Farmsteading
Sovereignty & Stewardship
We maintain a small, diverse market garden that provides us with nutrient-dense produce grown in accordance and reciprocation with nature. What we can’t put to use we sell or share locally with those in need. We are members of Virginia Association for Biological Farming and Appalachian Beginning Forest Farmer Coalition. We sow into Tutalo/Monacan land and strive to honor their traditional wisdom through whole-hearted stewardship.
We aim to grow as much as we can with minimal or no purchased inputs, instead choosing to create our own through fermentation or cultivation. This effort allows us to consciously limit our dependency on purchased goods and the environmental impact that such production requires. We aim to elevate the natural system through intentional, organic amending and planting that focuses on soil ecology first and foremost.
Our approach focuses on the understanding that all of life and food production is simply an exchange of energy. Observing the relationships within this exchange allows us to understand our role as stewards and to identify areas that may, or may not, need our assistance or intervention.
Some of the practices we employ include no/low-till, cover cropping, green manure, vermiculture, interplanting, composting, techniques and methods from Korean Natural Farming, and the principles of Permaculture. There are numerous methods for growing organically and regeneratively; we use what we need to, when we need to, based on what the land, plants, and our intuition is telling us.
You can read more about our continuously evolving methods and experiences on our Gemini Wiki:
The Honorable Harvest
As written by Robin Wall Kimmerer
"The Honorable Harvest, a practice both ancient and urgent, applies to every exchange between people and the Earth. Its protocol is not written down, but if it were, it would look something like this:
Ask permission of the ones whose lives you seek. Abide by the answer.
Never take the first. Never take the last.
Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.
Take only what you need and leave some for others.
Use everything that you take.
Take only that which is given to you.
Share it, as the Earth has shared with you.
Be grateful.
Reciprocate the gift.
Sustain the ones who sustain you, and the Earth will last forever."
