Back to farm profile
Farm Happenings at Broadfork Farm
Farm Happenings for March 18, 2021
Spring really feels like it's here now! Our new, inexperienced crew has arrived and started this week (see all of us, above!). We run an intensive educational program here on our farm, teaching new folks the science and tasks of our style of farming. It has no begun! Combined with our Crew Leaders,1 read more »
Farm Happenings for March 11, 2021
It's March 9th and we are in the driest spell since last October! What a wet and full-of-rot Winter it's been. (All that moisture killed thousands of Salad and Lettuce plants...) Farmers have to be optimists, and so we're heading on into the next season with hope for a better rot-to-not ratio. :)&n1 read more »
Farm Happenings for March 4, 2021
It's wet and soggy and downright depressing in our fields right now, but the greenhouse is the center of action and optimism! Plus - the extended forecast for the next couple of weeks is DRY and WARM. We have a new spring in our step today because of this. Bring it on, we say! (And then, please, ma1 read more »
Seeding & Drying Out!
It's now full-on seeding time here, and it's a time of dreaming of drying out! That will likely remain a dream for a while based on the abundance of rain still in the forecast. Please cross your fingers with us as spring approaches. A super-saturated farm in the early spring is a major cause of del1 read more »
Farm Happenings for February 18, 2021
Today's photo is courtesy of the year 2011 and our 10th Farm Birthday! Ten years ago yesterday our farm business became legal, while Dan was building our first hoophouse, pictured above (which no longer exists...we re-worked our farm layout a few years later). We had a 3 year old child and a 1 year1 read more »
Farm Happenings for February 11, 2021
We were honored to take part in the Virginia Regenerative Agriculture Forum last week. If you missed it, we encourage you to watch the two films on which it was based: Kiss the Ground and Living Soil. The films explain the role agriculture plays in climate change and how regenerative1 read more »
Regenerative Ag Forum this week! plus Farm Share details here -
Admittedly, vegetable farming in the snow isn't the most fun ever, but that's okay. It doesn't happen very often here in Virginia, and everything we are harvesting this week is in our hoophouses. This does put a damper on the field work we'd like to get done, and the decreased sunlight slows down p1 read more »
Farm Happenings for January 28, 2021
It got down to 19 degrees here at the farm two days ago! We keep our walk-in cooler at 37 degrees, year round. In the summer, we have to make clear to our children that no - you may not go in the walk-in cooler to cool down your body. It's only for the vegetables! However, the crates of vegetables1 read more »
Farm Happenings for January 21, 2021
Winter Farm Share, second half of January edition: We wash the field dirt off of Salad Mix during the warmest possible time during these winter weeks, but it's not usually "warm" this time of year!
Vegetable variety is a bit less for the next little while. There's still plenty of Salad1 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.
Go to farm profile
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.