Full Moon Rising | How One Farmer Turned Her Land Into Something Everyone Could Share

Mel and Jenn welcome Kara Dodson to the table, executive director of Full Moon Farm Collective, a nonprofit farm just outside Boone built on horse power, hard won land, and a decade of learning how food actually gets from soil to table. Kara traces her path from an environmental nonprofit job she could not sit still for, to an apprenticeship with horses in Creston, to buying raw land with her partner Jacob in 2016 and turning it into a working farm within ten years. She walks through why she eventually converted that farm into a nonprofit, using the wealth that let her buy land in the first place to make food and land access more equitable for the workers and neighbors around her. The conversation moves through the harder history behind American agriculture, from the Cherokee and Tutelo peoples who worked this land first to the forced and underpaid labor still baked into how the country grows and prices food, and lands on the partnership that gets Full Moon's produce into food boxes for families across Watauga County facing food insecurity. Kara closes out with practical advice for anyone who wants to grow their own food, and a look ahead to the High Country Farm Tour on September 12th.In this episode:How Kara went from an environmental nonprofit desk job to an apprenticeship on a horse powered farm in Creston, and the decade that followedThe decision to buy raw land with her partner Jacob in 2016, and how that became Full Moon Farm Collective ten years laterWhy Kara converted the farm into a nonprofit, and how she is using land and wealth to make farming more accessible for othersThe history that still shapes American agriculture, from the Cherokee and Tutelo peoples who worked this land first to the forced and underpaid labor behind how food gets grown and pricedHow Full Moon partners with Hunger and Health Coalition to get fresh, local produce into food boxes for families across Watauga County, and why Kara wants to erase the stigma around food assistancePractical advice for home gardeners, from picking your why to fencing out deer, plus a preview of the High Country Farm Tour on September 12thYou'll walk away with:A clearer picture of why land ownership is the biggest barrier facing new farmers, and one way to work around itA better understanding of the history behind our food system, and why that history still matters todayReal, judgment free information about food assistance in Watauga County, and who it is actually forSimple starting advice if you have ever wanted to grow your own food but did not know where to beginOur Favorite Things This Episode:Kara's favorite: the Tao Te Ching, and the line about the valley spirit that reminds her why mysterious femininity and a life close to the land go hand in hand📱 Follow us on Instagram: @mindsmovingmountains📧 Get in touch: [email protected]