As we continue with Women’s History Month and highlighting women in CEA, we talked to Victoria Hoff, who started Local Homestead Products with her husband almost 10 years ago.
Located in New Windsor, Maryland, Local Homestead Products is much more than a farm. From a pumpkin patch in the fall, corn mazes, baby pigs, and a store right next to the greenhouse, Victoria, her husband, and their small team have created a family oriented, community hub that provides their community with fresh, local food year round.
Victoria came across AmHydro on Facebook 3 years ago and after a bit of research and coming to a seminar, they decided to add a hydroponic system to the farm to grow lettuce and herbs to add to the farm store’s inventory. When looking into hydroponics, Victoria discovered the benefits such as clean and predictable growing and saving space, and decided to add an NFT 1200 system to the farm and is now growing 6 different types of lettuce and a variety of herbs.
Prior to Covid, Local Homestead Produce hosted farm to table dinners, gave farm tours, and invited local schools to come see how hydroponics works as part of hydroponics being incorporated into the school’s curriculum. Victoria said that her favorite part of the farm is being able to engage with people in her community on a weekly basis. The support that they have received during the pandemic has been awesome and she said that some days the line to get into the farm store can be up to 3 hours long!
“My husband and I started Local Homestead Products 10 years ago and over the years it has developed into a family oriented, community hub that provides our community with fresh, local food year round! From our pumpkin patch and corn maze in the fall, to the baby pigs we raise, to farm tours, to the farm store, there is always something exciting happening! Three years ago, we added a hydroponic system to the farm after coming across AmHydro on Facebook and attending a seminar. Our AmHydro system allows us to have a predictable growing schedule, clean produce, and saves space. We’ve been growing a variety of lettuce and herbs and we can’t seem to grow enough; our customer’s love it!
The demand for local food has only grown in light of the pandemic and people really want a safe food source. Our lettuce is grown right next door to our farm store which allows people to not only see where the produce comes from but they are also bringing home lettuce that was harvested just a few hours ago. It has been so fun to create a space that is so much more than a traditional farm!”
