Community Farming

Debee Bueche Offers Residents Country Living In City of Central

by Woody Jenkins, Editor
CENTRAL — Since Debee Armony Bueche retired as owner of Entourage Beauty Salon and Spa on Greenwell Springs Road, she has been pursuing her dream of creating Bueche Gardens, her vision of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) for Central.
For Debee, it’s her way of supporting Country Living in the City and giving adults and children in Central a way to return to their natural roots in the land and agricultural.
Since ground-breaking ceremonies last Sunday, any member of the Central community can join the CSA, help grow the crops and animals, and share in the production.  Membership is $100 a year, and members earn points by the time and effort spent working on the farm.  Then they can redeem their points for a share of the crops, eggs, honey, and other products.
“Many people like me are tired of being dependent on the government and big agricultural companies.  We don’t want the hormones, steroids, and pesticides.  We don’t like what they are doing to the land, the plants, and the animals.  We want more organic food and less herbicides and pesticides,” she said.  “I can’t do it all myself, but with the help of friends and the Central community, we can accomplish a lot.  I did some research and learned about Community Supported Agriculture.  I saw it as a way to bring like-minded people together.”
“We’re tired of being dependent on the grid.  If you are more self-sufficient, you aren’t so stressed.  Today, our food is causing disease.  But we don’t have to have food filled with pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics.  There are alternatives.  We have a series of DVD’s that can help anyone understand how to produce healthy food.  For anyone with children and a family, it’s a travesty to subject your loved ones to what is in food today.  We fight to keep our loved ones healthy in every way but one —what’s going into their mouths!  What we want to do is work together to produce healthy food.”
Bueche Gardens is located behind Entourage at 17651 Greenwell Springs Rd.  Debee already has chickens, honeybees, raised beds, and composting.  The ground-breaking ceremonies Sunday were for the one-acre plot where the CSA will be growing crops in raised beds and planting citrus.
Debee is getting help from instructors like Todd Gaudin, an attorney and fifth generation beekeeper.  A dozen volunteers have already signed up to work on a regular basis and share in the production.  She’s hoping for a lot more Central residents to sign up and get involved.  She can be reached at 225-281-7281.
On Tuesday, Debee paid a visit to her neighbors Gerald and Sharon Phares, who live up Greenwell Springs just south of Hooper.  The Phares have been farming their land for more than 50 years, and Debee wanted to see their operation and get some tips.
In a sit-down meeting at the Phares’ home, Gerald talked about the difference between what you learn from a book about raising plants and animals and the reality of actually doing it.  “We’ve been farming more than 50 years and have learned a thing or two.  It turned out to be a lot different than what we read!” he laughed.
The Phares family has chickens, guineas, peacocks, goats, fruit trees, and garden crops.  Over the years, they’ve kept cattle, honeybees, and much more.
He cited the economic reality of many traditional agricultural activities.  “You can go broke raising hogs, for example,” he said.
Beekeeping has also become a loser, he said, with the destruction of much of the bee population and the low price for the product.
Gerald spoke at length about raising chickens and what a battle it is in Central.  Predators are unrelenting, he said.  These include coyotes (yes, there are plenty of them in Central), foxes, raccoons, possums, eagles, hawks, and owls.
“An eagle got one of our guineas,” he said.  “A great horned owl was trying to break into the chicken coop.  We put out a trap and caught five raccoons in a row and then a possum.  All of them were after the chickens.”  Debee said, “Coyotes got my chickens last year.  They muscled their way in during the middle of the night.”  Gerald responded, “If there’s a way, they will get them.  Coons are the worst.  They will unlock a gate.  Red-tailed hawks are a major threat.”
Both Debee and Gerald let their chickens free range during the day but lock them up night.  “The eggs are bigger and the yoke is darker,” Gerald said.
Gerald uses guineas as his burglar alarm.  When a predator comes around, the guineas get noisy.  “It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 a.m., if the guineas are making noise, you better run outside with your shotgun!”
He recalled a time when his wife Sharon was summoned by the guineas.  When she got to the chicken coop, a raccoon was hauling away a live chicken.  “Sharon grabbed it.  She was pulling one end of the chicken, and the coon was pulling the other.  She won, but then the coon turned on her and wanted to attack.”
Gerald looked at Debee and said, “You’re young and full of pee and vinegar.  I’m old and have done it.  It’s an awful lot of work you’re getting yourself into!”
Gerald showed Debee their goats and demonstrated how to milk one.  Debee offered to buy four baby goats the Geralds have for sale.  All of a sudden, the mama goat sprayed her.  Everybody laughed.  Oh well, better get used to it!