WestHaven Organic Farm

West Haven is the farm up at the EcoVillage in Ithaca. They follows permaculture principals in their farming methods. A main Permaculture principal is that your actions should have many different benefits. Crop rotation does this. One type of plant may deplete the soil of particular nutrients and leave other nutrients that another type of plant can use. The most noted example is peas and beans capture nitrogen from air and fix it in soil, which benefits other plants like tomatoes which can be planted in the plot the next growing season. Crop rotation also discourages pest growth. A fly that feeds on carrots may get established in the soil one year, but if the carrots are planted in a plot 150 feet away the next year, it’s too far for the fly to travel, find and flourish. Flowers too are not only beautiful, but can act as pest deterrents. The smell of marigolds are very good for keeping bugs away. Row covers also have multiple benefits. They keep bugs away like the flea beetle on arugula. They also extend the season, by keeping frost off the plants as temperatures begin to dip below freezing. 

Planting certain vegetables with each other also has many benefits. Plants like to grow in biodiverse clusters because they benefit from each other in different ways. Various plants can deter pests, add needed nutrients to the soil, provide needed shade, provide stalks to climb and transpirate needed moisture. An old Iroquois combination is the three sisters –  corn, beans and squash. Some believe plants that taste good together often grow well together like, tomatoes, onions and rosemary. But you would want to keep the dill, parsnips and radishes away from this cluster. 

Which brings us to the next topic, the fertilizer, or the refuse. It can also be thought of as the link that turns something from the linear cradle to grave into the circle of life – composting. West Haven fertilizes their fields with their own compost – made from the left over plant material and chicken poop, the compost from a nearby dairy, and with cover crops. Cover crops are plants like winter oats, hairy vetch, and peas that are very good at replenishing the nutrients in the soil. When the farm was bought, the farm manager planted consecutive years of cover-crops to invigorate the soil. Each year of organic farming improves the soil more. The microbes are left to establish their own equilibrium, which also keeps the pests in check.