Nice to have a fellow "fledgling" in the group. I did find a
veritable treasure-trove of information this morning, courtesy of the Rodale
Institute, called Certification Help (and Certification Archives). It
consists of questions asked by farmers going through the certification process,
and it seems to be answered by inspectors and/or others very familiar with the
NOP. Some of the answers have provided more clarity in three sentences
than I've previously been able to find in multiple pages of officialdom.
For anyone who's interested, that page can be found here:
Very helpful info as I prepare my documentation. Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com
Snohomish, WA
Ruminations - essays on the farming life at
frogchorusfarm.com/weblog.html
In a message dated 2/20/2012 9:56:51 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
sjfb AT worldpath.net writes:
Hello
Kathryn,
We here at MiVida Gardens are also taking the plunge towards
organic certification this year. Like you, we have spent much time
explaining how we grow to those who would like to see the "official seal of
approval" - not that it will change how we grow; just the level of detail
in record keeping. In comparing the requirements with our current records -
there really isn't much more needed - just have to be more disciplined
about it! That will be a good thing for business analysis throughout the
years.
Regarding the levels of detail requested - I suggest talking
with your certifier to determine what they would like to see. I have found
our state certifier easy to work with. Also, be sure to check out the
certification cost sharing programs avail from USDA.
Sandy
Brocaar MiVida Gardens Growing Natures Way in Silver
Lake
-----Original Message----- ... 2. taking the
plunge (KAKerby AT aol.com) ------------------------------
Message:
2 Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2012 23:20:35 -0500 (EST) From:
KAKerby AT aol.com Subject: [Market-farming] taking the plunge To:
market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org Message-ID:
<39c7.4a12e722.3c732413 AT aol.com> Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Hey everyone, here's hoping you all have had a nice
weekend. I just spent the whole day here going through a bunch
of online documentation, and comparing what we do to what would need
to be done, to become certified organic. I think <insert
big inhale> we're going to submit our paperwork and go for it
- for both crops and livestock production. We've been so close for
so long, and now that we're selling meat it just seems like "the
thing to do" for a variety of reasons. The pain-in-the-butt factor
is right up there of course, and I'm not even entirely sure if
our pricing would change a lot. But after going through yet
another round of "no we're not certified but here's how we do
things....." conversations with potential buyers, I just finally
decided it was time.
So, for all those who are already certified
organic, you might have a new fledgling member soon amongst your
ranks. I have already put in an email to our local Tilth group
to see who's certified organic and would be willing/able to answer
some newbie questions. But if anyone on this list would be
willing to do the same, even though you're in another state and
another certifying agency, I'd sure love to know if I'd be able to
send you questions.
I sort of feel like I'm warming up
for a much bigger ball game, and about to take my first time at
batt. Not even hoping to hit it out of the park; just want a
fair pitch, a clean hit and a safe run around the bases.
Guess
I'm looking for a first base coach (and maybe some
cheerleaders)......... Kathryn Kerby, who doesn't normally resort to sports
metaphors frogchorusfarm.com Snohomish, WA Ruminations - essays on
the farming life at frogchorusfarm.com/weblog.html --------------
next part -------------- An HTML attachment was
scrubbed... URL: https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/market-farming/attachments/20120219/e3e46 936/attachment-0001.html
_______________________________________________ Market-farming
mailing
list Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
Market
Farming List Archives may be found
here: https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/market-farming/ Unsubscribe
from the list here (you will need to login in with your email address and
password): http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/market-farming
|