“We move our chickens every day, and then every year they’re rotated to another field to work their magic,” Albert says. The chickens serve an important purpose as they fertilize the soil with their urine and dung and peck away pests. Albert adds that the farm’s pigs are rotated every 30 days: “Behind them is left vacant for 30 days, and in front of them is left vacant for 30 days to give all the land time to recover.” “I like to tell our guests that everything here is working,” she adds. “So we’re feeding the chickens and the pigs, and the chickens and pigs, they’re going to turn around and feed us. This is the beauty and the simplicity of the relationship.” Even farm visitors are part of the cyclical system it depends on. The farm has six cottages available to book as vacation rentals, and hosts a farm-to-table dinner series with menus made up of produce grown on the property. There’s also a farm shop in Beach Plum’s barn, where visitors can pick up fresh produce, and Albert herself gives tours to educate the public about the farm. “Every time someone shops here or stays in a cottage, or comes to a dinner, those resources go to support these agricultural efforts,” she says.
BEACH PLUM FARM CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY
The local community helps too, by providing a steady supply of compost; the farm partners with the municipality of Cape May which Albert says brings “truckloads and truckloads of free compost” from their neighbors. Meanwhile, the farm’s kitchen often feeds food waste to the chickens and pigs to reduce their consumption needs. Albert adds that the farm team composts a lot of the manure from its hens once it’s aged and applies it to the soil with a manure spreader — another example of how the farm operates within a closed-loop system. The farm’s regenerative practices have helped repair the health of the soil so far. “We can see the evidence of that in the plants and the vivaciousness of the plants,” Albert says, adding that the tomatoes and the farm’s other “yields have certainly improved.” It’s important to the farm to provide high- quality produce to its guests, but also to the local restaurants it supplies. “You can taste the difference between something that was just picked and something that has kinda sat on the shelf at a grocery store for a long time,” Albert says. She adds that often she hears from guests that “once you have a fresh egg, it’s hard to go back.” While Albert acknowledges that buying organic may not always be affordable for every meal, she encourages people to consider it for special occasions. She adds that it “does make a difference on your table and does say something about being part of your local community and supporting your local farmers.”
photographs by Carly Piersol
HRISTINA WAS living in Philadelphia and pregnant with her second child when she watched “Food Inc.” ALBERT
ABOVE: CHRISTINA ALBERT WITH ONE OF THE PRIZED CHICKENS THEY “ROTATE EVERY DAY TO WORK THEIR MAGIC.” RIGHT: BEACH PLUM’S BARN WHICH HOUSES A FARM SHOP. BELOW: A THRIVING FARM THANKS TO REGENERATIVE PRACTICES.
“It changed my life,” she tells The Rooted Journal of the 2008 documentary, which gave a scathing look at America’s corporate food industry. “I had no idea about the food system and what was going on.” Wanting to learn more about where the food she and her family were eating came from, Albert took a hands- on approach by turning a vacant lot in her South Philly neighborhood into a community garden. Then, when her husband’s work took them to Pittsburgh, Albert got a job with Whole Foods and contributed to a community garden sponsored by the grocery store, teaching kids how to garden. “I was like, I really need to get paid to do this,” she says. Later, after over a decade spent working in insurance, Albert wound up doing just that, working on an organic farm in New Jersey. When it went out of business, she says, “I just drove down the parkway and knocked on every farm’s door.” Then, she got to Beach Plum Farm. “I had a job 15 minutes later,” Albert says. Now director of agriculture at Beach Plum Farm, Albert oversees the daily farming operations at the sprawling Cape May property, which include regenerative agricultural practices such as composting and integrating animals to improve soil health.
“I LIKE TO TELL OUR GUESTS THAT EVERYTHING HERE IS WORKING. SO WE’RE FEEDING THE CHICKENS AND THE PIGS, AND THE CHICKENS AND PIGS, THEY’RE GOING TO TURN AROUND AND FEED US. THIS IS THE BEAUTY AND THE SIMPLICITY OF THE RELATIONSHIP.”
Visit @BEACHPLUMFARM on Instagram.
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ISSUE 01
FROM FARM TO CHEF’S TABLE
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