What's Going On at the Start of February?

Well, we could have provided you with a gorgeous photo of the Arugula that is growing *right now* and waiting to be cut for your enjoyment this weekend, but instead we have this fabulous photo of the two of us being silly with an Emu egg that our neighbor dropped off this afternoon. Our neighbor has an Emu! And now we have one of its eggs! It is huge, heavy, bumpy, and the most beautiful green color that we think we've ever seen. You'll have to check out our Instagram page for a photo of the Arugula later this week.

In addition to an Emu egg, things are growing just fine around here. This week of unseasonably warm weather is making the plants grow well. There's plenty of opportunities for cold and snow yet this winter, but this week we will be spending a bit of time barefoot. AND we have already started seeding Tomatoes, Peppers, and Cilantro for 2019! The first Cucumber seeds hit the soil next Monday. Meanwhile, our winter crops continue and Turnips and Radishes are babies right now but growing.

Enjoy your food this week, and THANK YOU for being part of our farm. Farm Shares are available for our main season (May through November), so please sign up if you haven't yet, and recommend us to your friends, family, and neighbors. Sign up starts on our website here: Broadfork Farm Share

Appreciatively,
Janet & Dan

Owned and operated by Janet Aardema and Dan Gagnon, Broadfork is a small family farm in Chesterfield, VA providing the metro-Richmond area with Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
We use traditional European methods of biointensive, raised bed production while maximizing soil and plant health for nutrition and sustainability. No synthetic/chemical fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide is ever used in any part of the process of growing your food. Everything we sell is grown by us, and we farm full-time, supporting ourselves and our four children through our farm business.

Growing practices at Broadfork utilize only ecological methods: compost, cover crops, organic fertilizer, and minerals are used to feed the soil that feeds our plants. Raised beds are used to prevent soil-compaction, allowing for happier plant roots. We use organic potting soil and fertilizer, as well as amendments like fish emulsion and sea minerals. No chemical fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides are ever used on your food and we are Certified Naturally Grown (which follows the same national standards used for Organic Certification). We are also proud members of the Virginia Association for Biological Farming and Slow Food RVA. Janet and Dan both hold Bachelor’s Degrees in Biology from Davidson and Lafayette Colleges, respectively. Janet holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. We both thrive on putting our biology backgrounds to use in a farm setting and share a passion for farm education.

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