Seven Oaks Farm

Delicious pears growing at Seven Oaks.

Our Mission & Philosophy

Welcome to Seven Oaks Farm! Come visit us this season at our on site Farmer’s Market! We are located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Waynesboro, Virginia.

Our mission is to provide our community with quality fruit and vegetables at affordable prices. We are dedicated to using sustainable growing practices and are committed to being “better than organic”.

What does all that mean? “Organic” does not always mean safe. Think about it, rattlesnake venom and poison ivy are both completely “organic”, but are they safe? Now I’m not saying either of these things are put into Organic pesticide, but what I am saying is that just because something is labeled organic, it can not be assumed it is safe. I believe that the use of organic or non-organic pesticides just ends up being a waste of money and leads into a cycle of buying and using ever more expensive and toxic products, expecting something will eventually work.

The truth of the matter is that no matter what you do, there will always be some pest damage to your crop. Here at Seven Oaks, we feed any damaged veggies to our chickens… and hey, if there is a worm in it, that’s a bonus to them! That’s part of “sustainable” gardening. We also strive to have as many native plants and fruit trees as possible! We use plantings that benefit one another and cycle our gardens which is just part of our strategy to enrich instead of rob the soil.

Sustainable gardening in a nutshell means having less of an impact on the environment, (and for us, not using pesticides) and having a cycle that feeds and continues a complete circle of growing. Here at Seven Oaks, a simplified example of this would be our chickens get fed veggies that have pest damage. The chickens eat buggy pests in and around the gardens. The chickens provide fertilizer for the compost with their droppings. The compost protects and feeds the gardens and the gardens produce food for us (and the chickens). The chickens provide fresh eggs too, which provide us with wonderful food, but we don’t use the shells, so we crush them and feed them back to the chickens (chickens need grit in their diet), completing a simple cycle of sustainability!

I do not use genetically engineered seed. I used to use hybrid seed with the thought that hybrids can happen in nature when two plants “get together”. Hybrids can sometimes produce some great results, BUT living and learning has taught me that hybrids can also sometimes produce some unwanted results as well. I have found that heirloom seed is often more naturally disease and/or pest resistant. I think a lot of hybrid seed is geared more towards the gardener that is going to use chemical pesticides and fertilizers and they do get great results (at least to the eyes!). I also wanted to move towards using all open pollinated seed so that I can save my own seed, (definitely more sustainable!!!) and improve my own varieties using the strongest/best plants! I also buy local when possible! I have bought most (if not all) of our fruit trees and shrubs from Edible Landscaping in Afton, Va. (I love that place!!!)