Driving around Downingtown, with all of its businesses and housing developments, it is difficult to remember that outside the city limits lies sprawling open land, nature trails, streams and creeks. But if you drive less than two miles off of busy Route 322, you will find a tract of land owned by the Brandywine Conservancy. With a mission to protect the natural and cultural resources of the Brandywine watershed, the Conservancy has been instrumental in permanently protecting more than 62,000 acres of land in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Northern Delaware.
Within the 260-acre preserve on Buck Road in Downingtown lies 10 acres of land called Two Gander Farm. The land is devoted to growing vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers. Husband and wife farmers, Deirdre and Trey Flemming, not only work the land, but live on the farm with their children, too.
Deirdre and Trey both studied ecology in school and never thought that they would end up as farmers. For both of them, farming started with summer internships that were intended as temporary explorations away from their careers. Trey hasn’t left farming since. Deirdre took a temporary break for a year and a half to teach environmental education, but found she was always trying to get back to the land. They both thought that small-scale farming was a way to apply the ecological principles they knew to the production of sustainable food for the community.
Two Gander Farm does not use any synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. In fact, they recently became USDA Certified Organic through Pennsylvania Certified Organic. The Flemmings have used their knowledge of ecology in the management and design of the farm. Their goal is to maintain or increase the biodiversity of the land by growing a wide range of crops, through the use of cover crops that build soil and protect against erosion and through maintaining wildlife habitat that surrounds the farm.
Expected crops from Two Gander this summer include beans, beets, peas, cucumbers, summer squash, broccoli, carrots, basil, parsley, cabbage, heirloom and cherry tomatoes, head lettuce, arugula, swiss chard, cantaloupe and watermelon and so much more.
Two Gander Farm proudly supplies fresh produce to an ever-changing list of local restaurants including Victory Brewing Company and Amani’s BYOB. In fact, Deirdre joked that because she is always so busy farming, the only times she gets to really try the fruits of her labor is when she can eat them in a dish prepared at a local restaurant.
Two Gander also houses 50 colonies of honeybees in their apiaries. They offer seasonal and varietal-strained honeys. The honey is never pasteurized or ultra-filtered, creating a unique flavor that is reflective of the local blossoms where the bees visit. The spring wildflower will be harvested early in June and has the light and delicate flavor of black locust, bush honeysuckle and other early blossoms. The summer amber comes from the blossoms of June and early July. Usually this honey is medium or dark amber and tastes of tulip poplar, sumac and star thistle nectar.
So, where can you find fresh produce and honey from Two Gander Farm? There is still time to sign-up for their summer CSA with pick-up locations at the farm (with u-pick options), Bryn Mawr Farmer’s Market, Downingtown Farmer’s Market and Dickinson Square Farmer’s Market in Philadelphia. If you don’t want to commit to a share in the CSA, Two Gander will also have stands set up weekly at the Bryn Mawr, Downingtown and Dickinson Square markets.
Locals take note: The Downingtown Farmer’s Market has relocated this season to the Dane Decor Warehouse parking lot, just behind the store located at 216 E Lancaster Ave. in Downingtown.
Find Two Gander Farm at 110 Buck Rd. in Downingtown; phone: (610) 659-0138.
Downingtown Farmers Market photo: Nina Lea Photography; remaining photos: Two Gander Farm
