Farmers Marie Williamson and William Lyons earn their livelihood working on the farm, and their greatest pleasure is feeding folks wholesome foods and managing a healthy farm ecosystem.

Marie and William work hard to raise healthy, flavorful vegetables, pastured meats, and eggs using techniques that improve the health of their land and contribute to a diverse farm ecosystem.  They feed their meat chickens and pigs certified organic grains.  They are passionate about the art of grazing livestock. They are dedicated to building living soils to ensure the quality of their vegetables and animals.     

Holistic management....William's excels in blending agroecological theories, social framework, maps, and spreadsheets.  Marie's prowess is with anything living- plants, animals, animal behavior, and ecological systems have absorbed her attention for as long as she can remember. They enjoy working together as a cohesive team using each other's strengths and skills.   If they aren't working in the fields and pastures of their farm, cooking, or attending a farmers' market, they'll be on a mountain, birding, riding horses, or paddling a river not far from the farm. 

They fell in love in soil science and research design courses at Warren Wilson College, where William worked in the organic garden and Marie worked with pastured sows and hogs on the large organic livestock and grain farm.   After studying biology, ecology, and sustainable agriculture and gaining experience on farms around the United States and in Europe, Marie and William returned to Marie's family land near Morganton, North Carolina in 2009 and started Bluebird Farm. 

The Land

Bluebird Farm is nestled along Silver Creek which flows from the South Mountains in Burke County. A portion of their farm is Marie's family land where she grew up caring for horses, goats, hens, and a garden.  Marie and William also lease a parcel of a Silver Creek Farm and farm equipment from from the Buchanans, longtime family friends and neighbors.  This partnership with family friends has ensured that the farm could grow over the years as Marie and William expanded into new crops and herds of animals in order to continue working on the farm full time. They've very grateful to have the generational knowledge transfer of agricultural information from Marie's father, Larry Williamson, who grew up working on the family dairy farm and from livelong farmer and neighbor Jace Buchanan. 

Agricultural Consulting And Education

Marie and William enjoy educating people about the hard work, ingenuity, passion, record keeping, and number crunching that allows them to farm as their full time employment. It is very important that farmers can make a living from their hard work, resilience, and financial management. Schedule a practical farming consultation on our farm or workshop session with Marie or William.  Contact by email.