The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia

During the height of the season, the staff at Red Hill Farm expands to include an intern and two part-time staff members. Here, Red Hill Farm Head Grower and Horticultural Specialist Amy Johnson takes a break with staff member Emily Dozor, intern Jill Ahern, and staff member Deborah Wentworth.

It’s a warm July afternoon and folks at Red Hill Farm have their arms loaded with fresh-from-the-fields

 produce. Surrounded by acres of beans, cantaloupe, eggplant, lettuce, and peppers, the more experienced show the neophytes how to pick the brightly colored cherry tomatoes without bruising them. In another section of the fields, a pair of home chefs share recipes for carrot soup that will maximize the bounty of this week’s crop. At the overflow table, one woman trades a watermelon for some extra Swiss chard.

“This place is really terrific,” said Mike Berman of Media, Pennsylvania, who is carrying his own box full of veggies. “With a ten-minute ride from the source of your food to home, you can’t beat the freshness. Things here just don’t taste like anything you buy at a supermarket. The carrots are like candy. Everything is out of this world.”

Though not responsible for planting, watering, or weeding, Mike and all the others at Red Hill Farm on this beautiful Friday are shareholders in this oasis amidst the suburban congestion of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Red Hill is one of 2,000 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in the United States. For $600, members purchase a share of the season’s harvest of more than thirty kinds of vegetables, fruits, and herbs. The money from this share—which generally yields enough to feed two to four people—supports the cost of running the farm. From May to November, members visit the farm once a week to pick up their portion of freshly picked organic produce. In addition, they have the opportunity to pick their own items—like sugar snap peas and flowers—from the fields.

“CSAs are a growing movement across the country,” explains Amy Johnson, head grower and horticultural specialist for Red Hill Farm. “They are great for people who are concerned about the environment, want produce grown without chemicals, and believe it is important to know who grows the food they eat.”

Red Hill Farm is like its counterparts across the country in almost every way. It is small enough so that members know one another and it implements techniques for pest control such as crop rotation and row covering in lieu of chemicals. But, while most CSAs are run by private farmers struggling with the financial realities of market gardening and looking for a way to make a living while maintaining good land stewardship practices, Red Hill Farm runs on a combination of membership funds and sponsorship by the Sisters of St. Francis. Although the farm is not designed to turn a profit, it is expected that Red Hill Farm will be entirely self-sustaining within the next few years.

Going Green

The idea of starting a CSA on the land adjoining Our Lady of Angels Convent came about when the sisters—who own some of the last undeveloped land in Delaware County—were approached about selling their property to housing developers. Deciding that kind of stewardship was not in the Franciscan spirit, the sisters looked into options for utilizing the land in a more eco-conscious way. After doing their homework and putting together a group of experts to help with the technical aspects of the project, Red Hill Farm was born.

Hazel Lefleur-Vetter, who holds a Ph.D. in ecopsychology, is both a member of Red Hill Farm and a part of the core organizational group that helps to oversee it. She says that with the government cutting current environmental protection programs and decreasing funding for most environmental initiatives, it is imperative that more people who care deeply about the earth offer their support for projects like this one. “I am so incredibly grateful that the Sisters of St. Francis are backing their visionary environmental initiatives with their financial resources,” said Hazel. “The growth of CSAs is quite exciting when you consider that food production is generally dominated by big businesses that specialize in single crops, are located hundreds of miles from the final destination of the produce, and use machines and chemicals to get the food from seed to harvest.”

In fact, the average food item journeys 1,300 miles before making its way to the table. Food that travels this far is refrigerated, waxed, colored, irradiated, fumigated, and packaged so it can be shipped long distances and still appear fresh. These processes decrease food quality and reduce vitamin content. “The things you buy even at a whole foods market are already four weeks old by the time you see them in the store,” said Amy. “When you get food from Red Hill Farm, you are getting it the day we harvest it—fresh and full of nutrients.”

Harry Holobowitz collects his share of peppers and tomatoes. With different fruits and vegetables coming into season at different times, part of the fun for members is the surprise of finding out what they will be taking home each week.

The Big Picture

For Amy and many members of Red Hill Farm, it is not just concerns about their own health that drives them to support local, organic farming alternatives. The environmental concerns are just as compelling. “It’s the big picture I worry about,” said Amy, “chemicals running off into water and topsoil, the effect on wildlife and the planet as a whole.”

For that reason, Red Hill’s farmers use a strategy of prevention rather than extermination when it comes to pests and disease. They outsmart insects and blight by moving the location of specific crops from year to year. Those bugs that manage to track down their favorites are stymied by special blankets that block their access while allowing sun and water to get through. “When all else fails we handpick insects off the plants,” said Amy.

The fact that the produce at Red Hill Farm is distributed locally also has a positive impact on the environment. Food that stays in the neighborhood where it is grown carries with it a fraction of the environmental cost associated with transport, processing, and dispersal.

Good Food and a Good Time

Of course, being a member of Red Hill Farm is more than just environmentally sound; it’s also fun. With a membership roster of one hundred families in its second year, Red Hill Farm brings people with similar interests together. From swapping methods for preparing and preserving fruits and vegetables to gathering for the annual Harvest Festival, members are happy to find a community of like-minded folks.

“People who love food, people who love good health, people who love the land, people who love their families, people who love people—we’re all being educated by each other and by the wisdom of the land,” said Hazel. “What more can you ask for?”

Having a wonderful excuse for meandering among neat rows of spinach and strawberries on a summer afternoon is another welcome benefit. That, along with the old-fashioned delight of biting into a home-grown tomato still warm from the sun is enough to keep most members of Red Hill Farm coming back for more.

“Running a farm is a lot of work but it is very satisfying work,” said Amy Johnson (right). “Having the support of the sisters and the involvement of the CSA members just makes a great job even better.”

Making It Work

Spring and summer are obviously the busiest times for Amy Johnson and her husband Christopher McNichol—who joined the Red Hill Farm staff this year—but the couple is occupied all year round. During the off-season, Amy and Christopher order seeds, map out the garden, orchestrate the crop rotations, and fix everything from the deer fence to the tractor to the greenhouse. In February, the Red Hill Farm staff begins starting crops from seed (all Red Hill Farms crops are started from seed, on the premises). By March, they are tilling the soil, mixing in compost, and sowing early crops like peas, beets, and turnips. The harvest starts during the second half of May and continues into early November. “It’s a lot of work but it’s good work,” said Amy. “There are many weeks when I put in seventy hours but for me it is a dream job.”

Although Amy and Christopher do the lion’s share of the work throughout the year, the staff expands during the season to include an intern and two laborers. In addition, volunteers help with everything from weeding and harvesting to planning and teaching workshops on topics like drying flowers and canning tomatoes.

Cause for Celebration

Whether it is simply a desire for fresh produce, a belief in the importance of organics for health, or a commitment to walking gently on this earth that motivates them, there is little doubt that the members of Red Hill Farm are doing something that will yield positive returns for generations to come. “CSAs like Red Hill Farm are a cause for celebration,” said Amy. “They are an asset for the land, for the community, and for future generations. I am so happy and proud to be a part of that process.”

Read more about Red Hill farm.

To be placed on the mailing list for Good News, contact us.

HOW YOU CAN HELP...

• Find out whether there is a CSA in your own community. If so, join. Your membership in a community-sponsored farm will benefit the environment, strengthen your neighborhood, and provide you with fresh produce and a unique way to reconnect with the Earth.
• Look for ways to bring organic farming principals into your own backyard. Plant a vegetable garden. Make your own compost. Substitute natural pest control methods for chemical pesticides.
• Set aside time to enjoy and appreciate the outdoors. Take a hike in a nearby park or learn the names of the plants that grow in your area.
• Begin or increase recycling efforts in your home and office. Many items including newspapers, office paper, cardboard, glass, cans, plastic, tires, and batteries can be given new life through this simple practice.
• Contribute to Red Hill Farm. Make tax-deductible contributions online via our secure website.