all about our

GROWING PRACTICES

At our farm, we believe in transparency with our customers when it comes to our produce. We follow organic and regenerative practices to ensure that our products are not only good for you but also sustainable and harmonious with the land that we farm. We are committed to growing the highest quality of produce, maintaining a strong connection with our customers, and being responsible stewards of our land.

A buckwheat cover crop is an important nectar source for honeybees and attracts many beneficial insects.

it starts with the soil

Our farm uses no-till, regenerative soil practices. What does that mean?

Most farms begin their spring planting by plowing, harrowing, rototilling, or otherwise disturbing the natural structure of the soil. This disrupts the water capillaries naturally present in the soil (leading to drainage issues or dry soil) and releases some carbon into the atmosphere. Following an annual soil tillage practice also increases the consumption of fossil fuels by fuel-inefficient tractors

Our No-Till Method

We use an attachment on our tractor to form permanent raised beds which improves drainage and increases soil temperature
The soil of our raised beds is not disturbed again by tillage (plowing, harrowing etc.) and is only turned when carrots or other deep root crops are harvested. The microbes that are beneficial to growing great vegetables prefer an anaerobic environment- less air is added to the soil when you use no tillage practices (and less carbon is released)
We use several species of cover crops at different times of the year. Cover crops have several benefits- to help hold the soil in place to protect against erosion, to feed the soil microbes, to grow our own organic matter, and even to attract beneficial insects!
No-till farming helps to cultivate soil biodiversity and support the natural nutrient cycles

soil inputs

Our philosophy has always been to invest in our soil now with the intention that the soil will give back to us in the years to come. The process of no-till farming takes many years until the soil is mature enough to see benefits, is expensive and labor intensive. No-till beds are the perfect environment for beneficial soil microbes and mycelium, both of which help our plant roots access mineral and nutrition sources in the soil.

We add compost made in RI at a municipal waste facility to every bed 1-2 times a year, this adds crucial organic matter to our naturally sandy soils and feeds our plants
We use dried organic fish meal as a fertilizer on certain crops that are heavy feeders, this is consumed by the soil microbes and made into an available for for the plants to use
We add a custom blend of powdered minerals based on annual soil testing that provides optimal nutrition for our plants

Compost is spread on each bed 1-2 times a year

Blooming flowers and native plants provide crucial habitat for pollinators and insects

pest management

The healthier the plant, the less susceptible it is to pests.

We focus on only planting the healthiest most vigorous of the transplants and ideally our soil health will only get better over time. By prioritizing healthy plants, attracting beneficial insects, and using physical barriers, we will reduce our reliance on applied pesticides over time

We use exclusion of pests as a first line of defense- covering certain crops with an agricultural fabric called remay or row cover to make it harder for the bugs to access the plants
For certain crops that are too big to cover or are extra attractive to pests, we use a targeted approach by spraying organic pesticides
The pesticides we use are OMRI listed, certified organic, and derived from plants or bacteria
We choose the types of sprays we use very carefully with consideration to the composition, environmental and human health impacts, and potential harm to beneficial insects. The sprays we use are targeted to specific pests, for example a type of bacteria we spray on broccoli and cabbage plants is only harmful when ingested by the caterpillars that do damage to the plants.
All of the products we use are the safest options we can find and are applied in accordance to label instructions, sprayed in very early morning before pollinators are flying, and are sprayed by hand close to the crops to avoid drift. To further express the safety of the sprays we use, none of them have human health impacts from consumption, our toddler can attest to this as she often roams the field and takes bites out of our plants.
We use no herbicides anywhere on our farm
We release beneficial insects in our greenhouse and fields to help establish a population of bug-eatin'-bugs!
Beneficial insects are bugs that prey on the most common agricultural pests. There are many different species that help us keep our pest levels lower naturally, for example ladybug larvae are voracious predators that can devour hundreds of aphids each!

sustainability

In our opinion, sustainability is a journey, not a destination. When we started our farm in 2015, we expected to be a no-till sustainable operation from day one. While it is possible to achieve that goal, the cost of both labor and finances made it unsustainable for us in our first season. We had to accept the fact that without the proper equipment and infrastructure to support this goal, we would simply be pushing our bodies beyond the point of which it would be sustainable for our health and wellness.

When we moved to our Rehoboth property in 2019 we recognized that we needed a tractor to plow the field to prepare for no-till beds. This might sound counter-intuitive, but the field was planted to grass and wildflowers for several years, many of which were perennial weeds that were difficult to eradicate. Now that our beds are shaped, they will remain intact permanently so we won't have to plow again.
We strive to avoid single-use plastic in the field as much as possible. We are working towards purchasing more landscape fabric each year to replace rows of single-use plastic mulch. The landscape fabric will last 5+ years if stored properly where-as the plastic mulch must be thrown out into a landfill each year. The fabric takes more labor to put down and pick up by hand whereas the single-use mulch can be put down mechanically with the tractor.
We have a naturally high water table, though in years of drought we use well water to irrigate. We use conservative methods like drip irrigation to help get crops through the heat of summer and try to keep the soil covered to reduce evaporation.
With our farm so close in proximity to the Palmer River, we take great caution to reduce pollution from runoff and flooding events. This is one main reason we avoid chemicals on our farm as they can have great impacts on the ecosystem of the river.
We strive to farm in harmony with the land with respect to the indigenous Wampanoag people who were forcefully removed from this region, leaving behind land that they cared for and sustained their lives.

Plastic mulch helps keep weeds down, preserves soil moisture, and heats the soil to promote early growth but is a single use product

Two roosters foraging in the grass

pasture raised eggs

Our birds are raised on grass.

We use a mobile coop towed around the field by our tractor. The chicken's droppings fertilize the field as they forage for insects in the grass.
Our birds are fed a certified non-go feed
It is difficult to make a profit or even break-even from selling pasture raised eggs. Our feed cost is expensive, the breeds of birds we raise are not as productive as the industrial egg producers would choose, and the labor for pasture-raised birds is immense. We have chosen a price that reflects our labor and inputs so we can break even or slightly profit from all the hard work!
We recognize the demand for our eggs outweighs our production, but we are unable to sustainably scale up without more land and expensive infrastructure. We like the scale we are at, we feel we can keep an eye on the health of our flock and maintain access to fresh pasture on a regular basis.