conservation
conserving Water
Water is essential to crop growth and to all life; especially here in the Highlands. We use many water conservation techniques to help preserve this vital resource. About half of our acreage features trickle and low-flow irrigation systems, which deliver water only in the exact place and time it’s needed. Monitoring soil moisture contents means we avoid the waste of over-watering. Rather than discard water used in our buildings, we direct it into a reservoir system so we can use it to water crops.
- 1.5 million gallons of water per year is recycled through our rain barrel system
- 50,000 gallons of water is recycled from food wastewater from cider mill and used for irrigation and dust control
- 20 million gallons of water is conserved per year from our trickle irrigation system
- Thousands of tons per year of leaf and organic matter from local municipalities and contractors is recycled and utilized as organic matter in the fields to improve product health
Reducing the Carbon Footprint
Our local farm and your support of us leads to a large reduction in the food delivery system carbon footprint. Rather than consuming produce from thousands of miles away—requiring massive amounts of hydrocarbon fuels to ship them to New Jersey—you can choose to enjoy produce grown just minutes from your home. In doing so, you not only enjoy the freshest food possible, but you also become part of a beautifully sustainable cycle of nourishment, respect, and stewardship.
preserving Local Agriculture Lands
In Morris County, no other family has actively preserved and farms more farmland acres than the Alstedes. We currently own over 410 permanently preserved farmland acres and actively farm several hundred more which are also mostly preserved.
Our family and team has dedicated itself to honoring local rural values here in New Jersey and has made a huge investment in maintaining our family-owned farm right here. It is, after all, the Garden State!
We love calling New Jersey our home and look forward to enhancing the quality of life for all our regional neighbors for many decades to come!
Reducing Waste
We are a Zero Food Waste farm, keeping hundreds of tons of annual food waste from going into the landfill waste stream. We achieve this by the following methods:
- Donating surplus food to local food banks before it spoils
- Repurposing un-cosmetically pleasing produce (for example, apples go into cider and bruised tomatoes are made into pico de gallo)
- Composting expired quality product in our fields
We also look at other ways we can avoid waste, including these methods:
- Repurposing motor oil from farm equipment and use for heating buildings
- Recycling all metal waste from the farm to avoid going into landfill (such as irrigation pipe, plow, and machinery parts)
