Healthy Soil and Seasonal Recipes at Una Acre Farm

Step onto Una Acre Farm, and you may forget you’re just a few minutes’ drive from the bustle of Gallatin Pike. Tidy rows of crops and flowers, happy chickens, and a high tunnel full of plants are situated next to the neighbor’s hay fields. A traditional farmhouse with a wrap-around porch completes the scene.

This idyllic farm is located within Neely’s Bend, an area in Davidson County comprising several hundred acres of lush farmland. Farm owner Tonya Bradford and her neighbors have fought hard to keep development from taking over this precious resource, some of the last land in Nashville zoned for agriculture.

True to the area’s agricultural roots, Tonya and her husband Michael organically grow a bounty of produce and flowers. They also enjoy sharing creative recipes that spotlight the best of what’s in season.

The farming lifestyle is a welcome one for Tonya, a Georgia girl who spent sixteen years working in New York City restaurants. From her little slice of “Narnia,” as Michael has dubbed Neely’s Bend, Tonya connects with food and the earth in a more foundational way. Through her recipes and advocacy for her community, she inspires others to likewise value farmland, conservation practices, and delicious food.

Water health and sustainable farming are top-of-mind at Una Acre Farm, which is situated less than a mile from the Cumberland River on both its east and west sides. Organic no-till methods, mulching, ecological diversity, and crop rotation are important “tools” for improving soil and plant health. The care shown by Tonya and Michael for the land and water they steward earned Una Acre Farm its River Friendly Farms certification status.