MSU case study: How a certified organic vegetable farm integrated native plants

Helen Chandler has been farming vegetables for farm market sales for 16 years, writes Michigan State University (MSU) research assistant Heather Chapman and Chandler.

In 2017, Chandler started running Lake Divide Farm, a 54-acre certified organic farm in Jackson County, Mich. She produces a variety of vegetables for sale at Eastern Market in Detroit and various wholesale outlets, with brassicas as the core crops. Alongside the vegetable business, Chandler has long envisioned for something more: habitat for native insects, plants and wildlife, and a way to contribute to Michigan’s growing need for native seeds. In 2025, she began turning that vision into a working part of her farm.

Chandler’s goals were both ecological and practical. She wanted to contribute to Michigan’s growing demand for native seeds, create habitats for pollinators and wildlife, and test whether native seed production could become a viable addition as an additional income stream to her vegetable operation.

Site selection 

Lake Divide Farm encompasses 36 tillable acres, about half of which are actively managed for vegetable production. The remaining half rotates through cover crops and fallow periods. When selecting sites for the native plantings, Chandler focused on areas that were less ideal for vegetable production but still easy to maintain. She prioritized locations that met the following criteria:

• Easy to care for without interrupting vegetable production 
• Easy to irrigate, observe and harvest 
• Compatible with native plant species needs 
• Close enough to daily work areas to stay on her radar 

Two areas of the farm were selected for the project. Site 1 had been part of the vegetable rotation, but it was too slow to dry in spring and carried a history of Alternaria leaf spot, a common fungal disease that causes problems for brassicas but not for native plants. Site 2 was a narrow, short field that was difficult to work efficiently with a tractor. Both sites feature sandy loam soils, minimal sloping and easy access for irrigation and monitoring—ideal qualities for the native plants. Soil tests from 2023 revealed no issues that influenced the site decisions.

Site prep

Site preparation was one of the most labor-intensive parts of the project, but also the most important. Chandler wanted the native plantings to establish cleanly without adding weed pressure during the vegetable season; therefore she invested heavily in weed control and soil preparation upfront.

Site 1 was in vegetable production in 2024, followed by a long fallow period until July 2025, which helped reduce weed pressure. Chandler disced the area in early July and plowed later that month, followed by additional discing, bed forming and rototilling. In late September, final preparations were done—a cycle of bed forming and rototilling, ground cloth and irrigation. Most of the ground cloth came with pre-burned holes, lessening prep time. Irrigation lines included three lines of drip irrigation with eight emitters under the fabric for each bed. Plugs were installed just two days later.

Site 2 underwent a full year of preparation, beginning with a fall plow in 2024. In May 2025, Chandler disced and plowed the area, followed by two additional disc passes. Buckwheat cover crops were then planted in June. In July, the site bed was formed and rototilled to incorporate nutrients, and the aisles were cultivated. Chandler then grew cabbage and radish on the site from July through November, using the crop cycle to suppress weeds and build soil structure. 

Weather held in her favor, as she was able to get an additional discing and mowing period before winter. Spring 2026 will bring final bed preparations—additional bed forming, rototilling and laying of ground cover to fully inhibit weeds before Chandler plants Lupine perennis transplants.

Ground cover considerations 

Chandler evaluated several options for weed suppression—bare ground, organic mulch and ground cloth—and ultimately chose ground cloth because it required the least ongoing maintenance. Bare ground would have demanded regular cultivation and weeding, and straw mulch would still have required hand-weeding along with annual reapplication. The ground cloth may still require hand weeding twice per year, but only immediately around the plant.

She used 4-foot-wide ground cloth with pre-burned holes spaced at 10 inches, arranged in three rows per bed. For species that needed wider spacing, holes were burned using a handheld torch and premeasured pipe. The beds were raised 5.5 feet on center to improve drainage and spring soil warming and had flat aisles.

The pre-burned ground cloth, however, was only available in 4-foot widths, leaving the aisles uncovered and cloth edges exposed to the wind. Chandler covered the aisles with pre-used ground cloth she already had on hand, and held the bed cloth in place with sandbags, though strong fall winds still pulled the cloth loose. Re-aligning the cloth holes with the plants became a recurring frustration. In hindsight, she determined the wider cloth would have been worth the extra time it would have taken to burn all the holes by hand, simply for the improved anchoring and full aisle coverage.

All preparations were completed with standard farm equipment: an 8-foot Alis Chalmers disc, a 4-foot Taylor Way rototiller, and a Buckeye bed former. No specialized tools were necessary. 

Plant selection 

Chandler’s plant list was shaped by both the ecological goals and practical considerations of her farm’s needs. She consulted Native Connections, Michigan Wildflower Farm and Wildtype Nursery, evaluating each species for: 

• Seed value and marketability
• Estimated yield 
• Ease of harvesting and cleaning 
• Availability of parent material 
• Site compatibility

Because the sites had a broad range of habitat conditions, she was not heavily limited by site compatibility, though Chandler did avoid shade-loving plants that would not thrive in the open fields. 

The final species list included:

• Lupine perennis (Sundial lupine) 
• Ratibida pinnata (Yellow coneflower) 
• Anemone canadensis (Canada anenome) 
• Hibiscus moscheutos (Rose mallow) 
• Geranium maculatum (Wild geranium) 
• Gentiana andrewsii (Bottle gentian).

Head over to MSU.edu to read the rest of the story on Chandler’s native plant-organic vegetable production experiment.