Flying Plow Farm

Flying Plow Farm is a certified organic farm in Rising Sun, MD. Key to our farming is the integration of vegetables, cattle, poultry, draft animals, pigs, and people. Our farm is 56 acres with 12 acres used for bio-extensive vegetable production and the remainder in pasture and hay for our livestock. After renting land for four seasons, we purchased and moved to this farm in the fall of 2013. How and What We Grow Within our 12 acres of vegetable land we are growing six acres of cover crops and six acres of vegetables throughout the season. This means while one field grows our cash crop of vegetables another field is cover cropped and getting prepared for vegetable production in the next season. We intentionally grow a diverse selection of vegetable types and varieties to minimize the risk of crop failure and to give our CSA members and market customers a broad selection. Many of our vegetables are heirloom varieties and nothing grown on our farm is genetically modified. Cover crops play an important roll at Flying Plow as we strongly believe in the use of a full season of cover to replenish the soil's organic matter, carbon content, flora, structure, and tilth after a season of vegetable cultivation. This season of cover crops is also used as an opportunity to apply our compost six to 12 months ahead of vegetable production, allowing us to stay within organic and food safety standards. Additionally, we use our cover crops as forage for our laying hens and broiler chickens. Eggs and meat from poultry grazing on fresh cover crops of grasses and legumes taste better and are more nutritious. Grazing poultry also applies nutrients through the manure directly to an actively growing cover crop when plant uptake is most efficient. We also harvest some of our rye and vetch cover crop to use as mulch on tomatoes, leeks, garlic, and other vegetables, which helps limit irrigation use. Timely cultivation is also used to conserve moisture in the vegetable rows and reduce our reliance on irrigation, promoting good water management. These bio-extensive practices lead to a soil that is either covered or growing cover for a longer period of time than would otherwise be accomplished. In addition to growing vegetables we raise livestock. We feel strongly that animals are an integral part of a well functioning farm. Our draft horses provide live power for field work and tillage, our cattle and chickens help mow our fields, our pigs turn our compost and recycle our excess vegetable scraps, and most importantly all of our livestock are generators of some of our fertility. At anytime during the season there are 100 to 250 laying hens on the farm. Our hens spend their nights in portable coops and roam within a fenced paddock during the day. The coops are moved daily, and the paddocks weekly, over our pastures or cover crops. Our hens are fed certified organic feed from Organic Unlimited. We raise broiler chickens in portable pens that are also moved daily over our pastures or cover crops. On average we raise 1200 broilers a year and focus this production in the spring and fall to take advantage of the cooler temperatures. Our broilers are fed certified organic feed from Organic Unlimited. Our beef herd now numbers 18 and is growing from within instead of purchasing feeder calves. We currently process one or two steers a year and our cattle is 100% grass-fed and grass-finished. How Crops, Meat, and Eggs Are Sold The heart and soul of our farm is our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). CSA members receive a broad spectrum of vegetables, all grown on our farm, from May through November. There are also CSA options to add on an egg or chicken share for the season. Around half our members pick up their shares on the farm. We deliver the remainder to drop points in the community. Several private residences host these drop points along with a wine shop, yoga studio, natural pet store, coffee shop, and flower farm. We attend the Havre de Grace farmers market and the Bel Air farmers market in Maryland, and the Kennett Square farmers market in Pennsylvania. The Kennett Square market runs year-round. We have been successful growing vegetables into the winter. Our winter vegetables are marketed through our online order form on our website and at our winter market in Kennett Square. Online orders of vegetables, chicken, and eggs are delivered to Bel Air and Havre de Grace. We are excited to be supplying our customers and community with access to local, sustainable food year-round.