Press Media

Our Director of Urban Agriculture, Mariah Henry, was featured in Parade Home & Garden to discuss How and When to Harvest Sweet Potatoes.

“Sweet potatoes are a warm-season crop,” she [Henry] notes. “You should dig up your sweet potatoes before the first frost to avoid any root damage and lower soil temperatures, which can inhibit chilling injury, and if a frost is followed by rain, you may miss your harvest window altogether.”

To read more, visit: https://paradehomeandgarden.com/gardening/how-when-to-harvest-sweet-potatoes

October 10, 2024

Volunteers and employees at CFT Market packed and prepped 1,500 meals Thursday morning that will be sent to storm victims across the North Carolina mountain region.

The culinary team began work at 3:30 a.m. Thursday and will continue to help feed people and their families through the end of the week.

Restaurants are not expected to be up and operating for quite some time and power continues to remain an issue in certain regions.

On Wednesday in Watauga County, volunteers continued to remove intrusive mud and distribute supplies to those in need.

To read more and to watch the feature, visit: https://www.qcnews.com/charlotte/charlotte-group-packing-1500-meals-for-nc-mountain-storm-victims/

Executive Chef Ryan Forte was featured in Charlotte Magazine to discuss our current broken food system model and the steps Carolina Farm Trust is taking to repair it.

“We want pineapple in December when we should be eating our grains. Instead, you’re paying someone to drive a truck to California to go get that pineapple and bring it back,” he says. “You should skip out on that pineapple, eat what’s in season, and support your farmer neighbor. Emissions go away, money stays in the community where it needs to be, and a local farmer is able to provide more.”

Read more here: https://www.charlottemagazine.com/is-our-food-system-broken-beyond-repair/

Spectrum News 1 conducted a human interest story on CFT Market, including our pop-up farm stand on Fridays, with features from local residents.

Shirley Hathcock, who lives in the Hoskins neighborhood, welcomes the farm stand, which is closer than the grocery store.

“It’s closer for me, and it’s harder for me to get out and do things,” Hathcock said.

Her neighborhood is in a food desert. The USDA defines it as an area with 20% poverty rate where a grocery store is more than a mile for a third of the population.

The farm stand aims to help with food insecurity.

“This pop-up is accessible, walking distance for a lot of people, so yeah it’s amazing,” Hoskins Mill HOA President Chris Smalls said.

Reporter Estephany Escobar interviewed CEO Zack Wyatt and Executive Chef Ryan Forte in the Market’s commercial kitchen.

“We’re also trying to utilize this entire facility to jumpstart revenue for our entire regional farming community:

Our executive chef, Ryan Forte, was featured in Tasting Table as an expert source on 13 Ways to Add More Flavor to Roasted Vegetables!

He recommends:

• Adding coconut oil for sweetness
• Finishing the vegetables off with freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Add fennel for an unexpected pop of flavor
• Add a char from the grill
• Use fresh herbs in place of dried, whenever possible

To read more, visit: https://www.tastingtable.com/1631762/ways-add-flavor-roasted-vegetables/

Our Director of Urban Agriculture, Mariah Henry, was featured in Martha Stewart as an expert source on 8 Plants You Should Never Grow Next to Corn.

“Corn can grow anywhere from 5 to 12 feet tall, in which they provide a great amount of shade,” says Mariah Henry, director of urban agriculture at Carolina Farm Trust. “Avoid planting crops like broccoli that require full sun.” Beets, garlic, and onions make optimal companions when growing broccoli.

To read more, visit: https://www.marthastewart.com/what-not-to-plant-with-corn-8681309

Our executive pastry chef, Leressa Rucker, was featured on WBTV’s QC at 3 to craft a beautiful vanilla bean grilled pound cake with local peaches.

This cake uses:

• Caramelized peaches
• Bourbon caramel sauce
• Rum Vanilla bean Chantilly cream
• Pecan praline

She is implementing a new preservative-free pastry program using locally sourced ingredients in our new commercial kitchen at CFT Market, located at 511 S. Hoskins Rd. in Charlotte. This program partners with several local farmers to provide ingredients.

To watch Leressa’s feature, visit: https://qclife.wbtv.com/2024/07/30/making-vanilla-bean-grilled-pound-cake-with-carolina-farm-trust/

Mariah Henry, our Director of Urban Agriculture at Carolina Farm Trust, was featured in Martha Stewart as an expert source on how to harvest sunflower seeds.

She advises the following steps:

Step 1: Scout for Mature Flower Heads

First, you will need to identify flower heads that are mature and ready to harvest. “Mature flower heads will have desiccated [dried] petals that are crispy and fall off easily,” says Mariah Henry, director of urban agriculture at the Carolina Farm Trust. To determine the maturity of a flower head, look on the backside for yellowish-brown spots. A flowerhead drooping from the weight of its seeds is another sure sign that it is ready for harvesting.

Step 2: Evaluate the Seeds

Check to see how dense the seeds are packed, says Henry. Loose seeds might fall