Although our farm is not certified organic we do follow many organic growing methods. Our greenhouse tomato crop uses natural predators to eat other bugs and we have had almost 100 % success with that particular bug. One reason we are not certified organic is because we use fertilizer that is produced by “man” and does not come out of the back end of an animal. We need to give our crops exact rates of nutrients in order for them to grow properly, just like any living thing.
We use a method called IPM (integrated pest management) which employs scouting of a crop to see if there are any bugs or disease. This way small amounts of plants can be removed if there is a disease or certain areas can be sprayed with insecticidal soap if there is a small outbreak of insects instead of just spraying everything. We try not to spray insecticides and we have not sprayed any vegetables with insecticides for the last 3 years at least.
I feel it is more important to know where your food comes from and know who grows it than buying organic vegetables from another state, or country without knowing anything but what a sign says. If you come to our farm you should ask the growers about the methods used. We will give you straight answers.
