Our Story

Whirlwind Farm was founded in 2010 as a sustainable farm after 10 years of farming on borrowed land in Albertville and we were known as Sand Mtn. CSA. Our land is 15 beautiful acres on Sand Mountain, 8 acres wooded that goes down the hill to Town Creek in Dekalb county. There is 7 acres of open land with a campsite for visitors and interns, a greenhouse, 2 mobile high tunnels, 1 permanent high tunnel. We also raise a few fruits like blueberries, raspberries, wild blackberries. We inoculate Shitake, Reshi, lions mans mushrooms and produce 1 1/2 acres in vegetables. We have started on an orchard and reintroducing native plants, medicinals and trees back into the ecosystem. Whirlwind Farm became our official name after we went thru the 2010 and the 2011 tornadoes here in Northeastern Alabama. When we first came to this land we saw a dust devil that was swirling with the seed heads of grass that looked like little trees, then we saw a snow devil. So it seems fitting. What a dramatic start to our own farm!

Russell and I both come from small farm backgrounds at a time when our parents had to work at another job to make ends meet. We were told not to farm because there was no money in it, so we each went into the world and worked at jobs that allowed us to be outside because we couldn't get the wide open spaces out of our system. I went and got a degree in forestry, and both of us have worked in the trades, we like building and using our hands. When we came back to our roots in farming it sure felt good to get our hands back into the dirt and feel connected again, we finally had a place again, after being set adrift when the rural communities were shattered and corporate farming took over the land. Seeing what has happened our rural communities and the land, has led us to farm in a much better way while still using the wisdom of working with the natural cycles and rhythms of the natural world. Like the feel of the sun on your back, the smell of just the right moisture on the wind, and the smell of the dirt when it was time to fit the fields in the spring. You could feel when it was time to plant, you could taste the sweetness of the soil. That is something only experience can give and the art of farming is developed. This is something that spreadsheets and "free markets" can never know, but something we all depend on. We are more engaged with our local communities, by providing clean, nutritious food/ healthy food choices, hiring local help, spending our money with local merchants, being open with our growing practices by letting our customers come and visit to see how we do things. Recognizing that we are stewards of the land and developing this farm as a place to show and pass on a way of farming(living) that doesn't exploit our resources while still being able to make a living from it. We feel this is the most positive and beneficial way we can live and offer a solution to a broken system.

We hope you enjoy our food and come see us. Dove and Russell Stackhouse.