Photo courtesy Dreaming Tree Farms
History: Detesting the bustle of Northern Virginia and the 9-to-5 corporate lifestyle, Chris Couch made a big move — he bought a farm. “I’ve always enjoyed growing things and working with food,” Couch says. “That kind of led to this idea.” In January 2009, Couch began Dreaming Tree Farms, named for the Dave Matthews Band song and a reflection of Couch’s longtime devotion to the musician: Couch has attended 64 concerts so far.
Specialties: Dreaming Tree Farms practices sustainable measures to create weekly salad mixes delivered directly to the consumer. The Farm-to-Salad club offers a subscription for participants to receive a different packaged salad mix each week. “I think direct-to-consumer is growing,” Couch says. “That’s the way it used to be 100 years ago; you sourced everything locally.”
Production: Located in Aylett, Dreaming Tree Farms grows, washes and packages produce on site. They also work with other local agribusinesses, such as Sion House Farms and Greenswell Growers, to source produce not grown at Dreaming Tree.
Buy: Online at dreamingtreefarms.com
