Alpenrose Dairy Field Trip

This past week Kiva dairy buyer Emma and stalwart dairy stocker Roger got a chance to visit Alpenrose Dairy.  The Kiva made the decision to switch to Alpenrose from Organic Valley because all of their milk is actually produced and processed here in Oregon.  Now that we have visited their operation in person, we are that much more excited to be carrying Alpenrose organic milk in our store.

Roger and Emma, excited to be touring the Alpenrose facilities!

Alpenrose was established in 1916 in Portland by the Cadonau family, and the company remains family run today.  The organic milk processed and sold under the Alpenrose name comes from one of three Oregon farms. We visited Mayfield Farm; the other two are Ridgerock and Country Lane Farms.  All three farms are owned by the Yeager family, and Chris Yeager was good enough to give us the tour of Mayfield Farm.  The Yeagers have owned the Mayfield farm for 2 1/2 years and the dairy herd consists of 75% Holstein and 25% Jersey cows.  A nine person crew runs the Mayfield farm.  There are 400 cows at Mayfield, 300 at Rockridge Farm and 450 at Country Lane Farm.  All the cows at the farms are certified organic and have been bred and raised on the farm.  Oregon Tilth is the certifying agency for Alpenrose's organic certification.

The daily routine is the same at all three farms, so allow us to share with you the life of a Yeager dairy cow.  The cows are milked first thing in the morning, then fed, bred (if it is the right time of the cycle for the individual cow) or pastured for at least eight hours to graze, then fed again before a final milking and bedtime.
All the cows receive at least eight hours of pasture time each day.  They are bred when they are from 15-22 months, if they meet the weight requirement.  Each cow is milked for 300 days a year and given 60 days off from milking.  All three farms hold the title of "Animal Welfare Approved" which means that they are inspected and certified by the Animal Welfare Society.  These are not factory farms.

The cows' supplemental feed consists of alfalfa, corn, barley meal, mineral supplements and protein meal (the protein meal is sourced from flax, canola or sunflower when available; soy is only used when the other three are not available, and even then the soy is non-GMO and grown in the U.S.).  The corn is grown on the farm, and overall, 75% of the feed is grown in Oregon!

Of course, this feed is only supplemental.  The 130 acres of the Mayfield farm are broken into 27 different grazing pastures.  Each pasture is approximately five acres and the pastures are rotated when the cows have eaten the grass down to two inches.  Because this area of the country is so rainy, the fields are equipped with drainage ditches to prevent the cows from standing around in muddy water which could lead to hoof rot or other problems.  Look at these happy cows!

Calves:

The calves are kept together in groups of 10-15 per paddock because they are social animals. There is always fresh hay for the calves to lay in and a milking station where they can get milk. The calves are fed pasteurized milk to prevent any possible bacterial contamination. They are fed nothing but milk for the first four months of their lives. Each calf is tagged with a microchip, which tracks (among other things) how much milk the calf is consuming. The milk station is also equipped with a micro-chip which will cut off a greedy cow, ensuring that all the calves have equal access to the milk.  The calves are weaned at four months and begin eating the regular feed and grazing in the pastures with the rest of the herd.
Most male calves are sold to other farms, but some of the ones with impressive pedigrees are kept to act as stud bulls on the farm.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... Manure?

One sometimes unwanted side effect of having a herd of cows is all the manure that piles up.  At the Yeager farms, the manure is collected and the solids are separated from the liquid slurry.  The solids go into a heated rotating drum, which sterilizes the solid matter and turns it into a safe crumbly material used on the farm as bedding for the cows and fertilizer for the feed crops.  The liquid slurry is used on the farm as a fertilizer and any excess is sold for the same purpose.  The Yeagers' were quite excited about reusing so much of the waste on site at the farm; in particular, not having to spend money to truck in straw bedding has been of great help.

Chris Yeager with a handful of of the dry, sterile material separated from the manure.

Milking: 

Two people oversee the milking operation.  First, they check the cow's teats to make sure the milk has been let down and that there are no problems with the teats.  The teats and instruments are cleaned and sterilized.  If any problems are detected with a cow, they are not milked until approved by a veterinarian.

The milking equipment is checked every month by a certified inspector to ensure the pressure is correct so that the milking process is not painful for the cows.  Safety of the cows is paramount, and every possible measure is taken to ensure that the milking process is as clean and comfortable as it can be.
When the milk comes out of the cow it is typically 80 degrees F, and then is cooled to 37 degrees to prevent any bacteria growth. The two tanks that hold the milk get cleaned every single day. Each tank can hold up to 8,000 gallons.

Each cow's milk production is tracked each day.  Typically, a cow will produce between 30-60 pounds of milk per day, depending on age and stage in the breeding cycle.  Cows usually produce slightly more milk in the morning milking than the evening, with approximately 55% coming from the morning milking and 45% from the evening.  Tracking milk production is just one of many uses for microchip technology at the dairy.

Each cow wears a pedometer to monitor activity and other vital signs.  The micro-chips in the pedometer and the ear tag allow for a surprising amount of information to be tracked for each individual cow.  The herd managers keep really close tabs on the cows' activity levels and breeding cycles, to avoid over-milking a cow and shortening its productive lifespan.  This kind of digital herd management has raised the average productive milking life-span of a cow on the this farm to seven years, about three years more than the typical dairy cow's productive life-span.  Knowing when to avoid over-milking a cow, knowing exactly where in the breeding cycle a cow is, knowing exactly how much milk a cow has produced - these are the kinds of things that the micro-chip technology employed on the farm helps with.

Antibiotics? 

A sick cow is immediately isolated from the herd and checked by a veterinarian.  Natural remedies such as garlic, aloe vera and iodine are used whenever possible.  If the cow's health and life is in danger, antibiotics will be used to help the cow, which is then sold to another farm. 

Cows that have received antibiotics are NEVER reintroduced into the milking herd.

Processing the Milk

All the milk is taken to the Alpenrose processing plant which is only 20 miles down the road from the farm.  This is truly remarkable in this day and age, and anyone concerned with the carbon footprint of shopping choices should take note that milk is typically trucked long distances from rural farms to processing plants.  For instance, while family farmers in Oregon contribute milk to Organic Valley's "Northwest Pastures" line, their milk is trucked hundreds of miles to a processing plant in Seattle before being trucked back down to appear in Oregon stores.  When you buy organic Alpenrose milk, you can rest assured that every step of the way your money is staying in the local economy, from the dairy farmer to the processor to the distributor (our Alpenrose milk is actually delivered to us by Lochmead, another wonderful local dairy that provides us with non-organic milk and delicious ice cream).



We were impressed with how spotlessly clean the processing plant was!

 Alpenrose Packing Plant was the first plant in Oregon to package and sell organic milk.  The plant has been family owned since its beginning and many of the staff as well as the owner live at the Alpenrose site.
The plant receives tankers of milk every day, and the milk is immediately taken to an on-site pasteurization machine for the pasteurization process.  They pasteurize the milk at 165 degrees F, just slightly above the lowest legal temperature allowed of 161 degrees F, to ensure that as little of the nutritional value of the milk as possible is destroyed in the pasteurization process.  All of the waste water produced by the plant goes into a filtering pond that cleans the water, before channelling it into the sewer.  This prevents any leakage into the groundwater supply.

Alpenrose Community Spirit:

Alpenrose is extremely active in their community. They own and maintain three little league baseball fields on their property. They also host the girls Little League Softball World Series as seen on ESPN each year. There is also an Olympic-Regulation speed-bike track. There is even a Quarter Midget race track on the property! Alpenrose Dairy also hosts their Annual Easter Egg Hunt in which up to 6,000 kids and parents turn out to hunt for prizes. This hunt has been going on for 48 years now. Alpenrose sales and PR rep Tom Baker gave us a great tour and even dished us out fresh-made Alpenrose ice cream in the Dairyville Ice Cream Parlour!


Community picnics and social events are hosted on the manicured lawns, and "Dairyville" is a popular destination for birthday and holiday parties.  Dairyville is a mock western town, complete with general store, opera house and an old time ice cream parlour!  It is not open to the general public, but please call to inquire about specific events.  Visit http://www.alpenrose.com/ to learn more about the wonderful activities that are hosted on the Alpenrose property.



Tom Baker scooping the ice cream in the Dairyville Ice Cream Parlour



The Great Power Outage of 2010

On Sunday the 29th of August, an unprecedented power outage blacked out downtown Eugene and caused the Kiva to lose electricity for 14 hours.  According to EWEB, a single cable failed in an underground vault.  The resulting spark caused an electrical fire, which subsequently caused protective equipment designed to prevent a cascading outage to fail. This became dramatically obvious when three manhole covers at 11th and Pearl blew off and large plumes of smoke and flame shot up into the air.  Before the fire could be safely put out, EWEB had to turn off power to the downtown grid, leaving 28 blocks of downtown Eugene without power.  EWEB crews worked around the clock to replace more than 3,000 feet of cable and restore power to the area.

Video Footage of the Power Outage

For the Kiva, the timing of the power outage magnified its effects.  When it became clear later Sunday afternoon that the power was going to be out for an extended period of time, we spent hours on the phone, calling everyone we could think of that might be able to help.  Unfortunately, we were unable to find a way to preserve our refrigerated and frozen inventory.  We tried other grocers, vendors with refrigerated trucks, electricians, generator rentals... to no avail.  The combination of this happening on a Sunday afternoon with so many businesses already closed and so many generators already rented for the Eugene Celebration made for very unfortunate timing.  Since then, we have been making contingency plans that will hopefully ensure that if a catastrophic power outage occurs again (very unlikely), we will be ready for it.

From 2:30 PM Sunday afternoon until early Monday morning, the Kiva was without power.  The coolers and freezers on the sales floor warmed above the legal limits, and Monday morning we faced the task of tallying and getting rid of an entire store's worth of refrigerated and frozen inventory while simultaneously arranging unscheduled deliveries from local vendors to restock the store as fast as possible.  Our number one goal was to make sure that no salvageable food was wasted.  We owe a great big thank you to the Eugene Mission, Food For Lane County, Shelter Care and the East Blair Housing Coop for their help on Monday.  These charitable organizations lent their refrigerated trucks and manpower to  haul away a mountain of food. The Eugene Mission in particular returned several times as we inventoried and emptied more coolers, and they even lent us the use of their own crates.  Without their willingness to work with us in a very hectic environment, it would have been much harder to salvage and donate as much food as we did.

Our number two goal was to stay open for business and get back to normal as fast as possible.  To that end we owe a giant debt to Lochmead, Nancy's Springfield Creamery, Toby's and many other local vendors who put together orders on short notice and showed up to stock their product and get our coolers and freezers full again.  Another big thank you goes out to all the Kiva shoppers who came on down and shopped with us on Monday even though we had limited inventory.  I personally want to thank all the Kiva employees who put in a VERY hard days work and did it with a smile.  It was a difficult situation, but we made the best of it and I feel good as the Kiva manager about how little was actually wasted.

Some of you may have seen news coverage of this power outage.  KVAL news chose to focus on food being thrown in the Kiva dumpster and subsequently salvaged by dumpster divers.  The total amount of food thrown in the dumpster represented less than 10% of the total lost inventory, and mostly consisted of items from the open-faced dairy coolers that had warmed to room temperature for over six hours before the power came back on.  Nothing that could have been donated was thrown away - even charitable organizations ask that food that could potentially be a health risk not be donated.  People who were willing to risk it did organize a large group to salvage the food that was placed in the dumpster for immediate consumption.  In the end, very little food was wasted at all.

A number of customers have expressed concerns about the Kiva's ability to recover from this setback.  Let me assure everyone that we will not have to pass on any costs from the power outage to our customers in the form of price increases.  We are working with EWEB and our insurance company to recover the losses we incurred.  The Kiva is going to be just fine!

By Tuesday morning, a large order had arrived and the store was more or less back to normal.  We all collected our collective breath and moved on with business as usual.  We feel content with the knowledge that we did everything in our power to recover from the power outage as quickly as possible while donating every last item of salvageable food to local charities that could ensure the food got to those in need.  I am proud to work at a store and live in a community that values good food and pulls together in a crisis.  Thanks Eugene!


     - Carl Nash
     General Manager
     Kiva Grocery Store





Sources:
 Register Guard article (http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25236647-41/power-eweb-street-avenue-east.csp)

KVAL article (http://www.kval.com/news/local/101771898.html) and Television News Story (http://www.kval.com/news/local/101834433.html?tab=video)

Personal conversation with EWEB representatives.

Kombucha Update

There has been a noticeable lack of kombucha in the drink coolers at the Kiva for a couple of weeks now.  On June 18th, the Whole Foods chain of grocery stores voluntarily recalled all kombucha products because of concerns that they might have alcohol contents in excess of the .5% allowed by law.  Subsequently, several major distributors and prominent kombucha manufactures such as GT's Kombucha have stopped selling kombucha while independent testing is performed and brewing practices are refined to better comply with the law.  This issue is not a health risk - while living kombucha cultures may continue to produce alcohol in the bottle after bottling, the alcohol levels do not exceed 1%, meaning you would have to drink 10 to 14 glasses of kombucha to get the alcoholic effect of a single glass of wine!  The issue is one of labeling, as special permits and labels are required to sell and manufacture beverages containing more than .5% alcohol.  There has been no government recall of kombucha and any decisions to stop selling kombucha by distributors and manufacturers have been purely voluntary.

Local kombucha manufacturer Oak Barrel Kombucha is also absent from our shelves at the moment; this is not a direct result of the alcohol issue.  Oak Barrel is taking advantage of a momentary lull in large production orders to install 400 gallons of new oak barrels for fermentation, moving toward a larger batch production that will help make individual batches more consistent.  They are also working with fermentation experts to introduce practices such as oxygenating the batches and using other advanced techniques to suppress the formation of ethanol alcohol in their batches.  If kombucha ends up being more regulated than it currently is, Oak Barrel should be fine as the result of these new improvements!  Jason and Julia at Oak Barrel are convinced that these changes to their production process will not only result in a more consistent kombucha that is always below the legal limit of .5% alcohol, but they will also result in a better product in general.  If all goes well in the installation of the new oak vats and the implementation of these changes, Oak Barrel Kombucha should be back in the Kiva by the week of August 23rd - we can't wait!

Click here to read a statement from UNFI, one of our distributors, regarding their decision to stop selling GT's and other kombucha products for the time being.

Click here to read the statement from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau regarding alcohol content in kombucha.

McKenzie River Organic Farm

The Kiva has long been a supporter of local farms.  When McKenzie River Organic Farm approached us a while back about carrying their delicious organic blueberries year round in our freezers, we jumped at the opportunity.  Today we carry other fresh produce from the farm as well as blueberries, when seasonally available. Local business liason Tom and produce buyer Lauren recently visited the farm, and they brought back some great pictures and information to share with you.

The McKenzie River Farm was originally planted in 1952. 16 years ago, when Douglass Moser and Carol Ach bought the farm, it was overran with blackberries. The blueberry bushes were untrimmed and overgrown. Since then these family farmers have made it into the beautiful and well cared for farm you can see today at 44382 McKenzie Highway. Between their farm and a neighboring plot that they rent they have around 5,000 blueberry bushes. Douglass died 3 years ago, but he was the driving force behind the farm and is responsible for much of its current momentum.

Left to Right: Sam, Carol and Jack

The farm is a true family run farm, owned and operated by Carol and her sons.  Today the day-to-day farm operations are overseen by Carol's sons Jack and Sam. Every night they have their own farm-to-table as they sit down and eat their own food as a family. Not only is the farm certified organic, but they practice biodynamic methods of planting and harvesting as well.  Sustainability is important to the family, so they create compost from their cow manure and are working towards a closed system where waste is reused to satisfy all fertilizer and soil amendment needs.   Jack describes the farm operation succintly;

"We are organic rednecks growing organic food using biodynamic practices."

Now that her sons are assuming control of the family business, Carol plans to start a school for farmers and dreams of founding a Farmers' Retirement Home where old farmers can eat good food. Carol believes that traditional schooling methods cannot teach farming. Sitting at a desk under the wrong light will not get the job done. She envisions a school where farming is learned through practice out in the fields. Carol observed that farming is a very skilled activity, including knowledge not just of growing crops but of maintaining soil fertility and saving seeds.

McKenzie River Farm produces between 4-500 pounds of picked, cleaned and sorted blueberries a day during the season.
They also raise cows, chickens and pigs on the farm and sell farm products and their own fresh produce at their farm stand. They have grapes, figs, apples, pears, peaches and more! You can buy their local fresh salad greens year round at the stand, as well as pure blueberry juice (they bottle about 200 gallons of pure blueberry juice each year).
Their u-pick business has been increasing every year, and between u-pick, people buying berries at the farm stand and the three farmer's markets they attend, over 70% of their total berry sales are accounted for. They sell at the Tuesday and Saturday Farmers' Market in Eugene and the Friday Farmers' Market in Springfield.  Repeat customers from as far away as Sisters and Roseburg come every year to their u-pick field!

Lauren in the U-Pick Field

We sell McKenzie River Farm organic blueberries frozen and dried in bulk year round and fresh in season (come on down and get 'em while they're hot!)

As of today, we also have beets and turnips grown at McKenzie River Farm in our produce section.

McKenzie River Organic Farm Contact Information:

Address:  44382 McKenzie Highway, Leaburg, OR 97489
Phone:  541-896-3928

Cousin Jack's Pasty Company

Grocery Department:  Cousin Jack's Pasties

You may have seen these delicious local savory pastries at the Farmer's Market where they are served hot or frozen.  The Kiva was the first store to carry the pasties, and we are proud to have been supporting this up and coming local company from the beginning.  Tom recently visited their production facilities here in Eugene to learn more about how the pasties are produced.

From Left to Right: Luz, Ben, Rebecca, David Clark and Kim Gibson

Cousin Jack's Pasty Company was founded by Kim Gibson and David Clark in June of 2009.  The goal of the company is to provide a fast meal for their customers without forcing them to compromise their food values. To accomplish this, as Kim and David are sourcing ingredients, they shop as they would if they were buying food for their own table. They buy from the Farmer's Market and local distributors as much as possible. All the vegetables used are organic and all meat is local and free range (or wild-caught in the case of the Pacific salmon).  Beef comes from Knee Deep Cattle Company and lamb comes from Anderson Ranches.


  Listen to David explain the ingredient sourcing for the Wild Mushroom Pasty in these video clips showing the production of a batch:
 




Cousin Jack's has nine employees and the company has been steadily growing.  They produce between 550 and 850 pasties a day during production. 

Rebecca and Luz making Wild Mushroom Pasties

Look for these mouth-watering pasty varieties:  Wild Mushroom, Lamb and Pesto, Steak and Ale, Broccoli & Cheese, Cheeseburger, Egg & Sausage, Smoked Salmon and Seasonal Offerings (currently a creamy Leek and Onion).

Do you like Cousin Jack's Pasty Company?  Visit them on Facebook and "like" them!

Kim and David Sampling the Pasties

suki

Health and Beauty Department

Have you ever wondered where you can get a toner, cleanser, lotion or salve that is cruelty free, free of synthetic and toxic ingredients, and packaged in glass? Such products do exist!


Here at the Kiva, we sell a line of such products, from suki. Suki products are a great fit here. They appeal to our customers because they are free of synthetics of any kind (including genetically manipulated ingredients), free of petrochemicals, and free of synthetic fragrances (they use essential oils). Suki never tests on animals, and they are free of animal ingredients (with the exception of cruelty-free bee products).

Suki products are packaged in clear glass; though plastic may be cheaper, it is known to leach. The paper that suki uses is 100% recycled, printed with vegetable-based inks, and free of UV coatings which would make it unrecyclable. Suki products will also vary a bit in color, as the various crops of rose petals, mint, willow bark, lavender, rosemary, and other fine herbal ingredients are sourced from small organic farms.



So, we've covered what suki doesn't use, and how they package the goods. Now let's look at suki's ingredients (by the way, as you've doubtless noticed, they charmingly insist on spelling their name with a lower-case "s"): suki's vision is to provide a product line which is both completely natural and scientifically validated in its activity and potency. Their complex, targeted formulas consist of standardized botanical medicinal extracts and concentrates, liposomes, essential oils, and natural oils such as evening primrose and shea butter. Suki promises that everything used is 100% pure.


Further, their ingredients are not only food grade, but organic, biodynamic, and fairly traded. As if all of this weren't enough, they handmake everything in small batches.


Please feel free to come and ask an employee to open the suki case so that you can sample a product or two! We expect you'll appreciate the exceptional level of care and skill that has gone into the making of the suki line.


To visit suki's website and learn more about them and their products, you can click here.

--Isaac

Kiva Tee-Shirts

 We recently had the pleasure of working with Threadbare Apparel to produce some new Kiva tee-shirts.  Threadbare is a handmade clothing company started recently here in Eugene by Amy and Jaylene, two talented mothers who are turning their creative powers toward fashioning amazing apparel.

In their own words,

"We are neighbors and friends who share a love of art, printing, coffee, gardens, thriftstore shopping and making clothes. Our kids spend endless hours runnning back and forth between our houses to play or deliver messages. Amy has been screenprinting for years and Jaylene has been designing for years. Now we have combined our efforts to introduce Threadbare!  Aside from doing small run silkscreening orders for local businesses, we also have our own line of clothing which can be found at http://www.threadbareapparel.etsy.com/.  You can also find us at local craft shows such as Meet Your Maker."

Amy and Jaylene in their screenprinting studio.

We are very excited to have a full line of new tee-shirts for sale at the Kiva.  Amy and Jaylene did a wonderful job of incorporating the traditional Kiva kokopelli logo into some exciting new designs.  Check out a slideshow of the new Kiva shirts:

In addition to their Etsy storefront, Threadbare Apparel has a blog with some very interesting content, from sewing tutorials to book reviews.  Follow the links to learn more and support a local business!

Hummingbird Wholesale

Grocery manager Tom, our liaison to local food producers, visited Hummingbird Wholesale today with our bulk buyer Zeke, our herb buyer Holly and our supplement buyer Sherrill. Hummingbird is a local distributor that has been providing outstanding products to each of these departments, and we wanted to see their operation up close.

Julie and Charlie Tilt bought Hummingbird Wholesale six years ago and the business has been growing and expanding ever since. They want to accomplish good things for "us" - Americans, people in general, sustainability, the environment - Hummingbird Wholesale wants to have a positive impact on the world.

Sustainability:
 

Hummingbird uses reusable containers for many bulk goods and charges a deposit to ensure that the containers are returned to them and reused. One of the things that impressed Tom about his visit to Hummingbird was how little they threw away. They have figured out ways to reuse or recycle most of their waste. They have an 82% return rate on the plastic 3 gallon buckets that they deliver bulk nut butters and other products in.

Kristie going out for a local delivery.

Hummingbird uses bicycle delivery through Peddlers Express and their own bicycle delivery service for local deliveries. The only time that they use a vehicle to ship their product is when they need to move a 55 gallon drum of something. Other than that, it is zero-emissions human powered bicycle delivery!

Local Sourcing for Organic Staples:
 

Hummingbird has begun a program working with local farmers to produce organic and transitional to organic local beans, seeds, grains and other bulk staples. The Kiva currently carries organic local pumpkin seeds grown in Scio and distributed through Hummingbird. This winter, local beans and grains will be available as well. As an example of how Hummingbird is partnering with local farmers to both strengthen the local economy and provide a local source to minimize Hummingbird's carbon footprint, let me quote from Hummingbird's newsletter, Humming Words (January, 2010):

"Our 2009 crop of Local Organic Pumpkin Seeds grown in Scio, Oregon, is now in stock. These large dark-green seeds offer a potent, rich pumpkin seed flavor without a bitter aftertaste, and they look beautiful. In order to share with our farmer the risk of growing this crop, we purchased the original seeds from which our seeds were grown. We were able to get these original seeds at a lower cost than last year and we had a much better yield per acre this year, so we have been able to pay our farmer more for growing the seed, and also reduce our price from last years' crop by $.24/lb."

Sarah packaging dried apples.

Hummingbird is so committed to localizing the economy that they have several times shared the risk with the local farmers by investing in a crop before it was planted. Hummingbird feels that food security is important, meaning that locally produced food is not only better for the planet but local food producers are directly accountable to the end consumers so the entire food processing structure is more transparent. For instance, Hummingbird was able to monitor the entire growing process for sourcing the seeds to processing them in the case of the local organic pumpkin seeds. Hummingbird tested the seeds after processing and they had zero detectable contaminants.

Visit Hummingbird Wholesale yourself! From 10 AM to 2 PM on Tuesday and Thursday Hummingbird is open to the public as a retail establishment.  Hummingbird Wholesale is located at 254 Lincoln Street in Eugene.  Get to know the people behind this great company yourself!

Julie shows Zeke the bulk liquids.

Local Egg Farmers

Dairy Post:  From the Farm to the Kiva

Brought to you by Emma Buckley, Kiva Dairy Department Manager

Anconda Duck Eggs in the nest at Rain Shadow El Rancho

Visit our website to see a slideshow of the trip to the egg farms!

We are proud to carry eggs from four local farms at the Kiva.  All of these eggs are from free-ranging chickens and ducks.  We recently visited all four farms to get to know the farmers and to make sure our customers are getting the best quality eggs they can get.

Lonsway Farms:

Fritz and his wife Beverly have had their farm for forty years, and they have raised chickens the entire time.  At first they were harvesting eggs for personal use, but have expanded the number of chickens they have on the farm to provide eggs for sale at local stores.  They have over 100 chickens, all of the Red Star breed.  Red Star chickens produce brown eggs.  They are fed diatomaceous earth to prevent worms internally and mites in the nest.  They are also fed fresh milk from the dairy, which they love!  Additional supplemental feed is yard scraps (grass clippings, weeds from the vegetable garden, etc.), wheat, and a pellet mix containing wheat, oats, barley, soy meal, corn gluten, limestone, salt, vitamins and minerals.  There are no chemicals or hormones in the pellet mix that the birds eat.  Of course, the chickens supplement their own diet by pecking around in the large fenced pastures that they have rotating access to.  The chickens always have access to the outside and spend most of their time out in the yard and pastures.  By rotating which pastures the chickens have access to, Fritz can ensure that there is always plenty of bugs and grass for the chickens to peck at.

Emma feeding the Red Star chickens at Lonsway Farms

Update:  We now have videos from our visit to Lonsway Farms up at our website!  Check it out!

Rain Shadow El Rancho

Joe and Karen Schueller started their farm in 2001 and have been raising chickens the entire time (as well as many other animals, check out their website to learn more!).  They raise many different breeds of chickens, including Rhode Island Reds, Black Sex-Links, Araucana and Barred Rock. 

Barred Rock Rooster at Rain Shadow El Rancho

They also have Anconda, Moscovy and Pekin Ducks.  The chickens and ducks have year round rotating access to fenced grass pastures.  The ducks scavenge for the vast majority of their feed, but the chickens' feed is supplemented by a layer pellet mix, oyster shells, and all the fallen fruit from the plum, apple, pear and cherry trees on the farm.  There are no chemicals or hormones in the layer pellet mix that the birds eat.

Muscovy Ducks in the pond at Rain Shadow El Rancho

Update:  We now have videos from our trip to Rain Shadow El Rancho up on our website!  Check it out!

Sweet Briar Farms

Keith and Petrene have been raising chickens at Sweet Briar Farms for six years.  They currently have 165 chickens.  They raise Black Star, Red Star, Araucana, Blue Andalusian, Cuckoo Moran and Barred Rock chicken breeds. 

This guy runs the roost at Sweet Briar.  He followed us around the entire time, making sure we didn't cause any trouble with his ladies!

Sweet Briar Farms is USDA certified and has a grant for brown power to reuse all the waste from the chickens and hogs to power the farm.  They supplement their chickens' feed with flax seed, squash, garlic, carrots, kale, celery, seed blocks, corn and apple cider vinegar.  Of course, the chickens also eat insects and other small creepy crawlies when they are pecking around in their fenced pasture area. 

Emma, Dorothy and a chicken at Sweet Briar

Turpen Family Farms

Pamela Turpen and Dylan the Dog

Pamela Turpen and her husband have been running this family farm for 17 years with their two daughters.  It is an entirely family run operation.  They currently have 900 chickens.  They raise many different kinds of chickens, including Golden Sex-Links, Araucana, Australorps , Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rock breeds.  The chickens always have access to outdoor pastures on their 72 acre property.  The chickens' diet is supplemented with alfalfa pellets, ground whole corn, yard clippings that have never been fertilized or sprayed with pesticides, and a layer pellet containing corn, soybean meal, and vitamins and minerals.  The pellet does not contain hormones or antibiotics.  As always, chickens feed themselves with bugs and whatever else they can dig up while pecking around outside.

This Barred Rock chicken always lays her eggs in the feeder at Turpen Farms instead of the egg boxes!  She is very particular!

Veriditas Botanicals

Health & Beauty Post: Veriditas Botanicals

brought to you by
Isaac Boatright



I am excited about a new organic essential oil company I recently learned about: Veriditas Botanicals, founded by Melissa Farris, offers a wide assortment of high quality-organic essential oils, and therapeutic blends, imported directly from organically certified farmers and distillers -- independents and co-ops. Melissa is part owner of one of the cooperatives in France, and about 65% of the pharmaceutical grade essential oils that Veriditas offers come from this cooperative.

Visit the Veriditas Botanicals photo gallery.

When Melissa came to the Kiva to introduce herself, her company, and the products, she shared that she'd previously founded and owned the Simplers Botanical Company, LLC essential oil and bulk tincture line. Having started the company at a young age, she started out grass roots, but ended up selling the first organic EO line in the Whole Foods Markets and chain stores nationally. After selling Simplers, Melissa's goal was to come back to her roots; to only buy from independents and co-ops and sell to independents and coops, "where quality, organic, and fair-trade are not only priorities, but the mission of our work" Farris says.

Melissa has been studying herbalism and medical aromatherapy for nearly 18 years. She has studied in both France and in England since the age of 17. Melissa has studied at University level, as well as with MD's, Herbalists, and French traditional country folk (folk herbalism). She holds the distinction of having the first manual on the marketplace (1996) discussing internal use of essential oils, and citing the extremely different chemical makeup between conventional vs. organic essential oils. She exposes oils that are sold as "therapeutic" but are actually synthetic or oils made for the food and fragrance industry.

I personally consider France to be the world leader in the sane and grounded, yet progressive and intelligent, use of essential oils; the best book that I own regarding therapeutic use of essential oils is written by a French doctor, and practicing MDs in France actually prescribe essential oils. The French government regulates the sale of essential oils, dispensing only pharmaceutical grade oils, and only through pharmacies.

I was significantly impressed with Melissa's knowledge of essential oils, and consider her to be a leader in the field, particularly for the U.S.A., where knowledge and use of essential oils has been slow to develop.

It's been my experience that essential oils have an extraordinary wealth of little realized and little known therapeutic uses, ranging far beyond the antimicrobial value of ancient formulae such as "Four Thieves" and the analgesic uses of clove oil, to the uplifting and heart-opening effects of oil of rose and the liver and lung cleansing properties of oil of lemon. I'm happy to see that Melissa has created a pragmatic line of essential oil blends geared towards common needs and concerns, and I'm confident that our customers will appreciate them.

Did you know that it takes 10,000 ounces of roses to produce one ounce of rose essential oil? How precious! Obviously, at this level of plant usage, our choice of whether to buy organic or conventional has an appreciable impact on our world. It also has a readily appreciable impact upon ourselves, as conventional and organic essential oils differ markedly in their chemical composition!

We will be carrying twelve organic essential oils, and twelve organic essential oil formulas. As always, we'll be happy to accommodate special orders for oils and blends which aren't in stock. For example, pure oil of rose, as well as pure oil of jasmine, can be special ordered. Feel free to inquire directly.

FORMULAS:

Acne

Athlete's Foot

Cold Sore

Men's Deodorant

Women's Deodorant

Gingivitis

Menstrual

Mental Clarity

Rose Regenerative

Sinus

Sleep

Yeast

BASICS/SINGLES:

Chamomile, Moroccan Blue

Clary Sage

Clove

Cocoa (in jojoba oil)

Eucalyptus (globulus)

Grapefruit

Jasmine (in jojoba oil)

Lavender, Highland (a very nice lavender!)

Lemongrass

Peppermint

Rose (in jojoba oil)

Sandalwood, Australian

With Care,

Isaac Boatright

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