Mission StatementThe Victory Garden Farm raises fresh, healthy high quality food with a specific focus on heirloom produce and heritage animal breeds. We strive to leave the land better than how we found it by increasing biodiversity and building strong sustainable systems. We supply our local community, friends and family with the healthiest best tasting food possible. Our farm works to educate on the benefits of a local healthy sustainable food system, while bringing friends, family and neighbors together to form a strong healthy community.
|
|
Farming PracticesBiological diversity and the preservation of our country’s agricultural heritage is very important to us. This is why we choose to focus on heritage and heirloom varieties. This is not to say we will exclusively grow breeds of antiquity, it simply means that our primary focus will be on these particular breed variations. We grow our food for health, taste and flavor, not for convenience.
The VGF is not currently certified organic, however, we do practice sustainable and organic farming methods. We are working towards organic certification. All of the seeds and animal feed we purchase are certified organic. Only natural and organic inputs are used for fertilization and the care of our livestock. We invite you to grow with us and become part of a sustainable, diverse, local food community. |
|
Heirloom & Heritage
|
You may have seen or heard the terms, “Heirloom” and “Heritage” at your local farmer’s market, or favorite farm to table restaurant, but do you really know what those terms mean? Recently these words have begun to be used more frequently due to a renewed interest in sustainable farming practices and for preservation and biological diversity of agriculture.
Throughout human history, there has been agriculture. Animals were domesticated, and bred for specific qualities such as temperament, hardiness, and flavor. Thousands of different variations of livestock were created and bred for specific character traits. This same selective breeding process was also applied to various crops to accommodate the needs of the farmers growing them. The variations would be developed and changed based upon what the farmer was trying to achieve. Over time, culture changed and developed. More people moved to cities, and the farming way of life became less attractive to the younger generations. Family farms became less prominent and a thing of the past, while large industrialized farms became the norm. In an effort to keep things efficient, factory farms created animal and crop varieties that were bred for ultra high yields and to withstand long distance shipping. The diversity of plants and animals being raised, dwindled from thousands of varieties to just a few of each. Despite having the best of intentions, the industrialized farming system created a food system that has lost its flavor and biological diversity. In the last century, nearly 75% of the genetic diversity in our food supply has been lost. Within the past 15 years, 190 breeds of farm animals have gone extinct worldwide, and there are currently 1,500 others at risk of becoming extinct. Genetic diversity is imperative in keeping our food supply safe and healthy. Variety in the food supply creates security. If we are only raising a few variations of livestock and crops, we make ourselves susceptible to failure due to famine and disease. Therefore, by raising heritage livestock breeds, and heirloom crop varieties, sustainable farmers not only maintain variety within animal and plant genetics, they also help to preserve valuable traits within the species. To learn more about heirloom crops and heritage breeds, please click here. |
|
