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| Nick Maravell, farmer |
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| Tory Cowles, artist and farm wife |
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| Dina Slater, farm manager's wife |
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| Dave Slater, farm manager |
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| Dea Keen, education farm manager & farm assistant |
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| Sophia Maravell, daughter, education director and vegetable grower |
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| Jeffrey Martyn, assistant farm manager |
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| Spencer Travi, farm assistant |
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| Harvey Wolfe, farm assistant |
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| Jale Sommer, office manager |
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| Kristi Bahrenburg Janzen, special projects |
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About Nick’s Organic Farm:
Nick’s Organic Farm encompasses a 165-acre certified organic farm near scenic Buckeystown, Maryland, in the fertile Frederick Valley, which we purchased about 20 years ago, and 20 acres in suburban Potomac, Maryland, which we have been leasing since 1980. We aim to minimize off-farm inputs through our diversified and integrated farming system, which combines animals under management intensive grazing and an 8-12 year crop rotation to raise vegetables, hay, pastures, grains, seed and livestock.
We raise cattle, poultry and crops at our farm near Buckeystown, while we grow grains and seed stock in Potomac. The cattle are not fed any hormones, antibiotics or animal products. Our 100% grass-fed cattle receive certified organic pasture, certified organic hay (in winter), water and mineral salts mixed with sea kelp, but never grain. Our poultry receive certified organic feed from grain raised on our farm and other organic farms, and they graze on our pastures.
From the start in 1979, we have been committed to a constant improvement in our organic farming methods. We conduct on-farm research with federal, state and non-profit agencies to refine our organic practices. With the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), we conduct research to improve our organic crops and to breed and manage our herd so that it has maximum natural resistance to disease without the use of synthetic chemicals. We have also participated in a university study documenting the nutritional advantages of grass-fed beef.
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About the Brickyard Road farm site:
Over the years, Nick has produced both traditional consumer products, including vegetables, as well as typical row crops and other agricultural products on the farmland along Brickyard Road, as follows:
Traditional Consumer-type Products:
· White sweet corn (Silver Queen and other varieties)
· Indian corn
· Popcorn
· Fresh edible soybeans (edamame)
· English peas and Sugar Snap peas
· Snap beans, Roma beans, Lima beans
· Winter Squash—Butternut, Acorn, Patty Pan and other types
· Pumpkins—Jack o Lanterns, pie pumpkins, mini pumpkins
· Gourds—large, medium and mini
· Sweet potatoes
· White potatoes
· Basil
· Mint
· Tomatoes
· Peppers
· Fresh cow peas
More Agricultural Type Products:
· Grain Sorghum/milo
· Tall Sorghum
· Sorghum/Sudangrass (for summer cover crop)
· Cow Peas (dry beans and seed)
· Black Turtle beans (dry)
· Wheat (grain and seed)
· Buckwheat (grain and seed)
· Red Clover (seed)
· Rye (grain and seed)
· Hairy Vetch (legume, cover crop; seed)
· Corn (open-pollinated; grain and seed)
· Soybeans (food-grade, for use in tofu; grain and seed)
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About Nick Maravell:
In 1979 Nick started organic farming on a commercial basis on rented land in Purceville, VA, having experimented first on a smaller scale for almost a decade. Concerned about the soil, environment, energy conservation, and fresh, local, healthy food, he began selling vegetables he grew on small rented plots of land to restaurants, local food coops, and at farmers markets. Nick and his wife, artist Tory Cowles, were able to purchase their own farm near Buckeystown in the 1990s. (Go to Tory’s website here: http://www.torycowles.com/.)
Committed to developing local and regional food systems, Nick has helped establish and operate several farmer cooperatives. He is also active in many local, state and national organizations dedicated to organic and sustainable agriculture. He is a founding member of the Maryland Organic Food and Farming Association (MOFFA), the Maryland Small Farm Cooperative, and Future Harvest-Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (Future Harvest-CASA). Nick has also worked closely with other farmers and scientists at the Organic Farming Research Foundation to publish the National Organic Research Agenda.
Nick is called upon as a speaker, is quoted in the press, has appeared on local and national media, and has been called to testify on organic issues at both the state and federal levels. Because of his interest in developing more organic research and his knowledge of organic farming methods, Nick also serves on peer review panels to evaluate organic research grant proposals.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack appointed Nick to a five year term as a member of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) starting in January 2011. Nick has also been recognized for his efforts to advance organic farming, receiving most recently the “Spirit of Organic Award,” from Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine and the Organic Farming Research Foundation for 30 years of service and advocacy on behalf of organic agriculture.
Nick and Tory have one son and one daughter.
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