How We Grow
First and foremost our goal here at Coghlan Cottage Farm is to feed our family. We have two young children. (Not so small anymore.)
It's important to us that our kids eat real food that is tasty, nutrient-dense, fresh, and free of any freaky chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, hormones or antibiotics. The farm is also our home; our children work and play in the fields where we grow.
Everything we do must be healthy and safe for them. When you purchase food from our farm, you are buying the same food we feed our kids. That is the standard we judge our farming methods by; nothing less.
Deep-Organic Farming Principles vs. Official Organic Certification
Coghlan Cottage Farm is not certified organic. This has been a difficult, but conscious decision on our part.
We have a number of reasons for this; some practical, some political, some philosophical.
When we did our Organic Master Gardener Certification, we were shocked by how many scary, not very "natural" substances are permitted under certified organic agriculture, and how many not very sustainable methods were common practice, especially on a large scale.
We're pragmatic people, and we understand that there are lots of compromises that need to be made when scaling up farming and when your livelihood depends on it. Fortunately, for us our farm is teeny tiny and it isn't our primary source of income. This gives us the luxury of going above and beyond in our farming methods.
For us, deep-organic farming means:
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We are concerned that official organic standards are under constant pressure from big agri-business. We understand that savvy eaters are learning that just because something has the official "organic" stamp of approval, it doesn't mean that product has been produced in a sane, sustainable way. Certified organic products might be grown in huge mono-cultures, or shipped great distances or grown by workers whom are paid menial wages or are unfairly treated.
At the end of the day, we believe that the best policy in agriculture (and one that is greatly lacking in our industrial food system) is transparency. If you have questions about how we grow our food, we are happy to show you.