The Roanoker - November/December 2018 - 67

DOUG AND LUCY
OVERSTREET
Idlewild Farm, Bedford
Offers pastured pork and chicken,
as well as sustainably farmed eggs.
idlewildfarmva.com

STEPHEN AND
ALEX KAPLAN
Kaplan's Welcome Home Farms,
Glade Hill
Wild-crafting and cultivating gourmet
mushrooms and produce. facebook.com/
kaplanswelcomehomefarms

BEN AND CARLY COLEMAN
Mountain Run Farm, Bedford County
Thornfield Farm

"My model is less about the community supporting me
as a farmer and more about me educating them about
why it's better to eat food that's fresh and local."
SUSANNA THORNTON

PAGE 65, 66: BETTY CLICKER PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THORNFIELD FARM / THORNFIELD FARM:
BETTY CLICKER PHOTOGRAPHY, COURTESY OF THORNFIELD FARM / LEAP: COURTESY OF LEAP

A walk through the Grandin Village
Farmers Market - where Thornfield
Farm sells every Saturday from April to
November - reveals a third of the vendors
are farmers under 40.
The result is a market with a creative vibe
and intensely local, often unusual products,
such as flats of microgreens, bright yellow
pawpaws, shiitake mushrooms, meat rabbits,
cartons of colorful eggs, locally milled
grains and wholesome baked goods.
" The reason the Grandin market
started was to be open to small-scale,
sustainable farmers," says Maureen Best,
executive director of Local Environmental
Agriculture Project or LEAP, a Roanokebased nonprofit that manages the Grandin
Village market and several other local food
initiatives. The market was set up with strict
definitions of local (grown within 100
miles) and an emphasis on transparency,
which created an atmosphere welcoming
to young, innovative growers. "Farmers
seek out other farmers with similar value
practices," she says.
TheRoanoker.com

Offers grass-fed beef and pastured pork,
specializing in chemical-free farming
practices. mountainrunfarm.com

AMY AND BRYAN
WILLOUGHBY
Patchwork Farm, Floyd County
Sells organically grown vegetables,
fruit and herbs. idigpatchworkfarm.com

MATT AND RACHEL PALMA
Restoration Acres Farm, Forest
Offers sustainably-raised, pastured
chicken, pork, turkey and eggs.
restorationacresfarm.com

SUSANNA THORNTON
Thornfield Farm, Fincastle
Offers organically grown vegetables,
fruits and flowers, as well as pastured
beef and eggs. thornfieldfarm.com
LEAP

With land prices still relatively affordable
in the Roanoke region and the city's profile
rising among millennials, coming years
could see even more young farmers looking
to put down Roanoke roots.

URBAN FARMER MOVES
TO TOWN
In October 2017, now-30-year-old
Cameron Terry moved from Denver to
Roanoke with his girlfriend and a dream.
His big idea was to farm small urban
plots that belonged to other people, then

DANIEL AND KELLY KEY
Truffula Farm, Roanoke
Sustainably grows and raises garden
vegetables, honey, chickens, ducks,
rabbits, hogs. Offers baked goods
and cocktail bitters. facebook.com/
truffulafarmva

LEXI ROHAJN AND
MARK COHEN
Wingstem Farm, Goose Creek Valley
Sells sustainably raised eggs, produce,
mushrooms and hops, as well as soap.
wingstemfarm.com

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018

67

http://www.idlewildfarmva.com http://www.facebook.com/ http://www.mountainrunfarm.com http://www.idigpatchworkfarm.com http://www.restorationacresfarm.com http://www.thornfieldfarm.com http://www.facebook.com/ http://www.wingstemfarm.com http://www.TheRoanoker.com

The Roanoker - November/December 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - November/December 2018