Writer and Farmer at Woodleaf Farm
Helen Atthowe is author of the newly published book: “The Ecological Farm: A Minimalist No-Till, No-Spray, Selective-Weeding, Grow-Your-Own-Fertilizer System for Organic Agriculture”. She has worked for 35 years to connect farming, food systems, land stewardship, and conservation. Helen has owned and operated or co-operated with her late husband, 3 certified organic orchards and vegetable farms ranging from 30-211 acres, in 3 states; California, Montana, and Oregon. She currently farms and does no-till soil– and natural enemies’ habitat– building research on her new 5-acre farm in Western Montana. Her on-farm research includes ecological weed and insect management, best plants for beneficial insects, organic no-till and minimum soil disturbance systems for vegetable, dry bean, and fruit crops, and growing your own fertilizer with living mulches and cover crops. She is a contributing writer to The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control and other books. Atthowe has a master’s degree in horticulture from Rutgers University and has worked in education and research at the University of Arkansas, Rutgers University, and Oregon State University, and served as a horticulture extension agent in Missoula, Montana for 17 years, where she annually taught an organic master gardener course and ran an IPM program for horticulture crops in western Montana.
Helen shares results from her on-farm research about growing-your-own fertilizer, reduced tillage, and application timing and optimum carbon-to-nitrogen ratios for no-till residues, cover crops, and living mulches. She also discusses her experience using low-input, ecological farming methods for over 40 years and how these details affect beneficial insects and pest, disease, and weed populations to build a resilient and abundant farm.