The Erwin Record sat down with Janice and Ed Honeycutt at Blackberry Blossom Farm, an enterprise that the couple has dedicated 40 years of labor and love to establishing on a mountainside east of the town of Unicoi.

“It just kind of morphed into what it is today,” Ed said, noting that Blackberry Blossom Farm reflects their own personal homesteading lifestyle.

Married for 33 years, the couple noted that Ed’s family bought the land in 1978.

In the beginning, they were managing the property from their home on the coast of North Carolina while also providing care to Ed’s mother.

“We realized we had to make a change,” Janice said, adding that in 1998 they moved to the property full time to “live a different kind of life.”

The move brought the couple closer to the origins of Ed’s family in Northeast Tennessee. Janice noted that Col. Ed Honeycutt, her father-in-law, was part of a committee that organized and founded the annual Unicoi County Apple Festival during the 1980s.

Throughout four decades, the now 100-acre property has been transformed into a functioning campground with nine primitive tent sites, many large enough for two family-sized tents.

Other lodging options, Janice noted, include a 1955 vintage Aljoa camper nicknamed “Nellie Belle” and shielded from the weather by a carport, as well as two AirBnB suites for guests who “aren’t looking for a raw experience and want a little more comfort.”

A guest staying in the vintage camper at the time of the interview also spoke to the newspaper about her visit.

“It’s beautiful with the pond, stream and little falls,” said Sarah Callen.

She added that Blackberry Blossom Farm was the most convenient option for her because she needed long-term lodging while traveling with her dog.

Many guests of the resort are remote workers exploring new places to live and work.

The couple pointed out that Blackberry Blossom Farm is equipped with fiber optic internet access provided by Erwin Electric. Accommodating the needs of remote workers is easy, according to Janice.

The couple added other features over the years to provide a level of comfort sought by campers. A full bathhouse with a tiled interior floor and an exterior dishwashing station is one of the additions.

Blackberry Blossom Farm often hosts large groups, including a recent visit by the East Tennessee State University women’s volleyball team that was looking for a place to engage in team-building activities before the start of the season.

The Honeycutts said there are six natural springs present within the property, which is bordered by the Cherokee National Forest. Honeycutt said properties with natural springs add value by providing freshwater for drinking and gardening without being contaminated by agricultural runoff chemicals originating from neighboring properties.

One of the springs is tapped with a pipe that is mostly buried in the creek bed. The couple explained that only gravity pushes water downstream through underground pipes until it reaches a silt box.

The force of gravity is enough to fill the silt box with water, allow sediment to settle at the bottom and force the clean water up and out of the tank before it goes to any faucets or garden irrigation systems.

Additionally, the bathhouse water goes through filtration and is treated with UV light to ensure its purity. The couple said they also test the water annually to verify the effectiveness of their water treatment process.

The Honeycutts said the pond on the property was created by irrigating Simerly Creek, which runs through the property.

Many of the campsites and trails at Blackberry Blossom Farm are named after features of the pond and the waterfall resulting from the pond’s overflow.

Around 2000, the Honeycutts sold their beach house and moved into the property with their two children and lived debt-free. They also began a lifestyle of intensive labor.

Ed described the work as difficult but free from employers dictating their daily tasks. “Every day you wake up and have to decide ‘What am I going to do today?’ ”

The couple said the work was done entirely by their own hands with the assistance of some chainsaws, weed-eaters and a Sears riding mower.

“It’s a hard kind of life to live close to the land,” Ed said. “We all worked like mules. To live on a farm, you have to.”

This hardworking lifestyle was part of the Honeycutts’ parenting strategy for their two children and three foster children adopted in 2002 and who needed much attention after suffering trauma in their early childhood.

All five of their daughters graduated from high school and lead successful lives, although they did choose not to adopt the homesteading lifestyle as adults.

Now that the farm needs to support only the two of them, preserving their harvests is less important and the couple has created a permaculture garden requiring less labor.

Much of their current operation is now focused on tourism and education through their lodging options. They have even added a camp store featuring antique items and canned jellies from unique combinations of grapes and peppers.

The couple also collaborates with HERBalachia, a school that often conducts workshops at Blackberry Blossom Farm promoting the process of safely gathering herbs useful in providing remedies for common ailments.

“It’s all about teaching people,” Janice said.

She noted that only authorized persons are permitted to harvest from the many gardens on the property.

The gardens produces a variety of herbs, including thyme, oregano, elderberry, stinging nettle, spice bush, horseradish, marshmallow, ramps and a variety of mushrooms, as well as a variety of grapes.

Janice added that even authorized persons are still required to harvest sustainably, which means cutting the plant tops while leaving the roots intact so growth and seed production can continue in the future.

She said their plants are mostly heirloom varieties good for producing seeds for new plants, thereby reducing the need for purchasing seeds annually.

Guests can also participate in the homesteading lifestyle by adding their food scraps into the compost piles, which are caged to guard against wildlife like coyotes and field mice.

Easy hiking trails provide access to the campsites and other areas of dense forest where motorized vehicles are not permitted throughout the property. These trails extend to the mountain peak at about 3,700 feet in elevation, according to Janice.

She said the farm also includes some notable historic sites from Appalachian folklore.

“Every time you go out, you find something new,” Janice said.

She added that although they don’t traverse all 100 acres as often as they once did, visitors enjoy the space to explore, learn and play at Blackberry Blossom Farm.

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Blackberry Blossom Farm, 250 Blackberry Blossom Lane, Unicoi. (423) 735-0696. blackberryblossominn@gmail.com.

Source: erwinrecord.net