Our Mission Statement

STEWARDSHIP

We believe in the importance of being good stewards of our environment and good citizens of our community. We strive to work in harmony with nature to produce good tasting foods (using no pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers) to support the health of our neighbors and our local economy.

PARTNERSHIP

Through Community Supported Agriculture we seek to build enduring partnerships with share holders. We support our community's need to access fresh food and local products and provide an alternative to long distance food distribution.

EDUCATION

We seek to maintain an inquisitive nature and work diligently to increase our knowledge with respect to our farm, the products we raise and the methods we use. It is important to us that we share our learning with others, in the hope that more persons will support sustainable methods in all that they do.

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What we do

We are located near Tripoli, Iowa and have been in operation since the summer of 2004. We are a family run farm business and we grow vegetables and herbs. We also raise turkeys and chickens. Produce is distributed locally (within 50 miles of our farm) through our CSA subscription program and bulk sales to local stores and institutions. We also sell plant starts in the spring and sell at the Waverly Farmers' Market on Saturdays when we have excess produce.

The Genuine Faux Farm is active in educating others about local and sustainable products. Both Tammy and Rob are willing to speak to interested groups on a number of topics. We also maintain a research agenda, attend appropriate conferences and work to share knowledge through this website and other sources. Visit our resource pages to learn more.

If you would like to learn more, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

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What we grow

Plants

As a rule, we try to select open-pollinated varieties over hybrid varieties. Often, our vegetables are heirloom varieties maintained by Seed Savers. When feasible, the seed we purchase is certified organic. We start most vegetable plants on the farm, but we have been known to purchase onions and leek starts.

Vegetables

We grow a wide range of vegetables from asparagus to zucchini. In nearly every instance, we grow more than one variety of each type of vegetable. For example, we grew 31 different tomato varieties in 2008. Perennial vegetable crops are currently limited to asparagus, rhubarb and winter onion.

Herbs

The farm also has a few established perennial herbs and we are looking to expand that area of our gardens. We use many annual herbs as companion plants for our vegetable crops, and thus have basil, cilantro and borage (to name a few) available.

Fruits

Most of the fruit producing plants on the farm are not yet mature. However, we do have apple, plum and peach trees. There are mulberry trees, wild plums, Nanking cherries, blueberries and other fruit bearing plants.

Iris

One of our favorite flowers is the German Bearded Iris. We maintain a wide range of varieties on the farm for our personal pleasure. Unfortunately, this area of interest is often neglected out of necessity.

Poultry

The farm maintains a small flock of egg-laying hens all year. We also raise two batches of 100 to 150 meat chickens each summer and one group of 40 to 50 bronze turkeys. Starting in 2009, we have included a flock of 25 Muscovey ducks and are likely to do two flocks of these per year. We allow our birds to run in the pasture during the day and close the door on their respective coops at night to protect them from predators (day range system). They are given feed made from certified organic sources to supplement their diet of crickets, dandelions and whatever else that seems tasty to them in the field.

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How we grow

Sustainable

The Genuine Faux Farm is interested in raising food in a sustainable fashion. We work to solidify all three legs of the sustainable agriculture 'stool:' community, environment and profitability. Our methods are an open book to our customers. We feel that any purchaser of our produce has the right to know how their food was grown.

Organic

We believe that organic growing methods hold many of the keys to maintaining environmental sustainability. We do not use sprays or synthetic fertilizers in our fields. The Genuine Faux Farm has secured organic certification through IDALS (Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship) in 2007. In 2008, nearly half of our land will be fully certified and the other half will be in transition. Starting in 2009, all production land will be certified organic.

Local

We strongly believe that local businesses help strengthen the community. While you may not decide to purchase from us, we encourage you to explore your local food options. For our part, we do our best to support other local businesses and community organizations by purchasing their product, using their services or offering our support.

Small Scale

Our farm is small (14 acres), and this size dictates how we can best maintain our business. Most of the farm work is completed by Tammy and Rob. However, we do employ three to five part time workers during the summer months. We also are the proud recipients of help from our families and we do host work days (Tom Sawyer Days). We believe that a smaller operation has the best potential to provide quality product and experience to its customers. The biggest drawback to this choice is that we often have to limit CSA subscriptions and turn down opportunities that would require expanding the operation beyond our desired size.

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How to Get to Us

From South of Tripoli: North on Hwy 63 to Hwy 93 (turn east). Two miles to 2nd gravel road (Navaho Rd) turn north. Two miles to 2nd gravel road (150th Street) turn east. A little over half a mile to the first farm on the north side. Grey house, red roof, blue silo and friendly outdoor cats.

From Tripoli: north on Hwy 93 to 155th Street (Snyder access is to east, 155th to the west). Follow 90 degree turn to north and then 90 degree turn back to west (you will now be on 150th Street). After about a third of a mile, you will be at a farmstead on the north side of the road. Grey house, red roof, blue silo and chickens meandering in their pasture.

From the North: South on Hwy 63 to 150th Street (after Hwy 188 intersection). If you drive past the quarry on the left, you've gone to far. Turn east on 150th (left). About 2.5 miles until you get to the grey house with the red roof on the north side of the road. If you get to the 90 degree turn to the south, you've gone to far.