My name's, Ron "Buck"" Foust. Me, my brother and sister inherited the family farm. Located in the rolling hills of the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina in Guilford county, our farm has been in the family since 1796. Family history says that two brothers from Berk county, Pennsylvania came down here; liked what they saw and decided to set down roots. This area had already been settled in the 1600's. It was a draw for Germans, the French and Scot-Irish. So, we're part French [grandma's Neese side: ] and part German, [great-great-grandpa]. Mom later came along and added the Filipino part to me and my siblings.
Dad was born in the house I currently live in; which his father built in 1915.,...although, Dad remodeled it so much over the years that it no longer resembles the original....but touches of it remain. Where once grew tobacco, are now fields of grain and seasonal fruits/vegetables. Dad started blueberries back in the 80's, blackberries went in five years later, and chestnut tree, not long after. Grandpa's Kieffer pears, apples trees , muscadines and persimmons have made for some fine eat'n over the years..
Sis does the books. You won't see her out in the fields. She decided long ago, that it wasn't the life for her. For many years, it was just me and Dad out in the fields, producing food. Mom and Dad "put up" a LOT of canned food for the pantry each year. Which meant stringing and snapping lots and lots of beans. Probably explains why Sis encouraged [insisted] that her children have no interest in farming. In spite of her efforts, Dad did manage to teach his grandson [Thomas] to drive a tractor. My niece, tried - and succeeded in growing a potted tomato. (Alas, a one time experiment.) Ashley has chosen to be an RN - and good for her. My brother's son, [Glenn] chose to follow in his parents footsteps and become a police officer, and we're are all proud of his choice. [Perhaps when the kids get older, they'll want to retire to the "slower pace" of a family farm....here's hoping.]
When my brother retired, he decided to get back involved in the farm. He'd already gotten a degree from a Diesel Mechanics school outside of Nashville. So, he's the mechanic in the family. [I break it, he fixes it.] He prefers to be a sit-down farmer,..sitting, on his tractor and combine. He grows grain: oats, wheat, soybeans. None of which ever see a lick of pesticides or herbicides. Oh, he uses conventional fertilizer; just doesn't choose to spray any chemicals on his crops. I'm of a similar mindset. Been growing garden crops organically for over 20+ years. I like being able to eat something straight out of the garden w/no fear of being poisoned. Unlike my brother, I grow annual vegetables and fruits on about three acres. which I sell at local farmer's market or here, on the farm.
This is a working farm and our home - [for insurance reasons & now covid-19 ] we don't accept visitors to our property without an appointment.