Fred de Long, longtime director of the community farm program for the Willistown Conservation Trust, has died at 55
They lovingly called him Farmer Fred, and he turned Rushton Farm in Newtown Square into a national model of community supported agriculture.
Fred de Long, 55, of West Chester, longtime director of the community farm program for the Willistown Conservation Trust, organic farmer, conservationist, teacher, writer, and mentor, died Tuesday, Jan. 21, of complications after a liver transplant at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
An expert on agriculture and conservation, and a champion of the farm-to-table movement, Mr. de Long established the community farm program for the WCT in 2007 and nurtured it into an everblooming national model of community supported agriculture.
His six-acre fields at Rushton Farm sit inside the Rushton Woods Preserve in Newtown Square, and, for 18 years, he grew 150 varieties of fruits and vegetables, supplied countless people with tons of produce, and shared his love of the land with colleagues, students, visitors, and others who walked with him among his prized tomatoes and peppers.
“This farm,” he said in a WCT newsletter in 2016, “is a community venture in mind, spirit, and action.”
More than 120 families are active with the community farm program at Rushton, and Mr. de Long and others forged popular hands-on educational partnerships with local schools and other organizations. He mentored interns, ran agricultural and environmental workshops, spoke at land trust rallies around the country, and led local conferences that addressed specific sustainable farming issues.
“This is particularly important on the Main Line,” he told Main Line Today in 2010, “where we’ve seen so much open space lost to suburban sprawl.” Bryan Colket, trustee at the WCT, said: “Fred helped evolve what started as an idea into a thriving farm.”
“Fred was warm, kind, funny, and clever, and he influenced so many ... and changed the course of many people’s lives.”
Mr. de Long and his fellow farmers, mostly volunteers, routinely donated produce to the West Chester Food Cupboard and other food banks. For years, he and Lisa Kiziuk, his wife and colleague at the WCT, toured the country with their ”Food and Feathers” program that explains how sustainable farming can complement bird conservation.
She said it was his “farm wisdom, entrepreneurial spirit, and social connection” that made Rushton such a success. Bonnie Van Alen, founder and former executive director of the WCT said: “With his energy, warmth and humor (and along with his bird loving partner Lisa) he demonstrated that sustainable farming and nature can thrive together.“
Mr. de Long was also a writer and engaging storyteller. Rushton was featured in The Inquirer and other publications, and he wrote stories for the farm’s Wild Carrot newsletter and articles for magazines. “Remember,” he said in a 2020 piece he wrote for County Lines magazine, “whatever you grow will be a welcomed addition to a meal.”
He enjoyed sharing his many “farming adventures,” friends said, and Kiziuk called him a “renaissance man” for his interest in art, history, music, sports, food, and films. “There was always something to learn from each tale that he told,” a friend said in a tribute.
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His brother Aaron said: “Though he was a savvy businessman and talented grower, perhaps his greatest talent was connecting with others and building strong professional and personal relationships.”
Earlier, Mr. de Long worked for years as the manager at Pete’s Produce Farm in Westtown, Chester County, and many of the local chefs he met during deliveries invited him into their kitchens. So he became an accomplished cook and was known for his memorable roast chicken, wild mushrooms, and cheese plates.
He graduated from Radnor High School in 1987, was interested in film making and journalism, and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and English at Ithaca College in New York. He wrote stories for Organic Gardening magazine and other publications at Rodale Inc. for a few years in the 1990s, then fell hard for farming.
“He was fun and funny,” said Alice Hausmann, founding trustee at WCT. “He was wise. He wore his passions on his sleeve. He inspired so many.”
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Conrad Frederick de Long was born April 19, 1969, in Philadelphia. He grew up in Wayne and played lacrosse in high school.
He got to know Kiziuk at Rushton Farm, and they quietly married, and lived together for years in an old farmhouse nearby. They liked to hike and watch birds, and made it a point to sample local food when they traveled to Oregon, Montana, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and elsewhere. He especially enjoyed wandering in the Adirondack Mountains.
Mr. de Long doted on his ever-present dogs, listened to the Grateful Dead and the Band, and followed the Eagles and Flyers. His favorite holiday, with its many heaping helpings of Rushton Farm produce, was Thanksgiving.
“His life was a testament,” Kiziuk said, “to his passion for the natural world, farming, and his commitment to the preservation of local farmland.”
“We have big shoes to fill on the farm.”
In addition to his wife, Mr. de Long is survived by his parents, three brothers, and other relatives.
A celebration of his life is to be held Sunday evening, July 20, at Rushton Farm, 911 Delchester Rd., Newtown Square, Pa. 19073.
Donations in his name may be made to the Farmer Fred Memorial Fund at the Willistown Conservation Trust, 925 Providence Rd., Newtown Square, Pa. 19073.