Louisiana locals have embraced the farm-to-table movement.
From first-generation farmers to seasoned life-timers, growing your own means farming has turned into a daily part of life. Building relationships with customers, making deliveries fresh off the vine, or hand making treats for the customers they know so well – all of our Cultivate the 318 group pours every ounce of their heart and soul into their ventures. From bees that buzz to the flowers that feed, these farmers care where your food comes from and want the simplest of ingredients when making products.
Mahaffey Farms
A new way of growing…
Every time I meet someone new these days, I feel a little more uneasy and anxious than I did when I was younger. You would think that now in my forties I would be more confident than ever. And that would probably be true if I hadn’t made a decision several years ago that has completely changed who I am and how I see the world. When faced with new social situations and people I know I have to answer that dreaded question… “What do you do for a living?” Now, I know most people dread that question a little bit, right? But for me, it often comes with a barrage of questions that I still to this day haven’t fully figured out how to handle. Not because they are difficult questions or what I do is in anyway hard for people to understand, in fact, it’s probably considered to be the most “simple” occupation on the planet. I’m a farmer. That’s simple enough. Where the struggle comes in for me is when they ask, “What kind of farm?” or “What made you decide to get into farming?” Maybe these two questions cause me such anxiety because I’m insecure about what people normally think of as a farmer and I feel like there is a longer explanation needed. There’s a new movement going on in farming and local food that is breathing new life and health into the community. I’m going to try and answer these questions in a way that tells the story of my farm and why I feel like what I do for a living is making a small difference in the world.
The first Question:
What kind of farm?
Two major things set out farm apart from conventional farms. The first way our farm is unique is in our effort to practice Regenerative Agriculture. Our focus is on the whole system of animals and plants that make up an ecosystem. We mimic the patterns of nature to grow food and use this holistic approach to build soil and biodiversity without chemicals. The result is more nutrient dense, better tasting, clean food.
It’s more like the old-fashioned family farms of the early 1900s but with a twist of sophistication and new technology. We grow vegetables, trees, pigs, chickens, cattle, fruit, etc., but are most well known for our pasture-raised pork, chicken and beef. The second thing that makes us unique is our direct marketing. We sell our products directly to our customers and local businesses. You can come to the farm, catch us at the farmers’ market, order online for home delivery, find us in locally owned health food groceries, and on the menus of several local restaurants.
The Second Question:
What got you into farming?
Well, you could say that I grew up on the farm, but really, I grew up on the crumbling remains of a farm. Our family farm was started here in Bossier Parish in the mid 1920s by my great-uncle, H. H. Mahaffey. He ran a couple hundred head of cattle as well as managing gardens, orchards, and a
large hay operation. He died suddenly in the 1950s without children to take over, leaving his wife Nora to continue running the farm for another decade or so until it collapsed. Eventually the cattle were sold and the property went into disrepair and became an overgrown pine forest.
Sadly, this was the fate of most American family farms after WWII. Most were lost forever. Through family circumstances the land management was entrusted to me when I was about 20 years old. Timber production was our best use for the land and my efforts had been focused on forestry and conservation.
Despite loving to work on the land I hadn’t considered farming full time as a possibility in my life. It wasn’t until the economic crash of 2008 and my family’s interest in eating healthier started me on a new line of thinking. The timber market was in major decline and I wanted to find a way to diversify. What if I could grow healthy sustainable food on our land along with timber? What
if I brought the family farm back from the grave?
This idea ignited a fire deep inside, which led me to find my purpose in life. My eyes were opened and I saw a growing local/sustainable/regenerative food movement all over the world. Shreveport’s local food scene was in its infant stages, but I could feel the demand for REAL local food. I pitched the idea to my family and they fell in love with it. Along with my wife, son and my mother, we set out on this crazy new endeavor to rebuild a family farm.
We decided to call it Mahaffey Farms in honor of my uncle. By 2012, we were selling our first products at the Shreveport Farmers’ Market. Now in 2018 we’ve served thousands of customers and had people from all over the world visit our farm. We’ve been involved in dozens of community events and farm to table dinners and our farm is expanding. We have become part of something bigger. Obviously, I’m very proud to call myself a small regenerative family farmer. It’s just hard to explain what I do for a living at dinner parties.
Stow Valley Farms
Husband and wife team Nikki and Mark Johnson, along with their lifelong friend Tommy Sutton, embarked on a berry-licious journey in the fall of 2016 that yielded a new-found passion: strawberries. 
This year, Stow Valley Farms near Ruston, Louisiana, has planted 20,000 strawberry plants on 2 acres with tender love and care. Once the foliage begins to grow in February, a field of white blooms and future strawberries follows soon after, with the luscious red berries making their appearance around March 1.
With two hives of bees to help pollinate and increase the strawberry yield, Stow Valley Farms hopes to sell out just as they did this past growing season. Stop by their Strawberry stand at 116 Hodges Road and Hwy. 33, or visit them on Saturdays at the Ruston Farmer’s Market for strawberries hand-picked by the team. Stow Valley Farms typically sells out within 2 hours of the market, so be sure to make them a first stop when you go!
Mitcham Farms
Mouthwatering Ruston peaches only come around once a year. When the peaches turn ripe, it’s best to swing by Mitcham Farms to grab a box before they’re all gone. A hot commodity in North Louisiana and available only as a pick-up item, Mitcham Peaches have been precious cargo ever since J.E. Mitcham Sr. planted the first orchard in 1946. So popular, Louisiana residents bearing gifts of peaches either had to drive through Ruston, Louisiana, themselves, or have someone love them enough to share their stash of peaches.
Second-generation peach farmer Joe Mitcham was raised in the fields he now tends. With 25 acres of peach producing trees (around 1,500), Mitcham has been planting new trees in the rolling hills that allow the warm sun to ripen each mouth-watering bite. 
If the peach season slipped by without a trip to Ruston, stop by the store just off of I-20 for any of the jarred delights pairing perfectly with fine cheeses or spread over breakfast toast. With jellies, preserves, and relishes made from their very own peaches, a gift basket can be whipped up in no time. Since there is a limited supply of peaches, it’s best to mark on the calendar May 20, since this is the date (give or take a few days) that the first crop of peaches typically starts to ripen. Peach lovers have through the beginning of August to stop by the store for some fresh peach ice cream while grabbing a bag of peaches or plums, which they grow as well.
Nappier Valley Farm
Just North of West Monroe, Louisiana, lies the first-generation Nappier Valley Farm in the tight-knit community of Rocky Branch. Offering something that’s hard to come by – goat milk products, Malissa and Matt Nappier jumped feet first into the goat business and are spreading their wings to try other aspects to the farm as well by adding bee hives, chickens, and milking cows.
The Nappiers and their three girls tend to the goats daily milking twice a day and feeding over 60 egg-laying chickens. What started out as an interest in a healthier, more organic life, the Nappiers left the city for 60 green acres in the country.
Offering unique goat milk soaps and lotions handmade by Malissa as well as tasty caramel treats made in their kitchen by Matt, this duo has found their niche. Schedule a Friday farm tour where city dwellers can learn how to milk a goat and see life on the farm firsthand with happy animals roaming the green field, or check their products on-line at https://www.nappiervalleyfarm.com/
If you happen to be close, Matt enjoys personally delivering his goods so he has a chance to get to know his customers when he delivers their farm-fresh, free-range eggs. With 9 goats, 60 egg-laying chickens, 1 cow, and 3 bee hives, the Nappiers enjoy every minute of farm life and so do their animals.
Jennings Apiaries
Jennings ApiariesCultivated locally, hand made, and pure, Jennings Apiaries is a sweet spot for lotions, honey-based products and tonics made with honey from thousands of Louisiana honey bees. With over 100 hives spanning three parishes (Claiborne, Union, and Ouachita) this husband and wife team has come a long way since their first hive in 2012.
Lauren and Aaron Jennings tend to their hives themselves while providing their bees with delicious treats of lavender, bee balm, honey basil, and herbs like thyme and oregano. With bees buzzing around their favorite flowers, the golden honey yield is not limited to Jennings Apiaries, as their honey is used all over the state to brew beer, serve as a sweetener in coffee houses, and being available in every Louisiana Whole Foods store.
When the flowers come out, the honey starts flowing and Aaron beings gathering the precious gold liquid for Lauren to use in her lotions. Aaron recommends trying out the Spicy Honey Cider to take every day as preventative maintenance for your body as the elixir is anti inflammatory as well as a good decongestant.
You can find these two selling honey by the gallon or any of their honey products by using their website jenningsapiaries.com to place an order and save 10% with the code BEESALE or visit the Ruston Farmer’s Market on Saturdays in the spring and summer.
Tyler Family Pecans
In late October when the leaves in Louisiana finally start to turn bright orange and red, you’ll see 100-foot-high native pecan trees start to drop their precious fruit. This brings a sense of urgency in the Red River community of Caspiana for pecan farmers James Tyler and his 87-year- old mother Louise. In the midst of this season you’ll find them scurrying around 60-plus acres underneath neatly groomed trees, picking up this golden bounty delivered by Mother Nature before the busy squirrels get to them or worse, they rot on the soggy ground.
Pecans are not a fabrication of science labs or a newly franchised food factory product. The pecan tree can be dated back to native America. When not only the Mississippi but the Red rivers would flood, it created a mixture of sand, mud and silt that emptied into this rich, fertile delta, leaving behind the perfect nutrient- rich soil for a pecan tree to thrive.
In recent years, the 100-hundred- year-old trees have started to die off, but that didn’t stop Tyler’s passion for growing and harvesting this nutrient-rich nut. He’s spent many hours planting and nurturing new trees and toying with a few of the 500-plus varieties of pecans. He meticulously keeps the grass around the base neat and short, making harvesting easier. After they are gathered, they are cleaned and run through a machine for cracking. Once cracked, the nuts are shelled carefully by hand.
You can always expect their phone to start ringing in the weeks before Thanksgiving from returning customers and referrals looking for the top-notch golden beauties for holiday pies and candies. You may even catch the white-bearded man selling them from the back of his truck. But never will you find such a quality item in a store with a fancy label. This is food that comes from a farm, not a factory.