The Deliberate Agrarian

Selling My Garlic Powder
At The Farm Market

Dateline: 10 September 2006
Updated: 10 April 2013

Yesterday I broke out of my comfort zone and did something I’ve never done before. I set up a booth at the Ithaca, New York farmer’s market and sold my homemade stiffneck garlic powder.

I’ve been making and selling Herrick’s Homegrown garlic powder by word-of-mouth to family, friends, friends of friends, and my Whizbang Books customers for the past five years. I have not sold at farmer’s markets or garlic festivals because I’m a shy garlic “farmer” and, besides that, with a full-time non-agrarian job, I’ve been loath to spend hours sitting behind a booth when I have so many other projects at home.

Selling the powder I make has never been a problem. I make around 1,000 ounces a year (this year I’ll have a bit less than that) and I have a core of satisfied customers who purchase from me every year. In addition, there are the curious who purchase once. Many of the curious end up making their own garlic powder and that’s just fine with me. In fact, I wrote this book, to tell others how they can make their own wholesome, delectable garlic powder. And for those looking for a nice little home business, I have put together a Garlic Powder Profits Report.

One year I grew far more garlic than I could properly take care of on a part-time basis (4,500 bulbs) and I made so much powder that I had several pounds still in stock the following spring (I typically sell out before that). So I sent an e-mail to my customer list letting them know that I was selling 16 ounces of powder for a special price of $40. My excess was all sold shortly thereafter. I would typically have sold the 16 ounces in a bag for around $50.

The point is, I think making and selling homemade garlic powder is a neat little business and well worth the effort I put into it. But I’ve often wondered how the powder might sell at a farmer’s market.

So when our friend, Rose Ryan, who grows and sells a lot of garlic under the name, Harvest Home Organics, asked me if I would be willing to sell my garlic powder books and my powder at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market last weekend, I figured I better take advantage of it. I was a guest of the market, which means I didn’t have to pay for a booth. And the market theme for the weekend was garlic. The market runs Saturday from 9:00 to 3:00 and then again on Sunday. We go to church on Sunday so I said I’d only be there on Saturday.

I decided that if I was going to sell my powder at the market, I would put some effort into making a booth display that was attractive and informative. Here’s a picture of the booth after my son, James, and I set it up.

The Herrick’s Homegrown sign above the booth is one I painted on 1/4” lauan plywood. The sub lettering says, Stiffneck-Good Garlic Powder. One of the little signs hanging down off the right side of the sign says:

Here’s One Way To Enjoy Great Garlic Powder

1. Make toast.
(homemade bread is best)

2. Butter the toast.
(real butter please)

3. Shake on garlic powder.
(Herrick’s Homegrown, of course)

4. Allow butter to soak into garlic bits.
(something wonderful happens when butter and garlic combine)

5. Eat slowly. Savor the experience.

6. Make more toast and repeat.

This next picture of 11-year-old James, who was my able assistant for the day, shows an informational display I made.

At the top of the display are the words, What’s The Difference?. Underneath is a jar of “Typical Storebought Garlic Powder” on the left side (it happens to be McCormick’s brand garlic powder), and a jar of “Herrick’s Homegrown Stiffneck Garlic Powder” on the right side. Then, under each jar are a list of differences:

McCormick’s: “Made from softneck varieties of garlic. The softnecks are better suited to large, commercial farming operations, but their flavor pales in comparison to the stiffneck varieties of garlic.”
Herrick’s Homegrown: “Made from stiffneck garlic bulbs. Sometimes called gourmet garlic, the stiffnecks are renowned for their rich, robust flavor.

McCormick’s: “Diluted and adulterated with an anticaking agent.” Herrick’s Homegrown: “No additives. Nothin’ but 100% garlic.”

McCormick’s: “Grown using synthetic chemical inputs. Herbicides, fungicides, and petrochemical fertilizers are commonly used by large-scale commercial garlic growers.”
Herrick’s Homegrown: “No herbicides. No pesticides. No fungicides. No petrochemical inputs. Fertilized with homemade two-year-old compost. Weeded with a hoe and human hands.”

McCormick’s: “Ground and sifted to a perfectly uniform, dust-like consistency.”
Herrick’s Homegrown: “Ground and sifted to contain a mixture of powder and fine granules. This is garlic powder that, in a small way, you can sink your teeth into.”

McCormick’s: “Made from garlic that might have been grown somewhere in the western U.S., but was more than likely grown in a foreign country.”
Herrick’s Homegrown: “Made from garlic grown in the Finger Lakes region of New York State.”

McCormick’s: “Grown and processed by an industrialized system of nameless, faceless, people from who-knows-where?”
Herrick’s Homegrown: “Every bulb used to make this garlic powder was planted, cared for, harvested, processed, and packaged by Herrick Kimball of Moravia, New York.”

I also put together an informational display board about my garlic powder book. The person in charge of the farm market said I could display but not sell my non-garlic books, so I had display boards and sample copies of my books, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian and Anyone Can Build A Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker.

Selling at the farm market was in interesting experience. A lot of people walked by and didn’t even give the booth a look. I think they were there for the food, the atmosphere and the social qualities of the place, which is one good reason to go there. The Ithaca Farmer’s Market has a lot of unique, ethnic food vendors and the atmosphere is truly rarified.

There is a bumper sticker that says, Ithaca, New York: Four Square Miles Surrounded by Reality. That really sums it up. For those who don’t know, Cornell University is on the hill in Ithaca. You can see the school’s bell tower from the market which is along the shore of Cayuga Lake. Marlene and I make it a point to go to the Ithaca market (1/2 hour form our home) at least once a summer specifically for the food and the experience. So I can understand why a lot of people just didn’t care to see what I had.

Two years ago, when we went to the garlic weekend at the market, it was shoulder to shoulder people—a mass of humanity. That was not the case at all yesterday. The stilt-walking garlic fairy (or whatever he is) in this next photo was at the market two years ago and he could barely move. As you can see in this photo, taken by me from my booth, there was a lot of room to walk.

By the way, after I snapped the photo, the fellow walked over, handed me a business card and asked me to e-mail him the picture. So I’ll send him an invite to this blog, with this picture. Welcome to The Deliberate Agrarian Dan Klein of the League of Stiltwalkers in Ithaca.

I was selling jars of Herrick’s Homegrown and 1.5 ounce sample bags. The jars were priced at $10.50 and the sample bags at $5. Here’s a close-up of the jars & bags.

Even though the turnout was relatively low and a lot of people walked by without giving my booth a second look, I felt it was it was a good day. Almost every person who looked at my “What’s The Difference” display and read it, bought a jar or bag of powder. One lady said, “And it’s not irradiated either!” To which I replied, “You’re right! I forgot about that.”

One lady stopped by and said, “So you’re the famous Herrick Kimball?” I was taken aback by the comment because I wasn’t sure what she meant. “I guess so.” I said with a surprised smile and asked, “Why do you say that?” She told me she bought a copy of my garlic powder book at the lumberyard in Moravia last year (they offered to sell it for me and actually sold quite a few copies). She followed the directions in the book, made her own garlic powder, and is now a homemade garlic powder enthusiast. The woman and her husband moved into the Moravia area from New Jersey two years ago. I was thrilled to meet someone who bought my book and put the information to good use!

A guy from a local radio station was at the market doing live interviews throughout the morning. Against my better judgment, I agreed to do an interview. He came right to my booth and we did a short on-air interview with a cell phone. He said a few words about the market, introduced me and James, asked me a question, and stuck the cell phone in my face. I started talking and don’t even remember all what I said. It didn’t last long and the guy was gone.

Then, about 10 minutes later, a middle-aged couple showed up at my booth and told me they were driving down Route 13 in Ithaca, heard my interview and decided to track me down. They were garlic lovers who grew 100 German white stiffnecks last year for the first time. That’s the same garlic I use to make my powder. We had a nice talk and they left with a sample bag and a copy of my book.

Later in the day, close to the end of the market, my oldest son, Chaz showed up with my middle son, Robert. Chaz was working at his lumberyard job in the morning and Robert was at a friend’s house. Chaz said he heard my interview on the radio out in one of the storage buildings in the yard at work. That was kind of neat. He said I did okay, which was good to hear. I told them that if they stopped by I’d buy them lunch. They both had a pizza that was baked a few booths down from me in a portable (on a trailer) wood-fired, masonry oven.

In the end, I sold only 23 bags and 11 jars of powder (and a bunch of books—one lady bought five). My typical customers were middle-aged and older people. No college kids, of which there were many, bought any powder (though a few expressed interest in the chicken plucker book). Each person who purchased powder also got a copy of this year’s prices on a postcard. I suspect that the 44 new customers will translate into additional mail order sales.

Selling my homegrown, homemade stiffneck garlic powder at the market yesterday was an experiment and I determined ahead of time that, no matter how it went, I would have a good time, and I did. I also determined that I would report about it here so that others looking at garlic powder or any other farm market enterprise, might learn from my experiences.

What I learned is that homemade garlic powder is a unique and appealing product to many people. But to sell a lot of it, you need to be somewhere where a lot of the right people are. I suspect a festival focused specifically on garlic would be a much better selling environment than a general farmer’s market.

Beyond that, I’m sure that I would have done better if, in addition to the powder, I also sold garlic bulbs (for seed and eating), garlic braids, and different garlic powder mixes. If I had samples of my garlic powder mixes (which I have yet to develop) for people to taste, that would have been even more of a draw. I also am completely convinced that properly presented information explaining what makes your product unique (i.e., my “What’s The Difference?” display) is a necessity. And I like the idea of teaching others how to make their own powder. I think anyone who makes and sells garlic powder can benefit from either selling my how-to book or, better yet, a small booklet of their own. There is no reason why other people across the country can't position themselves as garlic powder specialists and authorities.

As time passes, Marlene and I are getting a vision for a home-based market stand—a place where we would be open a couple days a week and people would come to us. Marlene’s breads and baked goods would be the foundational drawing product. To that would be added other homegrown products, like poultry, eggs, vegetables, jams, garlic and garlic powder, homemade soaps, crafts, etc. The stand would be in a small building and open year round. We could even help other people in our area market their homegrown and homemade products. I envision an e-mail list of local customers who would get weekly updates and information. A commercial kitchen would be very helpful in the endeavor.

I don’t know how or when this would happen or how we could afford to make it happen. But as we think about the future and, hopefully, purchasing some land, we will do so with this kind of home market in mind. We would need to be in the country (of course) but relatively close to a major population center (less than 1/2 hour away). We’d need road frontage that would accomodate the stand and parking. It’s fun to consider and I hope we can make it happpen. I hope it would be something our sons, at least one of them, if not more, would get the vision for too. Time will tell.

==========

I invite you to read my other garlic-related blog essays:

Making Pickled Garlic Scapes

How I Plant My Garlic

Home-Based Agrarian Enterprises & Garlic Powder Profits

Curing Garlic Bulbs

Another Summer Evening's Meal

So much of "the good life" revolves around food. Good food. Food that you and your family have grown and prepared and put up yourself. Not fancy food. Simple food. Food like shown in the photo above.

A couple weeks ago, Marlene and I and our three sons sat down to eat at the picnic table in our backyard and this is what we had. As I walked out to the table and saw the food Marlene informed me that it was all from our own homestead. I looked at my plate and said, "Hold everything! I've got to get a picture of this!"

So I stood on the picnic table seat, aimed the camera down and captured this image of a typical summer meal. It is the kind of meal we dream of in the depths of winter.

Starting at the top of the plate is a nice piece of grilled chicken breast. That hunk of meat was walking around our yard a few weeks ago. I told James I thought it looked like one of the chickens he butchered. The chicken was exceptionally good!

Below the chicken are some green beans. They are not cooked green beans. They are pickled beans. Dill pickled.

Below the beans, on the bottom right of the plate is a mixture of just-picked-and-cut-up tomatoes, green peppers, and onion mixed with a little Italian dressing.

Moving to the left, we have potatoes. Specifically, they are Yukon Gold potatoes. Marlend cut them in the cube shapes and sliced in some garlic and added some salt & pepper and a little olive oil. She wrapped it in foil and cooked it on the grill.

Rounding out our plate, in the upper left hand side, we have cucumber slices. They were marinated in vinegar. That's the way we like 'em.

==========

In my book, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian, I have a chapter titled A Summer Evening's Meal. It is a story about another meal my family had last summer in the backyard. It was a different kind of meal because it came not from our own homestead but from a variety of local people we know and consider to be our friends.

For those who have not yet read my book, I offer the following quotation from the beginning of the chapter. It fits with today's blog:

"Few things in life are more pleasing to the sensibilities of agrarians than to eat food they have grown, harvested, and prepared with their own hands, preferably on their own land... This act of providing one's own food is an acknowledgement and acceptance of the Divine order. it is an expression of obedience. It is the realization of freedom."

My Christian-Agrarian Reality

Dateline: 2 September 2006

“Dad, how come my cheeseburger doesn’t look like that one?” my son said to me one day, pointing to the enlarged photograph of a perfect burger on the menu board behind the order counter. We were “dining” at a McDonalds or a Wendys or some such fast food joint that we try to avoid but occasionally succumb to (it is admittedly fast and convenient when you’re away from home).

The question was a good opportunity for me to point out that there is often a significant difference between perception and reality. That picture of the perfect cheeseburger was very carefully assembled and arranged and photographed in some studio by people who are well-paid to make such things look as wonderful and appealing as they can possibly be.

One way those people make the burger look so good is to show only the best examples. You aren’t going to see a crushed bun. The lettuce won’t be wilted. The tomato slice will be of even thickness and appealingly red. The cheese will be melted just so.

The same principle of showing only the best examples applies when I write in this blog or post pictures. If my house is visible in a photograph, I make sure the best side is showing— the side with the siding all in place and nicely painted, and with shutters by the windows. I don’t want anyone to see the opposite side of the house where there has been no siding for over twenty years—the tarpaper shredded off long ago and the exposed plywood is weathered and streaked with black.

The same goes for the inside of the house. You’ll never see a photo of our upstairs bedrooms or, worse yet, the bathroom which desperately needs remodeling. I wouldn’t want anyone to see the unfinished drywall, the piles of books, and other clutter. Or, if I did show a picture, it would be carefully taken so as to not reveal the disturbing reality of the whole area around it.

I’ll tell you about Marlene’s wonderful homemade breads and the handcrafted soaps she sells, but I don’t tell you about the discouraging and never-ending struggles she goes through to try and stay ahead on the laundry and dishes and housework.

I speak glowingly of my boys and their adventures and achievements, but I don’t tell you about their shortcomings and how they, at times, disappoint me.

And I sure don’t tell you about my faults and foibles and shortcomings and how, at times, I disappoint my children and my wife. No. We aren’t going there.

When I show you a picture of my grapes on the vine, there are perfect and beautiful, I don’t show you the less than perfect examples on either side. If I showed you some of the giant carrots I grew this year in my garden, I would not also show you the smaller ones or the ones damaged by root worms. I don’t show molting chickens. And if my children all got head lice (which they did once when they were little) I would never write about that.

The point is, if you read this blog, or my recently published agrarian book, and that is all you ever knew about me and my family, you would think ours is a perfect little family and our agrarian life is nothing but beauty and sweetness.

In so thinking, you might look at your own life situation and compare your reality to the agrarian perception you have of my life. And, in so comparing, you may think you are coming up short of the agrarian ideal that you so desire but can’t seem to attain. That, my dear reader, would be a mistake—a very serious mistake.

I say that because the perception and the imagined ideal that could grow from it is not reality. The picture-perfect cheeseburger does not exist and the picture perfect agrarian life does not exist either, at least it does not in my experience and I’m quite certain it doesn’t in anyone else’s experience either.

Nevertheless, I maintain that this is still “the good life” I live here and I’m going to use another illustration to further explain what I mean...

Have you ever seen those Got Milk? advertisements that show famous people with a white milk mustache? Well, I’ve got news for you—that’s not milk on their upper lips. It’s Elmer’s glue. The same goes for any advertisement showing a photograph of a bowl of cereal with milk in it. Corn flakes don’t get soggy in white glue.

I’m speaking of what the French call trompe l’oeil, which means, literally, “deceive the eye.” We all know that seeing is believing but, more often than you may realize, what you think you see in a picture is not the true story.

Take, for example, a movie scene of a boxer working out in a gym. Perspiration is pouring down his face and his gray t-shirt is sweat drenched. Our eye tells us the man is wet as the result of a long period of physical exertion. But, in reality, the man was calm and relaxed and sipping a refreshing drink only moments before. When it came time to shoot the scene, someone on the movie set spritzed his face and clothing with a spray bottle. The simulated sweat is a visual deception. If the deception was presented in the form of written words, it would be called a lie.

Now, having pointed that out, I want to make it perfectly clear that when we chug down a glass of milk in my family, we get real, unpasteurized, unhomogenized, whole milk mustaches. In other words, the things I’ve told you about my life and my family, and the pictures I’ve posted here have been completely true. Yes, I’ve left out some things and my family is not perfect, but I’ve come to realize we have something special here. It is not completely rare—many other families I know experience it—but it is, nevertheless, remarkable in this day and age.

A genuine and deep love permeates this little family of mine. We care for each other, we sacrifice for each other, we forgive each other, and we are committed to each other. With three boys, two of whom are teenagers, it is not always peaceful around our house, but the commotion is not due to rebellion and family strife. There is an underlying spirit of peace and kindness here. We are not the best example of a Christian family, but our Christian faith is central and integral to the way we live and to the blessings we enjoy. Our home is not always beautiful to the eye, but it is still a haven in the midst of a dark secular culture that is at war against the knowledge of God.

This God-centered and family-centered life we live is made all the richer because we live it in an agrarian setting and we are actively involved in the agrarian experience. I can not imagine any other paradigm (framework) for living that supports such family closeness and strengthens family bonds.

That is the reality of the life we live here on our little 1.5 acre homestead. It is not always pretty and it is rarely easy, but not a day goes by that we do not experience the joy and satisfaction that this life brings. And not a day goes by that I do not acknowledge Jesus Christ, He who so willingly took the punishment for my sins on the cross, as my Lord, my source of strength, my source of hope, my source of peace, and the source of all the blessings I enjoy in this life. This is, after all, Christian agrarianism I’m speaking of here.

With that in mind, I hope you, my friend, will never mistake the ruminations you read here as pridefull expressions. On the contrary, they are the humble expressions of an insignificant and imperfect man who, for reasons he can not fully understand, has been blessed by the sovereign, holy God of all creation. I am, frankly, in awe at the wonder of His creation, which includes not only the natural world around me but the family around me too.

The whole point is, the whole reality is, that the ultimate beauty found in this Christian agrarian “good life” that I experience comes from within, not without. It comes when individual lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ. It comes to any who sincerely seek it. He gives a whole new perspective, a whole new purpose, a whole new life. And with that new life comes new responsibilities, new desires, new goals. When this new life happens, faith and family becomes central, and livin’ the good life is just natural.

Syncretism vs Christian Agrarianism

I have attended Pentecostal churches, Methodist churches and for a couple of years, way in the past, Marlene and I were involved in a church that focused heavily on deliverance ministry. But for most of my churchgoing days I’ve attended an independent Baptist church.

Some who have read my book, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian, and this blog have mistakenly assumed that I attend a Reformed church. It is understandable. My faith has been fed and my beliefs more clearly defined in recent years by several Reformed Christians, starting with Doug Phillips who I was, like so many others, introduced to through his speaking at homeschool conventions.

Before long I was reading the writings of Reformed Christians like Rousas Rushdoony, George Grant, Gary DeMar, and R.C. Sproul. I even tackled John Calvin’s “Institutes.” Then, maybe two years ago, I received a Draught Horse Press catalog with a sample copy of “Basement Tape” recordings from The Highlands Study Center. That was my introduction to R.C. Sproul, Jr. (son of R.C., Sr.) and, incidentally, Rick Saenz of Cumberland Books. There was a clear agrarianism to the ministry and message of The Highlands Study Center and that was, as you might imagine, an attraction to me.

From the beginning, R.C., Jr. struck me as a bit of a rebel—a Christian enigma that, frankly, still confuses me sometimes. I’ve noticed that there are people on the internet who have a harsh opinion of R.C. I have no reason to feel that way. Though I may question some things, I find myself liking the man because I think his heart is in the right place. Besides that, I see similarities between him and I. For example, we are both fallible, and a little stubborn, and learning as we go—sometimes the hard way.

Another thing I like about R.C., Jr. is when I read some of the things he has written, I find myself thinking harder about topics and viewpoints that deserve some hard thought. More often than not, I have to read his writings a couple of times, (or more) to get it. That’s because I’m a little dense (Really. I am.), and because there is an element of “riddle” to much of what R.C. writes. The riddle comes, I think, because R.C. writes from his ingrained Reformed perspective while I read from my ingrained Baptist perspective. I’ve also noticed that it helps to understand R.C if you have a good understanding of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series.

Nevertheless, I was reading an article by R.C in the May/June 2006 issue of Every Thought Captive (a periodical published by The Highlands Study Center) and I thought it was particularly perspicacious. It is titled Worshiping The Living GOPP and I am going to tell you about it here because of the strong Christian agrarian connection.

The article is about syncretism, a word I never understood until I read the article. Fact is, I may have never even heard it before. But it is a word I think all Christians need to understand. Here is a quote from the article...

”One could even argue that there is a cause and effect relationship between the showering of God's grace upon His people, and their turns to idolatry. We grow accustomed to His grace, and forget Him. Well, we don't exactly forget Him. Instead we dress Him up in the latest fashions, refashioning the God of the Ages into the god of the age. That is, idolatry in Israel was almost never the wholesale abandonment of God, but was almost always idolatry in the form of syncretism, the blending together of the true and the false.”

Now that you understand what syncretism is (if you did not before), let’s find out what GOPP is...

”Our syncretism is simple enough—we worship the living God, and the god of this age, the god of personal peace. We meld these two polar visions into one, and then wonder why our lives are so confused. We are torn asunder, trying desperately to prove Jesus wrong, that we can indeed serve two masters.”

Did you see it? GOPP is the God Of Personal Peace, which is the god of this age. I tend to think of it as the God Of Personal Peace And Prosperity, but I suppose GOPPAP is too weighty of an acronym. Besides that, most mistakenly think prosperity is a necessary ingredient for peace, so GOPP is just fine.

In any event, the way I read it, in his own unique way, R.C. is asserting that the modern church has compromised (syncertized) with a modern culture that is at odds with the one true God and His word, and I couldn’t agree more. Here’s R.C. again...

”There is but one way to break free from this syncretism, this serving of two masters, one false, the other Truth, and that is to worship the Truth. There is but one way to stop pursuing any false god, and that is to pursue the living God.”

Now that is well said and I personally think this pursuit is best accomplished within the agrarian paradigm, which includes, by definition, living simply. The idea of living simply is a recurring theme with R.C. and I suspect he may be taking some heat for emphasizing the simple life because he goes on to clarify what he means...

”This is all we've ever meant when we've encouraged people to live the simple life. It has never been our intention to guilt people for any blessings they might enjoy, (nor to guilt ourselves for blessings we enjoy. All of us, on a historical and world scale are filthy rich) to suggest that if you don't think Green Acres is the place to be, then you are outside the camp. Poverty and agrarianism have never been the goal.”

”The simplicity isn't ultimately about the stuff, but about the goal. Any and all things that bring us closer to Him, that's the simple life. Any and all things that draw us closer to her [GOPP], that's what we pluck out that we might inherit eternal life. The simple life is one simple goal, serving our King. It is nothing more, and nothing less.”

This simplicity also includes the concept of separation which, it seems to me, is not only the antithesis of syncretism, but the sure remedy. R.C. continues...

”If we master simple, have we not already mastered separate? If they are living for growing their 401k's and we are living for seeing 401 grandkids, though we share the same earth, though we are still in the world, have we not shown ourselves to not be of the world? If the allures of the temptress of the god of this age are unheard by us, because we can hear only the Master's voice, will we not look distinct, different? And again, if we do this together, as a body, then will not our light so shine before men, that they by His grace might be drawn to the light?”

”We're not separate because our cars are held together by duct tape. We're separate because we do not measure our joy by how much duct tape is on our cars. To put it more simply, we're separate because we are simple, because we enjoy the peace of serving only one master.”

Simple, separate, and deliberate are three intertwined concepts that serve to define the teaching of The Highlands Study Center. Having touched on simple and separate, R.C. now addresses deliberate...

”Here is where it is hardest. To be deliberate is to be conscious enough to think through not just means but ends. It is to be alert enough to realize that whether we hear him or not, the devil is always whispering in our ear. He is always enticing us, pimping for the god of this age. To be deliberate is to recognize that the normal, evangelical life is precisely what we've looked at, idolatrous syncretism of the highest magnitude. So let us learn to separate the voice of the Master from the voice of the one calling in the streets. Let us learn to distinguish between His good gifts, and her illicit favors.”

Okay, I confess, when he says normal evangelical life is idolatrous syncretism of the highest magnitude, a see a red flag. I wonder if he might be talking about me? I’ve always considered myself something of an evangelical Christian. But I must not be “normal” in that regard, at least as R.C. sees it. I say that because I agree with everything he said right up to that point. I also probably agree with with the point. And I surely do agree with R.C.’s conclusion...

”Serve her who promises the world, and we shall have nothing. Serve Him, acknowledging we have nothing, and He will give us His peace.”

Yes! there it is—the whole essence of the Christian agrarian good life is summed up in those two sentences.

For over a year, this blog has celebrated things like family closeness, rural living, gardening, homemade bread, hunting, pastured poultry and all sorts of other exciting agrarian endeavors. But make no mistake about it, those things are not my goal, nor are they the goal I have for the family God has given me to lead. Those things do not bring peace in the midst of a troubled and lost world. True, lasting peace comes only from knowing Jesus Christ as Lord.

And Christian agrarianism is just an outward expression of our desire to live a life in accordance with His word, a life that eschews syncretism by being simple, separate, and deliberate, a life that serves, ultimately, to bring glory to God.

==========

The excerpted quotations above have been used with permission.

Bits & Pieces

Observant readers of this blog may have noticed the sidebar was missing for a few days. It was actually down on the bottom right of the page. Keith Bradshaw over at Allelon Farm sent me an e-mail explaining why my site was messed up (the pictures I posted were too wide) and telling me how to fix the problem. It’s great to have such helpful and intelligent friends. Thank you Keith!!

==========

As further evidence of Keith Bradshaw’s “smarts” I encourage you to read at his blog about the “Automatic Chicken House Door” he recently made. Very nice. It is, in my opinion, nothing short of a Whizbang invention!

==========

And thanks are long overdue to Keith’s wife, Mary Susan, who posted such a nice review of my book, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian.

==========

Amey, over at The Circle Z also had nice things to say about the book and I am, once again, very appreciative of the feedback.

==========

There is a farm in my town that raises buffalo (North American Bison). It’s quite a sight to see a herd of them out in a field. The farm is just starting to sell the meat this year at local farmer’s markets. Marlene paid $9.50 for six bison patties (two pounds of meat). We grilled them outside last weekend. The meat is very lean, which means it cooks fast and there is hardly any shrinkage.

The consensus was unanimous—We all like buffalo burgers. In fact, we will probably have them again someday.

==========

A fellow I work with told me he recently went out to dinner at a restaurant with members of his family to celebrate his mother-in-law’s birthday. The bill (for 14 people) came to $1,196.00. The restaurant charged $75 just to serve the birthday cake the family brought along with them.

I find that story mind boggling.

My family would have been plenty happy with buffalo burgers and some potato salad.

But that’s just us.

==========

My son James, the rabbit hunter, chicken processor, cookie maker, onion grower, and future log hewer mentioned the phrase forty acres and a mule to me the other day. I confess that I really wasn't listening as closely as I should have to what he was saying, but I kind of woke up when he said those words, ”forty acres and a mule”.

“Where did you hear that?” I asked him.

“It’s in that movie you bought,” he replied.

He was referring to Gone With The Wind. I bought a two-tape video of the classic movie at a garage sale for a buck because I’ve never seen it and I’ve always heard it was good. James has watched it a couple of times.

“Forty Acres and a Mule” caught my attention because it is similar to a book that Rick Saenz recommends.

==========

I’ve been pressed for time and unable to reply to comments on my blog entries like I’d like to. Sorry about that. I do want to say, however, that I was very glad to learn that I was not “chomping” at the bit a few blogs back when I was anxious to get to processing our chickens. I was champing at the bit.

==========

And I’ve been trying to catch up on reading at the other agrarian blogs listed over on my sidebar. There are a lot of neat agrarian stories—real life stories—going on all over the country. A lot of inspiration and incouragement and advice. I encourage you to click through the links if you have not done so lately. And one of these days I'll add a few more links.

==========

I see that Nicolas Barbieto, the Junior Agrarian has posted a review of the documentary, The Future of Food. Thanks Nicolas.

And David Taylor mentioned the movie herel. I wonder where the Future of Food is now??

==========

Oh how I wish I had more time for blogging! It’s really a lot of fun and I keep thinking of more things to write about. But, alas, when I blog, things I might better be doing seem to pile up (does anyone else have this problem?).

Soooooo, I’m sorry to say, I must take a little break for the next few weeks. Blogging is very hard for me to part with but we have a lot on our plate here well into October—and it is piling higher. I have decided to post a blog entry only once a week from now until November. I will post on Friday or Saturday, starting this weekend.

So many events and opportunities to write will go by in that time but I’ll be taking pictures and jotting down notes for future blogs.

==========

Oh, one last thing..... The subject of processing chickens brings to mind something I read in the Bible the other day. I’ve read this verse many times in the past but this time it really jumped out at me. Here are the words of Solomon from Ecclesiasties 3:1-2

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck...”

Rabbit Hunting Boy

Last Thursday, Marlene and James came home from the farmer’s market and the car had barely stopped in our driveway before James was out the door, running into the house to see me. It was a bit more enthusiasm than I’m accustomed to...

“Dad! Can I use your gun? I saw a rabbit up in the corn!”

He was referring to the small patch of open pollinated fieldcorn I planted up in my neighbor Don’s field. I said, “Do you think it’s still there?”

He responded somewhat frantically, “Yes. It ran into the corn. Can I use your gun?”

I said okay, figuring it would be an effort in futility on his part, and warned him not to run and to be very careful. Then I turned my attention to Marlene, quizzing her about how things sold for her at the market.

A short while later there was a gunshot in the distance, but I didn’t give it much thought. A few minutes later, I heard James outside the kitchen window saying in a sing-song voice, “I got it.”

I looked out the window and there he was standing with the gun and the rabbit and a big smile on his face. I was amazed. “Hey! I gotta get a picture of that!” I said to him. I grabbed my digital camera (which, if you haven't noticed, I’ve been keeping close by these days) and snapped this picture.

By the way, some who read this story may wonder what we did with the rabbit. Well, we did not eat it. James took it way up the hedgerow across from our house and threw it in the weeds. Some sort of wild critter will make a meal of it. I know they’re cute but rabbits are varmints like rats or woodchucks. There is no shortage of them hereabouts and they eat the garden.

=========================

If you like hunting, trapping, guns, and stuff like that, I invite you to read some more of my essays...

How Not to Shoot The Bull

Trapping Class

The Charging Woodchuck

Going to The Trapper's Convention

Boys Will Be....Warriors (Part 1)

Boys Will Be...Warriors (Part 2)

Life Lessons From an Old Maine Woodsman

How to Butcher a Chicken

The Fun, Fast Way to Skin a Deer

Biblical Entrepreneurship

I sure do appreciate the work Doug Phillips at Vision Forum Ministries has been doing in recent years. A few weeks ago he hosted an Entrepreneurial Bootcamp Conference. Here are some quotes from Doug about the conference...

=====

“Many men find themselves caught in a corporate culture at odds with biblical values. They are looking for a fresh start to provide for their loved ones in a way that builds up, not breaks down, their family. We are seeking to communicate hope to such men and their families by offering practical teaching that explores various business models in light of God’s Word.”

“Our goal with the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp is to inspire Christians to apply biblical principles of family life to the twenty-first century work environment,”

=====

This conference and the subject of Biblical entrepreneurship dovetails perfectly with much of what I was saying in my previous post about reestablishing the family economy. I was thrilled to see that a Christian agrarian (Joel Salatin) was one of the featured speakers at the conference. I wish I could have been there but I sure don’t have the time and resources to go to Texas. The good news, though, is that I have decided to purchase the complete 26-CD unedited collection of recordings from the conference.

I’m looking forward to hearing ....

A Biblical Model for Successful Agrarian Entrepreneurship by Joel Salatin

Family Business and the Two Hundred Year Plan by Geoff Botkin

How to Cultivate an Entrepreneurial Spirit with Your Children by Arnold Pent

How to Work with Your Kids So That They Will Want to Work with You by Joel Salatin

The History of Technology by Isaac Botkin

Getting the Big Picture for Entrepreneurship and the Christian Family by Doug Phillips

The Rebirth of Family-Friendly Christian Entrepreneurship by Nick Logan

Fathers and Sons Working Together by Scott Brown

An Entrepreneurial Family-Based Multi-Generational Business by Joel Salatin

That’s just a sampling of what’s on the CDs. Unfortunately, they are expensive ($125), but I’ve justified the expense by determining that I will review portions of the tape series here and share with you some choice tidbits.

You can find out more about the conference collection by clicking here

In closing, I offer you Doug’s excellent definition of Biblical entrepreneurship:

“Biblical entrepreneurship involves the moral obligation to be economically creative and productive. The principle of entrepreneurship is rooted in the dominion mandate and the biblical doctrines of work, stewardship, and fruitfulness. Biblical entrepreneurship incorporates principles of biblical patriarchy with its emphasis on multigenerational faithfulness, freedom in Christ, inheritance, jurisdiction, and the household as a vibrant, economically productive, God-ordained unit for cultural transformation. It is impossible to have a full-orbed vision of entrepreneurship without careful consideration for the scriptural doctrine of the family. Any approach to entrepreneurship which is divorced of these considerations inevitably leads to the idolatries of materialism, individualism, and the love of money.”

Home-Based Agrarian Enterprises & Garlic Powder Profits

This blog is about Faith, Family, and Livin’ The Good Life, which is another way of saying the blog is about Christian agrarianism. Part of the Christian agrarian vision is to strengthen families by re-establishing the family economy. In fact, reestablishing the family economy is a necessary fundamental to restoring Christian agrarian culture.

I have a chapter explaining what the family economy is and how important it is in my book, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian. I hope that if you have not read the book, you will one day soon. In short, the family economy is when the entire family works together to provide for its own needs.

The ideal family economy involves a family working together to provide not only for the food, shelter, heating, etc., needs of the family, but the financial needs too. Total self sufficiency without a cash income was once possible in this nation (it was, actually, in many sections, the norm) but those days are history. Nowadays, we need a cash flow, and that means home-centered business enterprises. The whole idea is to reconnect the entire family by bringing fathers and mother’s home where they belong.

Farming, the tried and truest form of agrarianism, has always provided an excellent opportunity for exercising the ideals of a family economy. But few of us who did not grow up in the farming paradigm, have the financial resources or the experience to become farmers, at least in the commonly understood big sense of the word. And, for that matter, most of us don’t even have the finances and know-how to be farmers in the small sense of the word.

That leaves those of us who grasp the wisdom of living the agrarian life facing an enormous conundrum... How do we get from here to there? How do we break free from the industrial-world jobs that provide us with the cash flow our families need to survive? How do we come home and establish family businesses and/or farms, small or large? The answer to that question will vary from family to family.

I have been struggling with this conundrum in my own life for the past few years and I still struggle with it. But I do have some answers. First, I believe that the Lord has given me this vision and He will provide as He sees fit. Nevertheless I may, like Moses, see the promised land but never enter. I’ve come to terms with the fact that, even if I do enter, it will probably not be anytime soon. Nevertheless, I will deliberately work towards that end by doing what I can, where I am, with what I have. And I will take it a step at a time, or as Marco Lanzoni, the old Italian farmer I once knew used to say, “Little by slow.”

More importantly, I will endeavor to teach my children how important it is for them to have an entrepreneurial mindset and to consider home-centered businesses for themselves, not only now but in the future when they are leading and providing for their own families. Furthermore, as I can, I feel strongly that I should do what I can to help them establish such businesses. This whole Christian agrarian vision is, after all, multigenerational. It’s far bigger than little ol’ me and little ol’ you in the here and now.

If you’ve read this blog for long, you know my family has numerous home-centered enterprises. Marlene has been involved in the farmer’s market for several years. She has established a nice little homemade bread business and each of our boys has played a part in that. I have told you about Marlene’s homemade soaps business too.

And you are probably aware that I have written and self-published several books. I also have a small home industry making and selling parts for the Whizbang Chicken Plucker. More books, and plans and such will, Lord willing, continue to be produced in the years ahead. I have so many ideas that it is amazing.

The money I make from these entrepreneurial activities is not needed to provide for my family because I have a full-time job that does that. The money I make from my part time business is either reinvested in the business or saved so that, one day, we can afford to purchase more land—-more than the 1.5 acres we now own. The acquisition of more land is central to my multigenerational agrarian vision.

I have told you these things to give you an idea of where and how the Lord is leading me. He leads each of us and our families differently but there may be similarities in our stories and our dreams, and perhaps my example will provide you with some insights or inspiration that may prove helpful to you.

With that in mind, I’d like to tell you about another of my part-time, home-centered, agrarian enterprises. Specifically, I want to tell you about garlic powder....

I started growing garlic in my garden back in 1998. I tried growing several varieties. Some grew very poorly and some grew very nicely. The ones that grew well, grew very well. The upstate N.Y. climate and my sandy, well-drained soil, fertilized with ample amounts of well-aged compost, was ideal for growing stiffneck varieties of garlic. The stiffnecks are often referred to as gourmet garlic, because they have a more hearty, robust flavor than to the common softnecks that you’ll find in most grocery stores.

One thing led to another and I tried peeling, slicing, and drying some of my stiffneck garlic. The resulting chips were good in Marlene’s winter soups and stews. Then one day I dumped some dried chips in a blender and ground them to powder. My homemade garlic powder was incredibly good. So good, in fact, that I bottled some of it up and gave it to friends and family as gifts. They liked it so much that they said they would buy it from me. That was the beginning of what has become a nice little agrarian home business for me.

I have been growing garlic, processing it into powder, and selling it for the past five years. When I realized how uniquely delectable homemade stiffneck garlic powder was, I decided to write a book on the subject. That’s what I do when something interests me and I want to share it with others—I write a book. The Complete Guide To Making Great Garlic Powder was published in 2003. The book tells how I grow garlic, dry it, and process it into powder.

At that same time I also wrote a Garlic Powder Profits Report. The report explained how I marketed, priced, and packaged my garlic powder. It provided samples of actual labels, and a list of suppliers for different products. I also included an essay about the “10 Keys to Success for Building a Sustainable Garlic Powder Business.” The report was not marketed very well but it still generated a lot of interest and the copies I printed sold out in about a year. The report has been out of print now for almost two years. I didn't want to reprint it until I revised and updated it. Finally, this last week, I’ve gotten around to doing that and the new edition of A Garlic Powder Profits Report: The Herrick's Homegrown Story is now in print.

I’m telling you about this new resource here because the products I offer are an integral part of the family life that I write about on my blog. And I’m telling you about the new, revised “Garlic Powder Profits Report” because, if you have any interest in this subject, I’d like to sell you a copy.

At 27 pages, my Garlic Powder Profits Report is not a long read, but it is crammed with nuts-and-bolts information about a very viable value-added home business that you can start without a lot of investment.

Selling your own homemade garlic powder, made from your own homegrown garlic, is a lot of work. And it will not make you rich. And it is not a business that you're likely to support a whole family on. But, if you like to garden, this is a nice little business that can provide a decent return for the effort you put into it. How much can you make? Well I discuss that in detail in the book, but I'll tell you that I "buy" the garlic bulbs I grow from myself for $5 a pound. Then I pay myself $20 an hour to process and package and market the product. And the final price of the powder even includes a small amount of profit over and above my actual costs of creating it. I currently grow around 1,200 bulbs a year and, after expenses, clear a couple thousand dollars from that. Sometimes I clear more. That's a couple thousand dollars net from a relatively small patch of land. Oh, and I sell every grain of garlic powder I can make. Selling the product has been far easier than making it.

What I've just told you has been my experience and it is, of course, no guarantee that your experience will be the same. Some people have made their own garlic powder and tried to sell it and they were disappointed that it did not sell better. Others have followed my example and have been very pleased with the results. The "secret" to this business is to start small, look at it as a long-term sustainable project, and build your market. Instant success is probably not going to happen. The point is, this little business can work and it does work and I'd like it to work for you the way it has worked for me. That's why I wrote the Garlic Powder Profits Report.

I could grow more garlic. Fact is, I have grown more. But, for now, I've found that as a part time business 1,200 bulbs is just right for me to handle. The really neat thing about growing garlic is that part of my harvested crop becomes seed to plant the next year's crop. In other words, there is no need to purchase seed every year and that saves a lot of money. It is also part of the definition of "sustainable."

I intend to grow garlic and make Herrick's homegrown powder for the rest of my working days (and I hope my working days in the soil continue until I'm a wrinkled old geezer!). If things work out that I can break from the industrial factory job, I will expand my garlic crop and the garlic powder. But this enterprise will always be one agrarian enterprise among many. I'm convinced that diversity is absolutely necessary with these agrar-preneurial enterprises! Or, to paraphrase the old agrarian saying, "Don't put all your entrepeneurial eggs in one basket."

Another great thing about garlic powder is that it can be the foundation of different custom herbal mixes that you can make and sell. Herbal dip mixes, herbal salad dressing mixes, barbecue seasoning mixes, and so forth. These are niche market opportunities that I haven't even touched, but others who make their own garlic powder have. Personally, one of the things I’m looking to do is grow and harvest dried beans and develop packaged bean soup mixes that contain my garlic powder and other spices that I raise and dry. This year I am growing 5 kinds of dry beans for seed to grow even more next year.

Anyway, if you’d like to purchase a copy of my “Garlic Powder Profits Report” I’d like to send one your way. The cost is $16.95. That price includes postage. If you don’t already own a copy of my book, “Making Great Garlic Powder,” you should have it too. The price is $6.95. Full details about these resources can be found at The Whizbang Books Online Catalog.

==========

P.S. Here is a photo of the report...

==========

I invite you to read my other garlic-related blog essays:

Making Pickled Garlic Scapes

How I Plant My Garlic

Selling My Garlic Powder At The Farmer’s Market

Curing Garlic Bulbs

Hay Hooks

[Dateline: August 2006]

Marlene called me at work yesterday. She does that every so often and it’s always so nice to hear her voice. It is like a ray of sunshine beaming into the dark world of my industrial job.

Marlene told me it was a busy morning. She and James were working on making his quick breads and cookies for the farm market later in the day. In addition to that, one farmer called early in the morning to see if Robert could help pick stone.

Then another farmer called shortly thereafter to say he could use Robert at 1:00 to help with hay. It was the same farmer who let James hang out and help with hay yesterday, but not for pay. The farmer told Marlene that James was such a good worker yesterday that he would pay him today. As you might imagine, that news brought a big smile to my face. it was another ray of sunshine.

Robert picked stone in the morning and helped with hay in the afternoon. But, unfortunately, James couldn’t be two places at once and the farm market trumps hay. But the farmer said he would remember James next time he needed help, and James was thrilled to hear that.

Then Marlene said, “James wants to talk to you.” My son, another voice from home, another bright ray, came on the line and asked me if I would buy him a pair of hay hooks.

How many 11-year-old boys ask their dad to buy them hay hooks so they can use them to do hard, manly work? Maybe some new designer clothing or another computer game, but not hay hooks.

Well, I long ago outlawed computer games in this household and we don’t buy expensive designer clothing. But I’ll buy my son a pair of hay hooks. No question about it.

Last year, when Robert started helping with hay, he used his bare hands to grab the strings on the bales. I told him I would buy him some hooks and that is what I did. I stamped Robert’s initials on the handles and colored them in with a marker. Believe it or not, he slept with his hooks beside the bed when I first gave them to him. Now they have some wear but he has taken good care of them.

So now James wanted his own hooks, just like his big brother and, right after work, I headed directly to Barski Brother’s Feed. I plunked down a twenty dollar bill for two new Osborne hooks with hardwood handles. When I got home I stamped James’s initials on the handles just as I did on Robert’s.

If properly cared for, my son’s will have these hay hooks for the rest of their lives. In time, with enough use, the wood handles will loosen . If they get too loose, they can be removed and steel handles can be welded on. That’s what many farmer’s do when the handles finally go. They do that because a man can get real sentimental about his hay hooks.

I hope my boys will grow up looking back with a sentimental regard for their hay hooks—the hooks their father gave them when they were young boys. That thought is like another ray of sunshine in my life.

=====================================

Today I came home from work and both Robert and James were not here. They were both helping the farmer with his hay. They arrived home a short while later (the farmer drives them home). They came in the door dirty and tired but feeling good about themselves. That’s what working in the hay will do for you. After talking with them about their experience, I exclaimed, “I need to get a picture of you guys!” James replied, “Oh no, Dad’s gonna blog about this.”

Yep, I sure am.

The pictures on today’s blog entry are of my tired farm boys with their hay hooks, which they put to good use today.

Processing Chickens
With My 11-Year-Old Son

Dateline: 17 August 2006

”I don’t want to grow up to be
a helpless man.”

That’s what my 11-year-old son, James, said to me last Monday as we were processing our eight-week-old pastured chickens together. I had just complimented him for being such a good helper and he responded by repeating back to me something I’ve told my three boys many times in the past—”You don’t want to grow up to be helpless men.”

Well, I doubt James is going to be a helpless man because he is such an active boy with so many healthy interests and an excellent work ethic. Last Monday was a perfect example of what I mean.

I had set up the equipment to process our chickens in the backyard on Saturday. The plan was to do them all on Monday. But I was ~~chomping~~ champing at the bit. I processed 18 of the birds on Sunday afternoon by myself while Marlene and the kids were away. That left 42 birds for Monday morning.

But, come Monday, my oldest son had to work his regular job at the lumberyard and Robert went to help a local farmer with his hay. That left James and Marlene and me to take care of the birds.

Marlene does not kill, bleed, and scald chickens and, though she can do it, she is not all that skilled at gutting either. So she manned (womanned?) the vacuum sealer in the house, and worked at making us a peach pie, and did some cleaning, and she came running when we needed her help with something.

Here are some photos of my son the chicken butcherer at work, along with some commentary......

==========

James and I worked together to round up chickens at the Chicken Tractor which was way out on the lawn between the road and the garden. We put a bunch of them into our modified-for-poultry-transport garden cart and pulled the load right up to stage #1 of the process—the killing cones.

The cart in the picture is my homemade Whizbang Garden Gart. What an incredibly useful homestead tool that is!

==========

Here is James lifting a future chicken dinner out of the Whizbang cart.

==========

This photo shows James fitting the bird into the killing cone. The two cones I use are suspended over a wheelbarrow filled with dried grass clippings to absorb blood. Sawdust absorbs better but we did not have any.

I made the cones out of recycled galvanized ductwork. The pattern for these cones can be found on page 48 of the book, Anyone Can Build A Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker.

If you handle the chicken properly it will go right into the cone without a lot of fuss. Here, in some detail, is the way we do it:

First, set the chicken on the ground (or on the top of your makeshift garden cart poultry transporter when you make one). Let it stand freely. There is no need to struggle with it. Put your left hand in front of the bird’s chest and the other near its back end. The bird will try to walk forward to get away from you but you simply block its way with your hand in front of its chest. Then it will try to back away or jump up but you simply use your right hand just above the back end of the bird as needed to block it’s movement. It will go back and forth a few times before it realizes that you have corralled it. But you aren’t alarming it by grabbing it, you are merely blocking its movements. After a few seconds, the bird will accept the fact that it can go nowhere and it will calmly stand still. When this happens, you have graduated to the level of “chicken whisperer.”

Then, with your one hand still lightly blocking its front chest, move your other hand under the bird from behind, palm down. Direct your index finger between the bird’s two legs. Grasp its left leg between your thumb and index finger. Then reach over and grasp the right leg firmly with your index and middle finger. With the legs thus secured, lift the animal slowly and tip it ever so slightly against your hand that is against its chest. If you do this gently, the bird will cooperate without even flapping its wings. But it may flap a bit and that is no problem as long as you continue to maintain your hold. Walk the bird to the cones and tip it , head first, into the cone.

If you let go of the bird’s legs after you’ve deposited it in the cone, it will use its legs and feet to struggle and try to get out. If it gets out of the cone (and sometimes they do) you’ll have to chase the upset fugitive all over the place and that is counterproductive. So, to avoid that scenario, hang on to the bird’s feet with one hand after you have deposited it in the cone. With your other hand, loop a length of stretchy bungee cord around the feet, pull it taunt around the frame of the cone stand, and hook it in place. This completely immobilizes the bird.

==========

It isn’t pretty but the picture below shows the reality of killing chickens. You hold the chicken’s head by its comb with one hand and use a sharp knife to slice into each side of the neck, severing the main arteries. You know when you’ve cut the artery because the blood will flow fast and sometimes squirt. Then you let the bird’s heart pump the blood out of its body. The birds will occasionally squawk and thrash about but most of the time they are calm as the lifeblood flows out of them.

A carefully placed slice will do the job but James tends to overdo it. That is understandable and okay because it just makes the head easier to pull off after plucking.

I would not have dreamed of doing this sort of thing when I was 11 years old, and your average modern boy would not do something like this. But, thankfully, my son is not an average modern boy. He has no problem with this part of the process. In fact, he was chatting with the birds and contentedly singing songs from Vacation Bible School while slitting the throats.

==========

After the birds were dead, James clipped them into the auto dunker on my Homemade Chicken Scalder.

===========

James needs only to watch as the dunker does the work of repeatedly lowering and lifting the birds into and out of the hot scald water. The water is heated by a propane burner and automatically maintains the optimum temperature range.

==========

James knows the birds are sufficiently scalded when the wing feathers pull out with no resistance. It takes only a few dunks. Then he unclips the birds and brings them to the plucker.

==========

We yelled to Marlene to come help with the plucking while I took this next picture. That’s a homemade Whizbang Chicken Plucker Fact is, it’s the original Whizbang. Maybe someday we will put it in the Whizbang Museum.

Whatever the case, plucking chickens by hand is a drag but plucking them in a Whizbang is downright FUN!!!

==========

Before I snapped the following photo, I said to James, “Hold the chickens up and look excited.” Now that’s excitement for you!

==========

The excitement was almost more than I could bear. So I said, “James, try to look more serious.” Now this is serious!

==========

After plucking, James hammed it up for the picture below. He is about to attack the carcass.

The sink is an old enameled cast iron (very heavy) one that sat for years outside my parent’s barn. We brought it home, cleaned it up, and use it primarily for poultry processing. But I hope to hook the sink up permanently behind the house for using in the summer months as an outside sink. It would be very handy. The water supply comes from a garden hose. I have some 2” PVC pipe wedged up under the drain and leading 10 feet away.

While gutting the birds together, James worked on the right drain board and I worked on the left. These were the best moments of our processing day because we were close enough to carry on some more casual conversation.

James told me about the trapper’s cabin he hopes to build. He wondered about the war in Iraq and why we were fighting there (sometimes I wonder that too). At one point he said, “Wouldn’t it be neat if the President homeschooled his kids?”

I said yes, that it sure would be a good example. And then I suggested that it would also be neat if the President raised some pastured poultry in chicken tractors on the front lawn of the White House. Well that led to some more conversation. And so it went.

I must say that I had a wonderful time processing chickens with my son James last Monday. Although he is only 11, he worked like a man. Not a helpless man, but like a capable man who knew exactly what he was doing. It was a special day and he is a special boy and I thank God for allowing me to be his father.

==========

Oh, there is one more photo. After processing all those birds, it was time to clean up and put the chicken tractors away. Robert and James hooked their field car onto one tractor and towed it over to the weeds on the edge of our property. It is mostly out of sight there. The tractor has temporary transport wheels on the back end—it is setting on two mini skate boards.