'Listening to nature': Santa Fe couple builds thriving farm through mastering balance
The crisp aroma of Calabrian peppers overtakes the senses on the idyllic 24-acres called The Farm & Fiddle nestled in the hills of Fly, Tennessee in Maury County.
That is, until Samantha Foulks, co-owner of the farm with husband Dan, hands visitors a golden raspberry fresh from the patch. The taste juxtaposes the scent, but in a surprisingly pleasant way ― sweet mixed with savory crispness — just a sampling of the best the farm has to offer.
On a hill overlooking the farm, cows and sheep graze. Loud moo-ing draws Dan Foulks' attention.
“That’s my bull, Mini Wheat, right there,” he chuckles, pointing up the hill. “He’s going to start singing before too long.”
Full of vegetables, fruits and flowers, the farm in the Santa Fe area is in full swing and full bloom as the abundance increases during the peak of summer.
Walking through the farm is like taking a step back to a time when farming was all about working with the land, before the art became an industry.
Every nook and cranny of the farm is put to use — flowers, heirloom vegetables, herbs, sheep, cows, ducks, you name it, all living in harmony to create a beautiful bustling ecosystem.
On a hill overlooking the farm, the cows and sheep graze. Loud moo-ing draws Dan Foulks' attention. “That’s my bull, Mini Wheat, right there,” he chuckles, pointing up the hill. “He’s going to start singing before too long.”
At the reins are Samantha and Dan Foulks, a couple from Oklahoma, who made the pilgrimage to Tennessee about eight years ago for the music industry. Samantha began building the Farm & Fiddle straight away upon their arrival, combining Dan's love of music and instrument of choice, the fiddle, with Samantha's love of nature, the farm.
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The farm also employs a combination of seasonal workers and interns throughout the growing season.
'Listening to nature' guides the way
The Foulks have a heart for sharing their lifestyle with others who want to learn about homesteading and holistic farming.
“I would have died for that opportunity to live out my vision when I was younger,” Samantha said.
Back in Oklahoma, Dan was a middle school orchestra teacher, so it's in his nature to educate, said Georgia Thorpe, one of two seasonal workers on the farm.
“He is like a wealth of knowledge. He will answer anything with the most words, but the best words,” said Thorpe.
Dan doesn’t think of himself that way, though. He merely guides the workers to the information the land is readily providing.
“Nature is the best teacher if you’re willing to listen,” Dan said.
And listening to nature is what everyone at Farm & Fiddle strives to do.
“We companion plant and interplant every veggie; every flower could help another veggie and flower, whether it’s pollination or pest deterrent,” Samantha said.
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The garden area would appear chaotic and unruly to the eye of an outsider, but the locations of each vegetable and plant are intentional.
For example, basil and tomatoes grow wonderfully together, and by pairing those with a row of Lisianthus, the primary flower at The Farm & Fiddle and Samantha’s personal favorite, the pollinators will flock.
“You can’t walk around barefoot because of the bees,” Samantha warned.
Interplanting creates thriving ecosystem
It’s this philosophy of harmonious interplanting, pairing crops that benefit from each other in the same bed, that prompts the holistic title.
More important than the bounty above the ground is tending to the ecosystem underneath. To preserve the soil and microbiology within, Farm & Fiddle is a no-till farm, meaning they plant vegetables without plowing and avoid any sort of pesticides or herbicides.
Rather, they use the manure from the livestock to fertilize and rely on "good bugs" to police the "bad ones."
“If you create and cultivate the right environment, you start getting a balance of things ... you get good bugs that eat the bad bugs. If you have everything you need, it’ll balance itself out,” said Dan.
Italian varieties support pasta business
The vegetables at the Farm & Fiddle are all Italian and French heirloom varieties, which works well with Samantha’s pasta business.
“We found that our pasta is kind of the center of the wagon wheel, and then everything else we do, the spokes that come off of it, complement the pasta,” Samantha said.
The work is hard, and the lifestyle isn’t suitable for many, but farmers have long been known for their work ethic, reliability and care they take in their work.
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The couple said there is nothing more rewarding than toiling all day in the heavy Tennessee heat, then retiring to bask in the fruits of the day’s labor.
“I love every single flower, I love every tomato. And my husband is a fantastic cook, so it’s a whole other level of joy to experience his cooking with all our fresh farm goods,” said Samantha.
The Foulks sell their products at 12 South Farmer’s Market in Nashville on Tuesdays and the Columbia Farmer’s Market on Saturdays. Their pastas and produce can be found on the menus of Yolan and Butcher & Bee in Nashville, including the seasonal "Farm & Fiddle Pappardelle" dish made with tomato sauce, blue crab and corn cream.
For more information, visit http://www.thefarmandfiddle.com.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Santa Fe couple masters art of farming with balance, bees and bounty
