It’s as inevitable as death and taxes: when growing vegetables without chemicals, weeds will be involved. Even though sophisticated mulching and planting techniques can minimize and, with diligence, even eliminate them over time, weeds are still there, lurking in the background, plotting their next invasion.

It’s a pearly morning. Approaching rain clouds make rows of lettuces, herbs, greens of varied texture, potatoes in full bloom, and a host of other vegetables almost luminous.

Andy Heck and Garrick Veenstra are dealing with the grassy weeds around onions as it’s been done since crops were first cultivated thousands of years ago: on their knees.

The pair has more than the usual amount of weeds with which to deal, even considering this season’s rainy weather. Though they’ve both been growing and selling produce for several years, this is a new location for them — it had previously been a pasture.

It’s also a new partnership. Veenstra had been farming in Pana, and Heck grew his produce at an eastside Springfield location. But Veenstra had been looking for land closer to Springfield and his home in Taylorville. And Heck, whose gardening partner had gone to Florida to work at a sustainable operation and decided to stay, was also ready for a change.

Their adjoining stands at the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market gave them the opportunity to get to know each other — and to realize that they shared similar goals and philosophies. So they decided to join forces.

Heck and Veenstra rent the land from Todd and Kari Vincent. It’s new land for the Vincents as well; they moved from their farm in Lake Fork last winter to a larger place just outside Rochester. The Vincents raise pastured chickens, grass-fed cattle for both dairy and meat, some vegetables — and their brood of eight children. Their products — which also include honey and eggs — are available for purchase at the farm. On the day of my visit, they were in the process of turning half of the free-standing garage into a farm store.

Todd Vincent tells me that the larger amount of acreage has given him the room he needs for mob grazing. It’s one of the methods combining innovative, eco-friendly concepts with age-old practices that’s revolutionizing sustainable farming. I assumed that “mob” was an acronym but it really means a mob: a mob of cattle in a small grazing area. The cattle, having a herd mentality, don’t mind hanging out close together – especially since they’re moved to fresh pasture three or four times each day. That’s a lot of effort for Vincent, but he’s seen immediate results. “My goal is to have a hoof, mouth, urine, or manure on every inch of pasture.” He tells me that when cows eat grass, they leave some of their saliva behind — saliva containing an enzyme that stimulates the grasses’ growth. Nature has created a perfect partnership between plant and animal, something Joel Salatin, a pioneer in sustainable techniques, calls “a beautifully symbiotic relationship based on essentially solar and instinctual energy.”

The Vincents, Veenstra and Heck have a symbiotic relationship, too. Vincent says Veenstra and Heck have expanded his knowledge of vegetable farming, while the Vincent children (and sometimes parents) pitch in to help during long days of transplanting seedlings as well as in other ways. In fact, in busy times, it becomes a family affair, including the extended families of all three. “My mom’s on her way out here now,” laughs Heck. “She was never into gardening, but she comes and helps separate plants and does other stuff. My dad helps out, too.” There’s a lot to do. Veenstra and Heck grow 45 different vegetables in an astounding