For the first time in 99 years, the US will experience a coast-to-coast solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, making it possible for everyone in the contiguous US to witness it. A total eclipse will only be visible within a narrow band that stretches from Oregon to South Carolina.

If you haven’t heard, we are now selling temporary tattoos of the CNG logo--and the first batch is free! It’s kind of a funny concept, but trust us--they’re a huge hit everywhere from farming conferences in Georgia to farmers markets in Ohio. 

Barbara Rose has been farming at Bean Tree Farm in Tucson, AZ since 2004. Her 20 acre saguaro/ironwood forest farm is far from a conventional farm. Instead of traditional rows of crops, she produces desert annual and perennial cactus pads and fruits, legume seeds from mesquite, ironwood and paloverde (bean trees), and medicinal and culinary herbs. These plants have been grown in the region for centuries.

Owl’s Nest Farm, farmed by Liz Whitehurst in Upper Marlboro, Maryland was started in 2016 with a foundation of healthy soil and strong CNG relationships. Her diverse 4 acres of farmland, just 20 miles outside of Washington, DC, had been Certified Naturally Grown for three years, farmed by Kristin Carbone of Radix Farm. Both the CNG land, and the CNG farmers nearby at Working Over Thyme Farm enriched Liz and her partners' farm life, and they wanted to participate as certified growers as much as they could. 

Farmers are always looking for new tools and technologies that can improve the sustainability of their operation. One new tool that has received considerable attention recently is known as "biodegradable plastic mulch film", or biofilm.

Owl Wood Farm joined Certified Naturally Grown in 2014 when Mark Bascom and Lindsay Fisk first got started on their Hudson Valley farm, located in the rural hamlet of Salem, New York near the border with Vermont.

Podcasts aren’t new, but these days it seems like everyone is talking about them. While there’s an abundance of shows about science, food, nature and culture, there aren’t that many shows about sustainable agriculture. With summer here and plenty of harvesting to do, we decided to dig around for the best farming shows out there!

“There are things you can do together that you can’t do alone,” said Ben Maddox, manager of the New South Produce Cooperative in Little Rock, AR. This statement rings true for many Certified Naturally Grown producers, who value their independence as well as their strength in numbers. CNG farmers are sharing tools, ideas and some are even banding together to sell produce in cooperative models. We’ll focus on the New South co-op for the first of a series of blog posts about members who are finding ways to grow and thrive through collaboration. 

Our new Aquaponics Certification is taking root--but not in the soil! Here are six reasons why we think aquaponics is a great option for sustainable farmers.  (photo above from DFW Aquaponics, CNG since 2016) 

In celebration of our 15th year of serving farmers, we're proud to share the story of CNG, and what some of our members and staff have accomplished over the years. We have a new website, and new bumper stickers and handbooks, but we're still guided by the same principles that first brought farmers together in 2002. Here's a look at how we've grown over the years.