Where to Find Organic Farm & Garden Supplies in the High Country?

Where to Find Organic Farm & Garden Supplies in the High Country?

A few years back, trying to buy organic fertilizers and pest control products in the High Country meant many stops and long travels, when such supplies could be found locally at all. Fortunately, a number of local farm and garden suppliers have stepped-up, and now carry a nice selection of organic growing supplies for both the small gardener and the commercial-scale organic grower. The following Ashe & Watauga County vendors are listed in alphabetical order, so be sure to read all the great options below. Also, please remember that organic supplies are still a new field for some of these vendors, so please be patient and supportive as they try to serve you! This list is probably not yet complete; if you know of an organic supplier that I have overlooked, please e-mail the information to richard_boylan@ncsu.edu

Boone Stockyards - 828-262-0757
Boone Stockyards, in Deep Gap, began stocking an OMRI-listed organic fertilizer, Perdue Micro-Start 3-2-3, in ton-totes a few years back, and the product has become wildly successful for them. The last time I checked with the proprietors, they said that they intended to keep “a warehouse full” of the product on hand, and order more whenever supplies began to run low.

Crop Production Services – 336-846-3339
CPS (formerly UAP – on the East Side of Jefferson) carries a mix of OMRI-listed, organic products for disease & insect control, including horticultural oils (JMS Stylet in gallon jugs), insecticidal soaps (M-Pede in 2.5 gallon jugs), fungicides (Oxidate in 2.5 gallon jugs), biofungicides (Serenade in 12 lb. bags), and more. In general, their products are geared toward commercial-scale growers, but ambitious home gardeners may also wish to investigate their stocks.


David Miller Farm Supply – 828-297-4488
Growers both large and small can find fertilizers such as bone meal (in 4.5 lb. or 24 lb. bags), Neptune’s Harvest 2-3-1 Fish & Seaweed Fertilizer in Gallon jugs, ESPOMA Plant tone (in sizes from 4 lb. to 40 lb.), Green Sand (36 lb. bags), and Perdue Micro-Start 3-2-3 (in 50 lb. bags or ton-totes) at David Miller Farm Supply, located in the Sugar Grove area. Their pest control products at present are mostly in smaller packages (e.g.- they carry Serenade biofungicide in 32 oz ready to use & concentrate formulations), but they do stock DiPel DF in 1-lb bags, and are more than willing to work to custom-order or stock more organic products that customers request. They also now carry Countryside Organic Feed, including Organic Soy-Free Poultry Layer Feed, Starter Feed, Scratch, Cattle, Goat, and others available via special order...

Eric Grig – 336-982-9118
Eric Grig is a local (East of Jefferson, near the Wagoner Rd. entrance to New River State Park) grower who is starting a sustainable homestead supply store. At present, he has bulk Rock Phosphate available for sale in ton-totes, and he will soon also be selling other organic fertilizers (Fish Emulsion, etc.), plus industrial-grade tarps, Yanmar Tractors, and more.

Parsons Farm Supply – 336-246-4359
Parsons, on the Back Street of West Jefferson, has long been a good source for alfalfa meal and a few other organic ‘fertilizers’, which they carried as feed. Now they have branched out to carry the full line of Organic Products offered by Seven Springs Farm Supply (see http://www.7springsfarm.com/catalog.html ), plus Perdue Micro-Start 3-2-3 (in 50 lb. bags or ton-totes), and a growing list of other organic materials. Their bagged lime is also acceptable for use in organic production.

Southern Ag & Insecticides
Southern Ag primarily serves larger-scale growers. While the bulk of their business remains conventional grower supplies, they have begun to stock some important organic pest control products, and can special-order many more. Right now, they stock Cease (in 1-gallon jugs: a biofungicide also marketed as Rhapsody), Oxidate (in 5 gallon jugs), DiPel DF in 1-lb bags, Gnatrol, plus their own Conserve Naturalyte Insect Control (a dilute spinosad product) and Triple Action Neem Oil that have been recently listed by OMRI. Southern Ag can also special-order Mycotrol-O (the biological insecticide Beauvaria bassiana), Serenade, Entrust (the full-strength version of Spinosad insecticide) and any other organic materials produced by BioWorks (Plant Shield, SuffOil, etc.). Also, while they carry a Fish Emulsion in 5-gallon jugs.

Southern States – 828-264-8883
Southern States in Boone carries several organic fertilizer products by Espoma and NatureSafe.