Our Growing Practices

At our farm, we take our role as environmental stewards seriously and are committed to growing high-quality produce while caring for the land that sustains us.

We are a conventional farm, but like many small-scale farms, we focus on minimizing pesticide use by following Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices very strictly.
IPM is a science-based, environmentally responsible approach to pest control that prioritizes prevention first, with spraying used only as a last resort.

How We Practice IPM
Instead of applying pesticides on a routine schedule, we closely monitor our crops for pest and disease pressures throughout the growing season. Our team scouts fields regularly, identifying potential problems early and tracking whether they are increasing or staying at manageable levels. This careful monitoring allows us to avoid unnecessary treatments and only act when absolutely necessary.

To prevent pest outbreaks before they happen, we focus on management practices that naturally reduce pest populations and promote healthy soil and plant resilience. These include:

Crop rotation – Changing what we plant in each field from year to year naturally disrupts pest cycles and prevents soil depletion.

Cover cropping – Growing non-harvested plants to improve soil health, prevent erosion, and suppress weeds and pests. Cover crops also prevent fields from becoming waterlogged, which can create conditions for plant diseases to thrive.

Encouraging beneficial insects – We promote populations of natural predators like ladybugs, predatory mites, and lacewings, which help control pest populations without the need for chemical intervention.

Spraying as a Last Resort
If pest pressures do reach a point where intervention is necessary to save a crop, we only treat affected areas with a carefully selected solution. Spraying is never our first line of defense—it is a decision we make only when all other preventative measures have been exhausted, and the pest population reaches a threshold where it could cause serious damage to the harvest.

When treatment is required, we choose the most effective and responsible option available, whether that be an organic or conventional pesticide. The decision is always made with sustainability, food safety, and environmental responsibility in mind.

How We Compare to Large-Scale Industrial Farms

Unlike large-scale industrial farms—both organic and conventional—we do not rely on preventative pesticide spraying as a primary strategy. Many industrial farms, especially those growing monocultures (a single crop on a large scale), experience significantly higher pest pressures because they lack the crop diversity and rotations that naturally break pest cycles. As a result, they often apply pesticides more frequently, sometimes even before a pest problem exists.

By focusing on preventative growing practices first and using spraying only as a last resort, we are able to reduce our reliance on pesticides, ensuring that we are only using them when absolutely necessary to protect a crop. This approach aligns with our commitment to sustainability, responsible farming, and providing fresh, high-quality food for our community.

At the end of the day, we believe that farming should work in harmony with nature, and we take pride in the thoughtful, responsible way we care for our land and crops.