Sustainability

Experiments with cardboard and mulch are in progress to help with weed control and water retention. As a board member of the New Hampshire Christmas Tree Association and the National Christmas Tree Association Nigel is lucky enough to see farms and farming techniques throughout the US. One that is interesting is using mulch around the rows of seedlings.

Partnering with two local businesses Rek Lis Brewing Company to get cardboard and Warren’s Tree Service to get wood chips and advice from Stacy Doll of Roots to Rise the experiment began.

In some rows three layers of cardboard are laid down around the seedlings and these are covered with 2 - 4 inches of wood chips.

In other rows no cardboard is used but 2 - 4 inches of wood chips are laid down between the seedlings and the rows to help prevent weed and grass growth completely.

In both cases the hope is to get less weed growth and mow less.

Experimenting with different tree species to find trees that people enjoy using as a Christmas tree but grow faster, are more disease or ideally suited to the land at South Farm is not only fun but useful. A monoculture of trees is more susceptible to fast spreading disease issues, selecting more disease tolerant species and varying the tree species in the fields may combat this. Planting tree species which are ideally suited to growing in the soil and climate at South Farm while proper maintenance including weed control and fertilization provides a healthy tree that tends to get less problems.

While growing trees is fun, in order for the farm to be sustainable the trees and garlic need to be grown and priced in a manner to make the family farm profitable. Diversifying the crops and off farm work helps with making the overall farm enterprise sustainable.