Kelsey Green, Our Friendly Allies
Greenhouse Expansion
Grant Award: $6,000
Kelsey started Our Friendly Allies five years ago and has reached capacity on her two 20-foot by 20-foot greenhouses, which are used to propagate plugs for her ½-acre production field and for medicinal herb and vegetable plant starts. To meet wholesale demand, she has added another ½-acre growing plot for certified organic dried medicinal herbs in 2021.
The grant was used to construct a new heated greenhouse to start the 10,000 plugs needed seasonally for this expansion. She has additionally diversified her offerings by producing more varieties of organic tomato and pepper starts, which have proven to be extremely popular and hard to find. Kelsey has hired two part-time farm employees to help manage the additional workload.
OFA does retail sales of herbs online and at the annual Asheville Herb Festival and works with four wholesale buyers that purchase bulk medicinal herbs. Demand currently far exceeds production.
Contact the Local Extension Agent