Little Farm Dot Org

Saturday September 4, 2010
Alanthus Grove Missouri
Cook-out , Music and Celebration

Please join us, as we celebrate the life of George Franklin Couts, who passed away June 28, 2010. Calling all musicians.....don't forget to bring your instruments, even if its a pair of spoons or a washboard. We will be playing and singing some of George's favorite compositions; and listening to the many music tributes posted on icompositions. Jerry Forney will be playing special music.

George was a talented artist, musician and recording engineer, whose passing has brought tributes from across the globe. Way to go, George. Love and Peace Your friends in Alanthus Grove, Missouri.

Little Farm Fair Trade set up our coffee kitchen again at this year's Rainbow Gathering. Herb and Geoffrey met up in Pennsylvania along with Audrey and Lichen. We were soon met by Bill (of RAGBRAI fame) at Welcome Home. Bill had been working the gate along with Turtle (Kim). We had a great welcoming home when we arrived. We unloaded our gear and grabbed what we would need to brew up coffee in the morning and headed in to look for Musical Veggie.

It is with sadness that we must share Little Farm Fair Trade will not be serving fair trade organic coffee on this year's RAGBRAI ride. We are sad that we will not be able to see all of our friends of the last 4 years, but with greater disappointment,  we will not be sharing the message of family farmers growing the coffee beans that we have been serving to the riders.

People come and people go, for some we must wait longer to see again. We are missing three good friends who live on through their memories. 

Bill Talley (1936-2009)  - Bill is the reason we have the little farm. He was a generous soul who was always good to us. Though Bill had many offers to sell the farm, he was always willing to wait, for many time an overdue payment, because he liked his friends at little farm. A Marine Veteran, and three time Golden Glove boxing champion, he was a mentor for kids and adults alike. 

Kaleb Juhl (1979-2009)  - Kaleb lived an epic life. He loved music, mountains and "raging it" with his friends and family. He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him. His parents Al and Beth have always been a part of the little farm family. They lived at little farm from the beginning and moved to Stanberry where Kaleb was born.

Michael Clay (1997-2010) - Our neighbor and our friend, Michael loved the little farmers and we learned as much from this 13 year old as he learned from us. Always willing to help, is energy and spirit kept us all feeling young and free. Michael loved little farm and did not want to be left out of anything.

One thing is true of all three of our friends, they lived their lives thinking of others. Try to live every moment in ways that give your life and spirit to those around you. Join us keeping the spirit of these three mentors alive by sharing your time, talent and love with all those around you.

Somebody posted a link on the RAGBRAI forum in response to a question about what is fair trade. Here is a quick synopsis as it is understood and practiced by those of us associated with Little Farm...

In the world of coffee, fair trade means the farmers are receiving much more for their coffee (sometimes as much as 4 times more) than they would selling it through the traditional means available in their country. Ideally it is a price that is determined to be enough for the farm family to not only survive, but improve their living conditions.

Little Farm News

Little Farm Fair Trade finished serving coffee at RAGBRAI '09. Herb and Geoffrey brewed up over 500 gallons of coffee while Kristin and Jeh served it up in about 3,700 cups.

It makes us very happy that so many people stopped by to support Fair Trade. We know people stopped for many reasons including the great music that happened each day thanks to Irene and Joe of the Mad River Band, and our own friend Phil Bear who were joined at many times by others, including a few riders. Others stopped by because they thought we had the best coffee on RAGBRAI, but we hope that many continued to stop by because they would like to do their part to support the family farmers that grew the coffee we served.