Growing Local Radio Series

Farming can be a solitary experience where some people spend more time with plants and animals than people. But if you look closer, the food system is a web of personal relationships between people who are working toward common goals.  […]Read More ▶▶

If you ask the Creasman family to name their favorite apples, they won’t hem and haw.  “My most favorite apple that we grow on the farm is a Swiss Gourmet,” says Dawn Cresman.  “I like a Rusty Coat. It has […]Read More ▶▶

In last week’s episode, we took you to a dairy farm in Columbus, North Carolina. Jennifer Perkins from Looking Glass Creamery was standing on top of a grassy hill and imagining its transformation into an underground aging cave for their […]Read More ▶▶

It’s 5:30 in the evening and the cows are already lined up at the gate. Alan Harmon of Harmon Dairy is getting the milking machine ready. How many times has Alan started and ended his day in the milking parlor?  […]Read More ▶▶

As winter farmers markets open for the season, you might be wondering how those tender greens were grown during some of the coldest months of the year. Over the past several years, more local farmers have been using tools and […]Read More ▶▶

I’m hunting the ghost of tobacco farming with Taylor Barnhill from the Appalachian Barn Alliance. As we drive around the tight curves and steep hillsides of Madison County, we see dozens of old barns teetering on the edge of the […]Read More ▶▶

If you drive through the hills and along the river in Madison County, North Carolina, you’ll see a community in transition. Some fields are fallow, others are filled with hay, and around the bend, farmers are growing fruits and vegetables […]Read More ▶▶

The ups and downs of 2020 have affected us all differently, but one thing we have in common is the daily task of eating. Being able to access food was one of the early concerns that many people shared, and […]Read More ▶▶

It’s the end of the growing season and Harold Long is standing in front of a row of pole beans. The vines are withered and the pods are bone dry, but this seed’s journey is actually just beginning.  Harold and […]Read More ▶▶

Picture the perfect Christmas tree. It’s tall and cone-shaped, has strong boughs for hanging ornaments, its needles stay on the tree for weeks after it’s harvested, and it smells divine. This ideal Christmas tree is likely a Fraser fir.  Fraser […]Read More ▶▶