Triple B Farms, which has produced homegrown fruits and vegetables and provided wholesome family fun for 38 years, is not only dedicated to growing the best fruits and vegetables in Western Pennsylvania. Owners Ron and Carolyn Beinlich, their son Bill and Bill’s wife Suzanne, who work together to operate the business, also care deeply about how the produce is grown.
The family is making public some pillars of its farming practices.
Regenerative farming
Regenerative farming is the latest trend in agriculture, but the Beinlichs have been practicing it since Farmer Ron bought the land over a half century ago. Regenerative principles include preserving natural resources, building soil health, integrating animals onto agricultural land, and building community relationships with the land.
Preserving natural resources and building soil health: Since day one, the Beinlichs have rotated crops. When you drive past the front field on your way toward the farm driveway, you will see strips of crops interspersed with strips of grasses or grains. The crops in those strips rotate from year to year. This prevents depletion of minerals, promotes soil health, and prevents erosion. The Beinlichs also plant cover crops such as daikon to prevent erosion and boost soil nutrients.
Integrating animals: The Beinlichs have continued to raise beef cattle along with fruits and vegetables. The cattle are not kept near the produce, but the existence of both cattle and plant crops on Triple B land helps to promote biodiversity.
Building community relationships: That’s where our valued customers come in! Triple B is proud to open our land to our customers, where they can enjoy the fresh air, learn more about farming, and enjoy food that is grown right here where they live.
Integrated pest management
Both the farmers and outside crop consultants monitor Triple B crops for disease or insects. They’re looking for harmful pests, but they’re also looking for beneficial insects that are natural enemies of the “bad” insects. Vigilance and early detection help the farmers to use as few pesticides as possible, which both prevents resistance buildup and respects the environment.
Also, bees help to pollinate the crops at Triple B, and the honey the bees produce is sold in the Country Market. Our beekeepers have taken an active role in helping to preserve bees through years of high bee mortality rates.
A Note From the Triple B “Beekeepers”
Here at Triple B Farms, we are keenly aware pollination is vital not only for our crops, but to life on our planet. Pollinators, including bees, have thrived for millions of years, ensuring food security and nutrition while maintaining biodiversity and vibrant ecosystems for plants, humans and even the bees, themselves.
Bees are essential to the production of the micronutrient rich fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and oils we eat, pollinating over three quarters of the world’s crops destined for human consumption and are directly responsible for crop sustainability, quality, and yield.
Unfortunately, bee populations have been declining globally due to habitat loss, intensive farming practices, changes in weather patterns and, perhaps most importantly, the excessive use of agrochemicals including pesticides. This, in turn, poses a threat to a variety of plants critical to human well-being and livelihoods.
To combat this and do our part to save the bees, Triple B has increased crop diversity as well as targeted habitat conservation through professional pollination management by our partners at The Fine Family Apiary and Pittsburgh Honey, who monitor and maintain our on-site bee colonies, both to maximize production and ensure proper reclamation and restoration of our farm and the surrounding ecosystem.
In fact, after our crops are harvested, the land is left fallow until the next season, enhancing the growth of herbs and shrubs, which provide rich food sources for our bees and allow them to forage further and deeper into the fall, pollinating naturally occurring flora here in the Monongahela Valley and tempering the land for the upcoming Spring growing season.
In addition, we do not to overuse chemicals such as fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides both to ensure the health and strength of our on-sight colonies and their brood, but to enhance their longevity and ability to overwinter safely and securely and repeat the cycle each season.
We pride ourselves on a well-managed farm which provides a good habitat for our bees, that, in turn, provides the necessary pollination services for a sustainable agricultural production season year after year.
We look forward to sharing these experiences and practices so you, too, can enjoy the fruits—and vegetables—of our labor and dedication on your table.
Sustainability
As a member of the PA Association of Sustainable Agriculture, Triple B believes in sustainable farming for a healthier life. PASA farms must:
- Use farming practices that conserve natural resources and energy, protect the
environment, and enhance relationships with the community.
- Use techniques that reduce and perhaps eliminate pesticides, and synthetic fertilizer.
- Use beneficial insects and other naturally occurring controls for crops.
- Use crop rotation to restore nutrients and combat disease to build land fertility naturally.
- Protect natural habitats by eliminating harmful runoff and erosion.
- Promote healthy soil by using microorganisms, organic matter, cover crops, and other natural elements.
- Maximize water efficiency.
Safety
Triple B Farms voluntarily receives regular GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) audits through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These audits verify that fruits and vegetables are produced, packed, and stores to minimize risks of microbial food safety hazards.
Triple B’s owners and their children and grandchildren live and work every day on this land. We work hard to make it a safe place for our family, our employees, and our customers.
Triple B Farms pledges to continue to grow and harvest the safest and healthiest fruits and vegetables available.
We are proud to serve our community with delicious local food and family fun.
