Right now, we have a young family living on the farm, and they are our modern-day homesteaders. Jason and Katie and their three children are helping to fulfill both goals of the farm by modeling what it can look like to move from a suburban setting back to the farm, but they are also being educated and helping to share what they learn with the local community. Some people are ready to make the full move to the land. Other people, perhaps yourself, see the need to challenge the current industrialized and unsustainable food system, but don’t know how. Here on this land, both groups of people are welcomed. Each month the farm hosts a couple workshops that teach simple ways you can revive an agrarian culture right in your backyard (or apartment window). The workshops are small, affordable, basic and lighthearted. You may even have some experience that you can share with us. We are here to learn with you, not to pretend we know it all! We simply cannot continue to feed a food system that starves farmers. Come out and join us for a workshop or just stop by anytime to help support the growing movement of small farms in Western Carolina. Remember, this is our home, not just a business, and we welcome you here. The Donkey named Checkers is a bit of a grump, but Molly and Nibbles the goats are eager to see what treats you might bring them. We have chicks and turkeys in ages from egg to hen, and they might just follow your kids around hoping they drop some crumbs to scratch at. The veggie garden may not have legs, but it sure has a spirit its own and is quite the exciter as seasons come and go. Abigail and Bonnie, the family cows, love a good pat on the head. We have grand plans for orchards and fruitful vines stretching their arms up the hills that rise up from the Green River, but we know, like the beautiful beeches around the property, that good things grow in time. And this story is indeed growing. Restoration Farm is located on the historic Green River Plantation and still has artifacts of a culture rooted in the land. Some advised that the century old caretaker house be torn down, but instead we put a little elbow grease in it and now its where our homesteaders live. The plantation was a community center, and that history is coming alive again as we invite people here to learn and just enjoy the beauty of creation. We thrive on resuscitating unused things and putting them to use: old windows make a small greenhouse, rusted horse trailers are now chicken coops, old fencing is taken down on one farm and brought here to go to pasture (pun intended). Do come by and buy some eggs, but make sure we get a chance to walk you through some of the inspiring beauty that’s here too. There is a story unfolding here, and we hope you will come and be a part of it..
