Farmer Profiles

"Jonathan Weaver-Kreider"
Simple Gifts Farm, Washington Boro, Pennsylvania

"The overall goal is to grow the best produce possible in an ecologically-sound manner while helping shareholders gain a sense of connection to the land and to their food supply."

Sorghum-sudan grass cover crop in late fall at Simple Gifts Farm.

The Farming Operation:  Jonathan began farming independently in the spring of 2000. He rents 2.5 acres of farmland and "inherited" an existing CSA operation from the farm's owner. The owner continues to live on the farm with her four children and rents out the rest of the 10-acre property. Jonathan lives in town with his wife, who teaches at a local private elementary school. Jonathan works off the farm in the winter.

The farm is situated on the east bank of the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County in southeastern Pennsylvania. Jonathan grows a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers, and his sole farm income comes from the CSA. Jonathan houses his equipment in a wonderful, old Swiss bank barn, which came with a complement of farm machinery. He's especially fond of the Allis Chalmers tractor with its belly-mounted equipment.

Jonathan works to improve soil quality on the farm. He buys straw to use as an effective weed-reducing, moisture-conserving, organic matter-enhancing mulch. He experiments with cover crops and intercrops, although he says "I'm very much still on a steep learning curve in terms of being successful at achieving a sustainable farming system." He conducts soil tests yearly to monitor the fertility and organic matter content of his fields. While he does not make and use much compost, he expects to begin adding horse manure from a nearby farm into his soil fertility program next year.

Jonathan uses drip irrigation for the cash crops, but doesn't irrigate the cover crops. He gets two or three years out of the drip tape by taping up holes in it each year before laying it again. He uses wide row covers for some crops but has a problem with wind blowing them off.

Jonathan received organic certification in 2002. He went through the process of certification because he wants to be able to call his produce "organic." He shares his farming philosophy with his CSA members and encourages them to walk in the fields and observe and participate in what's happening on the farm.

Jonathan uses a high tunnel to extend the season until early November. While he avoids plastic mulch, Jonathan has found paper mulch to be very successful in the high tunnel. The tunnel was built from an old Eliot Coleman design that moves on wooden rails. The high tunnel can be used effectively in a crop rotation plan because it can be moved on its rails onto an adjacent plot of land after harvest. With this design, it takes 12-15 people to shift the tunnel from one spot to the next. Coleman's design has since been changed and the newer design improves the tunnel's moveability.

Jonathan did not use hired help the first two years, but employed two part-time workers in 2002. He gets significant help with harvesting two days a week from CSA members who have "working" shares. He has also utilized third-graders from his wife's school to plant and mulch garlic and to pick beans. It's an outdoor learning experience for them and low-cost labor for him.

Jonathan enjoys learning by doing and is eager to experiment with cover crops, new technology and products, and by utilizing beneficial insects. He began using a flame weeder in 2001 and is pleased with the results. He found hot pepper spray to be effective on the aphids on his Brussels sprouts. He's bought and released parasitic wasps (Pediobius foveolatus) to help control Mexican bean beetles but was late releasing them the first year. They need to be ordered and released as soon as you see the first beetle eggs. The wasp's population builds throughout the summer, and they can provide a significant amount of control by the end of the season.

Cover Crops and Intercropping:  Jonathan's cover crops and intercropping strategies suppress weeds, increase soil organic matter, and add nitrogen to his soil. He likes to experiment and try new cover crops and combinations of cover crops. The experiments aren't always successful, but he learns something from all of them. He tried intercropping broccoli and cabbage with Dutch white clover - but the clover grew too fast and competed with the cash crop. He might try the clover again intercropped with a different cash crop. He found that a mix of sorghum-sudan grass and cowpeas do well in warm, dry weather - separately and together, but he had to mow the cover to keep the cowpeas from going to seed. He has planted tomatoes and summer squash into rolled rye and vetch, and it worked well. This technique was not successful when he direct-seeded winter squash into the rye/vetch. The crop residue had begun to decompose by the time the winter squash was planted, so the ground was only sparsely covered, and there were resulting weed problems.

What's in a Share:  The CSA had 25 shareholders in 2000, 43 in 2001, and 57 in 2002. Jonathan offers full shares, half shares, and working shares (with a 10-hour per season work requirement). Shareholders can pre-pay in the winter or make up to three installments beginning in the spring. There is a twice weekly CSA pick-up at the barn, and shareholders pack their own produce. Jonathan directs the pick-up by putting out signs that say how much of each product is in the share that week. His CSA members are free to pick their own flower bouquets and herbs, and about half of them do. Jonathan puts out a biweekly newsletter with farm news, recipes, and vegetable storage tips.

He also sells organic coffee and tea as well as honey, preserves, and cheese. He brings in eggs, chicken, and pork from an organic producer, and it's available for purchase by his shareholders. Jonathan said the CSA has all the "normal stuff" but he also offers a good mix of heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, sweet corn ("so-so" results with organic production), red raspberries, and edemame soybeans.

The Farmers' Background:  Jonathan is a graduate of the Sustainable Systems Master of Science (MS3) program at Slippery Rock University. He interned at the Accokeek Foundation's organic Ecosystem Farm before beginning to farm on his own.

Goals:  "The overall goal of the Simple Gifts CSA is to grow the best produce possible in an ecologically sound manner, while helping shareholders gain a sense of connection to the land and to their food supply," Jonathan says.

Jonathan works to increase the number of beneficial insects on the farm so they can help manage pest insects. He has left weedy areas around the edges of his fields as habitat and intends to plant more pollen and nectar sources for the beneficials.

Jonathan would like to have more land to farm so he can keep cover crops on his fields longer.

His wife would like to become more involved with the farm.

Sources of Information  Jonathan got a good background in sustainable agriculture at Slippery Rock University. He was fortunate to take classes with Marianne Sarrantonio, a cover crop specialist. He attends farming conferences in the winter, e.g. Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA).

Tips:  Try out new techniques and new products - see what fits into your farming system.

Timing is very important in farming. Make sure you don't let cover crops like buckwheat or annual ryegrass go to seed, or you'll create a weed problem. If possible, get the fall cover crops planted on time - you'll get more benefit from them. If you're going to order beneficial insects, know when to order them, and then do it on time.

Contact:  Jonathan Weaver-Kreider, Simple Gifts Farm, 2121 River Road, Washington Boro, PA 17582 (farm) 202 South 8th St., Columbia, PA 17512 (home) phone: (717)684-3596 e-mail: organicag@yahoo.com

Profiles of Sustainable Farming Systems