BLESSED CREEK FARM
About Blessed Creek Farm
We bring 16 years of combined gardening and farm experience to our new land and home in Surgoinsville TN. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), market garden sales and pastured poultry will be our offerings to the local food scene. We will manage our farm using natural chemical free methods and possibly seek organic certification at some point. The CSA will be limited to 15 shares in our first season and include assorted fresh veggies from our garden for weekly or bi-weekly pickup throughout the growing season. Please join us on this adventure and consider buying a 'share' of our garden harvest through our CSA program. Details of pickup point, price per share, and number of weeks are yet to be determined. This farming and homesteading adventure is the culmination of our shared years of dreaming and planning. I, Eric Gibian spent some wonderful years farming and operating CSA out of Washburn, TN before family obligations took me back to south Florida. There I met Bridgett who learned to garden while living in Switzerland. Together we founded a non-profit community garden program in south Florida, providing produce to a local food bank along with CSA shares and educational opportunities to volunteer gardeners who also shared in the harvest. I've been a teacher, coach, and small business owner. Bridgett has administrative and sales experience. Oh, and she can fly an airplane too. We are so looking forward to getting our hands dirty to serve the local community with the freshest healthiest naturally grown food possible. Please reach out to join our email list and follow us on social media. At some point we will schedule a farm tour to meet and discuss further details. Since the bulk of our experience is in gardening we will initially offer the veggie CSA. The plan is to utilize our pasture land for intensive rotational grazing of cows and chickens. The general strategy is to divide the pasture into many smaller 'paddocks' and graze cows, then a few days later to move chickens through the fields allowing them to add fertility while eating bugs, seeds, and other forage left behind. We plan to do a small dairy herd-share program possibly in year 2. The chickens will be for meat sale to the public with first priority given to CSA members. I do have experience with a flock of 50 egg laying hens but meat birds require a different process, so we'll take that slow. Hopefully we'll have time to do a couple trial runs this winter and then be ready to sell meat sometime this coming season in 2024.
CONTACT
PRODUCTS OFFERED
Herbs
fresh herbs
Vegetables
arugula, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, collards, cucumber, eggplant, green beans, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard greens, okra, onions, peas, potatoes, radish, rhubarb, salad greens, spinach, summer squash, sweet corn, sweet peppers, swiss chard, tomatoes
CSA
Greetings! Bridgett and I have discussed and sorted out some details about our forthcoming CSA season. # of Weeks: 20 Cost per share: full share = $940; half share = $470 (half shares will pick up on alternating weeks) Pickup location: New Harvest Park (or at our farm in Surgoinsville) 4775 New Harvest Lane Knoxville, TN 37918 Thursdays from 2:30pm - 6:30pm (market is 3-6pm) April 25th – September 26th, 2024 (market dates) Note: Exact dates of first and last pickup are to be determined, but we’ll shoot for April 25th as a start date. We will plan to be at the New Harvest Park farmers market weekly for pickup and sale of our extra produce, meat, eggs, etc. If an additional drop/pickup location becomes available we will consider adding it. If you have suggestions and contacts that offer a location for drop/pickup on Thursdays along our drive from Surgoinsville to New Harvest Park, please let us know. Churches, stores, even a member residence could be used for drop points. Our shares are limited to 15 total, so a secondary drop point other than New Harvest Park will likely only be a few shares, and help us extend our radius of coverage east. There will be no mandatory work contribution for the CSA, but we welcome volunteers to reach out if interested. We’ll plan a pot-luck gathering at the farm probably in May or June. You are welcome to come visit the farm by appointment prior to that in your consideration of our CSA. We are happy to discuss our methods, activities and broader vision for the farm. Shares are sold on a ‘first come’ basis, with 50% payment due to secure your spot. Final payment will be due March 15th. Payment methods - cash (in person), check, money order, wire transfer, and cashiers check are all accepted. We will work on alternatives such as credit card, PayPal, Venmo, etc. and update you as things progress. Make payable to: Blessed Creek Farm 221 Bray Road Surgoinsville, TN 37873 Our vision for this farm is a small traditional diversified productive homestead. We intend to cultivate a core membership that connects to our land and supports our efforts as good land stewards. Before spring we plan to build a couple of mobile ‘chicken tractors’ for meat and eggs. Egg production will be very limited but our intention for meat birds (chicken) is to have them available for sale first to CSA members, then to the general public at the market. Mobile chicken coops or ‘tractors’ get moved daily, sometimes twice daily on fresh grass for natural foraging of insects, seeds, and plants, making for a most healthy humanely treated bird, all while still protecting them from predation. Once the bird housing is in place we’ll establish pasture space for a few pigs, also for sale first to CSA members. A part of our longer term vision is to graze a couple of dairy cows for raw milk shares. We certainly have our work cut out for us, but it’s a labor of love. Please feel free to reach out with questions. Please send your email address to be added to our group info list.
Pick Up Details
We will plan to be at the New Harvest Park farmers market weekly for pickup and sale of our extra produce, meat, eggs, etc. If an additional drop/pickup location becomes available we will consider adding it. If you have suggestions and contacts that offer a location for drop/pickup on Thursdays along our drive from Surgoinsville to New Harvest Park, please let us know. Churches, stores, even a member residence could be used for drop points. Our shares are limited to 15 total, so a secondary drop point other than New Harvest Park will likely only be a few shares, and help us extend our radius of coverage east.
PAYMENT METHOD
Credit/Debit
VISITING
Our Farm Offers:
Farm tours are available by appointment during the growing season.
Visitor Activies:
guided farm tours
PRACTICES FOLLOWED
Organic (not Certified)
