Summer 2009

The 2009 Family Farm Tour, organized by Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), opens 38 farms and gardens throughout six counties in Western North Carolina to the public. The tour will showcase agriculture of all kinds, ranging from century farms cultivated by the same family for generations, to certified organic farms, to urban gardens. Philosophy Farm, in the Laurel Valley of Mars Hill, stands out as the only farm that’s primary product is “beauty.”

At Philosophy Farm, Krys and Steve Crimi’s gardens are presented in the most aesthetically pleasing ways. Plants are identified by signs giving their name and ruling planet, according to biodynamic practices. ( Biodynamic practices are not simple to explain, but according to the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association, biodynamics “looks upon the soil and the farm as living organisms..and it regards the farm as..a kind of individual entity in itself. “)  Bits of porcelain and found objects decorate the flower beds. A chandelier hangs in the greenhouse built from vintage windows. Sheep, a llama, a donkey, and bees living in hand painted bee boxes share the land. And, throughout the property, there is evidence of Krys and Steve’s efforts to “acknowledge the abundance that has been granted to us”--stone circles, a labyrinth, and shrines.

 After travelling in Ireland and seeing holy wells in almost every village they visited, they returned to Madison County, dug out the spring on their property, and decorated the area around it, arranging rocks and tying strips of fabric in the trees. This spring, they expanded their ways of giving thanks for their water sources and invited friends to join them in well dressing, an old English tradition of decorating springs and wells with designs made of flower petals.

 The Crimis use biodynamic methods, “practices which bring spiritual qualities into farming,” Steve explains.  (Visit www.philosophyfarm.net to get a book written by biodynamic horticulturist Alan Chadwick and edited by Steve: Performance in the Garden: A Collection of Talks on Biodynamic French Intensive Horticulture.  Through the site, you can also contact the Crimis about purchasing their fiber crafts, including handmade powder puffs, and greens. )

Krys cites writer Robert Graves to explain her concerns with modern, industrial food production: “The decline of a true taste for food is the beginning of a decline in national culture as a whole. When people have lost their authentic personal taste, they have lost their personality, and become the instruments of other people’s wills.” 

A good illustration of the value of food raised as conscientiously as Philosophy Farm’s is Krys’s story about their salad. It’s a carefully created mixture of stevia leaves, horseradish, dandelion, onion tops, and more—as many as 20 ingredients.  A couple dining at Zuma Coffee in downtown Marshall enjoyed the salad so much that they tracked Steve and Krys down to say it was the best they’d ever had, exemplifying the kind of personal connections good food can foster. 

This summer, the Crimis are inviting Family Farm Tour participants to Philosophy Farm because, “We have something special here we want to share,” Steve says. They want to encourage others to become growers. “We’re doing something authentic,” Krys says of farming. “And if others see it and respond to it, we become the possibility that they can do it too.” 

Find out how to visit Philosophy Farm as part of the Family Farm Tour at www.FamilyFarmTour.org .