Growing Organically Since 1982

 

BREAKING! The Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture passed two bills restricting the use of glyphosate in Massachusetts!

H.791 eliminates the use of toxic pesticides on playgrounds and anywhere that children learn and play!

H.792 takes all glyphosate-containing herbicides (including Monsanto's Roundup) off hardware store shelves and ends consumer use of this toxic biocide!

 

The Real Climate Change Mitigating Diet

Carbon Sequestration, Health and Nutrition

Lately there has been a lively discussion about what diet best combats climate change across a range of mainstream and social media platforms.  

Every major food movement—from vegetarianism to fortified grains to the organic movement—is motivated by the conjoined aspirations of better health and a more ethical diet. Yet movements are fueled by proclamations short enough to fly on banners, and—as with every endeavor involving the intersection of human infrastructure and the broader ecosystems in which we live—reality refuses to be condensed to a slogan.   

With climate change rapidly becoming the irrefutable issue of our time, the food movements are seeking to hang the banner of “climate change solutions” on their castles. But who has the right to claim this flag?  

Know, and Test, the Viability of Your Seed

Farming, gardening, Vegetables

For the ambitious gardener, there is nothing quite as frustrating as planting seeds that never come up. You watch and wait, and wait some more, and wait some more, and…nothing. Precious weeks can slip away before you accept that you’re going to have to replant. For any crop, this is a nuisance; for some, like long-season tomatoes or late-season broccoli, it’s a disaster.  

There are three keys to avoiding this disaster:  

  • Store your seeds properly 

  • Test their viability   

  • Replace them when its time 

Finding Your Way in the Modern Dairy Market with Pam and Ray Robinson of Robinson Farm

Raw Milk, Livestock, farmers, Landcare

Dairy cows have been dubbed “the heart of the homestead” throughout American history because of their high productivity and ability to provide sustenance for so many other beings on a small farm.  On a diet of grass, hay and perhaps some supplemental grain, a dairy cow can produce enough milk to feed her calf and a small human family, with enough left over to share with pigs, chickens and other omnivores on the farm.  Her calves can be raised for beef or as future dairy cows, and her manure can be recycled into the landscape as fertilizer.  On some traditional New England farms, the cattle shelter was built under the family home to utilize the heat that the cow produced from ruminating to help heat the house in winter.  With so many benefits in one domestic animal, it’s easy to see how dairy cows have become a beloved staple on so many farms. 

The Robinson family of Hardwick has loved their 270 acres in central Massachusetts since before the turn of the 20th century.  Ray Robinson is the fourth-generation farmer to care for Robinson Farm and make it his own.  From a young boy playing and helping in the fields to taking the reins and steering the farm in new directions, Ray was raised to care for this piece of earth and all its living things

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