Farmer To Farmer With Chris Blanchard

Shiloh Avery and Jason Roehrig own and operate Tumbling Shoals Farm in northwestern North Carolina. With three acres tilled and almost half an acre under plastic, they gross about $145,000 selling certified organic vegetables through a CSA, three farmers market, a cooperative CSA, and a few restaurants. Shiloh and Jason were very intentional about where they chose to start Tumbling Shoals Farm, and the smaller cities that they chose to market in. They share the factors behind locating in northwestern North Carolina, the advantages of marketing in smaller markets, and how their marketing decisions have shaped their production strategies. Jason and Shiloh tell us about the ways they’ve made use of high tunnels and Haygrove polytunnels to increase the reliability of their cropping systems. We also dig into the lessons Shiloh and Jason have learned about the power of having enough labor to leave them time to manage the farm, and the changes they are making based on some in-depth business planning as they move int