Last Friday was the first weekly distribution of Shelton Family Farms’ 2012 Community Supported Agriculture program. Now in its fourth year, the Shelton’s CSA provides members with 25 weeks of fresh produce neatly packaged in a take-home box. Above, Rita and Rogers Shelton pack this week’s box with kale, spring onions, lettuce, radishes, basil and strawberries. The selections will change from week to week throughout the season as each vegetable reaches harvest maturity.

Located in Whittier on what was once the William Holland Thomas farm, the land has been farmed by the Sheltons since Rogers’ grandfather bought the property in 1922. Today, the fourth generation of owners includes William and Sabrina Shelton, along with sons Wil, Sam, Cal, and Tom.

The Sheltons will continue to accept memberships in their CSA throughout the season with fees prorated. You can find more information on their website, SheltonFamilyFarm.com.

When Horace Greelee said “go west young man”, J.R. vanLienden must have been listening, because he’s gone into the Old West Wagon Train business.

But he’s not making wagons for pioneers and teams of horses. J.R.’s wagons are scaled down for kids and are powered by the ‘horses’ under the hood of a garden tractor or riding mower — an “amusement ride for home or business,” he says. At the recent “Green Thumb Day” festival in Whittier (above), J.R. offered free rides on one of the wagons. And he says several can be strung together for a ‘trackless train’.

J.R. makes his wagons in the old Whittier School. You’ll find more information on his website, TinkerMania.com.

Driving the serpentine US-19 from Cherokee to Maggie Valley across Soco Gap requires a driver’s undivided attention, which explains why so many never notice the small sign that says “waterfall .5 mile” (which means ‘keep driving another half-mile’).

It’s also easy to miss the gravel roadside pull-off with space for maybe a half-dozen vehicles. But that’s where you’ll find Soco Falls, a beautiful double waterfall where two separate branches meet for spectacular 40 and 50 foot drops into a dark gorge.

The short trail starts at the break in the guardrail and descends about a hundred feet over some steps to the viewing platform. Some people scramble down the bank to the base of the falls, but it’s extremely steep and not recommended.

Soco Falls is on the Qualla Boundary about eleven miles east of Cherokee, on your right. Coming from Maggie Valley, the pull-off is 1.5 miles west of the Blue Ridge Parkway, on your left.

The photo is by Rich Stevenson, an Asheville photographer with a passion for Western North Carolina waterfalls. If you love waterfalls, Rich’s website NCWaterfalls.com is a must-see.

For more about waterfalls in the NC Smokies, visit this page on GreatSmokies.com

Normally, we expect locally-grown strawberries to ripen in time for Mothers Day in mid-May. But this year’s mild Spring brought the berries to market about a month earlier. Above, Jennifer Cooper of Bryson City (left) and Marta Laksa of Cherokee sample freshly-picked berries at Darnell Farms, just east of Bryson City on Highway 19. Darnell and the Shelton Family Farm on Thomas Valley Road in Whittier are two local growers where you can pick your own or purchase containers of berries.

Lyndsay Taylor brought her 4-H project to Whittier’s ‘Green Thumb Fest’ on Saturday — a few hundred starter plants that the teenager grew from seeds in a 4-H greenhouse. Above, Regina Swimmer of Cherokee selects one of Lyndsay’s hanging baskets. Other choices included cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato, pepper and flowering plants.

If you missed the Whittier festival, Lyndsay has plenty more plants for sale at the Lyntree 4-H Greenhouse at 995 Needmore Road — next door to the Maple Springs Baptist Church, about a mile off US 74. Lyndsay says “if I’m not there, just select your plants and pay on the honor system.” For information, call 488-3934.