The Farm at Moose Hill—Growing Practices

We grow our produce using organic principles—no chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers—and we exceed the organic standard in the following ways:

• We build soil health through crop rotation and green-manuring. As crops are harvested, we till the plants back into the soil and plant cover crops. These crops ("green manure") help fix nitrogen and build organic matter when they are also tilled back into the soil.
• We utilize row cover for pest exclusion and management as an alternative to chemical approaches.
• We test our soil yearly and add nutrients, such as chicken manure, to the fields. All of our soil fertility derives from natural sources such as cover crops and organic compost.
• We use limited drip irrigation in our lower field. Our focus on building healthy soils allows us to limit irrigation, which is an energy-intensive method of watering plants and producing food. We choose to have some crops with drip irrigation providing needed water at the roots of the plant.
• We seek to limit our consumption of non-reusable materials. Beds are covered with straw for mulching and we use reusable crates to distribute our produce.