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ORAL HISTORY
Emmersyn, Maddie, and Joy East
Eastcreek Farm
Emmersyn East and Maddie East live in Walnut Cove, NC, close to extended family and only about 30 miles from Virginia’s border. With their siblings, they own and operate Eastcreek Farm, producing milk-based soaps, lotions, and lip balms from the goats they raise, and felted wool balls from their sheep. At fairs where they show their animals, they also enter goods such as braided bread and black-bottom cupcakes. They sell value-added products at several venues, including the Rise & Shine Market, a 4-H youth enterprise sponsored by Virginia’s Patrick County Cooperative Extension and hosted by the Stuart Farmers’ Market.
Both girls like eating, sewing and crafting, and doing gymnastics. The baked-goods sideline they’ve added to Eastcreek Farm’s merchandise helps pay for athletic expenses. One customer favorite is double-chocolate zucchini quickbread, made from the Easts’ homegrown vegetables and honey. The family appreciates local foodways like kettle-cooked chicken stew, banana pudding, tomato sandwiches, slow-cooked greens, and meals based around multiple fresh and preserved vegetables; they also enjoy how market participation enmeshes them in social and commercial networks.
