Palmyra Real Food Emporium

As we move through this growing season, it’s not too early to start thinking about next year. One of the key parts of the Emporium’s mission is to sell foods with high nutritional value. These nutrients come from the soil. If they are not in the soil they will not be in the plant unless “band-aids” are used to correct the deficiencies. But there’s more to the story. Weed, disease and insect pressure are also related to soil conditions. In fact, the weeds that are present tell an observer what the nutrient excesses and/or deficiencies are. Feed the soil, not the plant, and the nutrient levels in the crop will increase and the weed, disease and insect problems will diminish.

How do we address this soil issue? This year it was done by visiting the growers and observing their production practices. However, starting this fall we plan the start a program where our producers can begin improving their soil using the soil program developed by Dr. William Albrecht. It was further refined by Neal Kinsey, one of Dr. Albrecht’s last students and an internationally recognized soils consultant. Both Tom Maurer, manager of the Emporium, and Alan Perry, his “silent” partner from Presque Isle, Maine, have studied with Neal Kinsey since the 1990s.

The plan is to take and analyze soil from each producer’s farm or market garden. The number of samples will vary from producer to producer based on a number of factors. We will make recommendations for soil amendments based on the test results. Only growers whose soils meet a minimum standard will be invited to be a supplier. However, the minimum is not the goal. The goal is the have soil that is in optimum condition. Soils do not get out of balance overnight and will take time to improve. To encourage farmers to strive for optimum soil conditions, each farm will receive a rating of, say, 1 to 5. A rating of 1 will be the minimum to be a supplier. Each year, we will test the soils and make recommendations as to what amendments are needed and what the rating for that season should be.

The ultimate goal is the benefit both the farmer and the eater by providing higher quality food for the eater and fewer problems and better marketability for the farmer. To Tom Maurer, healthy soil is the foundation of everything – good food and healthy eating alike. And that’s what he’s offering at the Emporium.

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This entry was posted by Karen on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Food Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.