Farm Tour at Roots to River Farm

By Jade Greene

Community, good food, good vibes, and healthy soil grow abundantly at Roots to River Farm in Solebury. This once conventionally farmed land has been transformed into a lush and productive place under the care of Farmer Malaika Spencer. Join our final farm tour re-cap!

On a cool summer evening in August, over 90 guests descended on Roots to River Farm in New Hope for BCFA’s final farm tour of 2025. From children to retirees, the group was eager to learn about the growing practices and unique products of this organic, regenerative farm. 

Back in 2013, Farmer Malaika began leasing the land from friends, who had just acquired the property. The land was previously a conventional corn and soy operation, which had been fallow for 7 years. The soil was tired and depleted. Malaika got to work regenerating the soil, her goal was to treat the land with respect, to restore the soil, habitat, and create food for the community.

Through reduced-tillage, intensive cover cropping, integrated pest management, occultation, contour tillage and organic compost applications, the soil gained organic matter and nutrients, allowing it to produce beautiful, high quality, certified organic vegetables for the community. Each year, the farm grows over 70 different crops and a myriad of varieties for CSA members and wholesale clients. 

The farm employs 4 full time staff, 2 part time staff, and 2 H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers from Mexico. All those hardworking people feed over 175 CSA members and the wholesale business which includes local restaurants, businesses, and large clients who service residents in Philly and NYC.

This year, the business has grown to incorporate Malaika’s husband, Chef Ian Knauer. They recently opened the Amara Kitchen which is a beautiful space on the farm where Ian hosts cooking classes, farm to table dinners, and makes their Spanish-style vermouth called Amara. The unique and delicious aperitivo is made from fennel, radicchio, and herbs grown on the farm. The farm’s produce is the highlight of all the classes and dinners. This new space includes a commercial kitchen, allowing them to produce value-added products, diversifying the offerings the farm can produce.

Some stops on the tour included:

• Cold storage units – the farm uses converted shipping containers to store harvested crops
• Washing stations – made possible by FSA loan
• Greenhouse – where they start all the plants from seed and is the home of their spring transplant sale, currently being used to cure onions
• Caterpillar tunnels – helps protect plants from the elements and pest control (one tunnel was partially funded by our small farm grant!)
• Swales and contours – rain moves quickly and takes soil which was a major issue on the farm. Malaika installed swales and built beds on contours to slowly usher water to the creek

The final stop of the tour was the Amara Kitchen. Attendees were whisked off to the new space via tractor wagon to enjoy good vibes, a potluck, brick fire pizza, and samples of Amara. It was a wonderful community event for all!