Curtis Buchanan

Turns out Curtis the chair maker is also a Christmas Tree farmer. In addition to starting/selling produce at the local market, and building $2500 windsor chairs, he also grows around 500 trees a year up in The Roan Mountains. After chatting for a bit when Joel said goodbye/Allie met the fam, Curtis mentioned he was the first in the country to be a certified organic Christmas tree farmer. He has since worked to change the norm of how the trees are grown in northeastern TN which involves 100 lbs of nitrates per tree, (this doesn't even count all the herbicides or pesticides). And as some farms have around 500,000 trees, the amount of chemical runoff can really do some damage to the surrounding area. Even Curtis's dad, an 87 year old longtime Tennessee farmer, is on board. Just another fascinating story about one of the friends we made this month.