​Across the Southern Appalachian mountains — from the ridgelines of North Carolina to the hollows of North Georgia and the river bottoms of Kentucky — small family farmers still grow beans the way their grandparents did. Varieties with names like Cherokee Trail of Tears, Turkey Gizzard, and Greasy Cutshort. Beans that carry centuries of cultivation, culture, and hard-won knowledge in their seeds.

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We're here to make sure that work continues. Ridge & Valley Collective buys directly from those growers at fair, forward-contracted prices, brings their harvests to premium markets, and puts the stories of the people and places behind them at the center of everything we sell.

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This is preservation through use. 

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Why It Matters

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Heirloom bean varieties represent one of the most biodiverse and culturally significant food traditions in North America — and one of the least known. Many of the varieties grown in these mountains trace their lineage to Cherokee agricultural practices that predate European contact. Others arrived with settlers who brought seeds from across the Atlantic and adapted them over generations to mountain soil and climate.

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Most of them have never appeared on a grocery shelf. Many exist in only a handful of seed collections. All of them are worth knowing, eating and enjoying.