Staunton News Leader - 05/05/2016 Page : A01

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MOUNT SIDNEY - Tucked underneath the cov-er of trees is a small farming operation that hasbeen reaching out to the local community.

The mission is to provide fresh produce andfree-range meats to the area.

Andrew and Valerie Crummett started outsmall five years ago trying to raise pigs on thehorse farm owned by Andrew’s mother. ValerieCrummett then worked at Stuart Hall in Stauntonwhile Andrew Crummett worked at his mother’shorse farm.

Cool Breeze Farm is located at Cool Breeze Sta-bles, an equine center Debbie Crummett hasowned and operated for more than 25 years. Theland was first bought by Andrew Crummett’sgrandfather in the 1970s.

Now, it’s the couple’s turn to take a stab at a dif-ferent type of farming Cool Breeze hasn’t seen inthe recent past.

Adding chickens and pigs to a horse farm was a

LOCAL AGRICULTURE

MIKE TRIPP/THE NEWS LEADERCool Breeze Farm owners Andrew Crummett and Valerie McQueen Crummett stand near where their free-range pigs are kept as theytalk about how much they enjoy their life on the farm near Mount Sidney on Tuesday.

Farm storeis as freshas it gets

Cool Breeze owners turn equine centerinto a place to raise, and sell, healthy food

LAURA PETERS LPETERS@NEWSLEADER.COM

See Farm store, Page 8A

“We really want tobe a blend of

education andfamily. We want

people to come here.There’s something sobasic and back to the

farm to see wheretheir food source is.”

VALERIE CRUMMETTCOOL BREEZE FARM CO-OWNER

Staunton News Leader - 05/05/2016 Page : A08

Copyright © 2016 Staunton News Leader 05/05/2016May 5, 2016 8:28 am (GMT +4:00) Powered by TECNAVIA

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Chilly today with periods of rain. Rain at times tonight. A

Marion 52/45/shMartinsburg 58/48/rMartinsville 58/46/tMoorefi eld 56/47/rNewport News 63/53/tNorfolk 62/53/tPetersburg 64/52/tRichmond 60/49/tRoanoke 59/47/shVirginia Beach 63/54/tWashington 58/51/shWinchester 56/48/rWytheville 53/45/sh

City Hi/Lo/W City Hi/Lo/W

©2016

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bit of stretch, at least that’s what DebbieCrummett, Andrew’s mother, firstthought, they said. The land was there todo it though.

“We’re all trying to find these healthyfoods to feed our families,” ValerieCrummett said.

A few chickens have now grown intonearly 80, and they have 18 pigs this sea-son — Hampshire and Duroc — and arelooking to expand to 30 next year.

The farm animals are all free-range.Every four to five days they move thepigs to a different plot. Chickens tend tofollow the pigs, but Andrew has built aportable chicken coop he will be able tomove them farther and more often.

Cool Breeze Farm has a year-roundcommunity-supported agriculture pro-gram, or CSA, and 10 families are in-volved. This CSA is a little different thanthe typical CSA, which offers produceonly in summer. At Cool Breeze, mem-bers who have a share pay monthly andget produce all year.

“As a farmer to have a monthly in-come come in gives us money to continueto grow,” Valerie Crummett said.

With the new farm store the two haveadded, they hope it will bring more peo-ple out to the farm. It’s a self-serve store,where customers pick out what theywant from the fridge or freezer, writetheir own receipt and put their cash orcheck in the box and go. The Crummettsare always around the farm in one way oranother, so if anyone needs help there issomeone just a call away.

The farm offers fresh eggs and frozenmeats — pork and beef. The Crummettswork with another farm, White Barn Co.in New Hope, to get beef. “We farm withother farms,” Andrew Crummett said.

“Trying to do it all alone is really over-whelming,” Valerie Crummett added.“When you do that, you’re kind of shoot-ing yourself in the foot. It’s been reallynice to branch out and share the load.”

They hope in the next year they willhave more land to raise cattle.

The Crummetts have seen this move-ment in the area of people wanting toknow where their food comes from. Thatmade them want to open the store. Theyplan on doing other outreach in the fu-ture, like workshops or classes.

“We really want to be a blend of edu-cation and family,” Valerie Crummettsaid. “We want people to come here.There’s something so basic and back tothe farm to see where their food sourceis.”

The couple also created new top soilby letting the pigs and chickens foragethroughout the farm.

Free-range animals also help rejuve-nate soil that can be used to grow pro-duce. Previously, the farm had seen baderosion and soil problems. The farm sitson a hill so water runoff was an issue. Anew pond serves as the runoff catcher.The new water source is also attractingnew species to the farm, like frogs anddifferent birds and increasing the farm’sbiological diversity. The pond can holdup to 300,000 gallons, and the plan is toreuse the runoff to water plants.

They’re not only doing this for them-selves. You can see their love for the ani-mals, which is why they free-rangethem.

“It’s such a rewarding experience toput them in a new plot,” Valerie Crum-mett said about moving the pigs.“They’re so happy and they get to be apig. It brings us a lot of joy and makes allthe work worth it.”

Allowing the pigs and chicken to for-age the farm’s acreage allows for a di-verse diet.

“The more diverse (landscape) yougive an animal, the quality they produceis amazing,” Valerie Crummett said.

The couple also feel drawn to the land. “It’s been such a draw to the land,”

Valerie Crummett added. “We feel thatwe were put here for the land. We want tobe good stewards of it.”

The store, at 273 Salem Church Roadin Mount Sidney, is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Monday through Saturday. There areplans for a grand opening June 4.

MIKE TRIPP/THE NEWS LEADERA pig forages for food as it is raised free-range in a fenced off section of woods on Cool BreezeFarm near Mount Sidney. There are now 18 pigs living at Cool Breeze.

Farm storeContinued from Page 1A