This report relates the Kerr Center’s experiences with small-scale farming and gardening tools during a decade of bio-extensive management on the Cannon Horticulture Plots. Tools evaluated include spades, digging forks, broadforks, hoes, and more.
The Kerr Center’s horticulture program shows farmers and gardeners, from beginners on up, how to sustainably grow vegetable crops, focusing on Oklahoma organic horticulture’s unique challenges.
The six+ acre Cannon Horticulture Project, certified organic in 2011, is founded on organic system design and management. Organic certification was allowed to lapse in 2017, but organic management continues in order to permit easy re-certification in the future. Demonstrations are tailored to organic home and market gardens in the same size range.
Through its history, the Kerr Center has grown a diverse variety of crops, focusing heavily on heirloom varieties in recent years.
Harvests go to local food pantries, into meals served at Kerr Center events, and to staff.
Both cover crops and some cash crops (e.g. sunflowers), as well as border plantings, provide habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators.
Production practices emphasize:
- the right tools for the right jobs
- season extension to get crops both early and late, and
- a holistic approach to pest management.
In addition to demonstrating organic production methods, the Cannon plots serve as an outdoor, on-farm classroom for college interns, farmer training programs, and public field days.
Our four-year bioextensive rotation starts from the ground up, building healthy soil with on-farm resources, using techniques including
Learn About: Pest Management
We use cover crops and rotations to successfully control weeds and grasses such as Bermuda in our hort plots. We have beneficial insect habitat and build healthy soils with a balance of microorganisms. Learn more
Learn About: Season Extension
Shade (and grasshopper barriers) for hot weather; extra frost protection (including the popular Hanley-style hoop house) at season’s beginning and end. Learn more
Learn About: Organic Agriculture
What do the national organic standards actually say? How do they apply to small farms? How did they come to be? Learn more
Learn About: Building Soil
Build healthy soils with cover crops and rotations, compost, and biochar. Learn more
Learn About: Horticulture Crops
Heirloom Variety Trials and demonstrations (of sweet potatoes, tomatoes, squash, sorghum, okra, and other crops) are one of the latest in a long series of horticultural undertakings at the Kerr Center. Learn more
Learn About: Tools & Equipment
Photos and explanations of the right tools for the right job, with a focus on small-scale market farming. Learn more
Horticulture/Organic Library
Find a wide assortment of resources in print and multimedia. Browse our library