Nourishing Acres Farm is located at the end of a gravel drive that winds past a forest of blueberry bushes and a dozen honeybee hives. When we visited last week, we slowed to pass through a cloud of bees enjoying the hot, sunny day. We passed two hoophouses, one not yet covered with plastic, and several tilled fields to arrive at the farmhouse and barn, where we met Megan and Keith Marshall.
The Marshalls have settled in Cedar Grove after years spent interning and running farms: they both served as ag extension agents in the Peace Corps in Paraguay, where they met, before returning to the United States to grow vegetables. They rent about eighty acres, ten of which are cleared for farming.
Numerous plots are planted in neat rows, with no weeds in sight, which is impressive because the farm is certified organic. The land used to be a tobacco farm, but the Marshalls were able to gain organic certification immediately because the land had been fallow, with nothing sprayed, for years. With the exception of a part-time summer helper, the couple does everything themselves: clear land, erect hoophouses, plant seeds and transplants, cover rows, mow and till in cover crops, and harvest vegetables. Megan explains that they try to avoid spraying for pests, even with organic-approved sprays. They cover plants to keep pests off and will even hand-pick insect pests off plants if needed. If they absolutely must spray, they do it in the early evening to minimize any impact the spray might have on their honeybees.
They walked us out to the edge of a row of kale plants. Those leaves might be in our stores later this week: the Marshalls will be providing us with an abundance of greens, fall lettuces, radishes, turnips, squash, and more throughout the year. Currently we have kale, mustard greens, and some bagged lettuce mixes in our Carrboro and Hillsborough stores. We’re delighted to share their fresh produce with you.
Visit the farm online at http://www.nourishingacres.com/.