We are honored to have the opportunity to steward this remarkable, diverse piece of land and our growing practices are guided by a respect for nature and natural systems. We seek to increase biodiversity, and foster an environment where beneficial insects, fungi, and microbes can thrive. We use practices that protect the diverse ecology on the farm, and minimize environmental harm both on and off the farm.
Are We Organic?
Just Roots has a commitment to sustainable, organic farming. Over the past six years we have worked to build healthy soils on the land that we are privileged to steward. In that time, we have grown our vegetable crops following organic standards and practices. Although we are not a certified organic farm, we use only materials approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute for pest control and fertility management. We focus on building healthy soils that will, in turn, provide us with strong, healthy, delicious food.
We encourage CSA shareholders and community members to ask our team about our farming practices, and we regularly communicate those practices through our weekly farm share newsletter.
Pest Control
We use holistic management practices to reduce pest populations and do not use any conventional pesticides. We use a variety of methods to control pests including good fertility management, crop rotation, intentional plantings to attract and support beneficial insects, beneficial insect releases, biological and mycorrhizal inoculations, and selection of resilient crops and varieties. We use organic pesticides as a last resort.
Fertility
Our fertility management program utilizes regular soil testing to determine what materials need to be added each year for optimum soil health and growing conditions. We use cover crops to provide organic matter and nitrogen, as well as to smother weeds and break up compact soils. We add a variety of minerals including many important trace minerals (boron, cobalt, selenium, copper, etc) that are often overlooked on farms. Our bodies rely on these minerals being present in our food. If they have been depleted in our soils, they will likely not be available in our food. Adding these minerals in appropriate quantities also helps develop more resilient plants that have increased resistance to pests and disease. We also use a variety of other materials for fertility including dehydrated poultry manure, lime, gypsum, bone char, soft rock phosphate, and more.