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We started Goshen Farm a few years ago because we love good wholesome food. We were tired of finding the same tasteless produce day after day filling the market shelves, and even worse, not knowing where it came from or how it was grown. It seemed like every day we would read in the news about some commercialized produce scare or recalls for tainted food. We were bored with the variety offered at every supermarket. Everything was always the same size, same bland texture, and not much flavor. I remember one winter reading through a Fedco seed catalog and just marveling at the myriad of different types of vegetables they offered. So the next summer we tried a few types of squash, corn, beans, pumpkins, and peas. They grew so well in our rich maine soil, and were so full of flavor, that the recieved rave reviews from friends and family. Some even offered to pay us to grow them vegetables the next year. And so the idea of the farm was planted in our heads so to speak. We tried even more varieties the next year, and gained an even bigger following of people who like us, wanted to know their food was safe to eat. Our devotion to organic growing practices stems from our dedication to providing wholesome healthy food. Nature never intended for chemicals to be sprayed on its fruits, so why should we? We want you to experience some of the best tasting produce you'll ever sink your teeth into, and hope you'll stay with us as we discover and grow new exciting varieties.

One of the biggest questions that arises here is: Are we certified organic? The answer at this time is no we are not. We have not been certified ourselves these past few years due to a few factors. Our gross sales never met the minimum required to seek certification. As a small family farm, we were only in Maine part of the year, and in addition we did not keep the records a 3rd party required to verify the organic practices we followed. We are now full time residents of the farm and growing on about 3 acres. In promoting a proactive stance toward sustainable agriculture, we feel organic certification and the backing of MOFGA and the USDA can provide some reassurance that people are looking for more and more nowadays. How do we grow now? We try to keep one ideal in mind which is to leave the land better than we found it the year before. Through a system of green manures, compost, crop rotation and soil testing, it's our goal to leave each field we grow on even more productive for the following growing seasion. We use a very limited amout of organic chemicals to control pests and disease, trying to stop problems through sanitation and crop rotation. Those very few applications of chemicals, even though they are organically permitted botanical extracts and mineral dusts, are used as the last resort to stop infestation.

This one can be a difficult concept to grasp at first, as it was for us, that not all Organic foods are created the same. As I'm sure you're considerably health conscious about the foods you're eating, especially in light of the constant bad publicity commercially grown agro-conglomerates have been recieving with their questionable produce. Your foremost impressions on organic is being led to percieve "organic" as that of a completely "green" healthy alternative to comercially produced food. To a good extent it is, and a very smart alternative to questionable food. There is however, an underlying negative aspect to today's organics. While they do contain less pesticide residues, they are not completely void of them. They break down much faster than synthetics, but they are still being applied. What is happening with alot of agro-conglomerates, is they are following consumer trends with organic produce, but only replacing synthetic inputs with organic ones. There are usually no soil fertility building programs because the opperate on such a scale that makes it cost prohibitive. Even though the label says organic, it may not be a product of sustainable agriculture. We try to promote ecological diversity on our farm, letting nature keep its own balance of predators and pests, and to do our part as stewards of the land to give back more than we take. It is our goal to bring Goshen Farm to as near a biologically in check eco-system as we can. That is the difference setting us apart from other growers, and will continue to provide for learning experiences we hope to share with you.