Soil Stewardship at Astarte Farm
For the past three years, American Farmland Trust (AFT) has awarded small grants to Massachusetts farmers who are implementing soil health practices. From cover crop seeds to compost, the program has supported 71 farmers across the Commonwealth.
In 2024, three farmers were selected for AFT’s new Soil Health Innovator Award, which included additional funding and a commitment to host field days in Spring 2025 to highlight the successes and challenges of the practices they implemented.
On two June days, between the raindrops of a very wet and cool spring, farmers, service providers, and educators gathered for two of the field walks hosted at Bardwell Farm and Astarte Farm. This two-part series shares key takeaways from the field, starting with Bardwell Farm.
Astarte Farm
Astarte Farm is a 3.5-acre certified organic, no-spray mixed vegetable farm that has been using no-till systems since 2014. While the farmers own a tractor, most field work is done almost exclusively by hand, reserving the tractor for utility work and occasional mowing. With support from the Soil Health Minigrant, Astarte Farm trialed paper, straw, and leaf mulch for weed suppression and to reduce dependence on plastic.
During the field walk, there was robust conversation about the benefits the farm has experienced from no-till, including the resilience of crop health and yield in times of drought and flood, due to the increased water-holding capacity of the soil structure.
Ellen, the farm manager, reported that the paper, straw, and leaf mulch were comparable in labor and weed suppression. However, leaf mulch provided a longer-term benefit to the soil that was not seen with the paper —and, unlike straw, it’s free.
Astarte has worked to develop relationships with a few landscapers for leaf delivery and has created infrastructure to make the delivery easier for them. Access roads are clear, and the drop area is large enough for vehicles to access and maneuver without obstacles. The organic material acts to enhance soil health and structure in the following season, and soil biology is active enough to assist with breaking down the leaves and facilitating nutrient cycling, keeping nutrients available to crops as the soil warms.
Through trial and error, Ellen determined that it’s best to delay the application of mulch until about two weeks after the plants have been transplanted, are established, and are starting to frame up. Her experience with leaf mulch in general is that it can reduce water penetration to the soil and simultaneously pull water from the soil. Waiting to apply mulch allows the plants to deepen their root system, making them less susceptible to moisture loss.
Waiting to apply mulch also provides a window for the soil to warm in the spring and time for another round of weeding. Drip lines are in place under the mulch, but with this system of delayed mulching, Ellen has not needed to irrigate throughout the season.
Attendees had many questions about the application method, labor, and types of leaves. Ellen shared that applying chopped leaves is preferable because they don’t fly away or create a soggy mat, unlike whole leaves, which landscapers often deliver. Labor hours are high up front with spreading the leaves, particularly because they are being spread carefully around crops. The payoff for that is the reduced/no time spent weeding, and the increase in longer-term crop and soil health benefits.
Following the field walk, Rubén Parilla of NOFA-MA corroborated Ellen’s observations with microscopy projections of soil samples taken from the farm. Components of humus key to mineral bonding, beneficial fungal bodies, and a balance of bacteria and fungi were present. Attendees also witnessed that factors such as high rainfall and the effects of tarping on temperature and humidity have the potential to select for more anaerobes and fewer fungi in the short term. A final comparison to a conventional soil sample highlighted a higher mineral content and lower biological life.
Discover more about Astarte Farm here.
The third and final Soil Health Innovator field walk will take place in the Spring of 2026 at Jared’s Farm. It was rescheduled to accommodate the farmer’s needs.
These awards, and 68 others, were made possible by funding from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. Field walks with soil health innovators were one of the final milestones in a five-year project aimed at advancing soil health across Massachusetts. For more information about the Massachusetts Coordinated Soil Health Program (MACSHP), please email Kevin Antoszewski at [email protected].
