Produce Application
Stepping Stone Heritage Farm
Owner: David ChuteFarm Address:
1756 Black Rock Road
Waterville, NS B0P1V0
Kings County
Canada
daytime phone: 1-902-670-6294
evening phone: 1-902-538-3999
Application Date: 2006-05-28
Applicant Details
| Please briefly tell us why you are applying to be part of the Certified Naturally Grown program: | Our product is sold (at wholesale) through fresh Air Foods Co-op and at the Halifax Farmers Market. We also act as a wholesale agent for Homestead Organics Feeds and garden suppliments/seeds selling mostly by the pallet throughout the Maritime provinces. (Their web address: homesteadorganics.ca). CNG offers an alternative to regular organic certification processes which would seem better suited to our reality. Our farm is a mixed operation with many areas to certify: from garden produce to a variety of animals including sheep, cattle, pigs, chickens, geese, and occasionally turkeys... all considered heritage (at risk) animals and the complexities of creating the paperwork necessary to follow the letter of the new "organic industry" don't necessarily meet the grassroots meaning and sentiment of what organics is all about (local and safe). |
| Are you currently third party Certified for your produce operation by any other organization (Organic, Biodynamic, etc)? | no |
| Have you ever been certified in the past? | yes |
| If yes, please note which agencies and dates: | Novia Scotia Organic (3 Years) Certified Organic Growers 2002-2005 (4 years) |
| Have you ever been denied certification? | no |
| How did you hear about Certified Naturally Grown? |
General Farm Information
| Farm Acreage you want listed as Certified Naturally GrownTM: | |
| Total Farm Acreage you actually GROW on: | 45.0 |
| Number of above acreage that you own: | 45.0 |
| Number of above acreage that you lease: | 0.0 |
| Do you have other acreage in "Conventional" Agricultural Systems? | no |
| General Listed Acreage Breakdown | |
| Veg Crops: | 0.4 |
| Fruit Crops: | 0.9 |
| Hay: | 0.0 |
| Grains/Beans: | 0.0 |
| Sugarbush: | 0.0 |
| Other Acreage: | 43.7 |
| Please check all items you grow and will market as Certified Naturally GrownTM |
Vegetables Herbs Berries Tree Fruits Grapes Grains Beans Hay Flowers Greenhouse Plants Other (please specify below) |
| Please Specify Any Other Items: | heritage beef, pork, and poultry |
| Please check all markets you grow for (this will be displayed on your farm profile to help potential buyers find you). |
Farmer's Market Farm Stand Local Restaurants CSA's Coops Health Food Stores Groceries Regional Wholesalers www.LocalHarvest.org Commodities Other (please specify below) |
| Please Specify Other Markets: | |
Farmland Management and Practices
| Primary Tillage System: | very limited, as we mostly grow perennial crops, ie: asparagus, chives, rhubarb, raspberries, blueberries. Our fields are used for rotational grazing with minimal need to repropigate. |
| Do you use Cover Crops? | yes |
| If yes, please list: | fall rye and buckwheat |
| Do you use Compost? | yes |
| If yes, please note general sources (on farm, purchased complete, local grass clippings, local dairy, etc.): | on farm only except what is brought in for resale and it is certified organic. |
| Please list application rates. Give a specific amount or range (for example: one to two tons per acre, ten wheelbarrow loads per 1,000 square feet, or 1-2 inches deep). Do not answer "varies". | varies by need, generally 1/4 ton per acre or more |
| Do you use Manure? | yes |
| If yes, please note general sources (local dairy, horse farm, etc.): | on farm only |
| Please list application rates. Give a specific amount or range (for example: one to two tons per acre, ten wheelbarrow loads per 1,000 square feet, or 1-2 inches deep). Do not answer "varies". | see compost above |
| What time of year do you apply the manure? | fall, as a rule |
| Do you apply any non-composted Manure within 120 days of veg-crop harvesting? | no |
| Please list any other brought in fertility sources that you use (specific rock powders, lime, soybean / alfalfa meal, specific purchased pre-mixes, etc)and how often it's used. If you indicate a name brand product, please also specify the ingredient/s. | lime, calphos |
| Have any chemical fertilizers been applied to the fields you are seeking Certification for in the last three years (36 months)? | no |
| Have any non-acceptable pesticides and/or herbicides been applied to these fields in the last 3 years? | no |
| Do you use Professional Soil Testing services? | yes |
| Describe your primary weed problems and methods of control. If you indicate a name brand product, please also specify the ingredient(s), what kind of product it is (a soap, microbial, oil, a botanical...), and how often it's used. | couch grass (hand, etc.) In pasture areas I use cattle, sheep grazing to control this problem plus low growth shrubbery area are exposed to pigs when we are opening up new areas. |
| Describe your primary insect problems and methods of control. If you indicate a name brand product, please also specify the ingredient/s, what kind of product it is (a soap, microbial, oil, a botanical...), and how often it's used. | There are no insect problems. Potato bugs are probably the worst, and we control this and others with DE and hand picking. Since our areas are very small this is the simplest approach. |
| Describe your primary disease problems and methods of control. If you indicate a name brand product, please also specify the ingredient/s, what kind of product it is (a soap, microbial, oil, a botanical...), and how often it's used. | No primary problem. If there are intrusions the reaction is to prune.. dig up and burn. Any or all of these as the situation demands. |
| Please list the water source you use for crop irrigation. If source is public river, pond or lake, please note the name: | drilled well. Small ... get extra water. Water is tested at least every other year. |
| Are there any known contaminants in the irrigation water? | no |
| Are you a maple producer who seeks to certify your sugarbush? | no |
Seeds, Transplants and Buffers
| Do you purchase or grow using any Genetically Modified seeds? | no |
| Do you use any chemically treated seeds in your operation? | no |
| Do you grow your own transplants? | yes |
| Are they grown using Naturally Grown/Organic methods? | yes |
| If they're not grown according to CNG methods, please list them here. This produce may not be sold as Certified Naturally Grown. (If they are, put "N/A") | |
| Do you purchase any transplants from outside sources? | yes |
| From which sources do you buy transplants? | |
| Please list any bought-in transplants not grown according to CNG standards. This produce may not be sold as Certified Naturally Grown (except, in the case of perennials, after twelve months of CNG cultivation). | |
| Chemical/Spray Drift and Buffers: | |
| Is there any likelihood of Chemical/Spray drift contamination of your fields? | no |
| Do you have an adequate buffer to protect yourself from potential contamination? | yes |
| Please describe your buffer. Be as specific as possible. On all sides, how far is it from your crops to the next closest use (road, conventional crop, residential yard)? Be sure to specify what is grown on neighboring land that is in agricultural use. For example: To the north and east, a wooded area of at least 100 yards separates us from the neighbor's corn fields, to the south is a fallow field at least 100 yards deep separating us from the road, and to the west about 60 feet separates our crops from a field where conventional corn and soybeans are grown. | Two exposures of property are bordered by a meadow that has no common use. Another border has not been farmed for more than 5 years. My own woodland and meadows form yet more of the borders. There is only one border that has exposure to farm land and it has a hedgerow and a laneway before my pasture fences begin. The bordering property is east of and thus downwind from my property. Border contamination has never been an issue in previous organic certification inspections. |
Agreements
| Please indicate your agreement with the following statements by checking the boxes. | |
| I will not label, or in any way lead consumers to believe that produce not raised in accord with CNG standards is Certified Naturally GrownTM. | |
| I understand that I have to complete at least one (and hopefully more) Certification Inspection(s) of another farm in my area each year, and that the inspection will NOT be of the same farmer that inspected me. | |
| I have reviewed the Certified Naturally Grown certification standards, I understand them, and I will abide by them. I understand that if I have any questions I may contact CNG for clarification. | |
| You may use this space to tell us anything else you think we should know about your farm: | |
