Maverick Farms Makes Its Debut This spring marks the launch of Maverick Farms, a multi-tiered sustainable-agriculture project formed by second-generation High Country residents. Dedicated to preserving family land through growing and preparing food, Maverick Farms is a joint effort uniting Springhouse Farm in Valle Crucis and a fertile patch of land in Ashe County. Maverick Farms intends to serve as a community resource, working synergistically with other small area farms and doing youth-outreach work. “Like farmland everywhere, the land her is under intense pressure from development,” says project core member Alice Brooke Wilson, who returned to her family home in Valle Crucis this spring after 10 years away spent attending college and working as a journalist in Mexico City and a community-garden activist in New York City. “It’s extremely difficult for small farmers to hold onto their land as property values rise and commodity prices for their goods drop.” She says Maverick Farms intends to avoid the commodity market by creating an variety of income streams, including agro-tourism, catering, monthly farm dinners, and a stand at the Boone Farmers Market that includes prepared foods. “We’ll also sell our produce directly to chefs, building on the niche market created by my dad, Bill Wilson of Springhouse Farm,” she adds. For nearly 30 years, Springhouse Farm has produced small crops of heirloom tomatoes, arugula, haricot verts, and other specialty vegetables. Another core member, Sara Safransky, will take a prominent role in the food-preparation aspects of Maverick Farms. “We’re a bunch of food fanatics who also like to eat healthy,” says Safransky, who grew up in Ashe County and has spent the past year and a half working on organic farms in Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. “We all have years of experience traveling and cooking, and we want to apply some of the ideas and technique we’ve picked up to the wonderful produce of the area.” In addition to her travels, Safransky has worked in publishing in New York, as a career and youth activist in Holyoke, Mass., and a research collaborator with Anne Lapper co-author of Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet. According to Wilson and Safransky, Maverick Farm’s activities will include: Agrotourism Based on the European agrotourism model, Maverick Farms will be renting rooms for short stays at a 125-year-old farmhouse in a secluded part of Valle Crucis. “The idea is to offer a peaceful, pretty place to stay for people who love good food and want to support small-scale farming at an affordable price,” Wilson says. Catering Maverick Farms will showcase its produce and its members’ cooking skills by catering parties and events. “Our gimmick is that we take the freshest, healthiest ingredients and make them taste and look really good,” says Safransky. “We reject the idea that ‘health food’ should be bland and ugly, and that ‘gourmet food’ is bad for you. The group’s catering arm uses local and organic ingredients whenever possible, and never uses hydrogenated oils or refined sugars. Farm Dinner Series Each month, Maverick Farms will host dinners at Springhouse Farm in Valle Crucis. The dinners will highlight Maverick Farms as well as products from local and area farmers. The first dinner, on May 22, will feature free-range chicken from Hubert’s Heritage Farm in Boone. The Farm Dinner series will be held on the following dates: May 22, July 3, August 14, September 14, October 2, and November 6. Farmers Market Maverick Farms runs an occasional stand at the Watauga County Farmers Market held Saturdays in Boone. Typical products include fruit and savory tarts, foccacia, pizza, cookies, granola, and muffins. The group’s baked goods feature organic flour, real butter, extra-virgin olive oil, maple syrup, local sorghum molasses, and never any refined sugars or hydrogenated oils. As the season progresses, the group will bring fresh produce to the market. Youth Outreach Maverick Farms is committed to youth empowerment and community outreach. Throughout the growing season the group will hold youth workshops, gathering young people to learn about organic farming and healthy eating habits. Using a youth-development approach, Maverick Farms hopes to teach young people technical and leadership skills and equip them to start their own farming and cooking projects. For information: info@maverickfarms.com, phone 828-263-4656.