Why Organic?

There's Lots of Bad Stuff Out There
Organic is often categorized by what it is not (no genetically modified organisms, no products grown using chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, no sewage sludge, no irradiated foods, etc.) and one need look no further than the USDA's recently passed Organic Rule, which establishes national standards for defining organic agriculture, to see that the (laudable) list of prohibitions goes on and on. But behind such a legal undertaking is a positive vision - one arrived at by thinking about how we humans want to relate to our food, our land and our communities.

Building Blocks
Organic agriculture is about building. Using compost, cover crops (crops planted for the sole purpose of improving soil fertility) and crop rotation, organic farmers build healthy soil to nourish plants. Like healthy humans, healthy plants fight pests and diseases extremely well, thus eliminating the need for chemicals to 'juice' them up, or to kill off unwanted intruders.

In addition to building soil fertility to grow fresh, healthy food, organic farms play a vital role in maintaining intact communities where people can live together in a real place. They connect people to their food supply and to the land, and are in turn themselves connected to their communities through farm visits, pot luck suppers, farmers' markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farm education programs, farm stands, and too many other ways to mention.

Our Vision
In short, we farm organically because we can't imagine doing it any other way.

We have big plans for our farm (Community Supported Agriculture, an orchard, a vital apprentice program where budding young farmers come to learn the trade, just to name a few) but specifics aside, we'll grow you great food that you can be glad to feed to your families, and we'll hope to see you at the markets, at our farm, and wherever else our paths may cross.

--Amy and Tom