Madison County, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western
North Carolina, is a rural county. It is only about half an hour
or so from Asheville, but with approximately 3,500 small family
farms, agriculture is the largest industry in the County. In fact,
agriculture accounts for half of the gross income in the County.
Here in Madison County, where streams and pastures and hollers
and coves abound, you may look out your window as you drive the
scenic (excellently maintained) country roads and notice tobacco
crops. That's because Madison County is the largest burley tobacco
producing county in North Carolina!
There are approximately 2,350 farms with burley tobacco quotas.
A decade ago, burley tobacco accounted for $10 to $12 million
for agriculture income annually. But recently, the demand for
tobacco has been on the decline, and so our local crops are changing.
Farmers are diversifying! If you are a nonsmoker or a smoker,
you still will be able to enjoy the new crops, because with the
recent decline in burley tobacco, farmers have been cultivating
the most amazing ORGANIC crops. Vegetable, organic and nursery
crops have increased dramatically since 1998. Stop by the family-run
vegetable, fruit and flower market just as you come in to Mars
Hill, and you will see what I mean.
OH! and if you should decide to let me find you the perfect acreage
to steward over the years...and keep as beautiful as it is now
for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren....and if you decide
to spend the winter (it is mild) here...Christmas trees are easy
to find ...in fact, they account for more than $2.5 million annually.
Here are land buys that look to the future.
The Nature Conservancy has been active in future planning around
the Greater Asheville area. You can be part of a growing number
of folks who are thinking to the future and want their great-grandchildren
to be able to enjoy the beauty of the Appalachians. One way you
can do this is through the Nature Conservancy's "Conservation
Buyer" Program.
Like you, there are many REALTORS here in the Asheville area
who are also great lovers of nature. In fact, I have met quite
a few who spend their weekends in the mountains hiking the Appalachian
Trail, or out hunting for waterfalls. They say that REALTORS who
work on the lands around here can tell where they are by the "feeling"
of the land, and I believe it's true. Just let your imagination
take you to a horse farm with steep pastures at 3,000 feet, and
a horse farm down in the Sandy Mush valley located at the far
end of Madison County, and you will see what I mean.
Around here, when you get to the point that you can "feel"
the land, you are known as a "green REALTOR' and that's when
you hope that some family will come along who feels about the
land here the way you do. When that happens, email me right away!
I can share information about a practical ways YOU can help keep
these lands gorgeous and pristine for YOUR children’s children...
