Ali and Brian Tingley are in the midst of moving their farm, Seven Seeds Farm, from Burnsville to Marshall. As beginning farmers, Ali and Brian have a few market outlets including a spring and main season CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Ali and Brian have big dreams for their new space including an expanded CSA and all the fruit trees they once could only dream of.
 
When did you start farming and how did you get here?
 
Brian: We were farming one year with a farm on Cape Cod and before that Vermont, where Ali and I met. I had been to the Asheville area years ago WWOOFing and I was looking for an opportunity to come down here. We found this piece of land for lease in Burnsville on Craigslist and flew down immediately to sign the three year lease—it was a good deal! As beginning farmers, it can be hard to get access to land or into the incubator space at Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. 
 
Ali: The landowner had all the essential ingredients here to get started: the walk-in cooler, a work shed, a few greenhouses, and an ag well. He had been doing some market gardening but we have added a lot to it. To move here and already have a lot of infrastructure really helped us get a jump start. We really only brought one high tunnel from Cape Cod and luckily the lease came with a RV so we could live on the land and stay close to the farm.
 
How does your CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) support your farm, especially through the winter?
 
Ali: Each week, we usually sell to TRACTOR Farm & Foods in Spruce Pine and we’ll do one Saturday market in Asheville. Our CSA is our biggest harvest and where we make most of our income. In 2024, we had 110 members with a 5-week spring, then a 25-week main season. We just opened sign-ups for this coming year! Our CSA is a little unconventional. Folks can pick whatever they want from what we have available within their chosen CSA size—small, medium, and large. Our CSA really does keep our farm afloat. Its impact in the winter is especially helpful because, as you know, it’s the time we buy tons of supplies like seeds, compost, fertilizer, tools, and more for the season ahead. The connections we’ve made are so dear to us—we are continually impressed and warmed by our members’ dedication to local and organic food. 
 
Brian: Over the years we have gotten better at making sure we have what people want to eat. Each crop has a different rotation so we can make sure we always have it. We ask our customers what they want to see more of, or take note when we sell out of certain crops. We can never have enough carrots—every year we grow more carrots! We’ve heard from our customers that sometimes they feel like CSAs are dumping their extras, but we are taking the opposite approach and giving folks the first grab of the best. The support from our CSA is particularly important this winter because we’re taking the winter off of growing to focus on our move. We couldn’t do this without the support of our CSA members.
 
So, you are planning to move your farm this winter?
 
Brian: We have a week and a half left on this property in Burnsville! 
 
Ali: We closed on the property in the Fosters Creek area of Marshall in March and were able to start moving things over in August. 
 
Brian: Since we first got here, we have been looking at purchasing land, knowing we had this current space to grow on for three years. This really prepared us for our next step. It gave us the chance to get integrated into this community, to establish what we really wanted to do and what we wanted to grow, and now we found it! Moving all the trees and perennials will be the biggest challenge. We resisted growing them for about a year, then we went ahead anyway—it feels worth it. 
 
Ali: Luckily, we have been able to go slowly. It has been a juggle because our CSA went until Thanksgiving, which left us with a month on this land. It has been a lot while closing things down for the year right when, as farmers, we are trying to relax. It’s still so exciting though, we just have to keep pushing. 
 
How did you come to the name Seven Seeds Farm?
 
Brian: I chose the name Seven Seeds Farm when I was still living up north. A lot of farm names are named after their road or area, but I wanted a name that could always go with me. Alliteration is nice too. We wanted something alluding to the pleiades, the seven stars, as that’s something farmers have always watched. We like numbers too and the significance of the number seven. 
 
Has there been anything particularly pivotal in the success of your farm?
 
Brian: The climate is amazing. Coming from the North, I feel like a weight off our shoulders and I feel like we can farm what we want to farm. For example, I just ordered a bunch of peach trees—those were the kind of plants I dreamed about in Zone 3. 
 
Ali: It’s a good environment for farmers too—a lot of people believe in farms and local food here. While there are a lot of farms, it seems that they are able to be successful because we all get strong support from our community. The Asheville area feels big enough to support all these farms. 
 
What are your dreams for your new land?
 
Brian: We want to be growing out these really old varieties of fruiting trees that we are sourcing from folks across the region—apples, pears, pawpaws, and hickories—grafting them onto hardy rootstock.
 
Ali: The dream is to have a year-round CSA that is full-diet. We want animals, fruit, and dairy, and we want to include value-added goods as well, like ferments. Brian’s love is the fruit trees and mine is animal husbandry and veggies. We just want to do it all, matched with our own passions. We’re excited to keep expanding our CSA offerings! Next year, in addition to veggies, we’ll have various kinds of berries, eggs, and chicken.