Welcome to Jolley Farms continued from homepage

Farming methods are also important to us. That’s why we attend conferences and symposia around the country to learn more about the latest trends in sustainable agriculture and are designated Appalachian Grown by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. You can rest assured that natural growing methods are always used at Jolley Farms!

We are dedicated to bringing you the kind of food that our parents, grandparents, and many generations of Jolleys before would have been proud to grow. Every bite of Jolley Farms produce is free of chemicals, delicious, and nutritious, and will also give you the satisfaction of preparing, serving and enjoying local and sustainably grown food. Dig in!

-Zeb and June Jolley

Meet the Jolleys

The first Jolley family settled in North and South Carolina in the early 1700’s in search of fertile soil. Large agricultural operations soon followed and in these parts of the country, the Jolley name brings to mind acres of bountiful fruit trees and fields of superbly grown vegetables.

There is a saying, “If it’s Jolley grown, it has to be Jolley good.” Zeb Jolley inherited these high standards.

Raised on a family truck farm, Zeb grew up picking peaches in his grandfather’s South Carolina peach orchard and climbing a stepladder to pick tomatoes from his father’s traffic-stopping 10 feet tall vines.

June Smathers’ farming experience was also steeped in tradition. Her grandfather owned an apple orchard in the Western North Carolina cove settled by her ancestors, and her parents raised lush organic gardens that fed their family of five as well as half the neighborhood.

Zeb and June met while attending the horticulture program at Haywood Technical College, and after marrying opened a successful plant farm dedicated to growing top of the line bedding plants and perennials for wholesale and retail customers.

Interested in environmental design, Zeb returned to school to pursue a degree in civil surveying and June accepted a position managing the greenhouses of the North Carolina Arboretum. During this time the couple continued to raise large vegetable gardens and to preserve the harvest using the heirloom recipes of June’s mother.

Faced with larger and larger gardens, a result of growing up on a truck farm no doubt, Zeb began selling the surplus to save June from preserving more than was humanly possible in a season! It was only a matter of time before Zeb left his work in environmental design to officially found Jolley Farms.

Soon green grocers and upscale restaurants were clamoring for Jolley Farms microgreens, lettuce mixes, specialty and heirloom vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. The fact that Jolley Farms uses sustainable practices was an added bonus to the superior quality and rich flavor of their produce.

Today Zeb and June, along with the dedicated staff at Jolley Farms, bring together their family farming traditions and years of organic gardening experience to produce naturally grown, tasty, and healthy food for fine restaurants, green grocers, and family tables throughout Western North Carolina.