By Jim Brown, Foothills Connect
The Daily Courier
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Rich and Deborah Davis love the land, the earth.
They want to help others who have the same passion.
They had finished unloading a delivery of organic fertilizer and explained why they have opened an organic farm store at 975 Poors Ford Road in Rutherfordton called Earthperks. It is situated across the street from their home and farm.
The Davises started the store because they could not find organic fertilizer and other “amendments” close by. They had to travel to Asheville to meet a big truck.
“We thought, ‘Let’s get enough for everyone,” Davis said. Supporting local organic farmers is a major goal of Earthperks, which also carries seeds and other organic materials needed by gardeners and farmers.
“The store’s name comes from the Davis’s desire to “feed the earth.” “It also refers to the ‘perks’ (benefits) we get from the earth,” he said.
We have products here for sustainable farmers, everything from seed to fertilizer,” Davis said.
In the future, they plan to offer organic beef, chicken and pork.
They credit Foothills Connect with helping them reach a new generation of farmers, through the business and technology’s sustainable horticulture school and its online FarmFreshMarket.org project. The latter connects local farmers with chefs in Charlotte who order fresh local produce.
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Foothills also helps, Davis said, by providing a support group where farmers can share information and help each other.
The Davises also run a CSA (community-supported agriculture program) out of their farm. Each year, they take on 30 “partners” who buy a share of the farm for a season and in return receive a fresh bag of produce each week.
The Davises grow a large variety of crops, including tomatoes, squash, greens, kales, blueberries, shitake mushrooms and melons, and also have eggs. Mrs. Davis said an effort is made to make sure CSA members receive diverse produce each week.
This year, they already have 15 members and expect a surge in CSA members during April, but they can only take 30. “First-come, first-served,” Davis said.
Earthperks also offers cover crop seed, garden seeds, botanicals, natural pest controls — “safer pest controls” — and transplants.
A sign is in the works, but already farmers are coming by to buy fertilizer and other products.
“Farm fertility is one of our things,” Davis said. “We want to get out of having a carbon footprint to run a farm.”
“Yes,” his wife said, “safe, clean food.”
Down the road, Davis would like to see bluegrass jamborees and harvest celebrations at the farm in the fall.
The store will open from “dawn to dusk” on Thursday through Saturday. Davis said farmers can call anytime if they need a particular product.
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