PCG Farm Grant Recipients Getting Down to Work

On March 17, at the 2019 PCG Food and Beverage Symposium, PCG Professional Members William Lyons, Bluebird Farm and James Swofford, The Chef’s Farmer were each awarded $3500 PCG Farms grants. A little over one month later, that money is already hard at work.

Swofford used his grant for Paperpot Transplanter, a Jang JP1 Complete Seeder, and ancillary equipment for his farm in Shelby, NC. “Most plants in my garden are currently transplanted by hand, a tedious effort that often takes hours. The Paperpot transplanter turns hours of physical labor into minutes in an upright position. This is a system of planting and transplanting that can save one person $500 in labor per half acre,” Jamie said in his proposal.

Now that the equipment is in place, The Chef’s Farmer had more time to reflect, “Innovations in the food world are happening faster than I’ve ever seen before, from seed, to tools, to the table and beyond. Proper tools are key to any job, small scale hand powered agriculture relies on these innovations to make our lives more efficient. Thank you, PCG and everyone for supporting your food journey.”

Meanwhile in Morganton, NC, heavy equipment started rolling out to Bluebird Farm to begin drilling Four-Season Well Water System. “This grant will match our farm’s contribution for the construction of an underground water delivery system with 6,000 feet of pipe and multiple frost free valves and outlets across the farm for vegetables and livestock,” said Lyons in his proposal. “The well water delivery system will provide four season water that is not subject to freezing temperatures or excessive rainfall.”

Last week, was the first step in achieving that goal. “We had an exciting week at Bluebird Farm,” stated Lyons. “We had our well drilled. A steady supply of clean water will make our work much easier. Our livestock and vegetables depend on a dependable water source and a well will provide clean year round water without having to manage and monitor the creek pump system.”

Fourteen PCG Member Farmers applied for the grant which included both written and video proposals. Over 2500 of the public voted for the proposal they felt was most deserving.