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Soil Health Field Walk at Island Grown Initiative
Join Island Grown Initiative and American Farmland Trust for a field walk exploring innovative approaches to tillage reduction on organic farms. Farmers Andrew Woodruff and Tim Connelly will provide a whole-farm tour focusing on their soil health and regenerative farming practices. During the tour, Andrew and Tim will showcase the custom zone builder they’ve built and the demonstration plots where they have used it to plant low-till fall brassicas into crimped and tarp-terminated rye, vetch, and crimson clover cover crop mix. With assistance from soil health consultant Alli Fish, they are tracking yield outcomes, labor investments, compaction, weed suppression, and other soil health indicators in the trial field. Andrew, Tim, and Alli will discuss the soil health and crop performance outcomes of their tillage reduction trial. We will round out the afternoon with an informal farmer-to-farmer Q&A and discussion.
If you plan to bring your car to Island, make a reservation as far in advance as possible (as tourist demand is high). Contact Julie if you wish to arrange a carpool with other attendees. Arrive at the ferry terminal at least 30 minutes prior to departure and plan on a 45-minute ferry ride. A link to the ferry schedule is here.
About the Farm:
Island Grown Initiative, a non-profit organization that works to build a regenerative and equitable food system on Martha’s Vineyard, has been transitioning its 40-acre farm to low- and no-tillage regenerative agricultural practices, utilizing tarps, landscape fabric, year-round, diverse cover crops, and multi-species rotational grazing. The farm also includes a 30,000-square-foot glass greenhouse, a ten-month CSA, a robust gleaning program, and hosts frequent field trips from our local schools. Approximately 1/3 of what we grow is donated to islanders in need through our own food equity programs and through partners in our Island Food Equity Network.
Speakers:
Andrew Woodruff has been farming vegetables on Martha’s Vineyard since he started Whippoorwill Farm in his teenage years. In 2017, after many decades of growing, Andrew decided to lease out Whippoorwill Farm and work as a consultant for local farms promoting soil health using regenerative systems. This journey has allowed Andrew to radically rethink land stewardship and how to grow food sustainably.
Alli Fish supports soil health data collection and planning for numerous farms on Martha’s Vineyard. She works to catalyze the widespread adoption of regenerative agriculture practices that improve soil health, sequester carbon, decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and promote agricultural resiliency to climate change. She has worked with American Farmland Trust, USDA, Duke University, and Environmental Defense Fund on research projects around land-based carbon sequestration techniques.