Living close to the land
The American farm family is a real icon. But its been fading as fast as our natural environment.
We put our love for the land and its renewable treasures ahead of convenience and a fast profit. As a farm family, we have always been close to the land and perhaps understand it at a deeper level than most.
Thirty years ago, we took a strong environmentally-responsible approach to the use of our land. Its that same attitude that has made Cider Hill Farm the success it is today, and should help sustain that success well into the future.
Already, through the adoption of a rigorous compost program, we have increased our average soil organic matter content from 2% to 8 - 10% over the last 20 years. This provides a healthy soil capable of sustaining our crops with less fertilization and actually helps with some disease control attributes.
We have co-existed with 15 bee hives on our land for the last 20 years, which shows the level of care we take to protect our natural resources.
It is obvious the moment you arrive here that we have been putting our best foot forward in our pioneering use of alternative energy. You will see our three wind turbines, solar panel arrays totaling over 600 panels, as well as high efficiency outdoor wood boilers used to heat our greenhouses and homes. While reducing our carbon footprint, we are also working hard to find ways to keep our costs down so that we can continue to offer our products at an affordable price.
Also, we have embarked on a program to increase the efficiency of our facilities by updating all our refrigeration systems with the latest scroll compressors, changing all lighting to flourescent or LED bulbs, and re-insulating all our coolers and freezers with environmentaly safe and high insulating spray foam.
We are blessed to have stewardship of this beautiful piece of land, and we know it will care for us as long as we care for it.
|
