“We are so fortunate to have Tine and Toil Farm in our community. The farm is a beautiful tranquil place to visit. Farmer Nathan puts so much love and attention into farming. The vegetables are so colorful and beautifully presented and I know they are highly nutritious given the care for the soil. As a plant-based eater, I love that there is a lot of variety and choice in each share. I look forward to the newsletters each week to learn about what is going on with the farm and the recipes are great!”
Our Philosophy
We lovingly call the farm Tine & Toil.
Tine celebrates the well-crafted and hand-powered tools required to produce organically grown vegetables on a small scale, and toil honors the choice to labor outside year round to grow fresh, seasonal food.
We believe the food we eat tells the stories of our lives and our values. As a result, we are committed to small-scale farming practices that preserve and restore the land; contribute to the local community; and produce the best FRUITS, VEGETABLES, and FLOWERS. On the farm, we use only organic sources of fertilizers and pest control as well as techniques that conserve our soil and protect the watershed. Farming is a part of everyone's life. Together, we all depend on the food we eat and the farms that produce that food. We believe in small, local farms that allow us to know our farmer and trust in the quality of our food sources. Your support - as friends, family, customers, members, and volunteers - is vital to our work.
Our Farmer and Our Family
Nathan has been farming for since 2009. He began his work at Hillside Farm in Media, PA where he managed a 140-member CSA supported by Greener Partners. As an apprentice and ultimately the farm manager, Nathan learned the fundamentals of breaking new ground, cultivating diverse crops, and establishing sustainable practices. Most recently he worked as the head farmer at Greensgrow Farms in Philadelphia, PA, a nonprofit urban farm committed to using farming to restore urban spaces. As a member of the Greensgrow family, Nathan practiced farming as a tool for both environmental and social justice. Nathan is proud to be practicing these skills now on his own farm.
Nathan's love for farming has spread to the whole family. His partner Kerry, their son Del, and their daughter Eve are enthusiastic partners in the Tine & Toil venture.
Our Land
Tine & Toil was established in the winter of 2014. Our farmland includes gently sloping, southeast facing fields that sit along Shenkel Hollow Run not far from the banks of the Schuylkill River in North Coventry Township.
We purchased the farm from another family who had worked and lived on the land since the 1950s. We remember them often in the handwritten notes we discovered beneath a kitchen cabinet drawer, the old wooden strawberry boxes still stacked in the greenhouse, and the crumbling barn we plan to restore.