Plateau Magazine June-July 2023
This issue we feature women entrepreneurs with locally run businesses and cowgirls who are protecting local animals. We also highlight protecting the land and fields that are important for bees and butterflies pollination. And for the foodies, check out our feature on the Highlands Tavern. Get outdoors with this issue, with our interview on legendary hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis.
This issue we feature women entrepreneurs with locally run businesses and cowgirls who are protecting local animals. We also highlight protecting the land and fields that are important for bees and butterflies pollination. And for the foodies, check out our feature on the Highlands Tavern. Get outdoors with this issue, with our interview on legendary hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis.
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farming<br />
The Growing Season<br />
Trufflehunter Farms offers food to restore the body<br />
By LIESEL SCHMIDT » Photos by JASON GOLDEN<br />
WHILE JASON AND JACQUE<br />
Golden may describe<br />
their home-based farming<br />
venture as “a survivalist<br />
hobby run amok,” the 2.5<br />
acres that comprise Trufflehunter Farms<br />
are living, growing, thriving proof that<br />
hard work, dedication and passion can<br />
create something incredible.<br />
Initially begun from the seed of an idea<br />
and the desire to grow their own food on their<br />
land, the Goldens began their homesteading<br />
lifestyle back in Kansas City, where they<br />
learned the practices of micro-farming during<br />
their first years of marriage. Chicken<br />
coops in the woodshed and garden space on<br />
their property in the ‘burbs have turned,<br />
more than ten years and nearly a thousand<br />
miles later, into a fully-realized micro-farm<br />
known for its beautiful produce. But how<br />
they got here naturally comes with a story…<br />
“I’d moved the family in 2017 to the Highlands/Cashiers<br />
area to take a position with<br />
Edgens Herzog Architects in Highlands,”<br />
says Jason, who is a licensed architect,<br />
while Jacque is a homeschool mom to their<br />
three children as well as a violin teacher.<br />
“We bought our property the fall before<br />
COVID hit, and while we desired to homestead,<br />
we didn't have a clue that we would<br />
go so hard at it so quickly. The farm took<br />
off enough to pave the way for a modest seasonal<br />
business, which requires that I spend<br />
about 25 hours a week on farm tasks and<br />
markets during the growing season. When I<br />
started a private practice in 2022, the green<br />
grocery side to our life was not only a lifestyle<br />
choice but also provided us with a little<br />
bit of supplementary income, in addition to<br />
giving us opportunities to market our farm<br />
as well as my architectural business. Many<br />
weeks when we are out at farmer’s markets,<br />
I have signage up behind us that focuses on<br />
our small house plans—‘Trufflehunter Cottage’<br />
and ‘Nimblewill Cottage’—and spark<br />
Foggy April morning<br />
at Trufflehunter Farms<br />
with the Paperpot<br />
Transplanter.<br />
<strong>June</strong>/<strong>July</strong> <strong>2023</strong> | 53
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