Organic farming : how to raise, certify, and market organic crops and livestock

179 Pages·2014·52.78 MB·English

by  Peter V

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organic
FARMING
HOW TO RAISE, CERTIFY, AND MARKET
ORGANIC CROPS AND LIVESTOCK
Peter V. Fossel
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Dedication
To Susan Benjamin, without whose encouragement this revised edition might
never have happened. She convinced me how important it was.
First published in 2007 by Voyageur Press, Digital edition: 978-1-62788-196-8
an imprint of Quayside Publishing Group Inc.,
Softcover edition: 978-0-76034-571-9
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400,
Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
© 2007, 2014 Voyageur Press
Text © Peter V. Fossel Fossel, Peter V.
Organic farming : how to raise, certify, and market organic crops and
Photographs by Peter V. Fossel except where noted. livestock / by Peter V. Fossel.
pages cm
All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for Other title: How to raise, certify, and market organic crops and
the purposes of review, no part of this publication may be reproduced livestock
without prior written permission from Includes index.
the Publisher. ISBN 978-0-7603-4571-9 (sc)
1. Organic farming. I. Title. II. Title: How to raise, certify, and
The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our market organic crops and livestock.
knowledge. All recommendations are made without any guarantee S605.5.F662 2014
on the part of the author or Publisher, who also disclaims any liability 631.5’84--dc23
incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details. 2013047880
We recognize, further, that some words, model names, and Editor: Elizabeth Noll
designations mentioned herein are the property of the trademark Design Manager: Cindy Samargia Laun
holder. We use them for identification purposes only. This is not an Design and layout: Rebecca Pagel
official publication.
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contents
why organic?
CHAPTER 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
the new farm
CHAPTER 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
the soul of soil
CHAPTER 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
cover crops and
CHAPTER 4
green manures
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
crop rotation
CHAPTER 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
the compost question
CHAPTER 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
greenhouses
CHAPTER 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
bugs and pests
CHAPTER 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
weed control
CHAPTER 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
tractors and tillers
CHAPTER 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
transition to organic
CHAPTER 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
to market, to market
CHAPTER 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
growing herbs and
CHAPTER 13
vegetables
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
flower farming
CHAPTER 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
organic livestock
CHAPTER 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
glossary
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
index
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
about the author
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
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CHAPTER 1
why organic?
I love to inhale the fragrance of the fertile earth—
our mother. It speaks to me of days gone by, but
also of days to come, because I firmly believe that
without it we shall have no future.
On a vernal morning I scoop both hands into my
fertile farm soil and lift it to my face with reverence,
to inhale its fragrance. This heady, almost magical
earth reeks of love and the forest floor, teeming with
life and mystery. It is rich with beneficial microbes
and fungi, bacteria, earthworms, plants, bugs, and
humus. Merlin himself lies in this earth I hold in my
hands. It is why I farm.
I will never be so mechanized that I can’t smell
the earth and know what it needs—ever. You may
think me crazy, but it speaks to me, and I answer. Not
just for me, mind you, but for those who buy my food.
Fertile earth is everything.We moved away from
it in the 1940s and afterward, when chemical fertiliz-
ers made our soil little more than a planting medium
whose “fertility” was entrusted to petrochemicals,
weed control to the likes of Agent Orange, and pest
control to DDT. But we are coming back now, back
to earth as it were, full circle or even better. And we
are coming back with something of a vengeance.
Organic food and beverage sales in the United
States have grown from $1 billion in 1990 to $26.7
billion in 2010, representing a hefty 7.7 percent
growth over 2009—with fruits and vegetables up
nearly 12 percent in that year, according to the
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Organic Trade Association. In fact organic fruits and
vegetables now account for roughly 12 percent of all
fruit and vegetable sales in the United States, the
association reports.
This makes organics the fastest-growing sector of
American agriculture and perhaps the most profit-
able. Certified organic farmland doubled between
1995 and 2000, and then doubled again between
2000 and 2005. In total there were 4 million acres
of cropland and pasture dedicated to organic pro-
duction in 2005, according to the USDA Economic
Research Service. Today that number is estimated to
have more than doubled again—to roughly 8 to 10
million acres.
About the only thing growing faster are the peas
and tomatoes on my farm.
So what’s going on here?
A Matter of Taste
Health is surely part of it—a big part, mind you—but A day at the farmers’ market; one of the most enjoyable
you must start with taste. times you can imagine.
Organic Means What?
The word “natural” is meaningless in the food world, but the word “organic” has a
strict and powerful meaning in law. If a farmer describes his produce as “certified
organic” it means he or she has gone through an arduous and to some extent
costly process to meet USDA guidelines, requiring that produce to be raised using
virtually no chemical pesticides, fertilizers, or synthetic ingredients. Both seeds and
transplants are chemical free, and all fertilizer is organic as well.
Animal products must be given no antibiotics or growth hormones, fed only
with organic feed, and given no medications aside from those used as vaccinations
or to treat an illness.
Products labeled as one-hundred-percent organic must be guaranteed to be
free of any GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Farm inputs such as fertilizer or
potting soils must contain the seal of approval from the Organic Materials Research
Institute (OMRI). If it doesn’t have that label, it isn’t organic.
Farms selling less than $5,000 worth of produce a year may call themselves
“organic” without paying for certification, so long as they follow all rules and proce-
dures required by formal certification. But you don’t have to write a check.
I like that.
WHY ORGANIC? 7
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Selling out of the back of a pickup truck can be both simple and effective. This one has a roof for shade and provision for
a hanging scale.
I sell my organic produce at the Orleans Farmers’ But organic celery? Hello.The flavor is so rich it
Market on Cape Cod. It’s a destination—both the frightens off some people who take it as almost an-
market and the town—so Europeans often stop by, other vegetable entirely. It’s so flavorful you remem-
or Canadians, or those from other nations, and their ber it, and tell friends about it; so rich you never
comments are often the same: “Why does your food forget what celery is supposed to taste like, if only
have no flavor?” By that, they mean American food. we would stop pummeling it into submission with
So I offer them a bite—of leeks, broccoli, celery, chemicals. The irony is that I’ve never had the need
tomatoes, or what have you. And every time—every to use pesticides, fungicides, or fertilizers on celery.
single time without exception—the response is the I plant from seed, put the transplants in fertile, or-
same. “Wow!” (Or a variation on that.) ganic earth with drip irrigation after last frost, then
Celery is the champion, even over tomatoes. wait for it to ripen in midsummer. Oh, blight will get
Americans buy celery having virtually no leaves on some now and then, and now and then a slug, but I
the stalks or flavor inside because that’s what our su- grow enough for everyone.
permarkets offer. Celery has become little more than Garlic is another crop where the taste difference
a vehicle for dinner dips in our country. It also sits between organic and conventional is like that of a
atop the list of our “Dirty Dozen” for the most pesti- nice Chateau Neuf versus Ripple. Basil is the same,
cides (more than sixty) in any American vegetable. so my wife, Janet, was able to charge nine dollars an
You might suspect the two are related, and you’d be ounce for her organic pesto and sold out every week
right. (See sidebar, next page.) at the market in Tennessee.
8 CHAPTER 1
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