By: Chace Vineski 
AccelNow – Social Media Coordinator
When Erek Napora, of Cave Ridge Farm, started his farm it was more of a hobby at first but it grew to something more and became his passion. His wife, Megan, who grew up with a mother who was a caretaker of a farm which sparked her interest in that life, is the one who got the gears turning in their eventual quest to start their own farm together. That eventually happened in 2011 on small scale. They found that it was a perfect fit for them, especially for Megan who had a degree in Sustainable Agriculture. So what started as two people with little knowledge of farming grew into an experienced team whose passion for agriculture only helped expand the farm from there.
Eric, a Northeast KY native, and his wife Megan, a Kingsport native, had their start on their farm in Blountville, TN with roughly 40 acres. 30 acres of that land is pasture and the rest are made up of woods. Their main emphasis is pasture-raised meats. Right now they sell grass-fed beef and lamb, pasture raised pork and chicken, and Thanksgiving turkey. And they have no trouble selling any of them. In fact, just last Thanksgiving he had a customer fly his private plane in just to purchase some of his turkeys. If that’s not a good enough testimony for the quality of meat their farm provides then I don’t know what is. And what makes the quality so good? Besides the aforementioned pasture-raised animals being essential for quality, he also feeds them with Non-GMO feed. It does cost more for this feed but they find it well worth it to supply their customers with the best product possible. The quality of their feed leads directly to the quality of their products and they do it the right way too. That is what separates them from their local competition.
As to what their future goals are with Cave Ridge Farm, they’ll take small steps and expand what they do have. It begins with utilizing every part of their pasture and expanding their number of pigs and beef is on the docket. Doing so would even create a more sustainable field as it would make it more fertile. They can also see themselves growing garlic to sell in the future. Because it is just the two of them, for now, they are taking the smart approach of slowing expanding, at least until it is sustainable enough for Erek to work at this full-time. Some of the day jobs he does on the side include work at a friends machine shop next to the Tri-Cities airport and also building barns with a neighbor. At the pace they’re at it won’t be long until Erek and Megan are able to fulfill their ambition and see Cave Ridge Farm become one of the main sources of quality meat around the area.
To learn more about Cave Ridge Farm, you can contact Erek Napora directly through email, ereknapora@hotmail.com or by phone @ 423-367-9660.
Their website is currently under development!
By: Chace Vineski
AccelNow – Social Media Coordinator
AccelNow 