RambleRill Is CERTIFIED ORGANIC

RambleRill Farm is proud to be a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified organic farm. Being certified organic entails not using synthetic insecticides, herbicides, or fertilizers---but it is much more than that.

Organic agriculture is a whole-farm approach that entails striving to work in harmony with natural processes and employing practices healthy for humans, animals, and the environment. The USDA defines organic agriculture as a system that integrates "...cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.” Certified organic farmers are legally required to implement measures to maintain and improve soil fertility and to conserve soil and water. They are legally required to implement environmentally friendly pest-management practices.

At RambleRill Farm:

• We maintain and improve soil health through use of cover crops, including legumes; addition of organic matter with leaf mulch; erosion-control measures such as contour farming; and judicious  tillage.
  
• We do not use ANY insecticides, herbicides, or fungicides---either synthetic or organic. We do not use synthetic fertilizers.
  
• We manage weeds, insects, and diseases by hand weeding, creating beneficial insect habitats, rotating crops, applying leaf mulch, and cultural practices such as planting disease-resistant varieties.
  
• We use certified organic seed, which, by definition, is not genetically modified.
  

Being certified organic means that we adhere to specific practices documented in the National Organic Standards, which anyone can access on-line. We are inspected annually to ensure that we are following those practices. We have often heard farmers who are not certified organic say that they follow organic practices. Problematically for the customer, definitions of “organic” in this context can vary from farm to farm.

As a certified organic farm, we have detailed knowledge and documentation of the history, from seed to sale, of each and every fruit, vegetable, and mushroom that we grow. We know that the food we grow is produced using practices intended to preserve and improve human, animal, and environmental health. We view it as our responsibility to share information about our growing practices with our customers who want to eat food that is safe and nutritious. We view our certified organic status as a means of making our practices transparent to customers and as an invitation to conversation.

While we are proud to be a certified organic farm, we disagree with some of the allowances the USDA has granted under the certified organic label. RambleRill has thus joined forces with more than a thousand other certified organic farms across the county in the Real Organic Project to help uphold organic integrity. For more on the Real Organic Project, click here: Real Organic Project.