Philosophy
Sequatchie Cove Farm is a diversified farm of 300 acres nestled in the shadows of the Cumberland Plateau, located 35 minutes northwest of downtown Chattanooga. The farm is bordered by the Little Sequatchie River and is surrounded by thousands of acres of pristine Tennessee wilderness. The farm is run by Bill and Miriam Keener, Kelsey and Ashley Keener (and their kids Fletcher, Oliver and Ella Mae), Miriam’s parents Jim and Emily Wright, and an assortment of seasonal helpers from our community and beyond.
Our appreciation and respect for the land is constantly growing. We continue to get to know the nuances of soil life and relationships between bacteria, fungi, insects, animals, water cycles and weather cycles… Everything is constantly changing and although we humans can create some change through our management decisions, in the long term we know that nature will have the last say…that is why we strive to work with natural systems and are always prepared to adapt our management and decision making processes to fit the circumstances that nature provides for us. We feel like the most important thing we can do as owners and managers of land is to try to leave our small piece of the world healthier, cleaner and more beautiful than when we found it.
For over 20 years we have dedicated our lives and livelihoods to conservation of our land and the environment, we plan to spend the rest of our lives continuing to do so in the most responsible manner we possibly can.
Produce
All of our produce is grown using Organic and Biodynamic practices, ensuring that it is of the highest quality and as nutritious as possible. You can find our seasonal produce at the Farm Trading Post and the Main St Farmers Market.
Fruits
We grow: raspberries, blackberries, muscadines, and blueberries. All of these items are extremely seasonal and only available in small quantities. Please contact the farm for details on availability and seasonality.
***For more information on what fruits are available contact Miriam Keener. Miriam also has a very limited supply of her Native Plants propagated from seed***
Plants are crucial to our health
Plant life is crucial to our health, and all other life on the planet…plants are the filters that produce oxygen for our lungs, their root systems hold the soil intact by preventing erosion, absorb rainfall and micronutrients, and provide countless interconnected relationships with bacteria, fungi, worms and insects. Leaves harvest life-giving energy from the Sun, which eventually becomes the energy of all living beings on Earth, whether it is us eating a leaf of spinach, or a grasshopper eating the leaf and flying away to become the feast of a bird, or a ruminate harvesting grass which eventually becomes nutrient dense meat, or a crop grown into a dried grain to be eaten by a pig or chicken. We also cannot forget the value of the natural beauty of flowers, forests, and savannas. If it wasn’t for our incredibly diverse plant life, we would be living in a very dismal place indeed.
WE AIM TO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND PROVIDE HEALTHY, NUTRIENT DENSE FOOD.
Animals, and our calculated management of them, are our tools that we have to create a positive impact on our environment, as well as provide a healthy nutrient-dense super food to fuel our family and community. Large herds of herbivorous animals have shaped the face of the planet for millennia. Their behavior patterns, until very recently, have been to move frequently and stay in very tight packs to keep themselves safe from large carnivorous predators. This intense movement of animals across the landscape in turn created an extremely healthy and diverse plant life. Although the plants would be defoliated, they would also be very well fertilized with manure and have plenty of time to tap into the root’s energy reserves and regrow before another herd passed through the area. This natural system perpetuated interconnected relationships between plant, animal, soil and water, until humans began to interfere and become the most dominant predator of all. It did not take long for us to wipe out the remaining large competitor carnivores and with our huge brains. Humans began to learn to manipulate our environment to control our food sources even further so we didn’t have to work so hard. Because of this, the main focus of agriculture has been to feed our ever growing population and of course to gain power and conquer the world (hence the rise and fall of civilizations as we know it). Recently though, people have begun to take notice of our deteriorating health, climate, and soils around the planet, and we have begun to link this to our management of land and the way that we manipulate it to feed ourselves.
What we have discovered is that our tunnel vision focused on power and wealth has completely distracted us from the fact that all humans rely on the same natural systems that have always provided life on this planet… We are beginning to realize the absolute importance of clean water and air, and the interdependence of our infinitely complex web of life that makes this planet such an incredible place!
Although this might all seem like common sense, do not be fooled…this way of thinking is in stark contrast to the way 99% of all food is being produced today! Luckily for us, there is a growing number of farmers and consumers that are waking up to the dire situation that we are in, and instead of complaining and blaming things on the current president, we are actually doing something about it! We have the power to reassess the way we live our lives across the board and lead drastic changes to make our planet and our lives more sustainable and enjoyable, hopefully leaving our children with a life worth living.
SCF pledges that none of our animals has ever been in a confinement feedlot, been subjected to any inhumane treatment, or given growth hormones or antibiotics. Our cattle and sheep have never eaten anything but fresh grass, and our pigs and poultry have always roamed free outdoors and been supplemented with 100% natural Organic grains.
