Sorghum is a drought tolerant plant is similar to both corn
and sugarcane and is our highlighted energy crop at Brookside Energy Farm in Willits and
the Energy Garden
in Sebastopol. Like sugar cane the stalk is
filled with sweet juice and can be pressed to make syrup. This crop is special
because it is capable of simultaneously producing both food and biofuel and
provides stacked functions
including:

1. Grain for human and animal food

2. Juice can be extracted and converted into a high calorie
syrup

3. Juice can be directly fermented and processed into
ethanol

4. Stalks can be shredded and used as a component in
livestock feed

5. Stalks can be pressed into briquettes and burned

6. Stalks can be used as a mulch

7. Stalks can be aerobically composted

Stacking functions is
a critical concept when we begin to think about energy crops or crops grown
primarily to be used as fuel. A crop with stacked functions including (sorghum,
sunflowers, Jerusalem Artichokes) offers the farmer not just one, but multiple
uses.

As many of you have noticed, energy crops are drawing a great deal of
attention because they have the potential to be renewable, and therefore a more
reliable form of energy. However, when growing energy crops we must be ready to make
a choice for food or fuel. While natural sugar and oil are useful (if not essential), we have to
ask whether or not burning these substances is the best use. We also need to
re-think the way that biofuels are made.

Many studies have shown that the net energy gain with biofuel
is very slim, and this is especially the case when inorganic fertilizer, pesticides,
and coal or natural gas is used for crop production and processing. When you
then add the cost of transportation of these fuels from the refinery to the
pump then the carbon neutrality and energy profit is slim to none.

In response, the Energy Farm Program is experimenting with
sorghum because it is unique and has the potential to provide both food and
fuel. Furthermore, we want to contrast local, organic biofuel against the
industrial model to see if we might achieve a net energy gain by using natural
methods for soil fertility, crop cultivation, and harvest. Once processed this
crop is intended to support further agricultural activities or to be used by locally,
reducing extraneous transport and lost energy.

On Thursday I received my 50 lb order of Peredovik sunflower seeds. Peredovik sunflowers are a Russian cultivar known for their black seeds and high oil content. In 1964, the Government of Canada licensed the Russian cultivar because the seed produced high yields and high oil content. Below is a chart from the website Journey to Forever. It details oil yields from different energy crops and gives a general idea of the oil yield from various plants.

Vegetable oil yields

Biodiesel yield = oil yield x 0.8 approx.

Note: These are conservative estimates -- crop yields can vary widely.

According to this chart sunflowers produce more oil than soybeans and a little less oil than canola. The plant does not grow very tall (about 4 feet); nevertheless it can be used for a carbonaceous compost/biomass crop.

Since the plant takes 12 weeks to reach maturity, we will be looking to get the sunflowers in the ground by mid May. Typically the seeds are grown at 12 inch “in-row” spacing and 24 inches apart between rows. The Grow Biointensive model suggests that seeds can be planted as close at 9 inch “in-row” spacing (depending on the variety selected). Since these plants are not as tall, perhaps we will work for a tighter spacing.

Keeping two feet between rows will allow us to make three passes with an 8 inch wheel hoe in order to knock back the weeds. Cultivating or hoeing the sunflowers when weeds first begin growing should work fine. It is recommended that the second cultivation should occur before plants reach 12" in height. At 12" or more, root damage could result. If it is possible to cultivate more than twice, by all means do so.

Whether the Peredovik sunflowers are used as food, compost crop, or biofuel oil it is a great plant to test for this area (Willits to Oregon). When considering the cultivation of biofuel crops it is important that they provide stacked functions. If the need is for food then crop will be eaten, however, if it serves us to make biofuel with the crop then we can certainly do that. Without a doubt, we will always seek to compost plant wastes as this is crucial to maintaining the health of the land. An understanding of flexible crops will prove useful for those who are seeking to work with the soil to provide both food and fuel for their communities.

Peredovik Sunflower Seeds

At present, the plan is to raise twelve chickens on the farm site at Brookside School. The purpose of raising chickens is to create eggs for local buyers, demonstrate a system that can provide for the food needs of poultry, and, where possible, control insect populations. The site will include an enclosed coop and small chicken yard, with the option of allowing the chickens to both pasture and range as they forage for a majority of their sustenance.

As a general rule, the nutritional needs of chickens include:

1. Grains (a mixture of whole grain, un-cracked grain is good and mixed grain is better than pure corn).
2. Greens (grass, weeds, fresh berries, and other vegetable scraps).
3. Protein (in summer, ranging they get enough bugs -- but in colder weather they need protein supplementation, including soybeans or fava beans, worms, milk, and seeds).
4. Water (chickens need plenty of water and need to have it not only in their pen, but additionally in chicken tractors and near their forage).

There is a special opportunity at the Willits Energy farm to demonstrate a planting arrangement on the western perimeter that serves the dual function of windbreak and forage crop. The western fence line stretches 150 feet and borders a fallow pasture. While designing our annual beds, we have allocated a width of 10 feet from the fence to create the windbreak and forage section. Perennial trees and shrubs will be spaced and interplanted with ground crops that should provide a variety of food from late spring to the middle of October. The plan is that some of the crops will be immediately consumed by the chickens while other crops will have the advantage of storage.

Below is the list of crops that could be used for the western windbreak and under-story:

-Trees:

These will provide the bulk of the windbreak and will be alternated in sequence.

• 5 Mulberry Trees (This tree is wind resistant and provides edible berries as early as the first year).
• 4 Honey Locust Trees (A fast growing tree that provides large, edible seed pods and hard seeds that can be collected and stored for winter use. It also attracts bees).

-Shrubs:

The selected shrub will be spaced between the trees and provide added windbreak for the area left open between trees.

• 8 Siberian Pea Shrub (This shrub is hardy and grows well in drained soils; it requires full sun and will be backed away from the trees. With a large number of them it should provide a certain amount of storable seed if the chickens don’t get to it first.)

-Understory:

These plants that will be sown to provide ground cover and compete against grass under the newly established trees. They will address all three dietary needs and provide greens, additional forage seed, and some grains:

• Clover (It will compete against grass, attract bees, and provide a choice of greens).
• Borage (This flower will also provide greens as well as yield seed).
• Comfrey (It has deep tap roots that bring potassium from deep in the soil. It will be used in the understory of trees and can perhaps be used for composting and green feed).
• Buckwheat and Rye (These grains will be row seeded in various short lengths both in the fall and spring and may provide added material to be composted).
• Favabean (Fava may potentially provide more storable protein for the winter and food in the earlier part of spring).

To support pastured egg layers, we are considering the implementation of various “chicken tractor” designs. A chicken tractor is a movable floorless chicken coop for the purposes of pest control, protection of annual crops from hungry chickens, fertilization, and sheltering the chicken as they forage. Chicken tractors allow the birds to feed in precise areas and can potentially be a useful way to manage forage resources. However, they need to be moved throughout the day and may be too tight a quarters for more than two birds, thus requiring more tractors and more effort to move them. If we don’t use chicken tractors we may consider fencing the forage section with extra wire left over from the perimeter fencing project.

Way Down There is the Western Fenceline

Northwest Corner Behind the Backstop (Potential Coop Location)

Example of a Very Nice Chicken Tractor