There has been a lot of discussion in the last few years on sustainability. In fact, if you go by online search popularity, in April of 2022 the term “sustainability” reached its peak in all time searches. There could be many reasons why the increased awareness of sustainability, it is not such a bad thing that people are more aware of how their food and products are made.
When it comes to farming, to be successful or even survive, farms have always embraced sustainability as a way of life. It isn’t a slogan, a statement, or a marketing gimmick, but understanding and respecting the land and resources you are fortunate to till your crops on. Sustainability means different things to different people. There is no right or wrong way for a farm to define what it means to them.
There are numerous examples of how early on Foxdale Farms was utilizing sustainable practices. When things started out, we sold fresh berries and produce through newspaper ads. While we planted and grew our own berries, we had large patches of legacy berries growing around the farm. We cared for and cultivated the old patches and always had more berries than we could sell, freeze, or make into jams and jellies! Fertilizer was another commodity that we had plenty of.
Raising horses and rabbits, we would store the manure throughout the winter, then put it on the fields and around the crops as they grew. For weed control, we would place old newspapers around the vegetable plants and cover them with old hay or grass clippings. While these are sustainable practices, they weren’t planned, they just made sense and we did it.
Today, Foxdale Farms incorporates many practices that are considered sustainable, and we grow our crops responsibly. We minimize space by double planting short season crops in between longer season crops. Our tomatoes are put in cages, which also reduces space. We still utilize paper, grass clippings, and old hay for weed control.
It is not just how or where we grow our products that makes us responsible, but growing up we learned the value of supporting local businesses. Whenever possible, we buy our products locally from seeds, to potting soil, to packing materials. If we cannot find something local, we focus on finding products that are truly Made in America. Many of these vendors are family-owned businesses with a long history of supporting their local communities.
We do have customers inquire about our farming practices and always enjoy the conversation. Our goal, which we feel we accomplish, is to grow and make our products responsibly. Foxdale Farms in on its fourth generation – that isn’t by accident but by doing what is right for all parties involved.