RIDGEFIELD — Full Plate Farm is a certified organic farm that Danny Percich and his wife, Michelle, built from just a quarter of an acre in 2010 to a thriving 3-acre farm today. They specialize in winter-only produce, an underserved niche for Community Supported Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Full Plate Farm is serving the community a wide range of organic vegetables and letting children experience the farm, potentially changing the way they think about food and farming in the future.
Percich guides visiting students through harvesting crops on the farm.
Percich also teaches why it is important to have a farm that not only makes food for people but also serves as a habitat for animals and bugs, birds and bees. He tells them of the Native American philosophy of the Seventh Generation, the idea that we care for the Earth so that even seven generations in the future, our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will still be able to enjoy the Earth’s bounty.
Percich tells them how cover crops like rye, vetch, oats and peas return nitrogen to the soil, taking it from the air and leaving it in nodules in their roots. Then leading the class through the process of planting new seeds for the season.
