What's a 30-Acre Organic Farm Look Like?

There's been a shift lately in people interested in farming. In recent years, consumers have been driving a change in the produce market by demanding to know and understand where their food comes from as a result, there's been an explosion in the demand for "organic" produce.

Urban farms and co-ops have also seen a dramatic increase in participants and interest.

Another impact of the organic shift? Urban farms and co-ops have seen a dramatic increase in participants and those interested. And that's where Prairie Heritage Farm comes in-

"I don't come from a farming background in fact, I didn't really get into it until my early 30s," says Jacob Cowgill, co-owner with his wife Courtney. "I'd interned on a vegetable farm, and a larger scale organic operation up north. When we wanted to start our own farm, the easiest point of entry seemed to be vegetable production."

What's their model look like, and what are some things they do to stay organic?

Organic CSA Business Model

Prairie Heritage Farm is a vegetable, vegetable seed and specialty grain farm operating outside of Power, Montana. If you've done any gardening yourself, you'll understand that taking on any scale vegetable farm is no small undertaking.

They produce vegetables... many types of vegetables: hot peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, fennel, kale, chard, bok choy, winter squash, pumpkins, garlic, broccoli, cabbage, parsley and lot more their list is truly extensive. "We sell most of what we grow through Community Supported Agriculture shares in the Great Falls area."

Looking to grow things in your own yard? We've got an extensive list of lawn and garden tools and materials available online here. 

This model is also known as the CSA model and is a familiar one across the nation, both in rural and urban areas. It looks like this: say a resident in the city wants USDA Certified Organic produce, but they ALSO want to know about the farm where their food is coming from- What do they do?

If they're in Montana, they can purchase a share through Prairie Heritage Farm. This share gives the farm working capital early in the year, and once the season gets rolling, share-holders get a weekly or bi-weekly delivery of produce.

"Our shareholders aren't looking for cheap produce. They're interested in sourcing high-quality, local produce grown by someone they know. They're also experiencing a connection to a farm through our social media and newsletters," Jacob tells us.

How does Prairie Heritage Farm stay "Organic"?

"The thing you hear the most with organic farming is crop rotation," Jacob tells me on the phone, "You have to make sure you're taking care of the soil, monitoring your cropping system closely and planting cover crops or 'green manures,' as they're known."

What does crop rotation mean? Crop rotation is just growing different crops on different plots so that you don't completely strip the land of the nutrients those plants need. "A tomato is going to take up different vitamins and minerals than a kale plant- so you need to be sure you're maintaining diversity, and a good crop rotation schedule."

I had a vague idea about crop rotation before this interview, but afterwards, I found out that rotating crops is something to do on EVERY scale if you have your own backyard garden, it will benefit you to change up your grow game every year- grew tomatoes by the fence last year? Try corn there this year and put the 'maters back by the patio.

Prairie Heritage Farm: Takeaways for the Neophyte Organic Gardener

So what's the organic farmer's favorite thing to grow? "Ha- well, I don't know if this will make sense," Jacob said a little abashedly, "But my favorite thing to grow is a good cover crop mixture with a legume or two in it."

I had no idea what that was- but Drew gave me the run down briefly after the interview. When he isn't the sock model, he assumes the role of Farmer Drew- mon liege in the gardening game.

Want to try your hand at the vegetable game? Check out what veggies grow best in Montana right here.

"Well, Cutter, a cover crop serves two purposes really. It acts as a natural fertilizer by putting organics back in the soil, you are replenishing nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that's why Jacob calls it, 'green manure.' The other purpose? It protects your topsoil when the crop 'canopies,' it protects your dirt from being baked out or bleached by the sun, and, important especially for us in Montana cover crops help to keep topsoil from blowing away."

Get serious in the garden & check out how to get super-soil in your own backyard.

So what did I learn besides a great smaller-scale model for branching out into organic food production? Even in the city, you need to rotate crops, and if you want your plants to grow well and protect your land without using "inputs," you can utilize a cover crop like lentils, clover or buckwheat.