Soils and Microclimate

The majority of the land farmed by Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables (approximately 16 acres) is located on a gentle south facing slope in the Wiscoy Valley 12 miles south of Winona, MN. The soil here is classified as a Lindstrom silt loam, a rich, black topsoil that is 4 feet deep in places. Soil moisture is high on the farm and provides a buffer against drought; often the water table is just 3-4 feet beneath the surface. Money Creek runs along one border of the farm not 200 yards from several of our fields.

For the past 100 years this valley was farmed by conventional row crop producers who nevertheless did not use some of the harshest agricultural chemicals, such as atrazene and anhydrous ammonium. So when we took over in 1995 there was already a relatively high (3.5%) organic matter level in the soils, and a healthy earthworm population to prove it. Our efforts at crop rotation, composting and cover cropping since then have built on this resource, the ultimate source of the quality of everything we grow.

Our farm is in a 300 foot deep valley carved out of the ridgetop prairie that characterizes much of the surrounding area. This topographic condition creates a cool, moist microclimate that is a powerful influence on what we do. It is not uncommon, for example, for us to receive a light frost on a morning in early June when the temperature in Winona stays above 40! There is almost always a heavy dew fall in our valley every night in late summer, and often after an autumn rainstorm a thick fog will blanket the fields until nearly noon.
This condition favors some crops more than others (see crop by crop listings), and in an effort to improve the quality and yields of some things (most notably winter squash, peppers and melons) we have rented 4 acres of ridgetop ground nearby for the 2000 growing season. This ground is also a heavier clay soil, but its improved drainage and frost protection should give us a boost for heat loving varieties.

Finally, our farm is a wonderful habitat for a wide range of wildlife, from the migratory bird species that visit the wetlands to the coyotes, foxes and wild turkeys that inhabit the forests. One species however, the white tailed deer, has grown to such numbers that it puts intense pressure on our vegetable crops. We have a high tensile electric fence protecting 4 acres of bottomland permanently, and additional temporary fencing we erect to protect other fields at critical times.