BURNSVILLE, NC – The western North Carolina Appalachians are home both to some of the oldest mountains in the world and a highly diverse forest ecosystem. All the forest types you find as you travel the length of the Appalachians, from Georgia to Maine, you can find here in North Carolina, distributed by elevation.
It’s that richness in forest diversity which attracted Brian and Ali to move to the region three years ago after time farming in Vermont, Maryland and Cape Cod. They had found a farm for lease which already had some infrastructure – irrigation, tunnel houses, outbuildings – and they started growing (non-certified) organic vegetables.
“It was really nice to hit the ground running,” Ali said.
At the current operation, the duo has made a number of improvements, standardizing the size of the growing plots and adding deer protection. Overall production occurs on about one full acre, spread across several plots.
At any one time the farm is growing about 20 different vegetables. Over the course of the year, they grow about 40 different types of vegetables. Last year, the farm sold at the farmers market for 50 weeks out of the year.
The farm sells through a CSA, at the Asheville City Market, to some restaurants and to a local food hub. The CSA has 110 members and lasts for 25 weeks in the main season. There is also a six-week spring CSA.
Brian with some of the exotic tree species in the farm’s nursery. Photo by Karl H. Kazaks
“We’re not a traditional CSA,” Ali said, “where everyone gets the same box of produce. We use points with a value assigned to each crop and let people shop for what they want every week. Over three years we’ve developed a better grasp on what people want.”
In addition to vegetables, the twosome also started a nursery of fruit trees and exotic trees. For the past two years, Seven Seeds has also been growing and selling cut flowers.
At the end of this year Brian and Ali are moving to a piece of land they have bought. The farm name will stay the same, and the vegetable growing will continue apace. At the new farm, they will also start an orchard, a dream of Brian’s, who for some years established and managed an organic apple orchard in far northern Vermont.
The dream is to grow apples, European pears, Asian pears and peaches as well as cherries in tunnels. Other unusual trees in the farm’s nursery include heartnut, hican (hickory x pecan), buartnut (heartnut x butternut), hardy pomegranate and monkey puzzle (also known as a Chilean pine). Eventually they’ll add cows and chickens at well.
This year the farm participated in a cucumber trellising trial organized by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA). The trial compared Hortonova trellis netting to dropdown twine like that used in roller hooks. It took more time managing the growth of cucumbers on the Hortonova netting but aside from that no significant differences were found between the two trellising methods.
“We’re still fine tuning,” Ali added. “That’s part of what’s so fun about farming.”
Learn more about Seven Seeds Farm by visiting their website.
by Karl H. Kazaks
