Almost a decade ago, Kimberly Kelly walked away from the lights, camera, action of local television, and dug into farm life.
In 2013, she was hosting Your Carolina with Jack and Kimberly and The Scene on 7, both airing on Greenville’s CBS affiliate. At the height of her career, she decided to move on. “When I announced that I was leaving, a lot of jaws hit the floor,” she says. At home, she was tending crops, raising animals, and getting her hands dirty. Personally, she was growing something pretty amazing. Professionally, she was ready for a change.
Kelly and husband, Jason, a former professional hockey player who played for the Greenville Growl, sold their house on Lake Keowee and purchased forty acres nestled in the mountains of Pickens County. They planned to breathe new life into the old home on the property. They tore the house down by hand, cleaned every brick, board, and nail, and used it to rebuild the structure on its original footprint. More than a hundred old negatives found under the floorboards helped piece the house and its history together. The process took a year.
As Burgess Creek and its offshoots and springs feed the property, the couple is practicing regenerative agriculture. “It’s not just about sustaining. We passed that exit a long time ago. We’re building soil. We are architects of a food forest. We are building something that will last long after we are gone,” Kelly explains.
They have planted apple, pear, peach, cherry, and fig trees to provide an upper canopy above blueberry and thornless blackberry bushes. Growing below are strawberries, asparagus, maypop (wild passion fruit), and heirloom mulberries. They forage for mushrooms and other native edible plants. In the annual gardens grow tomatoes, kale, Swiss chard, carrots, beets, peppers, squash, corn, herbs, and okra, in more varieties and bushels than one farm can eat. The variety is intentional. It’s important to the Kellys to grow enough to share with the community.
The Forager
Laying hens freely forage the property, as do Indian Runner ducks, French Toulouse geese, guineafowl, and a friendly turkey named Moses. Every one of them has a purpose. Case in point, rabbits head up the fertilizer department. “I’ve had to do a lot of fluff and silliness in my life, but this is real. Out here, it’s predators, storms, and up-and-down temperatures, all while trying to grow. Everything is wild in these mountains, and you best work with it, not against it,” Kimberly says.
The couple’s seasonal produce, eggs, and crafts are sold under the label Vintage Falls Farm & Forage. They sell at Pumpkintown Mountain Opry, and during the growing season, at Pumpkintown Mountain Market on Highway 11. They also sell year-round in Kimberly’s sister’s store, Full Circle Vintage Modern Market, in downtown Pickens.
In the slower growing seasons, Kimberly Kelly sells her paintings, painted denim, and, if you are lucky, you’ll find one of her knitted hats. “I didn’t set out to be a hat maker,” she says. “I made a hat for myself, and it had this personality to it. A bohemian vibe.” She posted a picture of her daughter wearing the hat, and the post was picked up by fiber art sites online. “All those years on radio and TV, and I had my viral moment with a hat.”
Demand for her hats grew so fast that Jason had to learn to knit. They now field orders from France, Italy, and as far away as Australia. All of the hats are different. Some have charms; some incorporate feathers from the farm. There are even plans to add alpacas to the farm for yarn.
The Kellys also provide cut microgreens to Revive Juice Bar in Pickens. For Kimberly and Jason, it’s about not having all of their eggs in one basket. “It’s amazing how little bits of everything can be something so exciting,” she says.
Photos by Jack Robert Photography
