By Jeffrey Kanode, RealWV
A breathtaking landscape – vintage Greenbrier Valley heights of blue and valleys of green!
With a warm welcome ready – owners April Polzin-Holmes and Carl Holmes practice hospitality as a virtue, as they they await visitors to Caring Acres Farms.
Located on Muddy Creek Mountain, just a short drive from the heart of Lewisburg, Caring Acres recently hosted the Greater Greenbrier Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours. A Taste of Eggscellence Food Truck and Catering provided complimentary dinner, and FreshFlours offered quiche, with Amy’s Market sharing desserts. Mountain Folk Coffee was on hand to take care of coffee lovers and Hawk Knob presented a variety of their hard ciders for people to sample.
“This marked my inaugural visit to Caring Acres Farm, and I’m already looking forward to returning,” said Greater Greenbrier Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sarah Ream Driggers. “The evening was a delightful blend of networking, camaraderie, and showing support for local businesses. April and Carl made the experience even more enjoyable.”
April Polzin-Holmes and her husband Carl believe in practicing graciousness, and they believe in making life’s “finer things” more accessible and affordable for all. Polzin-Holmes grew up far away from the verdant mountain pastures she now calls home. She spent her childhood and adolescence in Detroit and surrounding suburbs. She grew up poor. “I never had steak growing up. We couldn’t afford it,” she said. The scarcity of her formative years helps inspire the vision Polzin-Homes brings to Caring Farms. It isn’t just a business. It’s a mission. “We want to help provide the best quality beef for everyone,” she explained. For that reason, Polzin Holmes said, Caring Acres Farm strives to keep its prices low. They also provide beef to many civic groups for community events, in addition to many local businesses and restaurants.
“We provide all the beef for Lewisburg’s Thunderbird Taco and The Wild Bean, as well as Amy’s Market. She uses our beef for her menu and you can also purchase all of our retail cuts in her freezer,” Polzin-Holmes noted. “The Hub in Lewisburg also uses our beef, as does Route 60 American Grill and Bar in White Sulphur Springs. Sprouting Farms in Talcott also has our beef available. HandMade WV Market in Marlinton also uses and sells our beef.”
Polzin-Holmes also makes cheeseburger flavored dog treats to support the Greenbrier County Humane Society. Amy’s Market sells them.
Along with the late Don King, Carl Holmes has farmed the acreage now known as Caring Acres Farms since 2003. Holmes, a fourth-generation farmer, grew up in Renick and farmed for many years there. He met April in 2018, at church. April was visiting her daughter who lived in White Sulphur Springs. April and Carl fell in love, got married, and around four years ago, they established Caring Acres Farms. Pointing to cow fields, Carl laughingly said, “I raise them, she sells them.”
April Polzin-Holmes said CAF also stands for Carl (C,) April (A,) and Forever, Family, and Friends (F). She stresses that she and Carl want their farm to be accessible. “When we see a need, we want to fill it. We look for opportunities to help organizations, individuals, and families. “We open up our farm to anyone who might need it.”
The needs of children especially animate Polzin-Holmes. She has particular tenderness for the youngest and most vulnerable, perhaps because she taught special needs children, in Florida. Even in West Virginia, many children have never experienced the joy of romping around on a farm, Polzin-Holmes explained, and she wants parents and guardians to know those children are welcome to come explore Caring Acres. “I love children, so if schools, families can come, we love that,” she noted.
With husband Carl, April Polzin-Holmes sees small business ownership as a resource to help the community, and she’s passionate about it. “Why be in business if you can’t support your community? The community supports you, or you wouldn’t stay in business,” she reflected.
Just minutes from a thriving downtown, and near several other communities in a countryside dotted with countless homes and unincorporated villages, Caring Acres Farm offers mountain vistas and small-town hospitality equally beautiful, and precious to encounter.
