Organic Soil
The Dirt on our dirt
Building and Maintaining Healthy Soil
All of our soil begins with a rich bank of organic matter, micronutrients and a healthy biomass.
In order to build and replenish our soil, we rely heavily on "green manure" or the practice of growing/returning plant materials to the soil.
This adds organic nitrogen and carbon (organic matter) to the soil.
A healthy population of soil life does the rest.
The fungi, bacteria, earthworms and other living organisms help to break down compounds into micronutrients while keeping the soil soft and well-drained.
We even seed and grow ALL of the more than 50,000 transplants we plant each year. This way we control all of the ingredients that feed our seedlings and are added to the garden soil each season.
Modernizing
During the mid-2010's, faced with increasing demand for our natural produce, we added some much needed cropping technology and equipment.
While a great deal of old-fashioned hand labor is still the norm, our new equipment and methods have improved the farm's efficiency and dramatically increased the amount of goods we are able to produce.
This has allowed us to expand to our current 12 acres of vegetable gardens and to fill the continually increasing demand.
Our Newest Cropland
Over the past few years, we have added 8 acres of reclaimed cropland.
This land was in CRP (natural prairie) for 30 years. Three decades as native grasses has cleansed the soil, created a great bank of organic matter, and developed a healthy organic biosphere.
We now have a plentiful supply of healthy organic soil- plus enough land to establish a healthy green manure rotation.
Links: