About our Logo: We have carefully curated this logo (haha!) featuring our father Al’s face as an nod to how our family business has evolved over four generations.

     

CERTIFIED ORGANIC PRODUCE

As of Earth Day 2024, parts of our home field are officially USDA Certified Organic. This is a rolling certification, meaning our field will be certified piece by piece, with the entire field certified by the end of the 2024 growing season.

WHAT IS “CERTIFIED ORGANIC”?

Certified Organic farms follow many of the same concepts as IPM but can only use fertilizers and pesticides that come from natural sources as opposed to synthetic chemicals. The central tenets of organic production include the “cycling of resources, conservation of biodiversity, and preservation of ecological balance” (USDA.gov). In these ways our push for organic certification has improved our stewardship over our farmland even further. Organic systems protect soil and water, local wildlife, and surrounding lands through rigid standards, and our compliance is inspected annually. We take pride in doing the hard work it takes to meet these standards while still producing beautiful, delicious fresh foods for our customers.

HOW WE GROW

As a farm that’s been growing for over a century, we know that responsible care for our farmland and environment is paramount to the continued health of our soil, crops, and resources. We grow on three fields here in Needham. While our home field is certified organic, we follow IPM methods on our other fields and greenhouses to ensure that we are working with nature instead of against it.

WHAT IS IPM?

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach that studies pest lifecycles and interactions with the environment. By using a variety of techniques, we are able to manage our pest population, lower costs and reduce the risk for people and the environment. IPM uses a four-step approach for pest management:

Prevention: The best way to control pests is to prevent them from affecting a crop in the first place. In our fields, crop rotation and selecting pest-resistant varieties can make a huge difference. We extensively use fabric crop covers and insect netting to provide a physical barrier against pests. In our greenhouses we release beneficial insects to prevent and control pest populations.

Scouting: It is important to properly identify all insects, diseases, and weeds. Many insects are actually beneficial! We scout our greenhouses and fields daily to monitor pest levels, and consult with our IPM specialist during his weekly visit.

Setting Thresholds: We do not follow scheduled “calendar spraying”, but only take action when a pest or disease reaches a threshold that threatens a crop. Unlike large monoculture farms that only grow one crop, we grow a wide variety with successive plantings. Therefore, if one crop is seriously affected by a disease or pest it may be more beneficial to abandon the crop instead of treating it.

Control: Whenever there is a problem, the most environmentally sensitive solutions are chosen first. This could mean releasing beneficial insects, introducing benign bacteria or fungi that out-compete bad ones, pest trapping, or weeding a crop. If those methods fail, targeted spraying of select low-risk pesticides may be used.

GREENHOUSE BIOCONTROL

Since 2010 we have been releasing beneficial insects into our greenhouses to keep pest levels in check and greatly reduce the need for chemical applications. We place small white sachets of microscopic “good bugs” into new plantings to help maintain a strong population of natural predators. When we bring in plants from an outside grower, we dip each tray into a nematode solution to keep our plants clean and our greenhouse safe from incoming pests.

A WORD ON GMOs

Volante Farms does not and will not grow genetically modified produce.

OUR HOMEGROWN PROMISE

When you see a green “HOMEGROWN” at the top of a sign, you can be sure that produce was grown at one of our three fields across Needham. We have the unique opportunity to pick only what we sell in a day, so what you purchase here is at peak freshness, is never treated with preservatives, and hasn’t traveled more than three miles to get to our farmstand. For a current look at what’s in season or soon to be visit  NOW PICKING for a list or Certified Organic and Conventional Homegrown Produce

WHY BUY LOCALLY GROWN?

We believe it’s important to know where your food comes from. That is why we’re here to answer questions and give you information straight from the farmer. We strive to offer a wide variety of the freshest produce available. But it doesn’t stop there. Whenever you purchase something in your community, that money is invested in local jobs, local programs, and local taxes. You also support the businesses that make your town unique. By shopping locally you have the power to help your town grow.

FARM TO FARM FOOD MILES

We pride ourselves on supporting other local farms. Locally grown food travels fewer “food miles” to get to the farm, thus shrinking its carbon footprint. If we have a gap between two of our crops, we reach out to nearby farms to supplement our harvest. We always label our signs honestly with where the produce was grown, and we even include the number of “Farm to Farm” miles a food has traveled to get to our farmstand.

 

RESOURCES

For further information, visit USDA.gov, EPA.gov, or follow us on social media.

OUR CERTIFICATE

View and print our certificate on the  Organic Integrity Database