On August 25th CAFF organized a farm tour at PrairieWoods Farm in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, to focus on organic high tunnel production. PrarieWoods is a 3-acre market garden that sells organic vegetables to the Bentonville Farmers Market and also to a few restaurants and grocery stores in Northwest Arkansas. Farmer Jeremy Baranauskas, owner and operator of PrairieWoods, has been farming since he was 15 years old and quickly realized that he did not want to be in the business of conventional vegetable production.
“I got tired of all the chemicals,” Jeremy said during the farm tour, talking about his previous experience on a large conventional vegetable farm where he worked in his teens. “I knew I wanted to do things differently on my own farm.” Still in his 20s, Jeremy is by far the youngest farmer at the Bentonville Farmers Market and the only one selling Certified Organic produce – something that has led to quite the reputation for the young farmer.
The farm tour attracted 49 participants from as far as Oklahoma, made up of gardeners, aspiring farmers, new farmers, experienced farmers, NRCS agents, and university researchers – all interested in learning what contributed to the success of this young organic farmer in Sulphur Springs.
Jeremy focuses on year-round production, utilizing 10 caterpillar tunnels and one large gothic high tunnel equipped with a heating unit to keep crops growing through the Arkansas winter. During the farm tour Jeremy had lettuce growing in the field under shade cloth and beautiful tomatoes and eggplants on trellis wires in his high tunnels. Jeremy has learned over the years to rely on silage tarps for weed control after some bad years battling bermudagrass. He has also been incorporating more cover crops into his crop rotations, to feed the soil food-web and distribute nutrients throughout the soil profile.
Participants learned the ins and outs of growing organic crops year-round in high tunnels, in addition to learning about NRCS programs that can help them pay for high tunnels and other farm improvements. NRCS agents from Crawford County were in attendance and were able to share with participants about relevant programs and how to put in an application with their local NRCS Field Office. Farm Tour participants were very pleased with the experience, giving the event a 4 out of for being “more open to working with organic producers or willing to adopt organic practices myself” and a 4 out of 5 for their knowledge of organic practices having increased. Some of the comments received included: “Very informative and a great way to network with other farmers. Keep it up with the great job!” And “Great site, great info. Would recommend to others who are interested.”