Farms Do No Harm: Volume IV – Two Particular Acres

Ned Foley is the pioneer composter behind Two Particular Acres along Rittenhouse Road in Royersford, but he stands apart as a farmer in that he’s also a seasoned attorney.

Today, Two Particular Acres, named as an ode to the Jimmy Buffet song “One Particular Harbour” in respect of how the land and his work with it is his oasis, operates on a site totaling 37 acres, with two as compost; up to five acres are legally allowed to host his composting efforts.

"The reality is that composting has been around since the beginning of time," Foley said, referencing decaying leaves and fallen trees in the woods.

A tree trimming professional used to drop off his yard waste at the farm years ago, when Foley rented it. Looking at the piles of natural debris, he began to ponder at the possibilities of how to make use of the material instead of it building a pile of no purpose.This propelled his research into composting.

Foley soon realized that he’d discovered the most efficient and environmentally beneficial means of using the land to farm, but in a way that would be more cost-effective than most traditional farming approaches.

Foley received the first-ever on-farm compost permit issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection back in 2003, and for a time, he traveled throughout the state in lecturing and presenting workshops about how it would behoove existing farmers to start their own composting efforts as a sustainable plus in their regions while also bringing in supplemental income.

He takes in yard waste like tree and shrub trimmings, fallen leaves and weeds. Foley also accepts manure and pre-consumer food waste, which usually translates to fresh food that never sells, beginning to rot in grocery stores. Additionally, it can mean meal preparation foods in restaurants, like cut heads of lettuce.

Foley works with an aerated static pile by running pipes along the ground, with holes in each. He then regulates the temperature and air flow, which permeates throughout the pile for about four weeks before its curing phase.

Keeping oxygen evenly distributed throughout the piles ensures less odor, which Foley said is a challenge but one he’s dealt with well. Almost none of his neighbors complain, and in fact, residents living in the 42 homes of one section of Brenton Point near Valley View Drive fully support his labors.

He sells his compost and soil blends on the retail spectrum and also to landscapers who are his best yard waste hauling clientele, helping to bring in the carbon-heavy raw materials he needs to counteract with his nitrogen-rich food waste.

Foley said grocery stores produce one to five tons of food waste per week. This is why Foley has teamed up with Weis Markets and the H&K Group, a construction materials and site contracting company operating quarries throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Given his law background, Foley has been instrumental in his partnership with the H&K Group in the name of American Biosoils and said he is lending a legal hand in trying to get the state to create a permit to allow for compost material collection and production at some of its quarries.

"We’re creating a whole new paradigm for waste management because it’s not waste." Foley said, "It’s a resource."

Foley also composts coffee grinds from several nearby Wawa stores. He composts all of the food waste from the down the street.

He collects restaurant prep waste from the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia, too, selling them back compost which they use to grow culinary herbs on their roof.

"When I first started farming this place, there wasn’t an earthworm in sight," Foley said. "My soil has changed so dramatically by getting organic matter back into it."

When he began tending to the land in the past decade, almost no wildlife scattered around the property, but today deer, foxes, raccoons, groundhogs, hawks, blue herons, starlings and eagles can be seen around the land and its two streams, with the ecosystem restored in gratitude of the compost Foley spreads across his hay fields.

"Soil is the foundation of life," Foley said. "It’s almost like magic when you see the change in your soil—plant performance in a soil that hasn’t had organic matter in it for years, compared to one with organics in it, is like night and day. Having your hands in the soil is very soul-satisfying. I love dirt."