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Farm Happenings at Broadfork Farm
Farm Happenings for July 3, 2024
It rained! We are grateful. Granted, the storm also knocked a tree onto the power line on our road and so we have been without power since Sunday afternoon. That's tricky for the two houses and a barn full of business operations on this farm, AND ALSO: no rain fell inside any of our hoophouses/gree1 read more »
Bread Shares for July 3, 2024
This week's seasonal loaf is our Roasted Pepper & Onion Loaf.
This email is just for Bread Share members so that you can select your loaf variety through this software. You'll get an email like this each week that you have a Bread Share scheduled. Log in here and see your loaf options for1 read more »
Farm Happenings for June 29, 2024
Customization ends at 5:0am on Friday this week. Our day has to get started earlier than usual!
We keep notes about the weather. This may not surprise you. It's hot. And dry. Irrigation is a big demand right now, and we're grateful that water flows to us, though we have very few gallons per m1 read more »
Bread Shares for June 29, 2024
Customization ends at 5am on Friday this week. Our day has to get started earlier than usual!
This week's seasonal loaf is our Sunny Greens loaf. This Broadfork original has our Kale and Chard leaves diced and mixed into the dough, plus sunflower seeds. The greens give an extra tanginess and1 read more »
Farm Happenings for June 26, 2024
It is so hot. And dry. It sprinkled some rain here last night but just a sprinkle. Farming gets tougher here in those conditions because we need to exert more attention and energy to keep plants watered and alive. Irrigating is complicated here: neither of our two wells hit enough gpm/water pressur1 read more »
Bread Shares for June 26, 2024
This week's seasonal loaf is our Sunny Greens loaf. This Broadfork original has our Kale and Chard leaves diced and mixed into the dough, plus sunflower seeds. The greens give an extra tanginess and moisture while the sunflower seeds lend an enjoyable nuttiness. Select this loaf for everyday sandwi1 read more »
Farm Happenings for June 22, 2024
We're headed into a hot and dry spell. Farming gets tougher here in those conditions because we need to exert more attention and energy to keep plants watered and alive. Irrigating is complicated here: neither of our two wells hit enough gpm/water pressure to make them able to irrigate large areas1 read more »
Bread Shares for June 22, 2024
This week's seasonal loaf is our Sunny Greens loaf. This Broadfork original has our Kale and Chard leaves diced and mixed into the dough, plus sunflower seeds. The greens give an extra tanginess and moisture while the sunflower seeds lend an enjoyable nuttiness. Select this loaf for everyday sandwi1 read more »
Farm Happenings for June 19, 2024
We're headed into a hot and dry spell. Farming gets tougher here in those conditions because we need to exert more attention and energy to keep plants watered and alive. Irrigating is complicated here: neither of our two wells hit enough gpm/water pressure to make them able to irrigate large areas1 read more »
About the farm
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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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.