
farms and growers
We have the pleasure of working with so many amazing farmers and growers in the Piedmont, especially in Chatham County where there is an ever growing group of small sustainable farms dotting the landscape.
Below is a list of farms, orchards and growers we work with (in no particular order!) and what they typically supply.
Not listed are all the lovely people we've met who regularly let us forage from their plum and fig trees, give us boxes of homegrown tomatoes, elderberries, muscadine grapes, persimmons and so much more beautiful fruit and produce.
Okfuskee Farm - Silk Hope, NC - Bobby and Bronwyn Tucker
Green and ripe tomatoes, namesake of our Okfuskee Green Tomato Preserves and Okfuskee Spicy Pickled Green Tomatoes. Gorgeous Goumi berries, heirloom apples, Chickasaw Plums and blackberries as well, all sustainably grown.
Wiseacre Farm - Pittsboro, NC - Laurie Heise
Garlic, blueberries, basil (when we run out of our own), beautiful heirloom apples, onions
Cates Corner Farm - Hillsborough, NC - Ray Family
Green tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, elephant garlic to make black garlic
James Creek Orchards - Cameron, NC - Ann Marie Thornton
Peaches, heirloom apples, persimmons
T-5 Farms - Liberty, NC - Randy Thompson
Strawberries
Granite Springs Farm - Pittsboro, NC - Meredith Leight
Baby ginger, garlic, tobago peppers
In Good Heart Farm - Pittsboro, NC - Patricia Parker & Ben Shields
Certified organic blueberries, apples, garlic, onions
Wanderlust Farm - Pittsboro, NC - Kim Sevy and Steve Chase
Figs, herbs, tomatoes
Kalawi Peaches - Eagle Springs, NC - another great peach grower that we often buy from located in the Sand Hills of NC just south of the Triangle.
Johnson's Peaches - Candor, NC - we get the majority of our peaches from Johnson's Peaches. Although they have amazing peaches they may be even more well known for the peach ice cream and peach cobbler they sell at their farmstand. They grow over 50 varieties of peaches and it's always a treat to see what varieties will be available when I visit their stand at the Triad Farmer's Market to pick them up. I also enjoy speaking with Nolan who runs the stand, he knows a lot about peaches! And some years if we're really lucky they'll have plums and nectarines too!
Uncle Henry's Organics - Rose Hill, NC - certified organic strawberries and muscadine grapes distributed through Eastern Carolina Organics
Dutch Buffalo Farm - Pittsboro, NC - Farrell and Emily Moose
Garlic, tomatoes, dill
Backyard Edibles - Pittsboro, NC - Keith Denney
Keith grows all the starts for our pepper plants from seed. Since we often grow unusual, hard to find varieties, this is our only option and Keith does an amazing job. You can find him in both the spring and fall at the Carrboro Farmer's Market selling all sorts of vegetable and herb plants.
Dr. Young's Pond Berry Farm - Angiers, NC - Betty Trustman
No-spray, u-pick raspberries and blackberries
Screech Owl Greenhouse - Pittsboro, NC - Screech
Greenhouse tomatoes during the winter months and early spring.
Eastern Carolina Organics aka Happy Dirt - Durham, NC - we are so lucky to have ECO in the area, formed out of a grant from CFSA, ECO is a wonderful source for certified organic, and sustainably grown produce from the state of NC and neighboring states. We have purchased ramps from the NC mountains, local shiitakes grown in Durham, organic strawberries, organic blueberries, pesticide-free apples, organic persimmons, and more.
Bardenhagen Farm, Lake Leelanau, MI - Ginger Bardenhagen and Ryan Eby
My husband grew up in Northern Michigan in a little town on Lake Michigan called Leland. It is an area with a rich and beautiful farming tradition. David grew up with many of these farmers and so each summer when we go up to visit family we bring back lots of beautiful fruit; tart cherries, raspberries, apricots and red currants. Bardenhagen Farm grows beautiful red currants and apricots that make amazing jam.
Redpath Orchards - Lake Leelanau, MI - Dave Alpers
Another family friend with a beautiful orchard situated on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, perfect for growing fruit. Their tart and sweet cherries are unmatched in flavor and quality.
Deal Orchards - Taylorsville, NC
Deal Orchards is a third generation fruit farm tucked in the foothills of the Brushy Mountains of NC. They grow amazing apples, peaches and nectarines.
Lewis Nursery and Farms - Rocky Point, NC
Lewis Nursery and Farms does something amazing, they grow strawberries in the winter that taste really good, that is no small feat! Using solar tunnels they grow "winter berries" from November until March.
Red Roots Farm - Silk Hope, NC - Jason and Kristen
Jason and Kristen grow lovely produce on their plot of land in Silk Hope, all kinds of greens and often times unusual items you can't find everywhere like the roselle hibiscus we source from them each year.
Cedar Grove Blueberries - Cedar Grove, NC - Kether and Lyndon Smith
Cedar Grove Blueberries grow gorgeous certified organic blueberries. The owners Kether and Lyndon Smith are also the brains behind Botanist and Barrel makers of delicious wines and ciders made from local NC fruit.
Sweet Retreat Orchard - Hillsborough, NC - Phil & Aniko
Sweet Retreat Orchard is an amazing pick your own orchard growing figs, persimmons, jujubes, honeyberries and lots of other unusual fruits! Phil and Aniko are working towards organic certification for their orchard planted just over 2 years ago.
Wild Abandon Farm - Pittsboro, NC - Shari and Noah Becker - our neighbors! I'm so excited, 2 years ago they planted blueberries and blackberries, all sustainably grown. This year they harvested their first blackberries and they were gorgeous, we can't wait for next year!
Honeybee Hills Farm - Prospect Hill, NC - Liz and Rich Mason - sometimes we just can't grow enough habaneros to make all the Rooster Sauce we need to keep up with demand. Thankfully the folks at Honeybee Hills Farm have helped us out in a pinch with their gorgeous sustainably grown peppers!
River Ridge Farm - Independence, VA - Jay Dunbar - just over the NC border in VA is River Ridge Organics, we discovered them at the Cobblestone Market in Winston Salem. They raise cattle but they also grow gorgeous certified organic black raspberries, raspberries and blueberries. We've been searching for a long time for a local raspberry grower and we are so happy to have connected with the folks at River Ridge!
Heartsong Farm - Silk Hope, NC - Emily Thompson - thanks to Angelina of Angelina's Kitchen I met Emily. She grows lots of really fun stuff, including the most rare and hard to find peppers. For the second year in a row we have partnered on a version of our Fire Sauce made with her Aji Lemon Drop and Aji Pineapple peppers. It's so good and a has been a huge hit with our market customers! She has an amazing CSA that includes gorgeous flowers, check them out!
Kindred Seedlings Farm - Burlington, NC - LaShauna Austria - I had the great pleasure of getting to know LaShauna when she was the manager of the Carrboro Farmer's Market. She's a farmer now (as well as an educator, leading amazing workshops on Racial Equity (check out her consulting business Seeds of Change Consulting!) and grows some of the most beautiful herbs and flowers that we've had the pleasure of incorporating into our products. She grows some pretty amazing vegetables too!
Poppy Sol - Pittsboro, NC - Hannah Popish - another Pittsboro farmer! Hannah grows some very unique herbs and flowers and uses them to creates truly original and amazing tinctures. This spring we used her lemon grass and lemon verbena in two very special jams using Black and Red Raspberries. I hope we have the opportunity to work together soon in the near future!
Small Potatoes Farm - Chapel Hill, NC - Simon Rose and Natasha McCurley - another great local farm that helped us out in a pinch with gorgeous orange habaneros this year!