Terra Madre Delegate Profile -
Padgett Arnold, non-profit urban farmer
Crabtree Farms - Chattanooga, TN
www.crabtreefarms.org

As Padgett Arnold walked the blueberry fields at Crabtree Farms, she looked past a small pond to a slope slated for an orchard. "We're thinking that twenty apple trees would be a good number," she says, noting the latest addition to this urban organic farm near downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. Sales are up 25 percent, and Padgett, whose official title is farm manager, is responding to local demand for U-pick strawberries, blueberries and plump, juicy Chester Thornless blackberries.

The young apple trees will comprise several hardy heirloom varieties chosen for their taste by project consultant Ben Watson, one of the country's foremost authorities on heirloom apples and author of Cider, Hard and Sweet: History, Traditions and Making Your Own. Crabtree Farms will host the New Hampshire writer at the annual A Reader's Feast program in October.

Crabtree Farms is a small working farm whose boundaries extend far beyond its 22-acres. The farm is actually a non-profit organization founded to promote sustainable agriculture through research and education-a rarity in the quickly developing Southeast. The farm offers the local community access to four varieties of fruit, 80 varieties of vegetables and herbs, and more than 100 varieties of flowers. "It has been exciting to expose people of all ages to tasty heirloom varieties, from how to cook Bull's Blood beets to how to grow Cherokee Purple tomato plants in their backyard garden," says Vanessa Mercer, a twenty-something who has helped direct the venture into its fourth growing season.

And the people who interact with the farm are as diverse as the crops: elementary school teachers who have engaged students in growing a school rooftop garden; the local Food Bank that operates a garden for the elderly at a downtown high-rise; chefs at white linen restaurants; artisan florists; produce managers at the natural food store, Greenlife Grocery; the 400-plus shoppers that frequent the annual plant sale; the onsite farmstand and neighborhood markets; families who commit to a seasonal experiment in the farm's community garden; and seasoned farmers of all ages from the surrounding region, who regularly peruse Crabtree's detailed farm map and business plan like an almanac.

Five full-time staff work the farm and its ambitious research and outreach programs. "We stay very busy," says Vanessa. "We couldn't accomplish our activities without the 200 or so volunteers who help us harvest garlic in June or build cold frames in January."

"It's one thing to have a farm and a philosophy; it's quite another to be a working farm with a mission statement," says Tom Montague, a regular patron of the farmstand and leader of the Slow Food Chattanooga convivium. "They are a great resource for the community and the larger region." -Laurie Perry Vaughen, Slow Food Chattanooga