Tires rumble beneath eager children — and their patient parents — on a hayride through The Ten Acre Garden. The tractor chugs between rows of crops among the Haywood County peaks, then slows to a stop beside half an acre of asparagus and a chicken coop. The children, still obediently planted on a red gingham blanket, crane their heads toward the flock and point out their favorites. An entranced baby on her mom’s lap, her lilac dress as bright as the nearby dahlias, points and squeals, “Bock, bock!”
Mark Davies hops off the tractor and points to the chickens, naming them as he tells the group how they provide his family and the farm with about 50 eggs a day. The tour winds along the West Fork of the Pigeon River and a sea of strawberries. Come April and May, visitors can take a short hay wagon trip to the 16,000 berry plants, where they can pick their own mountain souvenirs — one of the farm’s best sellers in the spring.
Since purchasing The Ten Acre Garden in 2023, the Davies family — (from left) Mark, Dario, Phoenix, Morgan, Vida, and Morgan’s mom, Cynthia Goff, aka Grams — has welcomed visitors to eat pizza, pick berries and flowers, and explore. photograph by Tim Robison
Mark brings the wagon to a stop in front of Ten Acre’s farm stand, and the passengers begin to climb down. One of them — Mark’s wife, Morgan Wonorski Davies — calls after the children who were sitting by her a moment ago and are now bounding down the dirt path toward the picnic tables. As the kids chase each other between families enjoying homemade pizza, local musician Hope Griffin strums a guitar on a small stage, serenading the growing children and crops with gentle renditions of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” and other classics.
Cynthia Goff, co-owner of the farm, rounds up her free-range grandchildren while her son-in-law, Mark, readies the old Massey Ferguson tractor for the next tour and her daughter, Morgan, welcomes visiting families.
In the back of the building, a retired early education teacher tosses pizza dough over her knuckles before layering seasonal produce atop the crust. She loads the pie into the brick oven, then turns to the next order.
On weekends from April through October, The Ten Acre Garden offers pizzas topped with seasonal produce. This springtime pie features a barbecue sauce base with roasted chicken, strawberries, fresh basil, and a balsamic reduction drizzle. photograph by Tim Robison
Every Saturday night from April through October, The Ten Acre Garden offers homemade pizzas crowned with the fruits — or veggies — of the farm’s labor, along with live music and hayrides. The toppings change with the seasons. Spring breakers can choose from combinations like asparagus and microgreens with a ricotta-lemon base or a strawberry balsamic reduction drizzled over goat cheese.
The Davieses spent 10 years living abroad in Europe and Asia, where Morgan worked as a school librarian and Mark prepared taxes. During the Covid pandemic, the family found themselves unable to leave their high-rise apartment in Hong Kong. Mark began to research homesteading, and the family decided to return to the U.S. and settle on some land.
Shaded picnic tables give Ten Acre Garden’s visitors a place to perch, munch on a slice of pizza, and admire their freshly picked bounty. photograph by Tim Robison
While in Haywood County for a family reunion, they visited Ten Acre one Saturday for some pizza. As their three young children explored the property, the couple spoke to then owner Danny Barrett, who was keen on finding the right family to carry on his Century Farm. “We saw the potential,” Morgan says. “We wanted to continue Danny’s vision and help it grow.”
Today, it’s the Davieses who serve pizza to families while their three young’uns — “the interns,” as they call them — play amid the produce and flowers the family has tended. “I love to see the kids getting dirty and the parents being able to relax,” Morgan says.
Through homemade pizzas, hayrides, berry and flower picking, and farm gatherings, she and Mark are sharing a taste of the life they once dreamed of in a place they’re delighted to call home.
The Ten Acre Garden
148 Chambers Farm Lane
Canton, NC 28716
thetenacregarden.com
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