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monthly news from ASAP | FEBRUARY 2021 | asapconnections.org
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ASAP’s annual CSA Fair will be held virtually on March 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. It's free, but you do need to sign up to get the Zoom link. The virtual fair will have a similar format to live fairs in the past—a relaxed setting where attendees can talk to farmers about their CSA programs, products, growing practices, and more. Attendees can sign up for CSAs during the fair or follow up with farmers later. Participating farms all provide CSAs in Buncombe County and the surrounding region. In addition to traditional produce farms, there will also be farms with meat and flower CSA programs.
Participating farms include: Alta Vista Farm, Bearwallow Valley Farms, Blazing Star Flowers, Colfax Creek Farm, Creekside Farm, Hickory Nut Gap Farm, Highgate Farm, Holdfast Farm, Olivette Farm, Tiny Bridge Farm.
Follow the Facebook Event for photos and other highlights from these farms and their CSA programs in the next three weeks.
Discover more CSAs throughout the Appalachian Grown region in our free CSA guide, Full Share, available digitally here or in print at area farmers markets and community centers.
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Business of Farming Conference Begins Thursday
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 We're so excited to kick off our very first virtual Business of Farming Conference (Thursday to Saturday) and connect with farmers and agricultural leaders across the region.
Not yet registered? There's still time! Go here.
Ready to go? You can log into the conference platform starting at 8 a.m. on Thursday to get acclimated and start checking out resources. Look for details in an email on Thursday morning.
Duane Adams, associate director at A-B Tech Small Business Center and a member of ASAP's board of directors, will deliver a conference welcome at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Thank you to all of our conference sponsors for helping to make this special conference possible, especially A-B Tech, Carolina Farm Credit, Southern SARE, and Ward and Smith, P.A. We appreciate all of your support for ASAP and local farmers across the Appalachian Grown region.
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Appalachian Grown Producer Survey Report
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 Every year ASAP's Local Food Research Center sends surveys farmers in our Appalachian Grown network in order to take the pulse of farming in our region and assess the impact of ASAP's programs and services. The 2020 survey was also a chance to further assess the effects of COVID-19 on farmers.
The survey data tells a story of perseverance. For most farmers, the pandemic swiftly upended months of crop and business planning. However, the adaptable nature of the region’s small and diversified farms enabled most to pivot (sometimes multiple times) to new market outlets and to establish relationships with new buyers. Read more in the full report.
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Emily Jackson Graduates as a Culture of Health Leader
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"I will never forget the conversation I had with one of my students, as he was eating a raw beet in the garden," Emily writes. "Jesse wanted to know why our school didn’t serve beets in the cafeteria. Would he have asked that if he hadn’t grown that beet himself?" |
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Welcome Nora Scheff, ASAP's New Development Director
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 Nora Scheff (pictured at Lady Luck Flower Farm) has joined ASAP as our new development director.
Nora has been serving communities for more than a decade, including nonprofits focusing on transportation issues, international policy, and child welfare. Since moving to Asheville in 2012, Nora has put her fundraising and marketing skills to work helping Eliada Homes raise money to support its vast continuum of services. Nora also loves her work assisting Brother Wolf Animal Rescue in meeting their grant funding goals. Outside of nonprofit work, Nora serves on the Buncombe County Women’s Commission and is a small business owner with her husband Dan Silo. Together they operate Sawhorse Restaurant.
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 FACES OF LOCAL |
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ASAP likes to share the stories of people who help us fulfill our mission. This month we talk with KP Whaley of Tiny Bridge Farm, a five-acre diversified farm in Henderson County offering produce through local farmers markets and a CSA.
For anyone who doesn't know, how are CSAs beneficial to both farmers and buyers?
When CSAs got started the idea was to purchase a share of a farm’s harvest at the beginning of the season, which allows the farmer to buy seeds or equipment in anticipation of the harvest season. The customer purchases a membership stake in the farm, securing food for the coming season, and shares the risk and reward with the farmer. Today there are tens of thousands of CSA farms in the United States, with different products, offerings, pricing structures, and distribution models. In our third year, ours is still evolving, but essentially you pay at the beginning of the season and get a similar value in produce back each week over 20 weeks.
How is the CSA Fair valuable to you and your business? Does it bring more interest to your CSA?
The CSA Fair is very helpful in promoting our farm to the type of customer that appreciates local food and farmers in a much more intimate way than simply buying from us at market. These customers tend to really want to know the farmer and the food, meaning they are a bit more adventurous when it comes to trying new things. They are also a lot more invested in us. They are interested in knowing how, and what we are growing and really want us to be successful as a farm operation. We may get some customers from the fair and that's great. But we also start building relationships with future customers, and that's always important.
What does a Tiny Bridge Farm CSA typically include?
We grow lots of greens—lettuce, chard, escarole, kale, collards, arugula. We grow a lot of heirloom and different varieties of tomatoes. You'll also see common vegetables like beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, onions, leeks, eggplant, garlic, sweet and hot peppers, summer and winter squash, and herbs.
How have your operations shifted during COVID-19?
Last year's fair happened just days before businesses started shutting down. I think the reality of what we were facing quickly became real for folks, and as a result, we sold out of shares shortly after. We realized that we may not be able to go to the farmers market (one of our pickup spots), and decided we had to have a way for customers to pick up on the farm. We built a produce cooler that customers can access for on-farm pickup as a direct reaction to the pandemic. Many folks were understandably reluctant to go out in public places during the beginning of the pandemic, and we wanted to be as flexible as possible to accommodate them.
We also had intended to grow our wholesale channel via restaurants, but had to shift this year. We instead sold to the Hendersonville Co-op and some buying clubs. This year we'll try again with restaurants while continuing those other wholesale avenues.
Are you able to offer ways for CSA members to visit the farm?
We're still growing the operation and holding down off-farm jobs, so we're not a place where you just want to stop by. However, I'm always happy to give a short socially distanced tour of the farm when we are there.
Find out more about attending ASAP's Virtual CSA Fair on March 10.
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 RECIPE OF THE MONTH |
| |  Our Growing Minds team shared this recipe in this week's Day by Day roundup of resources for exploring local food and farms with kids. Hearty winter greens like spinach, kale, and Swiss chard are available at farmers markets in our region throughout much of the year, including in the winter months. Bonus points if you draw your own pictures!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 bunch local spinach, kale, or chard leaves
- 8 medium corn or flour tortillas
- 2 cups shredded cheddar or jack cheese
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions:
- Heat olive oil in a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add spinach and cook until wilted, seasoning with garlic and chili powder. Remove spinach from the pan and set aside.
- Place one tortilla onto the skillet.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese evenly over the tortilla. Top with 1/4 of the cooked spinach, then sprinkle on 1/4 of the green onions.
- Cover with another 1/4 cup of cheese. Place the second tortilla on top.
- Cook until the bottom tortilla is crisp and slightly brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the tortilla and cook for another 3 minutes, or until brown and crisp.
- Slide the quesadilla onto a cutting board and cut into wedges to serve.
- Repeat with remaining ingredients to make 3 more quesadillas.
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PHOTOGRAPHER SPOTLIGHT |
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This week is CSA Week and our February photo of the month from Mighty Gnome Market Garden is here to remind us that now is the time to sign up for a CSA share to receive a weekly box of fresh produce or other farm goods. Browse CSA farms in Full Share or sign up to attend the CSA Fair!
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 MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS |
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Mountain Xpress featured ASAP’s Double SNAP program and other SNAP incentives at area markets. ASAP’s Mike McCreary and Kate Hanford are interviewed.
Spectrum News 1 featured farmer Anna Littman of Ivy Creek Family Farm in an interview about farmers getting by in 2020. She talks about ASAP's support for farmers and the Double SNAP program.
The Laurel of Asheville featured the upcoming Business of Farming Conference.
The NC Farm to Preschool's Farm to ECE Implementation Grant (co-facilitated by ASAP's Growing Minds) was also featured in The Laurel of Asheville.
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 ASAP’s Growing Local audio series runs on WNCW on Monday mornings during Morning Edition at 8:45 a.m. Here are a few recent episodes:
You can listen to all Growing Local episodes on SoundCloud, iTunes, or on ASAP's website.
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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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