Certification 1
Certification 2
Regenerative Systems
Miscellaneous 1
Miscellaneous 2
100

Where on a farm can a soap solution be used to kill weeds?

Roadsides, ditches, around buildings, around non-edible crops.

100

How long do you have to wait to harvest a crop after applying raw manure to the soil?

120 days if the edible portion is in contact with the soil surface or soil particles, 90 days if the edible portion is not.

100

Why did John Jeavons develop the Grow Biointensive method?

To grow as much food as possible on as little land as possible while enriching the soil, because of the increasing population of the earth and decreasing amount of fertile soil.

100

What is the one thing Ray Achuleta would like to see all across America?

Keep the soil covered. Make America green.

100

What are 3 problems with conventional agriculture?

Soil erosion. Loss of biodiversity. Unhealthy crops invite insects and diseases. Excessive greenhouse gas emissions. Food with low nutrient density. Toxic pesticides contaminate our air, water, and food. Death of soil microorganisms. Etc.

200

What types of paper cannot be used in a compost pile?

Glossy paper or paper with colored ink

200

Why is there a restriction on when a crop can be harvested after applying raw manure to the soil?

To prevent contamination of the crop with pathogens from the manure

200

Name 3 Biodynamic preparations

Horn Manure, Horn Silica, Horsetail or Equisetum, Yarrow, Chamomile, Nettle, Oak Bark, Dandelion, Valerian

200

What are 3 benefits of black plastic tarps?

Smother weeds, retain moisture, protect soil from erosion, create favorable environment for microorganisms

200

What are three purposes of the berms between sections of field on JM Fortier's farm?

Windbreak,  attract beneficial insects, attract birds

300

What does it mean if a product has the OMRI logo on it?

It has been reviewed by the Organic Materials Review Institute and they have determined that it meets the organic standards

300

What is the purpose of a buffer strip and what is a typical width?

To minimize danger of contamination by chemicals from a neighboring farm. 30 feet is typical.

300

How is it that Grow Biointensive growing regenerates the soil even though it uses deep tillage?

Compost is added to the soil whenever it is tilled. Also, the tillage is more gentle than tillage with a machine.

300

Explain Eliot Coleman's wrong side of the tapestry analogy.

On the right side of the tapestry we see clearly how all parts of nature work together to create a perfectly functioning system. This is like a regenerative system that works with natural systems. The back side of the tapestry it is not clear and it is hard to see what is going on. It appears that the system needs a lot of help to function. This is like conventional agriculture trying to control nature and to supplement what appears to them to be problems with nature's systems.

300

What was the connection that Dan Kittredge made between his injured dog and Colorado potato beetles on his crop?

Maggots on his dog were eating unhealthy flesh. The beetles were eating unhealthy plants.

400

What is the National List, with respect to organic certification?

It lists synthetic inputs that are allowed and non-synthetic inputs that are not allowed for use in organic production

400

What should the initial carbon to nitrogen ratio be in a compost pile?

Between 25 and 40

400

What is the KNF preparation that is made by fermenting rice water?

Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB)

400

How does Dan Kittredge connect our senses of taste and smell to reducing climate change

Healthy soil sequesters carbon, reducing CO2 in the atmosphere. Healthy soil grows healthy plants, which produce more nutritious food which tastes and smells better.

400

Steve Boss mentioned a company that makes sauces with produce that is several days old and another that makes sauces with produce picked the same day. Which sauces tasted best and what reason did Steve give for that?

The sauces made from several day old produce tasted best because of the quality of consciousness of the people making the sauce.

500

What are the three areas covered by regenerative organic certification?

Soil health, animal welfare, farmer and worker fairness

500

What are the temperature and turning requirements for a compost pile that contains manure?

Temperature between 131 and 170 for 15 days and turned 5 times

500

What is IMO and how does it benefit?

Indigenous Micro Organisms are organisms collected from a healthy natural ecosystem that are used  to establish those beneficial organisms in the soil of a garden or farm.

500

Why does rotational grazing benefit the soil but continuous grazing degrades the soil?

Rotational grazing keeps the plants in the stage of rapid growth where they are producing lots of sugars through photosynthesis and exuding them from their roots into the soil to feed the microbes. The hooves of the livestock press organic matter into the soil. The plants have time to recover before they are grazed again. With continuous grazing the plants are eaten until they are too small and stressed and they never have a chance to recover. They are growing slowly and have little sugar to put into the soil.

500

The whole is more than the sum of the parts. How is this principle from the science of consciousness exhibited in regenerative agriculture?

All of the parts (soil organic matter, soil organisms, plants, beneficial insects, etc.) work together to create a whole system that creates healthy nutritious food.

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