0325-GCG-FoothillsConservancy_ESG25_12-18 (2) - Flipbook - Page 27
2025 Impact Report / Celebrating 30 Years
Sowing New
Opportunities
Alongside the sensory trail and meadow
restoration progress, the Community Farm
Incubator Program is also taking root. This
year, three large high tunnels were installed
near the agricultural 昀椀elds to extend the
growing season and increase the capacity for
year-round food production. Built through the
collaborative efforts of FCNC stewardship staff,
interns, and Lee’s One Fortune Farm, these high
Funding for STEP has been provided by the TSH
tunnels provide a specialized environment
Charitable Foundation, the J. Alex and Vivian G.
where beginning farmers can learn sustainable
Mull Foundation, the Rostan Family Foundation, the
growing practices, experiment with crop
Cannon Foundation, and the Community Foundation
planning, and build con昀椀dence and skill before
of Burke County.
launching their own operations.
Oak Hill Community Park and Forest is home to
The Community Farm Incubator Program,
a cultural resource, one just as meaningful as its
which will welcome its 昀椀rst cohort in 2026, is
forests, trails, and meadows. In 2024, potter and
designed to increase access to healthy, locally
Rutherford College resident Matt Hallyburton, working
grown produce in Western North Carolina while
alongside fellow potter and regional historian Kim
strengthening the region’s agricultural future.
Ellington, rediscovered and mapped one of the
Participants will receive hands-on training in
largest known deposits of Catawba Valley wild clay
sustainable farming, guidance on business
beneath the park—an extremely rare clay found only
development and marketing, and access to
along the Catawba River and its tributaries. What
farmland—resources that are often out of reach
makes this vein remarkable is its accessibility; it lies
for new growers. The incubator program will help
just below the surface, allowing clay to be collected
emerging farmers build the skills and networks
with minimal disturbance to the land.
needed to succeed while contributing to a
Recognizing its artistic and historical signi昀椀cance,
stronger local food economy.
FCNC partnered with Hallyburton and Ellington to
bring the clay into the hands of local potters while
ensuring thoughtful stewardship of the site. This fall,
FCNC distributed more than three tons of Oak Hill
Wild Clay to a dozen regional artists, and plans to
continue this effort in the coming years. The Oak Hill
Wild Clay Program not only supports the continuation
of a centuries-old Catawba Valley pottery tradition,
but also strengthens community connection to
this special place—allowing artists, students, and
residents to hold a piece of the foothills’ cultural
heritage in their hands.
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