After graduating in 2011 from UNC Chapel Hill, I spent a year living and working on a family farm in nearby Hillsborough. I experienced the edible seasons this bioregion has to offer as well as the realities of farm life: daily chores to keep animals healthy and happy; long hours in the fields building the soil, planting, weeding, and harvesting a variety of crops; late Friday nights processing chickens and early Saturday mornings preparing for markets. The reward for this hard work: hot coffee and thankful eaters ready to devour the precious fruits of that labor.