Bedminster Local Brings Organic Farming to Town

Bedminster, NJ – It can’t get any fresher than this.

Bedminster fashion retailer turned farmer, Taylor James, is the co-founder and manager at a new CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in town called Flipside Farm.

“Basically I didn’t believe in what I was doing,” James said of his fashion career. “I began training for a lot of athletic events and began taking a better look at what I was eating.”

James eventually became more involved in another CSA and started buying raw goat milk.

It all grew from there.

He started raising livestock in Connecticut last year with beef cattle, layer hens, pigs and lambs.

Then he started working at Fernbrook Farm in Chesterfield, New Jersey with his sister to learn how to grow vegetables. He stayed there for three growing seasons where he helped introduce a vegetable CSA to the community.

With enough sweat and hard work, James decided it was time to start his own CSA. And what better place than in his hometown of Bedminster?

“Bedminster is close in proximity to New York City,” James said. “And I have a lot of connections there where I will deliver from the CSA to cross fit gyms. It will be farm to gym.”

Flipside Farm follows organic, chemical-free methods of agriculture, but goes beyond traditional organic standards in an effort to sustain biologically active and healthy soil.

He purchased the 93-acre property, where 35 acres are tillable at this moment. He began growing this past weekend and is offering shares for locals to join in on the effort.

Each week, members will receive approximately 1/2 bushel of produce, that’s enough to feed two to four people for a week.

Additionally, members can participate in U-Pick, which gives them a chance to go into the fields and pick more food, free of cost.

U-Pick items include beans, snap peas, herbs and cherry tomatoes.

The produce will vary by season and there will be new crop varieties nearly every week. The types of fruits and vegetables one can expect include items such as lettuce, spinach, bok choy, radishes, carrots, beets, zucchini, scallions, snow peas, dill, plum & slicing tomatoes, spaghetti squash, green bell peppers, tomatillos, hot peppers, onion, okra, eggplant, cantaloupe, basil, potatoes, broccoli, kale, Swiss chard, potatoes, broccoli, rutabaga, butternut squash and sweet potatoes.

The season will open in June and run through October. The cost is $715 for the 22-week season.

For more information or to sign-up at http://flipsidefarm.com/bedminster/.

(Photos provided: Taylor James)