Elaine Taylor tends to the organic crops that are grown at Shangri La Farm, Howell. About one year ago, Taylor co-founded a cooperative whose members pay $35 for a 15-pound bag of seasonal produce, a half-dozen eggs, a piece of cheese and a quart of milk at the time of their choosing. All of the items are organic. JEFF GRANIT staff As the most densely populated state in the nation, it is convenient for newcomers to assume that the Garden State is all highway, no horticulture. But if we look past the looming concrete metropolises that seem to pour over state lines from every direction, and we take a peek into our neighbors’ backyards, we can see that New Jersey has rightly earned its nickname.
Across the state, there is a growing community of gardening enthusiasts who are toiling and tilling away in their backyards and sharing the bounty of the land with their neighbors.
Many growers started as hobbyists and quickly found that their backyards yielded more than their families could handle. A good portion of these gardeners-turnedfarmers are using a cultivation practice they say is more sustainable, eco-friendly, and healthful — they are growing food organically.
Elaine Taylor of Shangri La Farm in Howell picks celery from the organic garden in her greenhouse March 14. Taylor said what people eat and how they live is more important than making money. PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Leo Kissling of Three Pines Farm in Jackson, Ocean County, is one such farmer. What started 15 years ago as a large garden in his backyard blossomed into a smallscale farm that now supports more than 50 families in surrounding areas.
“I farm when I’m not at my regular job,” Kissling said. “It’s not my livelihood, but it’s something I love to do so much that … I made my garden bigger than my family needed, [and decided] to start giving away [some crops].”
Contact Tom Castles at [email protected] Kissling set up an “on your honor” roadside stand in front of his home, where passersby could pick up his organically grown fruits and vegetables. After a vacation to North Carolina several years ago, Kissling was introduced to community-supported agriculture (CSA), and immediately took a liking to the locally driven concept.
In a CSA, members are known as shareholders because they pay an initial fee to a farm early in the spring to support its agricultural activities for an entire farming season. In return, each member receives a share of the farm’s harvest each week throughout the summer and early fall. Depending on the time of year and quality of the growing season, Three Pines Farm shareholders may receive fruit, vegetables, eggs, honey and homemade soap.
Kissling said his CSA strengthens community bonds.
“As far as my relationship with the people involved [in the CSA], I’ve used the word ‘spiritual,’ ” he said. “You know [as a farmer] that what you grow is going to be not only purchased, but consumed. Our connection is pretty special.”
The Jackson farmer holds firm that his organic growing methods are healthier for his shareholders than typical methods that require the use of synthetic, rather than biological, pesticide treatments.
“You know that people want to be healthier and eat better,” Kissling said. “They’re worried about processed foods and GMOs [genetically modified organisms]. The OCDs [obsessive compulsive disorders] and ADDs [attention deficit disorders] are all being blamed on what we eat and our environment. I wouldn’t grow my food any other way [than organic].”
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), “organic” is a labeling term indicating that a food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance and conserve biodiversity. Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation and genetic engineering may not be used in their cultivation.
The United States Food and Drug Administration does not have a definition for the term “organic” on food labels.
For some, the word conjures images of nutritious, earthy produce untainted by chemical treatment and genetic modification. Members of this school of thought, like Kissling and his shareholders, often see purchasing and eating organic foods as part of a responsible and sustainable lifestyle, where individual health and the wellbeing of the planet are paramount.
Many others, because of an obscurity of hard evidence supporting the claim that organic foods are healthier for the consumer or better for the planet, cannot look past the higher price tag conspicuously worn by organic fruits and vegetables at their local supermarkets.
But this has not stopped an increasingly sizable community of organic food growers from springing up all over the Garden State.
According to a January report issued by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFA-NJ), an organization dedicated to supporting sustainable food and agriculture, there are currently about 90 organic farms in New Jersey. The number has increased by about 10 per year since 2010. Local organic farmers are sharing the fruits of their labor along with an awareness of organic culture in increasingly innovative and community-oriented ways.
Much like Kissling, Elaine Taylor and Rick Pier of Shangri La Farm in Howell, Monmouth County, have built their lives around growing organic food.
“We wanted to live a sustainable lifestyle, so we just started growing things,” Taylor said. “We use regenerative methods for everything we grow, and everything is 100 percent organic.”
The 5.3 acres of farmland on the couple’s property were so productive from the start, Taylor said, that they couldn’t help wanting to share surplus crops with the community.
“At first we started selling our crops at farmers’ markets, but then about a year ago we started a cooperative where we sell organic food,” she said.
In the co-op system, members pay $35 for a 15-pound bag of seasonal produce, a halfdozen eggs, a piece of cheese and a quart of milk at the time of their choosing. All items are organic and produced at Shangri La and a few other New Jersey farms.
“Organic is expensive; I just want to make it affordable for everyone,” Taylor said. “It’s not important that we make money, what’s important is how we live, what we eat and how we treat each other.”
Renee Mongiovi, owner of Oasis Backyard Farms, ditched her desk after 24 years working in the corporate world to pursue a lifelong passion for gardening. Eager to share her zeal for organic foods with fellow New Jerseyans, Mongiovi started a certified organic land-care company that plants gardens right in a customer’s backyard.
The entrepreneur said her business operates with support from three demographic groups: young families who find that gardening is a healthy choice and an educational process for their children; those who believe in buying organic but lack the expertise to cultivate successfully; and those who want fresh organic foods but don’t have the time or inclination to manage a garden.
Her company, she said, remedies the cost and nutritional concerns that typically prevent people from choosing organic foods.
“With the economy the way it is, [eating organic] is more expensive, and that becomes cost-prohibitive for a lot of people,” Mongiovi said. “Also, organic farming is not as prevalent here as it is in other states, so organic produce that people do purchase, because it’s imported from long distances, may have lost some of its nutritional value. The combination of locally grown and organically grown brings back the bang for the buck.”
Whether organically grown foods are beneficial to consumer and environmental health is still an open question, but there’s no denying a paradigm shift is under way.
As enthusiasts like Kissling, Taylor and Mongiovi spread their practice across New Jersey, the state suits its nickname more each day.