Choose your casket
About Traditional Burial
Although we offer traditional burials, we no longer do burials that include a vault, due to their environmental impact. Rather than relying on the weight of a vault or the use of heavy machinery to compress the soil all at once, the grave site will naturally settle over time and we will fill in with more soil as needed. We hand-dig the grave to the necessary dimensions. Family members and loved ones can choose between a traditional casket (generally made of metal) or the more environmentally conscious option of a simple pine box. We strongly encourage the use of green embalming fluids to reduce contamination of the soil. The casket or pine box is carried to the graveside and placed on a lowering device that we set up. Shovels can be provided and family and friends may choose to fill in some or all of the grave with soil, if they wish to do so.
Opening Cost
The opening cost pays for the preparation that is necessary to set up for and clean up after the day of the burial. This covers the cost of digging the grave, setting up chairs etc., before the burial, staff helping to fill in the dirt after the burial (if that is needed or desired) and aiding in the clean-up of leftover dirt after the burial. We arrange these elements for a simple burial. We can provide folding chairs and a pop-up canopy tent, if needed.
Plot Cost
The plot cost is the charge for using the land itself. When you buy a grave plot you are not purchasing the piece of land but rather paying for the right to bury someone in that specific plot. Only one green burial or coffin burial is possible within each plot; we cannot do double depth burials due to the fact that we dig the graves by hand, without machinery. Up to two cremains burials can be done in one plot. The plot cost also includes a contribution to the perpetual care fund. This fund is set aside so that the overhead costs associated with the maintenance of the burial ground can be guaranteed in perpetuity.
The Traditional Burial package includes:
a burial plot, the cost of digging the grave, preparing and cleaning up for the burial, set-up of chairs and a canopy tent if needed, perpetual maintenance of the grounds.