The Long Siding Farm is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Organic Farm. That’s a long handle. But here are a few observations to help understand what it means.

Why is Certification by the USDA important? The short answer is “accountability”. Every year our farm is inspected by certifiers trained by the USDA. In other words, we may not use several non-organic and toxic practices and just say we are organic. We have someone looking over our shoulder to ensure that all of our practices comply with strict, well established, organic practices.

What is USDA Certified Organic Farming?

The short answer is ” Farming conducted according to the standards of the National Organic Program”.

Here are some important points or practices for organic farming.

Crop Rotation

Nothing is planted in the same plot two years in a row. In the case of some vegetables, potatoes for example,several years pass before they are planted in a plot that once grew them.

Careful Timing of Raw Manure Application

This might be the best kept secret, and one of the most important, of certified organic farming. Crops like sweet corn and peppers, crops where the fruit does not come into direct contact with the soil, may not have raw manure applied to them for at least 90 days prior to harvest.

Lettuce, carrots, beets, potatoes and other crops that are directly in contact with the soil, may not have raw manure applied for at least 120 days prior to harvest.

Use of Green Manures

Especially in the fall, we plant crops like winter rye for the purpose of tilling into the soil in the spring. This works organic matter into the soil that will provide nutrients and help to retain moisture.

Use Certified Organic Seed

Another well kept secret, certified organic seeds are another component of organic food production. GMO seeds are not permitted either. At The LongSiding Farm, we are experimenting with using our own seed saved from the prior year.

 

No Synthetic Fertilizer or Pesticides.

This is perhaps the most well known practice in organic food production.  Only OMRI listed materials are used as pesticides on The Long Siding Farm. “OMRI” is the acronym for the Organic Materials Research Institute. Substances approved by OMRI, or OMRI listed, are typically accepted by the NOP, (National Organic Program) and are therefore consistent with USDA organic certification. (Once one is proficient with a host of acronyms one is well on the way to becoming an organic farmer)