Organically Farmed Soils Sequester Greenhouse Gasses

Organic Farmers are Climate Farmers!

As the foundation responsible for all our tasty, nourishing food, soils are of the utmost importance to us at Joyfully Organic Farm. We study, labor for, and replenish our soils. We know them by name, study their chemical composition, their structure, their strengths and weaknesses. Much of our work contributes to soil health in one way or another. That focus on the foundation of it all is one of the major reasons why Vermont organic farmers are, frankly, climate heroes. Soils are powerful matrices–complex ecosystems with the potential to fight climate change in a number of ways, namely by sequestering greenhouse gasses. 

Soils are the basis of food production not just because they are the substrate in which our food grows, but because they play an important role in the cycling of many things: water, nutrients, and life itself, to name a few. Greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, well-known for their role in climate change, move in and out of soils at varying rates depending on soil health. Robust soils sequester these gasses in biological processes. When gasses are captured in this way, these otherwise dangerous compounds actually serve as nutrients for a rich web of life present in healthy soils, further improving soil health.

How do you get robust soils? Organic practices like composting, avoiding disturbance, encouraging on-farm biodiversity, and cover cropping all invigorate soil health.

And nothing succeeds like success: once the soil’s capacity to sequester gasses is strengthened, it sets off a virtuous cycle of healthier soil→more sequestration→healthier soil→more sequestration, which raises the soil’s ability to sequester gasses at an exponential rate.

To boil it down: when greenhouse gasses are emitted into the atmosphere, they accelerate climate change; when they’re sequestered in healthy soil, they slow it. Now that’s climate-friendly farming!

Wendell Berry once famously wrote that “eating is an agricultural act”. When you eat with our farm, that very act supports the sequestration of greenhouse gasses, and in so doing, reduces climate change. As conscious stewards of Ontario soils, your local organic farmers take pride in sequestration, a feat we couldn’t perform without your support

Organic farms are more resilient to extreme weather events

Our climate-friendly farms use a range of practices to increase the organic matter in our soil, improve its structure, and foster biodiversity. These upgrades strengthen our soil’s capacity to capture and absorb water, which in turn bolsters the land’s resilience to flooding and drought.

You can picture it: it’s a lot easier to erode the riverbank of a continually plowed monoculture with weak soils than it is the bank of an organic farm’s robust ecosystem with deep, biologically rich soils, interplanted crops, and riparian buffers. It’s also harder to flood that organic field when the soil is able to absorb high volumes of water in a short period of time, effectively stopping and sinking rain and/or floodwater in its tracks.

Of course, when an organic farm is able to withstand an extreme weather event, it will also be able to continue providing food for its community in the wake of flooding, drought, or other natural disasters. And community food security is a major determinant of climate resilience. 

With climate change, we know the time to invest in systems that mitigate disasters and strengthen resilience is now. The practices we use to produce Joyfully Organic Farm food are strengthening climate resilience, both across the landscape and in our communities. And it’s thanks to our customers–whose support enables these impacts in the first place. By eating with our farm, you are investing in mitigating climate change damage and strengthening community food security in times of need. That’s one of the reasons buying locally organic means buying climate smart–it means investing in a resilient future!

Organically farmed soils release fewer greenhouse gases

Eat with local organic farms, like Joyfully Organic Farm : The climate-friendly choice for fewer greenhouse gasses

Looking for a way to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions? Eat locally + organically with Joyfully Organic Farm. Our climate-friendly farming practices do not use synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, which are some of the primary greenhouse gas generators–both in their production and application. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, for example, are known to create emissions 300 times more harmful than carbon dioxide (Nitrous Oxide I’m lookin’ at you). As a certified organic farm, we see a demonstrable reduction in these dangerous emissions.

We also invest deeply in our soils, which, when strengthened by organic practices, are a massive asset to mitigating climate change and achieving resilience in its midst. Healthy soils sequester carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, methane, and other hazardous emissions, diverting them from the atmosphere, where they accelerate climate change. When sequestered by the soil’s biological processes, these compounds actually serve as nutrients, thus further boosting soil health, and reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers.

When you eat with our farm, you’re taking concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. You’re voting with your dollar to fight climate change and facilitate a more resilient future for our children. And you’re joining others in a powerful communal effort.

We can mitigate climate change, and develop resilience to its effects, but to do so, we need to invest in the right systems, the right choices. Carbon-sequestering, emissions-diverting, soil-building organic farms are one of those right choices 💪 🌱

Basic Vinaigrette (Plus Variations!)

Our Go-To Vinaigrette Recipe

It’s so easy to make and tastes way better than store-bought dressings. You can change up the flavours by choosing the vinegar that suits your salad best. Recipe yields 3/4 cup dressing, enough for about 6 medium salads (assuming 2 tablespoons per salad).

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • 3 tablespoons vinegar of choice (balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar)

  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

  • 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced

  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Stir well with a small whisk or a fork until the ingredients are completely mixed together.

  2. Taste, and adjust as necessary. If the mixture is too acidic, thin it out with a bit more olive oil or balance the flavors with a little more maple syrup or honey. If the mixture is a little blah, add another pinch or two of salt. If it doesn’t have enough zing, add vinegar by the teaspoon.

  3. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for future use. Homemade vinaigrette keeps well for 7 to 10 days. If your vinaigrette solidifies somewhat in the fridge, don’t worry about it—real olive oil tends to do that. Simply let it rest at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes or microwave very briefly (about 20 seconds) to liquify the olive oil again. Whisk to blend and serve.

NOTES

Balsamic vinegar: Makes a bold, slightly sweet dressing that is wonderful on green salads with fruit, such as apples, strawberries or peaches.

Red wine vinegar: Packs a punch and works well with other bold flavors and bright veggies, like tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, cabbage and more (think Greek salads).

White wine vinegar: This is a more mellow vinegar and it’s especially nice with more delicate flavors like cucumber and sweet corn. It’s lovely on just about every green salad out there.

Greek/Italian variation: Use red wine vinegar. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons dried oregano and, optionally, a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Recipe by : Cookie + Kate

April On the Farm

While the fields may still be sopping wet, the coming farm season is forever on our minds! We wanted to drop into your inbox this morning to say hello, and let you know we are thinking of you all the time! Winter work looked quite different than summer, but was just as important. We've been building out our farm plans for not only the 50+ vegetable crops we grow, but also equipment, infrastructure, the farm team, marketing, soil management, and logistics. Seed orders have been rolling in (pictured below) and last week we fired up our nursery greenhouse and have started the first seeds!

WE'VE ADDED
U-Pick Flowers

A New Perk for Farm Share Members this year! Come stroll the long beds of flowers, while you cut and build your own bouquet of fresh blooms. (Yes, it is as dreamy as it sounds!)

5 QUESTIONS

Take our Farm QUIZ!

We want our joy, to be your joy too! And running a CSA for a while - we know quite well who a Farm Share Box is a TON of a fun for! Take our quiz to see if a Farm Share Box is your kind of fun!

And don't delay - some pick up sites are already selling out!



Organic Farming Practices Protect Natural Resources

Conservation and regeneration of natural resources are core tenets of organic agriculture. They’re also key to fighting climate change. When you eat with Joyfully Organic Farm, you’re directly supporting our efforts to strengthen Ontario’s natural resources and build climate resilience.

How? For starters, instead of applying pesticides and herbicides, we opt for alternative practices that protect our waterways, air quality, and soils. Instead of suppressing biodiversity, we view the farm as an ecosystem, a habitat for many, and work with nature to support biodiversity, protecting wildlife and pollinators.

These practices not only reduce the effects of climate change, but develop our resilience to its consequences in a myriad of ways–here are just a couple of examples:

  • Healthy waterways and soil hydrologies absorb heavy rain events, mitigating flood damage.

  • Strong wildlife and pollinator populations keep food webs in check and ensure the proliferation of both wild and cultivated plant life.

  • Healthy soils sequester carbon.

  • And the reduction of greenhouse gasses (from opting out of hazardous fertilizers and pesticides) slows the very rate at which climate change develops.

Of course, each of these natural resources is connected to, and directly impacted by, its peers. Healthy soils support healthy wildlife populations, clean air protects pollinators, improved soil structure bolsters water quality, and so on. As one factor is strengthened, they all are. And that’s just what climate resilience is requiring of us: an investment in this complex, interconnected web of land and life, such that it can withstand the more extreme and less predictable effects we’ve come to expect from climate change. With effort and investment in the right places, we can develop climate resilience 💪 .

Every dollar spent with Joyfully Organic Farm represents a multitude of benefits beyond that tasty tomato. You’re contributing towards a future with clean, swimmable, drinkable water; healthy wildlife and pollinator populations, fewer greenhouse gas emissions; and last but not least, an improved resilience to climate change as a result of all of the above. We thank you for your support of climate-friendly farming–we couldn’t do this work without it.


Kitchen Guide: Roasting Veggies

7 Tips for Perfect Roasting Every Time

1. Preheat your sheet pan at 400 F. +
To get that nice browned edge, roast your veggies on a pre-heated pan.
2. Cut vegetables of equal size. +
Try to keep them around 1 inch so they cook evenly.
3. Toss them with oil.
Oil is a necessary ingredient to get the caramelized edges. You can use avocado oil, olive oil, or coconut oil. Use about 1 T. per pound of veg. Toss with your hands.
4. Season with salt and pepper. +
At the very least, season with kosher salt and pepper. But have some fun experimenting with other spice blends.
5. Don't overcrowd the pan. +
Veggies will steam instead of roast if you pack them too tightly. Leave plenty of breathing room.
6. Roast at 400 F for 20-45 minutes.
High heat is required for roasting. Cook heartier veggies longer than more delicate ones. Look for the toasty tips and edges that signify doneness.
7. Stir the vegetables halfway through cooking.

OPTIONAL: When the roasted vegetables come out you can toss them in a roasting vinaigrette to season them. Stir up: 2 Tbsp White wine vinegar + 1 Tbsp Olive oil + 1/8 tsp pepper + 1/4 tsp Salt + 1 tsp honey + 1 medium shallot minced. Toss hot vegetables in vinaigrette.

PRO TIP: Roasting veg is not merely for the standards like potatoes and carrots. Just about every vegetable is fair game! Don't forget to include: radishes (yes radishes!), kohrlabi, peppers, onions, green beans, eggplant, cabbage, turnips, beets, and zucchini!