A Place of the Heart Farm

A Place of the Heart Farm a small community of individuals dedicated to healthy living through healthy diet, lifestyle, and spirituality. We are dedicated to growing and providing the healthiest vegetables possible. We achieve this by using good land stewardship practices. By paying attention to our ground, air and water we minimize the detrimental impact of farming the land while maximizing the positive impact that we have on it. Our use of the tractor is minimal; in fact, we use it only to turn new ground. Tractors tend to compact the soil, disrupt the natural soil structure, and pollute the environment. Instead, we use permanent beds and constantly add new organic material, i.e. manure, compost, with occasional applications of lime, rock phosphate, as well as hay and leaves as mulch. That's it! In relation to pest control, we use biological controls (pediowasps for bean beetles, BT for cabbage worms), and kaolin clay and floating row cover for flea beetles. Other than that, we remove them by hand! Our farm is secluded. It is completely surrounded by forest covered mountains; this gives us the added benefit of avoiding chemical drift and gmo pollen contamination. A spring fed creek runs through the land, which is protected by thousands of wilderness acres above us. All crops are irrigated with this water. We have been extremely blessed by this land, and our vision for it is a small self-sufficient community of spiritually aware people that are environmentally friendly, green-powered, focused on healthy living, spiritual growth, and a positive connection to the earth, all centered around the production of healthy food. Over the past few years, A Place of the Heart Farm has been a host farm for the WWOOF organization (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). These wwoofers have become an integral part of our lives. They allow us to use this very labor intensive from of no till farming. We feel that this is the healthiest method for the earth. We have discovered that it is very possible with up to four helpers at a time. This awesome give and take relationship allows us to share with others who are interested in learning, and give us the necessary help we need without paying for expensive labor. Instead, we feed them! We attend a local farmers market and run a CSA.