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Blueberry Hill Farm owners Michael James
and Krissy Heflin-James with interns
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Blueberry Hill Farm and Clear Spring Creamery are in the foothills of Fairview Mountain in Washington County, Maryland near White Tail Ski Resort. Even though it’s only a two-hour ride from the city, the landscape is serene and lush, the traffic minimal and the sky is a vibrant blue. Last month I took a trip to visit both farms with Fresh Farm Markets co-director Bernie Prince, to see first hand what it takes to farm organically.
I’d been sampling the fruits and vegetables of Blueberry Hill Farm owners Michael James and Krissy Heflin-James’ labors every Saturday morning at the farmers market on H Street. Their vegetables had more flavor and stayed fresh longer than any I’d had before. I also tasted the incredible difference between Clear Spring Creamery’s organic milk and the organic brand I’d been buying in the supermarket for years. When I tasted their chocolate milk I was reminded of the smooth, creamy taste of the chocolate milk I drank as a child, left by the milkman in the box on our back porch.
Organic food costs more than regular supermarket fare, but there are good reasons for that. To become organic, a farmer must produce crops and /or livestock that are free from contamination – that is without the use of most pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or bioengineering. Dairy products must also be free of antibiotics and growth hormones. Dairy farmers must use organic grain or seed for pasture to feed livestock. The national list of allowed and prohibited substances is long. It includes substances such as arsenic, ash from manure burning, animal enzymes and tobacco dust. No prohibited substances may be applied to land for three years in order to achieve full organic status for crops.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, organic farming has been one of the industry’s fastest growing segments for more than a decade. All 50 states include some certified organic farmland. As consumers become educated about the long-term affects of chemicals in food, the demand for organic produce and dairy grows. According to the Washington Post, the organic market has become a $23 billion-a-year business and the fastest growing segment of the food industry.
I decided to visit Blueberry Hill Farm and Clear Spring Creamery to get a feel for how it’s done.
Blueberry Hill
When I walked through Blueberry Hill’s two and a half acres of farmland the first thing I noticed was the wispy, wild and almost messy rows of vegetables and fruits. “My fields are not as neat as fields harvested to the bare ground,” said Michael. “The weeds are host plants that attract beneficial insects. We also get less erosion, have more fertile soil and a lot of birds, which keep the insects down.” Ringo, their golden retriever, helps keep foraging animals away. Michaels lays straw down by hand to control weeds.
The rows of vegetables are diverse. Michaels calls tomatoes and squash his “inner crop” because they are planted in between other vegetables. He can have multiple crops per year in the same soil.
Michael, 32, started farming when he was 10. He grew up helping his father Arthur grow blueberries and vegetables. When Arthur James returned from Viet Nam where he saw the devastation from the use of herbicides and pesticides such as Agent Orange, he chose organic farming in the 1980s as a way he and his family could be healthy.
Any kind of farming is labor intensive, but organic farming can present even more formidable challenges. When I asked Michael about the reason for higher cost for organic products he explained. “I don’t necessarily think of my products as more expensive,” he said. “Because we pick our produce a day or two before we go to market, the taste and longevity of my food is no comparison to Whole Foods or what you get in a supermarket. I think you get quality for the price.”
Picking the produce can be slow and tedious. Michael often has to go down each row and pick by hand. He puts down compost instead of spraying chemical fertilizer in the fields pointing out that the nutrients in the compost are better. “What you can’t see when you look at or taste the food is how nutrient dense organic produce is.” He said when he eats fruits or vegetables from a supermarket he can taste the chemical fertilizer farmers have used.
When he lays down straw or mulch there is no machine to do that for him. If weeds do grow he has to go up and down each row with a cultivator or hoe. “It’s hard work and takes a lot of time to do.”
Michaels’ wife Krissy recently had their second child. She said taking care of the baby has kept her out of the fields and she misses it. Krissy’s job is caring for the flowers on the farm that are planted at the edge of the fields as a buffer between the conventional farm next to their own.
Before she met Michael in college (she has a degree in school counseling) she knew nothing about farming. She said she learned a lot from her mother-in-law Terry who “has a knack for growing flowers.” Krissy also has spent a lot of time studying on her own.
Michael and Krissy are able to sell everything retail. They are at three markets a week, and supply food weekly to a cooperative. This summer they have had three interns helping with the harvest and maintenance. During the winter they grow crops in a greenhouse and mulch, which doesn’t bring in income. Despite the hard work, the James’ take a day off each week. They love what they do and enjoy the lifestyle they have created for themselves and their family. “Our goal is to be fair to customers and make a living.”
Because Mark’s father was already running an organic operation, when the government established regulations for growing organic, Blueberry Hill received immediate certification. At Clear Spring Creamery just up the road, owners Mark and Clare Seibert took three years to transition into producing organic dairy products.
Regulations Abound
To become organic, a farmer must produce crops and /or livestock that are free from contamination – that is without the use of most pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or bioengineering. Dairy products must also be free of antibiotics and growth hormones. Dairy farmers must use organic grain or seed for pasture to feed livestock. The national list of allowed and prohibited substances is long. It includes substances such as arsenic, ash from manure burning, animal enzymes and tobacco dust. No prohibited substances may be applied to land for three years in order to achieve full organic status for crops.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, organic farming has been one of the industry’s fastest growing segments for more than a decade. All 50 states include some certified organic farmland. As consumers become educated about the long-term affects of chemicals in food, the demand for organic produce and dairy grows. According to the Washington Post, the organic market has become a $23 billion-a-year business and the fastest growing segment of the food industry.
Clear Spring Creamery
My only experience at a dairy farm was in upstate New York a few summers ago. Cows were kept in a dirty, smelly barn and allowed to graze in a small, muddy field that showed little evidence of grass. At Clear Spring Creamery, 59 cows have 100 acres on which to graze. The farm has been in the Seibert family for more than 100 years. It was the first in Maryland to be approved for a milking parlor.
Why do Clear Spring milk, cheese and yogurt taste so good? Cows are milked only once a day, which is uncommon in the US. “The cows give less milk but are under less stress. They live longer (average life expectancy is 9-10 years v. 4), get sick less frequently and require less food. Clear Spring cows graze on grass every day of the year. Being grass-based allows the Seiberts to use less fossil fuel to produce grasses, increases the sustainability of the farm and allows the cow’s biology to work as nature intended. The cows harvest their own food and fertilize the soil at the same time. Mark rotates cows to new pastures daily and allows grazed pastures several weeks for regrowth.
“Our product is entirely different from what you buy in the store,” said Mark. “We don’t take the cream out to make other products such as ice cream, cream cheese, etc., then add back ingredients to make it the right consistency to sell as milk. The cream is on the top of the bottle.” Clear Spring Creamery milk is two products in one. If you skim off the cream at the top you can have low fat milk and use the cream for something else.
The government inspects the farm annually, but the milk, both raw and pasteurized, gets tested monthly. Clear Spring was not a dairy farm when Mark’s father was farming. When Mark and Clare returned to Clear Spring they raised heifers for 10 years. They started with one pet Holstein calf, and then decided to ease into dairy production. Mark was working full time at the Maryland Department of Agriculture and farming part time. Early this year he gave up his government job to work the farm.
Clare is the cheese producer in the family. She took a cheese making course and realized “no one was producing it” so they added it to their production. They have a neighbor help with the bottling of 250 bottles of yogurt, and they have started beehives to produce honey to add to the yogurt. “We’re still figuring it all out,” she said.
When a cow gets sick, the Seiberts are faced with challenges. “There are no holistic veterinarians in the area,” said Clare. “We have to use herbs and oils that are organic approved. We learn a lot from the internet and talking to other organic dairy farmers.” If organic methods fail to heal a cow, they must sell it immediately. “Luckily our cows have been pretty healthy.”
Most days the Seiberts begin milking at 7a.m., but on days Clare makes yogurt she begins her morning at 5:15 a.m. Mark knows most of his cows by name. “Here comes 288 walking toward us,” Mark said as we stood on the side of a pasture. They compare operating their farm to running a marathon. “It can be peaceful, serene and also very tough. It can be rewarding and a challenge to maintain a good balance in our lives.” But the benefits are great. They live close to nature and they don’t have to worry that their children are being exposed to chemical fertilizers or pesticides. “We hope to teach them to protect and respect the natural world and enjoy the lessons it has to teach them.”
To learn more about Clear Spring Creamery log onto: www.clearspringcreamery.com. To sample both farms’ products, visit Fresh Farm Market on Saturdays on H Street, NE between 6th and 7th street, from 9 a.m. until noon.
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