Fry Fam
Andrew has been working with organic vegetable farms, nurseries and landscaping crews since 2012, learning by doing with expert gardeners and farmers. Julia is a natural healer and caretaker, the mother of three boys and a volcano of a woman.
Fertile soils, consistent rainfall and family ties drew Julia and Andrew back to Blacksburg from Austin, TX soon after the birth of their first son in 2019.
Since migrating here, Andrew has been privileged to work and learn with several exceptional farmers in the NRV, including the Pall Family at Glade Road Growing, Adam Taylor at the Catawba Sustainability Center and Bill Wolf of Second Star Farm. Julia has given birth to two more healthy boys and continued to practice massage at the Whole You Studio in Radford.
In the spring of 2026, the Frys took a leap when the Cox family invited Andrew to manage ThunderCroft farm and grow vegetables in a former horse pasture.
Just 5 miles from downtown Blacksburg, this land has been cared for by the Cox family for the last 12 years. ThunderCroft is a tremendously beautiful, forever-protected nature preserve where we are continually striving to implement best practices in Farm and Forest Stewardship.
The work…
We are always learning. Building on a vast body of knowledge amassed over thousands of years, we are carrying on the legacy of many dedicated farmers and stewards before us.
Our broadest goal is a simple one: to live in harmony with the natural world. This means providing for our most basic needs, like nourishment, without degrading the environment. We view nature as a great web of life. We recognize the interconnected systems and cycles that we depend on and the many relationships that contribute to human well-being.
You might say our work is infinite. We are participating in this endless cycle of energy transfer - from our radiant sun to the plants, animals, fungi and soil that make up our diet and, ultimately our bodies.
Our work is also very practical. To produce an abundance of food while maintaining the fertile, living soils that support healthy plant life, we abstain from using chemical pesticides and herbicides and instead, seek to encourage biological diversity with natural amendments, mulches and compost.
On our small plot, we rotate crops frequently through tightly organized field blocks, grow a variety of “green manures” or cover crops between successions of food crops, compost all garden residue and expired produce and prefer hand tools over tractor implements to minimize disturbance.
We are dedicated to building a more resilient and equitable local food system. One of our driving motivations is to demonstrate what profitable, small-scale food production looks like so it can be replicated again and again.
We are out here every day, participating. We are learning and growing, with gratitude for the gifts of nature. And we are having a lot of fun doing it. :)
