#PeoplesGivesBack
Julie and John Dougherty, owners of Oxbow Farm LLC in Parkton, Maryland, have been busy farming this year. The winners of the 2021 Redeem Your Dreams Contest used their $1,000 to start planting their crops for a pick-your-own blueberry section on their farm.
Growing with the Community
The Dougherty’s have been at Oxbow Farm for a little over two years and have been able to get their crops up and running successfully. 2022 has been a great farming year and has provided the opportunity to start planting new crops.
While blueberries take approximately 2-3 years to start producing fruit, the groundwork should be started as soon as possible. To keep with Julie’s mission of integral ecological farming, the planting process utilizes natural products. First, they lay compost and sulfur to lower the PH of the soil where the plants will be plotted. Next, they plow up three 10-foot rows and start planting all 72 blueberry pants. Then, to ensure that the plants stay hydrated, an irrigation system was put in place. Julie reports that the bushes are growing great and should be ready to be harvested in 2024.
Blueberry bushes aren’t the only thing that Oxbow Farm started growing. With their mission of being a financially sustainable farm and offering healthy produce to those in need, Julie was able to create a Community Supported Agriculture or CSA. This provides the opportunity for those who cannot afford to pay market price to get a discounted price on produce. Or, those who can afford to spend extra are able to sponsor a share. The CSA runs from June 6th to October 17th and contains a variety of fresh local produce.
In conjunction with the CSA, Oxbow Farm has been able to participate in the Govans Farmers’ Market located at 5104 York Rd, Baltimore MD. They were introduced to the market through the University where John works, as they own the parking lot where it is held. While at the market, they can sell their fresh produce and promote their CSA subscriptions. They are also able to collect food stamps providing fresh produce to those who may not be able to get it otherwise. We are happy to have supported Oxbow Farm LLC. Keep up the great work and we can’t wait to pick some blueberries in 2024!
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