Rooted in Tradition
Harvest Valley Farms
thrives on four
generations of
sustainable farming.
By JeNNIFer BrOzAK
I
n an era of mass-produced food and
industrial agriculture, one local farming
family has made it their life’s work to
remain firmly rooted in tradition.
For four generations, the King family,
owners of Harvest Valley Farms in Valencia
and a seasonal market and bakery in
Gibsonia, has been dedicated to providing
the community with naturally grown, healthy
produce through the practice of sustainable
farming.
Although it can include many variations,
sustainable farming typically uses farming
techniques that are designed to protect the
environment while cultivating the land.
Sustainable farming techniques can include
rotating crops to control pests or growing
cover crops, which are non-cash crops
meant to fertilize soil and suppress weeds. At
Harvest Valley Farms, the Kings use a fouryear crop rotation to suppress weeds and
pests and sell all of their produce within a
25-mile radius of the farm. They use as many
organically certified pesticides as they can and
only what is absolutely needed.
“I see organic farming as one extreme, and
conventional farming as another. Sustainable
farming allows us to reach a happy medium
by leaving the smallest footprint we can on
the land,” says Art King, co-owner of the farm
along with his brother, Larry and son David.
For instance, the Kings grow and use rye as
a cover crop, which helps to aerate and protect
the soil over the winter.
“Once the rye is all rotted down, it
becomes organic matter for the
next year’s crop,” explains Art.
The farm began as a poultry
and vegetable farm, with Art’s
great-grandfather selling eggs,
vegetables and pork door-to-door.
Art’s father, Norman, continued this
tradition of selling pork and eggs – taking
young Art along with him on deliveries.
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“I started selling eggs with my dad when
I was eight years old. We would visit the
same people every week, leaving two or
three dozens of eggs at each house. Here I
was, talking to customers and trying to make
change, and I wasn’t even old enough to do
the math,” he adds, laughing.
The business was quite successful, and
Norman and his wife zita were able to raise
Art and his seven siblings on the farm’s profits
alone. By the 1970s, however, poultry and egg
sales were declining, and in 1982, the farm
transitioned to vegetable farming.
After Norman King passed away in 1992,
Larry asked Art to join the family business.
At the time, Art had been happily working in
sales at a locally owned lumberyard, but was
lured by the prospect of being able to spend
more time with his children. In 2005, after
graduating from college, Art’s son David, a
fourth-generation King – joined the business.
Today, Harvest Valley Farms produces
more than 65 varieties of fruits and
vegetables. The seasonal market and bakery
on Cunningham road in Gibsonia opened
in its current location in 2009 after operating
from a d