Experimental farm
Cultivating Resilience, Nurturing Diversity We are growing and researching regional agrobiodiversity for delicious and resilient foodways.
It is extremely important to Utopian Seed Project to have our hands in the earth. It is easy to talk about diversity, adaptation, and resilience, but we also want to walk the walk. We are a research and education farm, exploring many aspects of regional agrobiodiversity in no-till, low-input systems. As well as our on-farm work, we have a network of farmers and growers who support us in our research and exploration crop and varietal diversity.
-
Blueberry Hill Farm
LEICESTER, NORTH CAROLINA
Chris Smith starting growing okra at Franny’s Farm in 2018 and then Utopian Seed Crop trials in 2019. In 2025 the farm transitioned to Blueberry Hill Farm. We have access to a beautiful ½ acre next to a small creek. The land has some rocks from an old road, but is otherwise a loose clay-loam. We haven’t tilled the land since 2020. Our tropical crops seem to especially love it here!
-
Community Farm
ALEXANDER, NORTH CAROLINA
The Southern Appalachian Highland Conservancy invited us to farm part of their Community Farm in 2023. The entire property is a stunning 200+ acres with plenty of places for deer, turkey, and groundhogs to hide out! We haven’t tilled the dry, clay hilltop land since we began growing, but have installed woven wire, electrified line, and 3D fences to keep predators at bay!
-
Utopian Seed Farm
NEWFOUND, NORTH CAROLINA
In 2025 we had the opportunity to move our operations onto a new farm site in Newfound (part of NW rural Buncombe County). The 156 acre hillside property is extremely magical and has enormous potential to farm on multiple isolated sites, as well as develop the infrastructure we need to operate Utopian Seed Project, process and store seeds, and host events.
Our Seed Work
-
Screening and Variety Trials
There are so many varieties out there: new varieties, old varieties, seed catalogs, in seed banks, at seed swaps, and buried in freezers. We love growing them all and seeing which ones work well for our region.
-
Traditional plant breeding
We embrace our curiosity in crossing known parents to generate intentional diversity towards a specific breeding goal.
-
Dehybridization Projects
Sometimes, F1 hybrids create control and power dynamics that we don’t support. In pursuit of farmer access and sovereignty, we will seek out alternatives or dyhybridize the F1s.
-
Ultracross Projects
Our highly experimental ultracross projects create high levels of genetic diversity through open-field cross-pollination. We’re aiming to foster dynamic adaptation and resilience, often through community-led initiatives.
-
Seed Growing
Growing seed crops in the Southeast can be challenging. We grow seed crops for sale through our collective, and to be in a position to offer education and support to other seed growers.
-
Crop Exploration
We support growing more crop diversity for food system resilience, but we are also exploring crop options for a changing climate, which includes learning to grow tropical food crops.
-
Farmer Outreach
Our farm team is engaged in off-farm education, whether it’s attending conferences and giving presentations, or visiting local farms and school programs to share about our work.
-
Appalachian Growers Seed Collective
We grow seeds for the collective and host community seed processing days.
Experimental Farm
