Jane Henderson, Garland Carmichael, and Ariel Dixon
Cabarrus County, NC
Produce, Flowers

Commonwealth Farms represents 3 generations of farmers: Jane Henderson (age 51) has been gardening for 25 years and farming for 5 of those years (at local sustainable farms and for herself). Garland Carmichael, Jane's mother, has gardened for many years and is new to vegetable farming this year. Ariel Dixon is an intern and has farmed for many of her 17 years, as her parents (Scott Dixon and Joy Moser) had a CSA (Cold Creek Farm) in the late 1990s.

The larger part of the farm is about 1/3 acre at Garland's home in Concord (a former dairy farm), while the rest is split between Ariel's farm in Concord, Jane's inner-city home and a community garden plot near Reedy Creek Park in Charlotte.

Between the three are many years of experience and a fair amount of training in sustainable agriculture, but this is their first venture into a regular commitment to supply food to other people.

Jane has, for a long time, envisioned a group of people working together to provide local, sustainable food for each other and for those who are not able to grow their own. She considered farming at a piece of land on Commonwealth Ave. in Charlotte, and when that location didn't work out, the name "commonwealth" stuck--from the idea of serving the "common" good, of pooling resources and sharing the "wealth" of Earth's bounty. When Garland moved from Charlotte to the site of the former Suther dairy farm in late 2006, Jane added that location to her other gardening ventures and Commonwealth Farms was born. Ariel's farm is near a branch of Cold Creek in Cabarrus County. For now, the three are combining all their efforts under the name "Commonwealth Farms," which could include other growers in the future.

All three first came to farming through their love of flowers. They believe that flowers feed our spirits in the same way that food nourishes our bodies. They hope to sell cut flowers and bouquets through this (or some other) network in the future. They also share a desire to grow their own vegetables and herbs as part of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. The three enjoy the companionship of gardening with others, the satisfaction of harvesting Earth's gift of food and the feeling of community in sharing lovingly raised vegetables and flowers with those who are not able to grow their own.

These are part-time farmers. Garland is a retired potter and attorney. Ariel is a senior at Mt. Pleasant High School. Jane divides her time between various pursuits, including a small custom florist business.

The three do most of the work themselves, but have hired neighbors (and their equipment!) a couple of times to help with the work of developing the garden framework (initial plowing, mulching pathways, etc.) Jane's husband, Harry Lancaster, is an occasional contributor of labor and "engineering" expertise.

Garland's desire for an aesthetically pleasing garden space led them to develop a pattern of circles and chevrons rather than the usual straight rows seen in many farms. They strive to work with respect for the cycles and creatures of Nature and enjoy growing unusual and uncommon varieties of flowers and vegetables as well as natives and heirlooms. They mix up flowers, vegetables and herbs within the "rows" for a change of pace and to try to confuse the caterpillars who would like nothing better than to munch their way along a 100' row of broccoli. These farmers are happy to experiment with growing special requests to suit the tastes of their customers.

As for their long-term vision, they would like to remain a manageable size for 2 or 3 part-time people to enjoy taking care of and would like to provide food for themselves, their families and the greater community, including donating 10% of their harvest to those in need.

Produce

Commonwealth Farms' goal is to farm with minimal impact to the environment. They believe that strong, healthy crops have greater resistance to pests and disease, so they strongly emphasize soil health as a "preventive" measure. These farmers also use mulches, crop rotation, trap crops, companion planting and insectary borders to attract beneficial (predatory) insects to the garden. If they should have a pest infestation that threatens the survival of a crop, they might dispose of the plants (as they did with squash this summer) or perhaps use minimum impact (usually OMRI certified) pesticides in order to save a crop from devastation. Jane prefers to ask the "pest" insects to find a new home and would like not to kill anything (a la Machaelle Small Wright at Perelandra Farm in Virginia, http://www.perelandra-ltd.com/2007_Virtual_Garden_Tour_6_In_W2599.cfm), but at this point she can be found hand picking and disposing of certain pesky insect eggs and, at times, hand picking (and squishing) the adults (Yuk!).

To keep the soil healthy, Commonwealth Farms uses cover crops, compost, manures (chicken, cow and goat), pond sludge, fish emulsion, seaweed and other natural minerals to enrich the soil, with a constant goal of increasing the organic matter in the main garden, which is in its second year of transformation from a go-cart track to a productive garden spot. Mulching heavily helps conserve water and a trench system in the garden pathways holds rainwater longer, allowing more time for it to soak into the garden. Rain barrels collect water for garden use.

Commonwealth Farms strongly favors gardening sustainably in a way that enriches the Earth rather than depletes resources. They adhere to the principles of "organic" gardening, but not to the letter of USDA regulations. Some of the practices that would disqualify them from USDA organic certification include the use of bagged leaves and grass clippings from the curb to make compost, the use of RoundUp to kill poison ivy in the woods and the use of some non-organically certified seeds and plants before first checking with three sources to locate organic. These farmers have utmost respect and gratitude for the ecosystem and do their best to make their farms even better for future generations.