Solana Farm is a small organic farm located in Enfield, NY and Danby, NY. We grow a wide variety of vegetables using organic methods, raise Rhode Island Red laying hens on pasture for fresh eggs that are available at GreenStar in Ithaca, and have recently begun raising sheep for dairy. For the past several years we, Lauren and Kevin, have been farming in central Montana, and recently moved back to the Ithaca area where Lauren grew up. Thanks to the generosity of Gay Garrison, we will be continuing to grow on her land in Danby this season, though our chickens, and sheep will be at our home in Enfield. Our long-term goal is to create a closed-loop, holistic, biodiverse, and sustainable agricultural system that will produce fresh, healthy food for our community while continuing to grow and learn from the complexities of natural ecosystems. Our practices include using our own animalmanure for soil fertility, and using a reduced-tillage method that reduces soil compaction and increases soil tilth as well as the populations of beneficial soil macro- and micro-organisms. We grow a diversity of crops, allowing for a diverse insect community which keeps individual pest populations to a manageable level. We practice crop rotation, and cover-cropping, which helps keep the soil and soil organism happy and healthy, in addition to growing healthy crops. The majority of our planting, weeding, and harvesting is done by hand, in an effort to reduce fuel consumption. This year we are exited to begin expanding the animal husbandry component of our farm eco-system, which will allow us to begin a larger rotation of crops, livestock, and poultry, further increasing the biodiversity and health of the system as well as reducing the need for external farm inputs. We hope to have our dairy up and running soon so that we can offer delicious organic sheep milk products to the Ithaca community!