Appreciation to High Country Press: Thank you for the “Along the Garden Path” series

Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture would like to thank High Country Press for the opportunity to complete the series,  “Along the Garden Path”.  Over the last two months, we have had a series of interviews published in their paper, building awareness about the upcoming High Country Farm Tour.    BRWIA is looking forward to a fun-filled Farm Tour and are appreciative to have had  venue with High County Press to post interview with local farmers participating in this year’s tour. Local business, Local farmers, Local Folks working together to build Community!

With Appreciation,

Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture & the High Country Farm Tour Crew

High Country Press and BRWIA: “Along the Garden Path” with Charles Church

Interview with Charles Church by Ashley Penland / Story by Kehren Barbour

“Along the Garden Path” following stones laid out by careful hands in local farms and gardens, with footing found from farm to table, this year, High Country Press has been working with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture publishing a series of interviews with local farmers who are participating in the upcoming 2009 High Country Farm Tour.  This series with interviews with local farmers has been a collaborative effort of community seeking to celebrate connection between farmer and food.

This week’s interview is with Charles Church from Watauga River Farms located at

2953 NC Hwy 194 S

Valle Crucis, NC 28691

828-297-3775/ 828-265-7279

1.       What products and services does your farm produce?

Natural, chemical free pork of varying cuts Ham Roast, Pork Chops, Side Meat (Bacon), Fat Back, Backbone, and Ribs Lots of sausage! Hot and Mild. Whole hogs are available upon request.  Certified organic by the USDA Broccoli, cabbage, Kohlrabi, collards, winter and summer squash, Swiss chard,  potatoes, beans, onion, garlic, eggplant, melons, herbs, beets, lettuce mix, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, sweet corn, Sorghum syrup.  Charles plants continually (every three to four weeks), admitting to harvesting a final broccoli crop on Christmas Eve during a previous season.

Charles interests and services:  Charles has teamed with Appalachian State University’s Department of Technology in order to investigate various passive solar heating methods within three Watauga River Farm greenhouses.  Based upon experimental outcomes from the three greenhouses and Charles’ integrative thinking, Charles plans to build a larger greenhouse which would utilize the earth’s constant fifty-five degree temperature by building the back wall into the earth and incorporating an insulated covered roof as well as solar heated water barrels.  (See Charles’ website for further info: Watauga River Farms)  Charles aims to educate other interested farmers in natural solar heating systems as these prove sustainable and profitable for year round production.

2.      Where do you sell your products?

Charles takes part in convenient, local markets by providing his goods for sale at the Valle Crucis Farmer’s Market (Fridays) and the Watauga Farmer’s Market (Saturdays and Wednesdays).  Charles also participates in a local cooperative CSA as well as provides goods through New River Organic Growers and wholesale to Eastern Carolina Organics.

3.       How long have you been farming?

Charles considers himself a lifetime farmer beginning from the time he was able to drag a bucket across a field.  Charles earliest farming endeavors included tending a portion of tobacco fields awarded to him by his father, which he earned twenty dollars profit on during the early 1950s.  Other early farming memories include tending to cattle, gathering potatoes, and processing cabbage into kraut.

Charles has been farming organically since 2000 when he was encouraged to make the switch to an array of organically produced crops through the Golden Leaf Grant.

4.       What challenges do independent growers face?

Independent growers face challenges related to production insight of pay received much later than produce is harvested and sold.  The most immediate pay is collected through Farmer’s Market sales as well as an upfront portion of the CSA sales.  As a result of the pay delay associated with the organizations that distribute Charles’ goods, public awareness on the farming process is essential.  Farm tours, community and school gardens, and seminars held by local grower’s organizations may provide avenues of public education in light of the farming process.

Charles admits through the business of farming, a business plan, production schedule, and marketing avenues are essential.

For those interested in the entrepreneurial idea of farming, Charles mentions renting land, which would provide a sustainable task to land which may be empty without a current responsibility.  Many land owners are eager to have their land farmed.  Equipment is often shared if one becomes a member of a local grower’s association.

While no pesticides or chemicals are utilized within Charles’ organic farm production process, natural agents and fertilizers made from chicken and fish are usually 1/3 more expensive than others.

5.       What role do you see your farm playing in the future of local food?

Charles plans to continue to supply the region with healthful foods, while educating other growers on the benefits of growing year round through passive solar heated greenhouse systems.  Charles often invites school groups as well as other interested groups to engage in the process of farming by touring his farm.

Wondering where to get a wrist band? Wondering who is participating in this year’s tour? Here’s some more information:

Local Wristband Vendors

-Ashe County Farmers’ Market, Backstreet in West Jefferson, Saturdays and Wednesdays from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
-Watauga County Farmers’ Market, Horn in the West in Boone, Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to noon, Wednesdays from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.
-Bare Essentials Natural Market, 273 Boone Heights Drive, Boone, 828-262-5592
-Earth Fare, 178 West King Street, Boone, 828-263-8138
-Original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, Highway 194, Valle Crucis, 828-963-6511
-Mast General Store in Downtown Boone, 630 West King Street, Boone, 828-262-0000
-Spin A Yarn, 207 Backstreet, West Jefferson, 336-846-7746

High Country Farm Tour Participating Farms

More than a dozen farms located all over the High County region, including farms in Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes and Grayson counties, are featured in the 2009 High Country Farm Tour.

Watauga County
-Apple Hill Farm, Apple Hill Road, Matney, 828-963-1662
-ASU Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Teaching and Research Farm, Dutch Creek Road, Valle Crucis, 828-262-7268
-Springhouse Farm, 433 Silverstone Road, Vilas, 828-297-2676
-Watauga River Farms, 2953 Highway 194, Valle Crucis, 828-297-3775/828-265-7279

Ashe County
-Big Horse Creek Farm, Old Apple Road, Lansing, 336-384-1134
-New River Winery, 163 Piney Creek Road Building B, Lansing, 336-384-1213
-Old Orchard Creek Farm, 410 Swansie Shepherd Road, Lansing, 336-384-2774
-Spin A Yarn, 207 Backstreet, West Jefferson, 336-846-7746
-Zydeco Moon Farm, 2220 Big Helton Road, Grassy Creek, 336-384-2546

Alleghany County
-Blue Ridge Farmers’ Market, 10436 Highway 21 South, Roaring Gap, 336-363-2583
-Crosscreek Farm, 2416 Nile Road, Sparta, 336-420-8064/336-363-2583
-Rocking S Farm, 567 Garvey Road, Piney Creek, 336-359-8324

Wilkes County
-Brushy Mountain Farm and Orchard, 7673 Highway 16 South, Moravian Falls, 336-838-8851
-Four Winds Berry Farm, 7493 Highway16 South, Moravian Falls
-Tumbling Shoals Farm, 841 Sand Ridge Road, Miller’s Creek, 336-452-2920

Grayson County
-River Ridge Land and Cattle Company, 3352 Battlefield Drive, Independence, Va., 276-768-9955

Join us for the Farm Tour!

High Country Farm Tour August 8 and 9

Good for Families, Farmers, Communities and the Environment

Story by Kehren Barbour

Interested in connecting the community to where its food comes from by introducing those who grow food to the community who cook and eat it, Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA) will sponsor this year’s High Country Farm Tour, planned for Saturday and Sunday, August 8 and 9, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. each day. The tour—which carries the slogan: “Good for you and your family, good for farmers and our communities, good for the environment”—takes place at participating farms throughout the High Country region.

BRWIA is a nonprofit organization of farmers, gardeners, businesses and individuals in the High Country committed to creating a food and farming system that celebrates producers and consumers of local food. BRWIA organized this year’s High County Farm Tour to celebrate the connection between community and farm.

Only two generations ago, most people grew up on farms and took part in food harvests on a regular basis. BRWIA believes it is time to re-establish the connection between consumers and farming and is looking forward to this year’s High Country Farm Tour as a community-building celebration linking those who grow and those who eat foods local to this region. This years’ tour promises to be a family-friendly event, both interesting and educational, and will provide ideas regarding not only connection of community and farm, but also about sustainable farming methods, healthy eating and the benefits of local food.

Tickets are available in the form of wristbands at a number of convenient locations. Wristbands cost $25 and allow a carload of visitors to visit any of the 16 participating farms. All proceeds from the tour go to Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture. Individual farms can be visited at a cost of $10 per farm.

For more information about the High Country Farm Tour and BRWIA, click to www.brwia.org.

For grower interviews and photos of the farms featured on the tour visit, click to www.highcountryfarmtour.blog.com.

another upcoming food related BRWIA event: “Food, INC” at Dragonfly Theater

link to this article in the High Country Press

http://www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2009/07-30-09/food_inc.htm

Food, Inc.— Exposing the Details of the American Industrial Food Industry

Special Film Screening at Dragonfly Theater & Pub Sunday

Story by Kehren Barbour

High
Country Local Food enthusiasts High Country Locavore, Slow Food of
Boone and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture are co-hosting a screening of
the recently released film Food, Inc. at the Dragonfly
Theater and Pub, located at 215 Boone Heights Drive in Boone, this
Sunday, August 2, from 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. Tickets cost $10.

High Country Locavore sees Food, Inc.
as a catalyst for awareness of issues related to food as it highlights
the many benefits of a food system centered on local foods. Interested
in accountability in the food systems, High Country Locavore’s Jeffery
Scott is interested in the film, he said, “because it is a light being
shined into the shadows of where foods from industrialized systems come
from.”

Robert Kenner’s film Food, Inc. has been described as
lifting the veil on the nation’s food industry as it exposes details
often hidden from the consumers’ view. Kenner’s view is that “our
nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations
that often put profit ahead of consumer health, [resulting in Americans
being] riddled with widespread obesity and an epidemic level of
diabetes among adults.” With interviews with Eric Schlosser of Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, along with socially-minded entrepreneurs like Stonyfield’s Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. is interested in investigation into the details of what we eat and how it’s produced.

Joel
Salatin, who is the owner of Polyface Farms and is featured in Food,
Inc., speaks to a crowd at the High Country Local Food Summit hosted by
the ASU Sustainable Development program. Photo by Kehren Barbour

This Sunday, Food, Inc. begins at 6:00 p.m., but
participants are encouraged to arrive early to mingle with other
attendees. Following the movie, attendees will enjoy a 45-minute panel
discussion and question-and-answer session with local farmers, a
representative from Watauga County Cooperative Extension office and a
few other special guests. At completion of the panel discussion, the
night will finish up with a performance by local southern indie rock
band The Worthless Son-in-Laws.

Interested in supporting socially responsible events, Dragonfly Theater
and Pub, in addition to co-hosting the event, will serve local produce
and local meats during the screening.

High Country Locavore is a local organization begun by a concerned
group of citizens interested in building awareness to issues related to
local food production, food distribution, encouraging the consumption
of local foods and details related to compost and farmland
conservation.

For more information on Food, Inc., click to www.foodincmovie.com.

For more information on High Country Locavore, click to www.highcountrylocovore.org.

For more information on the screening or to purchase tickets, stop by Dragonfly Theater and Pub or call 828-262-3222.

BRWIA/High Country Farm Tour 2009 Partipanting Farms

High Country Farm Tour: “Good for you and your family, Good for farmers and our communities, Good for the environment.”

Tickets are available in the form of wristbands available for purchase at a number of convenient locations.  Wristbands cost $25 and allow a carload of visitors to visit any of the 16 participating farms. All proceeds from the farm tour go to Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, a 501(c)(3) organization.  Individual farms can be visited at a cost of $10 per farm.  Local vendors selling wristbands include:

Ashe County Farmers’ Market, Saturdays & Wednesdays, 8AM-1PM
“Back Street” of West Jefferson off Jefferson Ave/Hwy 88N
www.ashefarmersmarket.com

Bare Essentials Natural Market
273 Boone Heights Drive, Boone | 828-262-5592 or www.benaturalmarket.com

Earth Fare
178 West King Street, Boone | 828-263-8138 or www.earthfare.com

Original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis
Highway 194, Valle Crucis | 828-963-6511 or www.mastgeneralstore.com

Mast General Store in Downtown Boone
630 West King Street, Boone | 828-262-0000 or www.mastgeneralstore.com

Spin A Yarn
207 Backstreet, West Jefferson | 336-846-7746

Watauga County Farmers’ Market,
Saturdays, 8 AM-noon, Wednesdays 4-7 PM Horn in the West parking lot off Hwy 105 Extension in Boone
www.wataugacountyfarmersmarket.org

With over 16 local farms participating in this years’ tour, farms are located all over the High County region, including farms in counties of Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, and Grayson.

In Watauga County, Farms include:

Apple Hill Farm
Apple Hill Rd.
Matney, NC
828-963-1662

Goodnight Family Sustainable
Development Teaching
and Research Farm at ASU
Brooke Kornegay
Dutch Creek Road
Valle Crucis, NC 28679
828-262-7268

Springhouse Farm
Amy Johnson
433 Silverstone Rd
Vilas, NC 28692
828-297-2676
amyj@skybest.com

Watauga River Farms
Charles Church
2953 NC Hwy 194S
Valle Crucis, NC 28691
828-297-3775/828-265-7279

In   Ashe County, farms include:

Big Horse Creek Farm
Ron & Suzanne Joyner
Old Apple Road, Lansing, NC 28643
336-384-1134
www.bighorsecreekfarm.

New River Winery
Amanda Gentry
163 Piney Creek Road Building B
Lansing, NC 28643
336-384-1213
info@newriverwinery.com
www.newriverwinery.

Old Orchard Creek Farm

410 Swansie Shepherd Rd.

Lansing, NC 28643

Spin A Yarn
Nancy Weaver-Hoffman
Spin A Yarn
207 Backstreet
West Jefferson, NC 28694
336-846-7746
FoxfireHoller@aol.com
SpinAYarnNC.com

Zydeco Moon Farm
Sally Thiel & Joe Martin
2220 Big Helton Road
Grassy Creek, NC 28631
336-384-2546

In Alleghany County, participating farms include

Blue Ridge Farmers’ Market
Colette Nester
10436 Hwy 21 South
Roaring Gap, NC 28668
336-363-2583
blueridgefam@hotmail.com

Crosscreek Farm
Colette Nester
2416 Nile Road
Sparta, NC 28675
336-420-8064/336-363-2583
crosscreekfarm@hotmail.com
www.crosscreekfarmnc.com

Rocking S Farm
Alan Souther
567 Garvey Road
Piney Creek, NC 28663
336-359-8324

In Wilkes County, participating farms include:
In Wilkes County, participating farms include:

Brushy Mountain Farm and Orchard
Debra Lowe
7673 NC Hwy 16 South
Moravian Falls, NC 28654
336-838-8851

Four Winds Berry Farm
Marsha Bryant
7493 NC Hwy. 16 South
Moravian Falls, NC 28654

Tumbling Shoals Farm
Shiloh Avery
841 Sand Ridge Road
Miller’s Creek, NC 26851
336-452-2920

In Grayson County, Va, participating farms include

River Ridge Land and
Cattle Company
Charlotte Hanes
3352 Battlefield Drive
Independence, VA 24348
276-768-9955
charlotte@rphanes.com
www.lodgeatriverridge.com

For more information about the High Country Farm Tour and BRWIA, please visit our web site: www.brwia.org.

For grower interviews and photos of the farms featured on the Tour visit:
highcountryfarmtour.blog.com.

For more information, BRWIA can be reached via email: brwia@yahoo.com.

from the High Country Press: Interview with Zydeco Farms

from:

http://www.highcountrypress.com/weekly/2009/07-23-09/along_the_garden_path.htm

July 23, 2009 ISSUE

Along the Garden Path

BRWIA High Country Farm Tour Spotlight—Zydeco Moon Farms

Story by Kehren Barbour

With organic gardens and cabins available for rental, Zydeco Moon Organic Farm and Cabins is located at 2220 Big Helton Road in Grassy Creek. Zydeco Moon Farms is certified organic, situated on five acres in Grassy Creek and owned by Joe Martin and Sally Thiel.

This year, High Country Press is publishing a series of interviews with local farmers participating in the 2009 High Country Farm Tour that is organized by the Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA). Following stones laid out on gardens path, footing found from farm to table, Along the Garden Path is a series of interviews with farmers participating the upcoming BRWIA 2009 High Country Farm Tour, planned for Saturday and Sunday, August 8 and 9.

This year’s tour includes a number of well-known local farmers, including Rocking S Farm, the Springhouse Farm, the ASU Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Teaching and Research Farm, the Brushy Mountain Farm and Orchard, Watauga River Farms, Crosscreek Farm, New River Winery, Tumbling Shoals Farm, Apple Hill Farm, Foxfire Holler Farm & Spin A Yarn, River Ridge Land and Cattle Company, Big Horse Creek Farm, Zydeco Moon Organic Farm and Old Orchard Creek.

Interviews will be posted on the High Country Farm Tour blog, found by clicking to HighCountryFarmTour.blog.com.

This week’s interview is with Sally Thiel from Zydeco Moon Farms.

With organic gardens and cabins available for rental, Zydeco Moon Organic Farm and Cabins is located at 2220 Big Helton Road in Grassy Creek. Zydeco Moon Farms is certified organic, situated on five acres in Grassy Creek and owned by Joe Martin and Sally Thiel. For more information, click to www.zydecomoon.com or call 336-385-2546.

Q: What products and services does your farm produce?
A: [Zydeco Farms] produces sugar snap and snow peas, heirloom tomatoes, squash, lettuce, onions, peppers, broccoli, fingerling potatoes, winter squash and beets. We are certified organic by the USDA and have been for the past four years.

Q: Where do you sell your products?
A: [We sell] at the Watauga Farmer’s Market and off the farm. We also sell to local restaurants through New River Organic Growers and wholesale to Eastern Carolina Organics in Pittsboro.

Q: What drew you to farming?
A: I retired from state government in Louisiana and moved to Grassy Creek. I wanted something different to do and found they were looking for organic farmers. I took a class from Richard Boylan with the local Cooperative Extension on organic certification and farming. The next summer we became certified and started farming on one acre. We have increased the farm to five acres and really love what we do. It is fun to feed people and get immediate feedback about how good your food is.

Q: What challenges do independent growers face?
A: The biggest challenge is obtaining supplies for organic farming. Most supply places carry very few organic products. Through the support of other farmers in New River Organic Growers we are able to solve a lot of problems and get advice and support from other farmers.

Q: What role do you see your farm playing in the future of local food?
A: I think local food is extremely important in our community. My husband (Joe Martin) and I are very active in agricultural organizations such as the farmer’s market and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture as we think local food is the way to sustain communities. It provides jobs and provides healthy food to the community. Local food and family farms are the only way to insure a safe healthy food system.

“I am not bound for any public place, but for ground of my own where I have
planted vines and orchard trees, and in the heat of the day climbed up into
the healing shadow of the woods.” – Wendell Berry

Along the Garden Path: High Country growers tell their stories along the path from Farm to Food

Welcome to the High Country Farm Tour Blog!  This is brought to you by Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture as place to read stories realted to the community of local High Country Farms and the foods they grow & produce!  Please visit often for weekly updates and interviews of local farmers that help feed our community!

Thank you to Will and Deni McIntyre for these images.

Farming Community and Food: Celebration of High County Farms

BRWIA’s mission is “to empower women and their families with resources, education, and skills related to the production and consumption of sustainably-grown food from the community.”

The High Country Farm Tour was started by the Carolina Farm Stewarts Association, the tradition of the farm tour is being carried on by Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA). On Saturday August 8th and Sunday August 9th, farms participating in the High Country Farm Tour will be open to guests to show and share the bounty of food and flowers in the beautiful North Carolina mountains that supporting local sustainable farms in Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga and Wilkes Counties.

Weekly interviews of High Country Growers will be posted on the High Country Farm Tour website: highcountryfarmtour.blog.com. With these interviews, BRWIA is interested in connecting concepts of farm & food to goods & consumers. Centered on the people of the region, their crafts, their foods and their stories, interviews will highlight our community and to celebrate the history of place and maker linking place and its people through food. Interested not only in highlighting the services, crops, and products manufactures on local farms– from livestock to bees, jams, jellies and quilts– but the connection to the land and the crops as celebrated by the local people growing and making the high-quality, tasty foods and goods that reflect the talents of the residents of this region.

Please check in each week for updates interviews and new farm photos! Hope to see you on the farms August 8th & 9th!

For more information, please see BRWIA.org