Nantahala Farms & Nursery

The Farm Tour

On June 7th, we hosted a Farm Tour at our place.   We had around 85 visitors with us, and some even as far away as Asheville came out to spend the day with us . We were impressed. 

Here is Jennifer Ferre, she is from ASAP ( Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project), and Josh looking over the tators in the tubs.  She was very pleased with the things that we were doing.  

A huge "Thank You" goes out to Mike and Cynthia Neal for cooking up the hamburgers and hot dogs that were served.  Not sure what we would have done without them.

I don't think that Fiesty Branch had seen this many cars parked on the sides of the roads in years.  So proud that we had such a good turn out for this event. 

 

Friends seemed to really enjoy themselves.   

No one minded that we didn't have enough chairs, they seemed to enjoy sitting on the grass talking about their  plans for their garden and farms. 

 

Little Josh was asleep under the shade, not a care in the world.

All the kids really enjoyed playing on all of Landon's toys, and believe it or not he didn't mind sharing with them.   This is just a few of the ones that was here.

Ms. Fandango finally got her hooves trimmed by Bn Leigh, he did a fine job and she didn't mind at all.  Guess her pedicure felt good to her.  

She even gave Mr. Ricky a bareback ride, with the help of Barbara and Josh that he really enjoyed.

Landon wasn't quite sure why all the little boys had to go home.  He wanted them to stay and play with him some more.

Ms. Jennifer has more photo that I hope to get from her to share with everyone, and I will post them when I catch up with her.  

Now we are already planning another Tour of our Farm.  We had a blast doing this one, even though I did stress a bit at first.   I am pretty sure that everyone that came really enjoyed themselves as well.   

The Greenhouse and other things happening around the Farm

The Squash have really been producing, since we moved them outside.  They were too close together where we had then in the greenhouse.  They have done well in the pots outside, and the squash are delicious.

Mother's Roma tomatoes are hanging full of green tomatoes.  She is waiting patiently for them to get ripe.

Here is what the world looked like from atop the new mare that Josh bought.  She is a real joy to ride even though she is only a 2 year old.  She rides like a top.  Josh wants to call her "Fannie" but I like "Ms. Fandango" better.  That is what her papers say.  She was well worth the few dollars that Josh paid for her.   I think I will claim her for mine.

We crossed another milestone as Ms. Chelsea Robinson graduated from Mt. Nebo Christian Academy School in Robbinsville.  Here she is with Justin!  Chase was acting silly.  We hope she stays forever in our family. ♥

Here is our first crop out of the greenhouse.  They sure were tasty.  Nothing like fresh squash and cucumbers.

Our strawberries have been producing some fruit along.  There is more to these than we ever imagined.  Alot to learn about them and what makes them happy, but we are learning as we go.  They have produced lots of runners that we have rooted so that we will have new plants to go into the hydroponics in the winter months.

The cucumbers have really done well in the pots in the greenhouse, so that means that we will have cucumbers all the time.  Yum Yum!!!!

Here is our broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts in the field.   We will get the weeds out of them in a few days and lay the fertilize to them so they will be happy.

Here is part of our cabbage patch, we only have 5500 plants set out.  I keep telling Josh & J that by the time we get the last row hoed, the first one will need it again.  

This is what it is all about.  Landon is thinking what his next move should be.
We are hoping that Landon will follow in Josh's footsteps and have a love of the land like we do.  
Here is the start of our orchard that we plan to start up in the field.

 

That's all for now.  Everyone remember June 7th is our Farm Tour and then you can see for yourself what all is really happening on the farm and in the Greenhouse.  It all starts at 10 am and will last till the last one leaves.  Lunch will be served.   

Look at what all is happening on the Farm......

This is Landon's new buddy, "Brownie".   He wasn't too sure of him at first, but he seemed to like him after we got him on his back. 

We have most of our cabbage in the ground.  Which is about 4500 plants, with more screaming to be planted.  What were we thinking????  All together we have about 7000 plants in the ground, not counting what we have growing in the greenhouse.

We have several strawberry blooms on our hydroponic plants.  I have been playing the role of the "bee" with my paintbrush in pollinating all of the blooms.  

The paintbrush has paid off.... We have berries on our plants.  This is so exciting!

These beautiful petunia's look Great in the hanging baskets, just in time for Mother's Day. 

Here you can see a bit of the results with the hanging baskets.  We even have 1 basket that has strawberry plants in it, and it is growing very well.

Landon's potato is almost ready to bloom.  It looks fantastic and he says that is because he sings to it everyday.

Our squash plants are blooming and we have set them outside for now to let Mother Nature help them to grow.

Hopefully by next week we can have a fresh mess of fried squash, and fresh cucumbers.  Yummy!!!! We can hardly wait to taste the fruits of our labor.

 

2nd Farm Tour at High Meadows Mountain Farm

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Here we are beginning our 2nd Farm Tour with SAFF (Southern Agriculture for Farm Families) at High Mountain Meadows Farm in Hayesville.  Donna Gains was kind enough to open her farm for the day and let us see what is happening at her place as she prepares to set up a goat dairy and creamery. 

Everyone enjoys standing around and chatting with everyone that they have known or just met.  It's interesting to hear what everyone is doing or planning on doing.

Here Donna is telling us about her pastured poultry.  Those are some "big" baby chicks.

Landon said those were the biggest chickens he had ever saw.  He enjoyed watching them while Donna talked.

Here Donna is talking about her Rabbits.  Landon found them interesting but wasn't interesting enough, because he is use to seeing those everyday at home. 

Here are a few of Donna's nanny goats.  She had one that was due that day but we didn't get to see her.  Didn't want her to get overly excited with all the folks looking at her.

Now this box really fascinated Landon all day.  Guess what's in it?

Ducks....... Landon thought these were the coolest creatures he had ever seen.  He says now he wants him some ducks too.  So guess that will be our next quest on the farm, finding him some baby ducks.

He got excited when Donna put them in the small swimming pool that he called their "bathtub" to play for a little while.
He really liked the baby goats that Donna got out to show us.  This one was very curious.  Oh, they are so cute!!

Here Landon is checking out one of Donna's business cards sitting on the door step of the creamery. 

Donna's goat farm is also home to 3 beautiful horses. 

Thanks Donna for opening up your farm for all of us to see a small part of the things that go on in your part of the world on a daily basis.  We truly enjoyed every minute of it. 

Lots of Plants ready to go into the ground

We have alot of plants that are ready to go into the ground if anyone is interested.  We have cabbage, tomatoes, and peppers.   We have flowers as well, not nearly as many as I would have liked to have had, but we do have some. 

We also have sweet potato plants that are screaming to be planted.

Landon helped us get all of our strawberries into the hydroponics.  He checks them everyday.  We have blooms on some of them now.  Yah!!!

We have over 700 head lettuce plants into the ground.  So if nothing happens we will have lots of head lettuce at our produce stand this year.  It was delicious last year.

Landon is giving "Butterscotch" some lovin', and he is eating it all up.  That is one spoiled little goat. 

Here is Josh with his new play purty.  Fandango is her name, but he calls her "Fanny".  She is a beauty, and hopefully she will make a beautiful mare. 

Josh is walking one of the mules that they bought.  I think this one is "Joe" and the other one is named "Charlie", and he isn't as calm as this one is.   Josh walked him down the road, but he walked Josh back up the road.  haha

The squash vines are really growing in all that heat.  We should have squash before long.

Ya'll come on out and see what we have to offer this year.

 

 

The hydroponics are coming together!

Guess there was more to this hydroponic operation than what we ever thought possible.

These pipes were very heavy trying to get them put into the stands, but then we started in the front instead of the back.  One of them about got me down, that was a funny sight but J didn't find the humor in it, because he thought I had knocked one row down.

So glad that J knew what he was doing when we started all of this.  Josh kinda did, and Mother was the Supervisor.

Here we have it all hooked up and the water running thru it like it should we think.  Now J has to drill all those holes in it for the little pots to sit in.  Thanks to Brian for having a bit that we could borrow since the one that we bought was too small.  That's what friends are for......Right!

Josh has been very busy transplanting all the plants that needed to be repotted into the 6 pack trays.  Seems like they never ended.

Mother really enjoyed repotting those tomatoe, especially the Roma ones that she loves so well.  We have put several in them in big pots for her so she can grow them in the greenhouse. 

Landon checks on his tator several times each day, and always sings to it.  It is really growing.  We have to watch him though he tries to waterlog it.  He thinks he needs to water it every time that he goes into the greenhouse.  

These were taken last week, and they are twiced this big now.  They need to be put in the ground but the weather isn't cooperating very well.  We had snow flurries this morning, and it is the 23rd day of April. 

The squash are really growing.  Maybe we will set them outside when all danger of frost is gone, and then maybe we will let some of them stay inside to see how well they do. 

After all the hard work that J has done, he got to go turkey hunting with Paul Bradley last Saturday.  This is what they bagged last Saturday morning.  Paul Bradley was very proud of his bird.

Landon was wanting to kill a turkey with his toy rifle also, but he couldn't be quite enough to do that or even quite enough for Papaw to see one.  Glad we wasn't too far from the truck.

We have almost all the strawberries in the hydroponics now, and some of them are starting to get blooms.  Wow!!!  I can't wait for them to have berries.  Landon says he will eat all of them when they get on there, and he will probably try to.

Our First Farm Tour with SAFF

Thursday was the first farm tour that we had through SAFF ( Southern Agriculture for Farm Families).  We had a Great response from the surrounding counties at Walnut Hollow Farms
Here is 2 of my side kicks that are always with me no matter where I go, and I would not have it any other way.  Not only do they enjoy the things that I do, they make life so much simplier!

This was our SAFF sign up table, where we welcomed new members and all the usual ones that are make up our group.

Here is Donna Gains with Landon and her new baby goat.  She owns and operates High Mountain Meadow Farm in Hayesville, North Carolina.  She is opening up a milking barn where she can make her own goat cheese.

Papaw and Landon did alot of exploring on the farm yesterday.  Landon didn't like it when the cows wouldn't come to him, yea they aren't like ours at home that just want to be petted on.

Landon thought that "Moma Goat" was very pretty and wanted to get in the fence and play with her.

Charlie Kissling talked alot about his cows, and we all enjoyed hearing about them.

Landon liked the horses because they didn't run away from him.  Here is one of the beautiful creatures on the farm.

This little guy was the youngest of us all, and even he was enjoying all the attention that he got also.

These 3 make life complete!

Thanks to Charlie and Barbara for opening up their farm for all of us to enjoy,  Everyone had a Great time and we had some good food to go along with all of it.

Next month we will be going to Donna's Farm to explore her goat farm.  We are very excited about all of the things that are happening in our part of the world. 

Getting Ready for the Hydroponics......

Seeing those first pipes being put together is getting really exciting in the greenhouse.  Wow, Guess I didn't expect it to look like that.  Not really sure how I had it all pictured in my mind.

These are the stands that will hold the hydroponics together, There is alot of them too.

So far we have transplanted over 6,000 plants.  Wow!  We didn't  have near this many plants last year, and we feel like we are running out of room for them now.  We have broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts,  cabbage, pepper, tomato, eggplant, cucmbers, sweet potatoes,  and lettuce in here.  Not to mention my flowers and herbs that are ready to be transplanted. 

We have squash and bush beans planted in these tubs.  These are experimental for us, but hoping that they will do very well here. 

Along the side we have okra planted in those pots.  The greenhouse should be the ideal place to grow this since it likes it hot. 

Putting this together yesterday, we discovered that we are 12 inches too high in the back for the water to flow properly, so now we need the shovels and matics to dig it all out so it flows the way that it should.   It is a slow progress I have learned.  I am really learning patience in this operation.   Hoping that the strawberries have lots of that also.

And we have 6 or 7 new babies......Exciting...  Our Farm is never boring!!

Landon is fixing his Easter Egg Tree... He was putting them up high so the dogs don't get them.  Lots of memories being made each day.

Things are happening on the Farm!

Landon is all excited...... Aunt G.G. gave him a little tator, and he plans on planting it in the greenhouse, so he can tators whenever he wants them.  Mashed is his favorite, with relish.  ugh......

Instead of actually placing it in the tub of dirt and cow manure, he just tossed it in. 

I hope that I am embedding memories in his little mind that will stay with him for a lifetime.  These times are precious to me.  I want him to have the love of the land that my grandfather gave to me.
This smile is absolutely priceless, but his next question was, " Nannie, why is it not growing yet?"  Patience my sweet child, patience......

Can't hardly wait myself for that tator to start sprouting, just to see the look on his face, but I know that he will want to dig it immediately so he can eat them.  Our next project with him is gonna plant tators in hay with him in the greenhouse, and see what the results will be. 

The tiny seeds are really starting to come up without any heat in the greenhouse yet, just relying on the sun right now to do all the growing.  I think there are millions of cabbage plants in one tray.  What fun that will be transplanting all of them into 6 packs!

Here is one of the calves that we bottle fed, being turned out into the pasture at the barn.  They sure have grown alot, just look at that little white heart on his head, He should have been a heifer.   Josh and Becky are working on the fence in the background so they can turn their horses out. 

Life on the farm....... Don't get no better than this ♥

Well we didn't have no rodeo when they turned them out of the barn, they found the creek right off and drunk their fill, and just wandered around in the pasture. 

It's all coming together....

The greenhouse is finally enclosed ! It seems like it took forever to get the top and ends on, but I know that it was only a matter of days.  It looks so much bigger with the top on it.

Mother is checking on the progress, almost hourly it seems like.  She just likes the look of all the scrap wood laying around that is waiting for her to burn it in the stove. 

The tables are up and very sturdy ones, I might add.  There won't be no worries of them falling with my plants on them. 

Here is the wire that we are using for the table tops, kinda looks like a wagon top on the back of Josh's truck.  Hopefully it will be sturdy enough so that it won't sag, and they tell  me I won't have to worry about that.

We are very happy to see the progress being made by J.  Everything is coming together just like it is suppose to.  We have the tables finished, and I see seed planting in the days ahead.  The next step will be to get the wood furnance set up and that is on the agenda for this week, and then the hydroponic system will go in.  I have stressed alot over that because they keep running me in circles when I ask them how it is going to be set up. 

Josh is cutting potatoes and Becky is just sitting there beside him, content watching and playing with the dogs.  I see her as my future daughter-in-law, and my Best Friend.  She is a real jewel, and if there was ever a match made in Heaven, You are seeing it with your own two eyes.   Welcome Home, Becky!!!   

Progressing on Greenhouse and new Baby Bunnies

It took alot of effort on everyone's part to get the dump truck load of gravel up the wet hill to dump at the greenhouse,  Landon is looking on in amazement as Justin pulls the dump truck with his Ford pick-up!!!!  That hill sure was slippery when wet.  We got the greenhouse graveled, so its not so muddy up there working now.  After all the rain, it sure washed up pretty and clean.

We now have the two side pieces up and waiting for the front and the back to go on tomorrow if it doesn't rain them out.  Then we will be ready for the top. Yeah!!!!!!!! 

J surely wishes it was up and I would quit saying " It sure ain't going up too quickly"!!!!  I am a bit impatient at this point in time when I need to have seeds planted in there and growing!!!!

These little guys are almost ready to leave Mommy and go out on their own.  I want to keep all 8 of them, but everyone says, "NO"!!!!  I don't see why not.  They are so sweet and cuddly.  They are part California and we are guessing that she was bred to a California buck as well.  We bought her and she was already pregnant, so we got 9 for 1, pretty good deal there.

They all thought they were hiding in their box.  What sweeties!!!!  We also have 4 more Moma's with new babies.  One of them is a Lionhead Moma, Precious is what I call her.  She is so sweet and dainty.  When I talk to her she stands up on her hind legs and just looks at me.  I can't wait for them to get a little older.  Some of them are spotted, what I have saw when I moved the fur back, she isn't too fond of me for doing that, because she jumps in there and puts it back over them. 

"Thanks, J for all your hard work you have put into the greenhouse, I really do appreciate ALL of the stuff you have done".  ~ I love you~