Neversink Farm

Radical Practices and Outsider Agriculture

Our farming practices may be radical but they have resulted in our farm being one of the highest production farms per square foot in the country.

What can be more radical than removing the symbol of vegetable farming; the tractor? We practice farming by hand; replacing the tractor with hand tools. All planting, cultivation, and harvesting is done manually, though we use modern tools and techniques that keep us efficient and competitive. We find that farming this way is easier, more productive, and can produce vegetables of a higher quality.

Deep and Intensive

We practice intensive planting and growing techniques. Our beds are replanted constantly throughout the season from early April through late fall. Our hoop houses produce vegetables year round. We do this by maintaining extremely fertile soil. As a result we do not need to leave fields fallow. We believe that farming this way creates healthy vegetables resistant to diseases and pests.

No Till

Strictly speaking, it is impossible for me to avoid all tillage on my farm. Tilling is the act of preparing the land for seeding or planting. This includes the plow on every seeder and transplanter, using a rake on beds to smooth them, and can even be the act of using your fingers to dig and make holes for transplanting.

Thus "No Till" at Neversink, is really about reduced soil disturbance and making my best effort to keep soil layers intact. For me, the removal of heavy equipment, like a BCS or Tractor that stirs, tills, or plows any deeper than the top surface layer of tilth satisfies the unattainable goal of No-Till. Beyond my farm, I include any farmers personal definition  as I want to be as inclusive as possible.

I use permanent beds that reduce soil disturbance. Instead of tilling our fields we manually broadfork our permanent beds and only cultivate the soil surface. This maintains soil structure and the life it supports, reduces our weed pressure, increases our organic matter, and I believe, produces great produce.

Visitors

The farm is not open for drop-in visitors or tours.

We have a store in the barn with limited hours. Information can be found here - Farm Store