![\"\"](\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/jet-photo-2_0-1024x682.png\")
\u201cas an educational farm, we have the opportunity to pay a lot of good care and attention to our soil health,\u201d said larkin-wells. \u201cthat is a central part of our mission. we can center that in a way commercial farms are not always able to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
like cobblestone farm, they use organic inputs instead of chemical fertilizers. they also try to keep the soil covered to avoid soil erosion and nutrients loss due to long-term exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cwe never leave the soil exposed. there is always something like either cover crop, mulch, or whatever our vegetable crop at the time is,\u201d larkin-wells said. \u201ccover crops are an extremely important part of our growing rotation here and can do some pretty amazing things for the soil.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
she defined cover crops as anything that is grown in the soil not to be harvested. they can prevent erosion, maintain nitrogen levels, or increase aeration in the soil. dr. anyah explains that nitrogen is important for the plant to develop healthy and more nutritious fruits. without these high levels, the nutritious levels of crop yields will be limited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
changing temperatures, increasing pests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
similarly, to protect their soil, both farmers do not use any damaging chemicals to fight increasing pests. according to walsh, the increased pest population is an example of an indirect effect of changes in temperature and precipitation. every vegetable is impacted by insect pressure, making them harder to sell. many bigger farms use aggressive pesticides to fight these infestations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
dorfer used two different methods instead: insect-inclusion netting to cover some of her vegetables, and an organic pesticide to disrupt the molting cycle of larva. she explains that this organic pesticide is very specific. it will not affect the soil or any important pollinators like bees, just the larva growing on the plants. the adults will survive but their reproduction cycle will stop, limiting the hungry larva on crops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
at spring valley student farm they scout and pick the insects by hand, and spray their vegetables with garlic spray. this is a mixture of garlic water and soap, to make each plant less attractive for animals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
when confronted with the question of the future and the concern of climate change, both farmers seemed confident they would be fine, if they continue the methods described above. however, they also realized climate change is unpredictable. in the words of dorfer: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cevery year gives me more experience, expands my database, and i do adjust.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
the weather changes in the past few seasons have had detrimental effects on the health of connecticut soil. find out how these farmers are adapting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11669,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4919],"tags":[112,4824,3445,4944],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-27208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-agriculture","tag-connecticut","tag-local-farming","tag-soil-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n