Stacy Fields, Raspberry Fields
Raspberry Fields Kitchen
Grant Award: $8,000
Raspberry Fields’ original plan was to build a small structure on the farm to house the farm kitchen. During the planning phase, Stacy discovered her proposed location was in a 100-year floodplain, which required a soil engineer to approve the septic system. Because their project was a commercial bakery, the engineering report would have cost $10,000-15,000 and the proposed system would have been close to $40,000 to install. This was impossible for their budget.
A solution emerged in the form of a storefront location in downtown Hendersonville. Stacy up fitted the building to suit her needs and bought and installed kitchen equipment, including a three-compartment sink, hand washing sink, a new commercial water heater and refrigerated display case. In the coming months she will purchase more equipment such as bread slicers, ice machine, 30-qt mixer and other items to expand the food offerings from the newly formed Mini Batch Bakery.
Stacy hosted the ASAP farm tour for a second time in September. Her fall raspberries were still being harvested and she was able to showcase her breads, jams, and vinegars at the event.
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