Big Little Farm - Helping growers grow
What is the Big Little Farm?
Big Little Farm is a small suburban garden/farm, a manufacturer of soil amendment products, and a service provider to apply these products.
The farming portion produces fall/winter salad green mixes and microgreens. The soil amendment side produces:
- Aerated Compost Tea (ACT);
- Biochar;
- Worm castings and compost on a limited basis;
- Spraying and application services;
- Consultation, planning and installation of gardens, and organic property management.
Big Little Farm has morphed over the past couple of years. Initially, growing organic/natural food in a suburban setting and marketing that to like-minded customers was the initial goal. But markets and opportunities change with time, and now the emphasis has switched to providing growers, farmers and ranchers Aerated Compost Tea (ACT) to improve soil quality, which improves the condition and quality of their hay fields and pasture forages, while saving them money.
This switch was based on a "preparation meets opportunity" scenario. I had worked previously with the 10 XXX Ranch in Glen Rose, TX on some video projects for their grass-fed beef operations at the time. I was also doing a little bit of spraying of my ACT on residential properties, but my true desire was to move into the agricultural side.
In May of 2020 I asked the new ranch manager of 10 XXX Ranch if I could prove my product on a 17-acre hay pasture (the picture on the top of this page, taken in Sept. 2020 is that hay pasture, on the left side of the fence, and was taken 3 months after two ACT applications, one in late April and and the other in the middle of June. Green grass in Texas in September, with no irrigation? Whaaaaa?!?!?! Fortunately, it proved out for the both of us. Hay yields increased and soil health improved, so I then moved on to rejuvenating their pastures-and that worked too.
Big Little Farm is a proud American business, as we produce tangible, physical items you can hold, smell, taste - who produces things any more? - and organic practices and products ONLY are used throughout this enterprise.
I am now in preperation with the fall/winter garden. From my experience in growing I also want to help others who ARE growing things, and we do that by producing biochar, worm castings (on a limited basis) and our fresh on-demand ACT.
Especially with this current coronavirus situation, and the ongoing implosion of our food system's various supply chains, it is becoming quite evident (and we believe) that small-scale local organic/natural gardening and farming can and does work to take pressure off those supply chains. People are beginning to learn that by growing your own clean food, you and your family can have better health, cut food costs, provide a fun and educational activity the whole family can be involved with, and improves the quality of your property. These are just a few things growing your own food can provide.
We hope this site will encourage readers to begin growing and maintaining your lawns, landscapes and food gardens with organic products and practices. If you are in the DFW area, we can help you get started with planning, installation, and maintenance of your garden. Call or e-mail us with your questions or suggestions, and if anything, just to chat.
The Big Little Farm's long-term goal is to purchase land to start a small regenerative farm expanding on what we have learned on a small scale. Follow us as we start that journey.
Organic Soil Building vs. Synthetic Fertilizers . . .What's the Difference?
We here at the Big Little Farm subscribe to an organic/natural approach to growing things. Organic simply means "having carbon". All living things contain carbon, and all living things consume carbon in one way or the other. Essentially, carbon is life. In science fiction terms, EVERYTHING living, or has died, is or was a carbon life form.
An organic program focuses on building soil health by partnering with and utilizing microbial life in the soil. Our various products provide food, energy, minerals, microbes and trace elements to soil life, consuming and being consumed by other life forms present in the soil, thus increasing carbon within the soil. These microbes (both in the soil, and in the ingredients we apply) provide food to the plants efficiently through their life and death. The plants, in turn, provide root exudates (carbon) to those microbes as food.
God has produced a wonderfully complex arrangement, in which we get to participate! In an organic program, you feed the soil, and the soil takes care of the plant. An organic program also reduces pest and disease infestation and helps improve the soil's water-holding capacity, among many other things.
Synthetic fertilizers (basically, ammonia in it's various forms, which is basically nitrogen) take a HUGE amount of energy to produce. The Haber-Bosch process is the most common way of producing the world's supply. Natural gas is super compressed with air and heated to a very high temperature, which produces liquid ammonia. It contains no carbon, and also produces salts. Salts "preserve" things by killing microorganisms. When you apply synthetic fertilizers, you are essentially killing soil life, which is the antithesis of an organic program. And, if that nitrogen is not taken up by the plants soon, it either volatizes into the atmosphere, or is washed into ground water sources.
We help you apply life. We think that's a better way to go. Please let us know how we can help you do that.