G2 is in the luxurious position --- perhaps even the enviable position --- of working from a blank slate. As we develop our research farm and greenhouse facility, we are able to look to the future, and plan to continuously develop and improve our sustainability programs.
Over the next few weeks, we intend to describe in this blog what G2 is attempting to do re sustainability. Some of the posts will describe what we have already done. Some will describe what we are planning to do. Some will discuss ideas that we intend to implement when it becomes possible. In some cases, technology is not quite appropriate for implementation today. In some cases, the technology is available, but the cost --- whether actual or tax-incentivized --- remains higher than we choose to afford.
But it is truly a joy to be working from a blank slate. When we acquired the small farm we are developing into G2's research farm, it was a little over 20 acres of restored corn (maize) fields. A little more than a decade before we acquired the farm in 2006, the corn fields were converted to an organic market garden and pasture. Fields were sown in grasses and legumes. Sheep and poultry were pastured on much of the farm. A limited acreage of market gardens (including strawberries, raspberries, and grapes) were planted. All of the converted field space was managed to strict organic standards, but the land was never formally certified. Organic certification in the mid-1990s was not very clearly defined, organic standards were still in development, and our predecessors as stewards of this land were in start-up mode. The cost of establishing and maintaining certification was considered high.
We respect that decision.
As we develop the landscape; as we continue to install research plots on the converted organic fields; as we build additional greenhouses and high tunnels --- as we move G2's research farm into the future --- we will continue to respect the effort that has already occurred on our farm. We practice sustainable agriculture to the best of our understanding. We will certify a portion of the field plots so that we can conduct breeding and research on ground which is managed under true organic certification. We will always consider the impact of our presence on the local ecosystems; the local groundwater; and the soils on which we farm.
We hope that you will share in our journey.
