Grab Quality Produce at Chesley Vegetable Farm

If you’ve ever purchased produce at a Wegman’s in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, then you may already (unknowingly) be a fan of Chesley Vegetable Farm’s products. Owned by Matt and Mary Harsh, Chesley Vegetable Farm sells their products wholesale to Wegman’s in Fairfax, Dulles, and two others in Maryland. They also sell their products at five different markets, including the at .

Based in Smithsburg, MD, Chesley Vegetable Farm has been at the Annandale Farmers Market for about five years. “My wife Mary is from Annandale, and was in ’s class of 1993. We started going to Fairfax County Markets right after we got married because we wanted to come here to see her family. We started out in Reston, and eventually made our way here,” said Matt Harsh.

The farm grows 60 acres of apples, 20 acres of peaches, and 30 acres of mixed produce. Harsh said he feels the location and soil of the farm makes their products stand out. “Our corner of Washington County was known for good peaches at the turn of the century. Our soil grows good products. I’ve had several customers tell me that we grow better tomatoes than others they’ve had,” Harsh said. Chesley Vegetable Farm employs about 20 seasonal workers and has five year-round employees.

The inspiration behind the farm’s name, Chesley Vegetable Farm (not to be confused with Chelsey), is tied to the family. “Chesley is my wife’s middle name and my daughter’s name. Someone asked what our name was before we’d had one, and Chesley was the first thing I thought of. It stuck,” Harsh explained. “Chesley actually means ‘a beautiful place to camp.’ I wouldn’t say that our land is a great place to camp, but it’s definitely a nice place to farm.” The land has been in Harsh’s family for four generations. His family has been farming it for three generations.

“Chesley always has such beautiful produce, it makes me want to buy everything. They’re lovely people, too,” said regular customer Catherine Pino. Larry Dye, another regular, agreed about the quality of the produce. “Everything I get is good. The owners are friendly and always have a smile. If people would just come and try it for themselves, they’d become a regular like me,” said Dye.

While being a wholesale vendor has its benefits, Harsh said he enjoys being at the market. “I love interacting with customers. Selling at the market is a lot different than wholesale. Wholesale is great to keep volume up, but we want to do more markets,” Harsh said.

You can find Chesley Vegetable Farm at Annandale Farmers Market on Thursday mornings, on Friday afternoons, and on Saturday mornings. If you have any questions about their products, you can email the Harshes at chesveg@gmail.com.