Farm & Garden

At Earth Haven Farm, we grow black raspberries. We tried red raspberries, but they did not do well alongside the black raspberries.  We tried yellow raspberries, but they did not produce the quantity of berries that we were looking for. Each year we sell black raspberry root stock in the…

By definition, organic farming and gardening, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming, is an agricultural system that emphasizes the use of naturally occurring, non-synthetic inputs, such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation, companion planting, and mixed cropping. Biological pest control methods such as the fostering of insect predators…

The term “sustainable agriculture” was defined in 1977 by the USDA as an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term. satisfy human food and fiber needs enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agriculture economy depends make…

What is No-Till Farming? No-till farming is an agricultural technique for growing crops or pasture without disturbing the soil through tillage. No-till farming decreases the amount of soil erosion tillage causes in certain soils, especially in sandy and dry soils on sloping terrain. Other possible benefits include an increase in the amount…

Companion planting in farming and gardening is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including weed suppression, pest control and pollination. Companion planting provides habitat for beneficial insects, maximizing use of space, and to otherwise increase crop productivity. Companion planting is a…

Importance of Pollinators on the Farm Pollinators are responsible for pollinating over 75% of the world’s flowering plants, including many food crops that humans reply on. Without pollinators, the production of fruits, vegetables, and nuts would drastically decrease, leading to food shortages and increased food prices. Farming Is Not Possible…

Corn likely originated in Mexico about 10,000 years ago as a much smaller plant than it is today.  But early native Americans learned how to pick specific kernels to replant, so that the size of the plant and yield of the crops increased. Dent corn is a variety of corn…

There are 12 basic standard principles of permaculture design. Whatever resource you look at they are all the same. (Source: permacultureprinciples.com – Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 AU) By following these principles, we can create systems that are not only sustainable but regenerative-providing for human needs while restoring the health of…