“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world. ”  
―     Michael Pollan,     The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals    

We’re continuing our “Photos from the Farm” with Mini Manna Farms.  Owned by Rachel Wiegand and family, Mini Manna is an urban farm located in Berea, Ohio.  As you will see, this family run farm focuses on growing with a conscience.  Sustainability, kindness to our bodies and to our Earth are integral parts of their practice.

“Our style of growing is very intensive, we push the limits of how much can be produced in a small amount of space through season extensions and dense plantings.  After we harvest a plant, we replenish the soil with finished compost and replant, so we actually harvest multiple times from the same space during a season.  We have a very integrated system where our chickens not only provide us with eggs, but they are very important in insect control and generating compost. Our beehives not only provide us with honey, but they pollinate as well.  That being said, we cannot grow everything. We sometimes collaborate with other local farms.  Our corn, for example, comes from an Amish farm in Ashland County, where it is picked Friday evening.  Our goal is to provide customers with the freshest produce possible.”  –Rachel Wiegand, Mini Manna Farms