Overview
Una Acre Farm is a market garden farm located in the Neely’s Bend area of Davidson County. Tonya Bradford leads the farm using sustainable practices and maintains 1/2-acre of vegetables, fruits, flowers and chickens.
Tonya started her farm in the agricultural haven of Neely’s Bend in 2019. Tonya’s sixteen years of experience in the New York City restaurant industry is apparent in the trove of creative recipes she shares with her farmers market, chef, and CSA customers. Her husband, Michael, helps with farmers markets and is doing increasingly more field work.
Because of their location inside of a bend in the Cumberland River (Neely’s Bend), water health and sustainable farming are top-of-mind at Una Acre Farm. Organic no-till methods, mulching, ecological diversity, and crop rotation are all important “tools” used on this small farm.
River Friendly Farm Certified
In 2023, Una Acre Farm was certified as a River Friendly Farm by the Cumberland River Compact. 
“We are so excited to be certified river-friendly, especially since we strive to give back to the earth more than we take. It is our motto. We moved to a special little place called Neely Bend where our farm is cradled in a beautiful bend in the Cumberland River. This area is so special because rural land close to the urban center of a city the size of Nashville is increasingly rare due to overdevelopment. We want to protect this area any way we can. Protecting the water around us is crucial to this mission,” says Tonya of Una Acre Farm.
The River Friendly Farm certification program with Cumberland River Compact recognizes farmers who are good stewards of water and land resources, connecting them with consumers who value a healthy environment. As a River Friendly Farm, Una Acre Farm is ensuring cleaner water, healthier soil, and a more resilient climate for the people and creatures living in the surrounding environment.
River-Friendly BMPS
A hallmark of Una Acre Farm is the organic, no-till practices they use to build healthy soil. Silage tarps and mulches are used to smother weeds and finished crops, and hand tools are used to gently prepare the soil. Staying away from mechanical tillage allows the soil biology to do the hard work of building soil with increased water-holding capacity, higher nutrient exchange to plant roots, and overall better tilth and health. Gently worked soil tends to stay put, helping to prevent sedimentation in our waterways.
Healthy soil reduces pest pressure, but the occasional outbreak is bound to happen in the hot, humid South. When it does, only biologically-based, OMRI-approved pesticides are used at Una Acre Farm. Crop rotation, diverse plant choices, and chickens all help to create a balanced ecosystem and mitigate further intervention.
Neely’s Bend is one of the last agricultural zones in Davidson County, so it is crucial that farmers in this area use regenerative practices to conserve the soil and the water that hugs it. The Cumberland River Compact commends Una Acre Farm in its efforts toward this goal.
How to Support Farm
There are several ways to enjoy Una Acre Farm’s delicious produce, eggs, and flowers:
- Order from their online store on Monday for Tuesday doorstep delivery. Their “farm-to-front-porch” produce delivery service is the ultimate convenience!
- Join their spring, summer, or fall CSA.
- Stop by their booth at the Amqui Station Farmers Market from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Sunday, or at the 12th South Farmers Market on Tuesday from 4 – 7 p.m.
