raising the standard of care
"While we live, our bodies are moving particles of the earth, joined inextricably both to the soil and to the bodies of other living creatures. It is hardly surprising then, that there should be some profound resemblances between our treatment of our bodies and our treatment of the earth."
- Wendell Berry
Ethos Farm
Early Morning Autumn Frost
Ethos Farm in New Jersey has USDA ranking of Prime Farmland, the top soil classification in the United States. Because Ethos Health is raising the standard of care for our planet as well as for our patients, Ethos Farm in New Jersey goes a step beyond the methods employed by sustainable farms in New Jersey and organic farms in New Jersey: We practice regenerative agriculture, restoring the integrity of the land by taking a holistic farming approach – effectively cultivating superior quality soil, for the most nutrient-dense foods.
To this end, we optimize our soil's mineral content, organic matter, and teeming microbiome, so that our plants can draw what they need from the soil, to become supremely healthy. Only when plants achieve this exceptional state of health can they manufacture their own intrinsic disease- and pest-fighting weapons, known as flavonoids, which have been proven not only to successfully fight disease in plants, but also in humans!
Beyond Organic Farming Methods
Rather than using a specific chemical to kill a crop disease or pest, Ethos Farm in New Jersey focuses on analyzing the inadequacy or weakness that brought about the problem in the first place, then works to remedy the cause. The local wildlife that lives in our forests, fields, and wetlands – birds, insects, bees, and bats – additionally do the work of eliminating pests and pollinating our crops. As we keep our lands healthy, they keep our farm healthy, in a never-ending loop of wellness. We do our part in cultivating this health, by utilizing the following methods:
Cover Crops
Talk about multitasking! These plants improve soil fertility and quality, combat weeds and crop diseases, and enhance biodiversity in the field and surrounding areas. You’ll find them all over our farm.
Composting
On a four-acre plot of our land, we combine animal manure with green waste and repeatedly mix it all up. The materials decompose and produce a dark, carbon-rich, organic material with the aroma of fresh earth – which we then use as farm fertilizer that improves soil quality and reduces soil-borne crop diseases.
Meadow Restoration
We have restored the wildflower meadows indigenous to this land – effectively attracting wildlife that pollinates the plants and eliminates the pests.
Warm Season Grasses
We have planted native warm season grasses, which flourished in this valley for centuries. The grasses are quite tall and provide a home to native birds and bees; the roots reach as far as 16 feet into the earth, bringing up the minerals needed to replenish the topsoil; and the grasses capture carbon dioxide from the air and deposit it as carbon in the soil – thereby combatting global warming.
Forest Stewardship
Our forest covers half of our farm's total acreage and plays an important role in the New Jersey ecosystem. Our forest stewardship plan, certified by the state of New Jersey, optimizes the health of our forests by controlling invasive non-native plant species; protecting and enhancing amphibian breeding habitats; and restoring the balance of tree species, which serve as important sources of food and shelter for wildlife.
Aerial View of Ethos Farm in Summer
National Historic Landmark in New Jersey
Ethos Farm is a national historic landmark in New Jersey, operating in partnership with the New Jersey Audobon Society, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, and Natural Resources Conservation Service. Our 342 acre farm in New Jersey has been in operation for over 275 years and boasts forests with deep, clear-running springs that pour into Raritan River – the source of drinking water in New Jersey, for 1.5 million people. Our farm also is a sanctuary for wildlife in New Jersey, including many rare and endangered species – like the native wild brook trout, which was thought to be extinct until just a few years ago.
Prior to our purchase of the farm in 2011, the land was threatened three times, between 1950-2000, with plans for an industrial park, a city subdivision, and an upscale housing development in New Jersey, respectively. After the last attempt to pave over paradise, however, the people of Long Valley said “enough” to the destruction of land in our garden state. In the first land conservation act of its kind in the United States, the local community banded together, to protect the farm – spending $12 million to forbid any future development on it, then entering the farm into the New Jersey Farmland Preservation Program, which subsequently required that the land be used for agricultural purposes only.