Whenever my husband, Nathan, and I meet someone new and introduce ourselves, the question always arises: “So, what do you do?,” which leads to the response of organic farming. Usually, this will snowball into quite a few questions, varying from, “What kind of crops do you grow?,” or, “What kind of equipment do you use?,” etc.
However, these are not the most important questions to us. Rather, we would love to share with you what makes our farm organic and how we achieve this goal:
- A certification process and standards to which we are held
- Our stewardship practices promote and support soil fertility and biodiversity
Our organic farming methods ensure we produce healthy ecosystems, including high-quality soil and water, which will in turn, create healthy plants for humans and animals.
Sounds pretty simple, right? For the most part, it is. We are farming the way that Nathan’s great-grandpa did 125 years ago. This includes:
- using cover crops such as rye, winter peas, tillage radish and turnips during the winter months to avoid soil erosion; and
- utilizing compost of chicken feathers and manure and other minerals such as gypsum and HiCal lime that are full of nutrients for the soil.
All of these are natural components that benefit the foods we harvest each year and we have found markets that are excited to work with local farms such as ours. When you have a relationship with the person growing your food, you can ask direct questions about the specific practices they use to grow safe, nutritious food.
Amy resides Michigan’s thumb region with her husband, their children and their cat and dog. Amy’s other interests include actively participating in the Rotary Club of Sebewaing, local Moms of Preschoolers (MOPs) group as well as the Tuscola County Farm Bureau.