| Growing practices and methods for row crops ~
Are you an Organic Certified Farm?
No, however I follow organic practices as much as possible. I do believe in the juditious use of non organic methods and feel that they can offer a valuable tool for coping with injuries of animals, parasite loads, pathogens of both plants and animals, etc.. That having been said, I try as much as possible to control weeds and other pests by integrated management, companion planting, integration of livestock and row crops as well as crop rotation, in order to control weeds and insect pests and other diseases, and harvesting of edible weeds as an additional crop, which adds to the range of produce/greens offered to subscribers and eliminates the weeds. I am unable, by and large, to use poisons to control many insect pests because some livestock and poultry are integrated into the row crops. Instead of paying a third party a lot of money to certify me, or having to decertify the whole farm or certain crops/livetock/poultry in order to treat a disease or injury, I prefer to have my customers themselves determine whether they approve or disaprove of my farming practices. I feel that this enhances the transparency of the farm, aids in customer confidence and reduces the financial overhead of the farm.
I don't generally sell to anyone who isn't able to come out here and take a 'look-see' for themselves, so I feel that to pay a third party would do nothing to improve the marketability of the farm's production, and would provide no benefit to either the farm or it's subscribers.
How do you grow year round?
I use a combination of greenhouses and low tunnels to extend the growing season for some crops, and other crops actually do better in cool/cold weather than warm, so crops are introduced and rotated out according to whether they are warm weather or cool weather crops. This also means that subscribers have a wide variety of things to eat during the year.
What type of seed do you use?
I source seed from a variety of suppliers. Some I buy at the feed stores/variety stores and come from Lilly Miller, Ed Hume, etc. that you'll probably be familiar with. Other seed I purchase from sources like Seeds of Change, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Isakawa Seed Company (the oldest supplier of seed for asian varieties in the USA), Seed Savers Exchange, Tradewinds Seeds, Victory Seeds (Molalla), Terratorial Seeds, and any other seed sources I can find that have unusual varieties or types of vegetables, greens, herbs, etc.
What types of fertilizers do you use?
We use animal manures, compost and wood chips as our primary soil ammendments. When needed I also use other materials such as sulfate of amonia, nitrogen, garden calcium, etc. as needed to supplement the on farm generated ammendments and crop rotation with legumes, etc.. Ocasionally I do use commercial fertilizers purchased through the feed stores, variety stores, or nursery supply store. I try as much as possible to provide all the nutrient needs of the crops through onfarm sources though.
What type of pest control do you use?
I use non toxic materials like diatomaceous earth (DT - the skeletons of microscopic marine animals called diatoms), poultry/fowl (they eat a lot of the insect pests), trap crops, and companion planting, and insect predators such as fly predators, lacewings, lady bugs, etc. to control insect pests. I also will be using floating row covers (fabric) to control insect pests like diamond moths, and occassionally use a product called BT, which is a solution containing the bacteria Bacillus thurengiensis. BT is approved for use in organic agriculture to control certain insects like cabbage loopers, and other soft bodied insects and larvae that can damage cruciferous plants, corn, etc..
What type of weed control do you use?
I use hand pulling/composting of some weeds, manual cutting/trimming, and for edible weeds I harvest them for sale (edible weeds include perslane, lambs quarters and amaranth). In 2010 I'll also be using rabbits in movable cages, called rabbit tractors, between some of the row crops. The system is that the rabbits eat the weeds, then we eat the rabbits, thus eliminating the need for chemical controls while at the same time producing more food for myself, my family and the farm's subscribers. I'll also be experimenting with using meat chickens in chicken tractors for weed control.
How do you deal with plant diseases?I use crop rotation and some chemical applications that are approved for organic farming. Last year we had a bit of late blight here on the tomatoes. I sprayed once with a copper solution to control it and switched from top watering with a sprinkler to deep bottom watering with the hose run under the straw mulch, in order to keep from spreading the fungus any further. The copper solution is approved for use in organic farming, and controls like that are only applied when disease is detected, not as a regualar prophylactic. I don't believe in spraying on a 'just in case it might show up' basis, but I do believe in treating a disease outbreak with appropriate controls at first signs of onset.
Where do you get your nursery supplies?I source my nursery supplies (equipment, starting mixes, etc.) from local suppliers in Canby and Hubbard. Two of my favorites are OBC (Canby) and Nursery Connection, LLC (Hubbard). |
