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Sustainable can be defined as the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level. The imperative word in this definition is “maintain”. Sustainable agriculture must incorporate practices that look beyond the needs of today and into the future of the environment, public health, and human communities. The practices of a sustainable farm must promote agriculture that will maintain human and environmental flourishing into the future, instead of just looking to put a bandaid on a problem. Sustainable farming means striving to give back to and care for the earth so that it can maintain production for years to come.
Ironically, Frog Hollow Farm is an organic haven situated between miles and miles of conventional farming land. These conventional farms, no doubt, produce a large volume of produce that is cheap for the farmer, as well as the consumer. Compared to the organic farming methods at Frog Hollow, however, these conventional practices do not consider of the long term effects of their farming methods. As I drove through the orchard with Farmer Al this week, I was in awe as he explained the thoughtful system Frog Hollow has developed to truly “maintain [production] at a certain rate or level”. It is such a beautiful and circular system that feeds the living, breathing, ecological system that is constantly changing from one moment to the next.
You, as CSA members, know that Farmer Al strives to deliver the most ripe fruit to his customers. Leaving fruit to ripen on the tree is extremely risky for many reasons and many farmers shy away from the challenge. The longer a piece of fruit remains on a tree, the more susceptible it is to damage or even overripeness, but that does not scare Farmer Al. All fruit, from unripe to overripe, is accounted for by different systems and markets at Frog Hollow. Our overripe fruit is dried or frozen. Our frozen fruit can, then, be utilized year round to create delicious conserves and pastries! Our under ripe fruit or fruit that is inedible is added to our compost in order to nourish and re-vitalize our soil. The fruit that is of perfect ripeness is sent to our mail order customers around the country, many of whom like to receive their fruit a little under ripened to allow it to ripen on their counters. Lastly comes you – our CSA members. You too have a role in helping us to maintain a sustainable system. Fruit that is too ripe to go to stores or farmers markets, where fruit is touched and squeezed by customers is sent to your home. The fruit in our CSA boxes is fruit that travels directly from the farm to the home, so it will not be handled by many hands as in other markets. This means that you receive the most sweet and ripe fruit – our best fruit in terms of flavor.
Another sustainable practice that Farmer Al has pursued is the use of worms to create vermicompost. For those of you, like myself, who do not know, vermi, means worm, so vermicompost is compost created by worms! About 4 years ago, Frog Hollow purchased worms and since then we have been growing our own worms. One of the coolest things about our worms is that they LOVE cardboard! This means that all the cardboard waste we have, we give to the worms and they turn it into rich top soil. This is a great deal for us – our waste can be turned into something that gives back to the earth! The vermicompost is extremely rich, but is slower to make as we only have roughly 30 million worms to break down organic matter in contrast to the trillions of microbes and fungi that are at work in our larger compost production (thermophilic compost). Vermicompost and worms, however, are imperative to our successful growth.
These are only a few ways that Farmer Al strives to reduce food waste and maintain a sustainable farm. Though organic methods are expensive, the fruit production and quality they yield, as well as the long term effects on our world, far exceed the cost. Thank you for your role in being a part of helping to support a sustainable food system!
