EverGreen Farm

Soil Fertility

By Shain Saberon

    "Can mankind regulate its affairs so that its chief possession—the fertility of the soil—is preserved?  On the answer to this question the future of civilization lies."                                                        -Sir Albert Howard, An Agricultural Testament

   
One of our primary concerns at EverGreen Farm is soil fertility.  We feed the soil, the soil feeds the plants, the plants feed the animals, both plants and animals feed the soil and mankind, and the farmer strives to orchestrate the whole process.  It is an endless interdependent cycle—a dance with nature! 

Our program consists of the following eco-friendly principles:

• Composting with a medium containing animal manures and plant residues
• Manuring
• Cover cropping
• Crop rotation
• Management Intensive Grazing
• No/low till growing.

Compost

    I have witnessed first hand the miraculous effects of compost as described in An Agricultural Testament by Sir Albert Howard.  In this book Howard claims compost is the key to healthy, nutritious, and pest/disease resistant plants.  I agree.
    For soils of average fertility, like ours, compost made from animal manures and plant residues has quickly and substantially improved its quality and health.  This is why I believe a farm without animals cannot be “organic.”  By keeping goats, a few pigs, and chickens we are able to combine their waste with our vegetable leftovers to co-create with nature rich compost.

     Because we are only able to make a limited supply of compost, we choose to apply it where it will provide the greatest benefit, in our greenhouses.  I am continually amazed at the difference in the vitality, flavor, and resistance to pests and diseases the plants in my greenhouses exhibit compared to the crops in the fields not receiving this natural fertilizer.  Needless to say, we plan to increase the amount of compost we generate on our farm.

Making Compost

    Except for our pigs, we pasture and free-range our animals in season (in Star Valley this only about six months).

However, wintertime forces our goats and chickens to seek a more confined shelter, allowing us to accumulate their waste and make a compost heap.  First, we muck our goat barns and chicken coop.  This waste is composed of several tons of hay and straw that is used for bedding and as a medium to neutralize the animal's dung and urine.

Next, we use our tractor to clear out the contents of the pigpens.  (All season long we feed our pigs a substantial amount of garden leftovers which gets mixed with old hay, straw, and their waste.)  By combining the contents of our open-air pigpens and what is collected from our goats and chickens, we form a large compost heap.  The heap is repeatedly turned with the help of a tractor.  It is also moistened and allowed to age.  In time nature will thoroughly break down all plant and animal residues, while simultaneously eliminating dangerous pathogens.  The end result is a dark, crumbly, sweet-smelling heap of soil that is amazingly different from it's coarse beginnings.  The finished compost is then spread in the greenhouses each fall and spring.

Manuring

Since we cannot make enough compost, we also use tons of horse manure.  Each spring and fall we haul in multiple dump truck loads of this natural fertilizer.  With the use of our tractor and manure spreader we cover the fields with aged horse dung.  Immediately after spreading, I disc or harrow the fields to mix the manure with the soil.  Obviously, many hidden dangers exist when purchasing inputs from external sources, so we are careful to ask questions before purchasing horse dung.  This practice fills the void left by our existing capacity to make compost.

Cover Crops

Cover crops, also known as green manures, also build soil fertility.  Market gardeners who do not keep animals or live in an area where quality stable manures are available rely on cover crops for soil fertility.  The idea of cover cropping is to seed plant varieties capable of adding organic matter and nitrogen into the soil and rest it for a season from growing vegetable crops.  Typically grasses, like rye grass in colder regions like ours, are well suited to grow a substantial amount of organic material to feed back to the earth.  Many grains and other plants are also good at adding organic mass.  But, the organic matter provided by these plants alone is not enough.  Legumes are also needed—clovers, vetches, field peas, and alfalfa.  These special plants posses the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil with the help of natural and beneficial bacteria.

    After planting a cover crop, farmers typically mow it several times in a season to prevent the plant from seeding and becoming a weed itself.  In the fall cover crops are plowed and left in the field over winter.  The following spring these fields are cultivated again, rested to allow more decomposition, and then finally planted to a vegetable crop.
    To solely rely on cover crops for soil fertility requires approximately three times the amount of land planted for market crops.  Since our farm is merely 7 acres, relying only on cover cropping to improve our soil fertility is not an option.  However, anytime the opportunity presents itself I cover crop our land.  For example, immediately after garlic is harvested I like to plant rye grass and vetch.  Also, late in the fall just before our first serious snows, I seed some of our farm to cereal rye and field peas.  These hardy plants actually germinate under the snow early in the spring and are visibly growing as soon as the snow is gone.  Through the use of cover crops our farm attempts to mimic natural processes of soil building, not unlike those that built our nation’s rich prairie soils in the Midwest.

Crop Rotation

    Crop rotation is the agricultural practice of avoidance.  I strive to avoid planting the same crop in the same location for multiple years.  Different crops possess different root structures and require distinct nutritional needs.  In general, the longer a farmer can rest the land from growing the same crop, the healthier the soil.
    For example, lettuce plants are mostly shallow rooted.  If lettuce were planted in the same field for several years, it would soon deplete only the shallower soil levels of their nutrients.  By planting a deeper-rooted crop in succession to a shallower rooted crop, carrots after lettuce for instance, nutrients are extracted from deeper levels not taxing the soil as much as when monoculture is practiced.  This practice also helps reduce soil pests and diseases because pathogens that thrive with root crops don’t necessarily infest leaf crops. These are just two obvious benefits of this good agricultural practice.
    The ideal crop rotation includes a complete period of rest by planting a leguminous cover crop.  Deep-rooted cover crops, like alfalfa or certain clovers, are extremely beneficial.  By growing these crops for a year their roots are able to extract and then redeposit nutrients from deeper soil levels more near to the surface, making them once again available to shallow rooted crops.
    Crop rotation is a serious practice at EverGreen farm.  I keep annual records of where crops were planted.  This information allows me to plan and intentionally plant different crops in different areas of our farm from year to year.  Each year my crop rotations become more refined.  I believe we are seeing the benefits of this critical practice.

Management Intensive Grazing

    Management Intensive Grazing is typically associated with an agriculturally pastured food operation, such as a pastured beef, poultry, or dairy farm.  This practice consists of confining animals for a short period of time in a small section of a pasture and then moving them on a regular basis.  Short intense periods of grazing are actually beneficial for the pasture and, therefore, the animal too.  With a short intense grazing the pasture is not overgrazed and the animal does not over fertilize the ground.  For detailed information on this practice read Joel Salatin’s Salad Bar Beef or You Can Farm.
    This year I plan to practice a modified form of Management Intensive Grazing in our market garden.  This practice, I believe, will further increase our farm’s soil fertility.  The vehicle for this addition to our soil fertility program is called a chicken tractor—a small moveable chicken coop and pen that I have specially designed to be applied to our spent salad green beds.
    After a salad bed has been harvested, a chicken tractor with its occupants will be moved down the row.  Each day chickens will dine on the same gourmet greens you previously enjoyed. The chickens will also provide some extra labor by removing the old greens from the garden.  Additionally, chickens will eat and help control some of the insects infesting the greens while simultaneously fertilizing the ground.  These tractors will be moved once a day, which I believe will be just enough time to overgraze and kill the salad while leaving its roots and a small quantity of fertilizer in the ground.  Obviously we get other benefits too, eggs and meat.  I’m excited to try this!  I believe chicken tractors promise to be a simple, low-cost, and high-benefit addition to our soil fertility program.

No/Low Tillage

    Farmers increasingly study, refine, and apply no till farming. This practice consists of planting a cover crop, like a grain, harvesting it, allowing it to winter kill, leaving it, and ultimately planting a vegetable that will thrive in the mulch (planting potatoes after barley, for instance). The primary benefit derived from reduced tillage is an increase in beneficial soil organisms. 
    Perhaps the most important organism to benefit from this practice is mycelium, a beneficial fungus whose fruit is the mushroom.  Mycelium thrives in soils rich in both flora and fauna.  This life-filled soil is typically absent in industrially farmed soils dependent on chemical fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides. Crop friendly fungi are present in healthy soils and take the form of a mycelial web, a filamentous web-like structure that sometimes extend for thousands of acres in undisturbed forests.
    Why is mycelium important?  Because it connects with the root structure of plants to form a symbiotic partnership.  When intertwined with plant roots, mycelium extends the crops roots system making more moisture and soil nutrients available to the crop.  The mycelium benefits from the plants ability to photosynthesize sunlight and produce sugars.  Many studies document double the plant growth in soils rich in mycelium compared to those devoid of it.  Other plant positive organisms are more abundant in no till soils such as earthworms and bacteria that work with legumes to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere.
    I have been unable to fully employ no-till farming methods here at EverGreen Farm.  However, I take every opportunity possible to reduce tillage.  I have purchased and use old-world tools like the broadfork, which allow me to gently lift and aerate soil without turning it.  Furthermore, I am planning crop rotations where fields are purposely not tilled having been planted with a mulching crop.  This crop will be mowed and farmed with garlic, potatoes, and other plants that tolerate transplanting.

Your Benefit

    Industrialized agriculture commits the sin of oversimplification.  By assuming that nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (NPK) are all that plants require today’s industrial agriculturalist grossly oversimplifies plant, animal, and human nutritional needs.  For instance depending on the “expert” you ask, humans need between 50 and 100 different nutrients.
    Because at EverGreen Farm we care for, maintain, and even improve our soil’s fertility, you can be assured that your produce is the healthiest available—this is true because it is infused with a broad spectrum of micronutrients.  Practices leading to better soil fertility combined with no tolerance for industrial chemical applications grow the best food.  This is not philosophy.  Scientists and Journalists like Sir Albert Howard, Michael Pollen, Dr. Weston Price, and a dozen others have documented this.
    Eat our dirt!  It will heal you.

The Politics of Farming: An Agrarian Perspective

by Shain Saberon

Am I a dreamer and a fool because I dare to believe good farming can save our country?  I have been told by many, “You work too hard, too long, for too little," and "Our country and its people are too far gone down the industrial path for you to stop it now.”   I fully understand that industrialism and the corporatists have a lot of momentum.  However, Lynn Miller, the editor of The Small Farmers‘ Journal, recently shared a perspective that eliminated my pessimism.  His thoughts give me hope.

The more farms we have, the greater the opportunity of success for each.  The landscape will heal, the countryside will welcome the return of vibrant small farm communities, the economy will strengthen, the capacity to feed people will increase in quantity and health, the immune systems of an ever growing number of people will improve, governments will move offshore, the moral base will once again rise up from the truths of actual working, and the ranks of the hungry will shrink day by day.

This is a big boast—improved national ecology, economy, nutrition, health, and morality.  Both historical accounts and mounting agricultural research support Miller’s proposal.  With the passing of time I am certain his perspective will been seen as undeniably true.  I believe history will judge us according to how soon and to what degree we understood and acted upon this ideal.

Millers’ model is nothing new.  Thomas Jefferson argued, financed, negotiated, and legislated this very idea.  It is known as the agrarian view, and it stretches far beyond our shortsighted material horizons.  Unfortunately, the narcotic of greed fueled by the radical industrial practice of extracting and mining local goods and services, in other words, the practice of globalization as implemented by supranational corporations, has prevailed and taken us to the brink.  As a result, we now face a convergence of nutritional, ecological, economical, political, and moral crisis.

Where am I going with all this?  Follow me to a very different political perspective; one I hope you will take with you through our 2008 election cycle.  Friends please understand this—from an agrarian point of view both the Republican and Democratic parties have failed small family farms, businesses, and our respective communities.  For evidence, consider how our elected politicians have cast their votes for a global economy.  Their endorsements (of NAFTA, GATT, numerous other “free-trade agreements,” and another subsidized farm bill giving yet more corporate welfare to the largest and wealthiest agribusinesses in human history) prove this point.  Their voting records in regards to this critical issue are dismal!  We, the small farmers and producers of life-sustaining goods, simply cannot compete with cheaply, hazardously, irresponsibly, and immorally produced foods and products forced upon us through slave labor and extractive industrialized processes.  This crime has been perpetrated across borders and oceans to conceal it from our sight.  What is our government’s crime? Outsourcing!  And inasmuch as we are the government, we share the blame.

I concede that our adversaries—in this instance the supranational corporate globalists who have destroyed our health, land, souls, and nation—have the upper hand.  So, what can we do?  Consider and act on the following plan to take back our communities and country:

I.    Educate yourself.  Visit websites like Cornucopia, The Rodale Institute,  The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance,  and Slow Food.  Also, read the works of Thomas Jefferson, Wendell Berry, Joel Salatin, Michael Pollen, Barbra Kingsolver, Sir Albert Howard, Robert Rodale, Rudolph Steiner and Lynn Miller.  In their words reside the seeds for change.

Thomas Jefferson:  read his original letters found on line at The Library of Congress by clicking here.

Wendell Berry:  read The Unsettling of America, Home Economics, Citizenship Papers, Another Turn of The Crank, and The Gift of Good Land.

Joel Salatin:  read Holy Cows and Hog Heaven.

Michael Pollen:  read The Omnivores Dilemma and In Defense of Food.

Barbara Kingsolver:  read Small Wonders and Vegetable, Animal, Miracle.

Sir Albert Howard:  read An Agricultural Testament and The Soul of Soil.

Robert Rodale:  read Save Three Lives.

Rudolph Steiner:  read The Rudolph Steiner Archive online here.

Lynn Miller:  read The Small Farmers’ Journal (subscribe or read selected articles online here).

II.    Buy local goods, especially foods, and support local people.  This, above all, has gained the most momentum and has the greatest and most lasting impacts.

III.    Seek out, compliment, support, and when possible vote for the few uncorrupted local and national representatives that support agrarian views.

IV.    Flood your unsympathetic politicians with letters and calls demanding favorable agrarian reforms.  To find them go to this website.

V.    Find, encourage, support, and elect true representatives, especially those more sympathetic to agrarian views (positions that are anti-globalist and supportive of local empowerment, production, self-reliance).

In Another Turn of The Crank, Wendell Berry argues that the only hope we have for turning around our current convergence of crisis is through the power of LOVE.  Specifically, he explains that by caring—about ourselves, each other, local landscapes, the agricultural and natural soils that sustain us, the plants and animals upon which we depend, the air we breath, water we drink, and most of all the communities to which we owe our existence—we will save both ourselves and our world.

With more at risk, arguably greater than at any other time in human history, our choices are becoming increasingly more consequential.  We can choose to ignore our situation or to care and take action.  I choose to care.   

Ten Rules of Biodynamic Farming

Ten Rules of Biodynamic Farming
As Presented by Trauger Groh

Summary by Shain Saberon

In Farms of Tomorrow Revisited by Trauger Groh, the author summarizes Rudolph Steiner’s writings on agriculture.  His approach to agriculture is broadly characterized as biodynamic farming.  I believe in many tenants of this method; therefore, it is useful for you, the consumer, to understand some of these ideas.

Rule 1:  No Non-organics On The Farm

I believe the most important idea presented in this work is that “Gardeners and farmers should remain in the realm of the living with all measures and applications.”  In my opinion, this excludes most applications of minerals, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and mineral substances in animal feed.  At EverGreen farm we follow this advice.

Further it is explained, “The only exceptions to these rules would be lime for amending soil and salt for animal consumption.  If these items are used, it is best to remain as close to the realm of living as possible.”  This leads me to believe that greensand and ground oyster shell are also acceptable.  Many organic farmers I know liberally apply these mineral amendments to their compost and soil.  I believe our soil will most benefit from the trace amounts of several minerals available in greensand.  Greensand is the mineralized remains of ancient seabeds and is clearly from the “realm of the living.”

Last of all Steiner recommends, “ For animal, especially ruminants, shrubs should be available as a forage (herbal plants of the families labieate, compoitae, and umbelliferae).  Pigs can be kept free of supplements if they are allowed contact with living soil.”   Currently we have a few shrubs that our goats and horses both graze, but improvements need to be made in this realm on our farm.  We absolutely follow the advice given on the keeping of swine.

Rule 2:  Keep Animals on the Farm to Supply Animal Manure

Another of Rudolph Steiner’s observations was to supply the necessary amount of animal manure “necessary for healthy plant growth by keeping on the farm a sufficient number of animals in the right harmonious combination.”  Later Groh states, “It is best to have a mixed population of animals.  Most important, the farm should have chickens, pigs, horses, and goats.  Cows are also a healthy addition but are secondary to the first set of animals mentioned.”  At EverGreen farm we follow these principles.  Each year we continue to better understand the benefits of keeping animals and then using the compost from their manures to feed the soil that in turn feeds them with rich grasses and leftover crops.

Rule 3:  Feed Your Animals From Your Farm

Another principle presented by Steiner is that animals on your farm should be nurtured with feeds that are grown on your farm.  He argues that animals, plants, and macrobiotic life forms in the soil adapt to each other raising the level of health for all through a symbiotic process.  At EverGreen Farm chickens, goats, pigs, and horses are feed from pasture and left over vegetables not meeting our standards for sale.  Although this only is possible for one-half the year, we feel it is a giant step in the right direction.

Rule 4:  Grow a Great Diversity of Cash and Cover Crops

Steiner believed in diversity, not the monoculture that dominates the American agricultural landscape of today.  Modern industrialized agricultural practices require ever increasing amounts of chemical inputs to combat various infestations that arise when agriculturist plant only one crop.
Steiner declared, “Aim for as great of a diversity of plants on the farm as possible in combination with, and as part of the crop rotation.”  Later he explained, “Fertility and productivity in nature arise out of diversity.”  Besides cash crops, a well-managed farm is abundant with grasses, clovers, and deep-rooting plants like alfalfa.”

At EverGreen Farm we grow over thirty vegetable varieties.  Whenever possible, we follow these crops with a fall or spring planting of rye grass and field peas.  Not only do we advocate a multiplicity of crops, but we also rotate the plants we grow to combat the negative natural consequences caused by uniformity.

Rule 5:  Fertilize Fields with Animal and Plant Manures

Steiner pushed for farmers to “Recognize that the circulation of carbon, or organic substance, throughout the soil, plants, and the air is the basis of permanent fertility.  This circulation expresses itself in the creation and breakdown of humus substance in the soil.”  To achieve this we apply both animal manures and plant based compost to our fields at EverGreen Farm.

Rule 6:  Encourage Silica by Encouraging Living Soils

Another tenant of biodynamics argued was to “Strengthen silica circulation in the soil by encouraging microbiotic processes.”  At our farm we achieve this by applying animal and plant manures, avoiding synthetic substances (especially petrochemical fertilizers) and tilling the ground as little as possible.

Silica is primarily a product of living organism found in living soils.  The application of green and animal manures and the avoidance of the application of synthetic substances has already been thoroughly discussed. However, the last part of this rule touches on another important principle—no/low till farming.  At our farm we are continually tinkering with rotations and systems that will allow us to reduce the amount of tillage on our farm.  Admittedly, we have room to improve in this area 

Rule 7:  Create a Balance Among all Living Things

“Create a harmonious balance in the soil, plants, animals, and the landscape. This should include a balance between field, pasture, and wetland.”   I believe we have made significant improvement in the last few years in our balance of field and pasture.  At this moment, regrettably, we have no wetland.  In spite of our limited space, this is a concern and an issue we plan to address.

Rule 8:  A Natural Environment-Hedgerows and Ponds

“Restore the destroyed natural environment.”  This is primarily achieved by encouraging natural hedgerows and wetlands.  Steiner admonished us to cultivate variety of trees and shrubs in hedgerows that create windbreaks to control soil erosion and provide habitat for beneficial animals.  Also, he advocated the creations of ponds to encourage the formation of dew and provide habitat for other beneficial animals and insects unique to wetlands.  This is another weakness of our farm, and we hope to correct this imperfection too.

Rule 9:  Biological Weed and Pest Controls-Crop/Animal Rotations

“Implement biological weed and pest controls.  Specifically, practice rotating crops, fields, pastures, and consequently animals.”  We follow this practice religiously.

Rule 10:  Follow Natural Rhythms

“Reestablish a rhythmical natural order in animal husbandry and field care that is connected to the rhythms of the earth and its cosmic environment of the sun, moon, and other planets.”  This is where biodynamics loses me.  However, I have an open mind.  If this principle can be proven beneficial to me in a logical and observable form, I will embrace it.

Help Needed For More Local Food Providers

By Shain Saberon

(Photo above:  New York style steak from local beef producer Joe Nield.)

Congratulations!  I applaud each and every one of you for supporting EverGreen Farm.  However, more has to be done for the organic/buy-local movement to reach its potential.  I offer seven more suggestions that I believe will encourage more local food production.

#1.  Obtain as much of your daily food from local farmers as possible.  If you eat meat, seek a local organic rancher first.  If a purist does not exist, I believe it is more beneficial to buy from a local rancher who is mostly “organic” than to buy factory farmed organic from the supermarket.

#2.  I have personally learned that support, praise, and encouragement are strong motivators that encourage food producers to change.  This grows the movement.  So whenever local farmers exist that are not “organic,” mention to them that if they would convert you would support them with even more of your purse.  Would one of our local dairies convert to organic if one hundred locals signed and sent them a petition requesting they change some of their practices?

#3.  When you cannot purchase local or regional foods, buy organic.  This, at least, reduces the toxic toll of industrialized agriculture on our planet.

#4.  Write your local and state representatives demanding legislation that strengthens small farms and local economies.

#5.  Demand a farm bill from local, state, and federal representatives that limits the power of factory farms.  These mega-farms are mostly extensions of multi-national corporations.  Petition your representatives for the elimination of undue influence from corporate lobbyist on food legislation. 

#6.  Demand a farm bill that encourages a transition from factory to small farms. This was the original mandate of the USDA before it was corrupted and taken over by multinational agricultural, pharmaceutical, electronic, chemical, and other industrial corporations (the biggest multinational players are Monsanto, ADM, Cargill, Tyson Foods, Kraft Foods, Wal-Mart, Physer, Dupont, and Digital-Angel Electronics).  Watch the movie The Future of Food for detailed information on this topic.

#7.  Find and bookmark the following organizations on the Internet that are active in this cause:  Cornucopia, The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Stop Animal Id.Org, The Organic Food Institute, Slow Foods, and Bioneers.  Each of the listed organizations is an excellent resource in its own distinct food domain.

Why I Farm

By Shain Saberon

Some don’t believe that people and the earth are in jeopardy.  Many who do believe we are at risk cannot see beyond their chosen cause or focus; be it greenhouse gases, environmental pollution, animal rights, food safety, farmland preservation, religious interpretation, endangered species, hunger, war, pestilence, disease, corporate malfeasance, or moral degradation.  In each and every case the fight has often been to treat the symptoms and not the cause.  This seriously aggravates the problems.  For example, biodeisel will not save us from global warming; it will hasten it as it speeds the poisoning and depletion of our soil resources.  A centralized data base maintaining the whereabouts of every small farmer’s poultry and goats (with colored asterisks for locations of feedlots and pig factories) will not protect the food supply from pandemic diseases, bacterial infestation, or terrorist infiltration.  It, instead, will increase the likelihood of these problems by providing dangerous exemptions for industrial producers and creating a readily available computerized road map of our food system frailties.  Setting farmlands aside in park-like mode does not preserve them as farmlands.  Instead it adds to the net loss.  And yelling and screaming that the fighting must stop while refusing to see that our economy thrives on war profits is like facing a household fan into a high wind . . . the more farms we have, the greater the opportunity of success for each.  The landscape will heal, the countryside will welcome the return of vibrant small farm communities, the economy will strengthen, the capacity to feed people will increase in quantity and health, the immune systems of an ever growing number of people will improve, governments will move offshore, the moral base will once again rise up from the truths of actual working, and the ranks of the hungry will shrink day by day.

Lynn Miller, editor/publisher of The Small Farmers Journal, Winter 2007, Volume 31.  Lynn Miller is a horse farmer, writer, publisher, small farmer activist, and painter.  His tireless works have breathed life into the current organic small farm movement for more than thirty years.

I cannot articulate better than Lynn Miller the reasons I farm and choose to support as many local food producers as possible.  Many of our world’s problems can be solved with the simple acts of farming and supporting those brave enough to advance the cause.

My personal evolution from a recovering suburbanite to a local food producer is neither complex nor peculiar.  Two decades ago as part of my undergraduate honors coursework, I studied eastern philosophy under the guidance of Brahman Hindu priestess.  As I consumed the writings and philosophy of Gandhi, I determined then to make the world a better place.  He eloquently stated, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  After reading that declaration, I decided my calling would be to teach literature to our nation’s youth; in them I saw more hope than in my own generation.  Furthermore, I am passionate about flyfishing, so I also supported Trout Unlimited to protect local ecosystems.  Then, while buying some local organic produce, I met Ryan Foxley.  A friendship germinated and a new journey began for me.  The rest is history.  EverGreen farm was born, and small scale farming in Star Valley continues.  We are excited to play a small but hopefully significant role in our local community.

Thank you for sharing our dream!

Farmers Pledge

AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO USDA ORGANIC CERTIFICATION EVERGREEN FARM WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE NOFA (NORTH EAST ORGANIC FARMERS ASSOCIATION) FARMERS PLEDGE.

WE PLEDGE THAT IN OUR FARMING, PROCESSING, AND MARKETING WE WILL:

Serve the health of soil, people and nature by rejecting the use of synthetic insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers;

reject the use of GMOs, chemically treated seeds, synthetic toxic materials, irradiation, and sewage sludge in our farming, and all synthetic substances in post harvest handling;

treat livestock humanely by providing pasture for ruminants, access to outdoors and fresh air for all livestock, banning cruel alterations, and using no hormones, GMOs or antibiotics in feed;

support agricultural markets and infrastructures that enable small farms to thrive;

maintain and build healthy soils by farming practices that include rotating crops annually, using compost, cover crops, green manures, and reducing tillage;

conserve natural resources by reducing erosion and pollution of air, soil and water through responsible farming practices;

maximize the nutritional value of food and feed by practicing careful post harvest handling;

practice minimal processing for all food products to preserve the natural nutritional value of food: NO use of irradiation, ultra-pasteurization, excessive heat, synthetic preservatives, or GMO processing agents or additives and include all ingredients on labels;

reduce the ecological footprint of farms and homes by limiting energy use and converting to renewable sources of energy;

reduce food miles by selling produce locally and regionally;

create beneficial habitat for wildlife and encourage biodiversity;

help preserve farmland and farming know-how;

ensure food safety by using potable water for washing crops;

handle raw manure and soil amendments with care;

use ethical business practices;

pay a living wage to all farm workers and acknowledge their freedom of association and their right to collective bargaining;

treat family members and farm workers with respect, and ensure their safety on the farm;

work in cooperation with other farmers and with the neighboring community to create a more sustainable way of life;

encourage the distribution of unsold but edible food to people who need it;

sustain the land in healthy condition for future generations.

Why We Choose Not To Certify Organic

By Shain Saberon

We decided not to certify EverGreen Farm and CSA produce as organic.  Considering ourselves traditional organic farmers, we oppose the USDA’s corruption of this word.  Our opposition formed because multinational corporations unfairly influence agricultural policy regulating organic food production.

In the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, a rider sponsored by the Organic Trade Organization legalized the application of 38 synthetic substances to organic foods (The Organic Trade Organization is a lobbying group that represents the largest agribusiness interests like Kraft Foods).  The USDA claims the application of these substances to food is harmless.  However, to my knowledge no evidence exists supporting this claim; I could not find a single trial conducted by an unbiased organization that was either honest or reliable.  Furthermore, in 1997 the USDA declared the use of sewer sludge, irradiation, and genetically modified organisms “organic.”  As you most likely guessed, The Organic Trade Organization also influenced this misguided legislation.  Public outcry forced the USDA to repeal this ridiculous mandate. 

Not only does USDA organic certification fail to protect consumers from non-organic substances in our food supply, but it also falls far short of numerous other practices considered paramount by traditional organic farmers.  Failing to address labor issues, healthy soil practices, and appropriate animal husbandry also demonstrates the unreliability of USDA organic certification.  Can industrialized farming operations relying on cheap and illegal labor, monoculture, and confined animal feeding operations be considered humane or environmentally friendly?  And, are such practices in any way organic?  My apologies for the rhetorical questions.

I believe the USDA is far removed from the original ideas proposed by the founders of the organic movement.  My understanding of the writings of Rudolph Steiner, Sir Albert Howard, J.I. Rodale, J.H. King, and Wendell Berry emphasize agricultural ideals different from those mandates embraced by the USDA.  For these reasons EverGreen Farm chooses not to certify organic.  In the future I will discuss in great detail an alternative to USDA certification.  The program in which we currently participate is Farmer’s Pledge.  Following that article I hope to clearly map, document, and visually represent the agricultural beliefs to which our farm adheres.

Eating Local Foods

By Shain Saberon

Why should a nation produce its own food when others can produce it more cheaply?  A dozen reasons leap to mind . . . but most are quick to dismiss as sentimental.  I’m thinking of the sense of security that comes from knowing that your community, or your country, can feed itself; the beauty of an agricultural landscape; the outlook of the kinds of local knowledge that farmers bring to a community; the satisfactions of buying food from a farmer you know rather than the supermarket; the locally inflected flavor of a raw-milk cheese or honey.  All those things—all those pastoral values—globalization proposes to sacrifice in the name of efficiency and economic growth.

                    -Michael Pollen, The Omnivores Dilemma

Sometimes I ask myself why I ever became involved in agriculture.  This question resonates most loud in the middle of the summer when I find my heart and mind fixated on the serenity of a trout stream and the simple pleasures of fly-fishing.  Most times now other satisfactions—pastoral ones—coexist with my other favorite pastimes.

This year we hope to share more of the beauty of our farm through a celebration, an open invitation to visit us, and a photo album posted on our website.  Yes, the food we lovingly grow, the food on which you dine, has many virtues:  flavor, nutrition, balance, harmony, and sustainability, just to name a few.  However, locality is the greatest strength of our food!

First, your support of our farm has contributed to the growth of our family as farmers, cooks, naturalists, self-reliance enthusiasts, and old-time farming throwbacks.  We hope to share our knowledge with you.  Most of all, we would love to contribute to the vanishing domestic culinary art of preparing and feasting on local and seasonal foods.  Please use our website; we have found great pleasure in the food preparation techniques presented in the recipes posted therein.  We are also proud to announce that we are members of a local Slow Foods convivium, an organization dedicated to the ideals preached in this letter.

Your commitment to our farm makes the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the life with which we have equal stakes on our planet infinitely healthier.  With typical industrialized agricultural practices, 100 pounds of synthetic/petrochemical fertilizer per acre is annually used to grow several staple food crops (corn, potatoes, wheat).  However, many conventional growers admit they often apply double the amount to ensure a “good harvest.”  And this is only a fraction of the fossil fuels and chemicals required to provide factory foods!  Other petrochemical inputs include weed and pest controls as well as preservatives (most conventionally grown produce is subjected to ten chemical applications).  Last, consider the fossil fuel requirements involved in shipping your food from the irresponsible distances of Chile and China?  The untold burden of not eating local food will be written in the chronicles of history as one of our times greatest consumptive sins.

Last, buying local means more of your food dollars stay local.  Tens of thousands of our collective food dollars have been recycled back into the pockets of those in our community.  The purchase of land, animal feeds, water wells, construction materials, labor, advertisement, marketing materials, and much more have been required for the existence of our farm.  Your decision to support us is an action that builds a stronger local economy.

Some parting words.  Please keep more of your food dollars local.  Seek out and support other Star Valley farmers too.  Many more are needed.  One such rancher exists, Joe Nield.  After several conversations with Joe about his farming philosophy and practices, I offer my full endorsement of his grass-fed beef.  Also, Paul Smith with Wyoming Chicken Ranch and the Shumway’s Dairy are contributing to our local food chain.  Please join us to seek out and support more Star Valley farmers for a better future.  Stay tuned for more information on these local food producers.

What is "Organic"?

What Is “Organic”?
By Shain Saberon, EverGreen Farm

Does Wal-Mart’s announcement that it will offer organic foods at only ten-percent above the cost of conventionally grown produce foreshadow the end of the original organic movement?  While the reduction in worldwide use of agricultural chemicals is an obvious benefit of industrialized organics, many other questions are raised.  The following are just a few critical considerations:  Is shipping produce from China to The United States "organic," or does “organic” mean local?  Is the practice of illegal immigrants being paid slave wages by big organic producers with little or no benefits humane or “organic?”  And finally, are super-sized factory farms “organic”? My answer is NO!  Following are my thoughts on what this word means:

#1.  More than all other considerations I define organic as food secured from healthy, natural living soils and clean water.  This requires that the farmer continually consider nature and attempts to work with it through practices like crop rotation, cover cropping, applying animal manures, low tillage, and rest.  At its core this belief rejects the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, GMO’s, and fungicides.

#2.  Organic also means we produce our food in an ecologically friendly and ethical manner.  I believe in providing nourishment to others that does not pollute our world.  In fact, I want our farm to enhance the environmental quality of our community and planet.  This requires, for example, that we reduce the use of all petrochemical and electrical inputs at our farm.  Next, food that is ethically produced requires labor that is humanely rewarded.  The price of food is, therefore, neither expensive nor cheap.  Instead it is reasonable.  This demands honesty from the farmer and trust from the patron.

#3. Organic products must be local because fresher foods are better for us.  Several nutritional studies concluded that as produce respires (a phenomenon that occurs to foods at an incremental rate from the time of harvest) it loses more of its innate flavor and vitality. Unless you can justify the consequences from the expenditure of jet fuels necessary to fly foods around the world only days from being processed, food cannot be harvested and delivered in one or two days.  Consequently organic means fresh, delicious, healthy, local foods!

#4.  Organic foods from animals can only come from creatures that live, or lived, as conceivably happy as possible.  This requires that all farmed animals have ample open space, an abundance of fresh air, clean water, and access to good pasture.  I believe that without these conditions animals become stressed.  Under such stress creatures become proportionately toxic.  Toxic food products are neither healthy nor “organic.”

#5.  Organic farms necessarily encourage community building by sustaining stronger local economies.  Communities are built when farmers purchase local inputs, employ local people, and line local pockets whenever possible!

#6.  Organic means democratic.  Thomas Jefferson once stated, “ . . . cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens . . . they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bonds.”  Family farmers cannot exist without local control.  If we are not allowed to determine our food safety standards, organic principles will erode.  As recently as 2006, a rider sponsored by a lobbyist for Kraft Foods on federal legislation was attached to NOP (National Organic Practice) standards.  This rider allowed for the application of certain synthetic substances, post-harvest, for food preservation.  The fascist sin of allowing corporations to determine food standards is neither democratic nor “organic.”