Andrews FernCrest Winery hosted a free seed and plant swap in conjunction with the Cherokee Clay Food Alliance on April 6.
Conversations and advice among the crowd ranged from the upcoming frosts with Dogwood Winter approaching and possible last frost date around Mother’s Day, to how to keep Carolina Reaper peppers from cross-pollinating with other varieties so as to “not spread the heat,” to how to space your seeds when planting, to which varieties of plants are self-sowing annuals (that means you can leave them season to season and they will regenerate).
Megan Lambert, of Garnet Gals Jams & Jellies, a vendor with the Andrews Farmers Market, was in attendance as both a gardener and a representative with the food alliance.
“We asked Jan [Olson] to host the event ahead of the gardening season and she agreed, so we’re pleased to have everyone in the Andrews area come by today,” Lambert said.
More than 30 people attended, with seven farms and individuals bringing seeds and plant starts to trade and swap. Plants and seeds included ginger transplants, various herbs including lemon balm, oregano and rosemary, along with sprouted iris and tulip bulbs, strawberry plants and radish starts, and two varieties of seed potatoes.
The numerous seeds offered included those for early salad greens and cutting flowers to help attract pollinators for later plants such as okra and squash. One vendor even offered the cleverly titled “chicken seeds,” which were fertilized eggs from Olive Eggers and a mix of Lavender Orpington chickens.
Olson said she was also glad to host the event ahead of the planting season and both offer up some of her own varieties of seeds for swapping as well as having the community gather to see what different plants and produce everyone is interested in. She is known for her own green thumb and the variety of plants that thrive year-round inside the winery.
Sheila Hudson, a former hospice nurse turned homesteader and transplant herself from “a military childhood to most recently Florida,” was in attendance representing her Newfound Meadows Farms LLC in Murphy.
Hudson regularly attends the Murphy Farmers Market and is hoping to also be able to send goods to the Andrews Farmers Market when it opens in May.
“I grow a little bit of everything,” Hudson said. “I also bake sourdough bread, make jams and jellies, and I also have ducks and sell the eggs. Like I said, a little bit of everything is what I do.”
Hudson, a strong proponent of growing your own food, said a love of gardening was instilled during childhood days spent gardening with her aunt in West Virginia.
“We’d snap beans on the porch and I learned at an early age where our food comes from. I started seriously in 2022 growing most of what I can for what I need,” she said.
“I’ve been here permanently since 2019, having lived all over until finding my property in 2017. I started growing fruit trees, flowers for pollinators and produce to eat.”
That attitude of the grow-your-own has grown exponentially since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and supply chain issues of recent years. With grocery stores seeing empty shelves, more people are reconnecting with a strong desire for getting back to the land, an almost cyclical continuation of a movement started in the mid-1970s.
“We’re looking to promote what we can grow here in our area of western North Carolina,” Lambert said. “To help people learn to grow products both for themselves and for our local farmers markets. We’re here to help everyone learn how to grow even a small amount, and then how to expand that growth.”
Also on hand with seed packets were Jimmy and Tonya McCarter, representing their daughter Taylor Ledford’s Sweetwater Farm in Hayesville. The McCarters offered anyone who wanted a packet advice on planting, thinning and propagating.
“We’re just the labor,” Jimmy said, with Tonya agreeing with a laugh and adding, “We’re here to help everyone understand why it’s so important to garden and to grow even a small amount for themselves.”
While many area farmers markets have already started for the season, the Andrews market will begin from noon-4 p.m. Friday, May 2, with a change of location this year to the old A&P parking lot on Main Street downtown, Lambert said.
Lambert went on to define a bit more about what the food alliance does,
“We work with all the local farmers markets: Andrews, Brasstown, Hayesville and Murphy,” she said. “We’re here as local food advocates and also educators to help people interested in growing and equipping them with the support and encouragement to engage with the land and what it can provide.”
The food alliance’s core values are “Sustainability,” “Education” and “Entrepreneurship,” with “Community” as the foundation, according to their website. They formed in 2021 and were certified as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2024 with an idea to “build programs that enhance our local food systems.”
Details: Visit wncccfa.org.