Farm Show and Tell Series

Organized by the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension
to educate farmers and consumers about sustainable agriculture and to
increase awareness and understanding of our local food system.

For more information, contact Agriculture Agent Debbie Roos.

2011

2010

October 17 , 2011: Harland's Creek Farm

Time: 5:30 pm-dark

Location:
97 Plantation Dr.
Pittsboro, NC 27312

Farmer: Judy lessler

What You'll See:
Harland’s Creek Farm is a certified organic farm featuring vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers. Farmer Judy Lessler also raises pastured poultry (both layers and broilers) and hosts agritourism events. The farm has expanded to 6 acres in production since 2001. Judy operates a CSA (community supported agriculture) program and also markets to restaurants and through the Durham Farmer's Market.

During the Farm Show & Tell, visitors will see lots of fall vegetables and cover crops as well as pastured poultry. A 32 x 70’ high tunnel houses greens and salad crops and another greenhouse is used for transplant production.

Visit the Harland’s Creek Farm website for more information.

This event is free and no registration is required. Just show up!

September 26, 2011: Granite Springs Farm

Time: 5:30 pm-dark

Location:
266 Granite Springs
Pittsboro, NC 27312

Farmer: Meredith Leight

What You'll See:
Meredith is in her third year of farming. She uses sustainable techniques to grow a wide variety of vegetables and sells to a few restaurants plus at the Chatham Mills Farmers' Market, the Chapel Hill Farmers' Market, and the Pittsboro Farmers' Market. Meredith also manages a 40 member CSA (community supported agriculture) program that is split into three 8-week sessions.

During the Farm Show & Tell, visitors will see lots of fall vegetables and a passive solar greenhouse for transplant production. Meredith will talk about her new CoolBot system which is a low cost alternative to a traditional walk-in cooler which is so important for maintaining postharvest quality of produce.

Meredith is also working towards establishing an intentional community around her 140 acre property and farm and possibly creating an incubator farm.

This event is free and no registration is required. Just show up!

Visit the Granite Springs Farm website and Facebook Page.

Directions from Pittsboro:

• From the traffic circle downtown, take Hwy 64 west towards Siler City
• Turn right at the first light to go north on Hwy 87; go through the roundabout at CCCC and stay north on 87
• Go about 6 miles and turn left on Granite Springs; if you see Lutterloh Rd. on your right you went too far
• Turn right onto the first driveway on your right (266 Granite Springs)

October 17, 2011: Harland's Creek Farm

Time: 5:30 pm-dark

Pastured broilers and certified organic vegetables and cut flowers. Markets through CSA (community supported agriculture) and the Durham Farmers' Market.

Details coming soon. Visit the Harland's Creek Farm website.

2010

February 22 & 25, 2010: Fruit Tree Pruning Demonstration
at Lee Calhoun's Heirloom Apple Orchard

Time: 3:30-5:30 pm

Location:
Pittsboro, NC

Grower: Lee Calhoun

What You'll See:
Lee Calhoun grows over 300 varieties of old southern apples. Lee recently converted much of his orchard to dwarf trees to make them easier to maintain. Lee will demonstrate how to prune apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and grapes.

March 29, 2010: Drip Irrigation at Perry-winkle Farm

See more photos from the Show and Tell.

Time: 5:00-7:00 pm

Location:
Chapel Hill, NC

Farmers: Cathy Jones, Mike Perry, & John Soehner (from Eco Farm)

What You'll See:
Cathy Jones and Mike Perry operate a diversified farm and raise a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers using sustainable production techniques. They also raise pastured poultry and pigs. Cathy will talk about how they set up their irrigation system from their well. John Soehner from nearby Eco Farm will also be on hand to discuss irrigating from ponds.

August 2, 2010: Edible Earthscapes

Location:
Moncure, NC

Farmers: Jason & Haruka Oatis

What You'll See:
Greenhouse production with in-ground crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, turmeric, ginger and more; vegetables, herbs and flowers, including many Asian varieties like molokeiya, shiso, gobo, Japanese cucumbers, Japanese pole beans, Japanese eggplants and Malabar spinach; one acre 'Koshi Hikari' rice field.

August 30, 2010: Chestnut Hill Farm

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Location:
343 Moon Lindley Rd.
Snow Camp, NC 27349

Farmer: Lin Andrew

What You'll See:
Grass-fed beef featuring Red Poll and Red Angus cattle; diversified forage crops; commercial poultry operation that produces hatching eggs (the poultry litter is used to fertilize the pastures); first Chatham farmer to install portable pasture irrigation system; Lin has won awards for conserving water quality on the farm.

Directions from Pittsboro:

• Take Hwy 64 west towards Siler City
• Just before you get to Siler City, turn right onto Silk Hope Rd. (which will be 12.7 miles from the light at the intersection of Bus. 64 and NC 87 in Pittsboro where Al's Diner is)
• Go 7.1 miles on Silk Hope Rd. (through the flashing light intersection at Harper's Crossroads) and turn left on Moon Lindley Rd. (Moon Lindley is 2.9 miles north of the Harper's Crossroads intersection)
• Go 0.3 miles and Chestnut Hill Farm will be on your left (you'll see the farm signs).
• Follow the driveway past the chicken houses on your left; it will curve around to the right...just keep going and park at the barn on your left towards the end of the road.

Directions from Siler City:

• Take Hwy 64 east towards Pittsboro
• Just past the Walmart in Siler City, turn left onto Silk Hope Rd. (which will be 0.7 miles from the light at Walmart)
• Go 7.1 miles on Silk Hope Rd. (through the flashing light intersection at Harper's Crossroads) and turn left on Moon Lindley Rd. (Moon Lindley is 2.9 miles north of the Harper's Crossroads intersection)
• Go 0.3 miles and Chestnut Hill Farm will be on your left (you'll see the farm signs).
• Follow the driveway past the chicken houses on your left; it will curve around to the right...just keep going and park at the barn on your left towards the end of the road.

September 20, 2010: Hickory Mountain Farm

Time: 6:00-8:00 pm

Location:
846 Elmer Keck Rd.
Pittsboro, NC 27312

Farmers: Keenan McDonald (Duck Run Farm) and Dallas Hurley

What You'll See:
Hickory Mountain Farm broke ground on July 12th, 2010.

This diverse and integrated farm features pastured chickens (Cornish Rock pullets, Araucanas, and Barred Rocks), Tamworth/Hampshire pigs, Hereford/Angus cattle, Bronze and Bourbon Red turkeys, South African Boer goats, and over 10,000 bed feet of vegetables planted.

During the Farm Show & Tell, Keenan will give a demonstration of their double-bottom plow and disc - visitors will see how they flipped a cow pasture and turned it into a market garden that is currently producing and supplying produce to four markets, five restaurants, an 80-person CSA, and in-store retail at Johnny's in Carrboro and Country Farm & Home in Pittsboro.

This event is free and no registration is required. Just show up!

Visit the Hickory Mountain Farm website and Facebook Page.

Directions from Pittsboro:

• From the traffic circle downtown, take Hwy 64 west towards Siler City
• Go 5.5 miles from the traffic circle and turn left on Alex Cockman Rd. (which is the first road on the left past the County Landfill Rd.) and directly across from E. Alston Rd.
• Go 1.1 miles on Alex Cockman Rd. and turn right on Elmer Keck Rd. (gravel road)
• The farm will be 0.9 miles on your right (846 Elmer Keck Rd.)
  

View photos from the Hickory Mountain Farm Show & Tell

October 4, 2010: Okfuskee Farm

Time: 5:30-7:00 pm

Location:
1300 Silk Hope-Liberty Rd.
Siler City, NC 27344

Farmer: Bobby Tucker

What You'll See:
Bobby Tucker and crew are in their third year of production at Okfuskee Farm, a 20 acre farm built on the permaculture model. Bobby raises vegetables, herbs, cut flowers, small fruits, and small grains. They also do pastured pigs and laying hens and keep bees. They have a solar-powered well and a 2,000 square foot greenhouse and use season extension techniques in the field to produce vegetables throughout the cool season. Bobby sells to local restaurants and at the South Estes and Carolina Brewery farmers' markets.

Directions from Pittsboro:

• From the traffic circle in downtown Pittsboro, take Hwy 64 west.
• Go to the first traffic light and turn right onto NC 87 North/Graham Rd. (stay to the left to stay on NC 87).
• Go approx. 4 miles and bear left onto Silk Hope Gum Springs Rd.
• Go about 9 miles (one mile north of the flashing light at the Silk Hope intersection) and 1300 Silk Hope Liberty Rd. will be the white house on the right - you'll see a sign on the left that says Chatham Carpet and Interiors.

November 1, 2010: Screech Owl Greenhouses

Time: 5:00-6:30 pm

Location:
Piedmont Biofuels Plant (Screech Owl Greenhouses are located at the Biofuels Plant)
220 Lorax Lane
Pittsboro, NC 27312

Farmer: Ralph "Screech" Sweger

What You'll See:
Grower Ralph “Screech” Sweger is in his seventh year of production producing greenhouse crops on the property of the Piedmont Biofuels Plant. He now has five greenhouses producing year-round hydroponic lettuce and cucumbers, plus greenhouse tomatoes and peppers (in soil). The greenhouses are heated using alternative heating fuels (used vegetable oil, used motor oil, biodiesel by-products, etc.). Screech markets his products through the Siler City and Pittsboro Farmers’ Markets, and also sells to Angelina’s Kitchen and Chatham Marketplace. Starting later his fall, customers will be able to buy direct from the greenhouse.

Directions from Pittsboro:

• From the traffic circle in downtown Pittsboro, take Hwy 64 east
• Go 1 mile and turn right on Industrial Park Drive
• Bear left on Lorax Lane
• Park outside the gate to the Piedmont Biofuels plant; we will meet at the tin-roofed shed to the left of the greenhouses behind the artsy metal fence.

November 15, 2010: Piedmont Biofarm

Time: 4:00-5:30 pm

Location:
Piedmont Biofuels Plant
220 Lorax Lane
Pittsboro, NC 27312

Farmer: Doug Jones

What You'll See:
Farmer Doug Jones has been farming for close to 40 years. Doug operates Piedmont Biofarm where they produce a diverse mix of vegetables and herbs out at the Piedmont Biofuels Industrial Plant in Pittsboro. Doug has developed a reputation for his year-round vegetable production as well as for his plant breeding efforts.

This Farm Show and Tell will focus on the construction and year-round use of low-cost portable intermediate walk-in tunnels, also called caterpillar tunnels. These differ from the typical high tunnels you see on area farms in that they are mainly anchored by ropes - which is what makes them so easily portable and quick to set up. These tunnels can be easily adapted to different bed lengths. Doug will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of caterpillar tunnels vs. high tunnels (he uses both). A RAFI Producer Grant helped fund this caterpillar tunnel project.

Visitors will see both warm weather crops (pepper and eggplant) as well as winter crops (root crops, leafy crops, broccoli, cauliflower) grown inside tunnels.

Doug operates a CSA and also sells through the Durham Farmers' Market and the Raleigh Midtown Farmers’ Market as well as to Angelina’s Kitchen, Chatham Marketplace, and to restaurants in Raleigh and RTP.

Meet at the gate at the entrance to the Piedmont Biofuels Plant. Bring a flashlight if you want to stay late!

Directions from Pittsboro:

• From the traffic circle in downtown Pittsboro, take Hwy 64 east
• Go 1 mile and turn right on Industrial Park Drive
• Bear left on Lorax Lane
• Park outside the gate to the Piedmont Biofuels plant; we will meet at the entrance gate to the plant.

This page last updated October 11, 2011.

URL: www.growingsmallfarms.org

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