About The Organic Forest
I am sorry to say that we have discontinued the OrganicForest as a business. We found the regulatory burdens to be too great for a small enterprise. You can see our original vision below. We are leaving the site up for a while and hope some find the information useful.
Local rumor has it that the thousands of acres of mountain woodlands are under contract to be timbered - probably clearcut.
Our original vision:
We are a small family-employee owned business.
We do not farm or grow our plants in a nursery. All of our plants are carefully gathered from the woodlands where they have been planted by mother nature. One cannot get a more natural or organic product completely free from fertilizers and pesticides.
We do offer a handful of products that are "escapees" from an old farmstead (roses in particular) and we offer a small variety of heirloom seeds and other products. Everything that does not come directly from the forest is clearly marked as such.
Our native plants generally require less water and special care than domesticated nursery or farm grown plants. These unique and naturally hardy woodland plants help reduce air pollution, provide shelter and food for wildlife and many have useful human food and medicinal properties as well as beauty and scenic value.
Those who care about the environment are beginning to understand the need for human stewardship of our forest resources following the same traditions as the Native Americans who used a variety of techniques to manage forests and wildlife. Our forestry stewardship involves very selective harvesting of plants on the forest floor. We never harvest mature plants and trees and encourage healthy sustainable growth.
Our gathering methods at the OrganicForest promote biodiversity and responsible stewardship of our natural heritage.
The OrganicForest is more than a family business - it is a way of life and a real place. Our 75 acres of old growth forest and a few areas of meadowland are located high in the southern Appalachian mountain range.
Two of our family members are pursuing Certification in Southern Appalachian Naturalism through the Smokey Mountains Institute to further ensure the highest level of professional stewardship of our precious natural resources.
Contiguous to the OrganicForest are thousands of acres of woodland that has not been touched for over a 100 years. This land next to us is threatened by commercial development. This mountain forest has been purchased by a home developer. Fortunately, with the current economic climate, plans are on hold for replacing this precious wildlife area with stick homes and asphalt roads and lawns.
Thus, part of our mission: To use the proceeds of our OrganicForest wild plant sales to save as much of this incredible biosphere from the bulldozer as we possibly can.
You can help by spreading the word about our efforts on blogs and forums. We would be grateful if you linked to our site from yours. If you do, please feel free to consider yourself a Friend of the OrganicForest and use the site badge.
To show your support and use the Friend of the OrganicForest site badge on your blog or website, simply copy and paste the code below:
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.organicforest.org">
<img alt="friend of the OrganicForest" src="http://www.organicforest.org/siteadmin/files/linkimage.jpg" width="200" height="133" class="style1" /></a></p>
The Appalachian Mountains are a natural wonder running from Quebec south 1500 miles to Alabama. It is impressive along its entire length. The Southern Appalachians part of the mountain chain, however, is the most scenically spectacular and biologically rich and contains the greatest remaining acreage of old-growth forest in the eastern United States.
The mountain forests of the Southern Appalachians are a priceless living treasure - one of America's great remaining ecological sanctuaries. Southern Appalachia includes some of the nation's highest and oldest mountains. These sub-rainforests support old growth forests with as many tree species as all that occur in Europe with oaks 100s of years old, 150 foot tall poplars and hemlocks, flaming azaleas, a newly discovered species of bamboo and many species yet to be identified.
Black bears hibernate in the hollows of ancient trees.
The forest floor is rich with ferns, mosses, wildflowers and herbs.
Birds nest and call out their songs from high in the forest canopy.