Our Farming Philosophy

The owners of Fresh Ayr Farm take pride in producing crops in a manner that protects and improves our farm resources.  We are environmental activists, working to protect our neighbors and the open space around us.

We practice:

1. Zone-tillage to protect our soils, tilling only a small area around the seed to preserve soil structure, and leaving residues from previous crops on the surface to protect our soils from erosion.

2. Cover cropping to capture left-over nutrients from harvested crops and to increase soil organic matter for future crops.

3. Integrated Pest Management  to use only the amount of fertilizer and pesticides needed for healthy crops.  Crops are scouted, and if pests aren’t there, we don’t spray. 

Principles of Zone Tillage

1. Till a narrow row(seedbed) to plant your crop. Don't till the row middles to create a weedbed.

2. Fertilize the crop in a band along one or both sides of the row. Don't broadcast fertilizer to the weeds in the row middles.

3. Don't burn up all the organic matter from the crop you  produced. Leave it on the soil surface to protect your soil and feed your earthworms.

4. When your crop is harvested, plant a covercrop to protect the soil, capture left over nutrients, and build additional organic matter.