NON-GMO Shopping Guide

I wanted to pass along to anyone whom follows my blog the NON-GMO SHOPPING GUIDE. This guide will help you to avoid brands of food made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). If you haven't been paying attention to this important topic this guide will not only educate you but help you steer clear of what I like to call Toxic,fake,plastic,devoid of nutrients,cancer causing,un-natural,incampatible,scam,un-thoughtful,selfish, health detrimental food. We all value or should value our health and this guide will help inform you of foods and ingredients to stay away from. In addition it will inform you of what kinds of foods to lean on to promote dynamic health. I believe we have a right to know and have the choice of healthy nutrient dense food.

     This stuff is important and if you don't believe me just start looking around at the obesity and dull look to people out scooting around or better yet hobbling. The sad thing is many of them are young adults and youthful kids. In addition to this our species is dying at an alarming rate from cancer. I personally attended 3 funerals this summer of friends that died of cancer. Cancer deaths are on the rise and will only continue to rise unless we become educated and "MAKE THE CHOICE" to support Sustainable farming and it's local food production. To better understand this please view the film Food Inc.

      I'm very passionate about high quality foods with good moral intent. Food is our fuel that helps us either express our genetic strengths or weaknesses and depending on what alter we go to for our food ultimately dictates our quality of life. Challenge yourself and start making changes you will thank yourself as time goes forward. Remember this when you are contemplating whether to buy certified organic food and you are alarmed at the higher costs, "You can pay now or pay later". In the end we can't take our money with us and health is all we have in the end.

Fencing Project Finished!

I just recently took on the task of fencing the 12 acre field just east of the farm. Just coming off a back strain I knew I had to mentally and physically be up for the challenge. The project started with drilling holes for the corner posts. My dad, Wayne helped me with drilling the holes with an auger that was mounted to his tractor. The soil type was of clay and with it being extremely dry as of late it was a bearcat getting the auger to catch and get the holes made. We added water to the holes to soften the layers but even with that it was a tedious and mentally challenging task. We drilled a total of 11 holes and there would have been more but we connnected into an existing fence that was built last year.
    

Alcohol, The facts you should know!

No human being is designed to drink alcohol. Alcohol is metabolized in the body as a carbohydrate in the form of simple sugar. These carbs are the most refined sugars around even more refined than sugar or flour. Alcohol is absorbed through the stomach instead of the small intestine. Because of alcohol's rapid delivery system of sugar an immense blood sugar spike takes place. Once this happens then the pancreas works overtime releasing insulin to manage our blood sugar levels. As this cycle perpetuates it leaves us with a blood sugar crash or hypoglycemic condition. When we become hypoglycemic we become ravenous for food. This is obvious if you watch people at the end of a night of drinking because they will stop at Perkins, Denny's or other fast food and order twice the amount of food they would normally eat.

    

Health Tip, Water!

How much water do you drink in a day? Be honest with yourself and fruit drinks,coffee,juice,and milk don't count. These drinks actually dehydrate the body of fluids because they are either stimulants, pasturized, or artificially sweetened which all stress the body's digestive system which in turn causes the body to be stressed and work harder which in turn causes fluid loss instead of balance. Water should be consumed throughout the day and half your body weight in ounces will do the trick. So for example: I weigh 145 lbs. so I would want to be sure I drank 72+ ounces a day.The human body is comprised of about 80% water and if one continually dehydrates it by not drinking water and replacing water with processed drinks and stimulant type drinks we become imbalanced as a whole and this opens the door for chronic ailments. These types of symptoms can arise from continual dehydration; Irritability, brain fog, low energy,brain fog,depression,body injuries and aches,high blood pressure,constipation,excess hunger,slowed metabolism,and linked to alzheimers. This is just the short list of chronic and severe ailments that are created from dehydration.

    

Nice Day to Harvest Oats

Today was a nice day to get the oats harvested before the heavy rains that are predicted by the national weather service. I hired a neighbor to combine my oats since I don't have the equipment needed for the harvest. The 18 acres of oats that we harvested today will be fed to our outdoor raised pigs. Now that the oats have been harvested the next step is to bale up the straw that is in windrows. The straw bales will be stored in our barn lofts and sheds and sold to customers needing winter bedding. Underneath the oat aftermath is a bed of various grasses and legumes that will become pasture for the cattle to be rotationally grazed. The sooner we can get the straw off the field the less smothering of the new seeding will take place. This year I had 3 varieties of oats which were all planted early to mid April; 19.5 acres of colt variety, 12 acres of Spurs variety, and 6 acres of Jim variety oats. The Jim oats yielded 85 bushels to the acre and was planted into disked stalks. The colt oats yielded 83 bu.acre. This field would have yielded better if we hadn't received hail on that field. Golf ball size hail damaged the field a few weeks ago. Rats! The worst yielding field was the 12 acres of Spurs oats which ran 77 bu.acre. The yield of the Spurs field actually surprised me since it got off to such a slow start in the heavily covered soil of cornstalks. Overall it was fun to have a few test plots of oats and compare information.

Omega 3 fats, the lost fat

I thought you would find this article very interesting on Omega 3 fatty acids and crucial it is. The majority of foods raised and processed in our country are very high in Omega 6 and low in omega 3's. The longer we continue this trend the more obese and emotionally eratic we become. This is just another reason to locate grass-fed meat products to ward of the dangers.The following information was from Alan Nation's blog from the stockman Grassfarmer.

Army To Increase Omega-3 In Soldiers' Diet

Monday, 07 June 2010

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a brain component that comes from omega-3 fatty acids in our foods. DHA is a crucial component of brain chemistry and a deficit has been implicated in the recent growth in memory loss, depression, schizophrenia and attention deficit disorder. Omega-3 deficiencies have also been implicated in violent behavior, suicide and murder. According to The Economist one government agency taking notice of this is the United States Army. Plagued by a rising number of suicides among its combat troops in the Middle East, a recent test found that 95% of its soldiers were deficient in DHA. The Army said it will try to modify its soldiers’ diets to include more omega-3 rich foods. Omega-3 comes from the meat and milk of animals that eat the leaves of green plants or, in the case of ocean fish, green plankton. Currently, Americans eat a diet highly that is way too high in omega-6 which comes from the seeds of plants. Recent studies have found that imbalanced diets encourage obesity as omega-6 fatty acids trigger appetite.

Grassfed Beef, What are You Getting?

I don't know about you but I love Beef! If I had to choose one type of meat to eat on daily basis it would be a no brainer, beef! You may ask why the enthusiasm. Well after reading "Pasture Perfect" by Jo Robinson it became clear that I needed to eat Grass-fed beef not only for my health but to support the right concept. But because grass-fed beef is soo hard to find I decided to raise my own and many more for people in search of it. If you don't know the difference between Grass-fed beef and Corn fed beef the following will give you an idea.

Grass-fed cattle are given the right to express themselves the way nature intended it. This means Roaming and grazing fresh grass,legumes, brush and leaves. Cattle are herbivores which means they were designed by nature to eat living plant life. But in the past Century our culture thought it would be smart to pen up Cattle and feed them little forage and high doses of concentrated grain, i.e Corn. This was done in order to bring value to Corn, but what about the beef? If cattle are herbivorous herd animals that were meant to roam & graze, then why is the majority of beef in the USA raised in fecal lots and being fed grains, fillers, antibiotics, and growth stimulants? A few reasons: Economies of scale, turnover ratio, and less tie up of land not to mention many more. I understand its all about the money, but what about our health? Once we compromise the animal we compromise human health. Cattle are condensors of nutrients, this means their meat and fat is made up of what they ate. If a cow is standing in feces eating an unatural diet of GMO/chemically raised corn, GMO chemically raised soybean meal, synthetic vitamins/minerals, growth enhancers, and antibiotics how are we supposed to build dynamic health from this? The answer is we can't. Actually beef raised in feedlots and fed rubbish has been linked to a host of  Chronic diseases and sickness. The reason for this goes back to the cow is what it ate, and if it ate an unatural ,unsafe food then we face the consequences by eating it. Many of you may think this is hogwash but if you think about it logically it makes sense. When cattle are fed high grain diets their essential fatty acid profile gets out of whack in favor of omega 6. Omega 6 fat comes from grain sources and in the U.S we consume too much of this which has been linked to chronic illness. To see all the other differences between feedlot cattle and grass-fed cattle check out this link. Grass-fed Basics, by Jo Robinson

Which would you prefer?

Grass-fed                                                                                                  Feedlot

Getting Ready to Harvest Oats

In my upcoming schedule I have three fields of oats that need to be harvested. The process goes like this first I have the Oats cut down and laid in windrows where it dries a few days and then combined to separate the oats from the plant. After this is done I come in and bale up the straw. I plan on keeping some of the Oats back to feed the pigs and then I plan to sell the rest to the Albert Lea Seed House and local customers. It will be interesting to see how each field yields. I have planted a different variety of oats on each field. All three fields were fertilized with balanced fertilizer(micro nutrients included) from EarthSoils. No toxic chemicals of anykind were applied. All three fields were sewed down in mid April of this year. Two fields were sewed in corn stubble from last year and one field was sewed in bean stubble from last year. The following are some pictures and description.

Hog Heaven then Tragedy

This week I was soo excited to let the little pigs into the garden of green corn, Oats, clover, soybeans and what not that covered the ground as shown in the pictures. When I opened the Garden up to the little guys they were grunting and squealing as they ran around grabbing at leaves in a true maze. I thought to myself they will have a month's worth to clean all this up and that was to be perfect for their development.

On the first night that the pigs were in the garden tragedy struck. I got a call from my grandmother real early in the morning alerting me that there was nothing left in the Garden. I said what happened? She said all the cattle broke the fence down and ate all the vegetation that was to be for the pigs. After hearing this I quickly got ready while having breakfast and drove over to assess the damage. When I got their I was completely letdown. The cattle were licking their chops like they had just eaten a gourmet meal. Meanwhile the pigs scrambled around looking for fodder that had been left behind.

Initially my frustration overwhelmed me and I thought to myself how could this have happened? after looking things over the top barb wire had been shoved down recently and it was a perfect way in for 1000 lb. steers. I immediately put up an electric wire and hope that this will be the barrier that prevents the cattle from ever doing this again.

I do know now that Cattle love Corn in the green stage which is prior to setting ears. And I do know that animals know what they want and the cattle wanted that garden. I guess I will have to plant some corn for them to graze next time around.

Get involved with the Weston A. Price Foundation

 Albert Lea has a Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter. The chapter is dedicated to bringing nutrient dense foods to our diet through education, research and activism. It backs the movements of accurate nutrition instruction, pasture-feeding of livestock, community-supported farms, organic and biodynamic farming, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies. Click on the link for a detailed description about the foundation and what it stands for.

Young Pigs Have Plenty to Look Forward To

These young small Duroc and Spot pigs are enjoying their morning soaked oats/legume mix. These pigs are getting acclimated to the farm and soaking the feed in water for 12-24 hours helps their chances to digest the nutrients in the oats because of the sprouting process. When the seed sprouts it is live and full of enzymes which aid in the process of digestion of the little pigs. Soon they will be let out into the garden of corn that you see in the picture. In and amongst the corn is oats,white clover, many varieties of grass and even some turnips. I don't feed our pigs soybean meal like the majority of pigs in the U.S are fed. One reason I don't is because the processing thats involved in making soybean meal deals with High heat which makes the oil in the meal rancid. Rancid oil in the system causes free radical damage at a cellular level which in turn compromises the animal.

If your not aware of the dangers of soy please visit http://www.mercola.com/ and read a little about the history and the findings about soy and why we should hesitate before eating. Here is the attached article. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/04/09/soy-research-update.aspx

What I find funny is how we are using soy to feed animals. Thats just great we can condense the unfavorable aspects from soil into the animal before we eat it. Something to think about.

"How to eat,move,and be healthy" Paul Chek

Are any of you frustrated with the Food Pyramid? I am! What it really should be called is the "Feedlot Pyramid". Have you ever noticed that if you follow what it tells you to eat that your figure begins to look simliar to it (humpty dumpty). Anyway I've attached the 1st chapter of the book http://www.howtoeatmoveandbehealthy.com/ for you to explore the common sense to taking care of yourself from the inside out. You will find that Paul Chek's views on how to be healthy is polar opposite from what your hear on the radio,tv, or at the doctor's office.

Instructions to making Water Kefir

Water Kefir is an effervescent, cultured and enzyme rich probiotic drink thats filled with microrganisms that balance your inner environment. Benefits of water kefir are as follows: 1) contains the good bacteria and yeasts as well as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes 2) has antibiotic and antifungal properties 3) contributes to healthy immune system 4) stops unhealthy food cravings 5) Aids in digestion of all foods 6) Tonifying affect on the intestines, reduces bloating and flattens the abdominals 7) Cleanses liver 8) Promotes better skin 9) Has a cleansing affect on the endocrine system.

This is a drink you can make for pennies and the value can't be matched in any grocery store. It's also a wonderful replacement for pasturized fruit juices and other sweet drinks. If you experience heartburn this drink is for you. Heartburn is a sign of low hydrochloric acid in your digestive system this will help bring that up and aid in proper digestion.

I will soon have plenty of kefir grains if your interested. If your interested let me know. Below is the instructions on how to make.

Rainy Warm Weather Encourages Summer Pastures

Here the cattle are grazing a 1 acre paddock on a 6 acre field. This pasture consists of Alice white clover, meadow fescue, perennial ryegrass, and birdsfoot trefoil. The bigger cattle are nearing 24 months in age and are fattening nicely with the lush growth of early summer. The red cattle are predominately South Poll crossed with North Red Devon. These Genetics give a docile animal that fattens nicely on grass. Bringing quality nutrient dense beef to friends, family and customers gives me great satisfaction. Here on the farm in Hayward,Mn we received .75 inch of rain last night June 22. This morning I kept them off the pasture while the sun and wind dried things up a bit to prevent pugging in the pastures. Cattle have cloven hooves so when the soil is soft from bigger rains the cattle will sink and tear up the soil that has plant life on it. If serious pugging takes place it can set the pastures back making them less productive for later grazing.

     As for for the Spot pigs they love it when it rains. The softening affect it has on soil makes a perfect playground for them to root up plants and find worms and other critters to munch on. This definitely makes the pig happy. 

Introduction Blog

Today my friends Zach and Erika came by to teach me the lingo of online advertising and blogging. What an experience this is for a farm boy like myself. I'm starting a blog to get my views out to you on proper nutrition through thoughtful farming. My passion is in grass base farming and that has prompted me to start up Wacholz Farm.