Cane Creek Farm LLC

05/27/2025

An update on the farm: This post is long overdue, and for that we apologize. We will forever be grateful for all of the friends, former customers, former interns, business incubator farmers, Organic Growing Course alumnae, and so many others who just cared enough to stand with us through some tough times. The sewer line construction is finished. Construction was a challenge, but we got through it. We are now retired from farming as a business, but continue to grow for ourselves (and share the extras). The pastures and growing fields are being set free to evolve into a natural environment with grasslands, native shrubs and trees. We feel a calling to explore ways to connect the non-human beings with human beings who are open to the wisdom of the Holy Wild. We have held Sabbath Life retreats here on the farm for the last couple of years, and now Lynn is serving as a Wild Guide, walking with groups into deeper spirituality through communion with nature. "ReWilding" of our church's 24 acre property with a raised-bed community garden, Food Forest, native plant garden spots, and a perimeter nature trail, as well as reducing our energy cost and carbon footprint through energy saving investments are taking much of Chuck's time in addition to just maintaining our farm property. We are truly blessed to live and love this beautiful land!

01/23/2023

Re: Update on Sewer Line Easement at Cane Creek Farm:

“ The silver lining to our struggle with the powers-that-be over a sewer line easement through the farm is the outpouring of support from those that value the farm and our work here. This affirmation has kept us going. Thank you all for the emails and letters to us, to the Board of Commissioners, the County Manager, and the press. Thank you for your supporting presence at County Commissioner meetings. They made a difference.

As we hired a lawyer and worked through the legal options, we determined that a lawsuit was not a feasible option, because of the legal costs and the small chance that it would succeed. The County and the Developer made a number of accommodations and concessions to maintain organic standards, minimize negative impacts, and reduce the likelihood of contamination in the future. The offer for Easement compensation was also increased dramatically. This happened in large part because of you speaking out to affirm that the land and soil are valuable, our efforts over the years to build the soil are valuable, and our business and the businesses we host through our farm incubator program are valuable.

Although our first choice would be for an alternate route to be selected that would avoid disturbance and increased risk to the farm, the final outcome is fair compensation and avoidance as much as possible of the risk of negative business and environmental impact. Construction should begin soon and be completed by the end of May. Now we are ready to get this done and behind us.

A lesson learned is that we must be diligent to hold elected and appointed County leadership accountable for balancing responsible development, fair treatment of County land owners, and proper consideration for preserving our disappearing agricultural lands. That means electing officials who share our values.”

11/30/2022

Thanks to the many of you who responded to our last request for help regarding the threatened condemnation action to put a sewer line through the middle of our farm. Your calls and emails to the Commissioners and those who joined us at the earlier Commissioners' meeting had a very positive impact. We received an offer from the County Attorney close to what we had previously said we could accept, before this most recent reversal. We have one more significant "deal point" to resolve.

The article that was recently published in the Forsyth Herald about our situation resulted in us receiving a phone call from a couple in North Forsyth, who said they were facing a very similar situation with their agricultural acreage property. The County is threatening condemnation in order to put in a sewer line for a new subdivision that will also be positioned to support commercial/industrial development. It concerns me that the County continues to push for development while running rough-shod over individual owner property rights, especially for agricultural lands that are in increasingly short supply.

We intend to keep the pressure on and make some comments during the Public Comments portion of our next Public Commissioners' meeting this coming Thursday night beginning around 5 pm. Please join us if you can.

Thanks,

Lynn and Chuck Pugh
Cane Creek Farm

11/04/2022

Thank you to all those who came out last night to show your support and speak on our behalf during the Public Comments portion of the County Commissioners’ meeting. A number of our friends who wanted to attend could not be there, or they arrived at the meeting after we had finished speaking. For those who would like to view the recording of the meeting, our part begins at Minute 14 of the recorded session at the link below:

Forsyth County is committed to Open Meetings and transparency. From here, search our public meetings for the past two years with access to archives going back for more than a decade.

10/31/2022

Friends, we need your help:

* We’ve grown food for our community for 20+ years, taught and mentored beginning farmers and gardeners for 15+ years, and hosted a business incubator for beginning farm businesses for 5+ years.

* Forsyth County is planning to condemn our farm property for a sewer easement to run 2,800+ linear feet through the middle of our farm.

* Initially for a new subdivision on Howard Rd, the real driver is to install a larger-capacity gravity feed sewer line that can be extended north of Canton Hwy to support future commercial development

* The likelihood of a future contaminating flood event will make it impractical to host beginning organic farmers or to eventually sell the farm to other farmers committed to growing food organically.

* The County says they are for responsible growth and want to preserve green space.
- Running a sewer line through the middle of our farm will destroy its suitability to operate as an organic farm.
- Georgia is #5 in the USA for Ag land lost to development (per American Farmland Trust)
- Forsyth County is the fastest growing County in metro Atlanta over the last decade (per Atlanta Regional Commission, 8/2/21).
- Forsyth County is the 11th fastest growing county in the United States from 2010-2019 at 39% growth (www.statists.com)

* Please email or call our County Commissioners and let them know you think this is a bad idea. Their contact info can be found at ForsythCo.com. Tap on the photo for contact info.

Forsyth County is a great place to live and work. The goal of our county government is to mirror the fine people who live and work in our community while striving to serve them to the best of our ability. We pride ourselves on maintaining a responsive and professional government, providing a full ra...

10/31/2022

Friends, we need your help:

* We’ve grown food for our community for 20+ years, taught and mentored beginning farmers and gardeners for 15+ years, and hosted a business incubator for beginning farm businesses for 5+ years.

* Forsyth County is planning to condemn our farm property for a sewer easement to run 2,800+ linear feet through the middle of our farm.

* Initially for a new subdivision on Howard Rd, the real driver is to install a larger-capacity gravity feed sewer line that can be extended north of Canton Hwy to support future commercial development

* The likelihood of a future contaminating flood event will make it impractical to host beginning organic farmers or to eventually sell the farm to other farmers committed to growing food organically.

* The County says they are for responsible growth and want to preserve green space.
- Running a sewer line through the middle of our farm will destroy it’s suitability to operate as an organic farm.
- Georgia is #5 in the USA for Ag land lost to development (per American Farmland Trust)
- Forsyth County is the fastest growing County in metro Atlanta over the last decade (per Atlanta Regional Commission, 8/2/21).
- Forsyth County is the 11th fastest growing county in the United States from 2010-2019 at 39% growth (www.statists.com)

* Please email or call our County Commissioners and let them know you think this is a bad idea. Their contact info can be found at ForsythCo.com. Tap on the photo for contact info.

10/31/2022

* We have always been grateful for the “friends of the farm”, customers and former customers, students and volunteers, and like-minded supporters.

* We’ve not done as well as we intended keeping everyone informed as to what’s been going on at the farm recently, as “life” has happened to us:

- In 2017 we began our farm incubator program, hosting 5 beginning farm businesses on our farm. Out of 12 beginning farm businesses we’ve hosted, all but two are continuing as successful, growing farm businesses.

- 2019 was our last year offering a CSA, which was a collaborative CSA working with beginning farmers we were mentoring or hosting in our farm business incubator program.

- In 2020 we decreased our farm production but increased our partnering with mentee farms by offering a joint online farmers market. Care responsibilities for elderly parents increased. Chuck’s mom passed away and Lynn’s mom’s health problems increased. Our farm incubator program increased, and we hosted several workshops.

- 2021 was the first year we did not grow anything to sell. We continued to host our incubator farmers, but Lynn and Chuck were consumed by fighting Chuck’s cancer with 5 months of chemotherapy.

- In 2022 we continued our farm incubator program…most of the farms we’ve supported have ”graduated” to their own farms. We grew for us and to give food away to a local food pantry. We began hosting a “once-a-month” retreat experience for North Georgia clergy called “Sabbath Life”

10/31/2022

"Crowfoot stood and watched as the white man spread many one dollar bills on the ground.
“This is what the white man trades with; this is his buffalo robe. Just as you trade skins, we trade with these pieces of paper.”
When the white chief had laid all his money on the ground and shown how much he would give if the Indians would sign a treaty, Crowfoot took a handful of clay, made a ball out of it and put it on the fire.
It did not crack.
Then he said to the white man, Now put your money on the fire and see if it will last as long as the clay.
The white man said, No….my money will burn because it is made of paper.
With an amused gleam in his eyes the old chief said, Oh, your money is not as good as our land, is it?
The wind will blow it away; the fire will burn it; water will rot it. But nothing will destroy our land.
You don’t make a very good trade.
Then with a smile, Crowfoot picked up a handful of sand from the river bank, handed it to the white man and said, You count the grains of sand in that while I count the money you give for the land.
The white man said, I would not live long enough to count this, but you can count the money in a few minutes.
Very well, said the wise Crowfoot, our land is more valuable than your money. It will last forever.
It will not perish as long as the sun shines and the water flows, and through all the years it will give life to men and animals, and therefore we cannot sell the land.
It was put there by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it because it does not really belong to us.
You can count your money and burn it with a nod of a buffalo’s head, but only the Great Spirit can count the grains of sand and the blades of grass on these plains.
As a present we will give you anything you can take with you, but we cannot give you the land.”
Chief Crowfoot : Blackfoot Confederacy
❤️Visit the Native American store here 👇👉 https://www.nativeamericanlongago.shop/native-h29

02/09/2021

There’s a new opportunity for growers at Cane Creek Farm...for those who mainly want to learn and grow their own food:

Plots of Plenty

Come grow an abundance of summer produce on the land of Cane Creek Farm, under the tutelage of Lynn Pugh, farmer-in-residence. Learn to work with nature to grow your own organic food in a sustainable way. The purpose of Plots of Plenty is to equip serious gardeners with the knowledge, skills and mindset to produce their own food. Training in the fundamentals of organic growing, a large garden space in which to grow, and mentorship to help with questions along the way, will be provided.

The six month program will start in March with classes on Tuesdays from 4-6 pm. Classes will meet most every Tuesday with a time for discussion and a time for hands on training on the farm. The first three months will focus on a group class, then the next three months will be individual mentoring sessions. Participants should plan to return to the farm to work in their own gardens 3-4 hours each week at a time of their convenience- daylight hours, Monday through Saturday. Both learning and practical experiences are important to becoming a successful grower, so participation in both is expected.

Topics will include soils, plants and plant reproduction, crop planning, insect, disease and pest management, cover cropping, crop rotation, composting and more.

Specifics:
Garden space -2000 square feet of prepared soil, with good sun exposure
Garden tools available for use
Water available
Attendance of 75 percent of classes required to maintain use of garden
Safety precautions- all meetings will be outside, masks required when in close proximity to others.
Costs- 85 dollars a month, or two payments of 260 dollars at the beginning and mid point of the program, or a one time payment of 500 dollars.
Enrollment limited to 3-5 participants
Payment by cash, check or paypal.
Register by contacting Lynn at [email protected]. A follow up email will give you instructions about details and payment. If you have questions, please use the above email.

09/26/2020

Now available on NetFlix...definitely worth watching.

The documentary “Kiss the Ground,” narrated by Woody Harrelson, makes the case that by regenerating the Earth’s soils, we can balance the climate and save the world.

04/21/2020

Join us if you can

ATTN: Local farmers! Join us on Thursday, April 23rd at 2pm for a virtual farmer network meeting. Together with Athens Land Trust, Georgia Mountains Farmers Network, and Cane Creek Farm LLC, we’ll be discussing farm business planning, food safety practices, and new financial assistance programs that are now available to farmers. We look forward to chatting with you! https://zoom.us/j/91770704601