Mystic Roots Farm

12/31/2024

We may not be re-building the farming operation on this land, but watch us recover!

➡️If we’re not rebuilding, then what?

The vision for this land isn’t crystal clear just yet, & that’s okay.

Rest, not rush.

Since clean-up from Helene, the land has been cover cropped & many barefoot & livestake plants have been plugged in to help establish a health riparian zone along our newly rerouted creek.

Up next?

Livestock!

We’ve plans in the works for an interim community of livestock on the land to help regenerate healthy & robust soil.

In the coming months, we hope to see a small herd of Highland cattle, a large flock of chickens, & perhaps even some pigs on the land.

After that, there are plans to landscape with fruit & nut trees & many native species so that the land may be green, beautiful, & fruitful for many generations come.

We’ve no doubt that this land will be again be a haven for humans & non-humans very soon.

The new year is always such a fun time for dreaming new dreams. We hope you’ll stay tuned while this one unfolds. 🖤

12/29/2024

3 months post-Helene 🖤

2024 was a year for the books in a bigger way than ever before.

We may have lost our entire farm and we've cried our fair share of tears over it, but as the end of the year nears, we're choosing gratitude, reverence, joy, and excitement for new beginnings.

We're grateful for those of you that have been here with us, as we found our footing as a medicinal herb farm slinging microgreens and edible flowers on the side and as we witnessed our entire community get turned upside down in every way possible when Helene hit on September 27th.

For those of you that are new to our work, but have chosen to help support our recovery, we're so grateful.

We farmed for health of the soil and ultimately, our planet.

We farmed to help provide high quality medicine grown with the utmost integrity to our community.

And while we're not rebuilding the farm, the land is well-cared for and will be green again very soon.

A FARM UPDATE -

In the midst of so much loss, there have also been great stories of kindness and hope.

A few weeks ago someone returned a fully-intact drone that had been washed away with the farm.

It survived a building collapse, a rushing river of debris, miles of tumbling around, and god only knows what else.

Thanks to the incredible kindness of a stranger who spent the time to track down its owner, the drone was returned to us safe and sound.

These photos show the land as it is today, after months of debris removal, earth-moving, creek rerouting, and cover cropping.

It's unrecognizable from what it used to be. There are roads and creeks where they didn't exist before. The land is a blank slate and we're learning to cultivate excitement around that.

As for what's coming next, we're still not entirely clear on that. For now, the land needs rest and we intend to let her rest.

However, in efforts to regenerate the healthy and robust soil that we spent 8 years building, it's highly possible that we'll soon have livestock!

In fact, rumor has it that there will be a small herd of Highland cattle and a large flock of chickens living on site to help regenerate the land. And maybe some pigs too!

And that is perhaps the cutest pivot I could imagine. If not medicine, then cute animals.

As for any further details, all I can say is: Stay tuned, pals.

THANK YOU and HAPPY NEW YEAR

Thanks for your support, in all the ways, and for giving us a reason to grow.

As the light seeps back in, we're wishing you the best year ahead.

And if you'd like to continue to help, please continue to share our GoFundMe campaign as you're able.

Peace, love, and plant medicine to the people,
Sass

Dearest community near & far, On Friday, Sept. 27, those of us here in WNC that… Sass Ayres needs your support for Support Our Farm Crew's Helene Recovery

12/17/2024

12/12/2024

“If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.” - Maya Angelou

Here is 14 years of the land that housed Mystic Roots Farm in photos from space. 🔭

Mystic Roots Farm only started to emerge in 2018, but it’s fun to look back & see how the land was before.

My fave part of these photos is the squiggles of mulched paths meandering through the forest garden in the center of the photo.

Seth spent a whole lot of time turning that forest garden into the magical spot that was. And as a crew, we spent hours pushing wheelbarrows uphill to mulch those paths. I always liked mulching days, but I think I was the only one. :)

✨FUN FACT ✨ Some of the forest garden actually survived Helene. However, in a miscommunication of sorts, some of what Helene left behind got bulldozed when there were big machines roaming around the land cleaning up the massive piles of debris. 😩 I’m glad I wasn’t there to see that happen, but we’re so grateful for the folks that were & threw themselves in front of the bulldozer to prevent the rest from being destroyed. (Just kidding... I don’t think anyone threw themselves in front of the bulldozer.)

🖤FUNDRAISER UPDATE:
We’re slowly creeping up to 45% of our goal thanks to so many of y’all that have donated. Please continue to share with your networks & consider donating if you haven’t already. Your donations go directly into the hands of our crew who lost their jobs & livelihoods. We’re so grateful for your support.

12/05/2024

The re-birth begins. 🌱

I visited the farm yesterday just for ol’ time’s sake. It was cold & windy & mostly quiet except for the big machines scooping up the mountain of debris along the roadside to throw it in the back of a dump truck.

Everytime I visit, I can’t help but walk around looking for evidence of what used to be there, but arriving to the farm in all its newness is starting to feel more & more normal each time. (And I don’t really like that.)

It doesn’t take long though before my body & mind start to remember how that land used to be. I’m full up on grief, so I don’t really like that either.

Feelings, ya know? 🙃

However, it’s nice to see some green again. The winter cover crop is sprouting & I was quite surprised to see a clump of rhubarb on the rise!

Stay tuned for nature’s biggest comeback. 🖤

12/03/2024

Week 9 UPDATE! 🖤

It seems like forever ago, but also only yesterday that our farm disappeared. The biggest question I get from folks is still "so, are things getting back to normal around there?"

It's a hard question to answer, but the honest answer is "yes & no".

In some areas, you'd almost never know our community just experienced such devastation. A mile away, it still looks like a bomb went off - roads are still missing, folks who lost their houses are living in cars & tents even as the winter slips in with below freezing nighttime temperatures, power lines are still laying across the roads, businesses still closed, & community care stations still set up where we can do laundry, shower, & use free WiFi.

The cove in rural Fairview where our farm was located is one of those areas, but even though it's still largely unrecognizable, it's starting to look more civilized & habitable as the weeks go by & the big machines do their good work.

Driving into the farm is still a strange & disorienting experience, & I can't help but worry about being squashed by a dump truck or an excavator as I'm trying to slip by.

**FARM UPDATE**
However, I have such good news to report! Here's a farm update from Greg:

"As the apocalyptic clean up started to wane we were able to rake out what’s left of the land, cover crop with rye and oats (seed donated by NC Cooperative Extension).

We spread 100 # of seed and 220 bales of straw with huge help from our volunteers team.

Stream Initiatives LLC donated 300+ live stakes (Elderberry, Silky Dogwood and Nine Bark) that we planted and completed with help from the OGS volunteer team.

Just last week, before many start to celebrate, we acquired, and started planting, 140 bare root plants to bolster the riparian zone and to rehabilitate the creek bank.

Those include Nanny and Arrowwood Viburnum, Buttonbush and a handful of Swamp Oaks and Silver Maple to start the overstory growth."

And now we let her rest for the winter.

**FUNDRAISER UPDATE**
We're officially over 40% of the way to our goal of $30k.

Please consider donating to our farm crew’s hurricane relief fund. We’re just over 40% of the way to our goal of $30k.

THANK YOU for your generosity.

Your donations go directly into the hands of our farmers to cover lost wages, help them continue to meet their basic needs through winter, & support them in finding new ways to contribute to & thrive in our community again.

Can you help us meet our goal by the end of the year? Please continue to share our campaign with your friends & family as your able. Sharing our campaign really does help tremendously!

Thanks for being here with us! We're so thankful for you!

Sass

Dearest community near & far, On Friday, Sept. 27, those of us here in WNC that… Sass Ayres needs your support for Support Our Farm Crew's Helene Recovery

12/03/2024

It’s , a day created to intentionally celebrate & inspire radical generosity. 🖤

Please consider donating to our farm crew’s hurricane relief fund. We’re just over 40% of the way to our goal of $30k.

Your donations go directly into the hands of our farmers to cover lost wages, help them continue to meet their basic needs through winter, & support them in finding new ways to contribute to & thive in our community again.

Our community has experienced so much generosity over these last 9 so so weeks since Helene. If you’ve already donated to our fundraiser and/or shared it with your friends & family, a million thank you’s. 🙏Please keep sharing as you’re able.

🖤

📸 This pic was snapped after one of our monthly farm potlucks in the 1/2 acre forest garden that sat just above our row-cropped field. The forest garden was a wonderland of a wide variety of fruit & nut trees (including 2 centenarian apple trees!), medicinal herbs, wildflowers, & a whole community of pollinators. Ruby loved chasing the rabbits, but could never keep up with them. 😆 About 1/2ish of the forest garden remains after the storm.

Missing from this pic is our forest garden caretaker/wrangler/designer, Seth. In his place is Lily-Rose, a beloved intern from Warren Wilson that spend half the season working with us.