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Our Farming Philosophy
Ollin Farms
believes in the principle of sustainable agriculture. Our goal is to
produce top quality farm products with minimum impact on the surrounding
environment. We view our farm as a living, connected eco-system and do many
things to ensure the health of the plants, animals, water, and soil that
encompass it. In order to produce flavorful, nutrient dense vegetables
year after year, we keep our soil healthy though amendments, crop rotation,
and the use of natural organic fertilizers produced right here on the farm.
Another goal of
Ollin Farms is to limit our use of natural resources such as water, fossil fuels,
and electricity. With degrees in environmental and water resource
engineering, Mark is our technology expert and is responsible for the design
of the drip irrigation systems used to maximize our vegetable
production while minimizing the amount of water used. Ollin Farms is
also committed to the preservation of natural habitat.
A quarter of our land next to Left Hand Creek is dedicated to wildlife
preservation and we enjoy visits from ducks, cranes, owls, rabbits, and foxes.
Finally, we
believe that the farm of the 21st century is not only
responsible for food production but also for education. Ollin Farms
intends to use our website, farmers market booth, on-farm dinners, and
youth summer-camps to spread information about the importance of sustainable
living.
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The Biological Nutrient-Dense Farming Model
Whether it is
feeding our family or supplying our customers, the focus at Ollin Farms
has always been to produce nutritious, flavorful vegetables. Through
our experiences on our farm and networking with ecologically minded
farms around the country we have come to adopt the biological
nutrient-dense farming model as our pathway to producing the highest
quality crops. This is not a new model of farming; it has its origins
in many of the same traditional farming customs that have come to define
the organic and biodynamic models of farming. The big difference is
that the biological nutrient-dense model started with the following
question: What are the nutrient requirements to ensure the
biological systems in humans and animals are working at full capacity.
From there it traced those nutrients first to the plants that were
being consumed and ultimately to the soil where those nutrients
originated.
The biological
nutrient-dense model is founded on getting the right nutrients, in the
right proportions into an active, living soil. This includes the small
group of nutrients used to raise most of today’s food products as well
as the numerous micro-nutrients that are needed by humans and animals to
be “healthy”. Where modern agriculture tells us to feed the plant, the
biological nutrient-dense model tells us to feed the soil. Ultimately
it is the soil that will determine the health of everything that grows
out of it, including the farm and the community.
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The soil is the great
connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer
and restorer, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death
into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because
without proper care for it we can have no life.
Given only the health of
the soil, nothing that dies is dead for very long. Within this economy
it seems that death occurs only for the good of life. And having
followed the cycle around, we see that we have not only a description of
the fundamental biological process, but also a metaphor of great beauty
and power. It is impossible to contemplate the life of the soil for
very long without seeing it as analogous to the life of the spirit. No
less than the faithful of religion is the good farmer mindful of the
persistence of life through death, the passage of energy through
changing forms.
And this living topsoil-
living in both the biological sense and in the cultural sense- is the
basic element in the technology of farming.
- Wendell Berry
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The Story Behind Our Name:
Ollin
is an Aztec word meaning constant motion or transformation. We chose
this name for our farm because of our view of it as a living, changing
organism. No two days on the farm are ever the same and we are
constantly looking for ways to improve our products, services, and
sustainability. The Aztec civilization was a model for sustainable
agriculture. Back when organic farming was the only option, the Aztecs
found ways to efficiently farm difficult locations and were able to feed
huge populations by developing clever distribution systems to quickly get
food from the farmer to the consumer.
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