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Working Landscapes Partners with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture to Support High Country Farmers:
Working Landscapes has partnered with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture to assist High Country farmers in adopting climate-smart practices on their farms. Together, Working Landscapes and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture are working closely with High Country farmers to enroll them in the Climate-Smart Agriculture program. This initiative not only provides financial support for implementing innovative climate-smart practices but also offers technical assistance and education to ensure the success of these practices. This collaboration underscores the importance of local partnerships in driving meaningful environmental change and fostering a sustainable future for farming. Read below to meet the local farmers who are piloting Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture's Climate-Smart program and learn more about their journey towards sustainable farming. |
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Against The Grain
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Owners: Holly Whitesides and Andy Bryant Location: Zionville, NC About: Holly Whitesides and Andy Bryant have been farming organically together since 2010. In the spring of 2012, they bought the land that would become Against the Grain, and in the 2013 growing season, they were introduced to Biodynamic farming practices. Growing food that nurtures a whole human being, body, soul and spirit, has always been a shared passion for Holly and Andy. Website: www.atgfarm.com/ Soil Carbon Amendment: Applying carbon-based amendments from plant materials or treated animal byproducts enhances soil organic matter, sequesters carbon, and improves soil stability and habitat for soil organisms, making it a key practice for improving soil conditions across various agricultural lands. Nutrient Management: By managing the rate, source, placement, and timing of plant nutrients and soil amendments, nutrient management improves plant health, reduces environmental impacts, and decreases greenhouse gas emissions, making it essential for climate-smart agriculture. Cover crop: Cover cropping involves growing a planned sequence of various crops on the same piece of land to achieve multiple conservation purposes. The rotation helps improve soil through fibrous-rooted, high-residue crops, and perennial forage plants that increase organic matter and reduce erosion. Cover crop rotation breaks insect, disease, and weed cycles, adds diversity to farm operations, and reduces economic and environmental risks. Rotations are tailored to soil type, crop type, farming operations, and residue management. |
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Owners: Don and Belinda Carringer Location: Newland, NC About: Don and Belinda Carringer, natives of Western North Carolina, carry on a rich farming tradition. Their journey, marked by a passion for the land and community, has seen them thrive at farmers markets since 2008, supplying local restaurants with produce, preserves, and honey from Don's 30-35 beehives. Now settled on a 9-acre farm in Altamont, near Newland, they continue to expand their presence, with recent ventures into micro-greens and upcoming appearances at new markets like the King Street Farmers Market in 2023. Together, they cultivate a diverse array of vegetables and corn for stone ground meal, complemented by Belinda's artisanal jams, jellies, relishes, and apple butter. Website: https://www.carringerfarms.com/ Mulching: Applying mulch (plant residues or other suitable materials) to the land surface helps manage moisture efficiently, reduce erosion, enhance plant productivity, and maintain soil organic matter, making it beneficial for crop requiring mulch application. Cover crop: Cover cropping involves growing a planned sequence of various crops on the same piece of land to achieve multiple conservation purposes. The rotation helps improve soil through fibrous-rooted, high-residue crops, and perennial forage plants that increase organic matter and reduce erosion. Cover crop rotation breaks insect, disease, and weed cycles, adds diversity to farm operations, and reduces economic and environmental risks. Rotations are tailored to soil type, crop type, farming operations, and residue management. |
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Owner: Steve Taylor Location: Lenoir, NC About: Cedar Hill Farm is a family farm located north of Lenoir in Caldwell County. Steve has been farming here for thirty years but since retiring, he has been able to expand the garden and grow a variety of vegetables including beans, peas, okra, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. A few years ago, Steve was diagnosed with a variety of allergies. Being able to eat home grown vegetables has made a big difference for him. Recently, several people have asked me to grow enough to share. Pasture and Hay Planting: By establishing adapted and compatible perennial herbaceous plants for pasture or hay production, this practice aims to improve livestock nutrition and health, increase forage supply during periods of low production, reduce soil erosion, and enhance water and air quality, as well as soil health. |
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Owners: Jess McClelland and Alex O'Neil Location: Triplett, NC About: Jess and ALex started Daybreak Homestead in early 2022 when they moved to Triplett, NC after five years of living the townie life in Boone! They are first generation farmers working a 15 acre homestead. They grow a diverse range of vegetables, fruits, and herbs, and raise a small number of free range ducks and chickens. We also sustainably forage native edibles and mushrooms from 13 acres of beautiful, abundant forest! Our goal is to learn how to live in harmony with our land, nourish our soil, and share our abundance with the High Country community. Daybreak Homestead has committed to implementing climate-smart practices on their land, the program mainly offers assistance to enact more changes as time progresses. They are farming land that would not typically be farmed and have found the best way to combat some of the challenges on their land is through these sustainable and regenerative practices. The funding from the program has helped the farmers build their foundation in climate-smart agriculture, that they plan to continue even after the conclusion of the project. They are hopeful that this program will not only assist the farmers and uphold a resilient food system, but also help communicate the importance of climate change in local food systems. Soil Carbon Amendment: Applying carbon-based amendments derived from plant materials or treated animal byproducts serves several purposes, including improving or maintaining soil organic matter, sequestering carbon to enhance soil carbon stocks, enhancing soil aggregate stability, and providing a better habitat for soil organisms. Silvopasture: Silvopasture involves establishing and managing desired trees and forages on the same land unit, this practice provides forage, shade, and shelter for livestock, enhances the productivity and health of trees and forages, and improves water quality while reducing erosion. Additionally, it enhances wildlife habitat, improves biological diversity, soil quality, and carbon sequestration, and supports beneficial organisms and pollinators. This practice can be applied to any area suitable for the desired combination of forages, trees, and livestock. Mulching: Applying mulch (plant residues or other suitable materials) to the land surface helps manage moisture efficiently, reduce erosion, enhance plant productivity, and maintain soil organic matter, making it beneficial for crop requiring mulch application. Cover crop: Cover cropping involves growing a planned sequence of various crops on the same piece of land to achieve multiple conservation purposes. The rotation helps improve soil through fibrous-rooted, high-residue crops, and perennial forage plants that increase organic matter and reduce erosion. Cover crop rotation breaks insect, disease, and weed cycles, adds diversity to farm operations, and reduces economic and environmental risks. Rotations are tailored to soil type, crop type, farming operations, and residue management. |
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Owner: Ed Winebarger Location: Vilas, NC About: Ed Winebarger resides on a 7 acre, fully operational Organic Farm. He is highly experienced in Organic Farm to Table Cuisine, offering his Private Chef Services to Boone, North Carolina High Country Holiday Events, Parties and Western North Carolina Destination Weddings. Website: www.earthworkscatering.com/ Reduced Till: Reduced tillage involves minimizing soil disturbance year-round to carefully manage crop and plant residue on the soil surface, thereby mitigating erosion, reducing particulate emissions, maintaining or increasing soil health and organic matter content, improving plant-available moisture, lowering energy use, and providing food and escape cover for wildlife. Mulching: Applying mulch (plant residues or other suitable materials) to the land surface helps manage moisture efficiently, reduce erosion, enhance plant productivity, and maintain soil organic matter, making it beneficial for crop requiring mulch application. Cover Crop: Cover cropping involves growing a planned sequence of various crops on the same piece of land to achieve multiple conservation purposes. The rotation helps improve soil through fibrous-rooted, high-residue crops, and perennial forage plants that increase organic matter and reduce erosion. Cover crop rotation breaks insect, disease, and weed cycles, adds diversity to farm operations, and reduces economic and environmental risks. Rotations are tailored to soil type, crop type, farming operations, and residue management. |
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Owners: Kara Dodson and Jacob Crigler Location: Triplett, NC About: Full Moon Farm lives in Triplett, near Boone, among the ancient, wise Appalachian Mountains. We use no-till methods to cultivate the land and we keep all of our farming practices centered on caring for the Earth and our community. All of our vegetables are grown using organic listed products and we never use pesticides or sprays made with synthetic, harmful chemicals. Full Moon farmers, Kara and Jacob, have been committed to implementing climate-smart practices to build a strong and resilient farm that can withstand the ever present effects of climate change. By dedicating to utilize cover crops, composting, no-till farming, and windbreaks, their work is an example of a long time commitment to their community and the local food system as a whole. The Climate-Smart program has allotted them the time and funding to put these climate mitigating effects into practice. Windbreak: Establishing, enhancing, or renovating windbreaks, known as shelterbelts, reducing soil erosion from wind, protecting plant health and productivity, managing snow distribution to improve moisture utilization, mitigating obstacles and flooding, enhancing moisture management, providing shelter from adverse weather conditions, improving air quality by intercepting particulate matter, reducing energy consumption, and increasing carbon storage in biomass and soils. Soil Carbon Amendment: Applying carbon-based amendments derived from plant materials or treated animal byproducts serves several purposes, including improving or maintaining soil organic matter, sequestering carbon to enhance soil carbon stocks, enhancing soil aggregate stability, and providing a better habitat for soil organisms. Cover crop: Cover cropping involves growing a planned sequence of various crops on the same piece of land to achieve multiple conservation purposes. The rotation helps improve soil through fibrous-rooted, high-residue crops, and perennial forage plants that increase organic matter and reduce erosion. Cover crop rotation breaks insect, disease, and weed cycles, adds diversity to farm operations, and reduces economic and environmental risks. Rotations are tailored to soil type, crop type, farming operations, and residue management. |
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Owners: Tori and Casey Ostwinch Location: Conover, NC About: Honey Tree Farm is 4.5 acres with almost 2 acres of bio-intensive vegetable farming, focused on living soils and valuable relationships. Tori and Casey started off homesteading in the city on 1 acre with chickens, vegetables and honeybees. Growing nutrient dense produce was thier hobby together and they enjoyed it so much that they decided to make it thier living. Tori and Casey found an opportunity in South Carolina to start a market garden for a farm-to-table events business. They took the plunge, quit our jobs, sold everything we owned and lived in an RV while they built their market garden. After one year we knew they wanted to do it for themselves and found their current farmland in Conover, NC. It's been four years and they are still loving it and growing more everyday! Website: https://www.honeytreefarmnc.com/farm/ Soil Carbon Amendment: Applying carbon-based amendments derived from plant materials or treated animal byproducts serves several purposes, including improving or maintaining soil organic matter, sequestering carbon to enhance soil carbon stocks, enhancing soil aggregate stability, and providing a better habitat for soil organisms. Mulching: Applying mulch (plant residues or other suitable materials) to the land surface helps manage moisture efficiently, reduce erosion, enhance plant productivity, and maintain soil organic matter, making it beneficial for crop requiring mulch application. Nutrient Management: By managing the rate, source, placement, and timing of plant nutrients and soil amendments, nutrient management improves plant health, reduces environmental impacts, and decreases greenhouse gas emissions, making it essential for climate-smart agriculture. Forest Stand Improvement: The manipulation of tree and shrub species composition, structure, or density is a strategic approach aimed at shaping forest ecosystems to meet specific goals. These goals encompass maintaining or enhancing forest carbon stocks, overall health, and productivity, while concurrently fostering habitats conducive to wildlife, fish, and pollinators. Moreover, this practice is vital for optimizing natural precipitation management, curbing forest pest pressures, and mitigating the potential for forest wildfires, ensuring the long-term sustainability and resilience of forest ecosystems. Cover Crop: Cover cropping involves growing a planned sequence of various crops on the same piece of land to achieve multiple conservation purposes. The rotation helps improve soil through fibrous-rooted, high-residue crops, and perennial forage plants that increase organic matter and reduce erosion. Cover crop rotation breaks insect, disease, and weed cycles, adds diversity to farm operations, and reduces economic and environmental risks. Rotations are tailored to soil type, crop type, farming operations, and residue management. |
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Owners: Nora Rodli and Jay Bost Location: Boone, NC About: Laughing Springs Farm & Botanicals is a certified organic farm located on the edge of Boone on 17 acres of farmland that we are grateful to begin stewarding. Established in early 2022, we are building our farm slowly as we come to better know the land with each season and are fortunate to live next door to the former owner whose family has farmed this land for 3 generations. We are still evolving our farm focus, but for now, we will be growing and sharing diversified vegetables, milled corn products (grits, cornmeal) and medicinal herbal products. Although new to the Boone area, we have been organic farmers for the past 25 years in a variety of places - as owners, managers, breeders, seed producers, educators - we have tried a bit of everything - and the learning never stops Website: https://laughingspringsfarm.com/ Forest Stand Improvement: The manipulation of tree and shrub species composition, structure, or density is a strategic approach aimed at shaping forest ecosystems to meet specific goals. These goals encompass maintaining or enhancing forest carbon stocks, overall health, and productivity, while concurrently fostering habitats conducive to wildlife, fish, and pollinators. Moreover, this practice is vital for optimizing natural precipitation management, curbing forest pest pressures, and mitigating the potential for forest wildfires, ensuring the long-term sustainability and resilience of forest ecosystems. Tree/Shrub Establishment: Establishing woody plants through planting, direct seeding, or natural regeneration serves various purposes, including enhancing plant diversity, productivity, and health, improving water quality by reducing excess nutrients and pollutants, restoring native plant communities, controlling erosion, and creating or enhancing habitat for wildlife and pollinator species. Additionally, this practice contributes to carbon sequestration and storage, conserves energy, and provides shelter for livestock. Cover Cropping: Cover cropping involves growing a planned sequence of various crops on the same piece of land to achieve multiple conservation purposes. The rotation helps improve soil through fibrous-rooted, high-residue crops, and perennial forage plants that increase organic matter and reduce erosion. Cover crop rotation breaks insect, disease, and weed cycles, adds diversity to farm operations, and reduces economic and environmental risks. Rotations are tailored to soil type, crop type, farming operations, and residue management. |
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Owners: Brad and Christa Kelley
Location: Deep Gap, NC About: Land of Milk and Honey Farms, LLC is owned by Brad and Christa Kelley located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC (Deep Gap). They are a small farm providing beef, pork, lamb, eggs, honey, baked goods and sweets, such as candy, caramels, cookies, marshmallows, jams/marmalades. They also offer a variety of handmade items including beeswax candles, leather goods and skincare. Animals that call their farm home include alpacas, Katahdin hair sheep, pure East Friesian milk sheep, beef cattle, two Jersey milk cows, miniature donkeys, Meishan pasture pigs, Kunekune pasture pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, and quail. They also raise honeybees and bottle their honey on site in honey processing house. Website: www.landofmilkandhoneyfarmnc.com/ |
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Owners: Saundra and Chuck Lewis Location: McGrady, NC About: Sheraton Park Farms is a 70 acre, regenerative farm located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Wilkes County. They raise beef cattle, egg chickens, meat chickens, turkeys, pigs. With a combined 40+ years of experience in the healthcare industry, farming would not have been where they imagined their journey would take them. After doing a summer apprenticeship with Rose Mountain Butcher Shop in West Jefferson, Saundra came home with a new insight. "This local food, know your farmer thing is really growing." After reading every book they could get their hands on, watching every on-line video they could watch, the journey began in 2017. After outgrowing a small 20 acre farm in Guilford County, the opportunity to return "home" to Wilkes County came up in 2021 and they are growing the new farm to feed even more families! Website: https://www.sheratonparkfarms.com/ Prescribed Grazing: Prescribed grazing involves strategically managing the grazing and browsing of vegetation by animals to meet specific ecological, economic, and management goals. This practice aims to improve or maintain the composition, structure, and vigor of plant communities, enhance forage quality and quantity for animal health and productivity, safeguard water quality and quantity, preserve riparian and watershed function, mitigate soil erosion while enhancing soil health, provide food and cover for wildlife, and regulate fine fuel loads to achieve desired conditions within a conservation management system. |
