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2013 MOSES ORGANIC FARMING CONFERENCE
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1. Adding Meat to Your Potatoes
Dominic Palumbo, Moon in the Pond Farm

Diversifying your vegetable operation to include one or more species of livestock can be an attractive option. Not only do livestock offer another income stream, they also provide weed and pest control services as well as improvements to soil fertility. Dominic Palumbo of Moon in the Pond Farm located in Sheffield, Mass. has experience with numerous species, including bovines, sheep, goats, swine and various types of poultry. He will cover the challenges and successes of integrating livestock with fresh market vegetables.

Moon in the Pond is nestled on a quiet and picturesque dirt road in the southern Berkshire. Raising food naturally and sharing the experience has been a strong and growing commitment throughout the farm’s 15-year history. Dominic offers tours of the farm and short or longer-term workshops, internships, and programs. His farm elegantly weaves together history (with heritage breed livestock and heirloom vegetables and select traditional farming methods) with contemporary technology. The heritage breeds raised on this farm have included: Jersey dairy cows, Scottish Highland beef cattle, Large Black pigs, Dorset sheep, Lineback oxen, Pilgrim geese, Narragansett turkeys, King pigeons, and various chickens.

In addition to sharing how to integrate vegetable and livestock production systems so each benefits from the presence of the other, Dominic also will touch upon building a loyal market for all of the production from the farm.

Presenter

Dominic Palumbo
Dominic Palumbo has been operating his small diverse organic farm, Moon in the Pond Farm in Sheffield, MA since 1991. Using the sustainable principles of permaculture and eco-agriculture his farm has been a forerunner in the conservation of a wide range of heritage breed livestock and heirloom vegetables. Growing food for the community and marketing through CSA, farmers' markets, and to restaurants Moon In The Pond has been active in building the local food movement in the tri-state area of the southern Berkshires and beyond. Dominic is dedicated to sharing his knowledge and experience and has developed Moon In The Pond as an educational farm providing apprenticeships and internships to aspiring young farmers and others interested in learning about organic farming, homesteading and community building. Dominic has been recognized by Slow Food as embodying its ideals of good, clean and fair food production and has been a four-time US delegate to the international conference Terra Madre in Turin, Italy.