Practices that we use to make Us Sustainable and a Permaculture Farm

Welcome to our Farm! 

We provide seasonal produce, eggs and flowers. 

We practice sustainable and permaculture farming techniques at C&A Farm.

Sustainable Farming is an integrated system of agricultural production that meets current food needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. It balances environmental health by mimicking natural ecological cycles rather than fighting them.

 We use techniques like no-till farming and growing cover crops to prevent erosion, improve water retention, and keep the soil ecosystem alive and nourished.

 We rotate crops, alternating the types of crops planted in a field over different seasons. This disrupts pest and disease cycles while naturally replenishing soil nutrients.

 We add good bugs instead of relying on heavy synthetic pesticides; we encourage natural predators (like ladybugs and birds) to control crop-destroying pests, thereby reducing reliance on chemicals.

Permaculture Farming is a regenerative agricultural system that mimics natural ecosystems to create self-sustaining, highly diverse, low-maintenance environments. It integrates plants, animals, and infrastructure to build healthy soil, conserve water, and eliminate waste, producing abundant food without depleting the planet.

 We use techniques that are tried and true through generations to replenish the soil to create products that are good for you, good the environment, and taste how nature intends it to taste. We use animal manure, fire, companion plants, good bugs, and good ol’ fashioned weeding by hand. 

We work to create a farm and ground for generations to come. Once we see a plethora of Robins, we know we are heading in a balanced direction:  good ground=worms=robins. 

Our Permaculture technique details include: 

Crop Rotation: We alternate the type of crop grown in a specific field season-by-season. For example, we avoid planting tomatoes in the same spot for 3 to 4 years to prevent the buildup of soil-borne diseases (like blight) and nutrient depletion. Tomatoes are heavy feeders that rapidly deplete the soil of potassium, nitrogen, and calcium. They also consume significant amounts of phosphorus for root growth, as well as micronutrients like magnesium and zinc. 

Our favorite organic fertilizer is Fishy 5-1-1 in the spring to get things going. We also add Tums in the bottom of the tomatoes to add calcium. GRO-WELL Proven Organics, bone meal, and blood meal is also a go-to for us. Other than that we leave the plants alone to do what they do. If the plant looks unhappy, we add a small amount of Epson salt until they look better.  

 We grow peas and or beans in a rest bed year.  These pull nitrogen from the air and add it naturally to the soil. On the side, we will plant cucumbers to feed off of the goodness the peas and beans don’t use. 

 The next year we plant brassicas in that field.

 The next year we plant Tomatoes. They need the phosphorus that is left behind. I have heard you should not plant cucumbers with tomatoes, but we have planted cucamelons and cucumbers and they both do great. 

 The beds that are with new lose soil (formed by adding copious amounts of compost that is heavy on pine shavings, which consume nitrogen as it breaks down completely), we plant carrots, and onions. These crops require less nitrogen, but utilize the potassium remaining in the bed.

Plant Cover Crops: We plant winter peas, vetch, or oats very early in the spring, then till them into the soil a few weeks before planting to break up disease cycles and add organic matter. In the Fall, we use a combination of winter peas, crimson clover and sugar beets. We toss in sugar beets to our sheep areas to add treats for the sheep to find.  

No-Till Farming: We leave the ground undisturbed after a harvest. Instead of plowing, we plant seeds directly into the residue of the previous crop, which prevents soil erosion, locks in moisture, and reduces carbon emissions. When we let the bed rest ( that varies, could be a rest between crops or a year, depending on what was grown in the bed before) we put down a heavy layer of straw bedding from our sheep barn. Sheep manure is one of our the most nutrient-rich, balanced natural fertilizers. On average, it offers an NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) balance which provides great plant development.

Water Catchment (Swales & Ponds): We dig ditches on contour lines to "slow, spread, and sink" rainfall into the soil, hydrating the landscape naturally. If you look around, our down spouts from the house are buried and lead to small retention ponds so rainwater can slowly hydrate areas. You can see the swales carved in the farm to redirect fast moving rain fall to keep the water from washing out the flower garden and the paddock for the horse. An underground watershed keeps the paddocks for the sheep dry.

Rotational Grazing: 

We have permanent fencing for the ponies , so they cannot escape and limit them from eating too much protein rich grasses in the spring. We also use movable fencing to keep them on fresh grass as the season extends and the protein levels drop on the grasses and legumes in the pasture. Our sheep are on 25-day rotational grazing schedule so they have limited exposure to parasites. 

Chickens:

Our chickens are contained in an area that they rule. It is big enough for them to be chickens, to scratch up ground, to eat bugs in their area, to be safe from predators, and to exercise. They are supplemented with scratch grain and organic chicken food. Chickens are destructive to gardens, hence we limit them to an area they can be happy and healthy and the gardens can flourish. 

Compost: 

We have 3 compost sites on the farm.

1) Near the barn to collect manure and pine bedding from the horse stalls; this is turned a couple times a year and used in the fall to dress the gardens. 2) Behind the horse paddock to collect rich, hot manure from the horses and chickens. This area is turned a couple of times per year and is only used after a three-year composting time frame. 3) An area up by the driveway that is a collect all location for garden scraps and sheep bedding that is not used to cover the garden beds. This is our experimental area. It gets burned in the fall and raked using the bucket of the tractor. The goal is to create soil suitable to plant wildflowers in an area that was not able to grow anything. 

Microclimate:

When building our house, we took advantage of the southern exposure and our big stone walls to create microclimates to extend the growing season in certain areas.

Raised Beds:

Most of our Raised beds are zinc lined, these are the most food safe grade bed available. We like to use them because you can monitor the nutrients to best suit what you are growing and they are off the ground for ease of weeding. The non zinc lined beds are made of hemlock and are burned inside with a torch to decrease the decomposition of wood. Shou Sugi Ban is a centuries-old technique of preserving timber by charring the surface with fire. This chemical-free method creates a durable carbon layer that protects the wood against rot, insects, UV rays, and even fire, for decades.

Plant locations:

We plant onions and garlic on the outer perimeter to deter destructive bugs and have mint in contained beds so they do not spread and take over. Plus, they attract assassin bugs and other good ones to help control destructive bugs, mainly horn worms.

Natural mulches:

We use wool from our sheep to mulch certain plants. Sheep wool not only holds in lots of moisture, but also deters ground loving bugs like slugs.  We also use bedding from the sheep barn, if it is more then 90 days before expected harvest date.

Hay:

We hay our 15 plus acres to assure our animals get the best quality hay. It has been a journey, for when we bought this ground it was a hay field for cattle. This is our third-year haying and find we are now able to grow and harvest appropriate spring grass, summer grass and legumes for our animals. 

Experiments:

We have many experiments going on to see what is the best farming methods for us. We fail (a lot) as we learn how to best improve our gardening results. Growing presents multiple ways to achieve what is desired. One method may work for one situation, but not the other. 

Do we eat what we grow?

Absolutely!  What we do not eat fresh, we preserve and stock in our pantry. We also donate to the Glade Spring Senior Center kitchen weekly. 

If we do not grow it, we know other farmers that grow what we need in a fashion that supports our gardening standards. We can provide you with other names of farmers and growers in the area, as necessary. We want to help tantalize your taste buds! 

Learning:

We have learned so much from the Master Gardener Program of Washington County, and our work with Cat Talbot, Cecily Corcoran, Casie Martinze, Gloria Basse,  Ben Casteel, Mary Beth Tignor and Mark at Emory and Henry, along with many other farmers and growers of the area. We encourage you to meet other growers to continue to enhance your gardening dreams. 

Past lives:

Andrea ran an MOSA organic farm (midwest organic service association certified) selling to restaurants in Milwaukee and Oconomowoc, Wisconsin and also vended in the Madison, Wisconsin Farmers Market. She raised alpacas and angora goats to help with soil health. Christopher grew up in Abingdon and is a mechanical Engineer, so he can and does help keep everything running.