Why I farm organically?
I farm organically because I care about the planet on which we all live and which we share with all the other plants and animals.
My organic farming practices include:
- keeping a small flock of sheep to provide manure to make compost to add to the fields to help the vegetables grow;
- planting flowers in the gardens and leaving natural areas around the gardens to provide homes for beneficial insects;
- never using insecticides (even those made from natural products and allowed under the Canadian Organic Standards) so that beneficial insects are able to thrive and work with me;
- using barriers like row covers to protect vegetables from harmful insects;
- using hoes, wheel-hoes, cover crops, close planting and hand weeding to remove weeds;
- keeping the soil life happy with lots of organic matter to eat and protection in the summer and winter, so that they can work with me;
- buying organically grown seed, whenever possible, from seed growers and seed distributors committed to ecological and organic farming;
- planting intensively, in wide beds, to keep the soil covered;
- growing many different types of vegetables and several different varieties of many vegetables planted in succession throughout the season – strength in diversity, if one variety fails another may thrive;
- supporting and working with organizations which help farmers work with nature on smaller-scale, biodiverse farms;
- listening to birds as I work and watching butterflies flutter over the fields;
- being amazed at how things grow.