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Four local farms win grant money from AgOptions
By Justin Goble
Four Jackson County farms have been awarded AgOptions grants to expand and diversify their operations.
Vera Guise, Mike Creason, George Frady and Doug and Renee Lambrecht were awarded the funds earlier this month. The awards range from $2,500 to $5,000.
The grants offer an incentive for farmers to try new ventures – encouraging the sustainability of their operation, as well as demonstrating new methods to the larger agriculture community.
“The goal of the WNC AgOptions program is to help farmers take a financial risk with the small incentive grants in enhancing their agricultural enterprise,” said Rob Hawk, area specialized agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension. “Ensuring the economic sustainability of farms is one of the best ways to preserve farms and the rural nature of our region.”
Cullowhee farmer Mike Creason, left, talks with horticulture extension agent Christy Bredenkamp about his beekeeping and blueberry operation. Creason recently won an AgOptions grant that will allow him to expand his beekeeping as well as create a “you-pick” blueberry farm.
Smoky Mountain High School Senior Matt Bryson learns to use old farm equipment at the Appalachian Homestead in Cullowhee. According to Director Vera Guise, the organization’s grant from AgOptions is being used to create a demonstration field of diverse crops to teach summer campers about traditional small-plot farms and heirloom gardens.
George Frady surveys his Christmas tree farm in Tuckasegee. Helped by a recent grant from AgOptions, Frady plans to turn his farm into a “choose and cut” operation that will allow people to pick out their own Christmas trees.
Creason will use his grant award to expand his beekeeping and blueberry operation in Cullowhee, including starting a “you-pick” blueberry operation.
“I was excited when I found out I got the grant,” he said. “There were a lot of unknowns, so it was nice to get a little bit of financial help. I retired from Western Carolina University after 30 years. After a couple of years of retirement, I wanted to do something to contribute and give back to community. I have 9.5 acres, and I cleared off some area for the blueberry plants. I’ve been hoping to get a ‘you-pick’ blueberry operation going for some time.”
Horticulture extension agent Christy Bredenkamp encouraged Creason to apply for the grant. At first, he said that he didn’t consider applying but decided to do so at the last minute.
“I almost didn’t, but Christy got me to do it,” he said. “So I sent it in and pretty much forgot about it. A little while later I got a letter saying I had gotten the grant.”
Creason’s other focus will be on beekeeping. He said keeping bees will help the surrounding plant life, including his blueberry plants. If his farm does well, he hopes it will encourage other people to keep bees as well, he said.
“The whole idea is that I wanted to encourage pollination and hopefully get more people to keep bees,” he said. “I bought two hives, which came out to four swarms. Three kept, one went away. They’re strong, healthy hives, and I’m happy about that. A lot of people had bees leave on them.
“Pollination encourages healthier garden plants, fruit trees and blueberry plants,” he said. “I have a garden, and this year is the best its ever done. The blueberries I have are prolific as well. I know the bees were responsible for that. They’ve pollinated a three-mile circumference. And those are just mine. If more people got bees it would help a lot of plants. That’s the main reason I got them. If I get honey out of it, that works, too. But I’m really just wanting them to pollinate the plants.”
As for his blueberry plants, Creason said he recently bought 300 three-year-old plants to go along with those he already has. Though it will take about three years for those plants to mature, he said he’s excited to be getting everything organized.
“It takes a while for them to get growing and bearing,” he said. “So we’re looking three to four years down the road before we get people to start picking. Right now we’re getting them planted and letting them establish root base.”
Frady said he will use his grant to expand his Tuckasegee Christmas tree farm into a “choose and cut” operation where customers can visit the farm and pick out their own tree.
“I was glad to get some help with the project,” Frady said of the grant. “It sure will help with the expenses. I think its a really good thing that they do for farmers.”
Though Frady has run a tree farm for years, he said this will be the first time he has let local customers come in and choose their own Christmas trees.
“The biggest reason for the change is to have another outlet to sell trees,” he said. “Right now we make some wreaths and do some wholesale tree sales, things like that. But I just was hoping to find another way to sell trees.”
Frady said he initially hoped to start the operation this year. However, with the current state of the economy he is unsure how many people will be spending extra money on Christmas trees this year.
“I may be skeptical, but the way everything is going, I don’t know that we’ll move a lot of trees,” he said. “But we’ll see how things are looking at Christmas. A lot of people will go ahead and buy a tree around that time, so maybe we will have a few customers come in.”
Guise, director of the Appalachian Homestead non-profit historic farmstead in Cullowhee, said her organization will be using the grant funds to establish a demonstration field of diverse crops to teach summer campers about traditional small-plot farms and heirloom gardens.
“We were thrilled at the homestead when we found out we won the grant,” she said. “This is an old historic farm that hasn’t been farmed in at least 50 years. It was my mother’s homestead. All of it fell out of family hands aside from 16 acres, which we got an earlier grant to buy back. This land had been lying fallow for years. People had cut down some spots for viewsheds, but a lot of things had grown up everywhere else.”
To get the land in shape for farming, Guise said it took a bulldozer to clear out all of the overgrowth. After the land had been cleared, volunteers put in fertilizer and seed.
“When we cleared the land, we actually discovered seven vintage apple trees,” Guise said. “They had to have been there since 1930s.”
Through the newly planted crops, Guise said the Appalachian Homestead will teach young people about heirloom gardens during summer camps. Those taking part plant and harvest crops throughout their time there, and while it sounds like hard work, Guise said the children who participate seem to really enjoy the experience.
“This is the fourth summer we’ve had youth camps,” she said. “It would surprise you how eager these 7- to 14-year-olds are to plant plants and harvest vegetables. It shocked me. But this past summer is the first time we’ve had gardens for kids to work in. We had farm chores to do every day, and those kids couldn’t wait to do this.”
In the future, Guise said she wants to expand the program so more children can take part in it.
“We definitely want to expand,” she said. “They have a new series of grants next year, and we’ve put in an application to start an irrigation system and put up a fence. We started the community garden partners where people paid up front and got a basket each week of whatever was ripe. But there was a drought this year, which hurt a little. The children helped harvest this year, and they were having to carry water from the creek on our property to the plants, which is a lot of labor. Also we’ve had some deer get in our corn, so we want a fence to keep them out. Our long-range plan is to establish a farm and folk center for the county.”
The Lambrechts, who were unavailable for comment, own Bearpen Farm in Cullowhee and produce wasabi. AgOptions officials said their grant funding will be used to expand wasabi production so the Lambrechts can market the Asian garnish nationwide to natural grocers and others through their Web site, freelunch.com.
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