Galloway Farmer Bringing His Business Closer to Home

A resident of Galloway Township since 1989, Francis Leader has steadily cut some of the mileage off his trip to work.

At one time, Leader said he lodged 600 miles over a six-day work-week driving from Rio Grande to Red Bank, and everywhere in between.

Currently, the organic farmer runs a business distributing organic vegetables to about 100 subscribers in Moorestown, and he has cut his mileage down to about 100 miles a week.

And now he’s getting set up closer to home.

“I’m trying to shift more to Galloway,” said Leader, who runs Growing Home on a piece of farmland on Moss Mill Road.

He said that for local businesses, it’s all about being more local, as well. This includes on Jimmie Leeds Road, across from Celina’s recently began procuring organic produce from Leader.

“It’s about freshness,” Leader said. “They never had lettuce that was picked an hour before. No big companies can compete with me when it comes to freshness.”

Leader’s customers in Moorestown might agree. Leader said he has seen the same customers come back year after year. He’s been selling organic vegetables for four years.

“It feels good to see the same people come back,” the 60-year-old Leader said.

Celina’s is the only business Leader is working with at the moment. In Moorestown, he sells subscriptions to customers for 17 weeks at a time in what is known as “community supported agriculture.”

“I used to have a farm stand, but that didn’t work out,” Leader said. “This way, people buy a subscription, and that gets them 17 weeks of vegetables.”

Leader assembles baskets of vegetables on a weekly basis, and which vegetables make it into the basket is determined by availability. The first week’s basket will include romaine lettuce, red Russian kale, potatoes, onions and turnips.

Baskets in Galloway Township will be available for pick up at 512 West Pestalozzi Street every Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. from June 24-Oct. 14. A subscription is $245, and may be purchased at growinghomecoop.com.

In Moorestown, baskets may be picked up every Tuesday from June 28-Oct. 18 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Burlington County Agricultural Center at 500 Centerton Rd. Subscriptions are $240, and are also available at the website.

To this point, Leader has 20 subscriptions in Galloway Township. It’s his first year selling subscriptions in his hometown. His business took off from the start in Moorestown, and that might not prove to be the case in Galloway.

“Moorestown is huge. There are a lot of organic food stores out there,” Leader said. “It’s different than this area. It’s much more rural here. People have 10-acre lots in Galloway; no one has a 10-acre lot in Moorestown.”

Leader was born in West Chester, PA, and initially earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Maine.

He would move to Galloway in 1989. In 2000, he would return to school, this time earning a bachelor’s degree in education via summer courses from the in 2006.

Shortly thereafter, he took over Home Growing from the company’s previous owner. Organic farming may not have been his initial career choice, but it’s something he’s dedicated to and passionate about.

“The human being has two special gifts, and that’s smell and taste for analyzing food,” Leader said. “It’s all a matter of taste. I put organic milk next to non-organic milk and have people try both without telling them which is which. They say the organic milk tastes much better. I have children that will not eat a conventional potato, but they’ll eat a potato I grow.”

Leader is currently in the process of growing potatoes and all the other food he’ll be providing to Galloway residents beginning toward the end of the month.

That’s when Leader will truly be closer to home.