As our mission statement says Maha Farm grows “farm and forest products with environmentally positive practices that produce a sustainable harvest.” This means that we practice organic farming although we are not certified organic. Soil preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting, etc is generally done by hand with organic nutrients, compost, seeds, and soil amendments.
We are also a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm which means we sell shares to members at the start of each season. Purchasing a share entitles that member to a box of produce each week during the growing season, usually May through October. Customers are primarily located on South Whidbey although occasionally we deliver produce to North Whidbey and even Seattle.
Actual farm activities include the usual routine of soil preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting but also overall garden design and maintenance. Organic farming requires crop rotation to ensure proper nutrient and biological activity is maintained in beds. Pests, disease, and other plant illness needs to be handled on a per plant basis, usually by hand, since no non-organic pesticides or herbicides are used.
There are several gardens here at Maha Farm that make up the entire acreage of the farm. A road goes south from Glendale Road dividing the upper garden into two sections, west and east. This road leads to our farm house and behind the house is the lower garden. This garden spans from the chicken coop located to the east of the house to the hoop house located on the west side of the house.
Aerial View of Maha Farm (2009)
Video of June 2009 Chicken Harvest
We had some visitors to the farm and we decided to slaughter one of the chickens that was injured by a raccoon recently. Here is a short video of our friend the chef preparing coq au vin, coop-to-table.