This is Daisy eating her GM free corn stalks. She always pulls the best faces!
Minutes later the little red plane roared back overhead. And this time the spraying was very thorough and very close. The USDA has approved even heavier sprayings of crops and the soil now. Please be careful of what you eat. At its simplest we will wash an apple before we eat it but these mega crops are not washed before they are added to your cereals, breads, beef, etc, etc, etc. Not only corn and soy either, GM potato skins have some of the highest rates of residual pesticides than any other food, the list of dangerous foods is long. This is why I grow as much of my own food as I can. This is why I wish you could too. And this little plane on his second trip over the corn in the field next to me made me want to run for the hills. 
I just wanted to hide. To get far away from the industrial cropping. It is hard to farm the old fashioned way here.
And while we are on the bad news the chickpea is lost. I could not find him yesterday. Both peahens are back in the top of the barn looking a little confused. No sign of the baby. There is safety in numbers and little chickpea was a flock of one, next year we shall make a plan to increase the numbers and I will keep the hens in the Palace. What happened to your baby, Pania? Like the cats, we will never know. 
However with all the troubles that farm life throws at us the universe is always careful to deal some successes too. (The secret is to SEE the good stuff) and this good stuff is hard to miss. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY NINE bales of good dry hay off our little two acres of hay field.
Even The Hay Man was surprised. While he and his father baled the hay, his young sons and I went down the rows and picked some bags of fresh sweetcorn, to take home for their dinner. Yes, I know it was freshly sprayed, but hopefully the wrapping has kept the kernels safe.
The view from atop the stack of hay. My little square oasis.
This happens every year. The spraying. At least this time it was a very calm day and the spray dropped straight down so the farm was not hit with very much drift. But some will be on the hay and some will be on the vegetables. We can only hope that the fields of clover, that the bees are working at the moment, were not sprayed.
Last night we carried roughly half the bales of hay into the barn and today I shall do my best to carry the rest in by myself. It is The Matriarchs day out after I have visited The Old Codger, (Friday is a favourite day) and there is rain in the forecast for this afternoon so I had better get started and get the rest of that hay under cover. The scent of the newly baled hay is delicious!
You have a lovely day too. I have a fairly heavy busy day ahead but all the hard work makes sense when you have a good stock of hay at your back.
your friend on the farm, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
51 responses to “This is why I can never be called Organic.”
You are so right that the secret is to see the good stuff in each day. Thanks for the reminder, Celi.
Good morning Celi; sorry to hear about the chickpea 😦 glad to hear about the hay that is fantastic.
as for the over spray their insurance could take a pounding over that! but i dont think your that kind of woman . mike
The lane here is busy with tractors and trailers bringing in hay. I’m learning even more colourful French phrases each time they ask me to move my car out of the way. Sorry about Chickpea. He couldn’t be inside a cat, could he?
What is happening to our food supply is truly horrifying. 😦
I thought you might be interested in signing this petition:
http://org.credoaction.com/petitions/tell-congress-stop-the-pesticide-that-is-killing-bees?akid=8492.1649023.BYToIP&rd=1&t=2
You will have a very good arm workout moving hay bales—I know :-).
I read what I can about the food situation in the US and hope that Australia adopts some better practices, but of course, mostly, we do not seem to. I try to buy organic but it is such long distances to travel to us that it is not a very viable option much of the time, and growing our own is out of the question as it is too hot. I do grow my own herbs and this winter started growing the winter leafy things, kale, spinach, silver beet. I’m cheering you on!
Celi, congrats on the hay! And condolences re the chick and the spraying. Maybe he/she will turn up? Of all the interesting things in this post, this stuck out: “GM potato skins have some of the highest rates of residual pesticides than any other food . . .” Wow. Potatoes. I hadn’t even thought about that, and we eat potato skins all the time. Of course I scrub them, but I’ll do so more carefully now! Those of us dependent on markets need to practice awareness.
If you can bear it gerry, PEEL any root vegetables, miserable isn’t. i believe potatoes were the first to go down the Genetically Modified road, closely followed by zuchinni and broccoli. Though don’t quote me as it is a while since i did the research. I shall go back to my source and double check. Corn and beans are not the only crops that are round up ready, most asparagus is as well.. the list is long.. poor us.. I feel miserable for those people who cannot grow their own food or at least supplement their groceries in the summer, or even find an old fashioned farmer to grow it for them.. c
Daisy looks as though she is saying something quite unladylike…and I cannot blame her if she is also subjected to roaring of red plane spreading ‘nasties; everywhere…. I was sad to hear about chickpea…she was such a cutie and Pania was doing her best to look after her…could it have been a fox? would be lovely if she returned to her parents but not very likely!
Have you considered planting a wind (and pesticide) break between your land and theirs? Several dozen Arborvites may go a long way to keeping your corn and hay free of chemicals and safe for the bees!
it is an excellent idea but i rent the fields to the North at 200 dollars an acre per year, so no chance of planting trees in there i am afraid. Plus of course they are spraying from a plane, nothing can save you from an aerial spray. It would be lovely though wouldn’t it, to be surrounded in trees.. c
I don’t know… Some 30ft arborvitaes might go a long way towards stopping the backlash from the spray! Unfortunately if the land isn’t yours, well, then that is that!
The colours in the last photo are beautiful. Serene.
Sorry to hear about chickpea, *e-hugs* sent your way.
I hope you have a nice weekend Cecilia.
That spraying makes me crazy. Not just for the corn and the residual on your land, but in the air and breathing, too, for you and all the farmy members. When will “we” learn? But you are right, we have to count our blessings…we’ve had a lot of that this year here, too. Am so sorry about the little Chickpea. Life on a farm is so fluid, but you handle it with such grace and care.
That’s horrible. Is there any recourse as I would think you have a right to poison free land? And that they don’t have the right to spray yours.
this is so not right. it angers me when i see how hard you work at doing things organically and then this. it is awful. i hope not much got on anything of yours. so sad about the chickpea.
Kudos on the hay and condolences on the spraying and the loss of Chickpea. This is exactly why I started my garden this year and why I want to plant nothing but heirloom seeds next year. No GM for me and my family!