|
What's happening at the farm today?
Meet the Farm Staff.
What will we grow?
What is a Sustainable Farm?
The ideal sustainable farm has healthy and productive soils, produces wholesome uncontaminated foods for the community, preserves and enhances surrounding natural areas, and operates at a profit. Sustainable farming serves the needs of the present generation without compromising the opportunity for future generations to enjoy the same benefits of healthy food and a rich and diverse environment.
How Will the Farm Program Work?
Community Supported Agriculture
A central component of the Community Farm Program will be a “Community Supported Agriculture” (CSA) venture. A CSA offers local families a convenient and interactive way to get fresh, locally grown food straight from the farm. At the beginning of the growing season CSA members pay the farmer an annual membership fee to cover the production costs of the farm. In return, they receive a weekly share of farm-fresh food throughout the growing season. This arrangement ensures fair financial compensation for the farmer as well as members’ accessibility to food harvested at its peak of ripeness, nutritional content, and flavor. WCT Community Farm members and their families will have the opportunity to interact directly with the farmer and to participate in seasonal farm activities.
Education
As a complement to the CSA, the WCT Community Farm will offer educational workshops and events relating to sustainability and land stewardship. Together, these programs will teach and promote sustainable practices, and will build an enhanced “sense of community” around local food production, open space preservation and the protection of Willistown’s special natural and scenic resources.
Connecting with Chefs and Restaurants
The WCT Community Farm will partner with local chefs to provide fresh produce to area restaurants. The farmer will coordinate the planting process with chefs in the spring and restaurants will purchase food directly from the farm site throughout the growing season. Restaurants will benefit from being able to offer fresh locally grown foods on their menus, and the farm will be promoted as a provider of excellent local products.
|
Rushton Farm is located at the corner of Delchester and Goshen Roads, on a beautiful six acre field lined with old hedgerows. It is adjacent to the 30 acre Rushton Preserve, a lovely mature woodland donated to the Trust by Audubon in December 2007. Because of this proximity, it will provide the opportunity to model how sustainable agriculture and important natural areas can be mutually beneficial.
Click on the map to see a larger version.
Good for our Families! Good for our Community!
Good for the Environment!
The Willistown Conservation Trust Community Farm Program will support the Trust mission by modeling sustainable agricultural practices and promoting the values of open space and natural resource protection to a broader community. By bringing together community members, farmers, and land in a mutually supportive relationship, the farm program will contribute to the growth of local, sustainable food networks and will connect people more closely with the rural landscape and agricultural heritage of the Willistown countryside.
Our Mission:
- To demonstrate, teach, and promote sustainable agricultural practices.
- To provide a variety of fresh, healthy, chemical-free food to the local community.
- To share the joy of working on the land and the bounty of fresh food with people of all ages and backgrounds.
- To reduce fossil fuel consumption from transporting food long distances.
- To create a farm infrastructure that models innovative, renewable energy usage and “green” technology.
- To protect and enhance Willistown’s natural and scenic resources, prime agricultural soils and critical watersheds.
- To support other farmers, local chefs and food networks.
Sharing the Bounty
A defining aspect of any community farm is reaching out to those in need. The WCT Community Farm will regularly donate excess produce to food networks that provide sustenance to the hungry. In addition, the farm will offer outreach programs to less advantaged communities and people of all ages and backgrounds to provide information about the health benefits of eating fresh local produce, the possibilities of producing food in their own communities, and the satisfaction and shared sense of community gained from working on the land.
Promoting a Network of Local Farms
The WCT Community Farm will develop relationships with neighboring farmers to help promote a network of local producers. Chester County has a wealth of small farms that offer everything from grass-fed beef and poultry to artisan cheese and organic milk. Working together could lead to community farmers’ markets, sharing of agricultural knowledge, more effective marketing strategies, produce exchanges between farms, and ultimately, a stronger local food movement.
|
