funding

This interview originally appeared in Certified Organic magazine, fall 2012, by Matt Boitano, CCOF Intern. Most people think of mobile homes as a place to live, but not Chris Hay. He uses them for pest management on his eight-acre farm in Woodland, California, where he harvests a variety of fruits, vegetables, and chickens. For the last two years, Chris has been running what he calls “an integrated farm,” in which each aspect of the land and its inhabitants is cultivated for multiple uses to maximize conservation and functionality. The mobile homes, for instance, carry around his hens, which he uses to feed on insects in his fields. This symbiotic relationship enriches the hens’ diet while providing excellent pest management for the crops.