At one of our family business meetings this winter, we talked about how we, as a business, could grow greener. As a result this discussion, the following list of projects that we had previously undertaken was compiled:
We have completed Environmental Farm Plans for each of our farms.
We have planted over 15 000 trees on our farms.
We have built erosion control structures to conserve soil.
We have excavated to create ponds to gather and hold water for use in irrigation.
We have switched to reduced till practices on applicable crops to reduce the number of times the tractor passes over a field.
We were encouraged by what we had already accomplished, and looked to see what else we could do. Consequently, this year:
We are building more erosion control structures to better control erosion in our fields.
We are supplying our Farm Market with Cascades North River hand paper towels and bathroom tissue that are made from 100% recycled materials.
Most significantly, in our Bakery, we are switching to CRYOVAC Nature Trays. These are environmentally sensitve foam trays that are made entirely from plants, an annually renewable resource. These trays are compostable and require less fossil fuels to make than traditional foam trays.
We are doing what we can as a farming business (and as families in our homes) to grow greener.
Posted by The Herrles @
9:17 PM
First planting for 2008
We planted our first vegetable seeds, namely peas and beans, on Thursday April 17 this year. (Last year, our first planting was April 10!)
We have also been busy raking the straw off of our strawberries, to allow them to grow and blossom for this year's harvest. The straw was put on in late November to cover the strawberries and protect them from extremely cold winter temperatures.
Posted by The Herrles @
9:13 PM
Preparing to open for the season in mid June
We look forward to opening for another season in mid June. We will see what the weather is like in the next few months and how our crops grow. Closer to June, we will have a better idea of our official opening date.
