Greetings, Ephrata Farm family! We would like to take this opportunity to update everyone as to recent events past and current events that are continuing to unfold. The weather in Southeast Wisconsin has been wet and warm so far this Summer, and our vegetables and fruit trees are absolutely loving it. As an entirely organic vegetable farm and orchard, we ensure that our customers’ produce never comes in contact with man-made pesticides or herbicides; as such, one of the primary allocations of labor for June, July, and August is reserved for the tasks of weeding and pest control.
Weeding requires a delicate yet firm hand and well-trained eyes; so that disruptive plants are identified and removed without damaging beneficial crops. Armed with Warren Hoes, Stirrup Hoes, Dandelion Weeders, String Trimmers, and Push Cultivators, our team scours the field, patiently restoring order. One of the weeds we commonly encounter is Ragweed. Ragweed is notorious for releasing large amounts of pollen, causing severe allergic reactions in some people. A single plant may produce about a billion grains of pollen per season! With this in mind, we eliminate Ragweed with extreme prejudice.
At the other end of the spectrum that differentiates between noxious, invasive plants are nutritional, medicinal plants. As such, we have been blessed with several species of beneficial unexpected guests, such as Common Mullein, Daisy Fleabane, Wild Spinach, and Wild Carrot. When these guests pop up, we make a determination on whether or not they are actively competing with our planned crops, harvesting the wild cultivars if they pose a threat or allowing them to flower and seed for future seasons. Currently, we are working on plans to monetize these native species, which involve the development of oil, hydrosol, and poultice value-added products.
So that we might create a more harmonious ecosystem, this careful selection process allows Ephrata Farm to promote several principles of the art of permaculture. Permaculture is a sustainable farming approach that imitates natural processes. The principle of biodiversity empowers our farm to attract a larger variety of beneficial insects and pollinators, which translates to a more balanced food web that is more capable of handling invasive pests. The principle of maintaining and improving soil health through natural means manifests when our beneficial guests’ deep root systems break up soil compaction, improve soil aeration, and proceed to draw up vital nutrients from the deepest layers of our soil. Hopefully, Ephrata moves closer to the ideal of a self-sustaining ecosystem, minimizing the amount of external inputs.
Now that you have an idea of how Ephrata has been dealing with invasive plants, let’s examine the other side of the active deterrence coin, which focuses oon insects and other pests. For the most part, Ephrata Farm has not encountered any major pest problems yet; however, so that you may better understand how organic farms respond to pests, we will show you how we handled the appearance of the Colorado Potato Beetle in early July of this year. For starters, the Colorado Potato Beetle, also known as the ten-striped spearman, is an orange and yellow invasive pest that has spread rapidly across the North American and European continents in a relatively short period of time, since its first observation in the Rocky Mountains in 1811. The beetle’s diet focuses on members of the nightshade family, which includes the potato, tomato, and eggplant; however, it can also target peppers. Both prodigious and voracious, several generations of the beetle can mature on a farm during a single season, while a single adult can consume 10 square centimeters of foliage per day.
Approximately 50% of our vegetable farm is threatened by this ten-striped spearmen; as such, our team has quickly worked on developing and implementing a comprehensive disaster response plan, that involves fighting at the Colorado Potato Beetle’s own personal level, insect to insect. In line with our adoption of the principles of permaculture, we have thoroughly researched the ecosystems that the Colorado Potato Beetle inhabits, which led to our discovery of several natural predators and parasitoids that hunt and kill the pest with astounding efficiency. First, there is the convergent lady beetle, which targets the eggs and larvae of the Colorado Potato Beetle. Our farm has invested in 4,500 live, adult ladybugs, serving as our shock troops that will immediately set to work on disrupting the life cycle of the pest. Secondly, there is the green lacewing, which happens to be predatory at every stage of its life cycle, excluding egg form. Yet adult lacewings still hold the honor of being the most devastating to their targets, focusing on eggs and larvae, while maintaining a high level of mobility that enables it to travel great distances. Ephrata Farm has purchased 15,000 green lacewing eggs, creating a reinforcing contingent of combatants that will supplement the ladybug shock troops. Third, heterorhabditis bacteriophora is a species of nematode that is a parasitoid of adult Colorado Potato Beetles. Leadership here has made the acquisition of approximately 50,000,000 nematodes a matter of highest priority. Dispersed via irrigation tools, the nematodes will be our shadow soldiers, discretely infiltrating the enemy, while maintaining an attack position in the upper layers of the soil. This three-pronged assault stratagem was designed to overwhelm the enemy in a short amount of time while maintaining the ability to fight a protracted war. As an added bonus, our army will be capable of handling several other species of insect pests, including aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, thrips, caterpillars, scale, psyllids, armyworms, cutworms, sod webworms, wireworms, weevils, Japanese Beetles, and Cucumber Beetles. Our family sincerely hopes that the care we took in devising and executing this plan, which never for a moment abandoned or lost sight of our organic promise, will quell and calm any concerns of our customers.
In closing, the Summer of 2024 is a very exciting time here at Ephrata Farm. We hope that you will have the opportunity to visit us soon and connect more deeply with our growing community. We thank God every day for having such wonderful customers, and we look forward to continuing this cathartic journey with you all! God bless.
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