Bella Vita Farm

Brookville, Maryland

Bella Vita Farm LLC, is situated on 103 acres in the agricultural preserve in Brookeville, Maryland just 20 miles outside of our Nations Capital. The farm produces crops for livestock and a variety of greenhouse vegetables.

At the center of Bella Vita Farm is an 1860’s historic manor home. The architectural offering of this dwelling provides an atmosphere of romantic grandeur with 14’ high ceilings and 12’ windows framing the external aliveness of nature and farmland while inviting in the natural light. The outside grounds of the home provide picturesque backdrops and views including a grand historic red bank barn, an aquaponics greenhouse, 14 acres of open lawn space, an expansive patio and tranquil gathering places such as our secret garden. The farm hosts weddings and events, farm tours and Axe Throwing. Yes… Axe Throwing.

In July of 2017 while on a family vacation hiking out West, Angelo & Amy Falcone and family including Amy’s sister Angie McNally shared a meal at a remote road side restaurant that was sandwiched between two mountain ranges. During the meal, the Chef owner introduced himself and provided insight and education about where the food they were enjoying was grown. Surprised and delighted, the Falcone family learned that all the food was grown on the property in an Aquaponics greenhouse, including the fish. This inspired an idea for reconnecting with farming and being able to offer others a similar delicious experience and education.

Amy and Angie started by taking the Flourish Farm Aquaponic Course and learning all aspects of planning, designing and operating an aquaponic farm. The Falcones then found and moved a greenhouse structure from a different location and rebuilt the structure on their farm property. The greenhouse is powered by an adjacent solar PV grid. The design team at TAPS worked closely with them to design a highly productive system utilizing four 4×40′ Growasis Double Decker DWC trough systems.  The system also has four 500 gallon fish tanks and a PG 6000 Polygeyser auto-backwashing bead filter for mechanical and biological filtration. The system can easily be decoupled so the fish and plants can run independently. Our Aquaheat propane heating system provides an off-grid heating solution to maintain water temperature. The owners are primarily raising koi and Tilapia.

The farm is currently producing a wide variety of leafy greens, tomatoes and microgreens for sale to nearby high end restaurants, local residents and for use in catered events hosted at the farm. To learn more about Bella Vita Farm please them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BellaVitaFarmBrookeville/