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Featured Farmers
farms connected to the arcd
Featured Farmers
Persephone’s Garden is the partnership of Chris and Christy on multiple parcels of land, farming organic high quality produce, plant starts, and flowers in a modern reality of getting new into farming.
Wayne and Pamela Hughes of Rocky Field Farms are an example of conservation practices for today and tomorrow. This dedication comes from deep rooted values and love for the land.
Wayne and Pamela Hughes of Rocky Field Farms are an example of conservation practices for today and tomorrow. This dedication comes from deep rooted values and love for the land.
July’s sold out Field School workshop location was held at Aunt Willie’s Wildflowers and taught by owners Linda and Roy Doan. “I married a farm when I married a farmer,” says Linda.
A Different Chick Farm and Orchard is a small family-run urban farm in the heart of Johnson City, Tennessee. The farm is only 6 acres in size, but you would never know that by looking at the huge variety and quantity of goods the Stanleys offer for sale.
Graduates of the Field School beginning farmer training program, Jeannie and Brian Miller are entering a new season of success with Midfield Lavender Farm in Bulls Gap.
When Hurricane Helene hit Jonesborough and the Nolichucky River late last September, Tabitha Dotson of Dotson Farm had just sold her cattle for the year to allow the pastures time to rest. Her timing proved immensely fortunate. She didn’t lose any livestock as the river rose out of its bed, flooded her pastures, and eventually deposited sediment, flotsam, and thousands of tomatoes from a farm upstream.
Home is where the heart is, as the old adage goes. Usually one thinks of a farm as always being tied to one place. For farm operators Dylan Disque and Rachel Slaughter, their heart and home, and their farm, have moved with them in their travels.
Extreme weather was what introduced Holly Knoll Farms to the Appalachian RC&D Council. Their prime pastures where they graze their grass-finished beef cattle border the Nolichucky River in Greene County. Hurricane Helene’s rising flood waters caused damage never imagined. 6,000 linear feet of fence – that’s more than 1 mile – was washed out. The flood waters left behind piles of debris, and silt beds so deep it has transformed pasture they once depended on for their livestock management. Insurance and government programs don’t cover these losses.
Grand Oak Farm was established on over 1,000 acres by the Hale Family on a Revolutionary War grant. Owner, Dana Ensor (married to Bob Ensor), is the 8th generation to farm the remaining 100 acres.
Andy Brown was appointed Executive Director of the Appalachian RC&D Council in July, 2024. In addition to bringing decades of experience decades of experience as a nonprofit leader, small business owner, and mindfulness teacher, he is a stonemason and a self-described “small time farmer” at Creag Creek Farm, Buladean, NC.
“We didn’t even talk about it, we knew this was how we wanted to live.” Tied together by the love for mountains and working the land, Donica and Caleb Krebs operate Old Forge Homestead, a farm in Siam/Hampton area of Carter County focused on dairy goats and community connections.
Curiosity has been a big theme of our 2nd year with Build It Up. Whether it has been experimenting with new crops, handling pest problems (what IS that bug?!) or how to stay on top of harvesting/preserving, we’re constantly asking, “what can we do?” Well, it turns out we can do more than we imagined.
Why Hope? Hope is Becky’s family name. But also, getting started in farming was a vision of hope. “Hope for simpler life,” says Steve, as well as more self-determination. “Farming has also come with many a tear thinking how did I get into this mess?” Hope prevails for the Mallory family!