I have been going to Plum Granny Farm since 2014. I have observed the husband and wife team of Cheryl Ferguson and Ray Tuegel reinvent themselves (they once had professional jobs) and Cheryl’s inherited family farm which once grew only tobacco. I have the unique perspective of seeing this farm as a snapshot each time I visit, which might be twice a growing season. What I don’t see first hand I absorb in their weekly e-news which reads like a thriller movie script. The stories are so rich that they paint in great detail to a vivid picture of the farm’s goings-on.
Yesterday, before coming back home to Watauga County, I responded to their Facebook post promoting their “pop-up store” – their last commercial sales event of the year. This is not an ordinary custom for them but I do know that a very well planned event pretty much got rained out before Thanksgiving, and this involved many of their friend vendors. They needed to make sales.
I arrived early, not with the expectation of buying what I wanted and sprinting away, but to give myself the opportunity to observe and soak in their fascinating culture. Ray told me up front that Cheryl was out on deliveries and he was not ready to help me because he didn’t have the store in order. For me, that was just fine. So, I absorbed myself in the details. This was also their CSA day and other folks would soon be by to pick up their weekly goodies.
“Plum” is Plum Granny Farm‘s color. What I had not seen before were their plum colored and insulated CSA bags, each tagged with the name of the intended recipient. No other farmer does this. Their carrots were impeccable. The bagged tender kale looked so good I wanted to eat it through the bag, Cheryl’s jarred jellies looked so good, I didn’t have to read the label to see if I would like them. This is all Cheryl’s sweating of the small stuff and made me envious that I wasn’t on their CSA, too!
