I · The Farm

Steep ground, most of it forest.

A former tobacco farm in Marshall, in the hills above the French Broad.

The farm once grew tobacco. It is about 86 acres today, growing to nearly 100. Most of the land is steep and wooded, with springs coming out of the hillsides, and about 29 acres of forest will be kept wild.

It has been farmed organically and biodynamically since 2017. It is not certified. We farm this way for the soil, and soil changes slowly.

Goats and Shetland sheep work the open slopes. Chickens follow them. The vineyard goes in on terraces, a block at a time: the first acre in the spring of 2027, growing to about 6.4 acres by 2033.

Aerial view of curved terraces stepping down a cleared slope, white grow tubes along each row, with pines and hardwoods all around.
The terraces from the drone, October 2026.
Staked terraces at the edge of tall pines and autumn hardwoods, with blue ridges and clouds beyond.
The top terraces and the woods, October 2026.
Place
Marshall, Madison County, North Carolina
Ground
About 86 acres, growing to nearly 100; once in tobacco
Methods
Organic and biodynamic since 2017
Forest
Most of the land; about 29 acres kept wild
Animals
Goats, Shetland sheep, chickens
Vines
The first acre in spring 2027, growing to about 6.4 acres by 2033
Looking straight down on curved terraces lined with white grow tubes, a dirt farm road below them, and a metal shed roof at the edge of the trees.
Terraces and the farm road, straight down from the drone.
Honey Badger, a white Saanen dairy goat, heads down in a bed of hay beside a woolly sheep.
Honey Badger, our Saanen dairy goat, eating hay.

More on the ground, the zones and the timeline in the land plan.

Follow the farm in Field Notes