BLANDFORD NATURE CENTER FARM

With 2.5 acres of land, the Blandford farm has been growing over 200 different varieties of vegetables and educating families on local agriculture through farm-related programming since 2010. They are Certified Naturally Grown and a part of Slow Food of West Michigan. Their farm hosts regular community events, in addition to growing a wide variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and to sell at the Fulton Street Farmers Market. You can find more information about them at www.blandfordnaturecenter.org/farm. 

What do you want folks to know about Blandford?
From farmer Liz: The Blandford Farm’s management practices do not include using pesticides or herbicides. Instead, we use strategies such as row cover, beneficial insects, and pruning. We cultivate the fields using two John Deere tractors and various implements; we do till the soil before transplanting. We follow a crop rotation plan that includes cover crops like buckwheat, winter rye and mammoth clover. We irrigate crops using drip tape irrigation, and fertilize using fish emulsion, molasses, bone meal and feather meal. We also add compost to the soil to increase organic matter and soil fertility.

We welcome visitors to the farm! The Blandford Farm is part of the trail system at Blandford Nature Center, and we have a children’s garden that is specifically grown for folks to come and see what’s in season! We also have a farm play-scape and a few goats, sheep and chickens that would love to say “hi!”

What are your farm’s biggest challenges?
Because I grow vegetables on a small plot of land, one of my challenges is to make every inch of production space count when I’m planning for the season. Every year, I know that I will need to address flea beetles, cucumber beetles, bindweed, and quackgrass. Some areas of the field have high clay content, and other areas are quite sandy, so I also need to manage those areas of the field differently.

What are you looking forward to this season?
I am looking forward to trying a new potting soil this season, growing more cucamelons, and a unique variety of cantaloupe. I’m also looking forward to trying a different technique for mulching tomatoes, which will hopefully help that crop to be more successful this year.

Why are you a member of the WM Growers Group?
I joined the grower’s group to be connected with other folks who are also working towards sustainable, local food options. I have learned a lot from other members of the group, and hope to be a resource to the group as well.