Dear Reader

Why We Grow

You may already know what first got us into growing food.

Our first two children were born with food allergies. Ethan, our second, had eczema so severe we could see it on his face after every meal.

Dave and I started questioning everything. What was in the food we were buying? What were we actually feeding our children? We wanted to know where our food was coming from. And we wanted to be the ones growing it.

We switched to organic.
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At the time, organic food was just making its way into grocery stores, and the price tag was real. But we felt there had to be something we could do as parents. Since the allergies were food-related, perhaps the answer was also found in food.

That's when we decided to stop buying expensive organic and just grow it ourselves.

Reader, do you know how to kill a pumpkin? Give it to the Schauders twenty years ago.

We failed. Spectacularly. The plants died. The harvests were disappointing. We couldn't figure out why things weren't growing despite our best efforts.

And then we stumbled upon permaculture.

We figured: if this design system could green the deserts of Jordan and China, maybe it could turn two well-meaning, wanna-be-growers into someday homesteaders.

Fast Forward 20 years later...

This past month, I brought our heirloom tomatoes to the Lovettsville Cooperative Market and handed them to Tobin, the produce manager, who was waiting for them.

Within days, the basket was nearly empty. Not because we restocked it. Because they sold.

And then something else happened that I want to share with you.

Bethany Farm received its second year Certified Naturally Grown certification.
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CNG is a peer-reviewed certification for small farms, that makes sure we are growing with ecologically sound practices.

What Certified Naturally Grown means in practice:

• No pesticides or synthetic chemicals... ever
• Peer-inspected by farmers and agricultural practitioners
• Publicly accountable to our community

We started growing because we didn't trust what was in our food.
Because we wanted to heal our children.
Because we put in so much effort and got so little back,
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Until we found a system that actually worked.

Twenty years later, a peer inspector walked our land and certified what we've built.
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That, Reader, is why we grow.

Come see us in person.

If you want to see this farm in peron, the beds, the trees and taste the farm-to-table food,
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We would love for you to come walk it with us.

We are part of the Loudoun Fall Farm Tour on October 17 and 18 at Bethany Farm in Leesburg.

Guided walks. Workshops. Plants and produce to take home.

Grow abundantly,
Nicky & Dave

P.S. Can't make it to Virginia? Our Seed Saving webinar on October 20 is the next best thing. Saving seeds is one of the most empowering things a grower can do. → Register here​