Fertile Crescent Farm is located in Green Bay, Virginia and operated by Adam and Darbi. Fertile Crescent sells their produce at two markets in Richmond, the Byrd House Market and South of the James Market, and also operates a CSA.
Adam and his daughter showed me around the farm during a light drizzle.
The land that Adam and Darbi own has seen many incarnations, but the most noticeable previous use was as a cattle and livestock farm. There is an old and overgrown watering trough and shelter, as well as a barn, all of which are being slowly renovated.
In front of the barn and silos is a potato field, which is slowly being harvested for market. In addition to the field shown, numerous varieties of greens, vegetables and flowers are growing in two other major fields. 
There is also a smaller patch of garlic and onion that was on its way out.
Although Fertile Crescent is not certified organic, Adam and Darbi do practice organic growing methods, document them and are thinking about going through the certification process. Adam and Darbi have worked on various certified organic farms in the area–so they are aware of proper growing methods and the legal side of certification.
Even farms that are certified organic, or follow the growing practices required to be certified, usually employ some practices that are not sustainable, for example using tractors, tillers and other tools that use fossil fuels. Many of these unsustainable practices are hard to avoid without going under and require new technologies and infrastructure that are simply unavailable to most farms.
One way that Fertile Crescent has tried to avoid more unsustainable practices is by creating bio-diesel from spent cooking oil–and the source for the oil in this case is from 8 1/2, Mama Zu and Edo’s Squid. The refined oil can power their trucks and some of their farm equipment. Currently the refiner is broken, but Adam is planning on fixing it within the year.
To learn more about Fertile Crescent visit them at the Byrd House Market in Oregon Hill, at the South of the James Market or check out there web site and blog.
