Two Mountain Farm

Date: Monday September 28, 2010

Location: Two Mountain Farm, 76 Shaw Hill Road Andover, NH 03216

Speaker: Cat Darling
Weather: Over Cast sometimes Drizzling, Temp ≈ 65

"When you get pumped up by mundane things
like compost and poop you know you are a farmer."~ Cat Darling

Sunflower!

Today we Visited Two Mountain Farm run by Cat Darling. Cat grew up in Andover and went to Proctor before she attended Witman Collage and then Prescott Collage. Her goal is to provide her self with a livelihood and to be good to the land by giving back what she takes out. Currently she only takes produce to sell and diseased crops off of the farm and brings in seeds, started soil, some nutrients such as limestone and phosphorus, equipment, and fuel. Cat told us that there are "lots of resources to tap into" so she tries to bring as little in to the farm as possible. 

Two Mountain Farm is located on top of a hill with is in many ways a good thing. Being on top of the hill provides the farm with good drainage, sunlight, and ventilation. Drainage is important because it keeps plants from sitting in water. Good sunlight is important to give the plants the 6+ hours they need each day. Ventilation is important on a farm to control pests and diseases by moving the air around the plants. 

When we were at the farm Cat talked a lot about the soil. We were told that the top 6 inches of topsoil is the most divers place in the world and that the soil is like an organism and it needs specific things in order to survive. Some fertilizers are added to the soil but they are all natural brought in from somewhere else in the world. These nutrients are essential to keep the chemical make up of the soil at a good place. One thing added to the soil is alpaca and sheep manure, it is uses due to its low nitrogen levels that allow it to be added to the fields when things are being grown and there is no worry about it burning the plants. 

Bees

Cat uses animals on her farm to keep a natural balance. She has chickens, sheep, and bees. The chickens produce eggs at a rate of about 2 dozen a day. They get moved around the farm every few days to spread there nutritious poop around the farm. The sheep also get moved around the farm to spread their poop about. The Bees are also very important to the farm they help with pollination and increase the yelled of crops. Cat hopes to also incorporate draft horses into the farm to do what she is currently doing with the tractor. 

Chicken face-off!

Chickens in there movable coop.

Sheep

Worlds smallest Easter
Island Head!

I really enjoyed going to visit Two Mountain Farm. When we were reading The Omnivores Dilemma I found the parts about Polyface Farm very interesting so going to visit Cat and seeing a farm similar to Polyface was a really good experience. I think that if all farming was done this way we would be much better off as a society. Not only is it better for the environment but it is free of harmful chemicals found in feedlot animals. 


The farm was really fun even thought it was a little over cast and wet but I still learned a lot. I think what Cat is doing is great and the world would be a much better place if there were more people like her!

Hupe House