How does your garden grow?

Wolf Thicket Farm uses organic growing methods

Story by LISA SAVAGE

Like most kids growing up on Sand Mountain, Jayson Carroll’s family planted a garden every spring and looked forward to harvesting the fresh tasty vegetables. His wife, Mary Katherine Carroll, grew up in Florida, and she never gardened until she met Jayson.

Now, the Carrolls, who settled in Fyffe in 2000, not only garden but work to grow the healthiest vegetables possible using natural and organic techniques at Wolf Thicket Farm. “There is a remarkable connection between the health of our soil, the quality of our food and our own health,” Mary Katherine says.

Getting Started

Jayson and Mary Katherine met at Auburn University, where he graduated with a degree in agricultural economics and she earned a degree in animal and dairy sciences. Jayson went on to law school and became an attorney and obtained a master’s degree in agricultural law.

The couple married in 1995 and returned to his hometown a few years later to raise their family.

Jayson opened a law practice in Rainsville, and after not finding a job in the animal science field, Mary Katherine went to Northeast Alabama Community College to become a registered nurse.

They planted a garden at their home each year, using the same techniques Jayson learned growing up. “We put Sevin dust on everything,” Mary Katherine says. “I didn’t realize that while it would kill a tiny bug immediately, it could be harmful to humans many years later.”

The Carrolls continued to plant a garden each summer until their children got older, when their involvement in sports and other activities didn’t leave enough time to maintain a garden. Meanwhile, Mary Katherine worked as a nurse and noticed an increase in autoimmune diseases and cancer in her patients. She began having health issues herself that caused inflammation and joint pain.

Mary Katherine began researching the link between foods and health and discovered constant exposure to pesticides and environmental toxins can have long-term effects. “We were both interested in a healthier lifestyle,” she says.

Organically Grown

In 2019, Mary Katherine and Jayson planted an orchard, started raising grassfed beef, planted a garden using organic methods without pesticides and began changing their diet.

Mary Katherine eliminated dairy and gluten from her diet, cut back on sugar and processed foods and ate organically grown foods as much as possible. “Once I cleaned up my diet, I didn’t have joint pain anymore,” she says.

Jayson’s background in agriculture and law, combined with his understanding of agricultural policies, led him to research organic, no-till methods of farming, and the couple started their first no-till garden. Growing vegetables and flowers without pesticides presents a challenge. “We try to attract pollinators and beneficial insects and create an environment that is safe and friendly for good bugs,” Mary Katherine says. “It’s not easy to figure out what to use that’s not harmful, but we have learned some methods that work.”

The Carrolls have continued to expand, and now have chickens and more varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers. In winter and early spring, they grow herbs such as oregano, thyme, sage, cilantro and dill, and plant vegetables like spinach, lettuce, turnips, cabbage, carrots, beets, broccoli and cauliflower. In summer, they grow several varieties of beans, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash and corn, followed by pumpkins in the fall.

The couple decided to sell everything they didn’t use themselves and wanted a name for the farm.

“People in this area would say, ‘Oh, you live over there on the wolf thicket.’ We don’t know why it’s called that, but we decided to use the name, Wolf Thicket Farm,” Mary Katherine says.

Not only do Jayson and Mary Katherine want to grow and prepare healthier foods, they want to share what they’ve learned and some of the their favorite healthy recipes with others.

“Jayson is a really good cook, and he will go out and cut whatever is ready in the garden and cook something delicious from that,” Mary Katherine says.

Their website, wolfthicketfarm.com, features blogs that include recipes, gardening tips for specific growing seasons and some of the methods they use to fight insects and other pests. They eventually hope to sell products through their site.

“We are committed to improving our own health by improving our soil and cultivating healthy, pesticide-free and chemical-free food,” Mary Katherine says. “We look forward to sharing what we learn with others in our community and hope someone will find benefit in it.”