Our Philosophy
We don’t have a farm but we lease land—one of the reasons we won’t be certified organic. But, I would love it if we were. That is what I grew up with. We have to make compromises, and I decided many years ago that Minimalistic-Alternative describes us.
Since I made this term up, allow me to explain . . .
Minimalistic-Alternative means we reject strong toxins and GMO.
We are completely NON-GMO. We don’t approve of or care for that concept. And while we are not organic, and some treatments are unavoidable, we reject the heavy hitters and strong dosing. If something really can’t make it with just a little help, then the harrows will end it. And we can do that since we have small patches of different things in intervals, not miles and miles of the same type of crop. You will know when that happened when we tell you that we’re out of something until the next patch comes in…
What else?
We do use some fertilizer when something absolutely needs it. More like a little Salt and Pepper, not like Ketchup and Mayo.
We also have a lot of different crops in small patches, which get rotated, to not deplete the soil, but sometimes that is just not enough.
We hoe and till the weeds, and invest in biodegradable plastic since we don’t have hired help to keep up with all of the weeding.
When pests, fungi, and viruses try to destroy all the plantings, we have little choice but to deal with them on some chemical level. We do a lot of research to find, if possible, organic solutions, or the least toxic options with very targeted applications. We work there, the kids help, and I am the first to snack not only on the vegetables but also the weeds, many of which I call Herbs.
In other words, like in medicine, there is a time for herbal treatment, and there is a time for allopathy. It really depends on what ails you. Same for the plants.