Photo Gallery

blueandyellowmakes

This is an alien that eats air and sleeps on a pil

This is an alien that eats air and sleeps on a pillow full of bugs who sing the alien to sleep.

Credit Zo-bird.

Tree house construction is officially underway...

Tree house construction is officially underway... So far we've relied completely on reclaimed lumber!

If you've got any old siding, MDF sheets, wooden floor boards, plasterboard or windows hanging out then let me know 🙃

Not what I expected to find at the farm...?!

Not what I expected to find at the farm...?!

I've been obsessed with George Saunders for so lon

I've been obsessed with George Saunders for so long that it feels incredible to find a short story collection that elicits the same feelings!

Big thanks to @goldleafliterary for the recommendation.

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell

#shortstory

Pretty excited to talk to a bunch of food systems

Pretty excited to talk to a bunch of food systems folks about seeds, diversity, resilience and regional adaptation. Grateful to @growappalachia for the invite to 'windy' Berea KY 💚

#seeds

I'm the recipient of the @organicgrowersschool 202

I'm the recipient of the @organicgrowersschool 2023 Organic Educator Award.

I feel very lucky to live in a place where I'm surrounded by lots of amazing people doing lots of amazing things. I'm a little uncomfortable being singled out i.e. I'm just trying to do my best towards what I think and feel is important, like so many other folks. But I'm also grateful and humbled by the recognition.

Not many people in my 'American Life' know that I was an outdoor education and leadership instructor for about 15 years before moving to Western NC (mainly kayaking, climbing and mountaineering). The medium has certainly changed, but my enthusiasm for sharing the things I'm passionate about hasn't!

Hope to see some of you at the Organic Growers School Spring Conference in Asheville in a few weeks!

#alwayslearning

I'm about half way through this book and wanted to

I'm about half way through this book and wanted to share that it's been a really informative collection of essays. The blurb says it better than I could:

"An in-depth look at Black food and the challenges it faces today

Black Food Matters analyzes how Blackness is contested through food, differing ideas of what makes our sustenance “healthy,” and Black individuals’ own beliefs about what their cuisine should be. This comprehensive look at Black food culture and the various forms of violence that threaten the future of this cuisine centers Blackness in a field that has too often framed Black issues through a white-centric lens, offering new ways to think about access, privilege, equity, and justice."

Essential reading!

#blackfoodmatters

Great article by @awaytogarden in the @nytimes tod

Great article by @awaytogarden in the @nytimes today about the incredible Ira Wallace. Plus a couple of shout outs to @utopianseedproject (article link in the bio).

Jumping animals 💚

Jumping animals 💚

We've added signed copies of @beardfoundation winn

We've added signed copies of @beardfoundation winning book, The Whole Okra to our #cropstories shop 💚

Link in our bio.

#okra #thewholeokra

Erica and I took on a black walnut yesterday. Emil

Erica and I took on a black walnut yesterday. Emily and Zoe brought out chairs to watch their daddy swinging around in a tree with chainsaw. We got about half of it down...

#chickensareevil maybe this one is nice...

#chickensareevil maybe this one is nice...

Sweet on Sorghum 💚 My latest article for @edi

Sweet on Sorghum 💚

My latest article for @edibleasheville

Looking forward to growing a lot of Sorghum this year. Source seeds from @ujamaafarms

#sorghum #sorghumseeds #seeds #climateresilient #cropsofafrica

Had a blast talking #heirloomcollards with @bonnet

Had a blast talking #heirloomcollards with @bonnettaadeeb at the @vabfarming conference 💚

#collards

Zoe map reads through the Congaree swamp. Wild pig

Zoe map reads through the Congaree swamp. Wild pigs were spotted.

Emmy throws dead carnations, found on the roadside, into one of Forest Acres many lakes.

I love hanging out with these people 😍

Love these animals.

Love these animals.

Welcome to my 5th decade. When I wrote down my '

Welcome to my 5th decade.

When I wrote down my 'things to achieve in the next 10 years' they were largely writing related.

Top of the list: publish my god damn short story collection so I can move on with life 🙃

Sheep Land and other stories, by Chris Smith.

Now I've said it on IG it has to happen.

*Short story collection has nothing to do with okra or gardening (I actually started writing it over 10 years ago...).

#lifegoals #40 #lookingforanagent

So satisfying 💚 Squash seed saving. This is th

So satisfying 💚

Squash seed saving. This is the last of the Armut for @twoseedsinapod

#seedgrower #seseed #seed #seedsaving #squash #wintersquash

I've been without books for about six months as pa

I've been without books for about six months as paper supply shortages delayed the reprinting of The Whole Okra! But the boxes arrived yesterday and the fancy #jamesbeardfoundation badge is now on the cover!

1. If you've been patiently awaiting a signed copy then I'm sending those orders ASAP.

2. If you want a signed copy then order via the bio link.

#okra #thewholeokra

Apparently Nacho is an okra cat 😻 #okra

Apparently Nacho is an okra cat 😻

#okra

Zoe and the Bunny/Cat.

Zoe and the Bunny/Cat.

Instagram post 17985345229682945

Instagram post 17985345229682945

I have been working on a magazine project called C

I have been working on a magazine project called Crop Stories and it's being printed and bound right now! We're selling pre-order copies at a discounted price until Dec 1, so grab your copy today via @CropStories bio link.

I got to work with @southern_seed_queen and @dr.cynthiar.greenlee and @taamooore to create this project, but also with writers and farmers and poets and artists for the content. It's pretty awesome!

We have a love letter to collards from Michael Twitty (@thecookinggene), artwork from Natalie Daise (@gullahmama) and farmer advice from Kamal Bell (@sankofafarms).

I wrote a short essay on the @heirloomcollards project.

Beautiful collard cover art by @alexandra.antoine

#collards #collardart #cropstories #heirloomcollards

Super excited for our @utopianseedproject #Trial2T

Super excited for our @utopianseedproject #Trial2Table event this week. It's the last one of the year and many of the chefs are also board members of The Utopian Seed Project.

We've got a collaboration beer with @cellarestbeerproject and a collaboration ice cream with @gospel.avl

Crops from our trials via the talented hands of local chefs.

Tickets via @utopianseedproject bio. $50 for 10 small plates, drinks inclusive. Happening at the @smokypark event location: The Boathouse on Riverside.

#Trial2Table #food #ashevillenc #asheville #ashevilleevents #farming #chefs #ashevillechefs

Scary things 😱

Silly Daddy, but grateful to nurse Emmy. Lesson:

Silly Daddy, but grateful to nurse Emmy.

Lesson: don't accidentally snip your finger with secateurs.

Actual lesson: slow the f*** down.

It's been a bit of a week.

Caught in the collard moment 💚 I've been worki

Caught in the collard moment 💚

I've been working on a project called @cropstories and specifically a magazine titled: Collards.

It's full of art, essay and poetry all about collards and I'm very excited. We're selling pre-orders now for a mid November ship date.

More info and ordering via the link in my bio.

#collards #writing
#magazine

Photography by @sarahtewphotography

It's been a lot of fun to see the @leicestergiving

It's been a lot of fun to see the @leicestergivinggarden grow. We lost track of stats about half way through the year, but have easily given away over 1000lbs of produce (we probably did about 250lbs of tomatoes alone).

The garden is way more than growing and gifting food though. Garden volunteers identified very early in our work that the garden represented community, gathering and learning. And because we have an incredible group then these values are manifesting in our work.

We had a movie night at the library a week or two back where garden volunteers each made a crockpot of soup (we had about 12 different types of delicious soup). The library grounds were filled with families (~150 people) who all settled down (kind of!) to watch Encanto on a big outdoor screen.

Master Gardeners are running garden education classes at the library and the library has launched it's own seed library (that the garden grows seeds for).

Big thanks to the support of @leicesterlibrary, and we're excited to launch a community orchard on the neighboring property in collaboration with @leicesterfd - more details on this project to follow!

All in all, it's pretty amazing 🙂

#givinggarden
#community #growfood

Spot the chicken...

Spot the chicken...

When a friend throws you a bone 😍 Thanks @milk

When a friend throws you a bone 😍

Thanks @milk.and.dust

#deer #deerstock #deerbroth

My latest article on collards in the ever beautifu

My latest article on collards in the ever beautiful @edibleasheville - Fall edition.

#collards #writing

Remind me not to agree to silly side projects agai

Remind me not to agree to silly side projects again 🙃

360 okra marshmallows about to ship to New York ☺️

#okramarshmallow #okra

Follow on Instagram

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

Log in as an administrator and view the Instagram Feed settings page for more details.