Dry Land Farming

At Artisan Organics we Dry Land Farm many of our crops.  What is dry land farming?  It’s growing without supplemental water.  For crops that are transplanted they are watered the day they are planted and never again.  Direct seeded crops are watered a few times to get the seeds started and no more.  After that, the only water they receive, if any, is a gift from the sky.

You might think this isn’t possible in the Willamette Valley, that we have too little rain in the summer.  Yes, it is possible, but it isn’t easy.  First, the farm must have exactly the right kind of soil, otherwise it will dry out too quickly.  Second you must know which varieties it works for, and which it doesn’t.  Third, there is a specific, very labor intensive method of preparing the soil so that no water can evaporate from it.

Why would we do all this work?  Well…..certainly it saves lots and lots of water, many thousands of gallons a year.  And, we really, really like preserving water for the fishes.  See more information about this on the Certifications page.

But the best reason is the flavor.  You’ve never tasted anything like dry land farmed crops.  Growing them without water concentrates and intensifies the flavor.  They are fabulous.  Just ask any Chef.  The flavor alone makes them worth all of the extra work and the reduced yield.

What crops do we grow this way?  Mostly tomatoes; Early Girl, Fantastic Hybrid! and Cherokee Purple.  We also dry land farm some varieties of our potatoes, some of our shelling beans, all of our popcorn, and some of our winter squash too.  In fact, dry land farmed crops make up about 1/3 of our total production.  That’s a lot of delicious water savings.

Dry Land Farmed Early Girl Tomatoes