2011 farmbook | PaSa | 1

2011p r e s e n t s

Meet members of the pennsylvania association for sustainable agriculture, working to bring fresh, delicious food to local eaters

does the chicken dance • page 6

Turning rooTs Farm

Two gander Farm’s bee-line to the city • page 10

Table Talk PASA member restaurants dish on their partners • page 22

2 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

Natural By Nature produces the freshest organic dairy products you’ve ever tasted. Whether it is our authentic Italian Ricotta Cheese, our deliciously decadent Whipped Cream, or our delightfully smooth Sour

Cream, our fresh organic Milk is the secret behind the best-tasting and healthiest dairy products available.

Natural By Nature is committed to producing the freshest organic milk and dairy possible. Our milk is not ultra-pasteurized. It’s fresh, not sterile! It comes from cows that are grass-fed, living on

small family-owned farms giving us milk that is higher in nutrients, and offering a healthy ratio of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. It’s a great feeling to know that using sustainable farming practices brings

you top-quality dairy products . . . and has been for over 15 years.

Natural Dairy Products Corp. | P.O. Box 464 | West Grove, PA 19390 | PH 610.268.6962 | FX 610.268.4172 | www.natural-by-nature.com

2011 farmbook | PaSa | 3

for food safety, go local!

over the past two years, few topics have re-ceived such consistent national attention as food safety, with recalls of everything from spinach, tomatoes and sprouts to hamburger, eggs and even peanuts.

Of great interest has been the extent to which the size, location and distri-bution patterns of production and processing facilities affect the severity of the threat to the public.

Do you care where your food comes from and how it was produced? If not, then you needn’t read any further, especially if you also believe our state and federal governments have sufficient knowledge and power to keep us safe, or that it’s even desirable if they could. But if you do care, you’ll want to con-sider one of the relatively unsung advantages of buying your food as locally as possible.

When I speak of “local,” I mean in terms of the farms that produce your food, the facilities where it may get processed and the retail locations where it is pur-chased. If all three are within a “stone’s throw,” as they say, of your home, you and your family can partake with greater confidence that the food is safe, and that problems will almost immediately be identified and addressed if not.

If your food is not procured, produced and processed locally, then let me proffer that your risk is greater. Your relationship with the entire value chain, from “field to fork” as we often hear, is diminished, just as the task of tracking and solving food safety threats becomes more difficult.

This is to say nothing yet of the risk to the public at large when a particular food item is distributed to 30 or 40 states before a problem becomes apparent… or the economic loss to communities in all of those states when their food dol-lars leave town, with only the illusion of wealth left behind.

Simply put, even without the occurrence of a food safety incident, we are already pummeled by a poor risk/benefit ratio when the food we eat is shipped across the country, or even around the world, on its way to our dinner tables.

You can take the first steps toward keeping your families safe, strengthening your communities, saving farmland that you can even bike to on a Satur-day afternoon, and improving your quality of life in general, by support-ing local farms and retailers featuring locally produced and processed foods each and every time you shop!

Brian SnyderExecutive DirectorPennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA)www.pasafarming.org

from PASA’sexecutivedirector

c O v e r P h O T O B Y A l B e r T Y e e

4 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

location Phoenixville, Pa. specialty organic yogurt

contact

sTars Farmpasa member since

sevenstarsfarm.com X1992x

seven

location Phoenixville, Pa. specialty organic yogurt

contact

Th O S e D A r k , S O u l f u l e Y e S , T h O S e curvaceous horns, those thick, lustrous eyelashes. Beautiful may not be the first

word that springs to mind when pondering a cow, but the Jerseys at Phoenixville’s Seven Stars farm are absolutely gorgeous. The herd of 70 produces organic, grass-fed milk for the farm’s simple, delicious yogurt — the recipe for which includes nothing more than milk and cultures.

edie and David Griffiths have worked the land across from the kimberton Waldorf School for 23 years, thanks to a long-term lease with the school. When they moved from New York state, they started making a small amount of yogurt. At the time, the property hosted a farm store — it eventually moved and became the local institution kimberton Whole foods (no affiliation with the chain).

“We had the trucks coming from distribu-tors,” recalls edie. “They started picking up our yogurt. We were one of the first organic dair-ies around.” At the time, their herd was mostly Guernseys and red-and-white holsteins, but they needed higher milk fat content for the yogurt, so they transitioned to those comely Jerseys.

edie has an easy, infectious laugh, and her gentle touch is in-stantly apparent. On this particu-lar morning, she — and her full-time helper Mark Dunphy — are correcting a magnesium imbal-ance in a new mother. She cradles the cow’s head as a makeshift Iv is administered; the day-old calf sleeps at its mother’s feet. Ten years ago, David had a serious farming accident which left him in a wheelchair. Mark came on board to help out, and has been at Seven Stars since. The business has continued to grow.

“We’ve never really advertised,” she says. “It’s really been word of mouth. We’ve got people who move to a different part of the country, can’t find [our yogurt], and they get all distraught. They’ve become addicted! [laughs] We get wonderful letters from customers — ‘I never wrote a let-ter to a food company before’ — we get a lot of letters and phone calls.”

The famous yogurt is rich and creamy, but not overly thick, mimicking the european style. It tastes of the very essence of milk, undercut by the tang of the cultures’ work. The flavored varieties — they make only vanilla and maple — are just the slightest bit sweet, allowing the simple, humble pleasures of the product to shine.

Seven Stars farm is certified organic, but the Grif-fiths also practice biodynamics — functioning on the principle that the whole farm should operate as a single organism. edie and David actually met in england at a course on biodynamics.

“We don’t buy in cattle,” says edie. “We raise our own. And we raise as much feed as we can. What we’re really doing is looking to enhance the vitality of the soil and the animals. for example, leaving the horns on is something people just don’t really do anymore. everyone comes to our farm, and they think we have a barn full of bulls.

“It is difficult to manage a herd of cows this size with horns,” she explains. “They do damage to each other. But, to me, when I look at them, they’re just so beautiful. But also, I (and other people) have noticed that [the horns] seem to do two things

in a very real way. They help with their digestion somehow; they’re able to make good use out of ev-erything they eat. And also, when it’s hot, hot sum-mer, they act like little cooling towers.”

happy, healthy cows — given plenty of rest, rotated on pasture, cared for with a gentle hand and staggering work ethic (edie is up before 4 a.m. every day) — make for healthy, tasty yogurt.

“routine is impor-tant to cows,” says edie.

“It makes them very happy. I have to [take] them across the road to the other pasture; they walk single file. I had a guy stop one day and say, ‘I want my kids to behave like that. can you help me train my children?’”

It should come as no surprise that edie agrees on the subject of her cows’ beauty.

“They’re born with makeup,” she says with a smile, her hand fingering the tuft of hair atop Sunny Sue’s horned head. “They’ve already got the mascara. That’s what I love about Jerseys. We’ve bred some Swedish reds; if I showed you them you’d see the difference. Their eyes are kind of like pigs’. [laughs] They don’t have the same big, beautiful eyes.” —Lee Stabert

Edie Griffiths with full-time helper Mark Dunphy

Leaving the horns on is something people just don’t really do anymore. Everyone comes to our farm, and they think we have a barn full of bulls. —eDIe GrIffIThS

P h O T O S B Y D A N M u r P h Y

6 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

ChrIS heNWOOD cOSTA AND TJ cOSTA are educators by trade, so it’s kind of fit-ting that their first two years at Turning

roots farm have been quite the learning ex-perience. In the spring, the couple will leave their off-site jobs to farm full time, a giant step forward for this fledgling enterprise. If this is the next generation of small, sustain-able growers — young, motivated and commit-ted to a difficult and rewarding lifestyle — this movement has legs.

Turning roots specializes in produce and eggs; they also keep bees. The costas sow two vegetable plots, and the chickens have the run of the rest of the four-acre ches-ter county spread. They’re rotated on different sections of grass, foraging for bugs and other goodies.

“I’m a big egg-eater,” says TJ. “When we first started go-ing to farmers markets and eating fresh eggs, I said, ‘Man, as soon as we have space…’ So, we started just for us. Pretty quickly, we got more and more chickens and started selling the eggs.”

The precious orbs — cradling stunning yellow yolks — are available at their on-site farmstand and through a small egg cSA offered at a North Star Orchard (see p. 8) cSA pickup site. “At the stand, it’s just taken off,” says TJ “The flavor is fantastic. [This summer] we were transitioning between the two flocks and we had a little bit of lag time. We would have, maybe, two dozen in the fridge. A lot of people have gotten used to buying their eggs here, so everyone’s like, ‘Where are the eggs?!’ ”

chris and TJ met during a medical training seminar while working for Outward Bound. “We’ve been very connected to nature for a long time, but it’s been such a shift turning to farming,” says TJ “The real connection to the season and the cycles is so much deeper on a farm.”

PASA was key in transforming their backburner ambi-tions into reality. chris’ parents have a hay farm in central Pennsylvania, and they got involved with the organization. One year, chris accompanied them to the annual farming for the future conference; then TJ came along, too. “There’s a very ‘Yes, you can’ attitude,” recalls chris. “It’s amazingly inspirational. We had these ideas before we met — that it would be cool to farm — but I used to think you had to marry a farmer to start farming. And that wasn’t happening.

Turning rooTs Farm

I used to think you had to marry a farmer to start farming. and that wasn’t happening. but then we started going to PaSa,

and there were all these farmers willing to share. —chrIS heNWOOD cOSTA

location Downingtown, Pa. specialty eggs & produce

contactpasa member since

turningrootsfarm.com X2009x

P h O T O S B Y A l B e r T Y e e

2011 farmbook | PaSa | 7

HIGhSPIre hIllS fArM’s Duane rehmeyer has dubbed his henhouse “the chicken hotel.” “They check in,” he says. “And then they do check out at some point.”

currently there are not quite 1,000 birds living in the grand old building behind his Glenmoore home.

The hotel was more of a hovel when he and his wife moved in almost 20 years ago.

“It was in a state of disrepair,” recalls rehmeyer, an engi-neer by trade. “One of the ways I justified putting money into it was to have a business that we could use to write off the maintenance.”

highspire hills has something of a vintage business plan, selling only to nearby kimberton Whole foods (no affiliation with the chain), local restaurants and drive-up customers.

In another nod to old-school agriculture, rehmeyer picks up unsellable fruits and vegetables from kimberton Whole foods weekly to augment the birds’ feed — it’s one reason highspire hills’ eggs are in such demand.

“It’s been fun because we know our customers,” he adds. “My wife and I are both convinced that people should know where their food comes from.”—Lee Stabert

FarmHigHspire Hills Farm

[laughs] But then we started going there, and there were all these farmers willing to share.”

As she talks, chris reaches down and scoops up one of the brown layers darting past her legs. They call all their birds “Mama Girl,” but this was henrietta — their very first hen. When they transitioned the flock, she got to stay. The older chickens went to a farm in Oxford, Pa. (a real farm, not a euphemism).

chris and TJ are bracingly warm and thoughtful, so it’s not surprising to learn of their passion for medita-tion and yoga. The property’s spring house has been transformed into a private studio, and TJ has even considered offering private yoga classes at the farm. “We’re interested in the contemplative piece of farm-ing,” says chris, “connecting more to ourselves and the land through the act of farming.” They’ve also begun experimenting with biodynamics.

The last two years have involved a lot of hard work and sacrifice, especially with them both working other jobs. There were moments when it became overwhelming.

“It has always felt right to do this,” explains chris. “But there was a point at which we wondered, can we make a living? Should we just be homesteading? Be-cause that’s the heart of what got us going on this — we wanted to be more connected to our food and we wanted to raise animals.”

But this year, as they continued to develop their skills and fine-tune the operation, things got better. “Some-thing that turned the corner for me, this year, was the lansdowne farmers Market,” says TJ. “That market is, for us, what we really imagined ourselves doing at a farm-ers market. It’s this really diverse community; the people are awesome. They have music playing every week and art. And we started developing relationships. It’s actually really helpful for me to go down there — every time I go, I realize why we spend all the hours out here.”

“One woman told me, ‘You’re the reason we come to this market,’ ” adds chris, putting her hand on her heart. “I think that’s the thing about this choice, and this life. It’s so real. It’s all right there in front of you.” —Lee Stabert

Duane Rehmeyer in the coop.

Chris Henwood Costa and TJ Costa (opposite) and their chickens.

In July, Rehmeyer intalled the farm’s brand-new solar rig (approximately 9,000 kWh). His electric bill now averages around $10 per month, down from $200.

location Glenmoore, Pa. contact

specialty eggs pasa member since

drehmeyer@verizon.net, 610-942-9634

X2006x

8 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

we DON’T GrOW reD DelIcIOuS, GOlDeN Delicious, McIntosh or Granny Smith — you can get those anywhere,” says North

Star Orchard’s lisa kerschner. “We have all different varieties. And some of them are what many people might consider odd-looking, even ugly. It takes some education, but peo-ple get hooked on it. At this point, people who know us come up and say, ‘Ooh! What’s that weird variety?’”

lisa and her husband, Ike, started farming in 1992. They didn’t have a lot of money, but they were able to secure long-term leases on two properties, one in West chester and one near Avondale. The kerschners recently bought their first piece of land — the trees went into the ground in 2008.

Since his teenage years, Ike had always wanted an orchard. “You can get into vegetables or even animals pretty quickly, but fruit trees take years, and infrastructure,” explains lisa. “Then you have years of training the trees, mowing, taking care of trees, and no income. So, it’s not something that can be entered into really easily. And I think that’s why there aren’t that many new orchards around.”

North Star has more than 100 varieties of tree fruits, though only (only!) 40 or 50 are currently in production.

They specialize in new and old varieties alike. But choosing a favorite is no easy task for lisa.

“I love Goldrush apples [a new vari-ety] and Golden russet apples [an al-most-400-year-old variety],” she mus-es. “There are a lot of plums out there — rosy Gage is really fabulous. Then there are other apples, like esopus Spitzen-burg; that’s a real antique that Thomas Jefferson loved. We prefer really flavorful apples. … They hit you in the face.”

North Star also boasts two acres of mixed vegetables. With the addition of a hoop house, they hope to keep production going year-round. “A couple years ago I bought some kale at the grocery store and it tasted like nothing,” says lisa. “So, we’re kind of doing this for selfish reasons — yes, to supply the markets — but also because we want good stuff to eat.”

everything North Star grows goes directly to customers, either through their cSA or local farmers markets. Their loyalists serve as eager test subjects for the kerschners’ experimental bent. “There’s this one white peach variety called china Pearl,” says lisa. “And it’s small, it’s fairly lean and unappealing looking — and it’s amazing. I asked the cSA members, and they were just blown away. So we’re planting more of them.” —Lee Stabert

location Cochranville, Pa. specialty apples, pears, peaches, vegetablesnorTH sTar orCHard

pasa member sincenorthstarorchard.com Xai94xcontact

P h o t o S b y A l b e r t y e e

Lisa Kerschner (above) watches over her orchard.

2011 farmbook | PaSa | 9

norTH sTar orCHard

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10 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

TWO GANDer fArM & APIArIeS’ hONeY is labeled simply with the season of its origin — spring, summer, fall. As such,

it comes in an evolving spectrum of rich, golden colors. But the flavor of the honey also varies: month by month, hive by hive, and depending on what nectar the bees have been nipping.

run by Trey flemming (pictured) and rick rigutto, Two Gander has hives in seven different locations, most-ly in Berks county, but also in chester and Montgomery counties. The focus is on organic farms, forming a symbiotic relationship with farm-ers looking for a polli-nation boost. They also grow their own organic produce, sold at farmers markets and through a cSA.

rigutto and flem-ming met on this same farm about eight years ago, working for what was then a 350-member cSA oper-ated under the name covered Bridge Produce. They went their separate ways for a few years, but when the owner went out of business, they decided to lease the land.

flemming studied wildlife biology and got into farming to have a deeper connection to the land. “I wanted to do some-thing where we were being stewards,” he says. his life as an apiarist began by chance — a friend needed help with his hives. “I kind of fell in love with the beekeeping part of it. … It’s an interesting way to think about the whole environ-ment, beyond what’s happening on the farm. The bees are covering a lot of territory.”

last year, Two Gander brought 15 hives into Philadelphia for a summer vacation of sorts. They were placed all around the city: on rooftops and in backyards. “We wanted to pro-mote the local honey from Philadelphia,” says flemming. “It’s good for allergies. But also, cities are a wealth of nectar sources; they’re underutilized. So, you get a honey flow that’s

much stronger. The bees are healthier. They don’t get the kind of contami-nation you get in the country, with certain kinds of agriculture — like pesticide exposure from neighbors.”

Any apprehension hive hosts may have

felt about their new neighbors quickly dissipated. “Within four or five weeks, they were putting lawn chairs out,” re-counts flemming, “having their coffee and watching the bees.” —Lee Stabert

P h O T O S B Y D A N M u r P h Y

location Oley, Pa.

specialty honey, greens pasa member since X2004x

Two gander Farm & apiaries

Within a few weeks, Summer in the City hosts were putting lawn

chairs out, having their coffee and watching the bees.

—TreY fleMMING

treyflemming@yahoo.com, 610-812-2582contact

2011 farmbook | PaSa | 11

High Mowing Organic Seeds offers reliable market standards &

unique specialty varieties from an independently-owned,

farm-based seed company.

To request a free catalog, visit www.highmowingseeds.com or call 802.472.6174

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GridPasa.indd 1 1/14/11 2:03 PM

The waters that feed our brewery begin just over a dozen miles away, making for

spectacularly pure and vital water for brewing. Having worked with watershed advocacy groups since our inception, we

value our headwaters, our source, in many ways. Head into refreshment!

victorybeer.com • Downingtown, PA

12 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

yellow springs Farm

iT’S The POTATO chIP PrOBleM,” figures Yellow Springs farm’s catherine renzi: Once that first pair of Nubian goats arrived,

she and her husband, Al, just couldn’t stop.These days, the renzi homestead in chester Springs is

home to 27 very friendly goats. The herd provides milk for a line of artisanal cheese inspired by the local terroir. from an infusion of fermented black walnuts (Nutcracker) to a wrap-ping in local sycamore leaves (red leaf ), Yellow Springs’ products are steeped in the microclimate.

The renzis weren’t always living a bucolic life. catherine worked in financial services and Al in the pharmaceutical industry. About 10 years ago, they started looking for an old farmhouse to ease their conshohocken com-mute. This property was once a 200-acre dairy farm boasting a beautiful 1850s farmhouse.

“We had an interest in land con-servation,” says catherine. “We wanted a place where we could do-nate a conservation easement on the land as our small contribution to land preservation. So, this fit that bill — it wasn’t conserved; in fact, it had two appraised building lots on it.”

Their first project was a native plants nursery, a busi-ness that has continued to flourish. They eventually started tackling design work, as well, planting meadows and rain gardens. catherine’s undergraduate degree is in architecture and design, so this felt like a homecoming.

She wasn’t the only one reconnecting with an early calling: “My background is in microbiology, but I was working on the business side of the industry,” says Al. “But now I’m back doing microbiology with cheesemaking.”

When one enters the goat paddock, the animals rush to so-cialize — nibbling and bleating, their iron bells clap in the fad-

ing afternoon light. “I was a premature baby born to 20-something parents in chicago, and I was fed goat milk to sur-vive,” says catherine. “So, I was raised on the legend of goat milk.”

They were given their two original an-imals by a neighbor, and started making cheese in the house. They took the fruit of their labors to a few dinner parties, and eventually pondered the possibility of a small cheese business. unfortunately, the

regulatory roadblocks seemed insurmountable. PASA was instrumental in helping them formu-late their plan. executive Director Brian Snyder came to the farm for a meeting, and helped them

“

location Chester Springs, Pa. specialty goat cheese

contactpasa member since

yellowspringsfarm.comX2004x

P h O T O S B Y D A N M u r P h Y

2011 farmbook | PaSa | 13

yellow springs Farm

Fair Food is dedicated to bringing locally grown food to the

marketplace & to promoting a humane, sustainable agriculture

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Shop year-round at the Farmstand, located in the Reading Terminal Market, for a wide

variety of fresh produce, meats, poultry, dairy, cheese, and eggs from over 90 local farms.

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plot a roadmap to success. It still took three years to get off the ground. You can now buy Yellow Springs’ sublime cheeses at local farmers markets, or at one of their weekend open houses. They also offer a cheese cSA, goat milk caramel and chocolate goat milk truffles.

from the first delicately aged bite of red leaf, catherine’s favorite variety, it’s clear the effort was worthwhile. The cheese has an enthralling depth of flavor — and the tang only goat’s milk can provide. “The cheeses are a reflection of a place,” explains catherine. “They’re of this place, first because of pasture, but also because of the other products that go into them.” —Lee Stabert

Catherine (above) and Al (opposite) Renzi tend to their herd.

14 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

location Latrobe, Pa.

contact

pasa member since

www.jamisonfarm.com

X1996xspecialty lamb

F Or The PAST 30 YeArS, hIGh SchOOl sweethearts John and Sukey Jamison have been raising some of the country’s most sought-after

lamb on their 210-acre farm in latrobe, Pa. The Jamisons raise their lambs on a natural diet of

blue grass and white clover. They use a method known as intensive rotational grazing that nourishes both animals and land, and results in healthy, abundant grass without the use of chemicals and pesticides.

In the mid-1980s, the duo began placing ads in na-tional publications like the New Yorker and Gourmet Magazine about their farm. Soon, they were shipping lamb meat to home chefs all over the country. In the late ’80s they began selling to world-renowned restaurants in New York, las vegas, Washington, D.c., and Pennsylvania. One such restaurant was D.c.’s Jean-louis, owned by Jean-louis Pal-ladin, the man credited with revolutionizing french cuisine in the u.S., and popularizing the farm-to-table movement on the east coast.

The Jamisons have found that the key to their success lies in close attention to each detail of their business, from rais-ing the lambs through connecting with local and national

restaurants. In 1994, the couple purchased a meat processing plant so they could oversee their product from beginning to end.

“We were awash with our local farmers who were farming conventionally with a lot of chemicals, and using a lot of fertilizer,” explains John. “We were both english majors in the ’60s who bought tickets to Woodstock. [laughs] We were interested in learning about farming, [but] the conventional methods at the time — and still to a large degree today —were not the way we wanted to do it.” —Ariela Rose

S u M M I T vA l l e Y P h O T O S B Y A l B e r T Y e e , J A M I S O N fA r M P h O T O B Y M A T T h e W P. h u N T

Jamison Farm

John Jamison herds his flock.

wADe eSBeNShADe’S fAMIlY hAS OWNeD this farm in New holland, Pa., for more than 100 years, but it wasn’t until 2003, when he and his wife, Jen, returned

from a three-year sojourn in Guatemala, that Summit valley embraced an organic approach.

Wade studied agronomy in school — and spent a lot of time learning which sprays kill which weeds. “During our time in Guatemala, we did a lot of reading on sustainable living, and that’s when we started learning more about organic agricul-ture,” he says. “We learned more about all the chemicals in the food system, and what it’s doing to our health. That’s really when we started changing our mind-set.”

After three years abroad, they wanted to be close to family — and start their own. At the time, Wade’s father was growing conventional field crops; the transition to organic took three

more years. Summit valley now sells or-ganic soybeans, corn and hay to dairies in the area. “It’s been a slow process of educating our family,” explains Wade. “My father is a little bit more of a busi-nessman, so he liked the fact that farming organically can be more profitable. he’s mostly come on board.”

This year, they added organic produce — sold at an on-site farmstand — to the operation. “We’d always been really into gardening,” says Jen. “friends would ask us where we got our organic produce. And we’d say, ‘well, we grow it.’ We do a lot of talking with people about heirloom varieties. We feel like part of our job here is to educate. People gravitate toward what they know from the grocery store, but it just doesn’t taste as good.” —Lee Stabert

summiT valley Farmlocation New Holland, Pa. specialty organic produce and field cropscontact

pasa member sincesummitvalleyfarm.net X2004x

Wade and Jen Esbenshade with their children on the farm.

2011 farmbook | PaSa | 15

#PASA_wholefoods_full_2011.03_RFM.indd 1 1/24/2011 1:34:08 PM

location New Holland, Pa. specialty organic produce and field cropscontact

16 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

yeS, chArleSTOWN is a working farm, but it’s also something of a community project — a place for

apprenticing, picking your own pro-duce and low-key gatherings.

The heart of the enterprise is a 150-member cSA. While picking up their share on-site, par-ticipants can also collect a cheese cSA share from Yellow Springs farm up the road (see p. 12) or shop for grass-fed beef, lamb and broilers from Broadwater farm across the way.

Bill and liz Andersen, who own both Broad-water and charlestown, are true ambassadors for the area’s local food culture. They helped found the Phoenixville farmers’ Market (three miles up the road), widely considered one of the best in the region. It runs year-round, offering

a venue for the tender baby greens coming out of charles-town’s high tunnels and hoop house.

“Next year is our 10-year anniversary,” says manager Melissa Ingaglio. She started three years ago as one of the farm’s many apprentic-es. Though she spent her childhood on a small christmas tree farm in Schuylkill county, it wasn’t until she attended college in New York city that she developed a passion for local food systems. “I wasn’t interested in it at all,” she says of the farm of her youth. “So, my parents find it amusing that I came back to this. They’re thrilled and excited.” —Lee Stabert

P h O T O S B Y D A N M u r P h Y

location Phoenixville, Pa. specialty produce CSA

contactpasa member since

charlestowncooperativefarm.org X2002x

Farm manager Melissa Ingaglio gathers eggs.

CHarlesTown Farm

2011 farmbook | PaSa | 17

Real Food . Local Roots . TM

TM

Local & Organic Produce

Specialty Cheeses

Raw Milk

Local & Natural Bodycare

Gluten Free Foods

Organic Beef & Poultry

www. K im b e r t o nW h o l e F o o d s . c omHundreds of i tems on sale ever y month!

F i n d u s i n . . .

Community Heritage Partners works with

local food, farmers mar-kets, historic architecture — and now we’ve created Lancaster’s fi rst down-town grocery store for Expressly Local Foods.That means more city res-idents are buying the best of locally-grown every day, and more Lancaster County farmers are sell-ing products to a stable, nearby marketplace.The best of community life and farming. Brought together by Community Heritage Partners.

Design & Development for People and Places

Read more about Expressly Local Foods and other Community Heritage Partners projects at chpartners.net

717.393.1639 info@chpartners.net

How does Lancaster support its local farmers?

With great community design

L I F E T I M E

PASA MEMBER SINCE

1999

CHarlesTown Farm

18 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

location Perkasie, Pa. specialty vegetables

contact

blooming glen Farmpasa member since

bloomingglenfarm.com X2006x

freshly plucked colors. each variety is grown with respect for the local ecosys-tem, and without chemicals.

“You’re only going to be as healthy as the plants that you eat,” says Murtha. “We’re trying to create an atmosphere for our plants on the farm that’s as nurturing and sustaining as possible.”

This creed is instilled in the farm’s yearly crop of interns, who fill 10-hour days with field work, greenhouse operations and marketing duties. four interns a season are picked to live in the property’s restored farmhouse.

“each year we try to make the experience of the interns here on the farm a little more in-depth,” says Murtha. “It’s difficult. I don’t think you can get a full skill set in a year, but I think the people who come and work here know by the end of the year whether or not farming is something that is going to speak to them.” —Ariela Rose

Murtha (top) at the Headhouse Market; Borneman (above) with their daughter, Dakota, in the field.

TOM MurThA AND TrIcIA BOrNeMAN tell a tall tale that they started their farming career by living with the animals.

“Over the first summer, we always joke, we lived in a chicken coop, and we only had an outhouse, and the farmer was kind of a gnarly old dude,” laughs Murtha, “but we loved farming.”

That was 11 years ago, after the wide-eyed couple embarked on an agricultural journey, taking internships on farms in con-necticut, Oregon and New Jersey before landing in Pennsyl-vania, where Borneman is originally from.

By 2006, the nomads were ready to settle down, and started Blooming Glen farm on 25 acres in Perkasie, Pa. The farm’s focus is vegetables, but when it comes to what kind, they don’t discriminate. “If you can grow it around here in season, our phi-losophy is kind of like, ‘Well, let’s give it a go,’” says Murtha.

The farm produces more than 75 different varieties of vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs that provide unique di-versity to their 300-plus-member cSA, and illuminate their headhouse Square farmers market stand with a rainbow of

If you can grow it around here in season, our philosophy is kind of like,

‘Well, let’s give it a go.’ —TOM MurThA

P h O T O S B Y T r I c I A B O r N e M A N A N D T u r T l e J u l I A N

2011 farmbook | PaSa | 19

1848 Clearview Rd.Coplay, PA. 18037

SUYUNDALLA FARMSSUYUNDALLA FARMS

5TH GENERATION FAMILY FARM

SEASONAL FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

LAMB, WOOL PRODUCTS, EGGS

VEGETABLE AND BEDDING PLANTS

610-261-9098www.suyundallafarms.net

World’s Most AffordableEco-friendly Furniture

www.RoomDoctor.comSINCE 1989

(866) ROOMDOC (866) 766-63621199 E. College Ave, State College, PA

Clean, Natural, Solid Wood ∙ American MadeSouthern Yellow Pine is the Most Renewable Building Material in North America

Platform Beds - NightstandsUnderbed Storage - ChestsBookshelves - Tables - Etc.

Largest Futon Selectionin Pennsylvania!

Loft & BunkHeadquartersAll Sizes! Twin, Full, & Queen

Do You Local Food?

The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) is a non-profi t 501c3, promoting profi table farms that produce healthy food for all people while respecting the natural environment since 1992.

www.pasafarming.orgsimple ways to show the love @ 4

DONATE $10 (or more!) online

MAKE new friends — become a PASA member

ENJOY our informational, inspirational programs & events

SHARE PASA with your friends

We’re way more real than Farmville! Join us on facebook.com/pasafarming

20 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

Glasbern InnFarm & Table

fi ne diningenchanting stays

working farm1 hour north of

philadelphia

glasbern.com610-285-4723glasbern.com610-285-4723glasbern.com

2011 CSA Shares still AvailableChemical free, fresh picked veggies for 15 weeks

Kennett Square, PAPlease visit our website www.sunnygirlfarm.com

Visit us at www.slowfoodphilly.org to learn about upcoming events and opportunities to get involved in the food movement

Proudly supports the work of PASA in promoting good, clean, and fair food in our region

living garden arrangements can be planted after the event,weddings, parties, holidays corporate-privateHelen@urbanbotanical.com or 215.438.7533

www.urbanbotanical.com

sustainable event decorating

Project1:Layout 1 2/22/10 3:10 PM Page 1

manufacturers of QUALITY, NUTRITIONALLY

SOUND ORGANIC FEED

specializing in DAIRY & POULTRY RATIONS

120 Liberty StreetAtglen, PA 19310

www.organicfeedmill.com610-593-2995

MAYSIE’S FARM CONSERVATION CENTER

www.maysiesfarm.org 610-458-8129

Working toward a local, sustainable food system

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED

AGRICULTURE

15 St. Andrew’s Lane, Glenmoore, PA 19343

MAYSIE’S FARMFEST

Sign up now for our 15th season

The Conservation Concert Local Food, Local Music June 11th & 12th, 2011

Delivering Fresh Organic Produce to Your Doorwww.panachefood.com

Betsy Spivak Insurance ServicesIndividual & Small Group Health Insurance

Life Insurance, Disability Income Insurance & Long Term Care

Specializing in helping Individuals and Families, the Self-Employed & the Locally Owned Small Business

betsy@betsyspivakinsurance.comDirect: 215.275.3033

www.BetsySpivakInsurance.com

2011 farmbook | PaSa | 21

Love ‘n Fresh Flowers: : from seed to centerpiece : :

a petite, sustainably managed,

urban flower farm and floral

design studio in Philadelphia

dedicated to creating textural

floral art exclusively with

locally grown flowers

www.lovenfreshflowers.com

weddings workshops

flower CSA

LANSDOWNEFARMERSMARKET.COM

Now seeking meat, dairy, andmushroom providers for ourgrowing Saturday market,held Memorial Daythrough Halloween.

Featuring organic andlocally grown vegetables,fruit, bread, meats, cheeses,flowers and baked goods.

VENDORS WANTED for 2011 SEASON!

Email farmers@lansdownefarmersmarket.com for more info.

Voted#2 boutiquemarket in

the US!

The Mitchell Organic Farm Program at St. Gabriel’s Hall, Audubon PA. Assist with all aspects of our beautiful Organic Garden. Horticulture and Social Therapeutic Atmosphere. For adjudicated male youth, ages 12–18. For details, contact: Dagmar Holl, 610-666-7970 x217dholl@chs-adphila.org

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

FARMFROMAGEHand Crafted Cheese from the Farm

www.FarmFromage.com

717-314-1373

Farmer Friendlyin SpringÞeld

Local Since 1869

www.martindalesnutrition.com

Earth Friendly

LocalPeat Free

OrganicMechanicSoil.com 110 East Biddle Street | West Chester, PA 19380 | 610.692.7404

Grid_Magazine_2010_FINAL.indd 1 12/23/2009 9:08:50 AM

ACCEPTING MEMBERS FOR

THE 2011 SEASON!

(610) 558-6799 Aston, PAwww.redhillfarm.org

Red Hill Farm CSA

Wholesale • USDA Certified OrganicPotted Organic Herbs & Vegetables

Vegetable & Herb Transplants

Helping you start your planting season, organically!

295 Park Drive West, Kintnersville, PA 19830 P: 610-847-8152 F: 610-847-5287 www.peacetreefarm.com

P l a n t s y o u ’ d b u y f o r y o u r s e l f

22 | PaSa | 2011 farmbook

viCTory brewing Companyvictorybeer.com 420 Acorn Lane, Downingtown, Pa., 610-873-0881

Location Downingtown

What Brewery specializing in craft beer, made with locally grown, whole-flower hops, that complement the brewpub’s seasonal dishes

PASA Member Since Permanent Business Member

Partner Farms Vista Farms, Triple Tree Farm, Cordivano Brothers, Highspire Farms, Cedar Meadow Swine, Milky Way Farm/Chester Springs Creamery

Stand-Out Dish Beer ice cream made with Chester Springs dairy products

“We believe in supporting locally grown hops as a means for farmers to diversify and hold onto their farms, while holding off development. Making our customers aware of the enormous significance that natural agriculture ingredients play in our daily lives is critical to harnessing their energies for protecting those resources.” — r O N B A r c h e T, brew-master and CEO

“We on the restaurant side of the business feel very strongly about using local ingredients as the quality is far superior, and the positive impact we have on the local economy is greater. We reduce our beer prior to fer-mentation and blend in dairy products from chester Springs creamery to make beer ice cream. It has no alcohol, but it does have great malted flavor. eating great ice cream made from locally made dairy and locally made beer is the best way I can think of to enjoy the fruits of chester county!” — M AT T k r u e G e r , restaurant general manager

THe wHip Tavernthewhiptavern.com 1383 N. Chatham Road, Coatesville, Pa., 610-383-0600

Location Coatesville

What Award-winning pub specializing in traditional English fare and American favorites elevated by local ingredients

PASA Member Since 2010

Partner Farms Lancaster Farm Fresh, Buck Run Farms, Buffalo Run Ranch, Doe Run Farm, Green Meadow Farm, Troika Farm

Stand-Out Dish Beef Wellington made with Lancaster County grass-fed beef and a blend of mushrooms grown in Kennett Square

“I would have to say that one of my favorite products is grass-fed beef. We source it from various locations throughout lancaster county; it just has a flavor that can’t be matched by larger corporations. I actually have a hard time consuming commercially raised beef, because of the flavor difference.” —WYAT T l A S h , executive chef

THe poinT oF desTinaTion (pod) CaFéthepodcafe.com 6460 Greene St., Philadelphia, Pa., 215-849-7771

Location Philadelphia

What Mt. Airy Café in the 150-year-old Upsal Train Station that special-izes in homestyle breakfast favorites and refreshing vegetarian dishes

PASA Member Since 2010

Partner Farms Lancaster Farm Fresh, Grumblethorpe Historic Gardens, Cherry Hill Orchards

Stand-Out Dish Veggie Reuben prepared with organic mushrooms, carrots and crisp spinach harvested from Lancaster Farms, topped with roasted red peppers, sauerkraut and a homemade remoulade sauce

“As hard as it may be to choose a favorite locally supplied product, we all agree that we enjoy Pink lady apples, which we use to bake our home-made apple turnovers, the most. It is important for us to provide these local products, because we believe that your food source should never be a mystery.” — J e N N I f e r J O h N S O N, greening consultant

noT JusT For Farmersthree of PaSa’s member restaurants dish on their partners by A r I e l A r O S e

noT JusT For Farmers

Think about food from field to table

Master of arts in Food studiesChatham University’s Master of Arts in Food Studies is one of the few

graduate food studies programs in the U.S. and the only one to offer both

sustainable agriculture and culinary arts and cuisine within a liberal arts

environment. As part of Chatham’s new School of Sustainability and the

Environment, the program emphasizes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach

to food systems. You’ll study how food, from farm to table to compost,

affects us and our global environment. The curriculum connects real world

problems with ethics, theory, history, communication, research skills, and

experiential knowledge as well as offering concentrations in food politics,

history and culture, and food markets and marketing.

Woodland Road

Pittsburgh, PA 15232

800-837-1290

admission@chatham.edu

chatham.edu/mafs

Big thinking for a big world

visitphilly.com/food

Recipe for a Sweet and Savory Philly Homegrown™ Weekend• Start with a visit to the Reading

Terminal Market and the Italian Market, two of Philly’s most famous markets, for your ingredients

• Blend in delicacies from one of Philly’s 45+ producer-only farmers markets

• Shake things up at a few of our many wineries and breweries

• Sprinkle in stops at restaurants wowing diners’ taste buds with farm-fresh cuisine sourced from Amish Country to the Atlantic Ocean

• Season to taste while satisfying your sweet tooth with refreshing gelato, gourmet chocolates or a locally produced canelé

Plan your Philly Homegrown™ visit from scratch at visitphilly.com/food. And be sure to friend us at facebook.com/phillyhomegrown.

Photo by R. Kennedy for GPTMC

Food Alliance partners with the PennsylvaniaAssociation for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) to deliver its trusted, third-party certification to farms,food companies, and consumers in the ChesapeakeBay Watershed. Food Alliance Certification ensuressafe and fair working conditions, humane treatmentof animals, and careful stewardship of ecosystems.

To decide if Food Alliance Certification is right foryour operation, contact PASA:

(814) 349-9856 • certification@pasafarming.org

Meet the New Food Alliance Certified Operations in the Mid-Atlantic Region

• Red Jacket Orchards, Geneva NY

• One Straw Farm, White Hall MD

• Three Springs Fruit Farm, Aspers PA

• Ayrshire Farm, Upperville VA

• Katchkie Farm, Kinderhook NY

Get Cooking Chesapeake!

Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture

www.pasafarming.org

Buy Fresh Buy Localwww.BuyLocalPA.org

Create opportunities for yourself through “FarmFutures,” an emerging PASA program linking landowners to beginning or expanding farmers. FarmFutures brings together motivated farmers, landowners, land trusts, and land managers to create new sustainable farm businesses on leased land across southeastern Pennsylvania.

The FarmFutures program “blends eBay with eHarmony” to create a community of landowners and farmers dedi-cated to restoring the highest use to land—the creation of healthy food for healthy neighborhoods. Growing is better than mowing!

Are you A looking for land? Or, do you B have land you’re tired of mowing? Would you rather see someone growing wholesome food on your unused land?

Are you dreaming of farming?

Enroll in FarmFutures as a landowner or farmer by completing a simple, free online application with no obligation. Visit www.pasafarming.org and click on the FarmFutures button.