The Omnifarious Plot
om·ni·far·i·ous /ˌämnəˈfe(ə)rēəs/ Adjective Comprising or relating to all sorts or varieties.Another big step!
Starting on June 2nd Omni Egg Share and Dog Island Farm are collaborating and bringing you urban farming and homesteading workshops! We’ve both been teaching so many classes for other places that we finally decided to bring it home and teach them here, on familiar territory where we can make them more interactive with students. So, with no further adieu, here is our upcoming schedule:
Homebrew 101 – Malt Extract Brewing and Hard Cider
Sunday, June 2nd 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm in Vallejo
$30/person or $50/couple
Learn the basics to making your own homebrew and hard cider including the equipment you’ll need, different types of ingredients, the different types of homebrew and hard ciders, recipes and kegging and bottling procedures. We will get you started using the easiest form of homebrewing with premade malt extracts which make quality control much easier for the beginning homebrewer. Must be at least 21 years old to attend.
Class Instructor: Rachel Hoff has been making homebrew and hard cider since 2002 and has been making homemade sodas since 2009. She’s made a vast variety of different types of ales, stouts, and ciders over the years.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Cold Process Soapmaking – Vanilla Oatmeal Soap
Sunday, June 16th 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm in Vallejo
$30/person or $50/couple
We will make a batch of soap using base oils, essential oils, and lye. We will talk about the safe use of Sodium Hydroxide and you will learn how to develop your own recipes using a lye calculator. We will discuss the effects of different base oils and additives, and you will leave with a sample of what we make in class.
Class Instructor: Brande Wijn has been making soap for five years and has been teaching soap workshops for three years.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Chickens 101
Sunday, June 23rd 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm in Vallejo
$25/person or $40/couple
Learn everything you need to know about basic chicken care. We’ll talk about the different breeds and reasons for raising chickens. You will learn about feed, supplements, and their dietary needs in general. We will go over how to handle your birds properly, examine them for issues, and take care of their physical and social needs.
Class instructors: Rachel Hoff has been raising chickens for eggs and meat for 7 years and has been teaching beginning and advanced chicken workshops for the past 2 years. Brande Wijn has been raising chickens for both eggs and meat for three years, and currently runs a small urban egg CSA.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Commercial Pectin-Free Preserves
Sunday, July 14th 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm in Vallejo
$30/person or $50/couple
Learn how to make preserves and even jellies without adding commercial pectin. We will go over safe canning techniques the types of fruit that can be used for making pectin-free preserves. Students will go home with a jar of preserves from class.
Class Instructors: Rachel Hoff has been making a vast variety of preserves without added pectin since 2006. Brande Wijn has been making preserves since 2008 and has led several workshops on fruit canning.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Vegetable Pickling
Sunday, July 21st 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm in Vallejo
$30/person or $50/couple
Learn another method for preserving the harvest, vegetable pickling. We will discuss both acid pickling and lacto-fermentation methods, and we will have a hands-on demonstration of the methods for producing safe and tasty pickles from your fresh garden vegetables. Students will get to personalize and take home a jar of pickled vegetables.
Class instructors: Brande Wijn has been professionally trained in the culinary arts and has been making and teaching vegetable pickling workshops since 2009. Rachel Hoff has been making vegetable pickles since 2008.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Fall and Winter Garden Planning
Sunday, July 28th 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm in Vallejo
$30/person or $50/couple
That’s right! It is already time to start thinking about your fall and winter gardens! Learn what, how and when to start planting for a well-timed and productive fall and winter garden here in the Bay Area. We will talk about concepts like overwintering vegetables, cover crops, perennials, and cold hardiness. We’ll go over what your soil needs to get through the winter, and the proper methods of bed preparation and crop rotation to prevent pests and diseases. Attendees will go home with a 6pack of fall vegetable starts.
Class instructors: Both Brande Wijn and Rachel Hoff have been gardening for over 20 years each and teaching gardening workshops for the past two years.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Tomato Canning
Sunday, August 4th 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm in Vallejo
$30/person or $50/couple
Tomato season is in full swing. If you’re anything like us, you’ve got them coming out of your ears and are trying to find ways to preserve your bounty. We will discuss proper canning methods to produce a safe product and different recipes including juice, sauces, paste, and jam. Students will go home with a jar of pizza sauce.
Class instructors: Rachel Hoff has been preserving tomatoes in various forms since 2006. Brande Wijn has been formally trained in culinary arts and has been leading canning workshops since 2009.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Advanced Chicken
Thursday, August 15th, 6pm – 8pm at Dog Island Farm in Vallejo
$25/per or $40/couple
Learn how to introduce new birds to your flock, health care from prevention to diagnosing problems, holistic and traditional care and when a vet should be contacted, nutrition and mixing your own feed, feed supplements, and the life cycle of chickens including hatching your own.
Class instructors: Rachel Hoff has been raising chickens for eggs and meat for 7 years and has been teaching beginning and advanced chicken workshops for the past 2 years. Brande Wijn has been raising chickens for both eggs and meat for three years, and currently owns a small urban egg CSA.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Seed Saving
Sunday, August 25th 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm
$25/person or $45/couple
Heirlooms and open pollinated varieties are gaining in popularity, not just because they increase our biodiversity but also because you can save seed from them year to year. Come learn how to save seed, why you should know how to save seed, and how to keep varieties from cross-pollinating. Students will get to take home a packet of open pollinated seeds to plant the following year.
Class Instructors: Rachel Hoff has been growing all open pollinated plants, most of which are heirlooms for specific purpose of saving seed since 2004 and has taught workshops on seed saving for the past two years. Brande Wijn has been growing a year-round vegetable garden using open-pollinated seeds for several years and has hosted workshops on seed-saving.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Condiments
Sunday, September 8th 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm
$30/person or $50/couple
Are you running out of ways to use up all those late summer tomatoes and peppers? Learn to make your own delicious condiments and put them up to enjoy the whole year! We will be making our own homegrown hot sauce, BBQ sauce, and ketchup, using farm fresh produce and tons of great herbs and spices. Students will get to take home a jar of a personalized condiment spiced how they like it.
Class instructors: Rachel Hoff has been making various condiments from her homegrown produce since 2006. Brande Wijn has been formally trained in culinary arts and has led several canning workshops.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Goats 101
Sunday, September 29th 11am – 1pm at Dog Island Farm
$25/per or $40/couple
Have you ever considered raising goats but don’t really know if it’s for you? Come learn about what it takes to have your own milk-producing (or not) family goats. Meet a few, see where they live, and learn what goes into keeping them happy and healthy. Learn about how milk production works, and about how much work goes into daily life with goats.
Class instructor: Rachel Hoff raises dwarf breed goats for dairy and is a member of the American Dairy Goats Association. Brande Wijn has her own small herd and has assisted with care and kidding of others’ as well.
Register Here or Contact Rachel or Brande at classes@dogislandfarm.com
Refund Policy:
You will receive a full refund if you cancel at least 7 days in advance. Refunds will not be given if you cancel with less than 7 days before the class, however, you are free to send someone in your stead.
Making the Grade.
Since starting on our egg selling venture I have been asked multiple times about what goes into going legit, and what the requirements for grading eggs are. The reason we grade eggs is to assure a standard of quality, size, and freshness in an egg. This determines how we label them and to whom we are allowed to sell.
Licensing/Certification - In California we have only one required certification on the state level, called an Egg Handler’s Certificate. It is issued by the CA Dept. of Food and Agriculture, and is obtained by paying a fee, filling out an application with details about your operation, and by being open for inspection by the CDFA. Beyond the Egg Handler’s Certificate there are many other classifications you can apply for such as Certified Organic and Certified Humane, or Fertile Eggs. These certifications are great to have if you are a large operation, but they are numerous and occur on both the statewide and national level, each bringing their own applications, fees, and inspections. This might not be attainable for many of your smaller local farmers, and I suggest that a quick conversation with your provider might prove to be much more informative than a label might be. A sustainable farmer is likely to be proud of his practices and open to converse with you about them. Many even let you come check out their operations by having events, such as an “Open Farm” day.
Grading - Grading is determined by the “air cell” in an egg, which is a little pocket of air that develops in an egg as it ages. It is caused by evaporation of moisture through the porous shell. This is tested by using a bright light or candler and an air cell gauge to determine the size. This tells you how fresh your egg is, and gives you a view into it to see if there are any anomalies. This article from the Kentucky College of Agriculture gives some good examples what to look for. The size labeling is done by weight, and can be Peewee, Small, Medium, Large, Ex-Large, and Jumbo. Unless the farmer is raising a novelty breed (or the hen is JUST starting to lay), the eggs are likely to be somewhere between a medium and ex-large. The other factors are egg shape, crack/leakers, and presence of any dirt or stains. There are specific tolerances on these depending on the size of your operation.
Labeling/Packaging – The last of the requirements for passing muster on your inspection are labeling requirements. Now for the small farmer the information can even be simply written in ink on the carton, but a stamp is not a bad idea. The information required on each NEW carton (that’s right, no recycling customer cartons) is the quantity, julian date of the day they were packed, the “sell by” date, the size by weight, and the grade. You must also include name, address, and certificate number of the packer. Now what’s considered a “micro” farm, a flock under 500, is exempt from this all together if the eggs are sold in the presence of the producer/handler. I still choose to provide the majority of the information, but omit my home/farm address, so as to insure I don’t have any unexpected people showing up at my house for eggs.
What They Don’t Tell You - There are numerous reasons a carton might be labeled grade B rather than grade A or AA. It could be that the shell is stained a little too much, it could be that the eggs are packed in a “mixed bag” of sizes, or it could be that those eggs have been sitting around longer than you can tell by the pack date. The “sell by” date is 30 days from the “pack date”, NOT the date the egg was laid. This means that those eggs could be 3 or 4 weeks old before they get packed. Now this is compensated for by two things, the first being the air cell gauging, which lets you know they are fresh. If the air cell is too large, it would be a grade B. The other compensatory factor is that you may not label the eggs “fresh” if they are older than 30 days, so you could have a “fresh grade B” dozen of eggs and know that this is a grade B egg, but still a fresh egg. Confusing, isn’t it?
Also keep in mind that they do not have to let you know about the arsenic and other nasties in the feed of the conventional laying hens’ diet on that container, either.
So this brings me back to this – if you really want to know your eggs (and all your food in general, come to think of it), know your farmer. Go to the farmer’s market, go to your farm stand, CSA, or go to their website, facebook, email, whatever – and ask the questions. A good farmer will be happy to answer them for you.
And the plot thickens…
It is OFFICIAL! Egg handler’s certificate in hand, home business operating license acquired!
Starting next week we will be offering farm fresh eggs for sale! Check out the details here.
Our monthly subscription service will begin starting in May.
Old box spring becomes this year’s Pea-Tee-Pee.
Every year I tell myself I’m going to get out there early and build myself a good solid pea trellis before all the spring growth gets ahead of me, and every year I end up half-assing some bamboo-n-tree branch trellising that gets taken down by the weight of the peas half way through July. So here is this year’s (extraordinarily easy) answer to my previous years’ lack of proper Pea-Tee-Pee construction – Ye Olde Box Spring.
I just ripped off all the fabric and the cardboard panel underneath, propped it up with a couple of re-purposed bed rails, and stapled some old netting across for vine support. I plan on planting the peas on the outside (on both sides) and some shade-loving lettuce underneath!
