By Paul Weinstein
Bucks County Foodshed Alliance (BCFA), in collaboration with Middle Bucks Institute of Technology (MBIT), announces the release of two short videos about regenerative farms here in Bucks County. BCFA was founded in 2006 by a grassroots group to connect farmers with consumers. Its mission is to improve consumers’ access to fresh, healthy local food and to build a resilient local food system. In particular, it supports local farms that utilize regenerative farming practices.
Regenerative agriculture is a way of farming that focuses on restoring the soil to its natural ecosystem, which in turn leaves the land in a better place for generations to come. Regenerative growers minimize mechanical soil disturbance, helping to preserve the natural biology of the soil. Some common regenerative practices include reduced or no till, integrated pest management which replaces the need for chemical applications, planting cover crops, increasing crop diversity, composting, and integrating animals with crops. Regenerative farming restores soil biology, which naturally pulls tons of carbon out of the atmosphere, replenishes nutrients and cleans and recharges water supplies.
The two videos feature Tussock Sedge Farm in Perkasie and Plowshare Farms in Tinicum Township. On a sunny day in May 2022, three BCFA board members met with Jim Davey from MBIT and his team of students at the two farms and spent the day filming. The students then did the editing to produce these beautiful videos.
Plowshare Farm Video
Plowshare Farms started nine years ago. Teddy and Faith Moynihan were high school teachers who decided to become farmers. Teddy worked on the farm full-time and Faith kept teaching. Over the last nine years, they’ve raised hundreds of varieties of vegetables, chickens, guinea hens, pigs and sheep. They had a CSA for a few years, and now primarily sell to restaurants. They also host events on the farm. Their farm is not officially certified organic, but their practices go “beyond organic.” They don’t use any herbicides or pesticides, even ones that are allowed under organic certification. They continue to find ways to reduce tillage and they compost, compost, compost! Find out about events at http://plowshare.farm/.
WATCH THE PLOWSHARE FARM VIDEO HERE:
Tussock Sedge Farm
Tussock Sedge Farm is located on land that has been a family farm for more than 250 years. The farm as you see it today began with Henry and Charlotte Rosenberger nearly 30 years ago, who dreamt of creating a sustainable farm that restored and improved the local ecology. In addition to preserving land from future development, planting thousands of trees and shrubs, and creating permanent wetlands for various wildlife, they introduced 100% grass-fed/grass-finished Red Angus cattle, using rotational grazing and homeopathic veterinary care as the basis for how the farm operates. Over time, the farm grew to nearly 1,000 acres. For a regenerative-focused farm in the suburbs of Philadelphia, this is a lot of land saved from development. Henry and Charlotte’s youngest daughter, Tonya, along with her husband, Sean, now manage the overall farm operation. They balance their time between work in the field, animal husbandry, mechanical repairs, order fulfillment, and various sales, administrative, and marketing tasks. You can shop for their nutrient dense foods on their website: tussocksedgefarm.com.
loved this. thank you so much for sharing