Mi Tierra Farm LLC

Mi Tierra Farm LLC (NC) is committed to growing nutritious vegetables in an environmentally sustainable way (beyond organics) by responsibly using water and soil resources while improving soil and crop health.
Bio:
Mi Tierra Farm is run by Andrea Cardinal, a native of Argentina, who came to North Carolina in 1993 for graduate school in plant breeding at NC State. She has worked/played on her family farm from childhood and is passionate about sustainable food production to contribute to human health and social equity. She has worked in plant breeding and genetics for crop improvement. She has been involved in agriculture all her professional career, but she started growing organic vegetables commercially on leased land in 2020. She now runs Mi Tierra ("My Land/My Soil/My Earth" in Spanish) Farm in Nash County, 40 miles east of Raleigh. Her goals are to produce healthy and nutritious vegetables in an environmentally sustainable fashion, to evaluate the potential of new crops for production in North Carolina, to employ and train workers in a socially-equitable-conscious manner, and to make vegetables more available for all in central North Carolina, including in urban and rural "food deserts".
Growing process:
I plant different crops based on their growth habits (fall/winter vs summer crops) and I choose varieties that are better suited to be grown in our area. I also choose, when possible, varieties that showed resistance/tolerance to the most common diseases in our area. I use cover crops, compost and organic fertilizers based on the crop and soil test recommendations. I do manual hoeing, use black woven cloths, and occultation to control weeds and use irrigation to get optimum growth. I use crop rotations and cover crops to enhance crop and soil health. I use only organically approved chemicals/biologicals (Bt and Actinovate) to control insect pests or diseases, but I try to minimize their use and apply them on time and in small areas or not at all. My plan is to plant refuges for pollinators and beneficial insects in the next 2 years to further reduce/eliminate the use of organic chemical/biologicals.
The list of vegetables available varies from week to week. I have a high tunnel to grow tomatoes and cucumbers. List of vegetables grown (availability vary with season): Swiss chard; Parsley; cilantro; basil, mint, Radishes; Arugula; Turnips; Hakurei Turnips; Kale baby; Kale; Lettuce; lettuce, baby; bok choy/Pac choi; Tatsoi; Mizuna; Peas sugar snap; Carrots; Collards; Cabbage, Chinese/Napa Cabbage; beans green ; Summer squash/Zucchini; Cucumbers; Okra; Tomatoes, medium large, cherry, grape; Long Beans Vigna Ungulate; Peppers, Sweet mature; Peppers Poblano; Peppers Bell, Colored; Eggplant; Squash, Butternut.