Produce Application
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Green Gardens Community Farm
Owner: Trent ThompsonFarm Address:
8319 White Rabbit Road
Battle Creek, MI 49017
Calhoun County
United States
daytime phone: 269-832-1317
Web site: http://www.greengardensfarm.com
Application Date: 2008-08-03
Applicant Details
| Please briefly tell us why you are applying to be part of the Certified Naturally Grown program: | To help the customer better identify and understand our growing practices. |
| 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? | no |
| Have you ever been denied certification? | no |
| How did you hear about Certified Naturally Grown? | Originally by working on a farm in Arizona...Whipstone in Paulden, AZ. Read about it in Acres. |
General Farm Information
| Farm Acreage you want listed as Certified Naturally GrownTM: | |
| Total Farm Acreage you actually GROW on: | 6 |
| Number of above acreage that you own: | 0 |
| Number of above acreage that you lease: | 6 |
| Do you have other acreage in "Conventional" Agricultural Systems? | no |
| General Listed Acreage Breakdown | |
| Veg Crops: | 3.5 |
| Fruit Crops: | |
| Hay: | |
| Grains/Beans: | |
| Sugarbush: | |
| Other Acreage: | |
| 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: | |
| 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: | The land was plowed, disked and tilled in the Spring with a hired tractor. Since then I have been using a walk-behind rototiller to prepare beds and weed in between rows. |
| Do you use Cover Crops? | yes |
| If yes, please list: | Early this Fall 2 acres (next to the 2 acres being farmed this year) will be seeded with hairy vetch and rye to overwinter and be tilled in next spring. |
| Do you use Compost? | yes |
| If yes, please note general sources (on farm, purchased complete, local grass clippings, local dairy, etc.): | All compost comes from a local dairy about 4 miles away. I was told by the dairy owner that it had been sitting for years...since now they use the slurry for fertilization. |
| 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". | 20-25 tons per acre |
| Do you use Manure? | 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. | 2 tons of lime was put on in the Spring. I also put additional lime on squash, tomato, melon, and broccoli beds just before planting to further raise pH. |
| 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. | Grass. The land hasn't been farmed in 15+ years, so it has been a pain, but hand weeding and using the rototiller have been the only method of control. |
| 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. | No really bad insect problems yet this year. However, I will probably spray DiPel DF (an organic pesticide with Bt, fermentation solids, spores, and insecticidal toxins) on the cole crops this Fall to reduce cutworm and looper damage. I will probably use it 2-3 times at two week intervals. |
| 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. | Primary disease problems and fungal related with the onions, tomatoes and cucurbits. I used an organic liquid copper fungicide on the onions after planting in May, on the tomatoes at three and 7 weeks after planting. It is 10% copper soap. I also used another organic fungicide called Mildew Cure (made out of cottonseed oil, corn oil, and garlic oil) on summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and winter squash that were infested with Powdery Mildew. So far I've used it twice on the zucchini, cucumbers and summer squash in the past 8 days. And I used it once, today, on the w. squash. I will use it only as needed over the next month or so. |
| Please list the water source you use for crop irrigation. If source is public river, pond or lake, please note the name: | House well. |
| 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? | yes |
| If yes, please state the source (conventional farm field, golf course, etc.)and any details you can provide (type of pesticide, fertilizer, herbicide used, and/or what used for.) | There is a field next to me where there is clover growing. I'm guessing that they might have used a pre-emergent herbicide before seeding the clover. |
| 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. | The only side of the farm that is of concern is the East side. To minimize drift, I have created as big of a buffer as I could from the conventional field (from 50-100 feet in most places. There are also wild cherry trees and grasses and vines growing along the fence to catch some of the drift. There is forest to the north, 300-400 feet of open field to the west, and open grass and a pond to the south. |
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: | |
