Growing
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If the health of a farm’s soil is not considered, the health of their produce is not considered, and therefore the health of consumers is not considered.
Since we believe that great sustainable farms are the future, we’re passionate about learning and understanding what makes soil, plants, and ecosystems, healthy!
We also believe everyone needs more information about the source of their products and produce so that they can support sustainable and regenerative over unsustainable and destructive.
Modern farming regulations found in organic certification measures mean little to us since mass-production farms have taken the lion’s share of the organic industry by lobbying and paying their way to acceptability. Even if that weren’t the case, there are no rules against unsustainable, soil damaging farming practices. We believe that’s a major problem.
We are dedicated to understanding and knowing every source. We don’t let organic certifications keep us from digging deep into the farms we check out (many great farmers can’t afford them anyway). We check that farms and farmers are healthy, sustainable, non-toxic (no spray!) and natural in their approach to farming.
If farms are spraying or implementing unsustainable practices, we are here to help them adopt new methods. Sometimes, natural growers use sprays because they are desperate not to lose their crops to disease or pests. We understand why anyone would jump to a quick fix to relieve the pressures of production.
On top of that, we know that a natural, sustainable process seems daunting to many since traditional farming methods have sunk deep into the mainstream. We offer our service as information-gatherers to provide people the information needed to secure the health of our food and planet. We are here to dive into sources and get you the information you deserve!
Soil & Plant Health
Explore all the different aspects that add to the health of your soil and plants
Plants had their system of health and survival down long before we arrived to manage them. The smart farmer will trust the plant to do what it knows best.
Plants instinctually have a system of mutually beneficial exchanges between it and all organisms in its ecosystem. That means that all those organisms interacting with the plant are benefited by the plant's living process as much as the plant is (we could learn a thing or two from plants!)
You are probably thinking what about pests and disease?!! Well... if your soil is healthy and your ecosystem is healthy then your plants will be healthy. Disease and pests are signs of lack! Disease develops when the plant is lacking something and cannot fortify its immune system. Pests are only an issue if the plant is unhealthy or the ecosystem is out of balance. Plants will secrete a substance called exudates as a form of communication if it feels unhealthy. Guess what pests are attracted to? Those secretions. Every insect has a jobs, like eating dying plants to preserve and protect the health of the ecosystem.
Farmers are only afraid of pests and disease if their ecosystem or soil is imbalanced. We don't believe farmers should feel overwhelmed or embarrassed if they don't know better ways of dealing with! That is why we are here!! To help you get the resources, support and assistance you need to do things better! Wouldn't it feel nice to no longer have a much simpler time with pests and disease? Wouldn't it feel nice to have real healthy produce? and not have to hide or feel insecure about your farm?!?!
Visit our Soil & Plant Health Page for more in depth information, links, articles, and videos.
Soil is the foundation of any farm. A weak foundation will present a weak farm.
Spraying for pests or weeds, and even using fertilizers and monocropping are tactics that work against your soil. Healthy soil has incredible microbiology that helps to increase water retention, nutrient uptake, higher yield and pest/disease control. It may take extra work in the beginning to ensure your soil is healthy but it is a long term investment for the productivity of your plants, farm or garden and inevitably the health of all consumers.
If you need it, we are here to help you build that strong foundation.
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If there's an imbalance in a plant's immune system, it can't retrieve the nutrients it needs to be a healthy source of food for us.
As an example, high gluten in wheat is a sign of soil depletion because when wheat needs nutrients it sends messages (gluten excretions) into the soil, if the soil is depleted, the wheat desperately tries to communicate through other means, in this case, the surrounding ecosystem. Instead, the wheat sends their gluten excretions into its seeds and leaves.
The plant is harvested as it is, then bought and eaten by the consumer. Little did that consumer know they were eating distress signals in their grains. The extra high gluten content can cause gluten intolerance in people whose bodies cannot process the extra gluten, therefore causing an imbalance in their digestive system. This is just one small example of how produce is impacted by unsustainable soil and farming methods.
We should all know how our food is grown so that we can make decisions for our own health. We believe that there are many sicknesses that can be avoided, or even eliminated, by eating a truly healthy diet. We unknowingly sabotage our health by choosing produce from farms that stick to traditional farming methods, proven to reek havoc on our environment.
That is why we are here! To ensure that you get the information you deserve. Not just some of the info. We're here to give ALL of the info you'll need to grow and consume for the sake of your health, your values and the sustainability of the planet.
For more information on plant health visit our Soil & Plant Health Page
A plant will tell you when something is wrong. Its all about learning to listen to your plants.
Disease is a sign of lack. When the soil is healthy the immune system can fight off disease. There are good soil bacteria that have jobs just like the bacteria in your body. Mycelium/fungi are like the white blood cells/immune system that works with bacteria to ensure balance and health.
If you spray pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or use chemical fertilizer and only give extractible nutrients your plant will not be able to live with out you. This is why so many people think that plants have been bred to need people. Some maybe but most just need the right conditions which industrial growing practices do not foster.
You can foster great conditions for plants and reap the health benefits of that.
Minimizing Risk
Explore how health of soil and plants minimizes risk
In nature, mutualism between animals, bugs and plants can create a sustainable system that allows everyone involved to thrive.
Eco-systems thrive when all parts of the whole work together to maintain balance.
If there are too many pests at your farm and you have to spray to keep your plants alive then that is a sign that you have an imbalance in your eco-system. Do Not SPRAY! Not only are chemical sprays poisonous to the soil they kill the bugs that eat other bugs! There goes your natural bug control which inevitably causes you to spray more and imbalance the eco-system more until you no longer have an eco-system. Without an eco-system health in the soil dwindles and therefore the nutrient value in your plants and produce dwindle. but its okay right? You are making money! What if you could both care for the eco-system, the earth, your farm's health, your customer's health while also making money?
There is nothing smart about pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and poor growing practices. It is more expensive, destructive to the earth and unhealthy for people.
So then what is smart? Building upon systems that have already been proven to work for billions of years. How do you minimize risk? by taking the natural already tested and proven for billions of years route. The risk is in the transition from an unhealthy system to a functioning sustainable farm. Why? Because in the transition you have to learn what you are missing, learn to see natural signs, learn to work with nature not against it. You have to give yourself time to regrow and rebuild what was destroyed with the unhealthy, unsustainable practices. Once rebuilt things become a little simpler. Bugs do their natural job, soil does its natural job, plants do their natural job and then you are left with just the natural human jobs.
Soil thrives when it is fostered, grown and left alone. Naturally soil is the platform for mutually beneficial exchange. The more you mess with it, the more you interrupt the natural healthy exchanges.
Soil is the most overlooked part of growing while also the most important part of growing. Truly healthy soil is not the potting soil you found at a store. Healthy soil is grown, left alone, and fostered. Tilling can break up important systems in the soil and ultimately it is best to avoid. We do know there are farms that do a light till for specific reasons such as ease and its what they have found works for them. We have found some nutrient rich veggies that have come from that but ultimately with the knowledge we have about soil, we want to see soil that is left alone, grown and fostered. Want to know why? Click Here
Truly healthy soil is full of beneficial bacteria and mycelium can fortify your plants. Don't break it up, grow it, foster health, let it be. You can make all the difference by simply growing, fostering then standing back. Let your soil, plants and eco-system do what it knows best and reap the benefits of that healthy mutually beneficial exchange.
Many parts of an eco-system rely on the nutrients and systems in the soil so we would say that soil is the foundation of an eco-system.
How do you minimize risk when you don't spray chemicals? By letting the plant do what it knows best.
Sometimes it is hard for humans to stand back and trust things to do what they know best but you would have so much more you could do if your plants took care of themselves.
Soil is the most overlooked part of growing while also the most important part of growing. Truly healthy soil is not the potting soil you found at a store. Healthy soil is grown, left alone, and fostered. Tilling can break up important systems in the soil and ultimately it is best to avoid. We do know there are farms that do a light till for specific reasons such as ease and its what they have found works for them. We have found some nutrient rich veggies that have come from that but ultimately with the knowledge we have about soil, we want to see soil that is left alone, grown and fostered.
Truly healthy soil is full of beneficial bacteria and mycelium can fortify your plants. That means chance of disease goes down. Eco-systems are just as important. Ecosystems are the natural pest control. They fortify the environment with bugs that eat bugs so that balance is achieved. There are only problems when the balance is thrown off. We can see how it might seem easier to kill everything so that you don't have to figure out the imbalance but killing everything only creates a plant that cannot truly be healthy and cannot care for itself. With healthy soil and a healthy eco-system your plants become sustainable, strong and not only is it able to protect from pests and disease on its own it also produces nutrient rich produce with out you adding a single nutrient.
For more information on Plant & Soil Health click here
Sustainable Growing Practices
Explore how utilize sustainable growing practices
Sustainable growing practices boost soil, plants, you and the earth.
Why are eco-systems so important? Because they hold a cycle of mutually beneficial exchange. It is sustainable without any outside help.
Let us paint a picture: You build a permaculture inspired food forest. You create a eco-system around your farm forest. Then an emergency arises and you have to leave your farm for a year possibly 2 years to take care of a family member. You come back and.... your entire farm is still alive, healthy, producing and living! MANY farmers would read that and believe that would be impossible. There would be pests, disease, lack of watering, etc. Well the forest doesnt need a single human to survive. disease and pests are normally naturally handled by nature processes
Soil is the foundation. Don't weaken it.
Spraying for pests, fertilizers, herbicides, mono-cropping, etc. can actually work against nature. You can make an incredible difference in the world by gaining the knowledge and implementing practices that support healthy eco-stystems, sustainable practices, and working along side nature processes. How? By being a part of the support of natural eco-systems. Eco-system support plants, bees, people, animals, etc. They work inter-connectedly with other eco-systems. which means there is a ripple effect through all eco-systems.
Working against natural processes can actually be detrimental to the natural inter-connected relationship that everything in nature has with each other. No matter what the norm is in this culture and no matter the convinience factor, we beleive that deep down every human being would love to feel good about the positive effects that their lives have on the world.
We understand that the stresses of life can get in the way and the systems may not support that way of life but that is why we are here. To demand something new, to support the people desiring to be a sustainable presence, and to inspire a reality where where your life-style can make a difference in the health of our earth.
Supporting Sustainable Farms
Explore how to find farms that grow sustainably
Each regenerable, sustainable farm is healing our planet. Together we can heal.
When you are supporting regenerative and sustainable farms you are healing the world one small action at a time. Together we can change the world by choosing to eat truly healthy. Not only will you reap the health benefits but the planet will too.
We are here to see farming turn regenerative and see the world heal. Every human matters, every farm matters. We are here to ensure you know you are supporting great sources.
Links on how regenerative farming is healing the world:
Lack of knowledge is stealing from regenerative farms and giving to large secretive, poor practices farms.
Sustainable farms are getting lost in the mix. Even though many consumers would choose sustainable farms there are so many farms that are not sustainable getting through the cracks. Truth is, many people don't know the source of their food and products and so they buy from sources that may or may not be great sources. Farms that are sustainable need support so that they can be the best they can be and not only that we also want to ensure sustainable farming is available to anyone who has the desire sustainable farming.
There are many ways you can help regenerative farms.
- Know your source (We will help you) and buy from regenerative farms and great businesses List of Businesses | List Of Farms
- Volunteer. Though we want to see farms pay all of their workers, if you don't have money to contribute but you want to make a difference, volunteer.
- Contribute funds here. When you contribute, you will know where your money goes. Support Farms Fund is Under construction, please check back.
List Of Farms
Explore farms that are doing their best to do it right