The horse barn and three of our four largest residences are heated and cooled by geothermal systems.  Our electrical power is provided by a 160 kW grid-tied solar energy system, which was installed by Solar Connexion and is designed to provide 100 percent of the farm’s power consumption.  

All horse paddocks are located far away from the many streams and the river which run through our property.  Our hay fields are harvested once per year and, otherwise, both our hay fields and our horse paddocks are clipped throughout the growing season to restore organic plant material to the soil, thereby retaining nutrients and moisture, while minimizing the use of fertilizers.  

Our greenhouse garden is maintained organically, and we minimize the use of chemicals in our orchards and vineyard as described in the respective sections of this website.  

We do not use Roundup or any herbicide which contains glyphosate on any soil surfaces, limiting its use, only as necessary, to control weeds which have penetrated impervious surfaces.  This practice increases our maintenance expense, but we believe the return, in the form of a healthier soil and ecosystem, is well-worth the incremental effort. Pictured is our staff burning weeds at the base of the vineyard fence, in lieu of applying herbicides.

Many of our techniques, developed and executed by our horticulturalist and farm manager and their teams, have produced noticeable results in the health of our land and wildlife in a relatively short time frame.  We have witnessed remarkable improvement in the health of our fields, meadows and paddocks, along with notable growth in wildlife diversity and populations.  We are proud of their work!

To see more details about the restoration at Mount Fair, click here: https://www.nbwla.com/projects/farm/mount-fair-farm