| OUR GREEN ACRES |
3965 Waverly Road
Owego, NY 13827
(607) 687-2874 |
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What is sustainable agriculture?
Our Green Acres Sustainable Agricultural Practices
MAINTAINING
AND IMPROVING SOIL QUALITY
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Plant
30+ acres of rye gain in the Fall. Part of this gets plowed down as a
green manure crop; the rest harvested for weed-free mulching straw.
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Limit
tillage (where feasible)
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Grasses
and legumes are planted to be used as hay and pasture for 2-4 years; then
plowed down for sweet corn planting
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Make
and use our own manure-based compost, which is used on the following crops:
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high-tunnel tomatoes
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field-grown tomatoes
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field-grown peppers
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early sweet corn
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strawberries
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raspberries
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Amend
soils in high tunnels with compost
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Use
sheep as grazers of sweet corn stover and hay fields
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Seed
grasses in isles in blueberry and raspberry fields
CONTROLLING
INSECTS AND DISEASES
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Rotate
vegetable crops
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Rotate
out of vegetable crops
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Plant
varieties resistant to disease
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Use
biological controls for insects for sweet corn, cole crops, tomatoes
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Create
environments that encourage beneficial insects to thrive
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Plant
in high tunnels to reduce disease pressure
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Grafting
of disease resistant root stocks to provide added disease resistance (for
example, tomatoes)
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Use
of trellises to provide more air movement to decrease disease pressure
on:
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tomatoes,
peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, pole beans, raspberries
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Trickle
irrigation is used to irrigate tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers,
blueberries, and raspberries. This keeps excess water off from leaves,
reducing disease pressure
CONTROLLING
WEEDS
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Use
of weed-free rye mulching straw on strawberries
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Limited
tillage for pumpkins, rye, and sweet corn
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Use
of state-of-the-art cultivating equipment such as a finger weeder to kill
emerging weeds and a Regi Weeder to control just emerged weeds in strawberries,
cole crops, and vine crops
CONTROLLING
WILDLIFE
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Use
of blood meal on transplanted raspberries to repel deer
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Erecting
of electric fences to repel deer
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Erecting
of nests to attract Kestrel
Hawks to control the Blackbirds
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Use
of scary-eyed balloons and plastic owls to control Blackbirds
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Use
of timed computerized bird distress calls to keep birds out of blueberries
and sweet corn
Designed
by Farfalla Design 2010