Chatham Life & Style

by Cecilia Lancia, staff writer

UPDATE: Renaissance Earth Farm has been offering free eggs via porch pick-up, since the farm is currently on lockdown. They continue to accept food waste drop-off at the porch as well. Learn about both of these processes (and sign up for eggs!) on their Facebook Page.

Chances are you’ll miss your turn the first (and maybe second) time you drive to Renaissance Earth Farm. Unassuming and deceiving from the outside, the farm’s quaint home was subdivided from what used to be a Swift Creek township farm decades ago. The Hartwegs are only the property’s second owners. The farm is Situated on busy Holly Springs Road, outside of incorporated Cary, right in the middle of a thick forest of residential and business complexes. You’d never know that a working chicken farm and composting venture is just beyond view from the road. 

The American consumer’s seemingly sudden and intense interest in environmental matters has made it a priority for businesses to try to reduce their carbon footprint and to move toward sustainability. This shift is for good reason. A recent Gallup poll brings to light just how much people support a change in our country’s approach to environmental factors such as stewardship, pollution mitigation and carbon emission reduction. According to the poll, 61% of participants felt that the US was doing too little regarding protection of the environment, up 14 percentage points from just five years prior. 65% of participants felt that the environment was a higher priority than economic growth. Five years before, in 2014, only 46% believed this statement. What began as a muted concern for natural land and resources has become a focus for the American consumer.

While a common response to these ecological issues is to demand a change in public policy, many are taking these obstacles by the reins and are creating grassroots solutions. So-called zero-waste and permaculture communities have sprung up in most areas within the Triangle, amplified by social media connections. Like the name implies, zero-waste attempts to guide people into using sustainable products, elimination of plastic packaging, and the use of composting. Permaculture advocates for the rewilding of land and using native plantings in gardens, including vegetables, fruits and herbs, in a natural habitat.

I met Chelsea Hartweg of Renaissance Earth Farm on her unassuming property. She led me into her home where we sat on comfy chairs and discussed her work on the farm. A former engineer at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant, she decided she needed a way to live closer to the earth. "Engineering was a stressful job. I wanted to give back and heal the earth somehow instead,” she explained, while we watched the view from her bright front windows. A year ago, the Hartwegs decided to try their hand at farming the old fashioned way. They bought this mid-century home with an acre of land in the middle of suburbia and immediately went to work.

The Hartwegs’ vision was to create a symbiotic relationship between their animals, their land and their community. Another aim was to help with the common problem of excess waste, in particular, food waste. In an article by NPR, food waste is deemed the “largest single source of waste in the U.S.” Shockingly, it is also true that, “more food ends up in landfills than plastic or paper.“ Chelsea decided she could use her skill set to better the community by alleviating food waste, locally. Chelsea researched methods to compost as sustainably as possible and realized that she could use her chickens to help. Using an innovative composting system, Chelsea simultaneously feeds the chickens while cutting down local food scraps. 

To make compost, one needs carbon and nitrogen. At Renaissance Earth Farm, wood chips are added to food scraps, which add carbon. Since chickens are omnivores and do better with little to no grain, Chelsea is trying to use no grain at all. She has been collecting food scraps from the immediate community around her for free. In return, these food scraps are feeding her chickens. The cycle doesn’t end there, because by using this form of composting, the chickens then create a very nutrient-rich compost for gardens. 

Chelsea has two groups of chickens: one group is the “working” group, who composts and gives eggs. The other set is comprised of chickens who live in the backyard. These birds basically serve as a learning environment for Chelsea and her family. Chelsea has learned a great deal about her chickens’ behavior and needs by having the backyard flock as the family pets. All the chickens are well-loved and are treated with respect and kindness. The “working” chicken group lives large and comfortably, as well. They have a fenced-in area of about 3000 sq. ft. where they are free to be the social birds that they are. This area also includes an extensive coop made out of the side porch from an old barn. Chelsea scatters all the food waste within the pen area and the chickens go to work eating and creating their useful compost material.   

At her farm, Chelsea utilizes recycled items in her everyday work. For instance, she has repurposed pallets and has made chicken coops out of them by adding wire mesh. Chelsea explains that coops made this way, “are extremely versatile because you can continue to add on by simply attaching as many pallets as needed’ for desired size and shape. In addition, she makes paper bricks for wood stoves out of old recycled paper, and even trivets out of wine corks. Chelsea is always looking for new and useful ways to breath life into discarded objects. She shared that she is always “interested in recycling things into what people need, in creating useful things” out of discarded materials.  

At a time when things are mass produced and animals can seem like no more than cogs in a factory, it makes my heart warm to know that people like Chelsea exist and are changing our community little by little. She is one of the new waves of farmers and permaculturists who are showing us that buying and supporting local is always ideal and that we live best by acknowledging that farming, and even gardening are cyclical processes; what we consume directly affects our animals and soil, which in turn affects the food that nourishes us each day. Chelsea reminded me that we can live closer to the land if we choose to, no matter where your home is, and that you’ll find a farmer anywhere if you’re willing to look.

Cecilia Lancia (she/her), staff writer, holds a Master of Education degree from NC State University in English language and literature, and has worked for more than 12 years in the local public school system. Her upbringing helped to cultivate a lasting respect for traditional and sustainable farming practices. She is a fervent proponent of local food producers and a passionate gardener.