with ego and not facts. There is a word for that, in fact a phrase I use quite often amongst my friends; "Quit being dick!"

Human genes meet rice! Soylent Green is real!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-03-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

Hmm, looks like the USDA has once again proven their omnipotent and everlasting stupidity by throwing their support and approval behind this fucking Amalgam . Chances are I can think of about 1,000 ways to improve rice nutrition in my spare time and given enough genetic material, time and funding I could carry through those improvements. Guess how many of those would involve fucking with the genome of rice by inserting human DNA? None. Duh, Winning! (Thanks Charlie!)

In the long sad history of stupid that is Genetic Modification (and the subsequent approval there of by the Unites States Department of Monsanto, yeah I said it) never once did I think that anything using human genes would actually get approved for large scale testing. Let's get two things straight; one, the danger is ever present to anyone with half a brain to think them through (Prions anyone? Also, human and plant diseases now having the opprotunity to evolve and become one and the same?) and number 2; last time I checked the genomes and reproductive organs of rice and humans were different enough that even if some perv molested a field of rice we'd never have to worry about such a mutant progeny of bastardized human gene bearing rice grains affecting our food supply and subsequently our daily health.

I'd love nothing more than to see this shit burned to the ground. Thank you Anheuser-Busch for boycotting this increadibly irresponsible move, shit like this new GM Rice drives casual drinkers such as myself to your product more than ever!

Cultivators Handbook of Natural Tobacco now available via Bishop's Homegrown!

2011-03-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

Hey local farmers and gardeners interested in growing a crop of natural tobacco for personal use or profit, we now have Bill Drakes amazing growing and historical guide available here on the farm for 20.00! Come April we will be selling the book with your selection of 3 tobacco plants in four inch pots for 30.00.

This book contains everything you need to know about growing and curing tobacco for an excellent chemical free product. I highly reccomend it to anyone remotely interested in the art of "rolling your own!"

Pick up at the farm for 20.00!

Updates!

2011-03-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

To our loyal blog readers, just wanted to let you know we haven't forgotten about you, just hit a busy patch of time. Today we lined a hand dug pond for our future duck flock with plastic and we've been hard at work propigating nursery stock, grafting trees, starting seeds, getting the cold frame ready and are getting ready to place an order for even more nursery stock as well as to take down and rebuild a small shed which will be a dedicated bird brooding area as well as expanding into Bob White and Tennesee Red qauil which will require yet more infrastructure. Tomorrow were picking up a load of compost from a neighbor and making plans to clean our his extensive inventory of manure!

Pics and lots of descriptive updates to come, stay tuned!

Hey market farmers looking for alternatives.....

2011-03-08T20:18:00.000-08:00

Recently I'm sure you've noticed my profusion of posts regarding tobacco as an alternative crop as well as my many links to author Bill Drakes website, normally I don't do a lot of "Product Placement" on the site but this isn't product placement, it's information placement and dissemination and it's here because were headed towards hard times and we all need information and alternatives long lost to our mass consumerism and sloth like behavior as a society.

Bill is running one heck of a deal over at his site where you can buy "The cultivators handbook of natural tobacco." at half price for resale at retail at farmers markets, if you grow a few tobacco plants and do a bit of promotion this could be a pretty sweet deal for you and in my opinion Bill has written up a pretty good explanation of how to go about doing as such.

We are going to be participating in this program, likely at both the Washington County Indiana and the Orleans Indiana farmers market this season; offering the book as well as 5 or 6 varieties of plants and we would love to see others get involved so this piece of relevant agricultural and cultural information gets more widely disseminated amongst the public.

Check it out here.

Preparing for the economic crash? Bill Drake has another great idea!

2011-03-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

Bill Recently updated www.cultivatorshandbook.com with a wonderful article discussing the economic possibilities of local tobacco production and distribution. The beautiful thing about the article, just like his previous one discussing tobacco barter, is that in a pinch it could be and would need to be adapted to deal with the new local economies that will arise from the ashes of the coming economic collapse.

Bill says it best, in ways I never could here

Irresponsible Genetics and Irresponsible Government.

2011-02-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

This should be enough to scare some sense into a good portion of you.

That's right, the government will soon have the ability to check your genetic profile "on the fly" as it were, and presumably without your consent. So much for democracy, liberty, and all those other hallmarks of freedom provided to us by our founding fathers, seems like now days those words are just dusty old definitions in an ill used dictionary that don't mean much of anything to anyone with the power to effect any amount of real change.

BTW, you guys keeping an eye on the revolutions springing up across the middle east? You should be, and with good reason, things can and do change overnight.

.....hatching eggs and guineas!

2011-02-24T20:02:00.002-08:00

Hey, soon were gonna be overrun with hatching eggs, for those of you living locally this is good news!

Mixed heritage turkey eggs 15.00 a doz.

Coturnix Quail 3.00 a doz.

We've also got about 10 guineas too many, 100.00 takes 'em all!

Check it out!

Farmstand Credit Option!

2011-02-24T20:02:00.001-08:00

We got so much play from this option last year and such fantastic feedback from local customers that we have decided to offer this option once again this season! Definitely check it out if you live local and join up! If nothing else pass it around to others who might be interested! Thanks Guys!

-Alan Bishop

Bishop’s Homegrown Farm Stand Credit Program!
2011

Bishop’s Homegrown is a small “Eco-Logical” and self sustainable farm in the town of Pekin Indiana. We are family owned and a fourth generation farm focused on providing quality produce from yesteryear as well as the new food and flower crops of the future to our valued friends and community members. We use the strictest possible organic guidelines for on farm food production and make no exceptions. We feel that it is of utmost importance that locavores, members of the slow food movement, and community members, know who and from where their food comes from and how it is grown. We produce 90% of our own seed crops as well as 100% of our own organic fertilizer and we never ever opt for chemical options to control pests or disease issues on farm, feeling that growing food “eco-logically” is the only alternative to our failing food system in the United States. We have searched the world over to bring you the most unique, exciting, and rare food crops from diverse cultures the world over with an emphasis on nutrition and taste! Our doors are always open to our community and customers who we encourage to visit the farm in order to see and know where and how their food was grown. Food security begins when a relationship is formed between the community and its farmers, this essential connection is what allowed civilization to flourish 10,000 years ago. This year we would like to introduce you to our farmstand credit program which we feel you will find immense value in!

The Farm Stand Credit Program:
The concept of Community Supported Agriculture (AKA. CSA) is generally defined as a mutually beneficial arrangement between a farmer and his customer wherein the customer agrees to share in the risks and rewards of local farming for the benefit of their food production and the farmers well being. The CSA consumers become by proxy shareholders in the farm and it’s well being by paying an upfront “membership“ due which covers the production of food in a “share“ system. Generally a traditional CSA allows for the consumer to pay for up front costs of the farmers start up cost with the farmer reciprocating by preparing a pre-determined amount of produce every week through the growing season which the shareholders pick up once a week. The farmer generally picks the produce that the customer will receive.

This year Bishop’s Homegrown is looking to create a viable alternative to the traditional CSA program by creating a farm stand coupon program which will allow customers to still share in helping us get our business going during the part of the season in which seed and implements and other essentials are being purchased while also making the relationship more convenient for the farmer and the shareholders.

In this arrangement, instead of the farmer putting together a box of produce weekly he has selected for you you will instead receive “credit” from our farm which will allow you to visit our farm stand or farm where you can make your selection of produce that we have available including also a selection of seedlings, nursery stock, seeds, compost, poultry, meat, animals and other items from our farm. This gives you the opportunity to decide what you want instead of us deciding what you want. Every $100 you invest will also get you a 10% discount which means that you will actually get 10% more produce for your food dollars.

Our produce will be available to you via the Washington County Indiana farmers market held at the fairgrounds in Salem Indiana on Saturday Mornings from 8 AM to 12 PM. Occasionally we also will be available at the Wednesday market operating during the same hours. Credit is also redeemable at our roadside stand in the town of Peking or on farm. It is important to note that we don’t usually deal in custom ordered bulk produce on a normal basis (i.e., a bushel beans, or a bushel of corn) but that when these items are available at market, as they often are, your credit can be used to purchase them as well.

FAQ’s:

How much does it cost?

The investment levels start at 50.00. An investment at the 100 dollar or above level will earn you a 10% discount which means that an investment at the $100 level only costs you $90! That’s right; $100 dollars of credit only costs $90! That’s essentially the same as getting $10 of produce free just for paying ahead of time! Your credit is good for two years which means that whatever isn’t spent this season can be carried over to next season!
The maximum investment is $500.

Here is the layout:
$50 credit for $50
$100 credit for $90
$200 credit for $180
$300 credit for $270
$400 credit for $360
$500 credit for $450

How will we keep track of your credit?

Good old fashioned pen and pencil, anytime you make a purchase we will deduct that price from our ledger. You will receive a receipt after each transaction so you too can keep track of the amount of produce purchased.

What if I make it to market late and you are out of what I want?
Unfortunately this may happen from time to time which is why we are keeping the investment level low to start with. Sometimes we just flat out run out of an item due to popularity. The best bet is to show up to market early, the best of the best goes quickly! There are occasions when we may not be able to make it to market from time to time due to emergencies or just the need to take a break here and there but we will inform you a few days ahead of time via e-mail (unless it’s a last minute emergency) that we will not be at market in the coming week.

This year our primary market residency will be here on the farm as well, so if you miss us at market or we won't be there you can just stop by the farm pretty much any day of the week!

What can I purchase with Bishop’s homegrown credit? Does this offer only include produce?

No, any item we bring to market or sale on farm is eligible for purchase via this credit, including seeds, plants, seedlings, poultry (chicks), occasionally rabbits, compost, fishing worms, handcrafts or any other product we have at market or our farm stand. We also occasionally have winter produce available and this Thanksgiving and Christmas we will for the first time be offering butchered heritage turkeys.
When is payment due and how do I pay, when does credit take effect?

Payment is due by the end of March in order that we know what we have in the bank and can plan accordingly. Payment can be made by check, money order, or well concealed cash. Credit takes effect the first Saturday of May, in conjunction with the opening of the farmers market.

Make checks or money orders payable to:
Alan Bishop

And send to:
Alan Bishop
5604 S. State Rd. 60
Pekin IN 47165

Also include a note with your full name, address, e-mail address, phone number and a list of people who you will allow to purchase items with your credit if you need to send someone to the farm stand in your place!

How can I learn more about Bishop’s Homegrown and follow the on farm developments?

We invite you to come and take a tour of our small farm at any time you would like to learn more about us or at any point during the growing season, before, after, or even if you don’t join the credit opportunity. We also maintain a blog at http://homegrowngoodness.blogspot.com where we often write research articles, report about our plant breeding and poultry breeding projects, explain our on farm techniques and more. As well we run a small message board for experimental gardeners and plant breeders located at http://alanbishop.proboards60.com as well as our local harvest site located at http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M24902

We should also point out that farm tours are available to those interested at any time in the growing season…
Please feel free to pass this around to others who might be interested in joining this unique opportunity.
Feel free to contact us at:
Alan Bishop
1-812-967-2073
Or
bishopshomegrown@gmail.com

The International Cultivators Handbook: Hashish, Coca, and Opium by Bill Drake. A review.

2011-02-22T14:38:00.000-08:00

For those of you who read the blog on a regular basis you may recall I recently had an excellent opportunity to review Bill Drakes recently updated; "The Cultivators Handbook Of Natural Tobacco" a book I highly recommend to anyone and everyone who is interested in "Starving The Federal Beast" and producing their own natural, additive free tobacco for profit, fun, or sacrament. Even more so do I recommend it to those who want to be prepared for SHTF.

Bill however is not only a specialist who is knowledgeable about only tobacco, but he is also an expert incredibly versed in the uses and cultivation, both historically and in modernity in a myriad of other entheogenic plants and substances.

Take for example his other recently revised manual: The International Cultivators Handbook: Hashish, Coca, and Opium. One quick look at this book will reveal to you the breadth of Bill's valuable Shamanic knowledge and how it can be adapted the times of crisis that are soon and sure to come to our country.

Throughout the book Bill places a deep emphasis on focusing solely on the raw product of these historic "Third Eye Opening" plants as opposed to the highly concentrated derivatives or low quality drug dealer/government cartel supply derived thereof, and for good reason; it's time that both the laws were changed via the flow of information and time we realize just where the cartels make their connections.

Bill also does a fantastic job of highlighting historical texts in each chapter discussing the legitimate medical research and medical uses of each substance on the list with information which will absolutely blow your mind!

Mr. Drake takes us on a journey across continents, time, and man made boundary lines to explore and invoke the spirit of the indigenous cultures who cultivate these valuable plants and culture them into medicines for the body, mind, and spirit. Touching only briefly here on cannabis (which he also wrote THE book about in the late 60's) where he takes us on a quick overview of those peoples still engaged in the production of hashish and charas as well as their means and methods of producing such a highly valuable and potent substance.

Next (and to me the most interesting aspect of the book, at least in terms of making one rethink ones convictions) bill tackles the highly controversial plant that is coca, yes the very plant which the cartels have helped to demonize via their extraction and amplification of a single alkaloid with complete disrespect towards it's original and likely intended use. This section is heavy on medical literature which will open our eyes to the truth; a plant is never "evil" it is only through the machinations of greed that it becomes so. The legitimate use of this leaf in raw form seems compelling when viewed under the magnifying glass that is the information provided to us here; no better (well slightly) or worse than our current societies obsession with coffee and caffeine.

I went into the book thinking the coca section would be unlikely to convince me that it had any useful property whatsoever but came out a true believer. It is here that the author truly excels at getting his message across. I have legitimate hope that in time laws will be revised (or if anarchy hits that a source will be available) to allow for this powerful and respectable plant to be added to herbal pharmacopoeias across the land.

The third section deals with Papavier Somniferium, better known as the Opium Poppy. A plant/substance that nearly once collapsed the Asian empire due to the interference of the Brittish. I am well versed in the medicinal powers of opium as well as it's addictive properties (and while I don't advise cultivation of this or any of the previously mentioned, I am an advocate of knowing how to use what is available should SHTF), I would say that most Americans are with so many drugs mass marketed to us in the form of Opiates or Opioids for use in pain medication, but the truth is, those drugs are no better for you than shooting up Heroin (also derived from the majestic poppy plant). Here we are given a wealth of cultivation information and the respect needed to handle the raw opium substance in such a way as to respect it as opposed to abusing it. Funny how it's OK for pharmaceutical companies and doctors to push their derivatives on us but not for us to grow our own supply of much safer homegrown. Hell it's illegal to even grow this flower as an ornamental in this country. For that matter it's all good for the U.S. government to protect these crops in foreign countries we have invaded but they will gladly bust you for doing the same.

The book itself contains some wonderful photos Bill Himself took back when he was first putting it together in '72 and '73 as well as some great illustrations. As always Bill's humor and wisdom shine through in the words and never once does he advise anyone to try anything in this book without them assuming a great amount of risk (as neither do I).

I think anyone who has an interest in medicinal herbs, Shamanism, or entheogen in general would do well to add this one to the collection of valuable historical as well as operational information, it is a fantastic addition to the library of the supernaut, historian, shaman, or survivalist. 5 of 5.

-Alan Reed Bishop

Urban Homesteader, Urban Homesteading, Urban Homestead

2011-02-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

I'm all about a good bit of chaos from time to time. I find from my personal perspective that I can quite easily shape my own philosophy on history, religion, politics, agriculture and other subjects of interest based "Soul-ly" on the stupidity and the hypocrisy of others. It inspires me to take things to the next level, to push the envelope just a little bit more from time to time and to really concentrate hard on making those in the wrong realize what a bunch of heinous assholes they really are; particularly when they believe they are "justified" in their belief that they are somehow above par.

It's usually easy; I just look at whatever transnationals like Monsanto or Syngenta are doing or I take a quick stroll over to a search engine and read about politics. Politics is very fertile ground for me and when political ideology meets agricultural ideology (particularly ideologies like the one we have here, based upon fallacy) well it's like some kind of super orgy of naivety on their part and inspiration to point out the hypocrisy on my part.

If it were any single individual that makes up my complex of inspirational people and ideas that had made such a move towards idiocy, hypocrisy and fascism as demonstrated by the Devares family trademarking the common lexicon of sustainable agriculture I am sure I would write all this with a heavy heart and a burden in my head; but since it isn't and all this particular instance has truly done is to bring folks together from a myriad of agricultural and culinary backgrounds, I can look at it more like a celebration of someone elses idiocy; it's a sad fact that you truly couldn't/refused to see the forest for the trees.

For those of you not in the know The Devares Family of Pasadena California who turned their small lot of land in the city into an "Urban Homestead" are the target of this particular rant. The Devares family did some fantastic things, had some wonderful ideas, and generally seemed to be the current source well for modern urban homesteading ideas; unfortunately power, money, and ego are the pitfalls of the tight rope that one walks when they become a figurehead of modern agriculture. It is with the power of an inflated ego behind them that the Devares family trademarked several terms that have been in common use via blogs and books for over 10 years and some of which stretch possibly as far back as the 1930's and 1940's.

Let us not for once forget the Devares family are not the first to try their hand at Urban Homesteading; not by a long shot, they simply reminded the mainstream about it and created a platform big enough and loud enough to broadcast it the world. They however didn't conceive the concept anymore than we can claim to have conceived the concept of sustainable farming or of plant breeding, or of eco based growing or of any number of ideas belonging to the heritage and common ownership of mankind.

The Devares seem to have thought they were the light and the salvation of urban humanity in some manner or another; often using the phrase, now trademarked, "Path to Freedom" to promote their work. Yes, what a true path to freedom it is when one is willing to use the platform that others helped to build and sustain to take the freedom to use words in the common agricultural lexicon away from the very people who you claim to be speaking for; how very Marxist of you.

But it doesn't stop there, through all of this skulduggery the Devares have been on the defensive, decrying that they have somehow been wronged by the thousands of urban homesteaders out there pointing out their hypocrisy in this move, never realizing that they have changed things; forever. It's Pandora's box, the ideas are out there and who are you to think you have the power to put it back, to take it away from the people, to squirrel it away in some safe place where you and only you have access to it, only you can monetize it, only you can claim to have devine say over how it is used, who it is used by and why it is used. As Christians should you not ask yourself WWJD? (sorry, I'm not a Christian, I just couldn't help but to use that one for the first time in my life)

Really all I have to say is congratulations to you. It is obvious your goal was to make your name as well known as Monsanto or Syngenta in the world of sustainable agriculture via blogs, books, t.v. and more; to get the word out there about what you do and who you are and how that defines you as a people spiritually. Job well done, we get it, and you'll get our interpretation of it for years and years and decades to come. Perhaps we shouldn't view you as a villain though, perhaps we should view you much like Judas; without you would we have the profound understanding that we now do that we all need to have faith in our brothers and sisters fighting the good fight? Would we have the insight to realize that we have a voice much louder than you and your marketing skills? Would we have the power to see the rise of future Benedict Arnold's before they make their deceptive moves against us? Most importantly would we wouldn't have a name with which to associate greed, egotism, and ultimately the failure you have become in our eyes.

Perhaps if the burden is as deep and hurtful as your petty defenses on your blog make it out to be you should take a moment to realize the monumental stupidity of the career destroying move you just made by apologizing and not claiming the common heritage of mankind for yourself. You are not a messiah, you are not a genius, you are not even now one of us, so what do you have? You have family and your little garden but you no longer have the cash flow of reliable customers or of those you once inspired. You no longer have the faith of your community and you most certainly no longer have a place amongst those providing a true path to freedom to the world at large. You represent nothing, therefore you are nothing until you can realize that being something is made up of giving something.

Firing the plant bed....

2011-02-15T19:25:00.000-08:00

Burned a hot fire from one end of the bed to the other today. This should allieviate weed seed issues and add some potash to the ground as well.

The 2011 Egg hustle.....

2011-02-14T15:41:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's that time of the year again, when I start freaking out about hatching eggs and breeding birds. I've had the turkeys cooped up for a few weeks now (to keep them out of the trees and get them laying a bit earlier in the season) and have been giving them some home milled high protein/high calcium feed to get the fertility rate up as well as leaving a light on them 24/7.

The finally started rewarding me today with a scant few eggs, but the coop will have to be checked numerous times a day as the toms often destroy the nests in a desperate effort to maintain their dominance over the hens.

The guineas won't start laying until late April or Early May....thank god. That gives me a good jump on all the other birds/hatching that needs to be done.

Not the least of my concerns this season is working with my Coturnix and amplifying stock with exemplary traits (Jumbo x Texas A&M) for meat and egg production.

I'm always way short on incubator space, because no matter how well I manage my money I never can find the extra cash to buy a proper sportsman or two, perhaps I do have the money, but the price tag often scares me away. Maybe this spring....tax returns are coming!

Luckily our awesome friend Blanch Perkins had a hovabator genesis she no longer needed and passed it along our way! Hovabators are absolutely fantastic little incubators for hatching quail and chickens and guineas though I have never had much luck with turkeys in them.

I dug out an old storage shelf and stuck it in the back of the hallway for a makeshift incubation center for this spring, compete with a date/note book to keep track of all the hatch dates, humidity ranges and temperatures.

I'll also keep track of the rabbits in this little book.

Blanche also had a nice flock of guineas which her dogs were using for quick snacks that she passed our way, giving us access to a whole new range of genetics we didn't have before including buff and chocolate as well as what appears to be bronze :)

For those living locally and interested in poults, keets, chicks, and coturnix this spring, shoot us an e-mail or give us a call to put in your request.

Vermicomposting progress.......2011

2011-02-14T15:32:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a good portion of time over the past couple of weeks harvesting both vermicastings and vermicompost using the Homegrown worm harvester. This year we produced 7, 4x4x4 boxes of compost. Three of those will be screened and used for potting mix and starting mix while the others will constitute a good portion of our La Bonne Terre soil amendment.

It's a long slow process to screen out all of those castings and if I can produce the amount I think I can for 2012 a new process will have to be worked out; preferably mechanical in nature as opposed to manual.

Backwoods engineering: Cold Frame/Hot Bed

2011-02-14T14:59:00.000-08:00

A couple years back a family friend dropped by w/a flat bed trailer carying pieces of an old bent up greenhouse/cold frame. The dimensions were impressive at 35 x 150 but ultimately at the time it was useless as there were entire sections rendered unusable due to a snow/ice collapse and the lack of anchor posts and pearlings, as such it got drug over next to the neighbors fence and lost in the myriad of weeds and briars where it became a hinderance every year at bushhoging time.

I had been eyeing some small frames that a former tobacco farming associate had on hand which had been used to make floating tobacco beds for raising seedlings, but I was never able to talk him down enough in price to actually buy the frames; one night while lamenting my lack of a hot bed (despite the fact I have a greenhouse, this project is more for producing seedlings for use on the farm as well as for rooting cuttings in the winter, and I figure if things ever get "that bad" it will be easier to find a piece of scrap plastic to cover this and produce seedlings than to find a piece of 4 year/6 mill plastic to cover a greenhouse) that I hit upon a fantastic idea.....cut the frame down to size, bend it to a usable shape, stick it in the ground and save myself a few hundred dollars.......

So, this past week I commited and drug some pieces of frame over to the Peasant barn where I cut the half sections of hoop in half and then used a wooden post and corner stone in the barn to bend the pipe (suprisingly malliable) to roughly the same size. It just so happened that each hoop also had a female connection on either side which I cut off about 3 feet below the connection for anchoring to the ground. This gave me about 10 hoops (theres still much more pipe but I don't currently need it all) of which I had enough females for four usuable pieces.

I drove the connectors into the ground (spaced in four foot intervals. 12 foot of bed total) and squared them up and attached the hoops to the connectors. I then scoured over the creek bed to find a few flat sandstones to use for walls for a raised bed on either side. After all of this was in place I excavated 8-10 inches inside the frame for a "pit" feature and piled the dirt up in birms to either side of the rock walls and on the end of the frames.

The next step is to burn a hot fire in the pit to kill out any weed seeds and add some potash to the soil, after this the pit will be filled with 12 inches of uncomposted chicken litter with a layer of woodash overtop of it and about 5-6 inches of worm compost overtop of that, it will be moistened down so that the manure composts producing heat and covered over with plastic (which will be attached to heavy rough cut 2 x 6 pieces by wrapping it around a couple times and stapling down using batton tape, giving the ability to raise and lower the plastic on either side or remove it) a week or two later it will be seeded with tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and tobacco.

This is essentially the same method used for a few hundred years to produce tobacco and tomato seedlings locally, minus the plastic of course; brush piles used to be used for frost protection and then remay material at a later date.

I'll take pictures as the season and project progresses as well, but thought those of you who might have access to some bent up frames or even metal conduit via hardware supply stores might also want to experiment as such. Much cheaper and easier to maintain than a greenhouse and if I had it to do over again I'd likely just build two or three of these to a good size.

2011 Seed Repetoir Part 2.

2011-02-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

Monday I spent nearly 12 hours just lining out the seed collection for 2011 (not including all the perrinials and grafted stuff). The pictures below give a good idea of the diversity I'll be looking through in 2011. Granted, not nearly all the seed here will be planted (maybe 10% of some things, 100% of others, like the corns) but this encompasses a good portion of everything being grown.

May not look as huge as most collections in terms of varieties, but since everything here is either a genepool, grex, synthetic population, segregating hybrid, or working landrace there is likely more diversity in this small place than you would find in most other collections.

As an example, Amanda Palmer Dent corn on the far left is composed of 15 varieties originaly and seed for 7 new varieties has been added. Astronomy Domine is also in there, now well over 200 parents into the growout.

The unfortunate looking pill bottles are mostly tomatoes and peppers, some of the mixes therin containing hundreds of segregating crosses, open pollinated types, and heirlooms.

Relevent political activism!

2011-02-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

My friend Bill Drake of cultivatorshandbook.com passed this along to me in an e-mail this afternoon, thought I would share it here, hoping this possibility catches on:

Dear Friends – I apologize if this looks like a spam message but please believe me it is not.

This is the one solid plan I have come across for how those of us who consider ourselves hard working, tax paying, patriotic, honest and contributing citizens can actually do something effective about the current situation where wealthy tax cheats, big banks, big corporations and big government are hijacking our economy, impoverishing millions of us, and stealing our grandchildren’s future with apparent impunity.

This non-violent plan apparently began with 12 people over coffee, and seems to be going viral in the UK with actual, tangible results.

Please take a few minutes to read this and then consider what even just a few of us could do to make this happen in the US. What would the first step be? (I guess my first step is going to be to break down and get a twitter account.)

http://www.alternet.org/story/149806/vision%3A_everyday_brits_are_in_revolt_against_wealthy_tax_cheats_--_can_we_do_that_here?page=entire

Partial 2011 seed repitoire:

2011-02-07T16:06:00.002-08:00

A list; by no means complete, but these are crops we plan on producing seed from as well as commercial and home produce from.

Corn:
Rhode Island White Cap
Rhode Island Couble White Cap
King Henry Improved
Amanda Palmer
Waxy Grex
Astronomy Domine Sweet Corn
Hickory Cane

Tomatoes:
Absinthe
Jack White
Phoenix Pink Mix
Yellow Orange Mix
Fairytale F1

Peppers:
PerfeKt
Easter Everywhere
High Voltage Grex

Watermelon:
Between the Sun and Moon

Melon:
Absinthe

Squash:
Dryland Acorn and Ornamental Edibles mixes
Butternut landraces

Millet Mix

Leaf Lettuce Mix (100 plus kinds)
Romaine Mix

Sorghum grain mix

Tobacco:
New Mexico Strain Nicotiana Rustica
About 6 other Rustica Strains
Shirazi
Frog Eye Orinoco

Raddish Grex

Turnip 3 root grex

Edamame soybean landrace

Saucerful of Secrets Sunflowers

A mix of hybridized TPS from potato tubers from Tom Wagner a couple years back as well as fresh seed

A mix of 5 types sweet potatoes

Kale Various crosses from previous 3 years including Russo Siberian and European types

Collards; yellow cabbage collards

Cabbage: Early Jersey Wakefield and Large Drumhead Savoy, possibly winter type grex

Cucumber: long white slicing and Hip-Gnosis 5203 green slicing landrace

Mustard Greens: various crosses and seeds from friends

Spinach: Long Island Seed Mix

Of course this doesn't inlclude the many perrinials and hebs sent my way or already growing.

Hey local folks, don't forget about our Farmstand Credit CSA!

2011-02-07T16:06:00.001-08:00

Concerned about the die offs of pollinators?

2011-02-07T15:54:00.000-08:00

You should be. The effect on local and world biodiversity due to the death of even one pollinator could be devastating.

Here is an article I found today while browsing my favorite: The Daily Grail

Grow corn this season!

2011-02-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

I'll be the first to admit, I didn't grow nearly enough of this precious "grain" (which to me, given my animal inputs, is worth it's weight in gold) in 2010. Even with a bit over 2.6 acres it wasn't enough to keep up with the deman of the poultry or human use this winter. That will be remidied this season with the opening up of 2 previously closed acres and a bio-intensive regime for the other crops on the farm leaving more room for the growth of grain and legumes for long term storage, human and animal feed.

Saturday I made the shot trip to the local mill to pick up some basic feed supplies (I mix my own rations and am working on individual rations for gamebirds and chickens, one of which I posted here a few months back) and was shocked by the rising price of corn. Apparently 6.65 cents was the going rate of a bushel, but considering a 50 lb bag isn't quite a bushel and I paid 6.65 for 50 lbs, someone made a good bit of profit!

Commodity prices are skyrocketing, both due to global shortages in grain production and because of the rampant inflation which we have been softly cushioned from via market manipulation, but that cushion is now wearing thin, and where do we see ourselves in the short term future?

Perhaps this article from zerohedge.com will inform you of the importance of what I speak.

If I and others are lucky we will make it into the harvest season before the enitre ponzi scheme that is the U.S. economy falls through, but China wanting to buy 9x their usual amount in imports doesn't bode well for the coming months in between with the harvest at least 7-9 months out.

I hope this will at least make you think about what the word "sustainability" really means and give you the boost you need to grow your own crop. Of course for those concerned with the dangers Genetically Modified food/feed should already be growing their own or buying from a local and trustworthy farmer.

Make use of all the diverse parts of the corn crops like we do here at Bishop's Homegrown and you will see just how much further your hard labor and "dollar" will stretch. We feed out and eat the grain ourselves, producing meat, save the cobs for bedding, shred and return the fodder to the ground, and compost the turkey and other animal litters to return to the crop. Nothing is wasted.

For those searching for seed stock we still have a ton of Amanda Palmer dent for sale. This is a new synthetic population that we began working with last season that combines the reliability of the Southern and Mid-Western Open Pollinated dent populations with the drough tolerance of a day length neutral tuxpeno and some genes from the old "prolific" lines. Makes a find cornmeal and is prefered by our poultry flock over all other varieties. You can order (in bulk as well) from faceoftheearth.blogspot.com

Popcorn and Porn: So, are you ready for austerity, power shortages, economic collapse, and anarchy?

2011-02-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

Now that the events in Egypt have had time to set in, as well as those in Greece and Iceland, you have all had time to think about those events, how they impact us, and what is most likely in store for the rest of the world, let it sink in, contemplate it, and apply it to your knowledge base.

This is only the beginning, that is a guarantee. If you think even for a moment that just because you live in the United States that you are somehow exempt from such situations it's probably time to pull your head out of the sand, give yourself a good kick in the ass, and realize good ol' Uncle Sam's pockets are empty and he's all out of new/good ideas. Poor guy was sent to a retirement home years ago by the real owners of our country.

Have you been keeping an eye on inflation? If not you should be, food prices are rising at an astonishing pace and commodity prices are absolutely sky high, you can be your last silver dollar they are only going to get higher. Now is the time to prepare, to teach ourselves those arts and practices which were once "common sense" to our ancestors, those which we now lack.

Here is the simple fact of the matter: the world is a hostile place, even if we take away the politics and finances of the modern world, the simple fact of the matter is that life is hard, unpredictable, and flat out unfair on a daily basis. In our country and other developed countries we've had a pretty good handle on how to "game" the modern system to our advantage, to make things a bit more cushy and cozy, but in doing so we have ultimately surrendered our survival instincts. We have given our trust to a group of bureaucrats, bankers, and politicians, hell bent on making figures look good on paper while selling out our country, it's infrastructure, our rights, our security, our liberty, and our very culture while lining their own pockets. We have nothing but "free will" left and many of us have been broken of that nasty "free" thinking habit that those in power hate so much.

We have been left helpless and dependent on the teet of big government, we have been hand fed lies and illusions to build up some compulsory sense of "happiness" and passiveness by a group of puppet masters hiding in the shadows and we are woefully unprepared for the economic collapse that we are headed towards. Let's face it, as much as we'd love to believe our human brethren are above the watermark of Darwinian Evolution and it's primary concept of "Survival of the Fittest", we all know the shitstorm that's going to hit on that fateful morning that some catalyzing even toes us over the line drawn in the sand that separates civility and brotherhood from rape and pillage......and yet, tonight, millions of Americans will spend their fat fucking dollars from their fat fucking purses to buy shit they don't need with credit they don't have and they will never give a passing thought to the fact that their spider sense is tingling. Tthey will scarf down popcorn and watch porn movies while blabbering their mouths about "brown people" living in caves threatening our lives with weapons and skills they don't have all without ever turning an eye to that little dot they saw in their peripheral vision.

That's the "American Dream", right?

No it's not, it never has been and it never will be for some of us.

I'm not saying any of this to be crude, rude, or downright "doomy" I'm saying it because it's true.

Let us take a look at Egypt, I won't get into the politics of it other than to condemn our own president for not calling a spade a spade when it comes to Mubarak (an no, I don't believe a republican could have done any better, toss the coin and you'll get the same results), but have you stoped to think of the Geo-political ramifications from these events? Look up the Suez canal and get back with me, those of you "awake" will know exactly what I'm speaking of.

Meanwhile back in the U.S. Texas just asked Mexico for electricity......'cause we ain't producing it anymore. Oh and what's that, Arizona is out of natural gas?

Of course none of this is taking into account the wild card......natural disasters, we are on the precipice at any point in time on any given day of experiencing one. Yes they always cary negative consequences but at least 60 years ago we grew our own food, knew how to make our own tools, and understood the importance of caring and helping our community.

Are you prepared? I'm betting no. And how do I know that? Because I've been getting ready for 6 years and I am no where close to prepared.

Even if you think your prepared, I'm betting you have no idea what your talking about. Yes dear doom speakers building bunkers I mean you. If you need a bunker to "survive" I'm doubting your going to want to emerge into the world as it exists in a post apocalyptic world, I don't want to, instead I would urge you to focus on those things which you can control. Feed, Seed, Shelter, Storage, Water, Medicine and INFORMATION.

Of course you could get to it after the popcorn and porn I suppose.............

Sharing an article shared with me, the importance of which cannot be overstated!

2011-02-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

Stuart from A Few Good Plants recently sent me the following e-mail and link. I think once you have had a chance to read the article you too will see the relevance of the danger that is currently smaking us in the face:

Alan

Read this piece carefully and I think you'll see this is one of the most sobering--and given its author, authoritative--essays on the seriousness of our predicament that I have seen.

Stuart

http://energybulletin.net/stories/2011-01-26/bee-keeping-energy-descent-future

New World Crops!

2011-02-05T12:38:00.001-08:00

Looks like tomato/potato breeder extrodinaire Tom Wagner and his/my friend Rob Wagner (Atash for those of you from Homegrown Goodness) have started a new seed related venture. New World Crops is a brand new seed company based on the work of Tom Wagner as well as the survivalism based research of Rob Wagner. I give the guys major props on getting the venture up and running in a time when it is needed most!

Rob also did an excellent introduction video over at their website extolling the virtures and the reasons now is the time to grow you own food.

Be sure to check it out!

Returning to our roots: Growing tobacco for sacramental and economic purposes.

2011-02-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

I always make it a point to let readers here know just exactly how I got my feet and hands firmly planted in the mud and muck of this farm; as a young child helping my grandparents and parents raise burley tobacco for market. We haven't grown tobacco as a commercial crop in many years, minus some growouts for seed production, but I am finding now is the time to turn back to it and see it as the sacrament it is and not the cheap drug it has become.

There are many reasons I have decided to turn back to tobacco cultivation (on a small percentage of the farm). The largest of course is my friend Bill Drake's The Cultivators Handbook of Natural Tobacco as well as a will and an interest in figuring out what tobacco was vs. what we see it as today, learning to revere it's shamanic qualities, and most of all respect it.

One: Trade and Barter.

You'll notice, if your observant, that the news is full of all kinds of negative stories nowdays, and nearly everywher you look people are "preparing" for something....even if it's something they don't fully understand. All around us we can see signs and visions of what might or might not be around the corner, but it's always better to be prepared than unprepared.

This is the primary motivator (secondary only to my love for farming) here at Bishop's Homegrown, the preparation for hard times, be it for any number of reasons, we should always be ready even if in hindsight we realize that a situation is blown out of proportion. If we ponder just how unnatural the world around us (humankind) has been constructed, built up, and pushed like propaganda down our throats in the last 150 years, it doesn't take a genious to realize just how fragile the system is. Those who are preparing likely already know the basics; seed saving, canning, butchering, hunting, bartering, fishing, cooking, ext.

What we should also be prepared for is the art of the barter, realizing that what people need and what people want are two different things and that learning to brew a bit of beer or wine or distilling moonshine, or growing illicit herbs (I'm not encouraging this, just saying!) for a possible future trade market, are just as important of skills as any "survival" skills you might have.

One item we often overlook is tobacco and even if were growing it, few of us know or truly understand how to properly cure it to remove the harshness. It is an art, one that is practiced with due dilligence.

Two: Reverence and Respect

I'm a freaking chain smoker. It's my one true vice. That said, I have cut back tremendously and switched over to American Spirit blend while I stand on the precipice of quitting (minus an ocassional pipe of natural homegrown tobacco or cigar in celebration or spiritual quest). I have no "respect" for the tobacco plant because I have abused it, more than that I and many family members and friends have been abused by the tobacco industry who maliciously sell us additive laced, compressed, rehydrated tobacco scrap mixed with paper and other unknown substances. It is because of these I need to reteach myself what tobacco is, why it is what it is, and what that amazing compound known as Nicotine was actually placed here for.

This will also allow me to grow tobacco for friends and family and help free them of the same chains that currently bind me.

Three: Economics regardless

Since I'm in the midst of getting the seed company off the ground and since theres a ton of other smokers out there willing to grow their own either because the price of store bought tobacco is outrageous or because they know what the tobacco companies are putting in their ciggarettes, it only makes financial sense to grow a crop and let it go to seed and to make some Ohio Valley adapted crosses and genepools available in the coming years.

Also however, looking into the laws (or lack therof) regarding the cultivation and sale of tobacco in Indiana I would be remiss not to mention that the idea of selling whole, unprocessed leaf of different types to connisiours and supernauts has crossed my mind.

This brings me to my next point. Tobbaco seed: A Sacred Gift

Often times when plant and animal breeders are looking for special traits they will turn their attention to wild species to search for little known traits, tobbacco is no different and any number of "wild" species do exist, but only one has a long history of cultivation going back to pre-columbian times, tying into the Virginia Colony and spanning such a vast geography, it is also considered highly sacred and has been used to offer blessings to the gods, to commune with the heavens, and to conjure up spirits throught the millenia.

Nicotiana Rustica.

It is very strong medicine one might say with a nicotine content hovering at about 10% as opposed to the tobaccum species which rates at 1-3% roughly.

Bill Drake founded the original Santa Fe tobacco company on this venerable sacrament in the late 70's/early 80's. It is for all intents and purposes to be considered a psychoactive herb with specific traits attuned to those with the ability and understanding to respect it.

Many different "cultivars" of Rustica exist and it is still used, only sparingly, in some pipe, cigar, and cigarette blends, but Bill was kind enough to share his strain with me. According to his book Tobacco Culture: The Cultivators Handbook Of Natural Tobacco the seeds were gifted to him by a friend who found them in a grave in New Mexico (likely that of a high ranking Shaman). Bill grew the seed and sampled the product and was astonished. To me this is the stuff of legend and truth.

My tobacco growing will be based around this venerable strain, a gift that a fellow walker as it were, shared with me but Bill was also kind enough to send along many other favorites of his which will make the list this season as well. I plan to grow in isolation and bag flowers for purity and to experiment with many different curing methods now that I have rebuilt my familial tobacco barn.

Of high interest to me is seeing how Nicotiana Rustica responds to the curing process that currently yields the well known, high quality, highly aromatic turkish, and what the right blend is for the casual smoker vs. what is safe for those wishing to see things as they truly are.

Friends from the world over have also shared unique cultivars of Rustica with me as well, another I'm interested in is called variously Mahorka or Machorka, it was apparently grown and smoked casually by the peasant class in the old soviet union up until the introduction of commercial tobaccos. Perhaps I feel a connection to it as a peasant as it has roots running deeply in that community as I do here on this farm and at my deepest tap am attuned still after all these years to tobacco culture.

Bill was also kind enough to send me one of these amazing t-shirts! E-mail him for prices directly at his site. cultivatorshandbook.com

I strongly urge any of you interested in tobacco cultivation to check out the book as well, look at it as if you were buying a text book for a require college course in your profession, in the long run you may very well thank me for the suggestion.

2011 Bishop's Homegrown Farmstand Credit Opporotunity

2011-01-25T15:31:00.000-08:00