Lively Grove Farms strives to provide an organic, unaltered berry all the while being good stewards of the land. Every farming practice is meticulously thought out, with the ultimate goal of maintaining healthy soil and berries.
Organic vs. Spray-Free
Organic is a labeling term that indicates that the food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods, it does not necessarily mean spray-free. Some organic farmers do use pesticides and sprays. Here is the national list of approved sprays for organic produce.
Lively Grove Farms does our utmost to avoid use of all sprays, we strive to employ regenerative agricultural practices to keep the farm in an ecological balance.
Regenerative Agricultural
Regenerative Agriculture is a holistic land management practice that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity – resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle. The key to regenerative agriculture is that it not only “does no harm” to the land but actually improves it, using technologies that regenerate and revitalize the soil and the environment. Regenerative agriculture leads to healthy soil capable of producing high quality, nutrient dense food while simultaneously improving land, rather than degrading, and ultimately leading to productive farms and healthy communities and economies.
No Till
You may notice a few more weeds than you expected, that’s because we are a big proponent of no-till/minimum tillage. Why? It’s all about soil health! Tilling can be one of the most degrading agricultural practices, greatly increasing soil erosion and carbon loss. Soil fertility is increased in regenerative systems through application of cover crops, crop rotations, compost, and animal manures, which restore the plant/soil microbiome to promote essential soil nutrients.
Fertilizer
True to our local roots, our fields are fertilized using horse manure from a farm just down the road.
Crop Rotation
We rotate many of our fields on an annual or biannual basis so the soil can receive nutrients naturally. For example, after we harvest a strawberry field for two years, we remove it and plant clover, pumpkins, squash, or other crops – many of which add nitrogen back into the soil. This crop rotation method allows us to suppress weeds, fungus, and bug pests naturally. Crop rotation also adds more organic material to our soil each year. We test the pH of our soil regularly so we know if we need to add more natural elements (such as lime) to help maintain our soil’s health.
Strawberries and the Dirty Dozen
Though strawberries are on the Dirty Dozen list, our strawberries do not belong there and are safe to eat as they are grown using organic practices.