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monthly news from ASAP | JANUARY 2025 | asapconnections.org
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New Venue for ASAP's Business of Farming Conference
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Location change! ASAP's 2025 Business of Farming Conference, on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m, will now take place at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, NC, instead of A-B Tech in Asheville, as originally announced. The A-B Tech Conference Center is undergoing repairs after serving as a disaster relief location during Hurricane Helene. The annual Business of Farming Conference brings together professional farmers from across the Southeast region to network and share resources to grow their farm businesses. Farmers learn about marketing, business planning, and financial management from regional experts and innovative peers. The conference is designed for beginning and established farmers as well as those seriously considering farming as a profession. This year’s conference will have a special focus on post-storm recovery and resilience. Find the full list of workshops here.Register for the conference here. Act now! Early-bird discounts end on Feb. 2. You can save even more by registering with a farm partner. Scholarships are also available for BIPOC and limited-resource farms. Volunteer opportunities are also available.
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Save the Date: CSA Fair on March 13
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 ASAP's 2025 CSA Fair will take place Friday, March 13, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at the YWCA of Asheville.
The CSA Fair is relaxed setting where attendees chat with farmers about their products, growing practices, payment structure, and more. Attendees can sign up for a CSA during the fair or follow up with farmers later. The fair will also feature local food tastings and activities for kids, as well as produce and food products available for purchase. Participating farms—all offering CSA pickups in Buncombe County—will be announced in mid February.
Look out for more resources on ASAP's website and social media or learning about CSAs and finding CSA farms during CSA Month, Feb. 15–March 15.
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Update Your Local Food Guide Listing
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 Every year, ASAP calls more than 1,400 businesses to update our Local Food Guide so that we get the most accurate information about connecting with local food and farms. Calls for the 2025–26 edition are underway!
Want to get a head start on updating your listing? You can give us a call (828-236-1282, Tuesday to Thursday) or do it yourself online. The deadline to be included in the print Local Food Guide is March 16 (or Jan. 31 to be included in CSA farm promotions).
Have a new farm, restaurant, retail outlet, or other locally sourcing food business that you want to be listed? Go to appalachiangrown.org and click Get in the Guide. An online listing is completely free. |
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 FACES OF LOCAL |
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 Farmer Danielle Hutchison will give a welcome address as part of the 2025 Business of Farming Conference on February 22 at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, NC. Danielle began farming in 2008 and is the co-owner and operator of TendWell Farm in McDowell County, North Carolina.
Can you share a little about yourself and TendWell Farm?
My name is Danielle Hutchison and I am a first-generation organic farmer based in Western North Carolina. Graduating from Warren Wilson College in 2007 with a degree in Environmental Education and Agriculture, I have dedicated my career to organic vegetable production. I co-own and operate TendWell Farm, an organic farm growing seasonal produce in the mountains of Western North Carolina and Southern Florida. TendWell Farm grows and distributes our produce, year round, throughout the South East and beyond.
Was your farm impacted by Helene? What keeps you farming and dreaming about the growing season ahead?
Yes, my farm in WNC was greatly impacted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Despite the challenges, willpower, resilience, stubbornness, and passion keep me farming year after year. Looking ahead, I’m dreaming of a disaster-free year in 2025, focused on rebuilding and growing stronger in the face of climate change and adversity.
What have been some of your biggest challenges as a farmer?
As an organic farmer, I’ve faced several significant challenges, including the unpredictable impacts of climate change, which affect crop yields and weather patterns. As a first-generation farmer, access to capital has been a constant struggle, making it difficult to invest in necessary equipment and infrastructure. Additionally, finding a reliable, hardworking labor force is a persistent challenge, compounded by the increasing cost of production, which further strains the financial viability of maintaining an organic farm. Despite these obstacles, I remain committed to sustainable farming practices and overcoming these barriers
What gets you excited about the Business of Farming Conference this year?
I’m excited about the Business of Farming Conference this year because it offers a great opportunity to connect with fellow colleagues, growers, and others within the industry. I look forward to sharing stories of resilience, learning from others’ experiences, and building meaningful connections that can help us all navigate the challenges of farming together
Any tips you would offer beginning farmers to get the most out of the conference?
My tip for beginning farmers attending the conference is to prioritize connecting with other farmers—listening to their experiences and sharing your own is incredibly valuable. Also, don’t overlook the business management classes, even if topics like taxes, record-keeping, and lending seem tedious. These areas play a crucial role in growing your farm business successfully, and gaining that knowledge early on will set you up for long-term success.
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 RECIPE OF THE MONTH |
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Winter Squash and Apple Soup
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|  As an unusually cold snap has gripped much of the region, it's hard to go wrong with soup! This one, from our Growing Minds recipe archive, has warming spices and a sweet-savory flavor from combining winter squash and apples. Butternut squash will yield a creamy texture in this soup, but you can use any type of winter squash available.
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut or other winter squash
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus additional for brushing squash
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 apples, cored, peeled, and sliced
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- dash hot sauce
- splash of cream
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut squash in half and remove seeds and pulp. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place flesh-side down on a baking sheet and roast until tender, about 45 minutes.
- Remove squash from oven and cool. After cooled, scoop out the flesh and discard skin.
- Toss carrot, onion, and apple slices in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast until soft, about 30 minutes.
- While vegetables are roasting, bring stock to a simmer.
- Add roasted vegetables and squash flesh to the stock. Add spices and simmer 30 additional minutes.
- Cool and puree in a blender. Adjust seasoning to taste. Ladle into bowls and drizzle with cream, if desired.
Find more recipes at growing-minds.org and asapconnections.org.
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 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS |
| | "Helping farms plan business models that allow them to prepare for, navigate and recover from the unexpected—climate issues, pandemics, shifts in the economy—has always been at the foundation of ASAP’s Business of Farming Conference."
— Sarah Hart, ASAP's Communications and Engagement Director, in The Laurel of Asheville's feature on ASAP's Business of Farming Conference
"We want kids to be eating local food in their meals and snacks. There are a lot of barriers to that, so we provide support to school nutrition directors in the region and connect them to farms. In Western North Carolina and the Southern Appalachians there are so many small farms and there is really an emphasis on community, so making those relationships is really important for sustainability."
— Danielle Raucheisen, ASAP's Growing Minds Program Director, in a farm to school video by NC State Extension
"The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP): This program in the United States has revitalized the region’s agricultural economy by connecting farmers to consumers and providing education and resources for sustainable agriculture. ASAP’s efforts have created jobs and improved access to fresh, healthy food in both rural and urban communities."
“As many farms in the region were making the shift from tobacco to growing local foods, [Explore Asheville] was building Asheville up as a food destination. That led to this influx of tourism dollars for restaurants and helped us build that connection between farmers and chefs over the last 20 years. It made sure that the growing restaurant scene was a viable market for our local farms and has led to some incredible new places that we’re seeing today.”
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ASAP's mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food.
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