Plateau Magazine June-July 2023

farming
interesting conversations. The farmer’s
markets have been a fun way for us to
get to know our community and tell our
story. People ask about the name, and we
tell them. We branded the farm in 2020
right as COVID was hitting. At the time,
we were reading Prince Caspian by C.S.
Lewis as the family bedtime story. Trufflehunter
is the badger and is one of the few
characters who exudes hope in a seemingly
hopeless time. That spoke to us, and
that's what we try to be.”
Trufflehunter Farms can be found at the
Cashiers and Highlands Farmer’s Markets.
Having expanded from their original
focus of microgreens, they now also grow
other salad-based items such as Salanova
butter lettuce, Hakurei turnips, parsnips,
beets, and spring onions as well as a newly
added crop of tomatoes for Jacque’s amazing
Fermented Salsa. “I’m more of the green
thumb, but Jacque wanted to create valueadded
products last year,” Jason explains.
“We would have leftover microgreens, and
she realized that we had an opportunity
to utilize them instead of wasting them.
Since then, she has created quite a list of
fermented products like mango salsas with
cantaloupe microgreens, curry krauts and
beet krauts with pea or sunflower microgreens,
and apple krauts in the fall.
“We chose to sell our microgreens live and
in soil because they present so much more of
their beauty that way,” he adds. “Now with
Jacque bringing new products—not only
her ferments but also her skin care products
made with grass fed beef (suet) tallow, and
local pork fat provided by a fellow farmer’s
market vender—our brand is starting to
center around natural health and beauty
from the inside out. We openly share the story
of Jacque’s recovery from MRSA-level antibiotics
just after we moved here. She went from
a size 8 to a size 0 because it knocked her
gut so out of balance. She learned a way of
healthy eating that has restored her, and we
now share that knowledge with others. We
believe that life begets life, simple as that.”
While the farm may take a lot of work on
top of the hours spent on architectural work
and that of raising a family, “I've always
wanted my children to have an understanding
of the origins of good food and the work
it takes to provide it,” Jason says. “Now
with so many food quality problems—pesticides,
GMOs, and the downstream health
complications they create—those issues are
becoming more important.”
“The farm is part of our curriculum in
homeschooling our kids,” adds Jacque. “It
strengthens our family as we work together.
We all earn money through this process,
and the kids learn how to save, learn how
to talk to customers, get to know a variety
of people in our community, and just really
learn the value of their own work. We are
searching for ways to build community in
Cashiers. This is important to us because
we homeschool and don’t have the natural
network families can develop at school. Selling
at the farmer’s markets is one of multiple
ways we are seeking to build community to
benefit our family and others both on and off
season.” More information on Trufflehunter
Farms and Golden Design can be found at
trufflehunterfarms.com and goldendesign.pro. P
54 | ThePlateauMag.com
(Left): Grow shelves right before market;
(Opposite, clockwise): Berkley's Polypore
mushroom; Alister Golden with a particularly
large specimen found on the property;
Collection of Trufflehunter products
combined with a customer dish; Trufflehunter
rabbits feasting on broccoli microgreens.