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Who Grows Your Food?  Growing
Minds
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 Pick-your-own berries at Zimmerman Berry Farm – a Family AffairBy Charlie Jackson (Originally
printed in the June/July 2003 New
Life Journal)
Switching from tobacco to growing berries has many challenges. “The
community thought I’d lost my mind,” reports Pam Zimmerman,
mother of Will and Ashley, when she had the field in front of her house
plowed and formed into raised beds for planting berries. “We walked
into this blind. There was so much we did not know.” Pam and her
husband Billy love to grow things, and they are good at it. For all their
lives they have grown tobacco as a cash crop, with fruits and vegetables
in the kitchen garden for themselves. Now they are converting tobacco
fields to sustainable berry production. Walking down the well-tended
The transition has not been easy. The process of changing crops requires new equipment and production techniques. Transitioning to more sustainable farming methods takes time and investment. This year, the Zimmermans are part of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s (ASAP) Transition Program. This program, through a grant from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, is providing grants and technical assistance to tobacco farmers looking to diversify. As part of the program the Zimmerman Farm will install irrigation equipment, a critical need for berry production, receive farmer mentoring, and participate in farmer field days. Pam and family’s entire 2 1/2 acres of berries is a pick-your-own,
with some of the berries sold at the Madison County Farmers’ Market.
They are experimenting with processing berries – making jams and
jellies and even berry syrups. They are also providing a farm experience
to whoever makes the journey out to their farm. “We forget what
we have sometimes,” says Pam, noting that many people have lost
all contact with where their food comes from and the farm families that
grow the food. Pam believes it is important for everyone to understand
where food comes from and to meet the people who grow the food. “Most
folks don’t get to see things growing, they don’t get to
see operating farms that are providing the food.” That’s
one of the reasons that they are doing a pick-your-own, so that others
Zimmerman Berry Farm grows many different kinds of berries. Starting in mid-June the black raspberries are ready, followed by blackberries in early July and red and gold raspberries in early August. Berry season runs until frost. This year they will have some blueberries starting in July. Zimmerman Berry Farm is located in the heart of Madison County, about an hour from Asheville on beautiful winding mountain roads passing picturesque mountain farms. Call 828-656-2056 for directions. Find Zimmerman Berry Farm online in the Local Food Guide!
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Growing
berries is “pretty cool” according to Will Zimmerman,
age 16. His sister Ashley, age 10, agrees, “you get to meet new
people and you can walk right out your front door and pick berries for
a cobbler.” Will and Ashley are carrying on a family tradition
as the fourth generation to work on the Zimmerman family farm in Madison
County. The Zimmerman family, known for their hard work and love of agriculture,
is taking a new approach to farming. For over a century growing tobacco
was the only way to survive as a farmer in many rural areas of western
North Carolina. Now, with changes in tobacco and a desire on the part
of the Zimmerman family to find new ways to make a living in farming,
they are converting tobacco land to pick-your-own berry production. They
invite people to take the drive out to Madison County and see the beauty
of Madison County farm country and to enjoy fresh locally grown berries.
and vigorous rows of head-high berry plants it is obvious that they are
serous about what they grow. They are doing everything they can to produce
their berries naturally, from collecting preying mantis (a beneficial
insect) egg sacs and distributing them throughout the berry patch, to
investigating conversion to organic production. “We would like
to move to organic but it is a process. It takes time and money, but
we want to supply our customers with what they want,” says Pam.
can experience farm life and make the connection between food and farms
and the people who grow the food. And, it lets Pam work from home and
raise her kids on a working farm, an experience she feels is invaluable.