Farmer Profile: two Stones Farm & Mill + GRITS RECIPE
"It takes two stones"
Duane Gibson has taught and hosted ARCD’s Field School several times since 2015, showcasing how to become certified organic, how to sell to farmers markets, and how to raise blueberries in Greene County.
One day in 2019, Duane brought some produce into a bakery and met baker Lindsey Giglio. Duane and Lindsey connected over grains and grist milling and together they have tapped into deep roots of grain growing and milling that used to be much more widespread in Appalachia.
Embedded in the name of the farm, “Two Stones”, is the message that it takes more than one component to run a successful farm. Duane and Lindsey both bring talents, ideas, and work to the farmer. It also takes a community to support the farm.
As their July 2026 tour with Field School showed, grain production is an experiment of art and science. Each year they discover which types of wheat performed well with the weather and field conditions. Their record keeping and knowledge of farm programs has helped them grow their business into new markets. Currently they grow varieties of wheat, corn, oats, and some buckwheat.
Their mill grinds and sifts the grains into different levels of coarseness. Corn is milled into flour, or grits, or polenta, for example. They offer whole wheat, and “all purpose” flour, which is sifted fine.
JUMP TO GRITS RECIPE
Duane and Lindsey sell every Saturday at the Asheville farmers market. Duane had built up a customer following for his certified-organic blueberries over many years. Now they can sell watermelons, cut flowers, as well as their grains.
Their grain CSA, which includes 4 pounds of different grains for $25/month, is the only one of its kind in the region, from the farm straight to the customer. Their summer CSA, for example, included 3-grain cereal porridge, heirloom flint cornmeal, polenta, dried peas, whole wheat flours, and rolled oats.
In Tennessee, you can find their flours and grains at the Boone Street Market.
Duane and Lindsey agreed to be one of our farmers interviewed for the Field School E-Course. You can see them share their knowledge for beginning farmers on several of the videos about building a farm dream, production planning record keeping, TEAP funding.
Featured Recipe: Grits
How Duane & Lindsey cook grits:
Cook time: 1 hour
The ratio is 4:1, four parts water to one part corn. 1 cup grits is a good amount for a meal for 2 hungry farmers.
-
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil.
-
Add 1 cup of Two Stones Farm & Mill Heirloom Orange Corn Grits
Quickly skim off the chaff that will rise to the top.
-
Add salt.
-
Give a good stir. Cover with a lid. Cut the heat. Walk away and let sit for an hour.
An hour?! Yes, that’s how we do it. In the morning, we’ll put a pot of grits on the stove and leave for an hour or so while they cook to work around the farm, go for a morning walk with the dog, water the plants in the greenhouse, or enjoy a cup of coffee on the porch.
If you want to shorten the cooking time, and you’ll be working in the kitchen preparing the rest of your meal, instead of turning off the pot, you can adjust the heat to medium-low and stir more regularly until the water is absorb. Cover and let sit until you’re ready.
