Emerald Springs Farm

06/18/2020

Emerald Springs Farm products for market

Columbus Farmers Market, Saturday June 20, 2020

06/18/2020

Columbus Farmers Market, Saturday June 20, 2020

06/05/2020

June 5, 2020
We have had a bountiful harvest this week and have enough greens to fill every order and plenty of extra, so please tell your friends for the best lettuce, kale and Swiss Chard in Polk County, come to the Columbus Market tomorrow and visit the Emerald Springs Farm booth!

Location change for tomorrow only! Due to a last minute change to the Polk County High School graduation plans the regular weekly market has been moved less than 3 miles up the road to the Middle School (see map below). Please come to the Middle School at 321 Wolverine Trail, Mill Spring, NC and follow the signs for the market.

05/23/2020

05/20/2020

Fresh greens available this week from Emerald Springs Farm

05/19/2020

Photos from Emerald Springs Farm's post

05/17/2020

Emerald Springs Farm updated their business hours.

Emerald Springs Farm updated their business hours.

05/17/2020

Emerald Springs Farm updated their website address.

Emerald Springs Farm updated their website address.

11/22/2019

The powerhouses of the greenhouse, a bunch of nosy koi! They’re not hungry. They come to the window to watch the greenhouse humans.

06/04/2019

Emerald Springs Farm

Here we are!

Emerald Springs is one of the most unique stops on the farm tour this year. They have goats and chickens...but step into the green and see the magic of hydro...

06/02/2019

This year’s babies exploring the old oak beside the springs ❤️❤️

05/29/2019

Baby time at Emerald Springs Farm! Come see us on the farm tour on June 8, 2019. check out NC Foothills Farm Tour page in Facebook or check the link below. Mom will have bottles to share with us! ❤️

12/06/2018

Good dog Karma! With his sister Nikki takes care of farm security!

09/24/2017

Emerald Springs Farm updated their phone number.

Emerald Springs Farm updated their phone number.

09/24/2017

Emerald Springs Farm updated their address.

Emerald Springs Farm updated their address.

04/13/2016

When Eating Greens Is Not Good For You

No systemic pesticides used here - only selected organic methods.

Leafy greens are among the most nutritious foods you can eat, but what if they contain systemic pesticides like imidacloprid? New pesticides that are taken up by plants mean there may be pesticides in food crops like collards and kale, not just on the surface.

03/13/2016

When Eating Greens Is Not Good For You

Good reasons to shop for organically grow produce!

Mother Earth News

When Eating Greens Is Not Good For You
2/19/2013 4:19:03 PM
By Barbara Pleasant
A while back I asked the boss to take me off of pesticide stories because I found them too disturbing. Killer Compost is a gardener’s worst nightmare, but the story that put me over the edge was systemic pesticides in food crops. Then last week, while innocently updating my research on cabbage aphids, I discovered that commercial growers often treat collards and kale with imidacloprid shortly before harvest to make sure the leaves are aphid free. They do? Apply systemic pesticides to food crops not as a pre-plant thing, but shortly before harvest?

At three in the morning I’m awake wondering what’s going on. Imidacloprid is the systemic pesticide found to be associated with honey bee colony collapse disorder; it will outright kill bees that collect pollen from flowers treated with the stuff. I don’t think most people want to eat it.

And yet they are. On leafy greens in particular, imidacloprid levels can run extremely high. According to the most recent analyses from the Pesticide Food Network, 74 percent of lettuce samples, 46 percent of spinach samples and 30 percent of kale (conventionally grown) showed high levels of imidacloprid.

This is all quite legal. The label for Admire (a soil-applied product) says you can apply it to leafy greens up to 21 days before harvest. A newer spray-on product called Pravado specifies a 7-day period from last application to harvest. Bottom line: Commercially-grown greens can be reared on imidacloprid applied to the soil when the seedlings are set out, and then given more to keep high levels of the pesticide coursing through plant tissues. Aphids are effectively deterred, and so am I.

I agree that cabbage aphids are a formidable foe, though I seldom see them on collards or kale except late in the fall, when the plants are old and stressed. In their prime seasons I have no pest problems with either crop that a row cover can’t prevent or cold water can’t wash off. Systemic pesticides like imidacloprid cannot be washed off, because they are in the plants’ tissues, intended to poison aphids or whiteflies.

The most troublesome aspect of all this is that the food crops in question – dark leafy greens – are among the most nutritious vegetables one can eat. As a side dish, there is no comparison between a bowl of cooked greens and an order of fries, particularly if the greens are fresh and organically grown. But what compromises are made when the kale in your favorite restaurant’s potato-kale soup came from a wholesaler’s truck? You may have a healthful food choice tainted with systemic pesticides.

The collards in my freezer are looking better than ever, and the same goes for the organic salad greens I bought yesterday. I am lucky to live in a town with a dynamic local food distribution project, Plenty!, that brings organic produce donated by gardeners and farmers to the people who can least afford to buy it.

But this doesn’t solve the problem. No one should have to accept otherwise nutritious foods laced with the same systemic pesticide that renders bees unable to find their way home. I want to see it on the label: bee-unfriendly, grown using persistent systemic pesticides. It’s a case of unnecessary chemical use at its worst. If farmers can’t figure out how to grow leafy greens without systemic pesticides, they need to find another job.

Photo by Fotolia/Monamakela

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/eating-greens-systemic-pesticide.aspx

Leafy greens are among the most nutritious foods you can eat, but what if they contain systemic pesticides like imidacloprid? New pesticides that are taken up by plants mean there may be pesticides in food crops like collards and kale, not just on the surface.

02/24/2016

Untitled album

02/24/2016

Untitled album

02/24/2016

After mulling over a FaceBook presence for much too long, we are taking the plunge and going public with Emerald Springs Farm! More coming soon.

02/24/2016

AP

02/24/2016

Watercress

02/24/2016

Fresh Gourmet Lettuce Mix