Our Story
In 2020 we left the corporate world behind after spending 3 years building a 2 acre small farm. We had a mission to spend life outside and offer vegetables to the community. What we found was a deeper connection to our land and a passion for growing the most nutrient dense food available. This of course is not a goal simply accomplished but a guide to how we care for our farmland viewing it as an ecosystem. Everything is connected and we believe in giving back to the land more than what we take.
Our goals are very simple: Grow the most nutrient dense food possible, spend more time with each other, educate the community about small scale farming and alternative growing practices. We take pride in knowing that we can provide for ourselves and for others. We strive to make a positive impact on the land that gives so much to us.
Food is medicine and we farm to produce the very best medicine. More than just "Organic", we aim to heal our land and community. Farming without the use of any chemicals. Our produce is grown on the farm free from contaminants, chemicals or pesticides. We don't even use a tiller, only hand tools!
When we aren't farming we can be found foraging, cooking, trail running and escaping to the mountains of NC.
Thank you for supporting us and being a part of our community!
Our Practices
Piedmont Farmstead is a full-time natural regenerative farm and homestead (Farm-stead) in Dallas, NC. Our philosophy is simple, we do not compromise, we do not sacrifice quality for yield. We are always actively learning and experimenting with better ways to raise higher quality, more nutrient dense and healthier plants. Many of the varieties of produce we grow you wont find anywhere else (like our Large Roma Tomatoes and Black Skinned Peanuts)!
We consider our farm to be regenerative, so what does "regenerative" mean? In short, we use a multitude of methods to "regenerate" the land, giving back more than we take from it. We like to say we grow soil first. Soil life and biology is what grows great food after all, not chemical nutrients and sterile fields! Organic matter comes from our farm-made compost, plus an ethical and sustainable array of amendments from small businesses like BuildASoil and Rootwise. Our retail packaging is plastic free using only home-compostable bags made from non-GMO corn.
Compost
In our area well-made compost is not available, so we make our own on the farm! Every year we make enough compost for the following year. Compost ingredients come from 3 main sources:
- Farm waste (material from bed cleanups, weeds, old/dead plant material,...)
- Chicken litter (old wood chips and straw mixed with their manure)
- Kudzu vines (annually we clean out a neighbors field of kudzu, not sprayed with herbicides)
Each year in the fall we combine all of these ingredients into a large pile and begin the composting process. Compost is turned multiple times over the winter to maintain high temperatures until the temperatures drop to around 90 degrees and we're left with finished compost. This is roughly a 6-8 months long process that creates some truly epic compost!
Produce
Organic or Non-GMO Seed is started in Dirtcraft Organics Seed Starting Mix. We source our seed from High Mowing Organic Seeds and Baker Creek Seeds. We grow all of our transplants, seeds are sown in our high tunnel or germinated in our home. We transplant the seedlings (or direct seed) into permanent no-till/no-dig beds.
Eggs
We raise a breed of chickens called Golden Comets. We feed an Organic, Soy-Free Feed from a local mill Reedy Fork Organic Farms, garden scraps and plenty of water. The hens are raised in an deep bedding area that receives all the farm waste, wood chips from local arborists and old bales of straw. The material builds up over the year to create the base of our compost. We clean the area out once a year and start over again. The hens are one of the main reasons we are able to produce all of our compost on the farm.
Sourdough
We also bake some pretty epic bread using only Organic Einkorn flours, you can find these occasionally on our website but they are pre-order only. Our bread is made using our own sourdough starter (started with Einkorn flour) using a traditional method that takes multiple days and a slow ferment.
Foraging
We have our NC Wild Mushroom Certificate and you might occasionally find foraged wild mushrooms and plants on our website (be sure to signup for our e-mail list).
Where can you find us?
Our eggs, vegetables and fruit are available at Local Roots & Provisons, Mount Holly Farmer's Market or on farm for pickup.