Project Overview
Commodities
- Vegetables: other
Practices
- Crop Production: no-till
- Education and Training: on-farm/ranch research
- Soil Management: composting
Proposal summary:
Small diversified, local food systems are growing in the Sierra Foothills of California. Here, small farms, beginning farmers, and homesteaders' makeup these farming communities. At the same time, this region struggles with food insecurity due to isolation factors1. Furthermore, limited research has explored this region in respect to how soil responds to management practices and educational resources are lacking. Our farm has been managing a five acre market garden, using no-till permanent beds. We are proposing to use our farm as a learning lab for surrounding communities. This project aims to build the capacity of local food production and beginning farmers, while using quantifiable evidence to bridge the connection between high intensity no-till market gardening and soil health.
The goal of this project is to understand the legacy effect of our farms practices and expand education opportunities for beginning farmers and homesteaders and gardeners. There are four main objectives of this project. 1) Evaluate how permanent no-till vegetable bed systems impact soil health over a period of 1-13 years. 2) Explore how weather, soil differences, and management considerations impact these outcomes. 3) Conduct a cost benefit analysis for implementing these practices in the region. 4) Increase beginning farmers and homesteaders' knowledge and practical skills for implementing regenerative practices through a series of hands-on education/workshops, dedicated to learning about soil health and principles of regenerative agriculture.
Regionally specific data is missing in our communities and this reduces the impact of our agriculture extension education systems. By working with our local Regenerative Agriculture Advisor, this project can increase regionally relevant evidence-based strategies to increase food production on small land parcels while conserving our soils.
Project objectives from proposal:
Objective 1) Evaluate how permanent no-till vegetable bed systems impact soil health over a period of 1-13 years. Specifically, quantify changes in soil organic carbon, microbial diversity and abundance, organic nitrogen, chemical profiles, aggregate stability and water holding potential across different farm blocks which correlate to number of years under management. Furthermore, identifying how these changes occur at different depths (0-6 inches and 6-12 inches).
Objective 2) Explore how soil differences and management considerations impact these outcomes. A neighboring farm who has been practicing no-till permanent vegetable beds for more than 10 years has agreed to act as a second site to compare outcomes. Their local Resource Conservation District is working with them to develop a soil health farm plan and funding from this project will be used to replicate the soil analysis research on their farm.
Objective 3) Conduct a cost benefit analysis for these systems to shed light on no-till permanent bed feasibility in our region and divulge any economic barriers to adoption. This study will focus on costs of compost, and other costs of production, labor requirements, potential revenue streams and assess profit outcomes.
Objective 4) Increase small-scale farmers, beginning farmers, and homesteaders' knowledge and practical skills for implementing no-till permanent bed systems and regenerative practices in their operations. To achieve this, we will provide a series of hands-on education/workshops and develop online resources.