10/24/2025 - This month we welcome Adam Ferrell and Harley Robinson, the Inaugural Henderson County Gleaton Farm Fund Interns! We are thrilled to start this internship program of the NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program in the Department of Horticultural Science, based in Henderson County at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center.
Harley Robinson is a horticulture student at Blue Ridge Community College in Flat Rock, NC. She has always had a passion for all things plants, especially edible and medicinal crops. Playing in the garden is one of her greatest joys, second only to forest walks with her pup. She maintains her own medicinal herb garden and apothecary and plans to pursue a career in horticulture.
Adam Ferrell is a passionate grower and land steward making a career transition to agribusiness after 25 years in publishing and media. He recently left a senior role at a book publishing company to focus on post-Helene recovery and explore opportunities aligned with his main interest—sustainable farming. He and his wife Celeste live with their two cats on Banks Mountain near Edneyville.
The interns are working on our Chinese Medicinal Herb research project. One of many tasks for the interns is harvesting juhua flowers, 菊花, Chrysanthemum morifolium, from a yield trial in Mills River. Adam is excited about the potential market of this and other Chinese medicinal herb crops being grown in western NC through a project funded by the NCDA New and Emerging Crops Program. Harley is excited about the cultivation aspects of the Chinese medicinals and learning about their adaptability to the region. Post harvest handling including drying and storing is also of great interest to the interns. There will be a pop quiz next week on all of the Latin and Chinese names for the many species and potential new crops this project is working with!
