On the Blue Ridge
On the Blue Ridge features conversations with people shaping the Blue Ridge Mountains. Hosted by Asheville-based journalist Jon Page, the show explores the ideas, creativity, and vision driving Western North Carolina forward.
Through long-form interviews and on-location storytelling, each episode captures the evolving story of these mountains. The conversations focus on people doing meaningful and inspiring work across the region, from conservation and outdoor recreation to the arts, agriculture, food and beverage, entrepreneurship, and beyond.
On the Blue Ridge
Taylor and Fran Montgomery on Life, Land, and Food at Montgomery Sky Farm
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Taylor and Fran Montgomery are the owners and driving force behind Leicester, North Carolina-based Montgomery Sky Farm, where regenerative agriculture, intimate dining, and an animal rescue are deeply intertwined. Just a few weeks after this conversation was recorded, Taylor was named the 2026 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Southeast.
Established in 2018, Montgomery Sky Farm offers farm tours and hosts private and community dinners, designed to connect guests more deeply with the land, the food being grown there, and the changing seasons of Western North Carolina. With more than 25 years of culinary experience, Taylor is passionate about heirloom produce, and the preservation of rare and endangered seed varieties that support biodiversity and long term soil health.
Fran has more than two decades of experience in veterinary medicine, and she guides the rescue and rehabilitation efforts at Final Run Rescue, an onsite nonprofit caring for neglected and abused animals, including Highland cattle, donkeys, alpaca, and even a few capybara.
In the summer of 2024, Taylor left his post as executive chef at Urban Wren in Greenville, South Carolina, to focus on the farm. A few months later, Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, and the Montgomerys turned their focus towards helping to feed first responders and those in need. Those efforts are highlighted in “The Soil Remembers,” a new documentary from Greenville-based director Rioin Oshiro.
In this episode, Taylor and Fran discuss the evolving nature of the farm, the animal rescue, and their immersive dining experiences; the heirloom produce they’re growing and what they’re excited to share with guests; how Helene impacted their operations; what it means to receive James Beard recognition without operating a traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant; and more.
Montgomery Sky Farm
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Final Run Rescue
finalrunrescue.org
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The Soil Remembers
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There's a story on every plate we serve here, and it's about the land and what we grow and uh what we're trying to do at at the farm.
SPEAKER_01Well, and to add to that, I think so many people come here and they're like, I don't like beets because they taste like dirt, and I don't like tomatoes.
SPEAKER_03Oh, that's when I have fun.
SPEAKER_01It's fun to put it on their plate, and most of the time they're blown away, and it's just such a different flavor profile from what they've had before.
SPEAKER_02Today, on the Blue Ridge, our guests are Taylor and Fran Montgomery of Leicester, North Carolina-based Montgomery Sky Farm, where regenerative agriculture, intimate dining, and an animal rescue are deeply intertwined. They're also the subject of a James Beard Award-nominated documentary, and Taylor is a finalist for Best Chef, Southeast, in the 2026 James Beard Awards. I'm your host, John Page. Let's begin. Established in 2018, Montgomery Sky Farm offers farm tours and hosts private and community dinners designed to connect guests more deeply with the land, the food being grown there, and the changing seasons of Western North Carolina. With more than 25 years of culinary experience, Taylor is passionate about heirloom produce and the preservation of rare and endangered seed varieties that support biodiversity and long-term soil health. Fran has more than two decades of experience in veterinary medicine, and she guides the rescue and rehabilitation efforts at Final Run Rescue, an on-site nonprofit caring for neglected and abused animals, including highland cattle, donkeys, alpaca, and even a few capybara. While the rescue animals are very much a part of life on the farm, they're not part of the meals observed there. Instead, Taylor carefully sources beef from nearby farms in the region. In the summer of 2024, Taylor left his post as executive chef at Urban Ren in Greenville, South Carolina, to focus on the farm. A few months later, Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, and the Montgomeries turned their focus towards helping to feed first responders and those in need. Those efforts are highlighted in The Soil Remembers, a new documentary from Greenville-based director Ryowin O'Shiro. There are several upcoming opportunities to see the documentary, including a June 28th screening and gathering at Asheville's Highland Brewing Company. Check out the farm's social media channels to learn more. In this episode, Taylor and Fran discuss the evolving nature of the farm, the animal rescue, and their immersive dining experiences, the heirloom produce they're growing, and what they're excited to share with guests. How Helene impacted their operations, what it meant to receive James Beard recognition without operating a traditional brick and mortar restaurant and more. We spoke this May inside the barn on the farm, where many of their dinners and gatherings take place.
SPEAKER_01And we both um at the time were in prior relationships and had different lives, and then the universe kind of unfolded. We both became um available, and I actually asked him if he wanted to come meet my cow, Millie. I wish I was kidding.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and this was it was to be on a Friday night, and uh, you know, Friday night service is usually busy, but uh this one Friday I made the exception, and and um we went to a cow pasture, uh you know, and she she lived in a town home, so I'm like, how does this woman have a or own a cow? So she was leasing uh some pasture.
SPEAKER_01I had befriended um a woman with high link cows, and she had produced this little calf named Millie and asked or generously offered if I wanted her. And uh of course I didn't know where you take a chef to eat in Asheville. I was new to the area and uh highly intimidated, and so I said, Do you want to come eat my cow Millie? And here we are, a decade later, Millie is still with us, by the way.
SPEAKER_03She had no clue that uh I had purchased this this old farmhouse and and some of the land. Um so it just kind of happened organically. So you had done that before you all met? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay, I had uh just bought it. I had just bought it, and I always wanted to uh live in a rural area and uh loved old homes, historic homes, and and I was able, you know, while while working uh to purchase a smaller house with an unfinished basement and garage and and finish that and made made just a little bit of money, so I was able to purchase the farm in 2017.
SPEAKER_02And so then at a certain point you're like, oh, a home for Millie.
SPEAKER_01I guess so.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, perfect.
SPEAKER_01I guess so. Yes, it evolved, and now Millie has 19 pasture mates that she is not very happy about.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Uh well, Taylor, when when you first stepped on the property here, uh what what did you imagine you that your life here could become at that time?
SPEAKER_03Well, it's completely changed. Um you know, the lot of things you have to deal with living in a you know 110 year old home and and um you know it was just rolling hills and and farm country, and I've always had I've always had gardens and I love to grow. And I I thought, you know, and it has become a place where agriculture uh is at the center of of what we do. Um so you know, Fran completed uh me and the farm uh and and was behind our vision and and what we had you know what we're doing now. So you know, at the time I was working a lot and I didn't have time to do what I do now. Um, you know, Fran uh was able to come in and start building programs and the farm itself as far as business, and and then you know, I was able to come home uh full time and it's it's uh it's grown very quickly.
SPEAKER_01I think we always had a dream that Taylor, after being in commercial restaurants for so long, we had kind of honed this phrase um operation bring Taylor home, and the dream was to grow alongside, of course, a normal paycheck and uh eventually be able to come home and really pursue this. So it's been pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02Had had either so you mentioned having gardens before, but had either of you ever lived on a farm before?
SPEAKER_01No, I I don't think either one of us did. I grew up riding horses and um my background was in veterinary medicine, so I've always been around animals and knew if I could find land I wanted to have a rescue, but uh definitely did not grow up on a farm.
SPEAKER_03No, I had you know I had friends. Um you know, I grew up in the outskirts of Charlotte and Waxaw, Weddington, Matthews area, Monroe, and you know, I had friends with dairy farms and and uh always just always enjoyed the the the piece of it. Hard work.
SPEAKER_02You know, you mentioned the the programs, the the uh I think there's there's farming itself, farm tours, picnics, private dining experiences, the animal rescue. Uh how do you define the mission and purpose today, you know, versus what your expectations were from the start?
SPEAKER_01I think it's really a matter of living intentionally is the broader mission or focus of what we do. Um living in a way where you can grow the best food you can, trying to be the best human you can, give back to your community, help animals. Um when we first started, it was trying to cultivate two passions merging together. So longtime culinary, love of growing produce, and um, of course, an affinity for animals and animal rescue. And so it's just kind of evolved into this really intentional uh headspace and wanting to really leave the soil better than we have found it.
SPEAKER_03So and at the end of the day, you have to pay your bills too. So, you know, we realize that unless you come from a millineage of farmers or work um for corporate farming, uh, it's hard to make a living growing you know tomatoes or whatever you're gonna grow. Um so we had to diversify. So now, you know, agriculture is more so growing what I'd like to cook and sell in our our market garden, our market store. Um and you know, it's not a it's not a big revenue horse, but what I get to do is is grow things that we're losing, that you can't find in the grocery store, that doesn't they don't travel well. Um and if we don't grow them, then we won't have them. And that diversity is is safety. Uh that diversity adds flavor to our lives, not only our plates, and um it's it's important that we make people aware of that. So I use you know my culinary background as a tool. You know, I feel my career didn't start until I came home. Uh so when people come dine with us, I put things on their plates that they may not have had before. Uh I explain that you know there's more than one type of spinach than what you get in the plastic container at the store, you know, and and uh I that's that's my passion, and and those two have have really come together here, the farm culinary uh and the uh endangered agriculture.
SPEAKER_02I I w I want to get back into the um the the culinary experience in a little bit, but um I I see you know the term regenerative farming uh a lot now. What what what does it mean in practice here?
SPEAKER_03I think I think that uh you know you can look at it or define it in several different ways. For me, it's to bring the soil back and leave it better than you found it uh for people who come behind you. And by by not you know, tilling the land, we promote that nutrient-dense soil, the microbiology is intact, uh, which in turn uh uh shares that nutrients with the fruit of the plant. Uh you know, when you when you till the soil, you're killing that. Uh and it it creates soil degradation, you know, erosion problems, um, and and just health in general isn't as as good as it could be with that um nutrient-dense soil. So bringing it back. We and and Frank could probably uh expand on how the animals help in that.
SPEAKER_01I think part of our regenerative focus is a no-waste model. So we use um, we of course provide rehabilitation to the rescue animals, give them a forever home, but in return they grace us with their compost uh or their manure, which we put into a big composting system alongside all of our food scrap, and really push this no waste. And so we utilize all of the manure weekly, it gets put into a composting system, which is then put into the regenerative model to grow the best um nutrient-dense stuff we can.
SPEAKER_03So and what we can't produce with the animals here, uh we source from a local company that uh collects all the food waste from Asheville restaurants and composts it on his property, and and in turn, you know, he brings it to us and it goes on to the gardens.
SPEAKER_02And so it seems like that uh all pieces of this with the the rescue, it's all kind of connected philosophically, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think our we've always said it's literally rooted together. So the land is kind of the stabilizer, the soil is what grows the beautiful vegetables that we can put on diners' plates, the soil is what allows us um to welcome guests for educational purposes, but it also gives back and grows food for our animals, providing them a forever home. So it's definitely all interconnected.
SPEAKER_03And it's it's not it's not a quick thing. You know, this this land out here was heavily farmed with tobacco uh and tomatoes, and you know, it was when I first moved here, uh luckily I had some farmers that were were very kind and and and kind of showed me uh some things and and uh you know the more I did it, the more I found that it wasn't it wasn't the right way to take care of the soil. So you can you can grow all the vegetables you want in this hard clay soil as long as you pump enough synthetic chemical down the drip tape. That's not what we want to do. Uh so it's it's not about it's not about the volume of what we produce. It's about uh preserving uh those heritage heirlooms and not only sustaining sustainability is great, but regenerating makes it better. So that's that's really the philosophy behind our system.
SPEAKER_02What what all are you growing right now, or not not necessarily right specifically this second, but you know what's what's the kind of give us a flavor of the types of things that you all are growing here?
SPEAKER_03Well, there's there's a uh some field peace that we're going right now uh and they they take more than one pass to harvest. Um they're small, and you know, most most farmers want to be one and done. That's why that's why it's not being grown anymore. Um we we grow uh some tomato varieties, um, you know, the Sudeth strain mortgage lifter. Uh I've got um something called an antloose underground railroad tomato that actually followed that Underground Railroad uh with a man who uh gained his freedom from Arkansas through way of Ohio. Um I've got lettuces that date back to the early 1800s, strella lettuce, and and we're also growing something called a marrow stem kale, uh mid-1800s. And you know, these these things, you know, they could be a vessel other than romaine to get that Caesar salad dressing to your mouth. It's it's uh it's just making people uh aware of these things uh that we're losing and that grow well in this soil. That don't come from a bag at Walmart, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Or a plastic container, yes.
SPEAKER_03That's it. Or a frozen box. It kills me. It seems like every chef wants to open a plastic clamshell container of microgreens and toss it on their plates, and it doesn't have anything to do with the food on the plate. Rather, you know, why not wait till that plant concentrates all its energy into reproducing and goes to flour and seed, and and that flavor is captured in that little flower or pod and and wraps up the whole dish with something other than just baby greens that are hydroponically grown. Yeah. You know, nutrient dense.
SPEAKER_01We always start all of our um dinners by really challenging us to think about the last time you ate anywhere where you know the produce was picked from the soil that day. Not out of a box, not out of a bag, um, but truly what we've coined seed to plate, um, with a lot of it being picked day of. So incredibly challenging to produce at that level like that, but um super unique.
SPEAKER_03Sometimes my pick lists are longer than my prep lists. And some you know, I forget sometimes that uh there's there's a lot of components on on some of the plates, and I'll forget. And it's not like you you know, go to a go to the grocery store down the road, I'm like, all right, third row, block four. I forgot to pick a Xolas for the plate. Go get it, you know, and uh it's fun, it's a playground.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's like and I imagine it must be fun to you know, you talk about that conversation with people like that day of of saying, hey, that this was picked here, and and like seeing, I'm imagining like you know, aha moments that you see from people as they taste that and go, oh yeah, that's that's not what I would expect a carrot to taste like.
SPEAKER_03Right. Yeah. It's it's uh it's crazy the amount of people that don't realize what's happening in our agriculture system. And and to be able to share that is is awesome. And and the just the flavors that the the normal person might not get. We we grow something, it's a and I try to grow as many perennials as possible because I don't, you know, well, I don't have to plant it again, but uh French sorrel is the green that doesn't need a vinaigrette. It's it looks like a lettuce, but you know, 15 seconds into two and get you get this bright burst of lemon. And people are blown away with it. I use it as a palate cleanser between courses. And um if we can if we can get an awakening out of out of one person to realize that there's more than these store-bought vegetables, we send them home with seeds, man. And and uh and we want them to start growing these things. Uh so that's that's uh that's really the the push for me. There's a story on every plate we serve here, and it's about the land and what we grow and uh what we're trying to do at at the farm.
SPEAKER_01Well, and to add to that, I think so many people come here and they're like, I don't like beets because they taste like dirt, and I don't like tomatoes. And oh, that's when I have fun. It's fun to put it on their plate, and most of the time they're blown away, and it's just such a different flavor profile from what they've had before.
SPEAKER_02So uh going back to to the animal side of things, Fran, um what why, where does where does it come from that that's important to you and and what what do the animals teach you?
SPEAKER_01I think it's always been my life's goal. Uh I got into the veterinary industry when I was 14, was my first job, and I never looked back. I love the relationship you can have with them, both you know, dogs, cats, um, but also livestock are incredible species, and I really wanted to create a rescue that focuses on rehabilitation. So there's lots of rescues out there. They don't all do that, um, but really the true medical cases that people can't um or it's too financially constraining to help are the ones that we tend to focus on. And so these are animals that have been neglected for a long time, been left behind, have medical conditions that are chronic or reoccurring. Um and it's just really special to watch that evolution. They show up here. Um, for example, we've had you know donkeys that have been neglected 10 plus years and they're terrified, they've never been on a trailer, their whole lives are being changed, and we're poking and prodding them, and then to watch them just learn to trust humans again is really special. And I think that that was always me trying to find my purpose in life. And for a very long time, I thought I had to have the veterinary degree behind my name to um feel like I had accomplished something. And it wasn't until Taylor really encouraged me to pursue that mission here at the farm in 2017 that we started in 2018 and uh and have just created the most incredible program and have provided refuge for so many that would have been left behind. Um so it's it's really special.
SPEAKER_03Aaron Ross Powell And with those successes, there's there's you know it's not always like that. And and um I don't think I've cried more as an adult uh when when you have uh uh an animal that that doesn't make it and you know we we fight for it, you know, and and it's uh a lot of hardship too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, I think about just the the the few dogs I've lost in my life, and then you know, I guess multiply it by that, right?
SPEAKER_01Devastating. And you can do everything right and still lose them at the end of the day. And so it's kind of this real understanding that we can do our best, but sometimes life happens.
SPEAKER_03And um, and and you know, going back to having having dogs, you know, I talked to Fran, I'm like, we are I mean, why do we do this to ourselves? You know, they don't live as long as us. We know they're gonna. Pass. But it is that bond that that we create with these animals. That's that's uh that's worth all of it.
SPEAKER_01And whether it's a day, a week, or ten years, it's all super special. So um definitely worth it.
SPEAKER_02For for I guess tours, the things that bring people out here, what's what's kind of the main draw on the the animal side of things?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell I think again, keeping that intentional mindset, um, really pushing the boundary that animals can be respected in their environments, they can be enjoyed in a way that is peaceful, that does not utilize food. So we're big advocates for in letting animals be and enjoying them in their space, um letting them choose to socialize, meaning you don't get a cup of feed when you come visit us. Um we do not believe in using food, which is an everyday necessity, as a means to coerce animals to come towards us. They get a choice if they want to socialize or not. And what we have found in the last 10 years is that you take an animal that has come from a bad background and has been neglected by humans or failed by humans in some capacity, you medically rehab them and you basically leave them alone, you give them time to decompress, plenty of ample space to roam. They all come around. And it can be a month or three months or some a year, but it has created this really beautiful experience where guests can wander through the pasture with us in a guided fashion. And the animals come up because they want to, not because they have to. It's not a feeding frenzy. I mean, it's such a calm and relaxed environment for both parties, and um it's just a really special experience that is um hard to come by.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I want to shift gears to the documentary The Soil Remembers, which you know beautifully captures a lot of what was going on here during a very hard time for our region. Um it you know, it mentions that you all helped deliver, I think, 15,000 meals to uh people in need and first responders. Um I think you had just left Urban Rin, right? Um I as I was driving in here, I was thinking to myself, I don't know, would you have even been able to drive to Urban Rin? Does did it make sense that in some weird way that you had left there and that you were able to be so on the ground helping here during that time?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell, I think looking back now for sure, but I can say that we did not expect that moment to take place when we made the decision to leave the restaurant world in July prior to Helene.
SPEAKER_02Um and leave a paycheck.
SPEAKER_01Leave a paycheck. So the goal was to build the farm up alongside of that and of course bring Taylor home in a capacity where we could do this. And we had a great summer, and then the world stopped. And uh I'll let Taylor elaborate on the true hardship we felt during that moment.
SPEAKER_03But um I actually had a young lady reach out to me and said she needed help. She was um cooking for folks already. And you know, listening to people, um, you know, you you become aware that that a lot of these these pocket communities uh, you know, deep in the the mountains of western North Carolina weren't getting that food aid. Um and and we could get to them. We uh we we went mobile, they didn't come to us. So we would use what we had at the farm, um what we had left. We didn't we didn't have that much. Um but then we would we would cook and we were going from kitchen to kitchen, um, you know, some some of which we were cooking with generators and headlamps, um, and and were able to to feed people nutritious food uh that they may have not gotten uh if they were you know in sole reliance of what was being provided with the aid. Uh so as far as you know leaving the restaurant and and that happening, uh obviously no one plans for that, but it's it seemed natural like you if anything came out of it, humanity did because I saw so many people uh jump in and help. And uh, you know, we we kind of uh we had a tiny team, but we were we were a strong team. Um and it was it was every day we would be going out there and and the the things you saw, you know, I mean it was it was some of the the hardest emotional uh uh things I've ever had to deal with. Uh but it w that's what you do, right? You help.
SPEAKER_01I think from a business perspective, obviously super hard. Um any small business in Western North Carolina during that time can attest to that. But uh we had planned to come home and have a thriving fall season, which is our busiest season in Western North Carolina, and of course to have a major hurricane come through in September really crippled us for about eight months. And so it was this tough but quick discussion the day after the storm of like, yes, we can sit here and cry that our produce field has been washed and our uh entire agriculture program is halted and people won't come. And or we can just go out and help because that's what's what what we should do and what we know how to do. And so um really just buried our heads in that and networked with these small communities and ended up doing that for six months. 15,000 meals served. Um pretty incredible for our our little tiny team. But it definitely was not planned and a very challenging obstacle. Um of course, all of the things that come with a major hurricane, but um terrible timing as far as wanting to come home and grow our small business and then um it steered me away from opening another restaurant.
SPEAKER_03I uh you know, it kind of uh changed my my view of what I needed to be doing with with uh you know my experience. You know, we were entertaining, you know, several people, investors, we didn't have the money on opening uh, you know, another restaurant, and and uh and then we were helping with the storm. And and you know, I've said it before, not not one plate in my career has ever made such an impact as those plates I was serving those those people.
SPEAKER_02That that stood out to me. I was that was my next question. Yeah. Because that in that documentary that that really stood out to me that, you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean the power of food, even being in restaurants 25 years, serving, you know, high-end beautiful plates, to watch communities come together for a meal was um life-changing. You know, people shedding tears over salad and fresh produce they weren't getting. We were networking with grocers out of Greenville, um and just incredible the impact a plate of food can have.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I think that's the the thing in the film is is seeing you talk about the people who were in tears over a salad or or mac and cheese. Um and and I also we didn't experience anything like that personally in Helene. My my uh our kids' school flooded and was shut down for a little while, but they they made it all work, and like personally, that's the biggest impact it had on our family. Um but we all went through something, and I know for me, there were uh it was probably about eight months before I could stop like talking about like something that had happened without like getting on the verge of breaking down, and I could kind of see a little bit of that uh in of you talking about it in the film. So I don't know how what what did it all teach you about community?
SPEAKER_03That it that it's bigger than me. It's uh you know, no no longer, and and I can't have a cook or a chef in front of me, and and them being honest and say they're not shooting for accolades and for their food to be known. Uh it it taught me that none of that matters. None of that matters. It's it's not about the the self-vanity, it's about how you can help people and and uh and live that way and cook with intention and and and with purpose behind it to to send a message and uh you know who who thought food could do that.
SPEAKER_02Your food that I've seen on you know on your website, on your social media, it looks like art. Uh so I am curious, you know, at what when when did cooking um for you kind of stop being a a job and and become a form of expression in that way?
SPEAKER_03I think it I think it goes hand in hand with with uh the plants that we grow and and watching their life cycle and and keeping it as natural as possible on the plate. You know, I come up in a kitchen at a time when it was militant almost, and you know, the the symmetry on a plate was you know, that's what you're going for. But the you know that's I like the natural beauty of food and and uh I like to express that on on plates.
SPEAKER_02And and how has farming, you're kind of hinting at this earlier, but how has farming kind of changed um the way you think about ingredients, beauty, creative creativity, drives the menu, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_03It really does. Like I find, you know, I'm inspired by uh everything uh on this farm. It's not only what we cultivate, but but uh what grows naturally. And I'm always looking. It's like we were we had a a sp a fire and a glass of wine uh in the pasture next to the the cows, and something was scratching my leg, and I was like, what the hell's that? And uh of course I'm a nerd, so I had this plant identification app on my phone, and I took a picture of it, and it was uh uh pepper wheat uh or poor man's pepper. But you know, spices were expensive. So I put that on a plate now. And it's like that with everything I I see. I could take you to the drainage ditch outside this barn right now and make a salad for you. Uh so really really getting in touch with the the land and the natural beauty of it and and your surroundings, uh that awareness makes you a better cook. Um and that's why, you know, going back to I don't think my career started until I immersed myself in this kind of um experience.
SPEAKER_01I think what's really cool too is guests will come have dinner and there's no posted menu, there's no public menu. It's always trusting Taylor's creative capacity. And we have people that come from all over out of state. Um and it's wild that they put that kind of trust in us. We're so grateful for that, but also really cool to let Taylor just decide the menu based off what's growing well that week. Um so very special.
SPEAKER_02We we talked a little bit about things that you are growing, but what are things that you're excited in the next uh you know, couple of weeks, couple of months to to put on plates in front of PT?
SPEAKER_01Tomato season.
SPEAKER_03Tomatoes. And we we have some uh we have a couple different melons that we're excited about. There's a white water melon I'm growing, and um, you know, uh a couple types of okra, you know, we we grow them separate, way, way apart. So we don't risk cross pollination pollination, but you know, it's just it's taking the things that that are coming back year after year and then introducing more flavors through these endangered vegetables and just creating that larger palette uh to choose from and to to make those combinations that normally you wouldn't see.
SPEAKER_02Uh you're a finalist for a James Beard Award. What what does that mean to you, to this place, to to your team?
SPEAKER_03Well, for me, I think it's nuts. Uh really, I was and we'll get we'll go back to when I found out I was a semifinalist. I was I was feeding cows and Fran called me six times. I thought something was wrong, you know, an animal down or or something like that. And and it was a complete shock. I, you know, we're just a little farm out here. Uh, you know, we do the best we can every time we have a dinner. And and I think people that have dined here have have started to notice.
SPEAKER_01We were always under the impression you had to be a restaurant, brick and mortar, to be able to be considered for these accolades. And so it wasn't on our radar. It was something that I think Taylor had pretty much closed the door on when he left restaurants. Um and it's important to note just how challenging to get to that stage in your career and to have this decision: do I open a restaurant? What do I do? Have all these awesome opportunities, and then to choose the farm at the time the storm happened, and then to kind of go through this whole process. Um talk about finding yourself through that was a huge struggle.
SPEAKER_03So many chefs pursue that. They they that is that is the goal, and to to be here at the farm out of that realm.
SPEAKER_01And have it happen organically is really special.
SPEAKER_03It is.
SPEAKER_01So we're really excited. We um certainly couldn't do it with the team of people that help us make this happen. So um always feel indebted and incredibly grateful to them. The two of us can do a lot, but um, we would not be here if not for them.
SPEAKER_03So and we want to bring it home not for me, not for us, but we want to bring it home for Western North Carolina. You know, I think we've taken some some hard knocks these past couple of years, and and um maybe maybe can shed shed some light back on us and and get get people coming here again. You know, the the tourism has is has slipped. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So uh and the documentary is a finalist too.
SPEAKER_01It was nominated, yes, for a media award, which we were excited about.
SPEAKER_02I I'm just curious to to know what it what was it like kind of uh seeing your lives reflected uh from that time through you know through someone else's lens.
SPEAKER_01I think it was something neither one of us expected. So we had met the filmmaker the year prior. He had um come approached us through a mutual friend and had actually asked to come feed one of the rural communities with us, um, Avery County, up past Burnsville in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. And he joined us for the day and shot some footage and was truly helping us try to fundraise to keep the um feeding momentum going through the holiday season. We were trying to raise money through the nonprofit to feed um holiday meals after Helene. And he shot some footage. We had a you know great meeting, and then we didn't really hear from him for about eight months. And so shocking that um he approached us last year and was interested in telling the story. I think of course it's natural to be nervous, you don't know how it'll be portrayed, um what avenue is he going to take. And of course, this is as Taylor and I have been saying, it's our life's work. And so to have somebody else come in and live with us for several days and try to capture who we are and what we do in that short period of time is um challenging.
SPEAKER_03But it's not it's not easy, being you you you know that there's some vulnerability uh there, and uh really really sharing and opening up for me uh isn't the easiest thing to do. So there was there was that part of it. But um, you know, he did the director, Rio, he did a beautiful job. He's so talented. Uh so it was it was a great experience.
SPEAKER_02I I imagine that you know farming is hard enough as it is uh to to go through a global pandemic, uh, and then have something like Helene uh thrown on you is uh such a challenge. There's a quote on your website I want to read. We believe in life you have to keep pushing, no matter what is in front of you, and that the sky is limitless. Where where does that mindset come from? What what does that what does that line mean to you all?
SPEAKER_03Well, you get you get one shot of this.
SPEAKER_01He's gonna make me emotional now.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you get this is what you're given. And you can you can either sit back and and watch a goodbye, or you can be a part of this life. And we it's hard. We we we push every day and and it's it's uh it's challenging, but we're we'd like to think that we we will make an impact with what we're doing. Um and and be able to share our our vision and and make it make this a better place.
SPEAKER_01That's and that phrase we coined almost a decade ago. So to hear it now and to have seen the evolution and to have lived through it, um it's more true than ever. It's life's life will throw you obstacles and hurdles, and at that moment you can choose to dwell on them or to jump them and keep moving forward and um keep pushing has certainly evolved from that motto. So um we're proud.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. When when someone leaves your and they leave the farm, whether it's for a meal or they've come out for a tour, um what do you hope they they take away with them? What do you hope sticks with them?
SPEAKER_01I think for both of us, it's just a matter of wanting to live life in a way that is driven by what you love, um, where you get to wake up every day and share a passion, learn something new. Um we always say if we can impact one person's mindset of just trying to live a little bit more intentionally, what you put in your body, how you greet your neighbor, how you show up for your community in the time of need, um, how you give back, all of those things matter. Um and so the goal is if we can inspire one, then um the mission moves forward. So leaving leaving the soil a better place than we found it for future generations is definitely a take home we try to uh to drive.
SPEAKER_03So I had a you know, with the the dinners, I'll send people home with seeds, and I had somebody stop me after a dinner just uh last week. And you know, he he said that uh there was some inspiration he left with, and he will definitely uh plant those seeds, and and the seeds that were given were a success story. So they were uh mother stallard beans, and through the efforts of um our friends at the Seed Savers Exchange in Decora, Iowa, that that legume uh is no longer endangered. And uh, you know that that you know makes it worth it.
SPEAKER_02It's beautiful. Um I guess I'm also wondering what advice you all give or would give to, you know, you mentioned you hadn't lived on a farm before you did this. Uh somebody who might be listening and is like in in that stage where you all were um I guess eight, nine, ten years ago, what what advice do you give to them?
SPEAKER_03There was never, there was never a a guidebook to this. There was never anything written to go by. Uh we take life as it as it comes. We pursue what what we love. I don't ask everybody to go out and do what we're doing, but do what you love. Push it as hard as you can. If it doesn't work, you pivot and you you move to something else.
SPEAKER_01I think like us, find the people who do it best. And if they're your neighbors or local community members, ask them for help. Never be too prideful to go to the people who've been doing this for you know generations. And uh we've we found that most of our neighbors who have been farming for a long time were very willing and happy to share um advice, and some we took, some we we didn't. Um but the I think the the real key is no dream is too big, and if there's something you love, if there's something you want to pursue in life, do it. Um you can sit and dwell on all the reasons it might not work, and that's where we were initially. But if you believe in something, if you love something enough and it's your passion, then you should totally pursue it.
SPEAKER_03You don't know. You don't know unless you try it.
SPEAKER_02That's all for today. Huge thanks again to Taylor and Fran Montgomery for joining me. For more details on the farm and to make reservations, visit MontgomerySkyFarm.com. Just keep in mind that thanks to the recent recognition in accolades, some reservations may come with a bit of a wait. And speaking of accolades, winners of the James Beard Awards will be revealed on June 15th in Chicago. You can also learn more about the Animal Rescue at finalrunrescue.org. And you can find both the rescue and the farm on Facebook and Instagram, where they're at Montgomery Sky Farm and at Final Run Rescue. You can also find On The Blue Ridge on Instagram at OnTheBlue Ridge and online at on the blueridgepod.com. If you're enjoying this podcast, please follow or subscribe wherever you listen. Consider leaving a rating and a quick review, or share it with a friend, as it really helps more people find the show. Our theme music is the song Goa, written by Lindsay Pruitt and performed by the John Stickley Trio. Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you next time on the Blue Ridge.