When asked “what are you growing now?’ Alicia Weiss of Shooting Star Acres responds: “Anything I can get my hands on!” Alicia and her husband, Hunter, raise their young family on four acres in Dearing GA. “Right now our eggplants are still producing, so that’s awesome.” They are also growing a wide variety of squashes that will be harvested for the Boucherie: Early Acorn Hybrid, Burpee’s Butterbush, Vegetable Spaghetti, Early Pacific Straightneck, and pumpkins. Their generous gifts to the festival will also include eight roosters and four drakes.
“We grow to show our children you can do anything you put your mind to. Neither of our families are farmers/homesteaders … this is all so new for us. But we are determined to raise our children knowing where their food comes from, to be as self sustainable as possible, and to be more environmentally conscious.”
Alicia and Hunter plan to grow for farmers markets within the next two years. Eventually they hope to acquire more property and also build a small “store,” to help build the “Farm Open Fridays” tradition – along with their neighbors at White Hills Farm – by bringing agritourism to Dearing, GA.