How We Grow
The Growing Methods and Practices used at Together We Bloom
Blog Post: February 27, 2023
For February’s Blog Post, I wanted to share about our growing practices at Together We Bloom. Why? Because I am very proud of the way that we choose to grow.
I hope that by sharing some of the resources and growing practices, you will see just how seriously we take our role as stewards of the land. If you have any questions about our growing methods, feel free to reach out on Instagram or send us an email at hello@together-webloom.com
♥With love, Taylor and your friends at Together We Bloom
Amazon Affiliate Link Disclaimer: There are many ways that you can support our small farm: and one is by purchasing items through our Amazon affiliate links. Some of the items linked below are through our Amazon Affiliate Links. If you appreciate the information that we put together and are interested in any of the products below, please consider clicking the links to purchase the items. Don’t worry, we only promote items that we actually use, recommend, and believe in, and buying from these links is at no extra cost to you. We still believe in supporting your local makers, artisans, and businesses but we do rely on Amazon as well. Each purchase made through these links contributes a very small amount of money to our farm.
Our Farming Philosophy:
Respect the Land and the Gifts It Provides:
We are grateful to the land, to the water, to the air, to the sun, and to all the living things (large, small, and microscopic) that act as co-farmers with us. We take our role of stewards of the land with responsibility and choose farming practices that align with our values rather than convenience or profit.
We Choose Sustainability and to Remain Transparent:
Sustainability is a consideration in all that we do. We believe in being transparent about our growing practices and sourcing.
We Use {better than} Organic Growing Practices
Our farm uses regenerative growing practices which go above and beyond the traditional organic certification.
Organic farming is certainly worth supporting. However, the ‘certified organic’ label is only one piece of the puzzle.
The Organic Certification is a paid-for and applied-for certification.
While it does have a strong base of standards (such as requiring organic/natural fertilizers instead of synthetic) the organic certification does not necessarily mean pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide free. The certification only really considers the farm’s inputs. So, in theory, it still allows for other (unsustainable) farming practices to be used alongside the certification.
Non-certified farms can say that they ‘use organic growing practices’ but non-certified farms cannot say they are organic unless they are certified organic.
There are plenty of small, local farms that are NOT certified organic but use sustainable and organic growing practices. The best way to find out about a farm’s growing practices is to ask them about it.
So yes, we do grow our food and flowers organically but we are not a certified organic farm.
Whether they know it or not, every farmer is farming the soil just as much {if not more than} the crops that they grow. Rich, healthy, and lively soil is necessary to produce healthy {and nutritious} crops.
We are a No-Till, Human-Powered, Soil-Focused Farm
No-till farming and gardening focus on reducing soil disturbance in order to support healthier and livelier soil.
Human-Powered: We do not have a tractor on the farm and we rely on our bodies to do the majority of the work. This allows us to work closely and intimately with the land.
Soil-Focused, No-Till Practices that We Use:
Permanent beds and permanent walkways, this means we don’t step on and compress our beds and we only amend and plant in these areas.
Keeping the soil covered by crops, cover crops, or mulch {more info below}
Never pulling plants out with their roots: instead, we cut them at soil level and leave the roots in place to break down and feed the soil, create aeration, and prevent topsoil erosion.
Using a broad fork to gently aerate the soil in between plantings as needed.
Feeding and caring for the microbiology in the soil
My Favorite No-Till Learning Resources:
Book: ‘The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet’ by Kristin Ohlson
Documentary: (it is even on Netflix) ‘Kiss the Ground’, this was transformative for me.
There is also the No-Till Flowers Podcast, no-till and regenerative growing practices and so much more.
Biodynamic farming is in alignment with everything that we believe in: growing with sustainability, love, intention, and gratitude, in partnership with nature, and with elements of cosmology and spirit mixed in.
We Use Biodynamic Planting & Growing Methods
Most people are largely unfamiliar with biodynamic farming. According to the biodynamic principles and practices, it is “a holistic, ecological, and ethical approach to farming, gardening, food, and nutrition.”
This podcast, Teasing Apart the Woo-Woo: Biodynamic Farming with Teton Full Circle Farm is a great place to learn more if you are curious.
Biodynamics Farming Combines ‘Spirit’ and ‘Science’: Biodynamic growing is in alignment with how many indigenous peoples grow food and their relationship with the land. Biodynamic Agriculture as we know it today is largely thanks to Rudolf Steiner, a philosopher and spiritual scientist who introduced “a new way to integrate scientific understanding with a recognition of spirit in nature” in regard to agriculture.
Biodynamics and the Cosmos: “Through trials over several decades, Maria Thun showed that plants thrived, yields were increased, and harvested produce lasted longer if plants were tended to at specific times…” We use this Biodynamic Almanac/planting calendar, created by Maria Thun, to determine when to sow our seeds and tend to our plants to work with the influence of the cosmos. “…the Moon has a significant influence on the Earth. Not only does it control the tides, but it influences all living organisms, including the way plants grow” -quoted from the Almanac
Inputs {that we actually use} on our farm:
When it comes to inputs, we believe that less is more; less inputs and less distance traveled.
We like to focus on feeding our soil with resources that come from our own farm or our direct community.
Getting a soil test will help you to be intentional about what types of inputs you choose for your farm. I loved this podcast with Bryant Mason, ‘the soil doctor’ to learn more about nutrient balancing in living soils to learn a little more about soil testing, and different inputs for our farms and gardens.
Cover Crops: We use different cover crops at different times of the year to benefit the soil in different ways. It can be used as a green mulch, fertilizer, aeration, disease suppression, and more. This book: ‘The Living Soil Handbook: The No-Till Grower’s Guide to Ecological Market Gardening’ by Jesse Frost is our ‘cover crop bible.’
Mulch: We aim to always keep our soil covered and organic mulches are a big part of this. We use 4 different sources of mulch: plant matter (cut down from previous crops or cover crops,) compost, spent animal bedding, or straw/hay. The favorite is spent animal bedding from folks in the community with goats or rabbits since it acts as mulch and it adds additional nutrients to our beds. Read more about mulching here.
Ferments and Teas: We love using our ez-flo fertilizer injector to feed our soil and plants with our own ferments or ‘compost teas’ in our drip-tape. This book: The Renerative Grower’s Guide to Garden Amendments: Using Locally Sourced Materials to make Mineral and Biological Extracts and Ferments is a great resource. The author, Nigel Palmer, also does a great podcast on no-till flowers.
Wool Pellets: acts as both a fast-release and slow-release organic nitrogen source. One feeding is good for the entire season and it is from a farm here in Northern Utah. It also has water retention benefits as well. You only need 5% wool pellets by volume so a little goes a long way. We will be sprinkling the pellets into the planting holes as we transplant our seedlings but we are also using them in our seed starting mix. You can learn more here on Utah Stories or on their website.
Compost: We are working on building our own compost from our farm for years to come but we currently use city ‘green waste’ for finished compost. Learn more about manure and compost
Blood Meal: *not a local resource- but it is something we have used. Blood meal is one of the only organic fertilizers that add nitrogen to the soil without potassium or phosphorus. {It did feel problematic to use blood meal as a vegetarian. However, I now view the process as returning the animal back to the land in a respectful way where their blood will nourish new life.}
Our Pest Management Approach:
Our approach to pest management is: to monitor but not interfere unless there are extreme circumstances.
We have beehives on our property so we are especially careful about ‘pest control.’ We take an integrated pest management approach and methods below:
We promote biodiversity in what we grow and use: crop rotation, succession planting and intercropping to reduce pest pressure
We look at the farm as an ecosystem: we monitor the field and pay close attention to what is going on and learn as much about our visitors as we can.
Allowing the pests or ‘bad bugs’ to stay is what also attracts the ‘good bugs’ to help balance things out
We focus on growing healthy plants to reduce pest pressure {check out this podcast on ‘The Magical BRIX Number that Stops Pests’ to learn more}
If a crop is prone to heavy and hard-to-control pest pressure, we simply don’t grow the crop anymore (I am looking at you pumpkins and squash bugs.)
This approach does sometimes lead to crop damage or loss but that is ok with us. If we do ever have to intervene, it is with careful; consideration, research, and advisement. The last option is for us to use (organic) chemical intervention to save a crop, and even then, we only save the crop {instead of ripping it out} if we are relying heavily on the crop itself or if it is a perennial crop that we rely on for years to come.
Water-Wise Farming:
Water is an extremely precious resource here in Utah, we rely on drip irrigation to produce food and flowers for the community.
We use drip tape for the most precise and water-wise method of irrigating our field. We spend a lot of money every year on improving our irrigation system to be as sustainable as possible. {we use drip depot for most of our irrigation supplies}
We grow directly in the ground instead of raised beds for better water retention
We regularly monitor and adjust our watering schedules depending on the current moisture levels in the field.
We consider water needs when choosing which crops we grow. We aim to fill 75% of our current growing space with perennials to require less water every year for production.
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Thank you so much for supporting our small farm with BIG DREAMS.
♥With love, Taylor and your friends at Together We Bloom