Residents of Swannanoa are happy to see the newly opened Black Bottom Greenhouse just off Bee Tree Road. Owner Robbie Craig states that many of his new customers say this is a very convenient location, approximately a mile from downtown Swannanoa.

  
    Look for the Sign!              Robbie Craig, Owner
 

While it is a bit early in the season for planting vegetables and flowers, a steady stream of lookers and folks planning their spring gardens are dropping in for browsing, and asking lots of gardening questions. Robbie has hardened some of his plants such as cabbage and other cold crops to make them suitable for early planting.

Robbie is seeing lots of first-time gardeners and is doing his best to help them get started. The economy has spurred a huge increase in vegetable gardening. Robbie noted this trend during last year’s growing season when certain items such as seed plants were sold out everywhere. This year the increased demand for vegetable seeds and plants keeps Robbie busy obtaining and maintaining his inventory.  

 
      Flats of Flowers                   Hardy Cabbage

 
With twenty years experience in growing produce and his Associate’s Degree in Applied Science in Agri-Business Management from NC State, Robbie Craig is starting a new venture this year, his first greenhouse operation. He sees this as a new opportunity to pursue a long-held interest. When asked what makes his business successful, Robbie includes factors such as his location, along with selling plants to commercial farmers and selling at produce and farmers markets. He grows virtually all his plants and flowers from seed.

Available currently at Black Bottom Greenhouse are cold crops including broccoli, cabbage, seed potatoes, and onions as well as a variety of seeds. Robbie will be trying new varieties, such as tomatoes, this year while always keeping the popular favorites in stock. He also carries irrigation materials that are easy to install, inexpensive and highly efficient.  And here’s a plus…he will be selling his own fresh produce this summer!

         
  Rows of Red Coleus                 Herbs and Vegetables
  

Black Bottom Greenhouse is a registered nursery with the state of North Carolina and Robbie Craig is a licensed seed dealer.   

Other interesting facts about the business include the origin of its name. Robbie Craig is a descendent of early settlers, the Davidson family. His grandfather was a Davidson and a land owner here. The valley area was originally known as Black Bottom, prior to being called Swannanoa, leading Robbie to the name, Black Bottom Greenhouse.

  
   

The unusual hanging baskets pictured above right are cucumber vines! Robbie says he is growing them to eat himself, however customer interest may result in sales of this project.

The new greenhouse is heated by a wood stove, and the official greeter is Sammy the dog. Sammy’s greetings are friendly but brief as he goes back to his full time job of holding down the floor.

When asked what he finds special about Swannanoa, local native Robbie Craig responds that he likes the close community and the small town atmosphere. He says he hopes to see the agricultural nature of the area sustained. He acknowledges it is becoming more difficult to get young people interested in farming, however with the economy encouraging new growers, this may change.

Black Bottom Greenhouse has launched a new website where more information is available. While Robbie describes it as a work-in-progress, you are invited to visit at www.blackbottomgreenhouse.com

Stop by the greenhouse. Sammy would love to greet you:
Contact: Robbie Craig
                 53 Wendover Lane
                 Swannanoa NC 28778
                 (828) 776-0987
                 email: crai9739@bellsouth.net

Celebrate Swannanoa is pleased to announce the newly opened Faith Chiropractic with Dr. Brett Comeau, Chiropractor and owner. Faith Chiropractic is just completing the renovation their new suite of offices at 2290 US Hwy. 70 in Swannanoa, NC. While Dr. Comeau has practiced in the Asheville area for several years, and prior to that in Dallas TX, he is happy to now be firmly establishing a presence for Faith Chiropractic in Swannanoa.

Living in Swannanoa with his wife, Kim, Dr. Comeau wants to reach the local community and provide medical care to residents of this area, as there is no other chiropractor in Swannanoa.

Kim Comeau, MA, LPC, is a professional counselor and is also in the process of relocating her counseling practice to Swannanoa. Her office will also be located in the Faith Chiropractic suite. Kim offers a variety of counseling services including family, couples, individual and children. She is currently seeing clients two days a week during her transition to the new location.

Some final thoughts from Dr. Comeau: the biggest challenge of his practice is educating people about chiropractic medicine; he genuinely cares about everyone who walks in the door of his offices; and he would really like to meet everybody in Swannanoa!

Dr. Brett Comeau’s new address and phone number:

Karen Cruser moved here from California in 1972 with her husband and their then two year old daughter. They built their house by themselves using recycled wood and windows, some wood from local sawmills and wood from their property.

The house is located on 12 acres of woods and fields along the Swannanoa River.

When asked what she likes about Swannanoa, Karen gave heart-felt answers, the first of which is the Swannanoa River. She states that this a most beautiful part of the world and it is important to keep it this way.

Karen is glad that Swannanoa has a strong local food movement and the best Bee Chapter in the state. She also apprieciates the friendly people here who help one another and work together for the good of all. She feels strongly that it is important for all of us to preserve our farm land and support local farmers.

Karen Cruser happily and busily spends her days baking, sewing, preserving, growing, tending to her animals and taking photos to name a few of her activities.

Besides preparing foods for home use, Karen has an amazing array of products which she sells locally. She is perhaps most well known for her gorgeous "rainbow eggs" gathered from her prized flock of chickens. If you are lucky, you can buy her eggs at Earthfare, but they sell out quickly!  

Karen's advice about raising chickens is to feed and care for them as if they were being "spoiled." She feeds her chickens only good grains and greens. Well, they look happy!

In fact you are looking at another of Karen's products, handmade note cards. She takes beautiful pictures with a 35 mm camera. They are mostly taken locally and along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

She also bakes breads and goodies using her own home grown eggs, organic flour, and organic milk and butter. She sells honey produced by the bees in her hives and hopes to add more hives in the coming spring.

Buncombe County has an active Bee Keepers Chapter (extention office), wncbees.org. Karen is as enthusiastic about bees as she is about most things. "We must all take care of the bees as they in turn make most of our food possible. We have to make wise decisions when using pesticides...most are very harmful to bees."

Her jams are made from the fruits and berries she raises organically (or fortunately shared with her by friends). Some are "no sugar added."

Now just what else could this busy lady do? Well, she grows vegetables for home use. For sale, she knits sweaters and hats, sews childrens' "Little Bear" pullovers, and makes wooden toys.

Karen's products can be found at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa at the Tuesday and Friday farm markets, as well as in the bookstore.

She is also at the Black Mountain tailgate market on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Her eggs are at the Earthfare at Westgate Shopping Center.

This long time resident (living here 30 plus years) states that she hopes to see Swannanoa become incorporated AND retain all of its unique charm. She also feels that much careful thought should go into the town center and the entire area.

Karen is passionate about her home, her life and her endeavors. "I think it is important for a person to do what they enjoy and are interested in, then make it a way of life".