Farming Practices
“One of our biggest interests is how can the farm be its own organism, be its own system. As farmers, you can’t just flip the switch. We’re all in the same boat of trying to now span this ideal of sustainability and all of the things it needs to redevelop itself.” – Franz Eilers, 3rd Generation Farmer, Heartwood Farms
Certified Organic
Our Cherries are CCOF certified since 2010. We are actively transitioning all our acreage to Organic in the coming years.
On Farm Compost
That’s steam behind the tractor is coming from our cooking compost piles. We are committed Making our own orchard nutrition and to nutrient cycling with in the farm.
Cover Cropping
Cover crop brings biodiversity above and below ground. It helps build organic matter in our soils, which helps with water management and nutrient cycling.
Native Plant Habitat
We have planted over a dozen species of Native California plants that are Bee and Monarch supportive through out our orchard landscape.
Biodynamic Preparations
Our Farm is a member of the Biodynamic Association of Northern California and integrates biodynamic agriculture into our practices. To learn more visit the Biodynamic Demeter Alliance of North America.
Grazing Livestock
In 2023, we started collaborating with a Shepard to graze our orchards in the spring. The sheep feel like a natural match to orchard management.
“In the hearts of people some natural ease has been broken. It is astounding how this has reached deep into the heart. Our trust in the future has lost its innocence…At first, it sounds completely neive to suggest that now might be the time to invoke and awaken beauty…there is nowhere else to turn…it is because we have so disastrously neglected the Beautiful that we now find ourselves in such terrible crisis.”
– John O’Donohue, Writer
Heartwood Farms 