The artisan farmer

The basics of agricultural practices to enable artisan farmers to hold their own just about anywhere, and perhaps especially in hostile terrain. The face of agriculture has changed considerably over the last century. While the massive industrialization of agricultural processes has certainly led to a significant increase in yields and the mechanization of techniques has freed farmers from sometimes backbreaking labor, this evolution has also not been without its share of consequences, often harmful, particularly on the environmental level. Victors and victims of progress, we have also forgotten that agriculture should above all be a subsistence crop and that there is no country without farmers nor a land without artisans. So much so that in Quebec, agriculture has become hostage to a productivist elite, and the profession of farmer, a closed profession. Yet, could not the small ecological farm, with its food and versatile production, prove to be a formidable antidote to the devitalization of regions and the rural exodus that has been emptying our countryside for sixty years? Following in the footsteps of Jean-Martin Fortier and his Jardinier-marchécher, Dominic Lamontagne invites us to reclaim our agricultural know-how and encourages the repopulation of our countryside. Here, then, are gathered the basics of the agricultural practices that have allowed and still allow artisan farmers to carry out their activities throughout Quebec, including on land less suited to peasant agriculture. Since it is necessary to understand what we are allowed to do before taking action, this guide – thus following in the footsteps of La ferme impossible, Dominic Lamontagne's previous work – first examines the laws that govern artisanal agriculture in Quebec. The author then delves in depth into the methods and tools for raising laying hens, broiler chickens, and goats. How do I build a winter chicken coop or feeders for my goats? Which breed of goat should I choose? How do I milk them? How do I know my farm animals are healthy? Should I slaughter them myself or go to a slaughterhouse? The author answers these questions with illustrations and a focus on manual solutions that respect animals and the land. The author also called upon numerous collaborators to address other aspects of the family and ecological farm, including bees, geese, sheep, and permaculture. Their valuable contributions conclude this important guide for anyone who wants to relearn how to be in harmony with their environment and become self-sufficient again: for the author, the artisanal farm must avoid depending on external inputs to operate. Although total self-sufficiency is undoubtedly utopian, it is a horizon towards which Dominic Lamontagne suggests we continually strive.