Viriditas Farm
Brooks
To breed cotton that grows in color organically, one needs to be able to grow up generation after generation of offspring of the seeds made from cross pollinating individual plants (classical plant breeding) - organically. Back in the early 1980's there were no organic cotton farmers that I could find, so I began leasing land and farming my cotton breeding plots (called breeding nurseries) myself. The commercial cotton growers did not take kindly to my work and so I had to move a few times. From Kern County to Western Arizona and then finally to the beautiful Capay Valley over the course of a decade. Each farm I transitioned from conventional to Certified Organic. By the time I settled here in the Capay Valley I decided to not stop at organic certification (CCOF) but reach for the almost mythical biodynamic status. And since animals are a critical part of the biodynamic equation I agreed to take sheep that were going to go to an auction, a strain of very fine wooled merino's that had been organic since the mid '80's as well.
The work of going biodynamic can take a lifetime, but I find it a most captivating goal. My dream is to develop a system where we all work together: sheep, cotton, grain, legumes, oh and me (and anyone else helping out). The sheep to improve the soil by breaking down the plant material left after crop harvests, and to distribute any soil amendments (seaweed being their favorite one to spread about) along with their fertile wastes. And to give us their wool and sometimes their life (meat and bones). Because I am not paying an organic inspector to be at the slaughter house (USDA humane facility in Dixon, CA), this meat cannot be called organic. I can tell you though that nothing comes onto my farm that is not certified organic or better and my sheep do not leave my farm (except for the "one bad day"). They are given free choice Redmond salt, certified organic kelp, and always plenty of organic hay that I grow for them in addition to the 130 acres that they improve. Their tails are left alone and any castrating is done by the vet while the animals are under anesthesia.
I began growing Sonora Heirloom wheat in 2001, the year after I began tending the sheep, to bring a bunch of organic matter into the soil - as the plant has the root system of a perennial with very flavorful grains. But it was it's flavor that got me growing it year after year.
And of course, finances and water permitting, I grow my organic cotton breeding plots which remain the primary reason that I farm. I grow them with black-eyed peas, milo and lots of other fun plants, always enjoying what happens when the plants put on a party, and I get to attend as matchmaker.
The work of going biodynamic can take a lifetime, but I find it a most captivating goal. My dream is to develop a system where we all work together: sheep, cotton, grain, legumes, oh and me (and anyone else helping out). The sheep to improve the soil by breaking down the plant material left after crop harvests, and to distribute any soil amendments (seaweed being their favorite one to spread about) along with their fertile wastes. And to give us their wool and sometimes their life (meat and bones). Because I am not paying an organic inspector to be at the slaughter house (USDA humane facility in Dixon, CA), this meat cannot be called organic. I can tell you though that nothing comes onto my farm that is not certified organic or better and my sheep do not leave my farm (except for the "one bad day"). They are given free choice Redmond salt, certified organic kelp, and always plenty of organic hay that I grow for them in addition to the 130 acres that they improve. Their tails are left alone and any castrating is done by the vet while the animals are under anesthesia.
I began growing Sonora Heirloom wheat in 2001, the year after I began tending the sheep, to bring a bunch of organic matter into the soil - as the plant has the root system of a perennial with very flavorful grains. But it was it's flavor that got me growing it year after year.
And of course, finances and water permitting, I grow my organic cotton breeding plots which remain the primary reason that I farm. I grow them with black-eyed peas, milo and lots of other fun plants, always enjoying what happens when the plants put on a party, and I get to attend as matchmaker.