AGROFORESTRY
Agroforestry enhances ecosystems and builds climate change resilience.
Growing for the Future
Climate change and ecological collapse threaten large-scale mono-crop food production around the world. Developing more sustainable, localized, resilient agricultural methods is more important than ever.
At Tikkun we produce food using traditional and modern agricultural methods to minimize harm and maximize production.Our small farm serves as a teaching center, a native seed bank, and a resource in times of crisis.
In 2020 and 2021, our farm operated as a COVID 19 emergency community food bank, providing over 60,000 meals that included organic vegetables, fruits, eggs and chicken.
Our Methods
We use no chemicals or pesticides in order to protect the life in our soils. Without healthy microbial populations, the Soil Food Web breaks down over time, and eventually our most precious resource disappears. Additionally, toxins threaten the health of our essential pollinators. We maintain six on-site bee hives which can produce up to 70 liters of honey annually and pollinate all our crops and fruit trees.
In our intensive garden beds we use mulch and compost to smother weeds. Our soil is built over time by adding manure, straw, worm compost and compost tea. We interplant and companion plant for biodiversity and pest reduction.
In our fields we use agroforestry methods, dividing our crops with swales, berms and penetration pits, improving our water table and allowing the soil to hold more moisture. On the berms we plant perennials, cactus, and a variety of trees. We work the soil minimally, planting the traditional way, with our horses, Sophie and Phylis, making shallow furrows for seed.
Over time our fields have survived recent periods of record-breaking heat and drought while our neighbor’s fields have suffered and their crops have failed. We believe this demonstrates the value of our methods, which build soil and retain more water in the subsurface of our fields.
Our Production
In our traditional milpa we grow five varieties of native corn, beans and squash (the three sisters). We are developing a seed bank to share with local farmers who have lost seed in recent droughts.
Our intensive gardens include vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers. Our fruit trees includes nopal, pomegranate, loquat, peach, apple, plum, pear, fig, olive, orange, grapefruit, cherry, mulberry, and guayaba.
Eggs, meat and fish production come from our tilapia ponds and organic chickens.
We have three greenhouses dedicated to intensive vegetable production.
Our Chickens
We love our chickens at Tikkun. They are an essential component of a sustainable and resilient farm, providing meat, eggs, and fertilizer. They are also key for non-toxic pest management.
In many parts of Mexico, severe grasshopper infestation is threatening crops. In 2016, we expanded our chicken population from ten to 150 chickens, allowing them free range across the farm. They wiped out thousands of grasshoppers in a matter of weeks without the need to use pesticides.
Our chicken houses are designed to serve as water catchment as well, funneling rainwater into tinacos which are then used to irrigate crops.
