Every day is a new discovery.
The art of growing, of partnering with nature, of being self sufficient and having basic skills have been all but forgotten since the introduction and reliance on quick fixes, the “replace it” vs. “fix it” mentality, and bags and bottles of amendments.
Our farm experiments constantly with ideas, installations and things that we believe just make sense. The results, both amazing successes and epic failures, bring us another step closer to new (old?) discoveries. Observation and experimentation are as important to us as succeeding as farmers.
“All over her farm, Cicala is asking research questions. She’s growing alternative crops like passionfruit and honeyberry, engineering water-protective terraces on once unplantable hillsides, sculpting and cultivating a mound of infertile soil clawed out to make an irrigation pond. She’ll evaluate temperature variations and changes in soil fertility as that soil ages. ‘We do an enormous amount of research here,’ said Cicala."
From Southern SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education)
Important to note
Cricket’s Cove Farm & Forge is in south central Virginia.
Our annual temperature ranges from 100+ degrees to -12 degrees.
Our average humidity is 68%; summer humidity is easily in the 80%+ range.
We have 54" annual rainfall, concentrated in spring and fall, often gifting us 6"+ in a 24-hour period.
Late summer is brutally hot, excessively humid and with little to no rainfall.
Our soil was initially compacted red clay, saturated with crystal rock, with less than 1" of topsoil.
If you post blogs or share podcasts, please remember to include your environmental details — it puts everything in context and makes all the difference in the world.
