Veganic Agriculture Network

Hesperides Organica

Meghan — 2010-03-09T21:46:49Z

Hesperides Organica is located in the town of Warwick, New York, about 1 ½ hours northwest of New York City, and is run by farmer Lisa.

The farm is located in the Black Dirt region of Orange County, an area with extremely fertile soil. The black dirt is left over from an ancient glacial lake, and has a high degree of organic matter (50%). Farmer Lisa likens the soil to “a big bowl of compost”. While the land isn't suitable for building houses or practicing livestock agriculture, the high degree of organic matter is quite favorable to veganic growing.

The farmers chose to use veganic methods because they oppose the use of animal products, especially those produced on factory farms, and they also find that veganic agriculture fits well with their goal of becoming a self-sustaining farm.

At Hesperides Organica they are aiming for a closed system, and are working to minimize their use of outside materials. The farm currently has minimal inputs, including some seaweed and kelp meal, and certified organic pesticides in the case of specific problems. They purchase open-pollinated and heirloom seeds, and have begun to practice seed saving with the intention of becoming self-sufficient. As the land they are growing on is already highly fertile, they feel it is possible to sustain high fertility without outside inputs.

To maintain fertility on the land, Lisa uses vegetable compost, compost tea, and cover crops. Barley, rye, buckwheat, and sudangrass are used for cover crops, as well as a spring green manure mix from Johnny's Seeds. A mixture of grasses are grown around each bed of vegetables.

Hesperides Organica market their produce through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, providing vegetables and herbs to 50 members, and part of the harvest is donated to local homeless shelters and food banks. Alongside a wide variety of household staples like potatoes, brocolli, squash, and greens, Hesperides also grows popcorn, okra, and peanuts. Their herbs include parsley, cilantro, lovage, dill, mint, echinacea, chamomile and lemon grass. To learn more about the farm or to join the CSA, visit their website at http://hesperidesorganica.com/

See online : Hesperides Organica

Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center

Stéphane — 2010-03-09T21:20:11Z

Tree of Life is a retreat center in Patagonia, Arizona, founded by Gabriel Cousens. They offer programs in healing, disease reversal, conscious gardening, and spiritual growth. Tree of Life has two acres of gardens that take their inspiration from veganic agriculture and Japanese Nature Farming.

The produce from the gardens is used in Tree of Life's rawfood vegan cafe, which prepares meals for the center's guests, employees, and workshop participants. In the summer the garden provides up to 75% of the cafe's produce, and in the winter they supply the cafe with greens and sprouts.

Tree of Life's gardening practices are largely influenced by Japanese Nature Farming. Like veganic agriculture, they do not apply animal products to the soil. Though contrary to most veganic farms, they also do not practice crop rotation. They leave the plants in one place, with the idea that the soil will become specific to that type of plant. Their relationship with the plants is spiritual in nature, and they express their gratitude to the plants when harvesting.

To maintain fertility on the land, they use cover cropping, sheet composting, straw mulch, Effective Microorganisms (EM), bokashi, and fermented plant extracts. Sudangrass and cowpeas are used as cover crops in the summer, and in the winter they use a soil builder mix from Peaceful Valley. For composting, they previously composted in piles, and have recently switched to sheet mulching directly on the fields. They place layers of kitchen scraps and straw on the beds, and these decompose in place within a month. They find that this is simpler than maintaining the compost piles.

Tree of Life's other fertility techniques—Effective Microorganisms (EM), bokashi, and plant extracts—involve making fermented substances. Tree of Life teaches these processes in their Concious Gardening courses. In their gardens they use EM5, and they find it aids with insect and disease resistance. Bokashi is an alternative to composting, where scraps are fermented in anaerobic conditions (much like natural pickling) and added to the soil. Due to the acidic nature of bokashi it can only be applied in small quantities. Tree of Life also makes plant extracts, by fermenting weeds with Effective Microorganisms (EM) to extract the nutrients from the plants. Extracts of garlic and mustard can be used as insect repellents, and clover extract is high in nitrogen. They make extracts based on the plants they have available, and also to address certain needs in the garden.

Tree of Life practices plant-based farming because they are a vegan community, and veganic gardening is consistent with their ethical views toward animals and the environment. Tree of Life has encountered some challenges when gardening due to the imbalanced ecosystem in their region. The mesquite trees in the surrounding area were previously cleared by miners, leaving an arid grassland. Grasshoppers thrive in this region that is now largely devoid of native bird species. Tree of Life's philosophy is that they would happily concede a portion of the harvest to insects, though the grasshoppers were eating the majority of the crop. Tree of Life made the decision to bring Guinea fowl onto the land to lessen the impact of the grasshoppers. While they are aware that their gardens would not qualify for veganic certification with the use of Guinea fowl, they strive to maintain a plant-based system in the other aspects of their agricultural practices.

The climate in Patagonia adds challenges when practicing agriculture. Located in the desert, they receive about 20 inches of rainfall per year, though this is mostly during the monsoon season in July and August. The gardens are irrigated from a well on the Tree of Life property, though the water has high salinity so they counteract this by adding gypsum. The temperatures in the desert change considerably from daytime to nighttime, with temperature swings of up to 60F in the same 24 hour period. They focus on growing cold-tolerant plants, and plants that can handle swings in temperature. The plants receive large amounts of sunlight, and in the summer the gardeners set up shade houses to provide 50% shade to the plants when growing delicate crops like greens.

Tree of Life has a solar dome greenhouse in which they grow tropical fruits like papayas and lemons, and also herbs, basil and ginger for the cafe. Two larger greenhouses are used primarily for tomatoes and cucumbers, two staples at the Tree of Life cafe. In their sprout house they grow a steady supply of sprouts year round.

Tree of Life offers week long courses in Conscious Gardening, where participants learn the basics of plant-based growing, and do hands-on activities like making batches of Effective Microorganisms (EM) and bokashi. They also have a SEVA program for people who are committed to doing voluntary service in the gardens for three months. Tree of Life has full-time employees who manage the gardens and coordinate the Seva volunteers.

See online : Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center

Santa Cruz Farm

Stéphane — 2010-02-22T03:27:43Z

Santa Cruz Farm is located in the town of Espanola, New Mexico, about 30 minutes north of Santa Fe. Santa Cruz is run by farmer Don Bustos, with the help of apprentices who are trained to co-manage the farm.

The land has been in Don Bustos' family for 400 years, and he has been farming the same piece of land since his childhood. Don's farming practices combine traditional growing methods with appropriate technology.

Located in the high desert at an elevation of 1700m (5600ft) above sea level, Santa Cruz Farm is an example of year-round veganic growing in a region with little water and wide temperature variance. The temperature can fluctuate significantly, changing by upwards of 25°C or 40°F from daytime to nighttime, so the crops must be resilient to constant temperature change. Their sandy loam soil has only 1-2% organic matter, and the region sees an average rainfall of 8 inches per year. The fields are irrigated with water from the Santa Cruz river basin, a communal resource for farmers in the region.

On 3 ½ acres, they harvest over 70 varieties of vegetables and fruits, including strawberries, blackberries, heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, eggplant, cucumbers, and bok choy. The farm specializes in hot peppers—Big Jim chili peppers, local heirloom chili peppers, jalapeños, and yellow hots—which are high in demand in the state of New Mexico.

The farm focuses on season extension, growing crops for twelve months a year. They have three coldframes on the farm, which are used for growing baby greens in the winter months. This is a feat in Espanola, where temperatures can drop well below freezing at night. The baby greens are insulated with row covers, and tubing is run underneath the plants to warm the soil. Fertility on the farm is maintained through green manures, crop rotations, and plant inputs. Legumes are the primary choice for green manure, including cows peas, black eyed peas, and pinto beans, and they also plant vetch. Due to the low organic matter in the soil, they add large amounts of organic amendments each year. For inputs, they purchase Certified Organic alfalfa from a neighbor. This is not alfalfa meal, but rather larger pieces of alfalfa leaf and stem. It's incorporated with the soil in February, when the soil is at its wettest after the winter snow and rainfall. They source Certified Organic cottonseed from within New Mexico, and add 1-2 tonnes per acre to the soil. Batches of compost tea are also used to bring nutrients to the soil.

The farmers start their own seedlings in the coldframes. The seedlings are started in a mixture of 2 parts peat, 1 part vermiculite, 1 part perlite, and 1 part of their own mix. The mix consists of organic matter from decomposed cottonseed and alfalfa, along with vegetable compost to boost the bacterial activity. The seedlings are kept warm with temperature-controlled heat mats. Aside from these heat mats which are powered with electricity, Santa Cruz Farm's plants are grown entirely with solar energy, even during the winter months. While Santa Cruz previously grew seedlings using animal inputs, Don says that he prefers to use plant inputs: bloodmeal, for example, led to more disease problems such as fungus, whereas the whole system is cleaner when using plant inputs.

Don Bustos previously farmed using conventional techniques, and later switched to organic. He changed to veganic techniques after seeing the film “Our Daily Bread” which shows the realities of industrialized animal agriculture, and after hearing a speech from the former Secretary of Agriculture speaking about the 'acceptable' number of deaths in the U.S. food system related to food diseases such as e. coli and mad cow. Don started to question the animal-based amendments that he was adding to his fields. Upon meeting two veganic gardeners at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market, Don decided to try veganic techniques.

Santa Cruz Farm have diversified their marketing approach, and their produce is marketed through various channels. They sell at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market year-round, and sell at other farmers markets during the height of the harvest. They perform 'market espionage' to see what other farmers are growing, and strategically try to identify what isn't being grown, to fill a niche or create a new demand. They purposefully avoid growing the same crops as other farmers and entering into direct competition, instead preferring to offer less common crops, or offering crops like lettuce at uncommon moments in the season. For several years they have provided salad greens directly to the local school district as part of the Farm To School program. This allows the farm to have a steady source of income throughout the winter as they continue to grow salad greens in the coldframes. The farm offers a box scheme through a CSA, providing produce on a weekly basis to about thirty families, and they also sell directly to local stores and restaurants.

Don works outside the farm for a social justice non-profit, helping traditional communities retain ownership of their land and water resources by developing profitable models of sustainable agriculture. Don has been involved in agricultural policy and advocacy for over 20 years, with a special emphasis on ensuring that resources are accessible to disadvantaged communities. At the local level he focuses on protecting natural water sources of New Mexico, and working on issues of food sovereignty with the Good Food Network of New Mexico; in the southwest he is involved in Western SARE and Western SWAG; and at the national level he is on the board of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and he works on behalf of immigrant farmers to ensure that they have a voice as the president of the board of the National Immigrant Farming Initiative.

For over a decade Santa Cruz Farm has given tours and hosted guests and visitors from all over the world. Santa Cruz Farm accepts volunteers and apprentices, and provides an opportunity for new farmers to gain hands-on experience with veganic agriculture. Long-term apprentices progressively take on more responsibilities, and eventually handle the day-to-day operations of managing the farm. For more information, please contact Santa Cruz Farm at 505-692-9496 or santacruzfarm (at) windstream (dot) net

Sunizona Family Farms

Stéphane — 2010-02-16T20:55:05Z


Veganically Grown: Veganic tomatoes at Sunizona Farm

Sunizona Family Farms specializes in greenhouse tomatoes, herbs, and salad greens, and they have recently started growing field crops. In 2008 they began to transition their farm to veganic agriculture, and now the main greenhouse and fields are completely veganic. Sunizona has a special emphasis on local inputs, and they heat their greenhouse and make their own potting soil using local waste pecan shells.

Sunizona Family Farms is located in Willcox, Arizona, a little more than an hour east of Tucson. A collective family effort, Byron and Janice and their four adult children manage all aspects of farming and marketing. Sunizona also provides employment for 8 other families in the region.

At Sunizona they grew hydroponically for years with chemical fertilizers, though always without pesticides. They wanted to switch to organic agriculture, but hydroponic organic growing generally involves fish fertilizers, and they were determined to grow without animal products. Over the course of 2008 and 2009 they converted their 1 ½ acre greenhouse from hydroponic to veganic raised beds. This greenhouse, which mainly grows tomatoes, along with zucchini and green beans, became Certified Organic in 2009. Their other greenhouse, which grows herbs and baby greens, is still hydroponic, though they hope to convert it to veganic practices in the future.

2009 was Sunizona's first season growing crops in the fields, growing 6 acres of veganic squash and melons. They are planning to expand this to 30 acres in future years, diversifying their crops and developing a rotation with over-wintering green manures. Despite having extremely dry desert temperatures—6% humidity, and months at a time without rainfall—the farm has access to an aquifer that is fed by nearby mountains, and they can use this to irrigate the fields.

“Veganic” is labeled clearly on the packaging at Sunizona Farm, which generates conversations and questions from their customers. The family transitioned to veganic agriculture for several reasons: the ethical treatment of animals, avoiding contaminants from animal-based fertilizers, and providing proper nutrition for the plants.

Byron is concerned that the widespread use of antibiotics in animal agriculture can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with potential effects to human health and soil health. Byron read a study that showed that antibiotics in manure can be uptaken by the plants, and another study which showed that antibiotics can enter the water system through rainwater runoff from farms. They also want to avoid problems of e. coli and salmonella from fecal contamination. While many greenhouses rely on fish emulsion, at Sunizona they are concerned about the high levels of heavy metals in fish populations.

They also find that plant-based fertilizers provide a better balance of nutrients. As nutrient requirements are fairly uniform across the whole kingdom of plants, by feeding plants with plants they receive the nutrients they need in about the right proportions. With manure, after passing plant material through the body of a cow, there is an imbalance of low calcium and excess phosphorus and potassium. Byron finds that it is much simpler to deal with plant nutrition by using plant-based inputs.

Sunizona Farm strives to find fertility sources in their local area. They purchase locally-grown alfalfa and keep all of their dry tomato waste, and they run these materials through their pelletizer. These pellets are the primary source of fertility in the greenhouse, and make it easy to apply a consistent amount to each bed.

Their desire to produce food locally goes further, as the Sunizona greenhouse is heated using biomass from local, reclaimed pecan shells. The shells are pelletized and burned in a bio-mass boiler system, and excess pellets are sold by the farm. The ash from the boiler is added back into their potting soil. Sunizona makes their own potting soil mix from local waste pecan shells, ash from the boiler, leaves and stems from their tomato plants, and waste cardboard from the warehouse.

Over 90% of their produce is sold within Arizona. They supply all of the Whole Foods stores in the state, and also supply a smaller health food chain in northern Arizona. Much of their produce is purchased by high-end restaurants and resorts. In previous years they sold their produce directly to a broker, but now Sunizona coordinates all of their distribution by contracting a delivery company. This allows them to supply their customers with much fresher produce, and cater to the needs of smaller businesses.

To learn more about Sunizona Family Farms, please visit their website: www.sunizonafamilyfarms.com

See online : Sunizona Family Farms

Reverence Gardens

Stéphane — 2008-12-18T16:33:14Z

Reverence Gardens is a located in Round Lake, Illinois, about an hour north of Chicago. Reverence Gardens was run as a commercial veganic farm through a customer subscription program in 2007 and 2008, and was Certified Naturally Grown in 2008. Starting in the 2009 season, the farmers are changing their focus and transitioning Reverence Gardens to a large family garden, and are also hoping it can be used for outreach as a demonstration garden for veganic growing.

Reverence Gardens is run by Chris Pado, with the help of her family. The Reverence Gardens website, www.reverencegardens.com, features a blog, photos, and local food recipes. The website offers plenty of transparency, with a complete list of all theinputs used, and also links to each of theirseed providers.

In past years, Chris grew a wide variety of predominantly heirloom vegetables. In the coming years, the emphasis will be on flour corns, dried beans, edamame, and storage vegetables, to create a year-round veganic food supply for her family. Fertility is maintained primarily through alfalfa meal, green manure, comfrey tea, and organic molasses. Plant-based mulches of hay, straw and leaves are used to suppress weeds and retain moisture.

Reverence Gardens was founded by Chris so she could grow food in accordance with her values. As she learned that many plant-foods were grown with pesticides and slaughterhouse by-products, she realized that by growing her own food she could assure that it was grown with respect for animals and nature. She also viewed this as an opportunity to demonstrate that great looking and great tasting produce can be grown with reverence toward all life. She objects to the use of pesticides, even organic pesticides. Chris relies on maintaining both healthy plants and a healthy ecosystem for pest and disease control, and believes that working with nature, not subduing it, is the more effective way of living on this earth.

While Reverence Gardens will likely not be selling commercially in the 2009 season, interested parties are welcome to make arrangements to visit the farm by contacting Chris directly through her website: www.reverencegardens.com

See online : http://www.reverencegardens.com

Honey Brook Organic Farm

Meghan — 2008-12-16T16:03:00Z

Honey Brook Organic Farm is a veganic CSA in Pennington, New Jersey, and was profiled in the Winter 2008 edition of the American Vegan newsletter. With 2,200 CSA memberships, feeding between 3000 and 4000 people in total, Honey Brook Organic Farm is called the largest organic CSA in the United States.

Local families purchase shares for the entire season, and are provided with fresh Certified Organic produce for significantly less than the price at the big box healthfood stores. The variety of crops grown at Honey Brook can be seen on their website's Harvest Calendar.

Farmers Sherry and Jim run a successful farm, with several seasonal employees and a waiting list for CSA membership. With 65 acres, they recently expanded the farm by purchasing more acreage in a nearby county.

After farming organically with animal products for many years, the farmers more recently transitioned to veganic agriculture at the suggestion of one of their CSA members. They had become more aware of their vegetarian members and of animal issues when Sherry participated in an ethics study program at her church. Since they began using plant-based compost in place of composted manure, the farmers feel that their crop quality has improved.

On their website, www.honeybrookorganicfarm.com, the farmers list the admirable goals for their organic CSA. They are committed to environmentally sound and sustainable agriculture that builds soil fertility, without the use of sewage sludge, animal manures, or GMO's. They strive to offer high-quality local produce at reasonable prices, while also providing safe working conditions, comfortable housing and liveable wages for their employees. Concerned about preserving the genetic diversity of food crops, they grow many rare heirloom varieties. And in their local area, the farmers are active advocates for the future viability of family farming in New Jersey, and they also provide a setting where CSA members can reconnect with the land where their food is grown.

Unexpected Farm

Stéphane — 2008-06-02T03:34:18Z

Farmers Bill and Linda have 65 acres of land in Watkin's Glen, New York. Most of the land is uncultivated, leaving natural spaces and habitats for wildlife. They farm about 3 acres of the land, and have used veganic practices since they began farming in 2001. On a separate part of their holding live two rescued animals, a cow and a goat, who enjoy 4 acres of fenced pasture.

Unexpected Farm grows herbs, winter greens, root vegetables, beans, peas, lettuce, squash, strawberries, asparagus, peppers, and more. They also grow their own transplants at the farm. Their produce is Certified Naturally Grown, which is a low-cost certification program for small farmers, based on standards that are similiar to USDA organic. They sell their produce at a nearby farmer's market in Ithaca, New York.

To maintain fertility, the farmers use soybeans, oats, buckwheat, sorghum-sudangrass, and clover as cover crops. They also purchase alfalfa meal, soybean meal, pebble rock phosphate, greensand, and limestone. Compost is produced on the farm for use as potting soil. Mulches are used to reduce the need for weeding.

Bill has a knack for innovation, and has created machines for cultivation and harvesting using components of reclaimed farming equipment and lawnmowers.

The farmers encourage biodiversity on their holding, and provide habitats for birds, snakes, beneficial insects, toads, and frogs, which naturally regulate the competing insects. Other insects are removed from the crops by hand, or deterred by garlic spray which is used as an insect repellent. No animals on the farm are intentionally killed, injured, or exploited.

By growing veganically, the farmers are expressing their ethic to cultivate "in harmony with nature and with respect for all living beings".

Note: Unexpected Farm is not set up to host apprentices or wwoofers (please check our other farm listings for volunteer opportunities).

Huguenot Street Farm

Meghan — 2008-05-07T23:42:35Z

Farmers Ron and Kathryn have a model veganic farm on 77 acres in New Paltz, New York.

Growing over 125 varieties of vegetables, fruits, and flowers, including heirloom varieties, Huguenot Street Farm runs a 21-week CSA for 200 families in the region. CSA members can also take advantage of a large U-Pick garden.

They chose veganic because supporting factory farms and "putting what we consider to be toxic waste products onto our otherwise clean fields seems completely counter to our goal of organic clean living". While many organic farmers rely on slaughterhouse by-products for fertilization, the Huguenot Street farmers do not want to support animal confinement, and are concerned about the bio-accumulation of hormones, pesticides, and antiobiotics in the bodies and waste products of factory farmed animals.

Their fertilization techniques include green manures, cover crops, and rock powders, and they have carefully planned their crop rotations. Since they don't transport animal waste to the farm or spread it on the fields, they find that veganic farming saves time and fuel costs.

The farm also leads in innovation, having developed a solar electric tractor, and a radiant heating system for their greenhouse.

Ron has worked to develop and promote Participatory Guarantee Systems, which provide low-cost certification to small organic farmers, and which encourage the farmers to increase their knowledge of organic practices. He works with the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements to promote PGS around the world; and with the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, working as their International Organic Certification Consultant, he developed a PGS program for India.

To learn more about becoming certified through a participatory guarantee system in North America, visit Certified Naturally Grown.

See online : www.flyingbeet.com

Victoria Farm

Stéphane — 2008-04-18T00:12:53Z

Victoria Farm is an expanding family farm. It is run by Kip and Emily in Geneva, Florida. In 2008, Victoria Farm became the first farm in North America to be Certified Stockfree-Organic through the U.K.'s standards for veganic farms. Their certification was awarded through joint efforts between the Vegan Organic Network in the U.K. and Quality Certification Services, a 3rd party certifier.

Victoria Farm has about 60 fruit and nut trees, which will act as a canopy for a future forest garden. Details of their forest garden establishment can be read online. Currently, the farmers consume most of the produce themselves, occasionally donating the surplus, and plan to sell future surpluses in their local area.

Using plant-based techniques, they seek to maximize their on-farm fertility, to increase overall energy efficiency, and to farm without the exploitation of animals. The farm's fertility is maintained through green manure, compost, no-till and forest gardening practices.

They make their own compost, combining bahia grass and clover with chipped branch wood. Coastal hay and chipped branch wood are used to mulch the vegetable beds. To further enhance the nutrient cycle, they have begun brewing actively aerated compost tea (AACT), and micronutrient deficiencies are addressed with soluble kelp meal and alfalfa meal.

The farmers use vegan growing techniques because they do not want blood, bone, or products from confined animal feeding operations in their soils and in their food. They also have a small sanctuary of rescued chickens, pigs, and turkeys who they care for on the farm: the animals' bedding and manure are composted for landscaping use, but only plant-based composts are used for food production.

If you would like to contact Victoria Farm, you can send an email through this form and we will happily forward your message to the farmers. Please mention that your message is for Victoria Farm.

Click on the image below to see a layout of Victoria Farm, with their impressive variety of fruit and nut trees. Zoom for more details.