Meet the Farmers

Heritage Homestead— Ashe County Goat Dairy

Hambourger, a chemistry professor at Appalachian State University has recently assumed responsibility of the Heritage Homestead— Ashe Country Goat Dairy. Despite this being his first year "taking it on full time", after founder, Carol Coulter retired, Hambourger has been raising goats for almost 15 years and feels confident in his new role. Balancing multiple responsibilities, including his service as a Volunteer Firefighter, a full time tenured professor, and now the present administrator of the dairy farm in Ashe County, Hambourger recognizes that there is limited profitability to farming but doesn't plan on giving it up.

"There's a lot of community and it's, you know, I mean, people, no one's here at eight in the morning because they have to be right," said Hambourger. "It's mainly people are here because they want to be there. It's a very friendly environment and I find that very enjoyable."

Selling all things dairy, the farmer's market stand displayed an array of cheeses, milk, caramel sauce, and fudge. The farm is roughly 30 acres and is primarily supported by the help of family, neighbors, and a few college graduates.         

Five miles east of Boone, Brown’s Farm Ridge hosts a modest yet invaluable family business dedicated to raising beef, cattle and hogs. Both alumni of N.C. State, Ann Brown and Blake Brown first met while pursuing degrees in agriculture at the university. However, it wasn't long before they realize that their true passion lay in the foothills of western North Carolina. Once settled, their children quickly embraced the farm’s many joys, eventually becoming more interested on expanding and marketing their production of high quality beef. The Brown’s farm transformed into more than just a pastime activity. After acquiring the numerous formalities required to sell, including obtaining a meat handler's license, securing USDA approval for transfer to an inspected facility, and establishing connections to farmers markets, restaurants, wholesalers, and nonprofit organizations, the Browns were officially cleared to operate. Daniel Brown, their son, now oversees the beef jerky facility that the farm also manages, as well as various homemade spices to complement their meats. Now, their son and daughter-in-law, along with Lily Farley, a Watauga High School senior, contributes to the farm's operations, playing a significant role in the farm's success.

Browns Farm Ridge

Fishel's Organics

Starting in the pine industry, Fishel began following his family's farming legacy in 1976. Until about 15 years ago when the market got flooded and Fishel decided it'd be best to harvest vegetables as a supplemental source of income. Fortunately, this decision brought in more profit than they anticipated and it didn't take much for the business to shift to a more vegetal and botanical approach. Fishel's Organics continues expanding, providing the farmer's markets in Ashe County, a farm co-op in Durham, East Carolina Organics, and various local distributors as well. One notable component that Fishel has to maintain is by remaining true to the organic label. This entails random spot checks, expensive fertilizer, no GMOs, and a long process of certification. Nevertheless, one of Fishel's favorite things about vegetable farming is that there is limited waste because what doesn't get sold gets eaten.