Chinkapin Hill Forest Farms

Robin & Britt Boucher

(540) 239-2094
2155 Mount Tabor Road, Blacksburg, VA 24060

Chinkapin is a chestnut-like shrub with tasty nuts hidden inside its bristly bark. Robin and Britt Boucher have recently planted over 50 new shrubs on Chinkapin Hill where they have lived and farmed since 1983. Currently they have three acres in production and harvest potatoes, popcorn, salad greens, garlic, beans, squashes, field corn and herbs. Their permaculture gardens provide great crops of elderberries, wineberries, raspberries, hickory nuts, shitake and lion’s mane mushrooms.

Britt also manages Mount Zion farmland forests nearby where he and Robin recently leased five acres to increase their production. The Boucher’s offer a wide variety of value-added products, including homemade breads and pastries, maple syrup, tinctures and dried spices. In addition to Britt’s career as a forester (Foresters, LLC) and Robin’s as an artist and art educator (her colorful original paintings are for sale at the market) the couple are busy raising their two children. “Our family loves being outdoors, eating good food, working hard, sharing with our community, being self-employed and embracing seasonal changes. Our children see the full cycle of an idea coming to fruition with our work. It is our wishes that they grow up empowered with a deep sense that they can make a wonderful life for themselves and enrich the community they live in, using the talents they bring to the world.”

Information sourced from BLACKSBURG FARMERS MARKET: AN ARCHIVE by Kathryn Clarke Albright