By Mary-Howell Martens, Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on March 5, 2004 In YOUR opinion, what is the primary goal of organic agriculture today? Is it to reduce the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, transgenic products, antibiotics and hormones on … Continued
Dig Deeper
Mary-Howell and Klaas Martens
100 ideas for improving yield and income
By Mary-Howell Martens (with Klaas’ help!), Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on January 12, 2004 After a delightful Christmas visit with family in North Carolina, we drove north past Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, with red clay furrows in fall-plowed fields. As … Continued
Why making organic the norm is important
Klaas responds to a question about last month’s column, Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on December 16, 2003 From the Dakotas to the Texas Panhandle, the rural Great Plains has been losing people for 70 years, a slow demographic collapse. … Continued
Evaluating the 2003 season, and harvesting lessons for 2004 and beyond
By Mary-Howell Martens (with Klaas’ help!), Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on November 21, 2003 November is a time of sharp contrasts, the early dark of overcast days and the incandescent glow from windows, the chill bite of the wind … Continued
Why we certify
By Mary-Howell Martens (with Klaas’ help!), Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on October 24, 2003 “Come on, Mom, go faster! There’s never any cops along this road and we’ve got to get there!” My son’s urgency made a certain amount … Continued
The unseen life of sand and soil
By Mary-Howell Martens (with Klaas’ help!), Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on September 30, 2003 At the end of August, we took a much appreciated vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. One afternoon, I left Klaas and the … Continued
Defensive farming
By Mary-Howell Martens (with Klaas’ help!), Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on August 22, 2003 It rained again last night. I lay awake listening to the rain beating down in sheets against the windows, the rumble of approaching thunder, watching … Continued
Organic precision farming
By Mary-Howell Martens (with Klaas’ help!), Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on June 10, 2003 Several years ago, I got into conversation with a big conventional Midwest corn and soybean farmer at a meeting. Looking disdainfully at me, he declared … Continued
Create a line-up that ensures healthy soil and earns a profit
By Mary-Howell Martens (with Klaas’ help!), Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on March 8, 2003 Back in the mid 1980’s, when I was working in the grape breeding program at Cornell University, I spent many weekends doing volunteer promotions for … Continued
February: Being self-sufficient starts with the food on our table, but it doesn’t end there
By Mary-Howell Martens (with Klaas’ help!), Lakeview Organic Grain Originally posted on February 10, 2003 A favorite activity in February is to study the hatchery catalogs and dream about summertime flocks. I guess I’ve planted enough vegetable gardens over the … Continued