Farm Market Pick up @Henway!

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Great Country Farms

Community Supported Agriculture, CSA, Produce Farm, U-Pick, Field Trips in Loudoun County, VA

Farm Market & Bakery Winter Pick up @Henway

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Top 5 Reasons to Buy a GCF Farm CSA Produce Box This Season

February 18, 2021 by Kate Zurschmeide

  1. You care about your local community & how your food is grown

We believe change must start on the farm and in the soil.  It is our mission to steward this land and sustain it so it can sustain future generations.

2 boys struggle to carry their CSA produce Box from Great Country Farms.

CSA pick up helps families know their food & farmer.

Great Country Farms (GCF) is a regenerative agriculture farm and we grow our Community Support Agriculture (CSA) veggies without synthetic chemicals and use regenerative growing practices.  What is regenerative farming and why do we farm this way? In 2018, Farmer Kate was diagnosed with colon cancer and although her oncologist said it was, “just bad luck,” we knew there was more to the story.  Her healing journey led us to the work of Dr. Zach Bush, Triple Board Certified Physician, who found that treating one cancer patient at a time would never stem the tidal wave of patients coming to his clinic in central VA.  He draws the connection between our soil health and our own microbiome “inner garden” so clearly in his film, Regeneration: The Beginning.  

This journey has caused us to double down on our efforts to employ regenerative farming techniques  such as no-till planting, crop rotations, compost tea fertilizer, cover crop cocktails, mulching and more. The quality of our soils has improved tremendously in the 3 years since Kate’s diagnosis and we are more excited about farming for your family now than ever before. 

2) You want the healthiest most nutrient-dense food you can find to feed your family & build immunity.

Basket with onions, kale, strawberries, and a GCF refrigerator magnetIn these pandemic times, building our immune systems is a top priority.   With each GCF Harvest Produce Box, you will experience truly fresh fruits & vegetables picked within a day or two and packed with flavor & vitality when arriving at your table. This is simply not available at the grocery or other “fresh” food delivery services. By purchasing a CSA Harvest Box, you are taking a stand to support food grown in ways you prefer.  By encouraging your friends to do the same, you take action to increase the kind of farming you’d like to see.  Based on this Rodale Institute white paper,  “The Power of the Plate: The Case for Regenerative Organic Agriculture in Improving Human Health”, regenerative growing practices are essential to producing the most healthy, nutrient-dense food you can feed your family.  

3) It’s time to get outside and connect with nature through On Farm Experiences & Pick Your Own

Each GCF Harvest Produce Box includes the opportunity to go beyond eating flavorful nutrient dense produce and offers farm experiences as part of the bounty.  Your CSA Harvest Box comes with unlimited farm admission for your immediate family and pick your own bonus fruits and veggies.   With our 12 acre farm play area and acres of pick your own orchards, you can ensure your family has time outside to breathe fresh air and connect with the land that nurtures us body & soul.  There are a myriad of Health Benefits to being Outside cited on WebMD, from better sleep, increased focus, Vitamin D absorption and the article goes on to note, “Many plants put substances, including organic compounds called phytoncides, into the air that seem to boost immune function.”   This access to the great outdoors simply cannot be found in any other produce box subscription.

4) You want to be able to answer the question, “Who’s Your Farmer?”  

Farmer Mark Dewey waters plant starts in the Green House.

It feels great to buy from real people in your community rather than a faceless corporation.  CSA is a unique way to support your farmers.  With partial payment in advance of the season, you are helping our farm to purchase seeds, trim orchards in the winter, mend equipment and prepare for a bountiful harvest.  Once the season starts, you can engage with your farmers when you visit  and stay abreast of farm happenings through our Crop Talk Newsletter.   You’re invited to share your ideas and recipes and help guide what we grow with your preferences to shape our Produce Growing List..  Know that your voice will be heard when you email Farmer Bill with a question.  Chat with Farmer Mark as he packs produce in our farm market and share ideas on what to cook.  Wave at Farmer Andrew and his toddler, Brodie, as they scout the orchards and decide which peaches & apples to open for pick your own.  Marvel at the multicolored eggs, Farmer Kate gathers and packs daily.   We are real people doing the real work of farming and building relationships and trust with you and our community. 

5) You want to know your food will be there without supply chain interruption.

In 2020, we all experienced empty store shelves and many items that took months to reappear due to supply chain challenges.  Our system of supply suddenly seemed vulnerable and we all were wondering, “What Happened to all the Toilet Paper?” as explained in the article from University of Southern Florida.  The article goes on to state that The U.S. imports approximately 50 percent of fruit sold (in groceries), with 20 percent of our vegetables imported from Mexico.  Our farm is located right here in Loudoun County, VA so you know the source of your fruits and vegetables, eggs, and honey is readily available and right here in your backyard.  Additionally, we source local meats and cheeses from other local Virginia farms so when you add on these items you are sending your hard earned dollars right into our  own Virginia economy.   There is no middle man.   Our fruits and veggies come straight from the field to your family.  We have been farming here in Bluemont, VA for 28 years and are so excited to grow for your family this season.

For more Information on Buying a CSA produce Share, produce lists and program details, visit our website CSA Harvest Box Page.

4 Generations fo Zurschmeides Welcome you to our Farm Community

The Zurschmeide Family & Farmhand look forward to welcoming you to our community this season.

Filed Under: Eat, Local Farming Tagged With: CSA, Local eating, Local Farm, regenerative farming

Whole-life Nutrition for Life-long Wellness

December 1, 2020 by Kate Zurschmeide

As the Holiday eating season gets underway, Zach Bush, a great explorer of the microbiome, reaches out to remind us that well-being involves every aspect of our person. In the video linked below, he reminds us that nourishment is not merely a matter of consuming the necessary vitamins and minerals; it requires full engagement of our senses — sight, smell, touch, and taste. Each of those sensory systems processes information in ways that make our bodies more ready and able to use the food we eat, and those systems are most engaged when food is close to its own life source: the soil it grows in. Dr. Bush explains that as soon as a food item is detached from the mother plant, its nourishing properties begin to degenerate. The best way to eat a tomato, he suggests, is to take it off the vine with your teeth. And the best way to eat a meal is to sit at a table suffused with the spirit of gratitude toward the source of all nourishment, in the company of people you love, for the disposition of your body cannot be separated from the disposition of your soul.

Enjoy this holiday invitation to wellness.

Knowledge: Nutrition

Filed Under: Big Pictures, Eat Tagged With: fresh food, Local Food, local foodshed, microbiome, nutrition, wellness, Zach Bush

Your Vote Matters More than Ever!

November 3, 2020 by Kate Zurschmeide

Today is a BIG DAY!  I woke up excited to vote and to be part of shaping the future of our great nation.  If you are able to vote today, (or have already cast your ballot),we salute and thank you for exercising your hard won right to vote.

Think your vote doesn’t matter? You make choices and vote with your time, presence and dollars everyday and those “votes” impact the lives of your friends, family and community.  

We want to thank you for all the “voting visits” to our family farm this season and encourage you to continue to Vote Local.   When you visit Great Country Farms, you are not only helping us keep farming alive in western Loudoun Country, VA, you are also supporting:

  • 3 generations of Zurschmeides who live and work on the farm
  • Countless teenagers working their first jobs and learning the importance of hospitality and good customer service
  • Our core team of managers and farmhands who work hard to bake the pies, make the donuts, welcome the guests, press the fresh cider, plant the crops, bring in the harvest and pack our CSA boxes
  • Countless local businesses who help us keep the tractors running, maintain the delivery vans, provide animal feed and building supplies, paint our educational signs, print our cards & provide packaging and boxes for fruit picking.

We are excited to have the farm open for your enjoyment through November 22nd and look forward to welcoming your family to enjoy this farm we love.    The Knead It! Bakery will be open through Dec 23rd for all your holiday treats and gift boxes.

So as you vote today, we salute you and encourage you to continue to vote daily with your time and money to support local businesses and small family farms that give our community it’s special character and flavor.

The Zurschmeide Family & Farmhands of Great Country Farms

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Our Pledge, Your Pledge

May 28, 2020 by Mark Dewey

Our Pledge to You~Updated  11/15/2020Farmhand driving the tractor at Great Country Farms

  1. Our Farmhands are trained in CDC guidelines for hand washing and sanitizing and and everyone who handles food — in the field, in the packing barn, or in the market.
  2. Masks are required inside our buildings for guests 5 years of age and older.  Our team will wear a face covering in customer facing positions.
  3. All Farmhands certify that they are  temperature and symptom free before each shift.
  4. Frequently touched surfaces are sanitized regularly during operation.
  5. We will support social distancing by offering walking or driving to pick your own locations and  wagon ride farm tours will require guests to wear masks.
  6. We will provide hand washing/sanitizing options before entering the field for our farmhands and PYO guests.
  7. We will provide new containers for pick-your-own to ensure a single use for safety.
  8. Social Distancing is required.  We ask groups to remain at least 6ft apart when picking and playing at the farm.
  9.  Our CSA Farm Shares will be packed in single-use liner bags, which will be sealed with tamper-evident tape. That way, members can be sure their food has been touched by only the picker and the packer.

Your Pledge to UsTwo young girls with lovely braids hold their pick your own box between them while awaiting the Great Country Farms tractor ride to the apple orchard.

  1. Social distancing and sanitation guidelines protect you, as well as our other patrons and employees, and you agree to take responsibility for social distancing your family from other groups while visiting.
  2.  If you are sick, have been exposed to COVID-19 in the past 14 days, or have symptoms of COVID-19 (including a fever, cough, or shortness of breath), you will stay at home and will not enter the Farm Market or PYO Fields.
  3. You will heed VA. Governor Northam’s Mask Mandate and wear a face covering inside our buildings unless you meet one of the Governor’s health exemptions.  This now includes all guests ages 5 and older.  Parents agree to help their children properly wear a mask.
  4. For weekend tickets,  you agree to arrive on time and complete your visit within your 3 hour ticket window so we can meet guest limitation requirements outlined by our Governor’s Orders on days that tickets are sold out.
  5. You agree to wash/sanitize your hands and assist your children in doing so prior to and after picking produce and frequently while visiting the play area.
  6. You agree to not sample any fruit in the field to comply with the guidelines from the Virginia Department of Agriculture.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Big Pictures, On Foggy Bottom Road Tagged With: COVID-19 and local food, COVID-19 precautions, Farm Re-opening

CSA Delivery Days 2020

May 25, 2020 by Mark Dewey

Basket with onions, kale, strawberries, and a GCF refrigerator magnetCSA 2020 starts Tuesday, June 2. This year will differ from previous years in many ways. The first big difference is that your customized share will have a label with your name on it. If you pick up your share at a group site, you must find the box with your name.

If your group site is hosted in a private home, we recommend you provide a cooler with ice packs to receive your share. The cooler must be large enough to close properly with a bin measuring 19 by 13 by 10 inches inside, and it must be clearly labelled with your name.  The cooler should be delivered to your group site before 9:00 a.m. on your delivery day and retrieved within the guideline set by the host. Your host is not permitted to keep your share overnight; you must claim it on delivery day. If you know that you will be able to retrieve your share within 15 minutes of delivery notification, you might decide to manage without a cooler.  If you cannot pick up on your delivery day, please make a vacation request to put off your delivery that week.

These group sites will receive their shares on Wednesdays: Clifton Townes, Wellness Connection, Latimer Group (formerly McNerney), Great Harvest Vienna, Hutchings Group, Mirra Group, Sonak Family Chiropractic, Romaezi Group, Lansdowne Group, Leesburg Chiropractic, Swenson Group, Reston Group.

These group sites will receive their shares on Thursdays: Olio2go, Herzfeld Group, Montana Street Group, Caputo Group, Arlington/Lyon Village Group, Moomaw Group, Huntington Forest Group, McClure Group, Bishop Group, Hamaker Group, Fontana Group, Musci Group.

These group sites will receive their shares on Fridays: Great Harvest Herndon, Great Harvest Ashburn, Wine’ing Butcher, Broadlands Group.

Farm Pick-up~ please pick up on your scheduled pick up day

If you’re picking up your share at the farm, you must do so on the day you chose when you bought your share as we will be printing customized packing lists weekly based on your preferences. We’ll give you a customized packing list when you arrive. If you don’t remember your day, you can log into your account and check your member profile.  Most pick-up members have chosen to come into the market to pack their own box, and you are welcome to do that, following the COVID-19 guidelines noted below.   We  are also happy to pre-pack your custom box for you and bring it to your car for curbside pick up.  If you’d like to have us to pack your box, the service charge is $51 for the whole season.  If you do prefer curbside pick up, please email CSA@greatcountryfarms.com so we can add that service to your account and ensure a smooth pick up experience next week.

Home Delivery

If you purchased a home delivery share, your deliveries will arrive every Wednesday, beginning June 3.  If you will not be home to receive your delivery, we recommend you provide a cooler with ice packs to receive your share. The cooler must be large enough to close properly with a bin measuring 19 by 13 by 10 inches inside with the ice packs, and it must be clearly labelled with permission for our delivery driver to place your harvest box inside the cooler.  If you have special delivery direction for our drivers, please email CSA@GreatCountryFarms.com so we can add those notes to guide our driver at your home.

COVID-19 Precautions

We will be following the guidelines from the Virginia Departments of Health for Phase 1 Reopening and Agriculture for Pick your Own Farms and Individual Markets   

Our Pledge to YouFarmhand driving the tractor at Great Country Farms

  1. Our Farmhands are trained in CDC guidelines for hand washing and sanitizing and and everyone who handles food — in the field, in the packing barn, or in the market — will wear gloves  when working with food.
  2. When social distancing is not an option and in our buildings, our team will wear a face covering.
  3. All Farmhands are symptom and temperature checked before each shift.
  4. Frequently touched surfaces are sanitized hourly during operation.
  5. We will support social distancing by offering pick-your-own by appointment. These appointments will be available online in the evening, with CSA and Fan Members given first opportunity to schedule appointments.
  6. We will provide hand washing/sanitizing options before entering the field for our farmhands and PYO guests.
  7. Will will provide new containers for pick-your-own to ensure a single use for safety.
  8. Social Distancing will be strictly enforced.  We will separate pick your own groups in the field by assigning a PYO area for your reservation time.
  9.  Our CSA Farm Shares will be packed in single-use liner bags, which will be sealed with tamper-evident tape. That way, members can be sure their food has been touched by only the picker and the packer.

Your Pledge to UsTwo young girls with lovely braids hold their pick your own box between them while awaiting the Great Country Farms tractor ride to the apple orchard.

  1. Social distancing and sanitation guidelines protect you, as well as our other patrons and employees, and you agree to take responsibility for social distancing your family from other groups while visiting.
  2.  If you are sick, have been exposed to COVID-19 in the past 14 days, or have symptoms of COVID-19 (including a fever, cough, or shortness of breath), you will stay at home and will not enter the Farm Market or PYO Fields.
  3. You will heed VA. Governor Northam’s Mask Mandate and wear a face covering inside our buildings.
  4. Pick your own will be by appointment and you agree to arrive on time and complete your picking within your reservation time.
  5. You will wash/sanitize your hands and assist your children in doing so prior to and after picking/packing produce.
  6. You agree to not sample any fruit in the field to comply with the guidelines from the Virginia Department of Agriculture.

 

 

 

Filed Under: On Foggy Bottom Road Tagged With: COVID-19 and local food, COVID-19 precautions, CSA delivery days, Farm Pick-up, home delivery

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Get your Harvest Box Share Today!

Your family deserves fresh, local, nutrient-dense fruits and veggies and our Harvest Box Program is the answer! Enjoy 20 weeks of GCF produce delivered to your door or pick up at the farm PLUS unlimited farm visits for your immediate family!

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Get a Fan of the Farm Season Pass and enjoy unlimited farm admission for up to 6 immediate family members. Includes Strawberry, Peach, Apple & Pumpkin Harvest U-Pick Festivals!

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Latest from the Farm Blog

Top 5 Reasons to Buy a GCF Farm CSA Produce Box This Season

Whole-life Nutrition for Life-long Wellness

Your Vote Matters More than Ever!

Our Pledge, Your Pledge

CSA Delivery Days 2020

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18780 Foggy Bottom Road Bluemont, Virginia 20135
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