Eat like you mean it

farm, forage, and Plants

Our farm was not a farm when we got here. The property was beautiful, but had been heavily impacted by poor management since the 1960’s. We started with home remodels and small gardens, intent on making a sustainable homestead and growing as much of our own food as possible. As we grew our homestead, our gardens got bigger and more productive. As we grew our business, we started doing production farming for the farmers market and restaurants.

We have built all of our soils and terraces by hand, utilizing ancient techniques and ecological knowledge. Farming on steep mountain land is hard, and can be incredibly destructive to the environment. We have successfully turned steep slope into level and rich soil that was not here before we started farming. We partner with the Wedge Brewery in Asheville to collect their spent beer grains, keeping them out of the waste stream, and compost them into beautiful organic soils. Healing the land is a gift, creating vibrant soils on our property is a legacy we are proud to leave to future generations.

teaching foraging
harvesting carrots
green plants fruiting in greenhouse dome
high tunnel in winter

We utilize a mix of organic and regenerative farming techniques. We never spray petroleum products or harsh chemicals on our farm. By keeping contaminants out of our system, we can allow for soils to teem with life and our pollinators can live without the stresses of chemical exposure. Utilizing natural preparations of nutrients and plant material, we create a system that yields nutrient dense foods with amazing flavors in a more intensive space. We use low-till and no-till techniques to reduce erosion and plant perennials so we minimize soil disruption. Most of our farming is done by hand, never bringing a tractor into our planting beds to compact our soils and disrupt our system. We find a deep connection to our life mission when we work with our hands in the soil.

Our farm is unique in that it is surrounded by mature forest. We are working to restore biologically diverse forests on our own land as well. Diverse forest is important because it gives us a healthy farm ecosystem. We work with natural processes, utilizing systems evolved over millennia. We plant native plants and encourage native pollinators and birds to provide us with their help on our farm. We mimic the surrounding ecosystem instead of trying to control it and subdue it. Another advantage of healthy forests is the ability to forage. Being a trained botanist, Sara can find food in the woods for the family and to share with our customers. We allow many wild foods to grow in the margins of our farm, providing us with nutrient dense forage and providing wildlife with resources to reduce their consumption of our cultivated produce.

harvesting lettuce at Sustainabillies
1_sarah outside garden rustic mountain background
IMG_0350
greenhouse dome

Permaculture and regenerative farming incorporate wise planning on the farm and structures as well as the gardens along with techniques that improve soils and the local environment. We have incorporated appropriate technologies; solar hot water, water catchment, and PV solar panels to power our home and shop. Our cold storage is bermed into the hillside, reducing its energy needs. Our home, originally built in the 1940s, has been completely remodeled to make it incredibly sustainable for a structure of its age. Our six greenhouses, including a geodesic dome, allow us to grow food year-round and create beautiful spaces for us to enjoy even in the deepest winter. The passive solar greenhouse on the front of our home has reduced our energy needs as well as provided hot water heating and a guest space. Our high tunnels allow to have a longer growing season for warm season crops and have a strong winter garden. We grow food year round, and share the bounty with our community.

Plant Starts

Haywood Historic Farmer Market Asheville City Market
Whole Bloomin Thing; Waynesville, NC
Herbfest; Asheville, NC
Growing in the Mountains; Asheville NC
Riverview Farm and Garden Feed Store; Canton, NC
Cultivate Garden Shop; Waynesville,NC

If you are interested in a neighborhood or business pop up plant sale, please contact us. We can bring our set up to you. Farm visits can be scheduled by appointment for educational purposes and for acquisition of metal work, plants, and produce. We are excited to invite you to all come to visit us again. We missed you!

plant starts for sale

Plant List, 2024 will be updated in season

CSA produce
CSA boxes
summer CSA box garlic rhubarb carrot butter lettuce portobello oregano romaine

CUCUMBERS & EGGPLANTS

Cucumbers- We will have various varieties including pickling and sweet munching cukes

Cucumber, Dar- bushing cuke for smaller spaces

Cucumber, Lemon and Muncher- Smaller munching cukes.

Cucumber, Mexican Sour Gherkin - small cuke the size of a grape. Sweet and tangy ready to pop in your mouth or a salad, makes super cute pickles, prolific plant

Cucumber, Poona Kheera- Indian heirloom white cuke that turns golden brown as it ripens. Lacks astringency and is perfect for salads, pickling, and yogurt dips. Our favorite, hands down.

Cucumber, Pickling- Smaller cukes great for pickling/snacking

Cucumber, Straight Eight and Marketore- productive long salad cukes with sweet flavor

Eggplant, Early Black - quick producer, smaller dark purple eggplant

Eggplant, Ping Tung - Long and skinny Asian style, light purple with white flesh

Eggplant, Rosa Bianca - round striped with mild flesh, baseball to softball sized

CSA box
eggplants and passion flowers

FLOWERS

Calendula- beautiful orange flowers with medicinal value, hardy annual

French Marigold- classic marigolds used as cut flowers and pollinator plants, we will have several different varieties on the truck from small to large flowered.

Mexican Marigold- drought tolerant marigold with tiny flowers, great for containers and incredible flavor for teas and baking. One of our favoritets!

Nasturtium-classic heirloom garden flower, every part is edible and spicy, excellent for pollinators. Many different colors. 

Common Milkweed-native, monarch food source, large, sensuous, pink flowers. This plant will spread, so make sure to plant it in an area where a patch can develop. 

Sunflowers– beautiful open flowers of several varieties. We primarily grow smaller, dwarf varieties so they will behave well in the garden. We also make sure to choose varieties with pollen and nectar so they are good for pollinators.

custom blacksmithing decoration
sunflower

Herbs

Basil- various types

Chamomile- tea herb heralded for its soothing flavor

Lemon Grass- Classic Asian herb great for teas or cooking.

Rosemary-superb cooking herb

Thyme- small leaved perennial with a big flavor

Tulsi- Ayurvedic herb, makes amazing tea, minty sweet and spicy flavor, our favorite herb, annual

Sage- Beautiful Cooking Herb

chickweed

SWEET PEPPERS

California Wonder- Red Bell pepper. Classic sweet bell full of flavor

Carolina Wonder-A sweet, red bell bred to grow well in NC.

Corno di toro - Long red horn pepper, daydream of spice, classic roasting pepper of Spain

Felicity-No heat jalapeno. Super productive and flavorful

Golden CA Wonder - blocky sweet golden bell

Habanada and Roulette- Amazing heatless habaneros. All the flavor without the face melting.

Jimmy Nardello- Our sweetest pepper, long, skinny, red

Lola-Like a sweet banana, but without the tangy twang. Highly productive.

King of the North - Smaller blocky red bells, productive in cooler weather

Mini Red Bell - tiny sweet red container peppers, great for kids

bell peppers from Sustainabillies

Pepperocini – a little spicy, classic pickling pepper from Italy

Poblano– a little spicy, classic pepper from Mexico, used for stuffing and roasting

Purple Beauty – blocky sweet purple bell

Sheepnose – thick walled pimento style pepper, super sweet, smaller but makes up for it

Shishito pepper– amazing for roasting and cooking, very productive

Sweet Banana – classic tangy sweet pepper, long, yellow-orange color

colorful vegetables

HOT PEPPERS

Cayenne – classic medium heat long pepper, great for drying pickling

Fish – African heirloom of Jamaican Jerk fame, medium hot, variegated plant and pepper

Habanero – super hot, orange color. Look out.

Peter Cayenne – peter shaped peppers, get your neighbors peeking in your garden, cayenne heat

Serrano – hot and flavorful, great for sauces and chili, heat without melting your face, flavorful

Sugar rush– medium to mild heat, sweet flavor, amazing for relishes and pepper jellies

Tam– a mild jalapeno, great for a little heat, but still friendly

SUMMER and winter squashes- including, but not limited to

Autumn Frost- small winter squash with amazing flavor and very productive

Black Beauty– classic dark green zucchini, very productive

Crookneck – classic yellow squash, pick early for soft skin, very flavorful

Straightneck – classic yellow squash, smooth skin

Lungo Bianco and Magda– white zucchini, productive and delicious, can get large and are still good

Patty Pan – small dish-shaped squash, very productive

Butternut– classic small squash, rich dark orange flesh, productive

Burpee’s butter bush– small plant and squash but still productive, great for containers and tight spaces

Candyroaster-classic NC Cherokee squash, pumpkin-shaped, rich orange flesh, sweet

Kabocha– Japanese heirlooms, deep orange flesh and super flavorful, we have both Shokichi and Tetsukabuto (best keeping squash).

North Georgia Candyroaster-long candyroaster, usually around 6-8 lbs. good climber

Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck-like a butternut on steroids, long neck with lost of flesh

Sugar Pie Pumpkin– little sweeties for your dessert dreams

Thai Kang Kob– my hands down favorite squash, dark green pumpkin with mottling, rich orange flesh, similar to butternut in flavor but sweeter, good keeper, we still have one on the counter. 

gourds

TOMATOES

Ananas Noir – strong acid tomato for salsa and canning, amazing rainbow colors- most beautiful

Atomic Grape– productive large grape with beautiful rainbow stripes, classic flavor

Black Brandywine– sweet potato leaf, classic large slicer for sandwiches and fresh eating

Blueberries– super productive purple cherries, sweet and tangy, very hardy and large plants

Costoluto Fiorentino-Italian squatty highly ribbed, beautiful slicer, impress the neighbors

Cherokee Purple-classic heirloom, sweet, productive, purple slicers, a favorite

Dr. Wyche–  yellow sandwich slicer, big tomatoes, low acid, sweet, productive

Gypsy– pink slicer, good with cold temps, low acid sweet

Matt’s Wild Cherry– very small sweet cherries, great for kiddos, sweet! eat right away

Minibel– tiny plant for pots, small red cherries, cute and beautiful for a porch or kid’s garden

Dustin of Sustainabillies with tomatoes

Mischka– huge clusters of amazing, 1 ½ inch long, red, Roma-like tomatoes, super producer

Mortgage Lifter– classic red slicer, big tomato flavor, WV heirloom, great mountain tomato

Mountain Magic-HYBRID, blight resistant, very productive sauce tomatoes

Mountain Merit-HYBRID, blight resistant, very productive, sandwich slicer

Peron– Very hardy small red sandwich tomato. Good disease resistance. 

Pineapple – Rainbow sandwich slicer, tangy and high acid, good for canning and salsa

Purple Russian/Ukranian Purple – amazing purple sauce tomato, like Cherokee and Roma had a love child

Roma – classic red sauce tomato, 2-3 inches long

Russian Queen – red-striped roma-sized slicer, beautiful clusters, large plant, productive

Siberian Pink Honey– red oxheart tomato, rich flavor for sauces, Italian heirloom

fresh harvested tomato in dirty hand

Striped Roman-amazing sauce tomato with flame stripes, incredibly productive

Suddith Brandywine – large, sweet, low-acid, slicer, pink, potato leaf, large plants

Sungold– HYBRID, A super sweet, yellow, cherry we are offering by popular demand

Sweet Pea Currant– tiny super sweet little morsels, we dare you to not eat them all right away

Tommy Toe – classic round cherry, great for salads

Trifele Black – 3-4 inch purple with red shoulders, pear shaped, thick and juicy, flavorful

Yellow Gooseberry – yellow cherry, large and productive, hardy plants, sweet and tangy flavor

Yellow Mortgage Lifter-Large, yellow, slicer, sweeter, low-acid, great for sandwiches

Yellow Pear– old-timey, 1 inch long yellow pears, sweet and flavorful, smaller plants (semideterminant)

produce in Sustainabillies summer CSA box

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