Community Supported Agriculture brings the best of a local farm to your kitchen. Wondering what to do with the bounty? Many CSA farms include recipes and cooking tips, like Encompass Farm, which shares fun and easy meal ideas that highlight that week’s veggie box.

Cooking Creative Meals with a CSA

When Jona Felts lived in Costa Rica, he was surrounded by hot peppers and banana vinegar—the perfect ingredients for farm-fresh hot sauce. When he came back to the mountains of North Carolina, he figured out how to grow similar ingredients at Open Ridge Farm so he could use a little heat to sustain the farm through winter.

Farm-to-Bottle Hot Sauce in the Mountains

Many farmers work part or full-time jobs off the farm while also growing food and running a farm business. Hear Melissa Harwin from Highgate Farm reflect on her years of being a nurse and farmer, and learn how Hayley Creasman and Colby Buchanan balance multiple jobs while working with their family at Creasman Farms.

Working On and Off the Farm

ASAP’s Local Food Research Center surveyed farmers about their response to COVID-19 and found that overcoming challenges at the beginning of the pandemic gave farmers reason to be optimistic in 2021.

Local Food Research Reflects Challenges and Opportunities of Farming During the Pandemic

Spring vegetables are hitting farmers markets and chefs are using seasonal produce to celebrate. Hear why Chef J Chong is excited for spring markets in this week’s Growing Local.

Chef J Chong Finds Inspiration at Spring Farmers Markets

Agriculture has been a pillar of Cherokee communities for generations and continues to be an important part of indigenous culture today. Visit Kituwah, the Mother Town of the Cherokee people, and hear about the significance of this community farm in this week’s Growing Local.

Kituwah Farm Honors and Sustains Cherokee Agriculture

Farm stands throughout Western North Carolina are opening up for the season and farmers can’t wait to welcome folks back. Hear about the roadside stands at Flying Cloud Farm in Fairview and SMM Farms in Hayesville in this episode of Growing Local.

Farm Stands for Fun and Flavor

A group of Hispanic farmers is coming together in Henderson County to start the Tierra Fertil Coop. Founding member Delia Jovel shares her journey from growing up in El Salvador to farming in Western North Carolina, and explains the coop’s collective vision for fostering social equity through local food.

Tierra Fertil Coop Digs Deep

Last summer farmer Gabriel Noard, owner of Pangaea Plants, poured his heart and soul into a crop of watermelon on his 24-acre farm in Rutherford County, NC.  Despite careful attention, weeds grew up around the watermelon and marred their skin.  

Find out how ASAP helped Gabriel share his watermelon with local students.

One Farmer’s Story: Pangaea Plants

Matt Coffay of Second Spring Market Garden is one of several local growers who farm all year. Find out why the community craves fresh produce at indoor markets and how farmers are stepping up production to meet winter demand. 

ASAP's Local Food Guide: www.appalachiangrown.org
Second Spring Market Garden 4-season CSA: www.secondspringfarm.com

Why I Farm All Winter: Local Farms Respond to Community Demand

Did you know that hogs, turkeys, and ducks walked right through downtown Asheville during the 1820s? Each fall, drovers herded hundreds or even thousands of animals through Asheville on the way to markets further south.

Hear what ASAP executive director and history buff Charlie Jackson says about this riveting time in local agricultural history.

When Hogs Marched Through Asheville: The History of Drover’s Road

Bass Hyatt raises cattle at the Hyatt homeplace in Brasstown, N.C. His multi-generational farm has adapted its farming techniques to meet consumer demand for beef that’s fed grass instead of grain.

About 15 years ago, Hyatt met Jamie and Amy Ager of Hickory Nut Gap Farm. They partner with farmers like Hyatt to meet their wholesale demand for grassfed beef. 

Connecting with the Agers offers Hyatt a market for his beef so he can turn his focus to sustainable production and breeding cattle that thrive on grass. 

Find out more about local partnerships that further the food system at www.asapconnections.org

Local Farmers Join Forces to Raise Grassfed Beef

Eliot Coleman, author of The New Organic Grower, is a pioneer in the field of sustainable agriculture. His countless farming inventions and strategies for four-season farming have inspired growers for generations, including a new crop of farmers.

Coleman spoke with ASAP farmers at the Mother Earth News Fair and offered some advice for young farmers.

Eliot Coleman's Advice for Young Farmers

JB Farm in Caldwell County, North Carolina has changed dramatically over the past five years.  Farmers Paula and Dale Boles were contract chicken producers raising broilers for one of the biggest poultry companies in the country. 

It was exhausting work and they knew they needed a change. So they broke their contract, repurposed their chicken houses, and found independence through produce.

From Contract Chickens to Family-Owned Greenhouse

Fresh flowers feed the soul, but where do they come from? Imported flowers are ubiquitous at florists and grocery stores, but there’s a growing movement of local farmers who cultivate blooms that thrive in the Southern Appalachian mountains. 

Listen as Niki Irving of Flourish Flower Farm in Candler, North Carolina harvests poppies, and hear Katie Grear of Lady Luck Flower Farm talk about why local farmers are digging into flowers.

Mountain Fresh Flowers

Ever wondered how local tomatoes get from a farmer’s hands to the grocery store shelf? Take an audio tour of the Ingles Markets distribution center and meet William Shelton, a local farmer who has been growing produce for the grocery chain for nearly 20 years.

From Field to Grocery Shelf

Southern Appalachian families have been pouring sorghum molasses on biscuits for generations. It takes a draft horse, a wood-fired furnace, and a lot of folk knowledge to do it. Hear how two women are keeping the tradition alive.

Sorghum: An Appalachian Tradition

Chefs are catching on to the sweet and savory flavor of sorghum molasses, and farmers are working hard to keep up with demand. Hear chef John Fleer and farmer Cathy Guthrie talk about why sorghum is popping up at Southern Appalachian restaurants.

Bring sorghum molasses into your own kitchen and find farmers who sell it in ASAP’s Local Food Guide: www.appalachiangrown.org

Sorghum in the Kitchen

Appalachian families have harvested ginseng for generations. Find out why this “green gold” is so valuable, and learn about recent efforts to connect ginseng growers with local markets.

Ginseng: A Mountain Tradition

Wendy Painter and Amanda Gentry are trying something new with their farm business, Mountain Popcorn Girls. Find out how neighbors have reacted to seeing popcorn on their fifth generation farm, and why home-grown popcorn brings back memories for their customers.

Meet the Mountain Popcorn Girls

More than 1,000 people visited local farms on ASAP’s Farm Tour in June, and the sounds of farms at work were heard throughout Western North Carolina. Listen to behind-the-scenes tours of Smoking J’s Fiery Foods, L.O.T.U.S. Urban Farm, and Venezia Dream Farm Alpacas. Then go to Mills River Creamery to hear the reaction from the crowd when a calf is born before their eyes.    
See photos at www.instagram.com/asapconnections

A Farm Tour Audio Adventure

The local food system is getting a boost from a new partnership between Lewis Creek Farm and Noble Cider. Go on an audio tour of their orchards and learn how local apples inspired a farmer and a hard cider maker to work together.

Lewis Creek Farm Branches Out into Cider Apples

After a year of learning how to grow vegetables on their farm in Madison County, Stephanie Vinat and Jeremiah Batla of The AppaLatin Farmstead were ready to bring Latin peppers like Aji Charapita and Ají Amarillo to farmers markets for the first time. When they lost their off-farm jobs due to the pandemic, they used that time to improve their land and connect with the community as they embarked on their first year in business.

Starting a Farm During COVID-19

NC State Extension fields questions from farmers about everything from field crops to aquaculture. Hear how it expanded its services and adapted its programs in response to COVID-19.

NC State Extension Helps Farmers During COVID-19

Indigenous people have centuries of agricultural knowledge to draw from. Hear how Cherokee communities in Western North Carolina are reviving traditions by growing their own food during COVID-19.

Cherokee Communities Sustain Agricultural Traditions

Trout are picky creatures that require precise temperatures, protein-rich food, and excellent water quality to thrive. Hear how Sunburst Trout Farms, a third-generation family farm, works in harmony with nature to farm and process rainbow trout.

Sunburst Trout Farms Swims Upstream

Tobacco barns hug the curves of many rural roads in Madison County, NC. Hear how these stalwarts of the past are being honored by the Appalachian Barn Alliance and how Root Bottom Farm transformed their old tobacco barn into a beacon of local food. Photo courtesy of Appalachian Barn Alliance.

The Tobacco Barns of Madison County

One of the hardest parts of expanding a business is finding trusted collaborators. Hear why the founder of Well Seasoned Table came to ASAP’s Business of Farming conference last year to connect with new farmers who will supply her seasonings company with local ingredients.

Well Seasoned Table Embraces the Business of Farming

Frances Juhlin’s path to farming took her through the cutthroat world of commodity trading. Hear how this former stock broker’s assistant got back to her roots growing produce at Candy Mountain Farm.

From Stocks and Bonds to Squash and Beets

Many farms offer vegetable and fruit CSAs, but as Community Supported Agriculture becomes more popular, some farms are thinking outside the produce drawer. Hear about CSAs that include flowers, meat, and more, and why Daffodil Spring Farm offers the classic combo of meat and potatoes.

A CSA For Every Craving

Growing Local is a weekly audio series about local food and farms in the Southern Appalachians. It airs during Morning Edition on WNCW 88.7 each Monday at 8:50 a.m. Produced by ASAP, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project.

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