soil-supporting advice from the real organic project

07.09.2024 - 14:54 / awaytogarden.com

ORGANIC FARMING and gardening have always been based on the principle of feed the soil, not the plant. I recently got some expert advice for doing that, and also learned more about why our diligent soil consciousness matters so much, with the co-directors of the nonprofit Real Organic Project, a farmer-led organization advocating for food produced in concert with healthy soils and pastures.

Dave Chapman and Linley Dixon are co-directors of the Real Organic Project, a farmer-led movement since 2018 that created an add-on label to USDA Organic to differentiate organic food that is soil-grown, not hydroponic, and animal products that are pasture-raised. Dave runs Long Wind Farm in Vermont; Linley farms vegetables at Adobe House Farm in Southwest Colorado.

The Real Organic Project is holding an all-day conference featuring organic farming leaders on Saturday, Sept. 28th at Churchtown Dairy in Hudson, N.Y.

Read along as you listen to the Sept. 9, 2024 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

soil-supporting tactics, from the real organic project

Margaret Roach: I’m praying for rain. How about you guys? I need a weather report [laughter].

Linley Dixon: Oh man, we just got hail in Southwest Colorado a week ago. So fortunately about half of our farm is covered, because we know it comes maybe one in every three years. So you roll the dice for the outdoor production.

Margaret: Oh my goodness. Dave, you’re in the Northeast, like I am. I don’t know how you’ve been doing, but it’s been dry here.

Dave Chapman: Yeah, my entire production farm is undercover. It’s in a glass greenhouse, so we