Our Pledge to You~Updated 8/25/2020
- 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.
- When social distancing is not an option and inside our buildings, our team will wear a face covering.
- All Farmhands are symptom and temperature checked before each shift.
- Frequently touched surfaces are sanitized regularly during operation.
- We will support social distancing by offering walking rather than wagon rides to pick-your-own for blackberries in July.
- We will provide hand washing/sanitizing options before entering the field for our farmhands and PYO guests.
- We will provide new containers for pick-your-own to ensure a single use for safety.
- Social Distancing is required. We ask groups to remain at least 6ft apart when picking and playing at the farm.
- 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 Us
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- You agree to not sample any fruit in the field to comply with the guidelines from the Virginia Department of Agriculture.
CSA 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.
In the last post, we talked about switching to no-till in order to preserve the soil’s micro-biome, which is crucial for bringing crops to their full nutritional capacity. This post focuses on another reason not to till: weeds.
Regenerative agriculture is a way of farming that fosters the health of our ecosystem in this moment, while also building toward a healthy future. This approach has many components, one of which we instituted last year: no-till planting. That means that instead of preparing the fields for seed by overturning the soil from a depth of six to eight inches below the surface, we’re leaving the soil intact and transplanting seedlings from the greenhouse directly into undisturbed topsoil.
This change is a big deal. It means far less wasted food, both for you and for us. It means you can eliminate unwanted items from your box, and add extras if you like. It means we can add some unusual crops to our growing plan, knowing that people who want them will get them. It means you have an easy way to buy surplus items in bulk, and we have an easy way to sell surplus items. 
