Many of our guests ask whether we are a certified organic farm. My only answer is that technically, we are not, nor at this time, we have plans to officially certify this farm. Jumping through Certified Organic hoops is not part of the road I am interested in traveling. We do, however, practice organic gardening techniques. If you have been to Our Restaurant, seen the farm pictures on our TV’s, you may have seen a few pictures of about 30 head of cattle grazing behind the garden area. We top our kitchen barrels, at Take Five Cookery, with bus tubs to capture scraps of fresh vegetables and a plentiful amount of nitrogen rich coffee grounds. We use the manure, scraps and coffee ground components to amend the farm soil on a regular basis. We do not use pesticides, in fact we have, with permission, removed older fruit trees on the property that years ago were sprayed with pesticides to insure removal of any traces of residual pesticides. We do however, plant many flowers that have invited a myriad of bees to the area with great success, we even let the grasses grow a little longer to encourage the appearance of the regions natural clover. In the six years we have planted on this property, we have learned much about the pests and air born deceases that are prevalent in CT. Those have been abated either by manual removal or natural sprays including dried hot chilies from previous harvests and dish soap. Many times we have beat the pests, this year we won the battle over the squash bugs, and other times we sadly, and unceremoniously, pulled plants out of the ground while we were surrounded by White Flies or Flea Beetles. We win many these days and unfortunately lose a few. We always are amazed that between the weather, water, pests and air borne diseases, that farmers are able to make a living these days. Support your favorite farms and farmers and by all means buy local. We thank all of you that have supported our farm stand and pledge to continue to raise the freshness bar at Take Five Cookery.