A while ago when I was compiling a list of resources for people interested in finding out about local food, I found Four Winds Farm on LocalHarvest. Their description on the site emphasized their organic farming methods, heirloom products, and grass-fed livestock. Seeing that they were 65 miles away (within the 100 mile ‘local' radius), I emailed the owners to see if I could come up , speak with them, and see their farm. I did this because I wanted to go see how food is made firsthand. Our culture has a huge disconnect from the means of food production, and seeing that food growing from the ground or walking around can reduce that disconnect. There are biological reasons behind how we grow food; these plants and animals have distinct life cycles and growing conditions (this is why a banana in New York is never local). An interesting side note - in agribusiness where produce is being shipped for extended periods of time, it is often chemically treated to ripen or prevent ripening for convenience's sake. This means the produce in your typical grocery store has been sitting around, losing nutritional value and being chemically treated before you take it home.  (If it had any to begin with - a lot of produce, even when fresh, doesn't have much nutritional value because of the farming practices on conventional farms). But I digress. The post is a little longer this week, and I'm going to split this visit into two posts, because there are just too many good things to say about Four Winds Farm! 

Jay Armour (who runs the farm with his wife, Polly) was gracious enough to give me some of his time after he got back from the Saturday farmers market.  They have had this 25 acre farm for about 20 years, and have gone through various combinations of going to farmers markets and running a community supported agriculture system (CSA). A CSA is a way for the consumer to buy a "share" from the farmer and get produce directly from the source. He says when he started out the farmer's market was where you'd go to get cheap produce that wasn't nice enough for New York City retailers. At first people balked at the higher prices that came with Jay's organic farming practices. So he set up the CSA system. Now, the attitude surrounding farmers markets has changes, and he currently goes to 4 farmers markets, and has passed on the CSA to his interns.                                                         Jay Armour

Jay described himself to me as an "environmentalist turned farmer," and he really considers how all the aspects of his farm impact the environment. This post I'll get into his farming practices, and next week I'll talk about all the other creative things they do to be environmentally friendly. Jay uses all of the environmentally-conscious farming practices in the ways that typically come to mind. Four Winds Farm is certified USDA organic, which means no genetically engineered organisms, herbicides, or pesticides. The farm fosters biodiversity in crops by growing heirlooms. Their beef is grass-fed, their chickens and eggs free-range and organic. I know that vegetarians out there might think that this farm isn't as environmentally friendly as it could be, because they raise animals for meat. What does Jay say when people ask him why he doesn't just use that land to grow produce? He tells them to "go try it" themselves, because that land doesn't support vegetable growth. He has also been to the family-runslaughterhouse, Hilltown Pork that turns his cows to beef, and isn't sending them blindly into unnecessarily inhumane conditions. And, the farm uses all the environmental benefits of having livestock. The farm has a composting system, which uses (you guessed it) cow and horse manure mixed with left over vegetable matter.

Jay's homemade compost (left) and Thanksgiving turkeys running around outside (right)

He also is one of the few organic no-till farmers. Rototilling is common practice in conventional farming, and is used to break up soil and to suppress weeds. But Jay refuses to till, because soil isn't just dirt - it's an environment with living organisms and life processes taking place. Rototilling disrupts these life processes, essentially "throwing a world into a blender" (in Jay's words). When a farmer rototills they add oxygen to the soil, which speeds up decomposition of organic matter. So there is a burst of growth initially, but the soil is less able to sustain long-term growth. Jay is invested in long-term sustainable farming so rototilling has no appeal to him. And, as if this wasn't enough, fueling all that decomposition releases CO2 into the air. In fact, some farmers view no-till practices as a serious method of halting global warming. 

Visiting the farm was a great experience for me - I learned so much from Jay! Did you know that copper is an organic mineral antifungal treatment? I do now, because Jay had to spray his tomatoes with it this year to prevent tomato blight.  Speaking with Jay really impressed me. He is so creative, dedicated (he harvests most vegetables twice a week), and mindful of how his actions affect the environment. Jay proves that these qualities can help you achieve things like organic no-till farming ) that others don't think are possible!