Sustainable farming at Moondance
From the inception of Moondance Flower Farm, one of our goals was to operate the farm as sustainably as possible– from field preparation, irrigation, harvesting flowers, and even after the flowers are displayed and taken home to brighten your day.
The field has been hand tilled and supplemented with organic bone meal and organic fertilizer. We do not use any pesticides or herbicides on any of the flowers growing here at the farm. Our soil has also been supplemented with composted manure from a local horse farm. All natural inputs here at Moondance!
Our irrigation system is first and foremost reliant on Mother Nature and the rain she provides. We are experimenting with straw mulch around some of the flowers to see how that helps reduce the use of water for the flowers. Farmer Mark installed gutters along a building close to the annual flower field and placed rain barrels that are the next option for field irrigation. Once the second set of rain barrels get installed (hopefully in the next month or so), that will give us >200 gallons of rain water available! Lastly, our drip irrigation is connected to our well, which we will use to supplement water needs when there is not enough rain available.
Once the flowers have grown and are cut to be enjoyed in someone’s home, they are sold in glass jars (6 oz “cutie” jars or 32 oz large bouquet jars) which are able to be recycled, re-used in your home (ask for the lid if we forget to give it to you!) OR brought back to us at the farm or the Farmers Market for $1 off your next purchase. We have also just started offering our new “market bags,” which are made of recycled paper – these are also available for the $1 “bring back” program at Moondance! Just our way to say thanks for contributing to our sustainability goals.
Last, but certainly not least, we are mindful of how we reuse flowers that aren’t sold. First, we do collect blooms for drying - we offer dried flower confetti for weddings and events, and we are experimenting with other creative ways to reuse those dried flowers too! We also built a large composting system, which is a crucial component to a healthy, sustainable farm. The organic ingredients lead to happier soil and less need for tilling (which tends to disrupt the soil micro biome). Plus, putting our family’s food waste back into the farm is such a better use than sending it to a landfill!
We are continuing to explore new ways to promote a more sustainable flower farm. For example, we mulch throughout the perennial garden area and are looking into cover crops to help eliminate erosion and to promote the uptake of good nutrients in the soil. Farmer Mark is also looking into no-till methods that could be incorporated in the next growing season.
Do you have any ideas, opinions, or thoughts on ways Moondance can be a stronger ally for the environment?
