Grow More Plants

Philosophy of the Farm

It was shortly after the first growing season I had this realization. If my living was made from growing plants, by simply growing more plants I’d make more money. The message is not entirely true, but this saying has resonated ever since.

Space is the main limiting factor on Folks Farm. Located within the city limits of Fort Collins, Colorado we are lucky to rent 2 irrigated organic acres. However, for the business to make sense, we often need to maximize our growing capacity, hence more plants.

Season extension through the use of one high tunnel and two greenhouses has allowed us to grow well into the shoulder seasons, or early in the spring and late into the winter. Through increased protected growing space, we can keep plants living in the ground, providing food, for many more months than possible outside. On any given winter day it can be 0 degrees outside and 60 and sunny inside one of these structures.

In the early season, when we are planting our first tomatoes in these tunnels, instead of waiting to produce a tomato we interplant a quick crop alongside. More roots in the ground makes for more productivity while using the same space. Plants sharing space create different relationships with soil microbes, the true powerhouse of organic soil. By growing lettuce next to tomatoes, we provide fodder for these organisms who synthesize inert materials from soil into accessible nutrients for the crops. In exchange the plants provide sugars produced through photosynthesis to feed the microbial communities. By maintaining living roots and plants covering the soil we are maximizing this symbiotic exchange, feeding a diversity of microbes, and generating additional revenue through two crops in the same bed.

Millions of years of coevolution have equipped plants and soil microbes with facilities to produce fertility and thrive. As a farmer, I try to act as an intermediary whose goal is to maximize production by maximizing natural systems. Practices such as this not only grow tastier vegetables, but more nutritious as well.

Every crop begins as a seed. I have chosen to source many of our varieties from local seed growers adapting crops to our high alititude arid climate. Through “selection” these “seedy folks” are producing crops evolutionary designed to work in concert with indigenous microbes, thus increasing productivity all round. These plants are designed, genetically, to handle a wider variety of conditions than imported seed from coastal climates across the globe. They are bred for our farms, on our farms, and represent true folk’s food.

I am always skeptical when the solutions for on farm problems come from outside sources of technology. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their associated chemicals have created conditions for billions of people to exist. However, they lock farmers into captured systems where they have to purchase seeds and fertilizers year after year from companies with questionable morals (and quite possibly causes higher cancer rates). Rather I have chosen to source seeds modified through environmental experience, from people I know and trust. We have also taken it upon our farm to maintain several lines of carrots and onions, often not available commercially, that thrive in our area.

Cover crops are the ultimate source of plant diversity and help us grow fertility with plants. Many species will be mixed together and densely sown across large swaths of our fields. These crops grow together and provide a wealth of nutrients for the microbes. Eventually the cover crop is terminated into the soil or let to die by frost. The benefits of cover crops are far-reaching in adding biomass, creating habitat for microbes, sequestering carbon, managing weeds, and providing nectar sources for pollinators. Plus, they are fun, simple, and beautiful to grow.

For quicker bursts of fertility our farm imports compost. Compost is broken down organic waste that provides stable nutrition to plants. It is easy to apply, biologically active, and allows us to spike nutrition while simultaneously growing a crop. By utilizing waste, we are diverting products that would otherwise end up in landfills or manure lagoons. The benefits of compost to create habitat for microbes is well known and allows us to grow many more plants.

Now, the elephant in the room, tillage. Tillage can be defined as any activity, usually mechanical, that destroys soil biology. Reducing tillage is our north star and something we are constantly working towards. In high dollar spaces we have nearly eliminated tillage altogether, but across the majority of the fields we utilize it to disrupt weeds and prepare ground for planting. I am the first to admit we could always grow better and consistent improvement is a priority for the farm.

For me, farming is a mixture of mechanical and natural. One part production, another diversity. A blend of old and new constantly being questioned, challenged, and refined.

Farm News

CSA Shares for the 2025 growing season are available for purchase. Thank you everyone who has reserved their veggies for the season as these early sales get seeds in soil. A reminder as well, we also have working member shares. Navigate through the button below for more information.