Weaving the fabric of a community

For those of you that may have missed it, the following is an article I wrote for the Charleston City Paper's DIRT Magazine this spring. I have added some personal pictures to enhance the experience! 

On a cold day in March, I stand bundled up outside the birthing pen at Jeremiah Farm and Goat Dairy on Johns Island while goats of all sizes nuzzle and play in fresh shavings. Farmer Casey Price has invited me to take part in the kidding process that marks the beginning of milking season on her farm. As a mentor farmer in the Lowcountry Local First Growing New Farmers Program, she is passionate about sharing her knowledge of goats, chickens, and homesteading with people of all ages.

As is often the case with Price, our conversation is woven together with the details of our personal lives, questions and answers about farming, and updates on her current apprentices. We fall easily into our long-established role of mentor and apprentice as I stand by to assist two goats being brought into the world by Price's gentle hands.

Four years ago, I started my journey in farming through the Growing New Farmers apprenticeship program as one of the first participants during the pilot year. The experience was a life changer, introducing me to a farming community made up of some of the most hardworking, passionate, innovative, and generous people. Every day brought something new, whether it was riding on the tractor with Joseph Fields or product tasting with chefs in the kitchen during deliveries. As the program came to an end, I knew that I wanted to dedicate my career to working in agriculture. In 2011, I realized this dream when I became the director of sustainable agriculture for Lowcountry Local First.

Since that time the program has experienced incredible growth. The Growing New Farmers Program has expanded to include the Dirt Works Incubator Farm and the first phases of a land-matching service. To date, 95 people have graduated from the program while working with more than 14 mentor farmers. For participants in the current program, a nationally recognized and locally adapted curriculum guides their 10-month experience, which combines classroom training, work-days at Dirt Works, and field trips with on-farm mentorship.

As the first formal farm apprenticeship program and farm incubator in South Carolina, Growing New Farmers has created both opportunities and networks for small farmers and food system leaders to learn, grow, and succeed. Every year the program introduces a thread of new individuals to the fabric of the local agricultural community, strengthening the capacity of the local food system. Past and current program participants often become mentors, advocates, and leaders; each has a unique story and these are just a few.

The educational farmer

"It's in my blood," says Drew Harrison, also a first-round apprentice in the Growing New Farmers program. Like many in the Southeast, Harrison's family has a long history in farming. Raised in Asheville, N.C., he spent a lot of his childhood on his grandfather's cattle farm in Georgia and grew up hearing stories about his mother's family growing tomatoes on Johns Island. But Harrison first sought career opportunities elsewhere before coming back to his roots. He spent time stock trading before his disenchantment led him to Costa Rica where his passion for farming was ignited. Harrison returned to Charleston and found both the Green Heart Project and the LLF Growing New Farmers program.

As a farming apprentice, Harrison learned the climate, market, and community in Charleston while receiving the tools to grow both food and a business. Through his experience, he gained the skills and the support network to help him take the helm as the director of the Green Heart Project, which under his leadership, has grown to two urban farm school sites at Mitchell Elementary and Zucker Middle School with almost 15,000 square feet of garden serving more than 400 K-6 grade students.

With such great experience and knowledge to share, Harrison now serves as a mentor in the program and helps the community continue to grow. He has worked with four apprentices, 36 College of Charleston interns, and more than 850 volunteers since 2011. Working on the Green Heart farms often provides an opportunity for individuals to grow vegetables for the first time, as was the case for Amy Robinette.

The food and beverage farmer

Amy Robinette was raised in Spartanburg and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She initially came to Charleston seven years ago to train as a pastry chef, but, like so many others, found herself stuck in the kitchen. While working at Closed for Business, a partner restaurant of the Green Heart Project, Robinette connected with the urban farm at Mitchell Elementary. Although Robinette's aunt and uncle own a large horse and produce operation in Kentucky, volunteering with the Green Heart Project was her first experience growing food. Before long, she had started her own vegetable garden and adopted her own small flock of chickens.

It was during this time that Robinette discovered Growing New Farmers. Robinette says being in the program changed her life. She currently works on the Dirt Works Incubator Farm alongside John Warren of Spade & Clover Gardens as well as Harleston Towles and Rita Bachmann of Rooting Down Farm. Robinette has been working alongside her mentors (two of whom are former apprentices) to understand how to grow and sell traditional and niche products. "There is so much pride to be had working with my hands," says Robinette. "I haven't gone a single day that I haven't been happy." Robinette hopes to use the knowledge, resources, and network from the program to someday operate her own small farm and bakery. (She just launched her business, The Cake Farmer which is currently operating a pie CSA aka weekly sweet and savory pies full of local ingredients!) 

The second career farmer

Similar to Robinette, Kathee Dowis stumbled into farming unexpectedly. Dowis initially participated in the Master Gardener program in 2007 while still working as a full-time mother. By 2012, she was volunteering at the Hampton Park Greenhouse and looking for the next step when she saw a poster for the apprentice program and "went ballistic." Dowis joined the program in 2013 as an apprentice with Meg Moore at Dirthugger Farm and continued in 2014 to experience the new curriculum and additional mentorship of Casey Price. For her, the most unexpected part of the program was how much emotion is involved in farming: "The excitement of the planting, bloom, harvest, and first taste; the heartache of a flooded field or lost animal; and the return of the joy."

At 53, Dowis is one of four participants in the 2014 class over the age of 40, a demographic that is common in new and beginning farmer training programs across the United States. These second-career farmers are utilizing their personal and professional experience to approach farming strategically. Growing up on her grandfather's expansive tobacco and soybean farm in Darlington, S.C., Dowis watched firsthand as a farmer had a bank note called in. The community met at the Dead End Grocery to "pass the hat" and save the farm. She was looking for an opportunity to learn best practices in farming without the risk of losing a farm. "It gives you a true opportunity to learn what you like and you don't like and what you are good at," she says. "If you decide to cut out, you've had such a lovely experience but you wouldn't have lost tons of money or land."

A food desert farmer

Another over-40 apprentice, John Lloyd is also a second-career farmer. The history of John's family goes back several generations in Cordesville, S.C., one of the oldest Gullah communities in the state. His family-farming legacy was passed from his sharecropping great-grandparents, to his independent farming grandparents, to his aunts and uncles in farming, and now to him. Born, raised, and currently living on the family farm, John grew up in a community built around the growing, harvesting, and cooking of organic local food. In his youth, he spent long days doing farm chores, but the pull of life off the farm led him to a career in athletics.

His lean build, trainers, and track pants echo a lifetime spent as a distance runner, fitness trainer, physical education teacher, and coach. During the last few years of teaching and coaching, Lloyd became increasingly disturbed by the high rates of obesity and health related illnesses. He watched student's diet choices become limited to unhealthy processed foods with little or no access to fresh fruits or vegetables.

In 2013, Lloyd applied to the Growing New Farmers Program, he says, "to learn the business aspect of agriculture to give me the balance between the growing and the business." During his first year he spent time apprenticing at Joseph Fields Farm, visiting Casey Price, and trying to get things started on his own property. At the end of 2013, he signed up for the S.C. Loan Fund's Feeding Innovation business competition to further assist him in the development of his agricultural venture. Lloyd hopes to create an affordable CSA program for families in food deserts interested in fresh vegetables; the business plans include SNAP compatibility and a focus on varieties of produce customers are familiar with. "The only way our health is going to change is if our food source changes," he says.

He is currently participating in the 2014 apprentice program to learn about CSAs with expert Kenneth Melton of Lowland Farms and is working with Harrison of the Green Heart Project to better understand taste preferences and recipes in the garden.

The farmer supporting farmers

As with my own experience, there are a number of graduates who discover their passion lies in helping farmers. For these food system leaders, the Growing New Farmers program provides the perspective, experience, and deeper appreciation of the challenges facing the agricultural community. Frasier Block is one such graduate. "It gave me the opportunity to work hands-on from the ground up with a smaller farm ... and understand what goes into [farming]," he says. Frasier participated in the 2012 and 2013 year with Dirthugger Farm and Black Bird Market. Through her experience working at Dirthugger with Meg Moore and seeing her launch the successful Sunday Brunch Farmers Market, Frasier began to understand both the supply and demand sides of local food.

Earlier this year, she launched the Homegrown Farmers Market on Johns Island. The first farmers market to operate through the winter, it was very well received by the community. Since opening, the market has experienced incredible growth and includes 17 local farmers, 30 local food artisans, 30 local product and craft vendors, educational vendors, and musicians. Frasier aims to create a market that is a one-stop-shop for local products and a place that helps people take that first step in living a sustainable lifestyle.

The multiplier effect

A strong element of the Growing New Farmers program is that it supports a culture built on personal relationships to create a resilient interconnected community. Mentors and apprentices are incredibly supportive of one another and their bonds last far beyond their program year. Each of these graduates touches the lives of dozens of people in the community, providing guidance, inspiration, and support. The Growing New Farmers program is weaving together an incredible farming community, and I am honored to be a part of such a beautiful fabric.

A Wild and Precious Life

http://www.pinterest.com/fromupnorth/

At first, it was hard to say exactly what was slipping away. Staring into the eyes of my 84-year old grandmother, something had changed. It is no secret, like a thief in the night Alzheimer's has been stealing away her memories for years, but no, this was something all together worse. Aptly nicknamed the “pit-pull in lipstick” the Myra Jo I grew up always had a twinkle in her eye and fiery disposition. At her foundation was the barely contained zest for adventure, an alert awareness of every small rock and creature underfoot, a true passion for life. My friends, this is something I took for wholly for granted and what I was completely unprepared for her (and I) to lose. This disease is a reverse aging of the most unwanted kind, stripping her down to a childlike state and leaving her trapped in a failing body. Every few weeks we are all getting to know a new Myra. She is thankfully incredibly sweet and innocent but she no longer is fueled by a fire to know more, be more, experience more. So as I tucked her into bed during my last visit, I knew it was the last time she would recognize me and surprisingly more heartbreaking, the last time I would recognize her. 

Perhaps it is because I have always seen so much of myself in my Grandmother that watching her fate unfold is all the more terrifying. Like shipwrecked passengers, we are left to cling to what remains of this incredible woman while we helplessly watch as her ship goes down. If I am to suffer a similar fate, I will be dammed if I don't live to the fullest and go down fighting. 

Myra Jo and I on our last road trip through California in 2007

Whether inherited, learned, or cultivated, I have always been a passionate person. I tend to let my fire run so deep and burn so hot that it comes close to consuming me. Some days my passion fills me to the brim and I am overflowing with joy while others it is a burden that exhausts me to the point of collapse. It is almost impossible to explain someone not driven by this same insatiable passion why I am always giving just a little too much of myself and yet I still continue to seek opportunities to give more. Thankfully, I have managed to find a career in which I can direct my intensity and invest myself in the movement towards positive change that Paul Hawken’s appropriately calls the “blessed unrest”. As I stare into the fading eyes of Myra Jo, I feel a sense of urgency to carry on her torch and chase as many dreams as possible. 

In the last month I have had the pleasure of meeting and learning from two individuals whose lives have inspired many of my passion filled endeavors, Will Allen of Growing Power (read my article about him) and Dr. Vandana Shiva. Both are revolutionaries effecting change on a global scale who have dedicated their lives to both celebrating and saving the earth.

Refreshingly, during both of their presentations, they referenced how their own “life’s work” was built day by day, year after year, and neither of them knew they were on the path to a revolution when they started. They did not simply decide, “Here is what I am going to do for the next 40 years to become a revolutionary leader and this is my plan to getting there." Rather, they cultivated their skills, solved problems one at a time, and when the issues called for great change they rose to the occasion. Will Allen spoke to the time this process takes: the years and years of learning and trial and error that simply cannot happen over-night. They are after all both human, operating within the realm of existing knowledge and bound by the same limitations that we all face; they just chose to blaze the trail despite the obstacles.

The audience of these talks, similar to myself, seemed to struggle with the overwhelming complexity of the issues and noted how they found themselves paralyzed by the unlimited paths they could take. To this I say, Amen! If you are not regularly experiencing “holy shit” moments in life, then you are missing something. In my own work, I found the key is to see beyond the enormity of the challenges and instead focus on the opportunities for change in front of us. To understand the problem and determine how your skills can solve it. Let us take a moment to appreciate this as the gift that it is. Having the capacity to understand the issues, the time to debate the best steps in addressing them, and the ability to develop the tools to create change. Not everyone is so lucky.

There are millions in the world that will never have the chance to invest their lives towards something bigger than themselves. To leave a mark so lasting, generations to come will speak their names in classrooms. Whether it is poverty, illness, or death at a young age, so many that will never even have the opportunity to spread their wings. In John Green’s book The Fault in Our Stars, he explores this heartbreaking reality with raw honesty. Through his characters we are able to better understand what it could be like to have neither the time nor the capacity to realize your full potential. In this case, to be a teenager with cancer, living the years of self-discovery under the smothering certainty of impending death. The knowledge that you simply will not have time to pursue your dreams… a fear that has always lingered in my heart.

Green also acknowledges that we are all living on borrowed time and the regardless of the when or how, “you die in the middle of your life, in the middle of a sentence.” There are very few people that wake-up thinking that today will be there last; all the more reason to seize the day.

My hope is that I can one day inspire and motivate the world through my work and write books that allow people to better empathize, understand or appreciate others. I want to motivate others to understand their own gifts and for them to invest time in using those skills to create a better place to live. Poet Mary Oliver makes this call to arms so poignantly by asking, “Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” 

I plan to live it to the fullest, delight in the simple things, celebrate even the smallest victories, laugh at the ridiculousness, and love with reckless abandon. And of course, share all of the best stories along the way. 

This post is dedicated to my dear friend Brendan O’Brien and his amazing father Greg O’Brien. Greg is fighting to hold onto his passion for journalism and is dedicated to sharing his struggle against Alzheimer’s with the world. His genuine and honest writing inspires me to share more of myself in my own stories. You can learn more about his story here: http://livingwithalz.org/a-place-called-pluto/

Making it Grow!

So excited to be on SC ETV's "Making It Grow!" as well as News 2.

Cultivating a hopeful future in prison.

As promised, here is a link to one of my latest articles from the Charleston City Paper's "Dirt Magazine" about my trip to a local correctional facility that has an amazing character program that incorporates a farm. I could have written an article about twice as long because their programs really are amazing and it truly opened my eyes to the issues facing prisons, their management, and those individuals that are released into society with very little opportunity for success. Since the visit, I have watched a few documentaries about prison life, the drug war, and related programs because the whole system is incredible, if not disturbing. Netflix has a few that you can watch for free if you are inspired after reading the article. I have also had the pleasure of sharing my insights with another local correctional facility in regards to actually hosting an incubator farm at their site similar to our Dirt Works Incubator Farm (see pics HERE). 

In case you miss them on the City Paper website, the pictures are below from Jonathan Boncek, the photographer and escort for the visit :-)

Partial shot of the one-acre veggie farm.

Beehives

Warden Pate in the Greenhouse

The display case of homemade weapons found at prison. 

Dirt Works Incubator Farm

On recent visit with my Dad, we joked about my inability to post regularly to my blog. Its true, I am a terrible blogger. Although I LOVE to write, there is only so much time in the day and energy to write. I flex my creative writing muscles writing grants at work and freelance writing for local papers, leaving my desire to write on a personal level pretty low. So while my blog will most likely continue to be on the back burner, I do want to share some of the projects that I am working on. The one I am most proud of is the Dirt Works Incubator Farm on Johns Island, SC. We just finished the video of the project, so I wanted to share it with you all. We also have an awesome fly over feature produced by one of our partners that you can watch here. If after all that, you still want to here more of my voice, you can watch this video. Also check out the Instagram feed on the right side of my blog for continued photos!

There should be some of my freelance articles coming out soon- so keep an eye out :-)

Moving right along.

Moving. It is an interesting exercise in polarity; it is positive and negative, stressful and therapeutic, sends you forward and backward, and it is both an ending and a beginning. Since the age of 18, moving has been a part-time profession for me, often occurring more than once a year and often is out of necessity or for employment. I have actually moved 15 times in 12 years with my current, soon to be former house, taking the cake for longest held rental at 3 years. If you do the math that actually means that I moved 14 times in the previous 9 years which makes me judge myself a bit. Looking back at why I move, it often has more to do with school, work, or location (and sometimes involved a storage unit and a stay with parents) but I am also simply growing up and looking for different qualities in a house and neighborhood. In the last few years, the decision to move has also involved the commitment to live with my partner, in turn integrating both our possessions, pets, and lifestyles to see if we can thrive as a family. (Which, thankfully after three years, we most definitely are thriving.)

At this point, the decision to move is a culmination of frustration with our continuous struggle dealing with non-licensed yahoos, I mean contractors, sent to "fix" our failing apartment, the sale of our rental house, and the often excessive amounts of "character" found on our block. No, my dear neighbors, I am not working tirelessly all day long so I can come home and give you _____ (money, a beer, a ride, or my number) so you can leave trash in my yard and wake me up with late night shouting matches. Plus, there are only so many times you can have your truck run into by drunk drivers and stolen cars in high speed chases before you draw a line (I know, I know...I am so high maintenance). Needless to say, a line has been drawn and I am more than happy to move to greener pastures. 

Interestingly, despite the negatives, looking for good affordable housing in Charleston has revealed that we were actually quite lucky with our apartment. Not that this is a total shock considering we were thrilled to find it initially and have spent a better part of three years enjoying the apartment layout, our housemates, the general location, and the epic backyard. The pickings are pretty slim for the amount of rent we have been paying, so it became apparent that it was going to be a process. As with anything in my life, I did not let the dismal selection of housing in our price range discourage me but instead took it on as a personal challenge. If you need advice on property managers, the best neighborhoods, how to describe your dogs in non-threatening ways, or how to handle the awkwardness of being a shown rentals at the same time as two other interested people- I am your woman. (And don't worry on the last one- you don't have to cage fight, bribe with cash, or run in yelling "I'LL TAKE IT!!" before knowing what you are renting.)

After two months of hunting the proverbial housing snipe, I managed to secure a cute little rental house in an awesome neighborhood thanks to a lead from a good friend. So now we find ourselves ready to move forward and focus on a positive and exciting new adventure. The only hiccup? We have A LOT of stuff and our new place is several hundred square feet smaller. I have inherited absurd amounts of heirlooms, sentimental knick knacks, and other cool doodads. Ariel from The Little Mermaid doesn't have a dingle hopper to my collection of snarfblats. Add to that hobbies like biking, sewing, hooping, and gardening and I have myself an entire box truck full of fun stuff. Sorting through it all inevitably results in an introspective process for me- something I always enjoy. Picking through the flotsam and jetsam of my life leads me to relive experiences, remember people that have touched my life, and ultimately forces me to decide what to keep with me and what to let go of. 

After watching our friends with a tiny house reduce their possessions down to 300 items total, downsizing a few boxes and gadgets seemed like a completely manageable task. Not afraid of a little material possession cleanse, we chose to re-home many of our things through a yard-sale. With the help of Dan's wonderful mother, the support of many of our friends, and the awesome taste of our neighbors, we were able to re-distribute our things into the community.

The turkey hat and faux beard are happily living on John's Island now where thankfully I will have visitation rights. 

Pam Kelley, moving expert. Gavin and Kate, moral support.

We also had to face the reality that we could not take our two darling chickens with us to our new home, so we reached out to some of our friends to find a safe place for them to move. Thankfully, one of Dan's co-workers is quite the animal whisperer with a beautiful spread in Ravenel where they will be loved and free to roam. 

Mother Clucker with Pecan getting comfortable in her Eggloo.

Van, chicken adopter, critter whisper, and trailer lender. 

As if that was not amazing enough, Van and Kim also let us use their horse trailer to move our remaining hoard AND Van lent us his muscles for some serious heavy lifting alongside our friend John. So, roughly three months after our initial search began, one yard-sale, several horse trailer loads, and two less chickens we are in the homestretch completing our transition to a new house thanks to the love, support, and lifting of friends and family. Our lives are currently in boxes, our pets are needier that ever, we are sleeping on a futon, and we still have to sell several pieces of furniture but I am still beyond excited about our new adventure. After a walk with the dogs on the greenway, dozens of friendly "hellos", and a cocktail on my quiet front porch I had no doubt that we were definitely moving in the right direction. 

Here's to new beginnings and the interesting-life-altering-challenging-unexpected paths that take us there. 

Busy Bee.

So much to do, so little time. We all experience it- the feeling that there is never enough time. We vow to "make more time" for ourselves, our families, our community. The trouble is, we inevitably become caught up in the daily routine and focus our energy on the immediate demands. As Tim Kreider with NY Times so aptly described, many of us fall into the "Busy-Trap". 

As someone that loves their job, it is easy to work all the time, especially when a perceived sense of urgency exists. I often convince myself that if I just reach _____ (insert any number of goals here) that I will take a break- which of course simply results in myself constantly pushing towards new goals and deadlines. For those of us that must be "on" and social for our jobs, there is often little juice left for friends and family- something I really struggle with. 

The challenge comes in recognizing your own personal limitations, letting go of the need to be everything to everyone all the time, and knowing when and how to say "no". In a society that rewards those that push themselves to the limit, this is a challenge because you generally do not receive awards for calling your mother regularly, leaving work at 5, and making time for family dinner. This rings especially true in Charleston, a city of overachievers. I was lucky enough to be honored in two publications this spring as one of these individuals (see pictures below from Charlie Magazine and Charleston Regional Business Journal). 

Reading about my fellow awardees resulted in a odd mix of inspiration, pride, and self-depreciation. There are so many amazing people doing incredible things that it inevitably makes you feel like you should be doing more. I guess that is the curse of being an overachiever- always feeling like there is more we can achieve as individuals. The passion that I have for my job tends to absorb so much of energy that I end up reaching my work goals while those I have set in my personal life tend to be neglected. Yet, as I sat waiting to receive my award for 40 under 40, I quickly realized that this is a pattern of behavior experienced by many of my fellow diagnosed overachievers. When I teased the awardee sitting next to me at the ceremony for checking his watch, he admitted that he felt guilty for once again missing a night spent with his new baby. 

With this in mind, I propose a new set of awards. Awards that acknowledge the parts of our lives often over-looked, the unsung heroes, the people that give themselves everyday without thought of awards, paychecks, or publications. I want to win an award for the best letter writer, amazing pet owner, the most fun partner, the most generous gardener, the most often to call/email/text family member.  

Here is to winning at life. 

Why hello there.

Long time, no see.

The last few months have been a roller coaster of ups and downs full of change, travel, loss, new adventures at work, serious illness, and celebration. While I had hoped to have the time and energy to share all of these experiences with you through my blog, it would seem that life had other plans. I am hoping to get back on track and begin sharing with you all again.

A major factor in this is due to a recent meeting. At one of many weekend fundraising events for work, I bumped into a woman that has been in the charleston "green" circles with me since I first moved to the area. Amazingly enough, her and I have talked over email and through blogs for years but the other night was one of the first times we actually were able to talk in person. She shared with me how much she had enjoyed following my adventures through my car free blog and that she had read them aloud to her whole family (minus a few choice words I may have used). Hearing how much they had relished living vicariously through my experiences and mis-adventures was so heartwarming...and honestly very flattering. While I have struggled to keep up this blog, her comments reignited my desire to share my stories with anyone that is interested in reading. Often, I will have to simply share the articles that I write for publications but in between I will try and carve out a little time to post some personal stories.

That being said, here are the latest articles that I have had published for your reading pleasure. As always, the final edited article is often cut down from the original, but hopefully you will enjoy them all the same. These were all featured in the latest issue of Dirt Magazine:

Farm to School

Permaculture

Foraging

Until next time, I hope you are all doing well!

Nik

The Art of Gardening

Here is my latest article about gardening printed in the City Paper... make sure you visit the site to see all of the great pictures! Not my best work but hopefully something to get you motivated in your own gardens :-)

This time of year, it is easy to find yourself intoxicated by the perfect blooms of potted flowers at a garden center and end up at the check-out line buying a cart full of plants with no idea what they are or where you will put them. With a long growing season, a warm climate, and the ability to grow an incredible range of plants here in the Lowcountry, it is no surprise that so many people are inspired to roll up their sleeves and dig in the dirt. But before you find yourself seduced into impulse plant purchases that may not be right for your lifestyle or yard, consider seeking a little inspiration and advice from a few local gardening gurus.

One local gardener who has mastered a number of these gardening styles is none other than Jim Martin, a man who has influenced so many of the beautiful public spaces in Charleston. By the time you have completed a full tour of his garden, it is hard to remember that you have ever been in another. Created with a circular flow, the house and garden ease seamlessly together, filled with unique treasures that speak to world travels and an eye for detail. Martin and his partner David Vegasky have spent the last decade making their garden a place to relax and entertain. Martin explains that in his home garden, "It is not about control. We have busy lifestyles and things are not always perfect in the garden and we make no apologies for that." Trust us, no apologies are necessary.

The tour begins with the intimate side garden which envelopes you with its secret nooks, cool shaded spaces, comfortable chairs, and ordered chaos of plants. Formerly the croquet green, its future was sealed when Martin and Vegasky redesigned it on a napkin at a pub in Asheville. The official transformation had its fateful start on Sept. 11, 2001, to which Vegasky noted, "I don't think of the tragedy, I think of what we created." The former patch of lawn was renovated by building up mounds of soil around a focal point, a tree given by Martin's former mentor, and then filled in with a variety of plants tolerant of part-shade. It was comforting to hear that such a beautiful garden was born on a napkin, built with what was available locally, and tended in their spare time.

Moving from one section of their garden to another is akin to walking from room to room in a home; they have created walls of foliage. I was completely surprised to discover an in-ground pool hiding around the bend, complete with brightly colored pots and an incredible array of bromeliads and succulents generally found in tropical climates. To ensure that Martin's tropical plants survive any cold temperatures during winter, he brings many of his plants onto his covered porch, a little trick that allows him to have a greater variety of cold sensitive plants.

Leaving the pool area on wooden walkways, the garden gives way to a fish pond complete with floating lilies and a covered swing built by Vegasky. The pond uses a combination of fish, filtering plants, oxygenating plants, and pumps to keep it lower maintenance. Providing partial shade to the pond is huge pecan tree, which at one time was the only thing in the backyard. It is hard to believe that the hundreds of plants in the garden were all selected, planted, and stewarded at the hands of these two busy men. Martin assures me that he is far from a plant snob, but he prefers utilizing low-maintenance native plants that are acclimated to the climate while providing habitat and food sources for local insects and animals. With hundreds of varieties of plants that are native to the Palmetto State, seven South Carolina nurseries specializing in selling them, and the support of the S.C. Native Plant Society, there are many opportunities to follow Martin's lead.

The tour ends in one of my favorite kinds of gardens, the edible variety. Simply referring to Martin's the raised beds of mustards, spinach, and herbs, as a "vegetable garden" seems to insult the beauty and structure of the space. The garden is surrounded by a picturesque fence and filled with raised wooden beds, covered sitting area built by Vegasky, pastel colored beehives, and a mural done by the famous Douglas Panzone.

So what advice does Martin have as we plan our spring gardens? "Green is the most important element in the garden," he says. "Interesting foliage is essential in the South because our season is so long. The foliage carries you through the season." He also stresses that a garden is a place to experiment and that gardeners should not to be afraid to make mistakes. To learn directly from Martin, join him at work with the Charleston Parks Conservancy through their public classes and the Park Angels program.

Experimentation is a big theme with another local gardener, Amy Johnson. "It is so fun to experiment in the garden and just see what happens," she say. It is apparent from Johnson's garden, which resembles an outdoor art studio, that a trial-and-error approach has been successful for her. Johnson uses plants, natural objects, and statues as her medium to create plant arrangements that often have individual themes to them. Susan McLeod Epstein with the Charleston Horticultural Society describes many of Johnson's creations as having an almost magical feel that conjure visions of fairies living among the plants. Johnson's use of natural objects in the garden, such as stones and sculptures, help to create a focal point and help keep the garden interesting throughout the season. The Society provides access to day trips, guest lectures, and workshops on gardening throughout the year.

For Johnson, she likes to keep the majority of her in pots because it "is easier to control their environment" by moving them around. She explains that this holds especially true for plants that need semi-dry soil or constant moisture. Selecting the appropriate pot is almost as important as selecting the correct plant to place in it. For high drainage, clay pots with large holes are ideal and for higher moister, a painted, metal, or plastic pot with smaller/less holes can do the trick. If you want to be adventurous and dabble in the world of water plants, then opt for an enclosed planter to retain the moisture during times of drought.

Many of Johnson's creations feature succulents, sedums, and cacti, plants with a preference for well-drained soils. Fellow desert styled gardeners Robert and Roxanne Werowinski, recently featured in Charleston magazine for their amazing collection in Riverland Terrace, also agree with the need for drainage. Roxanne suggests that people need to carefully observe their site to ensure the plants have a lot of winter sun, and they need to create well-draining mounds when planting into the ground. For Amy, she prefers the flexibility of planting in pots so she can select the soil and move the plants as needed throughout the year.

Johnson's advice for gardeners getting ready for the season is to browse the garden section at a local bookstore, head out for a garden tour, or visit a garden store for inspiration. Her favorite gardening book is Succulent Container Gardens by Debra Lee Baldwin. Johnson is also a member of the Charleston Horticultural Society. There will also be plenty of opportunities to get inspired on garden tours this spring with the Historic Charleston Foundation Garden tours and events through April 21 and the Mt. Pleasant Old Village Home, Garden, and Art tour on April 22.

Numerous gardens featured on these tours showcase the more formal designs that can be traced back generations. One of these styles is the topiary garden, a practice of "training" live perennial plants into distinct shapes, creating live sculptures. The topiary garden represents the gardener with an eye for detail, steady hands, and more than anything, patience. Although there are tools such as cages and varieties of ivy that can be utilized to mimic topiary shapes, a true topiary garden is something that takes years to create. One of the most famous topiary artists in the region, Pearl Fryar, has gained national attention for the incredible sculptures he has shaped out of shrubs and trees. Although his personal garden is located in Bishopville, S.C., he had a hand in designing the Heart Garden, a public space off of Anson Street created for the 1997 Spoleto festival in recognition of ironworker Phillip Simmons. For gardeners interested in exploring the art of topiary, the plants used are evergreen, mostly woody, and have small leaves or needles with dense foliage such as holly, myrtle, bay laurel, and European box.

Regardless of what gardening style speaks to you, there are a number of resources, trainings, and events throughout the year being offered through the organizations mentioned above, as well at Trident Technical College, the Master Gardeners Program, and many local nurseries. To get free hands-on training, consider volunteering with community gardens groups, neighborhood gardening clubs, and youth gardening programs in your area.

The Local Tipping Point

If my blog posts are scarce it is because I am burning the midnight oil preparing for Eat Local Month events and also doing some freelance writing on the side. Here is my latest contribution to the Charleston City Paper's "Dirt" magazine.

Brace yourself. I am about to commit the ultimate Southern faux pas. I am going to compare Charleston with a city up North, and even suggest that we can learn something from them. Although the Holy City has established itself as a world-class destination and a foodie town, we are still years behind many East Coast cities when it comes to reaching our full potential.

On a recent trip to Vermont, I found myself drawing many parallels between Burlington and our own Charleston. Take away the obvious differences in climate and geography, and you have two award-winning cities located on the water with unique characters, strong ties to history, a steady influx of tourists, and colleges located in their downtowns. While both locales boast healthy local economies with farm-to-table movements and strong agricultural ties, Burlington is way ahead of the game. But it's easy to see how Charleston could eventually adopt many of its ideas.

Michael Ewan, a former Charlestonian turned Vermonter, has been in Burlington since 2008 and has an interesting perspective on the two cities. "In Vermont, the farming and gardening community is very established. It's not just a trend; it's part of the culture," he says.

The parks and recreation department has dozens of established community gardens, CSAs are popular, farm-to-school programs are strong, and most residents have gardens. As a new arrival, Ewan said it was impossible not to notice the emphasis on eating local produce and products. They have strong programs like the Vermont Fresh Network, Local First Vermont, and the Northeastern Organic Farming Association along with plenty of support from both state and local governments.

Between the centrally located downtown market, the Onion River Co-Op, the Intervale Food Hub, and all the local businesses and restaurants sporting Local First Vermont and Vermont Fresh decals, you practically trip over local products wherever you go. The Onion River Co-Op and City Market, located in downtown Burlington, is a 16,000-square-foot community-owned grocery store. Started as a food-buying club in 1973, the co-op expanded in 2002 when the City of Burlington provided city land to the operation. The store is filled with an array of local products from maple syrup and produce to beer and fresh bread, all of which is priced competitively, making it easy to buy local.

Walking through the co-op, I started wondering how Burlington had become what it is today and why Charleston, while making great leaps recently, is still trailing behind. I realized that both Charleston and Burlington have long histories in agriculture, but their paths diverged because of how the producer communities have been stewarded and supported over the years. A few decades ago, both areas were rapidly losing farmers and their farms. In Charleston, these properties often became timber forest or were sold to developers. Although Burlington lost land too, the city recognized the negative trend and made a ruling in 1987 to rezone their largest agricultural property to exclude industrial and residential growth. Following this ruling, the Intervale Center launched as a community compost facility and farm. In 1989, the farm began Vermont's first Community Supported Agriculture program, which still runs today. By 1990, the Center realized the need to assist new and beginning farmers in cultivating the 350-acre parcel and created the Farms Program, a farm business incubator. The Farms Program has since trained over 40 farmers who have helped to increase the steady influx of fresh local products into the community.

Thomas Case was one of the first of these 40 farmers to receive business incubation for his farm Arethusa. The program provided Case with the property, equipment, and the support he needed to get his farm business off the ground with minimal investment risk.

"The Farms Program helped me start at a professional level," notes Case. Without the program, it would have taken him twice as long and, depending on the availability of affordable land, could have been impossible. He has grown his business into a 20-acre certified organic spread that is rotated between cover crops and six to 10 acres under production. During peak season, he employs an additional eight people as well as a part-time staff for weeding. His farm relies entirely upon the local market, which is fine because his biggest challenge is meeting the demand. A few years ago, he was going door to door to restaurants trying to sell his product. Today, he's the one getting direct calls.

One of the restaurants supporting Arethusa Farm is the Skinny Pancake, a local crêperie. If a foodie, a festival, and an environmentalist had a love child, it would be the Skinny Pancake. It started as a food cart made from reclaimed kitchen flooring and a sailboat trailer. Before long Jonny and Benjy Adler decided to take the show on the road with a veggie-oil-powered school bus. After two years, they put on the parking brake and created a venue for "local culture, local music, and, of course, local food and the farmers that provide it." In the fall of 2010 they audited their business and found that 68.8 percent of their product was sourced locally. Now the company prides itself on providing delicious food, made from local products when possible, that is affordable to the average person. Benjy says being 100 percent local has never been his goal because, as his former professor and famed environmentalist Bill McKibben taught him, a local business can only be truly sustainable if it remains affordable for the average person.

This culture is not solely unique to Burlington. Strong Vermonter pride runs deep throughout the state. It's one of only four states that does not allow roadside billboards, and it has the only capital city without a McDonald's. In fact, McDonald's actually opened a restaurant in downtown Burlington, but it went out of business.

Even more poetic, the former McDonald's building is now one of Burlington's newest farm-to-table restaurants, The Farmhouse Tap and Grill. For General Manager Michelle Risley, the fact that the McDonald's could not survive in their downtown was "a good indication of how Vermont operates and how we like to spend our dollars."

Inside the restaurant, the fast-food chain has been transformed using reclaimed fallen silos, granite, and ash from the area, giving it a genuine Vermont atmosphere. As if having local produce, artisan cheeses, housemade charcuterie, and local beers was not enough, they also have a downstairs parlor complete with a fireplace for the winter months and an outdoor beer garden in the spring. This innovative gastro-pub works with 40 to 50 vendors a year, sourcing between two-thirds and three-quarters of their products locally. The addition of the Intervale Food Hub in 2008 made this process even easier for restaurants and consumers alike. Risley says there's a real sense of camaraderie in the local community that makes the whole system integrate better.

These restaurants are just two among dozens within Burlington that support Vermont's local food movement. "It's rare that you walk into a local restaurant and see that it is not a member of the Fresh Network," says Michael Ewan, who agrees with Risley that Burlington has become what it is today because of the collaboration between farmers, chefs, businesses, and nonprofits, which are all supported by the public. Benjy Adler suggests that these types of movements happen when a city comes to "a tipping point where consumer awareness, organizational support, and farmers come together."

I think Charleston is well on its way to reaching that point. Celeste Albers of the Green Grocer, a longtime advocate for local, organic, and sustainable food systems, agrees, "Charleston has come a long way in the last 15 years. Early on we were far behind, but we are catching up now." These next few years are going to be crucial for ensuring we have a strong local food system to support everyone's needs, regardless of what may come. The beauty of this movement is that everyone is a part of it, and it's not hard to get involved. Meet your farmers, talk to the chefs, vote with your dollar, advocate at your office, and help support those working hard to preserve the history and character of the Holy City. After all, eating locally is something that many native Charlestonians have been doing for generations, so it's time we return to our roots and revitalize those honest traditions.

Nikki Seibert is the director of sustainable agriculture at Lowcountry Local First and was one of the first graduates of their Growing New Farmers program.

	Charleston	Burlington
Farmer Support Programs	Lowcountry Local First Launches Agriculture Programs in 2007.	Northeastern Organic Farming Association creates chapter in 1971.
Incubator Farm	Lowcountry Local First breaks ground fall of 2012.	Intervale opens farm in 1990.
CSA Program	Attempted in 1996 by Celeste Albers, restarted in 2007 by Legare Farms.	1989
Farm-to-Table Group	Lowcountry Local First Launches Farm-to-Table Program in 2008 with the Farm Fresh Food Guide and in promoting the SCDA Fresh on the Menu initiative.	Fresh Network was created in 1997 by the New England Culinary Institute and the Department of Agriculture.
Local First Network	Lowcountry Local First Started in 2006.	Local First Vermont Started in 2007
Food Co-op	None	Opened in 1973.
Food Hub	Growfood Carolina opens in 2011.	Intervale Food Hub opens in 2008.
Farm-to-School	In progress.	Started in 2000, now with over 75 schools participating in the state.
Organic Farms	42 in the State of SC.	508 in the State of VT.