Our Story
To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.
—Audrey Hepburn
Love & Sunshine farm is now a proud partner with Food Forest Abundance. We couldn’t be more thrilled to transition into Love & Sunshine Food Forestry!
Look below for more about this 2022 transition under “updates”.
Love and Sunshine farm began with nothing more than the strong pull of curiosity and a burst of creativity. With a background in outdoor education and regenerative agriculture, owner and operator Harper Dron recognized a need in the community for a new kind of crop. In such a beautifully abundant land such as North Carolina, it’s almost impossible not to feel pulled to grow anything and everything!
In the spring of 2020- prior to the inception of the farm- there began the care and cultivation of the land and soil near her home in Asheboro, NC. With the traditional hard clay being the starting point, the work was certainly cut out for getting seedlings in the ground before summer! At our farm, we practice regenerative agriculture. That means everything is done to “human scale”. Human scale simply indicates no large machinery or tractors ever touch or dig into the soil; therefore, the clay was loosened, amended, and prepared by hand using tools you probably have in your own shed at home!
Regenerative agriculture is a newer term that refers to a form of farming that works with the land to create a symbiotic relationship between us and the Earth. That means we do not till our soil, spray or cover our land with anything harmful to us, the soil, the microbes, the animals, or the bugs and insects below and above. It also means no fossil fuel usage by large tractors or machinery. Regenerative also means Organic, but that does not mean that organic is inherently regenerative! Check out our blog posts about different forms of agriculture to learn more. This may be a new term, but the practices and principles have been used and passed down for many, many generations.
With lots of blood, sweat, and tears, the clay was finally turned to a beautiful crumbly, sweet smelling soil full of the vital nutrients and abundant life needed to grow the most flavorful nourishing plants right in our backyard! Initially, Harper began the garden as a way to feed her family and enjoy time in nature, but it wasn’t long before it grew more produce than her friends and family could use alone. The garden had suddenly become a farm! Thus Love and Sunshine was born.
Our farm is not just about produce though. Before finding her love for working with the land, Harper worked with Environment NC to help save the bees by banning Glyphosate at the state level. She held a strong passion for our fuzzy pollinator friends, and knew Love and Sunshine was a perfect way to keep working to save them. Beyond practicing the principles on the farm that work with and for the bees, all purchases donate a percentage directly to the Washington State University Bee research campaign. Check out our blog post for more information!
Love & Sunshine Updates 2022
A lot has happened in the two years since Love & Sunshine was founded. Although much has changed, the foundations of curiosity, abundance, regenerative principles, and healthful living remain at the core of every aspect of our small farm.
In the summer of 2021, Harper Dron (founder and owner) was diagnosed with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) from a tick bite. The illness created a major halt to all farm activity, and created an early shut down for the season. In her illness the farm was left largely unmaintained, and the local wildlife took it upon themselves to enjoy it’s bounty instead. The illness was caught late due to the slower onset of symptoms, but still quite early enough for treatment to work effectively! Her healthy living through the organic whole foods, sunshine, and fresh air from the farm had kept the RMSF from showing any severe signs and has greatly aided in her recovery. Now- coming into the Spring of 2022- Harper has begun to regain her strength! She is working to jump back into her efforts to help the community right where she left off, but this time with an exciting new twist!
Taking the time off allowed her to ponder on more effective ways to help the community create more abundance, health, connectivity, and self- reliance. Offering regenerative produce was a great start; however, she knew the community needed something she could offer that won’t require hands on labor. Eureka! A food forest in the backyard of every family who wants a long term solution to food security, healthful harvests, and to enjoy year round abundance. We all know the age old saying: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish, and you’ll feed him for a lifetime. Most don’t know that there is actually a third line: Teach a man how to teach a man to fish, and you’ll feed the world. By helping spread the joy, ease, and pure abundance of growing food and medicine in your very own backyard we can help to feed the world one family at a time. A food forest is an opportunity to spread knowledge and self reliance to not only our community, but to future generations as well.
Once the seed of this new idea took root, an opportunity sprouted forth for our farm. Harper came into contact with Food Forest Abundance. Food Forest Abundance was founded in 2020 by Jim Gale, who has been working on spreading the knowledge and vision of building a free, healthy, and abundant society for generations to come for over 18 years. Love & Sunshine Farm has been able to join them as a COOP member for central North Carolina. By doing so we have transitioned into Love & Sunshine Food Forestry! With their team we can now design and install personalized food forests in your backyard, offer indoor growing rooms for daily year round harvests, and provide self- reliance training for families who want to take the next steps towards complete self- sufficiency. At Love & Sunshine we couldn’t be more thrilled about these new additions to what we can offer for the community. We have come to a point where people feel they want to do something, but they just aren’t sure exactly what they CAN do. We firmly believe the best thing each of us can do to strengthen our nation is to strengthen our local communities, and the best way to do that is to first strengthen ourselves and our own personal households. Food security, self-sufficiency, and an abundance for future generations is a great place to start. That is what Love & Sunshine Food Forestry will help create here in this community.