When we took over stewardship of this farm, we noticed a massive flock of crows – far more than would be normal for the land. At first, we joked they were the spirit of the previous farmer, but we knew it was that we had a lot of work to do in order to bring the farm back to ecological balance and the crows were a reminder of that. 

Incredibly smart, crows are our greatest biological challenge. Though we combat mites on the strawberries and cucumber beetles eating our greens, crows have been our most significant teacher. So far we’ve learned that if we transplant seedlings and do not cover them with the white fabric row cover you see from the road, the crows will pull out every single seedling looking for worms. We’ve learned that if we don’t cover freshly sown corn and beans, they will eat every single seed. We learned that if we don’t put reflective tape on tomatoes, they’ll eat the ripe fruit. 

We’ve learned a lot in a short time and are grateful to nature for the lessons; we hope our ecological efforts will, in time, bring balance back to the ecosystem.