Why Are We Committed To Environmental Sustainability?

We care about environmental sustainability because everything on our farm is connected.

To properly care for our animals, our community, and ourselves, we must care for our soil and the creatures that live on and in it.

Indigenous cultures have known this for millennia and have been better stewards of this land than we could ever learn how to be in a short lifetime. We are acutely aware that our farm is located on land that was once part of the Monacan Nation. As we strive for connection and sustainability, we endeavor to respect and recognize those who were here before us by aiming to improve the health of the land and our connection to it. (Curious to see on which native land you currently reside? Find out here.) As the land’s stewards for this temporal season, we strive towards sustainability.

Below, you will find a short list of some of our projects. 

  • Trees

    To date, we have planted nearly 50 trees on the property, nearly all of them native (we did plant a few fruit trees). Many of these trees are part of a riparian buffer that the James River Association helped install. Others are groves of dogwoods, black locusts, and redbuds that we have planted in previously cleared areas.

  • Rotational Grazing

    We have divided our largest pasture into three smaller pastures with a common area that provides shelter and water. By rotating our horses through these smaller pastures, we are able to rest the other two pastures, providing improved soil health and better forage diversity. We’ve also noticed a dramatic financial impact: our horses graze grass well into winter thanks to our rotations, thereby saving us significant money through reduced hay costs.

  • Mobile Chicken Coop

    Construction and use of a mobile chicken coop to use the chickens in a rotational pattern behind the horses for natural pest control as they eat fly larvae and scatter the manure piles to avoid grass “burning.”

  • Thermal Waterer

    Installation of a thermal (energy free) four-ball waterer and sacrifice area to keep horses off fragile grass in inclement weather.

  • Solar Panels

    The use of solar panels, rain barrels, and recycling to lessen our overall environmental footprint.

  • Compost Boxes

    O2 Aerated Composting System for manure and the use of the composted product to enhance the health of our pastures and gardens - especially those growing carrots!

  • Native Plants & Wildflowers

    We are constantly planting new wildflower areas and gardens of native plants. Slowly, we are converting unnecessarily cleared pasture or yard area into more diverse habitats for insects and pollinators.

  • Bee Hives

    We have introduced and maintain four bee hives.

Below, please find a list of the organizations from whom we have learned and with whom we have worked:

 The following are organizations/farms that inspire us: