Why You SHOULD Choose NON-GMO!

I attended my first Grassfed Exchange Conference in Bismark, ND in 2013.

One of the many excellent speakers there was Dr. Don Huber, Botany and Plant Pathology. Professor Emeritus at Purdue University.

His topic was about the dangers of GLYPHOSTATE! Which is the active ingredient (poison) in Roundup Chemical.

According to the NON-GMO Project website, a GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using genetic engineering or transgenic technology. This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

So, why would a dangerous chemical be sprayed on our food? Well, the folks involved believe the rewards are greater than the risk.

The purpose of spraying GLYPHOSATE is to control weeds in cultivated crops like corn and soybeans. The objective is to kill the weeds, but not the corn or soybean crops and provide more soil nutrients and moisture for the primary crops. Also, a secondary use is to spray the "mature" crop just prior to harvest to kill the plant so the leaves will drop and make harvest cleaner.

The problem is the poison is landing directly on the oat and wheat (as an example) seeds which are harvested with the poison residue. You may be surprised as I was that some of the most glyphosate contaminated foods are oatmeal, whole wheat, and bagels.

Does this concern you? I sure hope so... During Dr. Huber's presentation he showed two examples of pig stomachs from a trial that was accomplished. Everything was the same in the test EXCEPT one pig was only feed GMO feed and the second pig was only feed NON-GMO feed.

Guess what? If GMO will inflame and irritate a pigs stomach (who is use to eating in a dirty environment) imagine what GMO will do to a human's stomach - especially a child. I know a lot of folks come to our farm because of gut issues.

And, if you have not noticed, there are many "elites" in the U.S.A. who are trying to regulate (take away) your choice to consume red meat and replace everyone's diet with a plant based diet!

Joel Salatin touched upon this in the latest issue of the Stockman Grass Farmer. I quote, "Certainly many people in the know are counting on this trend to gain momentum. Bill Gates is now the largest farmland owner in the USA, holding 250,000 acres. Notice, he's buying farmland, not ranchland. As a major investor in fake meat brands, he's counting on the price of crops to increase as they replace the meat and poultry market."

What I have read from other sources is Gates is also a strong advocate for chemical fertilizers and GMO seeds (so they can spray glyphosate without killing the crop).

Recently a friend in Jackson sent me this photo.

Microgreens Follow-up

1. The current plans are to grow peas (speckled), sunflowers, radishes, and broccoli. I have grown the first three and have just ordered some broccoli seeds to test. All are non-GMO, high-quality and sourced from TruLeaf.
2. They are organically grown in soil. No fertilizer, no hormones, pesticides, herbicides, or other chemicals. Occasionally I may wind up using a vinegar or hydrogen peroxide mix to control mold—but intend to create an environment that will not be conducive to such growth rather than treat after the fact.
3. Microgreens are harvested at the base of the stem, and do NOT include the roots (sprouts, which are a little younger, do, and that is one of the differences between them)
4. Everything SHOULD be gluten-free—but double-check me on this. My understanding is that gluten is from certain plants including wheat, barley, and other grains. If you aren’t allergic/sensitive/etc to the plants listed in #1 above, then I see no reason you shouldn’t be ok.
5. They have a short shelf life—typically 1 week, up to 2. Refrigerated. I plan to harvest them the day before delivery so they can be as fresh as possible. This requires me to tune my growing systems very tightly, and there may be times when things just plain don’t work for whatever reason. Part of this is a learning experience, and it will probably take a little bit of fine tuning to get it just right.

Some of it is straightforward but requires experience and knowledge I just don’t have—yet! Each species grows a little differently, has different yields, some seeds require pre-soaking and others don’t. To harvest the right amount all on the same day requires more than a little backplotting and some trial and error!

I am growing to order so that there will be minimum waste and maximum freshness. This means a lead time of 1 week to 10 days before delivery. Please bear with me. I will try to err on the side of harvesting 1 day earlier rather than 1 day late. If it ever winds up being more than that, odds are I will notify you to see if you still want them and probably offer a discount.

6. Sizes and pricing: I am currently flexible on sizes and trying to explore what would work best for everyone. Considering the following (these would be in clamshell plastic):
1. Individual 8 oz packs: $10
2. Sampler pack 4 oz each of 4 types for $20
3. Variety value pack 8 oz each of 4 types each for $35.
4. Possibly 1 lb pack for $20

I have not worked out what would be needed far as internal dividers for the multi-packs. It may wind up being plastic bags at this stage.

7. One customer requested we add cruciform vegetables to this. I am pleased to announce that 2 of the 4 above (radish and broccoli) are cruciform types packed with cancer-fighting goodness!
8. Capacity early on may be an issue—but the earlier you place an order, the more sure you can be of getting some that week! I can expand and be producing more within a couple of weeks (3 on the outside assuming no supply chain issues) if demand is high enough to require it—but it takes you to vote for it consistently
with your dollars. We can’t do it without you! Your choices shape very much the direction the farm goes in!
9. In the future we may offer additional types of microgreens. Let us know what you would like to see!
10. Should this be successful, future plans include looking into using a dehydrator on the microgreens for improved shelf life, and possibly encapsulating them (place in a pill form). There are others out there doing this but we’re starting off and don’t feel it’s quite that time yet!

If you have an idea of how much you would be interested in per delivery please get back with us on it!
Pictures can be forthcoming to give an idea of what an 8 oz size consists of.

Please note: for our customers who have deliveries for November 6, I need to have your microgreens order in NO LATER THAN October 26!

I need to know a) your delivery date, b) what type microgreens you want, and c) how much of it you want.

One final note: Microgreens will be cash or check only, payable to Nature’s Harvest Farm (NOT Nature’s Gourmet). We are working at getting systems up to accept cards. This is a separate enterprise, and it will probably be a month or two before that is integrated. Sufficient sales are the biggest hurdle!

To place your order contact Eric at simmonseric86@yahoo.com.

As always, we thank you for rewarding our hard work with your trust and support.