Zachariah Lester founded Tree and Leaf originally as a landscape gardening business in the spring of 1998. With over 15 years experience, Zachariah has been specializing in the installation and maintenance of vegetable and herb gardens, herbaceous borders, wildflower meadows, tree planting and native woodland plantings.
In the summer of 1998, Tree and Leaf began developing and managing a vegetable, herb, and greens business for Over the Grass Farm in The Plains, Virginia. The main emphasis of this business was to provide fresh, local produce year round using old and new passive solar growing techniques.
Tree and Leaf CSA started in 2002 by renting the production garden they had developed for Over The Grass Farm. This first CSA season exposed shareholders to our extended 30 week season.
In the autumn of 2002, Zachariah married Georgia O'Neal. Georgia is an experienced roof top gardener from New York City. This was the beginning of a beautiful and powerful journey.
Georgia has a degree in Art from the University of Colorado and worked in the style department designing and developing craft projects for Martha Stewart's television show. She also worked for The Manhattan Country School Farm, in Roxbury N.Y. , teaching urban children gardening, farming, and nature studies. These creative and dynamic skills add to the essence of Tree and Leaf's overall vision.
By growing and harvesting throughout the year, we feel that we are better connected to the seasonal changes of light, water, air, heat, and our harvest's diversity translates these changes.
Tree and Leaf's goal is to provide a quality, fresh, sustainably grown pesticide- free harvest through all of the seasons by attending four farmers markets in Washington D.C. and Loudoun County Virginia and through our C.S.A.
We also see the need to be active in other market's. So, we will be pursuing area farmer's markets during the main growing season and into the winter months.
Growing and eating real foods is essential for a better future.
Thank you,
Georgia & Zachariah