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Organic Farming
Adventures
in Organic Farming--TERRAFIRMA
In the past ten years, the topic of organic farming has moved beyond the health food store and the vegetarian crowd to become a concern of mainstream Americans. When historians write the story of organic farming in America, they may look back to the 1988 Alar apple scare as the defining moment when organic farming moved out of the realm of "alternative farming" to become a practical and healthy dietary choice for a mass audience. While the Alar scare turned out to be overblown hype, the worries about food safety were real and spawned a movement of concerned parents and consumers.
While agri-business style farming which uses chemical fertilizers, genetically altered seeds, and pesticides is still the overwhelming method for American farmers, the organic farming movement has grown significantly in the past decade. Terrafirma, in Winters, California, (about ninety minutes north of San Francisco) is a typical organic farming concern. With fifteen employees, it has been in operation for ten years. Paul Holmes founded Terrafirma and went into partnership with Paul Underhill three years ago. The farm is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, where CSA provides guidelines about organic growing and distribution. The farm is certified by the California Organic Farmers.
Life on an organic farm is about soil. All organic farmers know their soil. The 84 acres that sustain Terrafirma lie along Putah Creek, which is a tailwater creek off of Lake Berrysea. The creek provides nutrients to the soil that are evident from the diverse flora and fauna along its banks.
Trout, which have virtually disappeared from this part of Northern California, flourish in the cloudy waters of Putah Creek. Brown trout planted in the creek began to spawn near the dam and the state designated the stretch a catch and release only stream.
It is along this rich creek where Terrafirma grows its strawberries, asparagus, lettuces, greens, squash, tomatoes, and orchards of apricots, walnuts, plums and quinces.
Source:
http://www.fiftythings.com/
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