Farming Practices
Everwild Farm
Organically Grown
We grow our vegetables free of synthetic, chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. This being said, we do not possess the USDA seal of organic certification. We are developing strong enough relationships with our communities for them to trust in us to have their health in our best interest to be rid of chemicals and provide them with high quality vegetables.
Minimal Tillage
Starting a farm from nearly bareground means that tilling the soil is an essential practice. It loosens up the dirt in order for beds to be formed to use for seeding. At Everwild Farm, we like to use as minimal tilling of the earth as possible, only when a new plot of land is being initially prepared to be used. Lower amount of tilling allows for the structure of the soil to be maintained which promotes a healthy soil biology and fertility, full of organic matter, and keeps weeds at bay.
Silage Tarps
These have been among the most essential tools to starting our Farm and are important for the minimal tillage practice. With a land overrun by invasive weeds, we had to lay out tarps in order to suppress their growth so that we could have initial plots of land to work with. The tarps work exceptionally well: they heat up the soil in order to promote the germination of weed seeds, then when they reach the surface they have no access to sunlight which causes them to die off. We use these tarps on new plots we are planning to open up and when we want to keep the organic matter protected until we are ready to seed or transplant.
Hand Tools
Yet another crucial piece of our small-scale market garden is the use of low-tech tools. We use long handled hoes, rakes, and multi-pronged broad forks for aeration of the soil which allows for us to not use herbicides to remove weeds and minimally disturb the soil rather than use larger machinery. Through the use of these hand tools we feel we are able to get more in touch with our plants, preserve the soil structure and as a bonus we are able to reduce our carbon emissions.
Water Conservation
We use drip-irrigation on many of our plots. This method of irrigating our crops emits smaller amount of water, increasing water usage efficiency.
Native Berms
As we are part of the regenerative agriculture movement, we are looking to increase the biodiversity of the our ecosystem. Above the soil, we have created perennial flower and herb berms (raised land dividers) to border our plots. These are designed to attract in beneficial insects which will not only pollinate the plants but also defend the farm by eating harmful pests that can destroy crops.
Insect Netting
The Native flower berms serve in part as an initial line of defense, but they are certainly not fool proof. The insects that come into the farm and eat the plants, come in large quantities which are not controlled fully by the predator bugs. In turn we must use netted row covers to protect the beds from these harmful insects. This netting allows us to still water the plants overhead, and does not inhibit the sunlight from hitting the plants.
