Relational Agriculture
Current Farm Foods
-
Organic-fed, Pasture-Raised Chicken
Our chickens enjoy a life in lush pastures with daily moves through our tree lanes following our sheep. This regular movement evenly fertilizes the pastures- improving plant growth, soil health, and animal wellbeing. They are protected from predators by electric fencing, and are not confined to pens.
Our chickens are fed a balanced, 100% organic feed to ensure optimum health in addition to the insects and plants they forage in the pastures.
It is truly the best chicken we have ever eaten- we can’t wait for you to try them, too!
Chicken is available weekly at RAD Farmers Market and North Asheville Tailgate Market.
We offer on-farm pickup as well- just reach out!
-
No-Till Veggies
We have transformed 1/2 acre of pasture into an annual vegetable garden which is maintained using no-till, organic methods.
We partner with multiple food access organizations to distribute our produce to the community at no cost.
You can find our produce weekly at RAD Farmers Market and North Asheville Tailgate Market.
Or order online for delivery through Mother Earth Foods.
-
Organic-fed, Forest-Raised Pork
Our pigs play a critical role in kickstarting succession in certain sections of the forests.
In addition to rooting for grubs, nuts, and roots, our pigs are fed 100% organic feed.
Our pork is juicy, tender, fatty, and delicious!
Find our pork weekly at RAD Farmers Market and the North Asheville Tailgate Market.
Summer pork shares will open in June.
-
Perennial Fruits + Nuts
We have planted hundreds of fruit and nut trees and shrubs across the landscape which will bear in the years to come. U-pick opportunities will open as fruits begin to mature.
Beyond providing food for humans, these plants will offer shade to our pasture animals, produce fiber products, create habitat for wildlife, and enhance the beauty of the farm.
Species include:
American Persimmon, Asian Persimmon, Asian Pear, Apple, Mulberry, Paw Paw, Blueberry, Hazelnut, Chinese Chestnut, Pecan, Black Walnut, English Walnut, Shagbark Hickory, Butternut
Meet the Farmers
Lyric and Noah founded Wild East Farm in 2022 on their shared values and their love for one another.
The team is deeply fulfilled by working and growing alongside each other. Their creative lives are endlessly energized by this shared place and they can regularly be found drawing, taking photos, writing poetry, singing songs, and dancing through the pastures. And of course working very hard and sweating a lot!
We are actively hiring additional crew members for the 2025 season! See full details here.
Noah is a farmer, writer, and educator that has gratefully called Western North Carolina home for the last ten years. At the core of all he does is an interest in relationship, both human-human and human-earth. This is why he farms: so that he can spend as much of his waking life as possible engaged in all forms of deep relationship with his community.
Noah has worked as a field biologist, forestry technician, arborist, land design consultant, and farm manager. He has a permaculture design certification and is a certified ecological monitor through the Savory Institute. His farming philosophy is grounded in a strong understanding of ecological patterns and a passion for effective small farms that revitalize rural communities and economies. With his diverse background and wide knowledge base, Noah's role at Wild East Farm is to facilitate a thriving farm ecosystem and educational space in which the community can become immersed native ecology, soils, animal physiology, and viable farm production systems. Noah brings levity through even the most monotonous work through his relentless humor and bright spirit.
He looks forward to a lifetime living alongside and learning from the agrarian community of this place.
Noah East co-owner & operations conductor
Raised by the lakes, dunes, and forests of northern Michigan, Lyric is a life-long “I want to be outside” person. She farms because it seamlessly melds her ecological curiosity, spiritual relationship with the Earth, and love of storied food into a joyful and meaningful lifestyle.
Lyric is uncompromising in her dedication to integrity food. In living this value, she strives to be directly involved with the source of all her food through relationship, hard honest work, and generosity. She can regularly be found foraging, canning, drying, and exploring new recipes and nuances of preserving seasonal harvests. She seeks to bring creativity, beauty, and enthusiasm to all she does.
She has been involved in local food and education systems in WNC for the last decade as a grower, children’s educator, non-profit manager, and for the last three years as the director of the River Arts District Farmers Market- where she delights in the weekly ritual of gathering community around food.
Lyric East co-owner & creative director
After growing up in Durham, Zak has returned to North Carolina following 15 years of living, schooling and farming all across the United States.
Zak found agriculture through his study of social change theory and philosophy at Kenyon College where he graduated with distinction in both Philosophy and Political Science. Working as a community organizer throughout college, Zak had for his foundational teachings the work of influential leaders from Fannie Lou Hamer to Murray Bookchin. These and other teachers expressed common threads in community self reliance through connection and entanglement by means of cultural, economic and food production. After volunteering at the Kenyon Farm, Zak was ready to immerse in an intensive 2 year agricultural apprenticeship orchestrated by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA).
Zak has spent the last 8 years farming in all the major bioregions of the country (Maine, Alaska, New Mexico, South Carolina). This experience at different scales in addition to climates informs his role of vegetable manager at Wild East Farm. He arrived at Wild East through keeping relationship with Noah after meeting briefly at a sustainable agriculture conference several years ago.
Zak is determined to realize visions of sustainable rural communities that center food, art, and relationship. His arrival to Wild East is kismet and has strengthened the sense of purpose, inspiration, and love here on the farm.
Zak Young garden manager & head tinkerer
Born in rural New Jersey and raised in Asheville, Liv is thrilled to have moved a little more east to join Noah, Lyric, and Zak as a farm crew member.
Liv has worked alongside Noah and Lyric for six years as a friend. Her passion for learning about and growing food blossomed after experiencing Noah and Lyric’s dedication to relational agriculture. Their mentorship served as a beacon of joy for Liv as she moved through high school, inspiring her to apply what she learned from them in her own community. The joy was mutual, and as soon as Lyric and Noah founded Wild East they began planning for Liv to join them.
Over the years of friendship, Liv spearheaded her own family’s vegetable garden and began exploring foraging projects that have a focus on women’s health. In the summer of 2023, Liv worked with AmeriCorps and the National Park Service as an intern, assisting different branches of the Park Service with their duties. After graduating from Asheville High School in the class of 2024, she officially joined the Wild East team and deepened her roots in the agriculture community in Western North Carolina.
Liv is grateful to have the opportunity to learn alongside her community in WNC before starting at the University of Vermont in the Fall of 2025 where she plans to study plant biology.
Liv Suydam lead farm crew
“Relationship is the primary context of existence.”
— Thomas Berry
