Event

Building Long-Term Soil Health On The Farm

Doing right by your soil can be a substantial challenge on a small-acre intensive vegetable farm. The need for multiple successions, clean seedbeds, and high fertility often means that farmers rely on aggressive tillage and costly inputs that burn organic matter, release carbon, and obliterate the soil food web.

Mehaffey Farm, a multi-generational diversified CSA farm, has come up with some unique strategies for reducing their need for imported inputs while also improving fertility and soil quality. In this workshop well tour the farm with an eye toward soil care practices and carbon-reducing technologies, such as their heirloom wheat/clover trial beds, compost-heated hoop houses, and a large composting system that utilizes community waste products to create a high-end compost amendment.

Dorn Cox, farmer, soil researcher, and Executive Director of GreenStart, will then discuss soil health testing and management planning. He uses intensive cover cropping, minimal and no-till strategies, as well as innovative agricultural equipment and other practical tools to improve soil productivity while reducing fertilizer, water, and energy inputs.

This workshop is intended for all farmers working to close the nutrient cycle on their farm and bring their soils and crops to the next level of nutrition, taste, and sustainability.