Our proud achievements in sustainability.
A Few Examples.
Drip line irrigation watering, exceeds water efficiency by 90%. By teaming heavy, organic mulch with drip line irrigation, water only gets where it is needed within the mulch, holding it in while nourishing the soil. Composting, worm castings, and fish slurry, allow us to avoid synthetic fertilizers, while feeding our flowers, herbs and produce everything they need. This also creates very healthy soil, benefiting the entire ecosystem. Reduce, reuse, recycle. By taking good care of our pots and trays, we have been able to reuse them for as much as eight years (and counting). By getting extended life from our pots and trays, we have significantly cut our use of these petrolium based products. We use recycled materials for most projects around our house and farm. Just recently, a 100 year old barn beam became a support for our solar panel system. Solar power systems have been added to power our lighting, fans, music, and charging stations, reducing our reliance on the non-renewable based power grid. Incorporating the use of passive solar, we built a passive solar heat exchanger. Most of the materials used, were recycled. A solar powered fan (made from found pieces) helps push the heated air from the exchanger, into the hoop house. The exchanger uses the sun to heat, and pump air into the hoop house during early spring, and late fall. It allows us to be less reliant on fossil based fuels. We are currently exploring and implementing "no till" farming, further cutting our use of fossil fuels, while not releasing carbon emissions from the soil. 80% of carbon emissions are released by farming/plowing of the soil. Using natural biology, we are able to control weeds, insects, and other pests while nourishing our soil and avoiding harmful chemicals.