Brushy Creek Farms
A nearly 40-year family farm growing the kind of tomatoes, melons, greens, and real-deal seasonal produce that make you remember why local food matters.
Origin Story & Identity
Our family started farming almost 40 years ago. In the early years the farm changed quite frequently and at times was only producing seasonally. In the last few years, more family members have decided to join working on the farm. Since then, the farm has expanded into high-tunnel production and other methods to increase production and expand the growing season to near year-round.
What do you grow/produce?
Cool Season Crops: Salad Mixes (Spring Mix, Lettuce Mix, Kale-salad mix, Spicy Mix), Spinach, Arugula, Swiss Chard, Collards, Kale, Bok Choy, Head Lettuce, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Turnips, Beets, Radishes, occasionally other greens and herbs
Warm Season:
Main crops: Tomatoes, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Cucumbers, Yellow Squash, Zucchini (Grey and Green), Bell Peppers, Eggplant, Chiles, Potatoes, Onions
Secondary Crops: Okra, Beans, Peas, Winter Squash, Pumpkins, Other Hot Peppers
What are you most proud of producing?
Tomatoes, Watermelons, Cantaloupe
Philosophy & Practices
Our farm is a family farm that we hope to keep productive long-term. This means that we try to do what is healthy for the land and the people working on it. This translates to producing food that is better and healthier for our customers. We describe our growing practices as sustainable, as our main goal is to continue improving the land while simultaneously being able to produce more food. These practices are in line with organic practices, we just do not have any organic certifications. We only use organic pesticides and fungicides, and we try to avoid using even those. We rely heavily on cover crops in the field to increase organic matter and nutrients in the soil. Similarly, we use composts and mulches in the high tunnels where the work is more intensive. We are currently experimenting with implementing organic fertigation techniques to provide more nutrients and microbes directly to the plants through their various stages of growth.
What’s something about your practices that most people don’t know — but should?
We use cover crops in all areas of the farm, and different cover crops proceed different crops. We also rest 1/4th of the land each year and only grow cover crops that will be left to increase organic matter.
What’s the biggest challenge of growing food the way you do?
We are constantly on a learning curve to try and implement many of the practices used in a small market garden to a slightly larger system. It's difficult to have enough consistent labor to do this.
Daily Life & Personal Connection to the Work
What’s your favorite part of the work you do every day?
Harvesting first thing each morning.
What’s your favorite way to enjoy something you grow/raise?
Fresh Fruits in the summer and fresh salads in the spring. We’re currently working on a farm cookbook that is a compilation of recipes from us and our CSA customers.
What are you excited to grow, offer, or dream up for the future of your farm?
We have recently purchased more land that is near the current farm. We are excited to start farming it, and plan to introduce more livestock into our farm. This may eventually result in pasture raised meat and eggs, but foremost the addition of animals will help with our methods of soil improvement.
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