Del Ficke: You Can Have Nature AND Profitability; Nuts and Bolts of Responsible Agriculture (Part 2)

Del Ficke, a farmer near Pleasant Dale, Nebraska and the founder of the GrazeMaster Group (https://www.grazemastergroup.com/), a collection of consultants who help farmers, ranchers, and landowners build healthy soil without sacrificing financial stability, describes the techniques used to create healthy land, as well as continuing the discussion (from Part 1) on the connection between healthy soil and healthy rural communities.

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How Del Ficke Helps Farmers Take The Leap of Faith To Building Soil AND Profits (PART 1)

Del Ficke is a farmer near Pleasant Dale, Nebraska and the co-founder of the GrazeMaster Group (https://www.grazemastergroup.com/), which provides consulting services to farmers, ranchers, and landowners who wish to heal their land. The team at GrazeMaster Group includes farmers, scientists, nutritionists, small-business and marketing specialists, and more! Del has even developed his own breed of cattle which is bred for rotational grazing. In this first of two conversations with Del, we discuss caring for the land and restoring the soil as an essential part of Christian stewardship of God’s resources and the recovery and revitalization of rural communities.

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Rory Left His Successful Computer Software Job for this…..

When Rory Groves saw jobs in his work field turning over every 3-5 years and positions becoming obsolete, he sought after meaningful work that was longer lasting, durable, and family centered. Today he lives the rich, family centered vocation that he was looking for. He shares with us amazing deep insights and vital information to live in family centered vocations and how to build resilient communities. AMAZING INTERVIEW! DON’T MISS THIS ONE! To order the book: https://www.thegrovestead.com/product… Rory’s website: https://gatherandgrow.us/

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Investing In Winter

In September, as our garden was in full production mode, my mind began to be pulled toward next year’s garden. The garden is always about next year. This year we had 2 families subscribe to a 20 week CSA and I used every inch of my two tiny garden beds to fill the weekly baskets. Next year, the goal is 10 full baskets and 10 half basket subscriptions. Our family will need more than our current 8×10 and 8×12 garden beds to meet the new demand. But where to put the garden beds and how to arrange them? When we first moved into Old Reliable, I expected the southwest corner of our property to be […]

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Dominion

(Above is a 15th century icon of Adam naming the animals) A guest post by Rev. Ian Kinney. God blessed them and said “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion” (Gen 1:28) This is the blessing of the Lord given to man both in and after Paradise: have dominion (Gen 1:28; Gen 9:1-3; Psalm 8:6). How commonly this is forgotten. How much more common is the rhetoric that man is a plague—a parasite—on nature. Rarely is it referred to as “creation” which implies a Creator and a caretaker. Rather it is referred to as “nature” which implies a cosmic accident that worked out just fine until man evolved […]

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Fall is Garlic Planting Time!

Here at the Maronde homestead we finally got our garlic tucked into the ground for its winter rest.  If you have a love of garlic like our family does, you probably already have it as a common staple in your own household. I wanted to take a moment to share with you some resources on garlic that may be helpful to you. https://www.botanicalinterests.com/product/Garlic-10-Health-Benefits https://www.botanicalinterests.com/product/Which-garlic-to-choose https://www.botanicalinterests.com/product/Garlic-Planting-and-Growing-Guide If you are garlic lover, if you are considering planting some garlic of your own, or if you already experience the joy of growing your own garlic I think that you will find some wonderful information and inspiration! The beauty of the seasons is that with every time around to garlic […]

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Helpers from near and far!

It has been an eventful couple of weeks at the farm! Arriving on the evening of October 2nd were three helpers from Texas. Matthew, Brent, and Angela spent the week with the Maronde’s, hard at work cutting trees, cleaning up portions of the property, and putting in a line of electric fence. Here, Matthew and Brent explain why they came so far to support the work of LIRA: Matthew and Brent returned to Texas on October 6th, while Angela stayed through the weekend, and thus helped with another big project: clearing the machine shed of tractors! With the help of the Rabe family from Nebraska, and their farming relative from Iowa (who brought a big […]

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Does she have the guts to do it?

It’s been a quiet couple of weeks on the blog because its been a busy couple of weeks on the Maronde farm. Nearly 160 chickens have gone from the mobile shelters to the freezer, twenty-five or so at a time. Every member of the Maronde family pitched in, from catching chickens, to dunking birds in the scalder and running the plucker, to diving deep in with the gutting process. Samantha at 11 years old is proving to be a champion gutter, working alongside her mother and helping the task to move ahead much, much more quickly. Enjoy our latest video, where Bethany demonstrates how to take a chicken from the plucker to the chill tank. […]

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Why we need LIRA

This is a guest post from LIRA partners Rev. Timm & Hannah Heath, whose humble homestead grows in New York State’s Southern Tier. Before God formed the far-flung depths of the cosmos, He shaped the earth and called the first crop of life out of the ground (Genesis 1:11). God planted a garden for the man of earth to teach him to do the same (Genesis 2:8, 15). The earth was made to give life to man, and man to draw life from the earth. A whole generation of Israelites knew nothing but manna to eat their whole lives. Yet when they harvested the first crop from their new home across the Jordan, the manna […]

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Who are the Heaths?

By Hannah Heath This is a guest post from LIRA partners Rev. Timm & Hannah Heath, whose humble homestead grows in New York State’s southern tier. At any given moment of the day my husband can bellow a resounding “WHO ARE WE?” and from every room will come a ringing response of “Heaths! Heaths! Heaths!” Our family started this call and response in 2016 when we finalized the international adoption process and welcomed two children, ages 9 and 2 ½, into our family. At the time we were living in a parsonage in rural Wisconsin and our kids were 9, 4, 2 ½, and almost 2. I tended a small vegetable garden, more for the […]

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An Incredible Opportunity

What in the world am I doing? I am carrying Charlotte on one hip and dragging a 25 foot fallen tree on the other side. Sweat rolls down my face, rolls down my back, drenches my shirt. Put Charlotte down, lift tree onto brush pile, stop to take a breath, wipe the sweat from my eyes, pick Charlotte up, and walk back for another tree.  Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Why in the world would I do this?   There are wonderful inventions and devices today that will scoop and lift, move and carry just about anything that I want.  I could even sit in the cool air conditioned cab while doing it all. That is not […]

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Reclaiming the Land

From LIRA supporter John Rabe of Lincoln, Nebraska. Spending any time in farm country, as it exists today, one is struck with much to consider.  Serene pastoral beauty?  Good, hardy folk living as one with the land?  Endless miles of lush and nutritious food for the world?  While is is possible you may find those things, it is certain you will find something less idealistic.   I’m not speaking specifically of the manifest problems of rural America, such as population decline, decreased church attendance or even the evidence of moral decline, such as statistically high substance abuse.   These are quantifiable and known to all with any connection to our rural lands.   What is most striking to […]

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A $5 Chicken Tractor

Interested in having a few chickens, but don’t want to spend a lot of $$ on a shelter? Want to try out urban farming? Don’t have a lot of space? Have space but want to start out small? In this video we pass along tried and true building ideas that may help you on your way to joyful self-sufficiency!

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The Favorite Part of My Day

Happy animals make the best food, and it is the task and great joy of those humans who care for them to make them happy. The chicks that you see in this video are now much much bigger, and now they move to a new ‘salad bar’ each and every day, and you should see their excitement to move to fresh grass! That is the reward for all the hard work: happy animals, and, eventually, happy people feasting on happy animals.

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Chores at Sunset

The beauty of this land is something that cameras can’t quite capture, and the best time to experience the wonder of God’s creation is during evening chores, as the sun is setting. Seeing the chicken shelters, ready to move (yes, we know they should be moved in the morning, not at the end of the day, but that’s the pattern we’re in right now,) framed against the hills showered in the fading light of day on the east side of the property, or framed against a spectacular sunset on the west side of the property, are among my favorite moments every day.

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A Gosling Named Titania

January can be dangerous for the homesteader, especially for the dreamers who imagine what could be when faced with the blank canvas of a fresh snowfall. Some dream big, planning earthworks for a new pond, acres of food forest, a whole herd of livestock. I dream those sorts of things. But some dream small, maybe getting a breeding pair of rabbits, adding a couple new chickens to a modest backyard flock, or planting a pretty new rose in the perfect spot. I dream those sorts of things too. The unexpected gosling dream certainly seemed small back in January, when the world was whitewashed and full of possiblities. A teeny, tiny, fluffy gosling ordered for a […]

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The Depths of His Love

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My spade can reach, when digging in your sight For the ends of working at an ideal pace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Shovelful, from sun up to candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right; I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use My best fallen trees, and with a permaculturist’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose When not Hugelkulturing at all. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, sweat, tears, of all […]

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Can the Home Economy be Restored?

Gleanings: The podcast of LIRA Episode 2 What happened to the home economy? Can it be restored in the modern world? Host Rev. Martin Hill and LIRA director Rev. Christopher Maronde discuss those trades which have not only stood the test of time, but have always supported the home economy. The basis for this discussion is the book “Durable Trades” (https://www.thegrovestead.com/product/durable-trades/), in which Rory Groves sets forth a vision for the restoration of the home economy and helps to provide the tools to restore family-based, home-centered work. Hill and Maronde touch on the overspecialization that is rampart in work today, making many professions very fragile, and provide a theological apologetic for work as a Christian […]

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Chicks arriving!

A couple of weeks ago, we received our second batch of broiler (meat bird) chicks. The little ones you see in this video are now out on grass, and loving it, eating bugs, grazing, and most importantly gaining weight! This fast-growing breed will be reading for processing at about eight weeks.

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Pastor Maronde Installed at Hastings and Oakland Iowa

On Saturday, August 30th, Pastor Christopher Maronde, director of the Lutheran Institute of Regenerative Agriculture, was installed as the sole pastor of Saint John Lutheran Church outside of Hastings, Iowa, and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Oakland, Iowa. He will serve this congregations while continuing to live in the Shenandoah area, where the work of LIRA continues (many more updates this week!) The Lord of the Church is truly gracious to His people! At the same time that St. John and St. Paul Lutheran Churches were anticipating a vacancy, the Lord brought Rev. Maronde to SW Iowa at just the right time to begin work at LIRA and eager to serve the Church in any […]

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