Welcome
Quarter Branch Farm grows salad greens and vegetables in Lovettsville, Virginia, just 38 miles from the D.C. beltway in rural Loudoun County. Using solar heated high tunnels for season extension and quick hoops for over-wintering, we grow fresh greens and vegetables year round.
In modern agriculture, soil is basically a medium that holds plants upright. Plants are fed directly with water-soluble fertilizers and are sprayed with harsh chemicals. This is a process which we believe to be detrimental to the soil life, the workers, and the consumers. Here at Quarter Branch Farm, our focus is on supporting and building the soil biology. We believe that plants grown in fertile, living soil are able to acquire the minerals and trace elements they need. Grown in this way, plants have an inherent resistance to disease, pest, and drought; creating a farm that is truly sustainable.
While many farms use popular high-yielding "shipper" varieties, we prefer to carefully select seed varieties known for their outstanding flavor and unique character. We never use genetically modified (GMO) seeds.
We are careful to harvest at the peak of flavor and use proper handling techniques to insure our produce stays fresh. Hygiene and food safety are taken very seriously. We go the extra mile to make sure our produce is clean and attractive. Our aim is to provide exceptional service to each client. We are happy to provide samples so you can assess the quality for yourself. If you are not satisfied with anything, we will gladly refund your money. Delighted clients are vital to our farm’s success! When you buy from Quarter Branch Farm, you can expect friendly service and fresh, clean, deliciously ripe produce every time!
In modern agriculture, soil is basically a medium that holds plants upright. Plants are fed directly with water-soluble fertilizers and are sprayed with harsh chemicals. This is a process which we believe to be detrimental to the soil life, the workers, and the consumers. Here at Quarter Branch Farm, our focus is on supporting and building the soil biology. We believe that plants grown in fertile, living soil are able to acquire the minerals and trace elements they need. Grown in this way, plants have an inherent resistance to disease, pest, and drought; creating a farm that is truly sustainable.
While many farms use popular high-yielding "shipper" varieties, we prefer to carefully select seed varieties known for their outstanding flavor and unique character. We never use genetically modified (GMO) seeds.
We are careful to harvest at the peak of flavor and use proper handling techniques to insure our produce stays fresh. Hygiene and food safety are taken very seriously. We go the extra mile to make sure our produce is clean and attractive. Our aim is to provide exceptional service to each client. We are happy to provide samples so you can assess the quality for yourself. If you are not satisfied with anything, we will gladly refund your money. Delighted clients are vital to our farm’s success! When you buy from Quarter Branch Farm, you can expect friendly service and fresh, clean, deliciously ripe produce every time!
How We Grow Your Food
To legally be able to describe our produce or growing practices as "organic", we would need to be certified by the government. We had considering going that route, just so we could use the "organic" word. It is hard to describe how we farm without saying "organic", since it’s the perfect word to describe how we farm! It would be simple for us to become certified, since our land has never been sprayed with chemicals since we have owned it and we do already follow organic practices. But the certification fees would cost about $1,700 each year, plus there would be lots of paperwork to fill out every day. To pay the expense of the fees and the time spent filling out all the paperwork, we would have to raise our prices, and so far nobody has offered to pay higher prices! Besides, there are flaw's and loopholes in the government’s program that don’t really insure that the food is any better. So instead of saying "organic", we call our produce "naturally grown". It doesn't have quite the ring of "organic", but here at Quarter Branch Farm, it means the same thing.
We do not use synthetic chemical insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or fertilizers. We never use GMO seeds. What we do here at Quarter Branch Farm is focus on building healthy, living soil. Healthy soil grows healthy plants that are resistant to pest and disease pressure. Healthy plants grow healthy food which of course makes people healthier. Here are some examples of the natural methods we use on the farm.
We do not use synthetic chemical insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or fertilizers. We never use GMO seeds. What we do here at Quarter Branch Farm is focus on building healthy, living soil. Healthy soil grows healthy plants that are resistant to pest and disease pressure. Healthy plants grow healthy food which of course makes people healthier. Here are some examples of the natural methods we use on the farm.
- Routinely testing our soil for a broad spectrum of macro and micro nutrients. We do this to be sure that the nutrient levels available to the plants are in balance. Too much of any one nutrient is just as bad as a nutrient deficiency because it can tie up other nutrients and keep them from being available for the plants to use.
- Adding organic naturally mined minerals (such as calcium carbonate, rock phosphate, sulphate of potash, humates, zinc, or boron). We have our soil analyzed periodically to insure it has adequate and balanced levels of nutrients available for the plants.
- Increasing organic matter in the soil by growing cover crops and applying compost to the soil. High organic matter allows the soil to retain moisture and oxygen, allowing the plant roots to breathe. It also helps keeps the soil from compacting and crusting over.
- Using crop rotations to more effectively utilize nutrients and to break weed, pest and disease life cycles.
- Using fertilizers that are OMRI approved for use on Certified Organic farms. Examples include alfalfa meal, crab meal, poultry litter, and fertilizers made from fish and seaweed.
- Using pest exclusion covers on specific crops that tend to have very high pest pressure. Although the covers are expensive and cumbersome to use, we’d rather do this than rely on spraying (even organic sprays).
- Tolerating a lot of pest damage. Just because we see a few bugs doesn't mean we need to kill them. Most of the time, the beneficial insects (predators and parasites) will keep the unwanted insect population in check. We really don’t want all the bad bugs to die, because then the good bugs would get hungry and leave. It’s all about balance.
- But if all else fails, and pests do out of hand, we will occasionally resort to using biological sprays to control pests. These sprays are always OMRI-approved for Certified Organic farms. Some examples of biological sprays are Neem Oil (derived from the neem plant), Pyganic (from chrysanthemum flowers), Bt (a strain of bacteria which affects only caterpillars), homemade garlic spray, or milk.
- Strictly avoiding the use of synthetic chemical insecticides, herbicides (like RoundUp), fungicides, or fertilizers or GMO seeds (like Bt corn or RoundUp Ready). GMO crops are known to cause reproductive damage in animals and nobody knows yet what the effect will be on humans – since GMO food products have not been tested thoroughly. We think farming with synthetic chemicals is harmful to beneficial insects, bees, soil life, the farmers, the people who live near the farm, and, of course, the people who eat the produce.
- Conserving water resources by mulching, aerating the soil, using drip irrigation wherever possible. By using well water for irrigation, we reduce the possibility of food contamination that can occur through use of surface water for irrigation. Using well water for irrigation, which reduces the possibility of food contamination that can occur by using surface water for irrigation.