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Environmental activist and author Robin Greenfield is known for his fully committed experiments in ecological living. Join a community compost initiative or start one if theres a need. Cycle the compost back into small-scale ecological gardening and farming. Join a community-led ecological food initiative.
Organic curry farming involves cultivating curry plants without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The focus is on maintaining soil health, enhancing biodiversity, and following sustainable farming practices.
Photo Credit Bonnie Veblen As part of CAFF’s EcologicalFarming Program , we collaborate with farmers to implement and better understand ecologically-based farming practices, which include climate smart farming and soil health practices.
On April 10th, Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) hosted a field day at Heartwood Farms in Linden, CA with farmers Franz Eilers and Emma Wade to discuss all things compost and pest management on their biologically-integrated walnut and cherry orchards. Farmers Franz and Emma introduce Heartwood Farms.
This video explores on-farmcomposting, including a brief overview of California’s new best management practices mandate for on-farmcomposting as well as the food safety and organic requirements. Hear from two different farmers, including a on-site video of the Frog Hollow Farmcomposting operation.
Spreadwing Farm, located in the Capay Valley, utilizes compost in their vegetable crops to improve the quality of the soil and provide plant available nutrients. Learn more about the benefits, tradeoffs, and challenges Liz Schroeder of Spreadwing Farm has seen with compost application. Read the case study here.
Photo credit: Matt Ryan/Sandra Wayman Editor’s Note: This blog post is a guest post authored by Gordon Merrick, Senior Policy and Programs Manager at the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) and Mark Schonbeck, Research Associate, also at OFRF, which is an NSAC member.
After half their farm’s crops were wiped out by a devastating heat wave in 2018, Ellee Igoe and Hernan Cavazos, co-founders of Solidarity Farm, changed their practices with the explicit goal of adding more carbon to the soil, or “carbon farming.” it was more economically viable if we grew that capacity for lots of farms.”
Organic apples farming is a sustainable agricultural practice that focuses on growing apples without synthetic chemicals. Organic apples farming prioritizes ecological balance. It uses natural methods to promote soil health, control pests, and maintain biodiversity while yielding high-quality fruits.
Michael referred to this type of farming as Holistic Orcharding, and he wrote the book The Holistic Orchard. I attended one of Michaels intensive workshops at the Eco Farm Conference in CA around 2008. He then wrote the book Mycorrhizal Planet , which is one of the most elaborate books interweaving science, art, and poetry.
In this episode we delve into all things on-farmcomposting, from its production to its use and relevant agricultural policies. We hear from Abel Ruiz at CRECE Farming Collective in Santa Ana about their use of various composting methods at a small scale.
The brand’s Star Hill Farm is the first distillery farm to receive certification from Regenified for its commitment to soil, water, and ecosystem longevity. The company composts all fruit scraps, tea, herbs, cultures, and paper towels while also saving over 1,100 gallons of water per day through their recapture system.
Editor’s Note: This post is the fifth post in a multi-part series exploring some of the key sustainable agriculture and food systems challenges that the farm bill can address. Other posts explore how the next farm bill can tackle issues in regional market development, crop insurance access, and more. Since 1988, more than $26.6
On May 1, 2024 – after months of stalled farm bill negotiations on both sides of Capitol Hill – Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released a detailed section-by-section summary of her farm bill proposal. Strengthening the Farm and Food System Workforce (Sec. 11205, 12201).
Emily Ayala and Hanna Kahl introduce CAFF and the Ecological Pest Management Program. Photo by Nolan Kirby) The Community Alliance with Family Farms (CAFF) held a Biologically Integrated Orchard System (BIOS) field day at Chinchiolo Farms on April 20th.
He found this disconcerting, not only for himself but the future of small-scale grain farming in California, once known for its golden hills of grain. This specialized, often professionally operated equipment—and all farm equipment , for that matter—can be prohibitively challenging for many farmers to buy and maintain.
Our farm is surrounded by land owned by Virginia (yes, I know, this discussion is about federal lands, but bear with me) as a North Mountain Wildlife Management Area. Not only would such use, if expanded to the government land, be an ecological stimulant, it would completely eliminate the need for factory hog houses.
“Since 1977, we have been pioneers in sustainable development, promoting organic and biodynamic farming as a key solution to global challenges including food security and climate change. Studies have shown that organic farming practices can store significant amounts of carbon in the soil, helping to mitigate climate change.
Agroforestry—the integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems—has been used since ancient times to produce fruits, nuts, coffee, cocoa and medicinal herbs. Wendy Johnson’s ‘natural savannah’ Wendy Johnson and her husband, Johnny Rafkin, own Jóia Food & Fiber Farm, in Charles City, Iowa. Johnson laughs.
Our thousands of partner farmers are among many worldwide who are making the transition to regenerative farming techniques. With regenerative farming, nature’s balance gets reintroduced into the ecosystem, allowing the farmer to grow nutritious and sustainably produced food. In nature, everything leans towards balance.
This funding is split into two separate opportunities: $50 million for CIG On Farm Trials and $15 million for CIG Classic. Half of the funding for the On Farm Trials competition was provided through the historic Inflation Reduction Act. The 2018 Farm Bill mandates $25 million per year for on-farm trials.
The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) is a Nairobi-based research institute that elevates the role insects play in the creation of environmentally and socially sustainable food systems across Africa. Founded in 1970, icipe aims to understand how insects can best be introduced across the food system.
We now all well know how plastic is devastating our seas, but we’re only beginning to realise how damaging it is to our soils and how widely used and poorly disposed of it is in farming. In 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) published a major report on plastic use in farming. What happens to farm plastics?
Healthy soil is more productive and leads to better growing and farming outcomes. An event with USDA scientists, organized by Carbon Sponge, at White Feather Farm in 2023. She’s an award-winning professor of New Media at SUNY Purchase where she teaches Dark Ecology, a class closely aligned with her work in the ecological art space.
Introducing… the 2022 Farm Champion awardees! To make it as a small farm and to affect real, lasting change in our food system, it requires unwavering determination, hard work, ingenuity, and a deeply rooted sense of purpose with a view extending a thousand growing seasons. We look forward to watching this farm grow!
Since 2017, CAFF’s EcologicalFarming team has been conducting an on-farm demonstration project in collaboration with California no-till farmers to better understand small-scale biointensive no-till farming’s effect on soil health.
Urban ag is any kind of food production space within a city, inclusive of commercial farms that grow and sell directly to consumers, non-profit farms that serve a broader mission, community gardens, school gardens and even vacant lots turned into thriving personal gardens or homesteads. Oxford Tract research farm at UC Berkeley.
Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund The Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund is a multidisciplinary, cooperative nonprofit ecosystem that aims to regenerate custodial land ownership, ecological stewardship, and food and fiber economies in the American South.
My little mad farm helps me do that. And since cover cropping is scalable to just about any size farm or garden, it made sense to conduct some field experiments of my own. Until then, it seems to me a comprehensive, ecological approach is what’s needed. If you missed them, you can read them here and here. It keeps me honest.
Just like Jesus presented Himself as "the bread of life" so those of us in the authentic food and farming tribe present our protocols and production as life-giving rather than sickness-giving--economically, emotionally, and ecologically. Church becomes mechanical, just like the factory farmed pig.
This Earth Day, CAFF is proud to endorse this bill on behalf of our members as part of the solution to the climate crisis, recognizing the invaluable role that ecologically-focused farmers and ranchers can play. 100 million a year would be available for compost infrastructure.
Are you interested in implementing cover crops, compost, mulch, hedgerows and other Healthy Soils practices on your farm? No farm is too small, all farm sizes welcome! Requisitos del programa: Las prácticas de gestión de suelo (cultivos de cobertura, compost, mulching, etc.) Latinx Farmers encouraged to apply.
What I do is visit farms and look for cutting edge practical ecological solutions. I spent a couple of days at a permaculture farm in East London where a guy built a gasification unit to run a generator. Couple that with anti-ecology and you have a recipe for dysfunction. Like chemical fertilizer instead of compost.
Where are we in the ecological succession? Trees exist in a different ecological succession stage than pioneering stage plants, also known as weeds. Ecological succession is the process by which plant communities change over time, eventually yielding a climax community. I did my graduate work in cotton.
From losing seed crops as wildfires rage for weeks, to losing entire crops as a result of erratic freezes, to losing farms as drought dries up available water, farmers’ risks are rising. Farming is also an important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Farmers across the country are experiencing climate impacts as a crisis.
Although no-till implies not tilling at all, many no-till market gardeners still rely on some form of light tillage to create a seed bed or apply copious amounts of compost as a mulch to create a seed bed. Soil prep increases time, labor, and overall farming costs, and potentially increases soil disturbance.
In the last couple of years, a steady stream of visitors, many in rented motor homes, have stopped at our farm to walk our fields and dream. Industrial agriculture is killing authentic farming and land stewardship as much as food processors and bureaucrats. Their most common reason: “we’re escaping and heading for the country.
CAFF’s Biointensive No-Till Project is an on-farm demonstration project partnering with small, diversified vegetable farms in Northern California who are committed to minimizing tillage and interested in learning about how it affects soil health. As a result, it is often viewed as a good indicator of soil health.
Food waste is also the millions of pounds of food that rot in the field before ever leaving the farm due to it being too large, too small or not defect free enough to be profitable for the farmer (despite being totally edible!) Composting and repurposing food scraps can make a huge impact! Where does our Food Waste come from?
40 Acres & A Mule Project , United States 40 Acres & A Mule seeks to acquire Black-owned farmland to be used to celebrate and preserve the history, food, and stories of Black culture in food and farming. promoting environmentally sound farming practices, and keeping farmers on their land.
Click Here to buy Bird Feeders to attract Birds to your lawns Chemical Control: Pros and Cons Chemical control measures for worms in lawns do exist, but they should be used with caution due to potential environmental and ecological impacts. Can I compost earthworm castings for my garden?
On September 19th, Community Alliance with Family Farmers held a field day at Vitis and Ovis farm in Capay Valley, CA. Gisèle Herren of Vitis and Ovis Farm alongside their flock of grazing ducks. Hans Herren showing attendees an on-farm device as he discussed their experience in making compost tea.
Click Here to buy Bird Feeders to attract Birds to your lawns Chemical Control: Pros and Cons Chemical control measures for worms in lawns do exist, but they should be used with caution due to potential environmental and ecological impacts. Can I compost earthworm castings for my garden?
Click Here to buy Bird Feeders to attract Birds to your lawns Chemical Control: Pros and Cons Chemical control measures for worms in lawns do exist, but they should be used with caution due to potential environmental and ecological impacts. Can I compost earthworm castings for my garden?
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