Old Tavern Farm

Where an old tavern used to serve up warm meals to travelers between Richmond and Williamsburg, John Bryant now nourishes his community with 35 acres of all-natural produce and pasture-raised heirloom hogs.

His great-grandfather bought the place in 1903. As a child, John learned to farm by tagging along with his grandfather and great uncle. Later he worked a corporate job before escaping back to the farm.

John and his crew focus on soil health and follow organic standards. The farm’s sustainable and regenerative practices include crop rotation, rotational grazing, cover cropping, composting, and organic fertilizers along with worm tea and fish and seaweed emulsion.

John’s hogs enjoy room to roam and the highest quality locally grown non-GMO feed. Even the end of the life cycle is handled with humanity and compassion – the farm’s primary packing facility was designed by Temple Grandin, whose unique perspective as a woman with autism equipped her to trail-blaze the humane treatment of livestock.