Some of my earliest memories begin perched on the counter in my Granny’s kitchen, legs swinging, and eyes wide with excitement and anticipation. Granny believed many things about baking — that butter should never be rushed, that pie crust requires a gentle hand, and that if you shake your hips while you whisk, whatever you’re making will taste better.

She was completely serious about the hips.

As she folded flour into batter or cut cold butter into pie dough, she’d chuckle to herself with a playful twinkle in her eye and remind me of how people will taste the difference when you shake those hips while you mix!

We want to make it easy for you - part of your local loop. So, we’ve partnered with two great coffee shops: The Oaks Coffeehouse in Chattanooga 2916 Silverdale Rd, Chattanooga, FL 37421, and The Ocoee Coffee Company in Cleveland 2300 N Ocoee St, Cleveland, Cleveland,...

This blog will help you decide which buying option is best for you.

A food community is not only a network of great farmers and chefs, but it’s the customers we serve and the people we meet.

According to the National Library of Medicine, “Consumers perceive organic foods as more nutritious, natural, and environmentally friendly than non-organic or conventional foods.” “They also are not grown from genetically modified organisms. Furthermore, organic foods are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or synthetic food additives.”

“I just want to know, since your greenhouse looks straight out of Living with the Land at EPCOT, is there a boat ride through it and hidden Mickeys along the way?”

That’s what Tara’s sister asked after reading David Cook’s Food as a Verb article about us.

Smart Mom – she buys produce that is wholesome, locally grown, and pesticide-free for her family. “Nothing less than the best for them!” I stumbled upon this vintage ad from 1954 touting the wisdom on Millie, the smart wife who invested in a Revco freezer to solve her family food problems.

We are pleased to announce our newest addition to the Fresh Tech Team (not the lamb). Mathilda Nafie, a Chattanoogan from birth, is a long-time friend of our family as a babysitter to our grandchildren and care-giver to Brad’s mom. Mathilda hails from Southern University where she graduated with a degree in health science and nutrition. She formerly has worked on a sheep farm in Northwest England as a part of the WWOLFers program and just finished a three year stint working at a plant-based kitchen.

We have an old Granny Smith apple tree on the farm. The apples don’t look pretty, but the former owner of the farm told us that they were the best apples she had ever eaten. I just know that I was getting tired of having to duck my head under the lower branches when I mowed. I started pruning. It was then that I thought to myself: “I wonder if these apples taste any good”. I took a bite. Wow! These apples are incredible.

According to an article published in EATING WELL “The crunchy vegetable is chock-full of nutrients that promote heart health and support cancer prevention—and it’s perfect for your next stir-fry or slaw.” Here are a few of the potential health benefits:
• May reduce the risk of cancer – It’s packed with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
• May reduce the risk of heart disease – It contains high levels of Vitamin C, which may help produce and release nitric oxide, which helps dilate blood vessels and promotes healthy blood vessel function.
• May reduce the risk of cognitive impairment – the flavonoids found in Bok Choy may protect neurological cells from getting damaged by free radicals, delaying age-related cognitive degeneration and dementia.

What fuels our passion? Why do we do what we do?
We exist to serve by Providing Alternatives.

Alternatives to your typical grocery store produce. Amazing ingredients that are used to create stunning dishes. Premium products. Crops that are not limited only to certain seasons. Varieties that have been developed to thrive and thrill.

Food has a way of bringing people together. Savoring a moment around a table together, sharing lives, eating, drinking, and connecting with one another is one of life’s special blessings.
We love contributing to these moments – whether that’s by providing great produce for your family delivered to your door, or through cultivating close relationships with chefs and restaurateurs to give them the special ingredients they need to create culinary wonders.

We’re excited about cultivating relationships with a community of people!

This statement is the first part of Who We Are on our website and sums up the best part of our week. We currently deliver to customers in Chattanooga, Collegedale, Lookout Mountain, Signal Mountain, Ooltewah, Cleveland, and Dayton. Our customers are busy moms, chefs, teachers, executive directors, retirees, nurses, utility workers, neighborhoods, hair stylists, social workers, USDA directors, and other farmers. Our customer community includes young adults and grandparents, large families and single residents, and three sets of retired adults whose adult children are also customers. We are serving the next generation.

And what are our community of people saying?

Last week, severe weather came rolling through our region. This was not limited to a specific geographic point at which a tornado touched down. Rather, high winds tore throughout a large area of SE Tennessee, resulting in downed trees and power outages. Here at the farm, power went out at about 12:30 in the afternoon on Friday. We thought, “It should probably come back on in an hour or two.” – right! We were without electricity for over 25 hours.

Last week, we braved the cold, windy weather at the Main Street Farmers Market. It was great to meet some of the folks who placed an order online for the first time! Now our text-pals have a face to a name! It was a cold afternoon with fierce winds, blowing our tent nearly on top of our truck.

From propagating seedlings to planting towers to interacting with customers, there is never a dull moment in the life of a tower farmer.

When our kids were young, Dr. Seuss was always a favorite. Oh Say Can You Say was a fun one with its tongue twisters like the one about the fish from Finney’s diner. I can’t say that Finney inspired our name, FreshTech Growers, but I do know that there’s something to be said about the benefits of locally grown fresh food.

In an article written by Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD (and medically reviewed by Kathy Warwick, R.D, CDE, Nutrition) that appeared in Healthline, there are 7 Fantastic Benefits of Eating Local:

We’re excited about this new Royal II variety of snap pea we’re growing. It can be stir fried and used to garnish a protein, or combined with its counterpart, Honey Snap II, and either Sugar Ann or Sugar Snap for a dazzling veggie show. It’s best to remove the string from the pod before cooking.

When some contractors came out to the farm, we were telling them about the greenhouse and our tower-growing technology. One was very skeptical . . . here’s the truth about this amazing technology.

The ultimate Farm to Table: Chef visits the greenhouse in the morning, custom wood-fired pizza is served that evening in the restaurant.

Fresh Tech Growers regularly contributes to Hope for the Inner City in East Chattanooga. Our last produce gift was packages of lettuce and onions. We so enjoy our time meeting these great people who serve their neighborhood unselfishly each day.