By Shirley Shuman
Alongside Little Kanawha River in the Burnsville area sits a 36-acre award-winning non-traditional farm. Owned by Tony and Aine Slabaugh, In the Nook has been named as a finalist for the 2024 West Virginia Conservation Farm of the Year. This is the first time that the Elk Conservation District has had a farm in the running for this award.
Most of the farm, Tony Slabaugh indicated, is wooded. It also includes “about three acres in field and pasture.” The Slabaughs, who moved to the area from Florida 18 years ago, explained why they moved here. “We had grown everything we thought we could down there and wanted to grow something in different seasons and also along a river,” Tony said. “We’re first generation farmers still learning, and we want to focus on natives and edibles and herbs.”
They put in their herb and rose garden along with other species “around 2000.” Their main crop is lavender, but they also grow edibles and other herbs as well as garlic. Their plantings, spread throughout the farm as they would grow naturally, are pollinators, but of course can also be used for cooking.
A possibly unique planting they do is put herbs down among Franklin trees. The Franklin trees themselves are rare, and the Slabaugh couple are working to preserve them through their propagation and through distributing seeds to interested individuals.
The Franklin tree, classified as a shrub although it can grow to be as high as 20 feet, was first discovered in the United States in 1765 by botanists John Bartram and his son William. According to Aine Slabaugh’s information, “It occupied only two or three acres at that time.” Her source showed that the son returned to gather seeds and plants twice, but “It has not been seen wild since 1790.”
The Slabaughs are growing Franklin trees and are striving to encourage others to do the same. They offer seeds to anyone who wants them and are willing to help those who try to propagate this rare tree. It seems evident they would also like to see it become more plentiful in its native habitat.
Currently the couple is looking for plants of old aromatic roses. Often grown in very rural areas, these roses carry the distinct rose aroma which so often is missing in the modern roses. They wish to preserve these roses which they ultimately want to offer to other people. “If anyone knows of one of these and we can have a start, we will propagate it and later make it available to others,” Aine said.
This couple not only grow and conserve plants; they also have animals. They have what Tony called “baby doll sheep” and also have market lambs. In 2017, they had a flock of 11. “In 2018, we sold the lambs born that year to a couple of individuals and told them they could bring them back. Three ewes were returned,” Tony said. Also present on In the Nook Farm is a “retired” Old English Southdown sheep along with chickens and ducks, which are meat birds. They plan to add more livestock.
Another aspect of the Slabaugh’s conservation effort is planting trees and shrubs along the Little Kanawha River which their farm abuts. These two award-winning individuals obviously work hard in their conservation efforts. They enjoy what they do and invite others to share the results of their efforts, whether it be the lavender, the Franklin tree, or the rare roses.