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Earthmade Foods

Summer Starts the Next Strawberry Season — Preparing Fields the Earthmade Way

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While strawberry harvest may be ending, the work of growing next year’s crop is already underway.

Summer is one of the most important times for strawberry growers. The decisions made now will influence plant health, soil quality, and fruit production months from today.

At Earthmade, we believe every successful strawberry season begins with one thing: healthy, living soil.

Rebuild the Soil

After harvest, strawberry fields need time to recover. Farmers often remove old plant material, incorporate organic matter, and begin rebuilding the biological life within the soil.

Beneficial bacteria help restore nutrient cycling, improve soil structure, and create an environment where future strawberry plants can thrive naturally.

Keep Soil Covered

Cover crops are one of the best investments farmers can make during the summer months. They help:

  • Prevent erosion
  • Improve water retention
  • Feed beneficial microorganisms
  • Suppress weeds naturally

Healthy soil should never sit bare.

Maintain Irrigation Systems

Summer is also the perfect opportunity to inspect irrigation lines, repair equipment, and improve water efficiency before next season begins.

Well-managed irrigation supports both soil biology and plant health while reducing unnecessary water use.

Monitor Pests Naturally

Even after harvest, fields should continue to be monitored for pest pressure and disease. Supporting beneficial insects and maintaining diverse soil biology helps reduce reliance on synthetic chemical controls.

Plan for Next Season

Summer is a time to review what worked well, identify opportunities for improvement, and continue investing in regenerative farming practices that strengthen both crops and the land.

At Earthmade, we know the strongest strawberries aren’t created overnight.

They’re grown through healthy soil, biological balance, and farmers who believe the future of agriculture is regenerative.

Because next year’s harvest begins today.

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Earthmade_Website_MikeDobbins

Mike Dobbins

CEO, Vicentia

Mike Dobbins is developing bio inputs to replace pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. His mission is to give farmers the tools they need to produce 100% chemical free food at the scale needed to feed the 9.8 billion people that will soon inhabit the earth. “If you want to look after biodiversity, and you want to improve our soil health, and you want to improve our chronic illness growth, we have to have NO chemicals. And in all fairness there has not been, on a worldwide basis, a solution to the problem.

 
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Walmart

A few years ago, Walmart embarked on a journey to become a regenerative company, dedicated to placing nature and humanity at the center of their business. As part of their commitment, they recently partnered with GEM Pack Berries, and will be distributing the first crops ever to be grown using an innovative cultivation method that eliminates the need for pesticides and soil-damaging heavy metals… game-changing strawberries from Earthmade. In keeping with environmentally friendly practices aimed at minimizing transportation distances, Earthmade strawberries are available in select Walmart locations in Southern California’s Ventura County.
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Duda Farm Fresh Foods

The Duda family has been growing fresh fruits and vegetables for nearly 100 years. It all started with Andrew Duda, who had just 40 acres of farmland, and his sights set on the American Dream. Now, six generations later, the Duda family continues this legacy by bringing their farm-fresh products to a restaurant or grocery store near you and ultimately, your kitchen table. Among their responsible farming practices, Duda has graciously partnered with Earthmade in running chemical-free farming trials on celery.
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Gath Farms

Gath Farms has a strong foundation of four generations dedicated to the land. They base their business on relationships, and understand the importance of face-to-face business practices built on honesty and integrity. Working together to build and grow their own successful farming operation provides the foundation upon which they can help others grow their operations, increase their profits and protect the land for generations to come. Gath Farms has partnered with Earthmade to run trials of chemical-free farming on commodities such as corn and soybeans.
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GEM Pack Berries

With an eye on the future, an ace coalition of California farmers known as GEM Pack Berries long ago embraced the organic farming practices standardized in the late 1980s. When they banded together in 2015, they wanted to find even more sustainable, soil friendly methods. They soon partnered with Vicentia, which was conducting innovative research on developing a special kind of good bacteria as a substitute to both artificial and heavy metal-based pesticides. GEM Pack understood that, if Vicentia scientists were successful, their advancements could solve a long list of health, agricultural, sustainability, and environmental issues. GEM Pack allocated a sizable plot of farming land so Vicentia bioscientists could conduct multi-year research on the cultivation of multiple commodities.
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Vicentia

Australian bioscience company Vicentia’s bio inputs have not only protected crops all around the world from pests that prey on them; they also eliminated the need for heavy metals, which have been found to affect the biofertility of the soil. Better yet, these revolutionary innovations could be adopted by farmers everywhere to grow all varieties of crops, thereby potentially transforming currently problematic farming practices into healthy, earth regenerating, sustainable practices. Vicentia’s groundbreaking solution also lowered production costs while maintaining or increasing yield and crop quality. Today, Vicentia’s regenerative agricultural advances are being trialed in seven countries.
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Howard Shapiro

Professor

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mark gath

Mark Gath

Owner, Gath Farms

Mark Gath is the owner of Gath Farms, and comes from a multi-generational line of mid-western farmers and growers. As a cancer survivor (brought on by years of chemical-reliant farming), Gath has been a champion of non-chemical farming and agriculture practices. He enthusiastically grows chemical-free corn on his Arizona farm, andis running chemical-free trials of soybeans on his mid-west farms.
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Carlos Meza

Bioscientist, Vicentia Farmer

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A.G. Kawamura

Owner, Orange County Produce, LLC

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Mike Etchandy

Owner, Etchandy Farms Co-Owner, GEM-Pack Berries

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