Orange Circle Farm

          
               Farm to yoUNH takes a field trip to a local farm every semester. This time we visited Orange Circle Farm in Stratham, NH. We were lucky to have the owner Jeff Benton welcome us to his young farm (2013) and show us around. Jeff has a diverse farm consisting of over 150 varieties of annuals, and around 100 Golden Buff laying hens. Although Orange Circle is two years young, there is quite a bit going on for a one-man operation. Jeff’s care for life is apparent although everything he grows (including eggs) is certified organic; he even takes the extra step to not spray anything at all. In Jeff’s words  “The only thing I spray on my fields is rain water”. 

            That’s right rainwater. He created a catchment system on one of the barn roofs to collect rainwater. He stores 1,000 gallons of water per inch of rainfall. This coming summer he plans to install a drip irrigation system that will irrigate his crops from the water catchment. He has a pond on the property from which he could pump water but Jeff values the surrounding wildlife and he feels that putting a pump down there would disrupt the natural state the of the pond. 

           Further solidifying his holistic approach Jeff feels that no food should go wasted! Last year was his first year in production and although some things were a bit more abundant than he expected he packed more into the CSA shares. He knows that a lot of one item can be overwhelming to a shareholder so he sends out weekly newsletters by email with suggestions on how to cook and or preserve that week’s harvest. Jeff is upping his CSA membership this year from 40 to 65 shares and they are being scooped up fast! He is doing this with the help of a part-time employee to help him harvest and pack the boxes. It is a 22-week share with produce and eggs. It is the only way Jeff sells his food so his main focus is the shareholders! No extra produce from the week will go to farmers markets since all the harvest goes to the CSA members!

Thank you, Jeff for having us out!

Consider Orange Circle for your summer CSA share!

 Orange Circle Farm