Natural Resources Defense Council & Larry Jacobs

by Becky Elmuccio on May 22, 2013

natural resources defense council

Photo courtesy of NRDC

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) bestowed one of its Growing Green Awards on Larry Jacobs of Jacobs Farm Organic and Del Cabo Organic.

Larry Jacobs is the founder of Jacobs Farm Organic and Del Cabo Organic and a passionate organic farming advocate. He has joined Briana Sandoval as one of the four awardess of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Growing Green Award. I had the opportunity to interview Larry about his efforts and his food philosophy. I admire his work to help people secure jobs that maintain healthy work conditions and support their families financially. Jacobs Farm Organic cultivates organic herbs in California and their slogan is “Healthy Soils, Healthy Plants, Healthy People.” It’s a great way to view the interconnected of us and what we eat and how we grow it. Del Cabo is based in Mexico and produces a wide range of fruits and vegetables. It is a hub of sustainable farming and community support and is a venture well worth supporting. Below is the interview we had and you will quickly see why the Natural Resources Defense Council selected him as an honoree this year.

CGM: Why do you choose to farm with sustainable practices?

LJ: Sustainable practices makes sense. This wasn’t a choice, but a common sense decision to consider the environment and our health as part of the equation. From a resource management perspective, we value “frugality” and making the best use of the resources we have. So, employing drip irrigation was a good choice for water savings, weed reduction and improved field working conditions (less slugging around in the mud). Building soil fertility by growing cover crops and adding compost made more sense than using chemical fertilizers as does striving to mitigate insect problems by providing habitats for beneficial insects.

CGM: Can you elaborate on how your coop business model works?

LJ: We’ve made a career of empowering small scale growers to work together, learn organic farming practices and connect them to markets outside their communities. It sounds simple but getting farmers to work as a cohesive unit is challenging. It requires listening and patience. The model works by aggregating growers into community groups which facilities opportunities of scale. This lowers the cost of packing and farm supplies by ordering in large quantities and lowers freight costs. On the food side, bringing each farm’s product to a central packing facility helps standardize packs for different markets, lowers the costs of packing, handling, cooling and shipping as well as making it possible to supply large retailers with crops grown on very small farms, some as small as ½ acre. The big plus to Del Cabo has been for many a ten fold increase in family income and the opportunity to farm in an environmentally friendly way without the health risks of handling toxic materials.

CGM: Where can people find your products for sale in stores?

LJ: Our products are found in the produce section of many different stores including “corner stores”, regional supermarkets and national retailers Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, and Krogers. We have stronger distribution in west but a lot of what we grow is enjoyed in the Midwest and East.

CGM: How can “backyard farmers” use beneficial insects to help maintain their gardening efforts?

LJ: Great question. Backyard farmers can start by who they have in their garden and what species sees those insects that feed on their plants as a source of food, like syphrid larvae<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverfly>, or a desirable place to lay their eggs like trichogramma wasps<http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/homehort/pest/trichogramma.htm>. Learning what flowers your beneficial friends like to “hang-in” provides a guide for what you can do to create your own “beneficial insect habitats”. The insect world opens a door for young and old to explore nature in our back yards. Most people don’t realize that spiders play a significant role in moderating insect populations in landscapes that aren’t impacted by pesticides.

I hope that Larry Jacobs motivates you, as he does me and the folks at the Natural Resources Defense Council, in your green living efforts and your choices at the supermarket. It’s always good to find companies who are working to not only support the planet, but also the humanity which resides on its surface. If you want to learn more about Larry and his work, be sure to check out his blog post on the Natural Resources Defense Council website.

How do you support sustainable practices in your garden or via your wallet at the store?

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Rodale and More: TG #32

by Becky Elmuccio on May 21, 2013

 

gardening

Welcome to Tuesday Greens #32! In this edition, we tour Rodale Institute, Eckerton Hill Farm and Glick’s Greenhouse.

rodale

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of meeting up with two friends, Barb from A Life in Balance and Frugal Local Kitchen, and Lauryn, from The Vintage Mom, and their kids and take some great farm tours in the Oley and Kutztown, PA areas. Driving through farmland always put me in the right zone and it was a treat to listen to Tomato shout, “Cows!” and “I love covered bridges!” from the back seat.

Eckerton Hill Farm

Eckerton Hill Farm

We started our day at Eckerton Hill Farm. This farm is the CSA where Lauryn gets her winter and summer CSA shares. She does an amazing job each week to explain how they use their fresh produce. Collard green enchiladas, need I say more. Eckerton Hill Farm has been in existence for 15 years, first on a rooftop in Brooklyn and now in the Oley Valley in PA. Their slogan is “Home of the Tomato People,” so naturally my little Tomato felt right at home running through the fields and checking out the animals. Farmer Tim Stark is well known for the heirloom tomatoes that they harvest and they have been hosting Dinners in the Dell, where folks can eat right in the fields.

After a great walk through the fields and talking with some of the farmers, we had a picnic and hopped back into our cars to get to the Rodale Institute. Rodale has been on my bucket list of places to visit. As the home of organic gardening in America, Rodale hosts an Organic Apple Festival in the fall and had their plant sale a few weeks ago. Open Houses at Rodale are a great way to see the grounds and purchase gardening goodies from their gift shop. We picked up a ton of plantlings and looked at some new organic fertilizer options.

rodale

rodale

If you are looking to visit Rodale, there will be a Best Kept Secrets Tour from June 14-29 to see some of the gems in Berks County and Rodale will be a stop. Tickets are $7 a person and details are here. I am anxious to head back and take a full tour and watch Tomato run through the orchard to pick apples in the fall.

Glick's Greenhouse

Glick's Greenhouse

Our final stop for the day was at Glick’s Greenhouse. Lauryn and I were laughing that we were being good and not buying out the place. With all of the new flower bed potential that I have, I need to buy perennials slowly and think about bloom times, colors and heights before I go too crazy. I did get some coreopsis and phlox for the front yard and love the contrast of pinks, blues and purples.

If you want to see what Barb picked up on our outing, she has a post about Glick’s and a post about Eckerton Hill and Rodale. I am looking forward to more farm adventures with these ladies this summer! Barb’s post about Glick’s also happens to be our featured post of the week, so be sure to check it out.



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