Our Pledge of Organic Excellence
Round Right Farm is uncertified organic. We hope that you will pay us a visit and certify for yourself that the land is now being farmed organically. We purchased a hay field three years ago and have been building our dream farm ever since. Since pesticides are not normally applied to hay fields, you can take comfort in knowing that no pesticides have been used on the land since it was taken out of corn production over 15 years ago.
We promise not to use unnecessary and harmful inputs in the production of our produce. This means that we do not use any of the following:
- Synthetic and chemical pesticides or herbicides
- Fossil fuel-based and chemical fertilizers
- Genetically modified or treated seeds
- Manure from animals whose daily diet includes antibiotics or synthetic hormones
Organic is not just a list of "do nots" however. To us it describes a whole philosophy of agriculture which is based on recycling resources on the farm instead of importing them from off the farm. This lofty goal makes organic a philosophy that is not only ecologically sound, but makes economic sense as well, and we believe it can save the American small farm.
At Round Right Farm, organic means that we make every possible effort to improve the quality of our soil and increase the number and diversity of soil organisms on which healthy soils depend.
Incorporating cover crops and applying compost adds organic matter to the soil, and organic matter is central to improving soil quality. In fact, we take half of our fields out of vegetable production every year, rotating them to a year of cover crop production in order to add organic matter and improve soil charachteristics.
Organic matter gives life to the soil by supplying the food that feeds the growth/decay cycle and allows the myriad of microscopic soil organisms to grow and multiply. These organisms convert formerly living tissue (organic matter) into nutritive forms that are usable by the plants, and then become usable nutrients themselves when they die and decay. Soils with large amounts of organic matter and diverse microscopic life create a stress-free growing environment which gives plants the strength to naturally resist pests, making pesticide inputs largely unnecessary.
