Hands in the Dirt: Farming with Hilltop Organic Farms

Photos by Benjamin Dunn

Ten years ago Fred Miller decided he wanted to do something different with his life. After nineteen years of office and sales work, Fred decided to try his hand at organic farming. His wife, Virginia, had some land near their home in Willow Springs that had been in her family for decades. Fred capitalized on the land to start his organic adventure, Hilltop Farms, which he now runs on thirty-four acres.

Fred has focused his farming efforts primarily on community supported agriculture (CSA). Through CSA, Fred delivers fresh-picked produce each week to various locations around the triangle, where paying members pick them up. Fred only has a handful of workers, including his son, so he gets right out into the fields with them—plowing, planting, picking. The work never ends, through heat and storm. Fred takes off one day a week and takes one small vacation a year. He thinks about the farm even when he’s not out working it. He knows the crops need constant attention if they’re going to flourish, and he feels guilty whenever he can’t give it to them.

In a white button-down shirt and dirt-covered jean shorts, with a farmer’s boots and straw hat, Fred looks rough and tumble. But he’s an average man: hard working; quick with a joke; likes the taste of a cold beer. The stony look comes from long hours and self-sufficient living. The agriculture industry isn’t what it used to be. More people live in urban areas than in rural ones for the first time in history. Large companies control an overwhelming majority of the market, while small community farms struggle. Fred, however, has managed to do pretty well in the organic farming market. He started with a handful of CSA members and is now up to about a hundred and thirty-five. According to Fred, Hilltop Farms has "the best strawberries in the world.” He’ll challenge anyone to prove him wrong.

People want to know where their food comes from, who grew it and how. When they meet Fred and understand that he puts his heart into every crop he produces, they feel better about feeding their families that food. Hilltop Farms is the only USDA-certified organic farm in Wake County—something Fred has worked very hard for and is proud of. He wants his customers to know that they are getting the best product available. Fred's vision isn’t just to turn a profit; it’s to benefit the people around him. Healthy food helps make a healthy community. And a thriving local business helps make a thriving local economy.

Fred has now worked as a farmer for ten years. He is still learning as he goes. Luckily, he belongs to a close network of local farmers who help one another out. Hilltop Farms sells beef, chicken and honey from some of these local farms.

As Fred walks the fields, surveying the land, he has a look in his eyes that tells me he is as much a part of the earth as the crops he plants. If they grow, he grows. Then Fred gives what he can to make others grow as well. He has passed what he’s learned onto people like Ryan and Leslie. Ryan, from Kentucky, hopes to start his own organic farm. Leslie traveled from Ohio to study agriculture at N.C. State. They both work on Fred’s farm as a way to get valuable experience. They talk about how much they appreciate what Fred is doing for local agriculture, as well as for people like them who want to be a part of it. Fred just feels he is doing his duty. As a farmer, it’s not about you. It’s about the earth, getting your hands dirty and doing good for the earth—leaving a legacy.

In addition to planting and picking his crops, most days of the week Fred packs up some of the fresh picked produce and drives to different CSA locations around the Triangle. He lays out his selection and waits for the members to pick what they want. As his customers arrive, they are happy to see Fred, as if they are all old pals. Fred will ask someone about their spouse or children. They will tell Fred how they like to cook okra or whatever it is Fred has out that week. In return, Fred will share some of his own recipes. These customers are people who appreciate the work that goes into good, healthy food.

At the end of the day, Fred finds time for the other things he enjoys. His band, Big Head Dog, gathers in Fred’s garage to jam out while drinking beer and telling jokes. I watch as Fred transforms from farmer to drummer in a matter of minutes. He is a man, like all of us, who could have chosen many different careers. But he settled on one that benefits his community. If the best food comes straight from the dirt, Fred Miller is there to reach in and grab it for us.

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For more information on Hilltop Farms you can visit hilltopfarms.org or stop by farm on Wednesday evenings or Saturday afternoons when it is open to the public to purchase produce.

Hilltop Farms also has regular booths at the downtown Raleigh farmer's market on Wednesdays and the Holly Springs farmer's market on Saturdays.

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