About Us
We are a family owned and operated farm and residential landscaping company. Terra Firma has been serving Richmond, Virginia for over twenty years.
Our Start
We know Richmond! We cut our teeth in the industry maintaining Richmond area landscapes in the 1990s. Obviously we were tiny babies at the time. In 1997, we founded Terra Firma Landscaping and in 2005, moved to our farm in Hanover County.
Compost
As our landscaping company grew, we refined our hot compost process, dedicating a generous portion of the land to our yard waste composting operation. The acreage used for composting has been site-inspected by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. We specialize in plant-based compost from our own landscaping operations, guaranteeing that pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals are never a part of our recipe.
Worm Castings
Our indoor, climate-controlled worm facility has grown too, from a single room in 2015 to a dedicated building today. We raise hundreds of thousands of worms in dozens of custom-built beds. We use a custom-designed lower vibration screener to keep the screening process low-stress for our wigglers.
Food Waste Collection
In March 2017 we launched a residential and commercial food waste collection service covering many neighborhoods throughout our Richmond service area including the Fan, Museum District, Tuckahoe, Willow Lawn, West End, and some parts of western Glen Allen. Terra Firma Compost utilizes our existing landscaping fleet to collect local scraps and bring them to our farm for conversion to compost.
Food Waste Composting
Food waste is diverted from the landfill using multiple methods. Our free-roaming chicken flocks - traditional egg layers as well as rescued hens - enjoy scratching through scraps, "processing" them into fertilizer. Partially composted waste goes to worm bins for vermicomposting. All compost components are combined, turned and screened manually for ultimate quality - resulting in a true craft product. We do not accept meat, seafood, bones, or compostable plastics. These aren't a great ingredient for compost and we prefer to keep them out of our finished product.
Eggs!
Chickens are a great way to process food waste *and* they happen to lay great eggs. Our customers may sign up for regular egg delivery or request on-demand egg delivery. We do not process or sell our chickens nor do we cull healthy birds. This is their forever farm. Similarly, while we sell rainbow eggs, we are not rainbow chasers. We do not breed hens for their egg colors nor do we sell hatching eggs. Check out our Insta feed to see lots of happy chickens doing their thing!
Perks
We give back to our customers. Our bucket credit system allows program participants to redeem earned credits for fresh eggs, seasonal produce and other earth conscious items - or for free pick-ups. We value local - the items we offer are thoughtfully chosen and are typically grown, made and/or printed right here in RVA!
Join Us!
We hope you will consider partnering with us for a better world, a better Richmond, and a better local way of closing the food waste loop!