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No-Till Farming at Gibbet Hill

Groton Garden Club Posted on February 16, 2021 by Juliet SilveriFebruary 16, 2021

Submitted by Donna N., edited by Juliet S.

A view of the Gibbet Hill barn

In early February 2021, The Groton Garden Club was fortunate to have Kayleigh Boyle, former manager of  Gibbet Hill Farm, present a fascinating and informative discussion on the farm’s path from a mechanical to a purely organic supplier of produce. In this talk she emphasized the importance of the environment in which the food that we eat is grown.

Rows of crops produced by no-till agriculture at Gibbet Hill Farm

For the last four years, Gibbet Hill has been farming on a “human scale,” using no-till methods. This means they stopped turning the earth and creating rows mechanically. Traditionally, after plowing the land, tractors go over it again, using their wheels to make wide spaces between the beds. This compacting was preventing the soil from aerating and preventing the growth of microorganisms.

The tractor is no longer used. Instead, they use a broadfork to open the dirt, but not turn it over. Turning over of the earth causes weed seeds to rise to the surface to germinate, so using the broadfork avoids the weed germination. The previous five-foot distance between beds set by the space between tractor wheels is no longer standard.  Beds are now created on a human scale of three feet apart.. Any earth from spaces between the beds is added to the beds, instead of crushed in place.

Digging with a broadfork

Pesticides, including those labeled organic, are not used on the farm. Even the “organic” ones have been found to be broad spectrum, and while providing an organic solution for specific targets, are often toxic to other species, especially bees. They plant natural deterrents, such as hedgerows of California Poppies and Alyssum, which both host larvae that attack the tomato hornworm pests. They also purchase certain beneficial insects online to help with pest control. Their healthy soil and plants tend to attract fewer pests.

As a result of using organic methods, their weeding has shrunk from 50% to 10% of their work. The soil has become so rich, aerated, and conducive to root growth that an arm inserted can reach down to its elbow. By studying and working with the microbiology of plants and soil, Gibbet Hill farm now grows enough on one acre to supply 80% of the produce for all of the Weber Group restaurants, and to supply a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program as well.

The diversity of produce from no-till agriculture

Posted in Tidbits

The Gardeners’ Way of Remembering

Groton Garden Club Posted on January 20, 2021 by Juliet SilveriJanuary 20, 2021

Comfrey Symphytum uplandicum “Christopher Lloyd”   from Marilyn R.

Written by Juliet S. and Penny H.                                          

Iris “Eleanor Roosevelt” with Columbine “Green Apples,” both from Sue B.

 

A gardener’s memories aren’t always of plants, but sometimes of gardening friends, through plants. Intertwined with the memories of her plants are a late friend’s engaging quirks, anecdotes, and spirit, so that it is not possible to think of that plant, without thinking also of that friend. When we contemplate, for example, some hardy, low-maintenance geraniums that grow and spread with ease, that a friend dug for us years ago, donning her bee-keepers headgear, and driving a cart down her grounds to dig and haul for us, we always, at the same time, think of that friend. 

Just as smells from our past bring back memories that hit us with stunning clarity, it is also the case with the sight of a shrub or perennial. If it has come from a friend, an avid gardener always remembers that, since we communicate with one another through our plants. We give and trade plants, and this process becomes for us a sort of language that only gardeners understand, because only we know the anecdotes and memories that a certain iris or hypericum brings to our minds. The photos here link us to our late gardening friends through our common language and love of plants.

Iris “Beverly Sills” from Marilyn R.

Daylily “Gentle Shepherd” from Sue B. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of us struggle with a way to honor garden club members who have passed recently.  Some members honor their gardening friends by creating a special spot in their garden for plants received from friends over the years.  It makes us smile whenever we are in the garden, to see these plants that remind us of these special people.
Our gardening friends gave us this happy legacy: their plants are intertwined with the memories of their personalities, in a lasting, exquisite way.

Louisiana Iris “Black Gamecock” from Lee B.

Posted in Tidbits

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