Farmers in Western North Carolina haven’t had much to be thankful for in the last year. Tropical Storm Helene left them drained, financially and emotionally.
But one farmer, Jack Crowley, is speaking up about what there is to be grateful for — even in the aftermath of a devastating storm and a life with Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
When he and his wife Jen Crowley bought a farm, just northwest of Asheville, in 2013, the property was in bad shape. The previous owner had let things deteriorate spectacularly.
Jack and Jen set about renovating the farm. They brought 25 cattle onto the pastures and began vegetable production, with the successful plan of providing farm-to-table food for local restaurants. They rented out their barn for weddings. Things were looking bright.
Until 2015. That’s when Jack was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His doctors gave him three years to live.
“That was a kick in the shorts to realize that shortly after buying a farm, per the doctors I was going to buy the farm,” Jack said, laughing.
The disease, also known as ALS, put him in a wheelchair and significantly impacts his ability to speak.
“It is truly frustrating to go from an able-bodied male, able to do pretty much anything, to being sequestered to a wheelchair and silenced by a disease that only affects your muscles, vocal cords and leaves your cognitive capabilities and intellect fully intact,” Jack told Carolina Public Press in an email interview.
But he didn’t give up. Jack still is around, six years after his supposed expiration date.
Jen was named “Chief Farm Officer,” running the cattle operation and selling hay while Jack dealt with the tough first years of his illness.
Then came the pandemic. Business from restaurants and event planners waned. Jack and Jen reduced the number of cattle down to just six. In 2024, the pair sold the whole herd and started over with specialized Hereford cattle.
Later that year, on the night of Sept. 27, 2024, the husband and wife awoke to what sounded like microwave popcorn cooking just outside their window. Tropical Storm Helene had struck. Ancient oak trees and towering pines snapped and tumbled to the ground all across their property.
“The popcorn machine went on throughout the long windy and rainy night,” Jack said. “In the morning after the rain subsided, we were able to get out and get a rough count of the fallen trees around the farm. We lost 30 … pines in the back forest and about 50 oaks in the other forests and along the fence lines here on the farm. Some of these oak trees had trunk diameters of 12 feet or more and were hundreds of years old.”
Floods washed out the bridge just 800 yards from the farm’s main entrance. It was out for months before the Department of Transportation got around to replacing it, making accessing cell service and fuel difficult. Trees fell across dirt roads on the farm, took out miles of fencing and blocked one of the main roads to the farm.
Despite the disaster on Crowley Farms, Jack and Jen sprung into action. Luckily, they had a generator.
Neighbors who needed their medications refrigerated and a few minutes under a hot shower came over. They provided water to neighbors from their well, each day loading water buckets and barrels into the back of visiting pickup trucks. They housed a family from Arden in their farmhouse for a few weeks until the family got power back.
“They’re just good people,” Abby Whitaker, Buncombe County livestock extension agent, told CPP.
Whitaker arranged for a crew of men to come help work on the farm in the wake of Helene, restoring fences and removing trees.
“I can’t do much anymore due to ALS which has curtailed my chainsaw operation and barbed wire fence mending abilities,” Jack said.
“But we had a lot of friends, neighbors and acquaintances who collectively over the next few months whipped this farm back into shape so we could assist others, even though I’m wheelchair bound.”
Still, the pair needed some money to make it through. Jack submitted a grant application to WNC Communities, a nonprofit that supports agriculture and forestry in Western North Carolina.
“I filled out the grant application online for WNC Communities and honestly forgot about it, thinking there’s no way we are going to see a dime because of such devastation in the area,” Jack said.
But they did get it, to the tune of $7,000.
WNC Communities distributed $20.9 million to 382 farmers across 20 counties in the weeks after Helene hit, according to Jennifer Ferre, executive director of WNC Communities.
“Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in North Carolina,” Ferre told CPP. “It’s bringing in the money. It has a huge impact on our local economy. It has a huge impact on our local food system, especially for our livestock farmers.
“We see agriculture as part of the fabric of who our Western North Carolina people are.”
Now, Jack and Jen employ a few part-time farm hands, but revenues are nowhere close to pre-Helene levels. More than a year after the storm, weakened trees continue to fall across the property.
But Jack still finds reason to give thanks.
“My wife and I are grateful to earn enough and have the ability to still hire some part timers to do things around here,” Jack said.
“This storm was brutal for so many throughout the region and unfortunately still is for many. But we were truly blessed and protected by God to weather the storm without the loss of life, or loss of housing that so many other unfortunate souls had happened to them.
“Take refuge in Mary’s Mantle and those great-hearted individuals who are just like you and me, striving to make a difference with the limited time and talents we’ve been loaned for a short time while on this earth. Everyone has a talent or trait that may seem insignificant, but when combined with others we become a force which can overcome even the most challenging occurrences.”
Photo: Jen and Jack Crowley, seen on the deck of the Pisgah Inn.
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.