We are now selling our farm produce and products at the Liberty Farmers Market at 423 W. Swannanoa Ave. in Liberty, NC on Saturday mornings between ca. 8:30 and 9:30 am. We'll also have our driveway-end farm stands every or most Saturdays from ca. 10 am to noon! You'll find us at 2382 W Greensboro Chapel Hill Road in Snow Camp, NC. Between Saturdays, contact us at ancientspringfarm@protonmail.com or 336-639-4314 to order products and set up a pick-up day and time. (Please, no drop-bys without prior scheduling.)
August: Peppers (banana, bell, fish, jalapeno, poblano, shishito), cucumbers, cucamelons, cherry and slicing tomatoes, greens (amaranth, collards), various melons, pasture raised eggs, cooking herbs, cut flowers, flying dragon citrus marmalade, pennyroyal sachets, and more
Fish peppers are colorful, delicious, fruity, kind of hot (one step above jalapenos), and have a really cool history and association with Caribbean and African Americans. Caribbean people probably brought them to the Chesapeake area in the mid 1800s, where African Americans also adopted them and often used them in local seafood-based dishes. In the early 20th century, fish peppers almost went extinct in the U.S. but they were saved through the work of a Black WWI veteran and folk artist (Horace Pippin), his White beekeeping neighbor (H. Ralph Weaver), and Weaver's grandson (William Woys Weaver) who, in 1995, discovered Pippin's fish pepper seeds saved by H.R. Weaver in baby food jars.
Flying dragon citrus (also called trifoliate orange and hardy orange) is the most cold-hardy of cultivated orange trees. It's not native to NC but it has become wild in many places, including the farm and our friends' farm. Its fresh smell and flavor are unique, hard to describe, and intoxicating (great for cocktails but not really for eating). The fruit makes a British-style marmalade whose flavor is richer, spicier, and more sour/bitter than sweet orange marmalade. Most people who've tried our marmalade can't get enough of it! In addition to toast, it pairs particularly well with cheese, pork, and venison. We've sold out of half pints but have some pints left for sale.
September: Cherry and slicing tomatoes, peppers (jalapenos, bell, shishitos, poblanos, fish), cucamelons, melons, greens (kale, collards), decorative gourds, flowers, pasture raised eggs, cooking herbs, flying dragon citrus marmalade, and more
