ASAP likes to share the stories of people who help us fulfill our mission. This month we talk with farmers Justin Jones of Alta Vista Farm and Mark Diaz of CrossCreek Farm. Justin moved to Asheville in late 2020 and started farming through the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy incubator program. Mark and his wife, Donna, raise Belted Galloway cattle and hay at CrossCreek … Read more
Emily Jackson, founder and director of ASAP’s Growing Minds program will retire at the end of the year. For our Faces of Local interview this month, we asked her to reflect on her time at ASAP and the growth the farm to school movement over the past two decades. Can you talk about how Growing … Read more
ASAP likes to share the stories of people in the community who help us fulfill our mission. This month we talked to Seth Salmon, farmer and owner of Wildwood Herbal. The farm has been providing fresh produce and prepared meals for Meals on Wheels and recently became a partner in ASAP’s Appalachian Farms Feeding Families … Read more
ASAP likes to share the stories of people who help us fulfill our mission. This month we talked with Melinda Aponte, nutrition coordinator for the YWCA of Asheville’s Early Learning Program. The YWCA is part of ASAP’s Appalachian Farms Feeding Families program, working with Ivy Creek Family Farm to provide fresh, local produce for the children. She is pictured … Read more
A new group of farmers is sowing seeds in Henderson County, North Carolina. The vegetables, herbs, and flowers they planted this spring are growing alongside their vision for a cooperative farm that fosters social equity and economic opportunities for Hispanic community members. Tierra Fertil Coop began farming together last year, and while the six members … Read more
Community Supported Agriculture, or a CSA, makes eating local food a pleasure of daily life. Throwing together a spring salad with local lettuce, radishes, and snap peas is easy when you stock your refrigerator with a weekly CSA. Community members sign up for a farm’s CSA in early spring. As soon as the crops are … Read more
Frances Juhlin from Candy Mountain Farm remembers the tension of her first career. It was the 1980s in Palm Beach, Florida and Frances was an assistant at a high-powered brokerage firm. “It was so fast moving. Once the markets were open, I couldn’t leave my desk. if you try to run for a bathroom break, … 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 cheese. It was 2017 and Looking Glass Creamery had taken on a tremendous challenge. Jennifer … 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? “I got started when I was a teenager,” says Alan. “Now I’m 61 years old, … 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 road. The wooden boards are worn and faded, vines climb up the sides, and many … Read more