Country Farm & Home's story started in the early 1950s when the store opened as a satellite of the Central Carolina Farmers Exchange. Farmers brought their grain to be milled and railroad cars brought fertilizer, lime and coal for the farmers. In 1987 Southern States purchased the Farmers Exchange, and six years later, Dallas Hurley purchased the store, renaming it Country Farm & Home Supply. In 2014, Dallas officially retired to learn the banjo and sold the business to his oldest daughter, Melinda, who has tailored the business to meet the growing needs of our organic and sustainable farming community. Although the hammermill is long gone and the only remaining hint of the railroad is the trestle out back, we’ve worked hard to preserve the bones of this old feed store. Customers walk the original tongue and groove oak floors, smell the grain, and often reminisce about visiting similar stores as children with their parents and grandparents. Many of our long-term customers remember working here as teenagers when the feed bags were 100 pounds! As we grow and change with the needs of our community, we aim to preserve the traditions that continue to keep our store a unique destination: a friendly atmosphere, exceptional customer service, and fostering personal relationships. We’re happy to help you find exactly what you’re looking for, and if we don’t have it, we’ll try to get it for you.
Melinda Fitzgerald - Owner Operator
After thirteen years of teaching middle schoolers how to steward our air, water, and soil, I left the classroom in 2008 to join Country Farm and Home and help my father ease into retirement. My primary goal from the start was to broaden our selection of organic and sustainable farming products. What I didn't know is how enthusiastically our community would embrace my ideas and how far our reach would travel. The Country Farm and Home customer base has grown to encompass much of the Carolinas both through our in-store sales and our expanding farmer delivery routes. I am proud of my team of committed individuals who passionately work to serve our growing community. Thank you for partnering with us so we can continue to serve you for decades to come!
Lucas Howerter – Operations Manager
Luke grew up in Savannah, GA and made his way to the Triangle after living in northern California where he grew his knowledge of Sustainable Agriculture. Initially helping manage the Duke Campus Farm, he dove deep into the local sustainable farming community and through this, Country Farm and Home. Fast forward 8 years and 2 farms later, Luke started working with CF&H in the beginning of 2024 to help manage and grow the direct-to-farm delivery service. Being ever curious about all aspects of how the business runs and all the employees within it, he quickly fell into the role of Operations Manager within the business. Luke is passionate about whole farm systems, cooperative endeavors, seed production, and all things vegetables. While not at work, he enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking, running, meditating, biking, dancing, ceramics, and spending time with friends and family. He is also an avid traveler and loves learning about different people and cultures.
Hillary Heckler - Nursery Manager
Hillary was born in Pennsylvania, raised in New Hampshire and found her way home to the soils of the NC piedmont in 2005. Her early life was spent playing in her grandmother’s gardens and working in commercial kitchens. It was here that her interest in food production systems expanded into the questions of, “Where does food come from? How is it grown? How can I participate?” Once in Pittsboro, the Sustainable Agriculture Program at CCCC supported her interests in agriculture through the Associates Degree program in Sustainable Agriculture and managing the student farm for 7 years. In 2014, Hillary joined Country Farm & Home and now orders all of our plants, while also managing our garden center. Hillary can offer assistance with crop production questions and troubleshooting, irrigation systems and general animal husbandry. In her free time, Hillary tends her home garden, foraging for what’s in season if it’s not in the front yard, cooking, knitting, staying limber with some yoga and spending time with her given and chosen family.
Kyle Sandorse - Purchasing and Receiving Manager
Kyle hails from New Jersey where he spent time working with a local beekeeper that got him interested in agriculture. From there, Kyle found his way to North Carolina and eventually the Sustainable Agriculture program at Central Carolina Community College. After taking classes and working at various local farms that raised livestock, field crops and honeybees, Kyle settled into Country Farm and Home in 2017. Kyle has an affinity for poultry, especially ducks, and honeybees. Here at Country Farm and Home, you’ll likely find Kyle behind the scenes ordering all kinds of products for the store to keep the shelves well stocked and full. He also helps customers get set up with hive equipment, tools and guidance, if needed. If you can’t find Kyle, he is down the shore, fishing the river, noodling around in a pond or crashing a kiddie pool (in a pinch). If he is not in the water somewhere, Kyle enjoys spending time with his family at their home in Liberty.
Victor Arias - Warehouse and Yard Manager
Victor came to the United States as a young child from Mexico. He attended school in Pittsboro and as a high school student started working at Country Farm and Home part time. After graduation from Northwood High School, Victor became a full-time staff member. By then, Victor knew most of the customers and could start pulling orders from memory when a customer pulled into the parking lot. Victor can help with all types of fencing and has some landscape experience as well. If he is not in the warehouse, he is somewhere listening to music, spending time with family or coaching the Sand Lee Soccer League. He loves spending any other free time visiting the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Hale Henry - Merchandising & office manager
Hale moved from their home state of Iowa to Chatham County, NC in 2021. They joined Country Farm & Home in 2024 as an inside sales employee with a strong background in livestock management and an interest in regenerative farming and sustainability. Now, they help keep things at the store running smoothly in the background and our product displays up-to-date as the merchandising & office manager. In their spare time, Hale enjoys working side jobs on local farms, live music, and antiquing.
Jason Butler - Showroom Manager
Jason's relationship with Country Farm & Home goes all the way back to 2014, when he was getting his market garden off the ground and quickly discovered the store was the place to go for all his needs. After years as a loyal customer, he joined the team as Showroom Manager and now gets to be on the other side of the counter! As the first face you'll likely see when you walk through the door, Jason keeps the showroom running smoothly while helping our customers solve problems, answer growing questions, and find exactly what they need for a successful season. With a background in farming himself, he loves talking shop and sharing what he's learned with fellow growers. When he's not at the store, you'll probably find him playing traditional old-time Appalachian string band music on the tenor guitar or mandolin, cooking up something good, or wandering along the Deep River with his two dogs.
Zia Lucero - Inside Sales Team
For almost as long as she has lived in North Carolina, Zia has been familiar with Country Farm and Home. She has been working odd jobs for the store since she was fifteen, and now mainly works behind the counter, interacting with and helping customers inside. Living on a small farm, Zia loves almost anything large animal and agriculture related and finds significant fulfillment working at Country Farm and Home. In her free time Zia enjoys listening to music, sewing, and vintage shopping.
Summer Fitzgerald - Inside Sales Team
Summer, along with her brother Aidan, represent the next generation of Country Farm and Home. As part of the inside sales team, she quickly picked up working the register and is very interested in learning the business. She loves meeting all our customers and getting to know them at the counter as well as being a very supportive co-worker to the inside sales team. When she is not working, you can find Summer involved in one of her many activities including hanging out with friends, reading, cooking, creating art, theater camp and of course, school.
Elaina Suro - Inside Sales Team
Growing up in Pittsboro, NC, Elaina discovered Country Farm & Home by driving past the store nearly every day and visiting with her grandmother. She always admired the store's strong community focus and dreamed of working there one day. Today, she serves as a member of our inside sales team, helping customers find the supplies they need and keeping the store well stocked. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, urban exploration, playing guitar, paddle boarding, and fishing.
Lance Walters - Warehouse Team
After a decade of working on farms in California, Lance moved to the area and was looking to continue his journey in horticulture and found Country Farm and Home. In Lance’s words, “found the only grower supply store with organic products and is community focused”. Lance can be found in the warehouse where he enjoys helping people find organic gardening solutions and assisting customers in home irrigation projects. He really appreciates the opportunity to meet like-minded people and share knowledge of horticulture. Away from work, Lance can be found gardening, doing irrigation side projects and spending time with his dogs and family.
Luke Spiller – Warehouse Team
Before Country Farm and Home, Luke worked at Lowe’s Foods but wanted to try something new. Knowing he liked to work outdoors, he sought out employment that would allow for that, but also get him more involved in the community, too. Luke likes learning new things, meeting new people, and telling jokes and stories. He gets to do all of that while working in the warehouse restocking our inventory and loading bags for our customers. Outside of CFH, Luke has developed an interest in gardening and creating an outdoor living space at his new home. He also plays video games and hangs out with family and friends whenever he can.
Madison Saffelle - Warehouse Team
Growing up on a homestead in the backwoods of Pittsboro, her family have been regular customers at Country Farm and Home for years buying feed for chickens, rabbits and goats. Madison spends most of her time at CFH on the warehouse floor helping customers and the rest of her time helping to make deliveries, both local and far. Since her teens, she has worked a variety of construction, equipment operations and driving trucks. She really enjoys her work with farmers and connecting with customers since she joined the team at Country Farm and Home. When not working she can be found in the woods hunting, fishing and foraging for wild mushrooms.
Aidan Fitzgerald – Warehouse Team
Aidan has been a part of Country Farm and Home since he was knee high. He and his sister, Summer, are the next generation of Country Farm and Home. When his schedule permits, Aidan works in the warehouse where he helps load customers and offers product advice. Aidan is currently at Northwood High School where he runs, wrestles, plays baseball. You can frequently find him on stage at Temple Theater in Sanford and at Northwood’s theater productions.
Jonatan Sanchez - Warehouse Team
Jonatan joined Country Farm & Home with the encouragement of his brother Victor, who has been a part of the team for quite some time now. As a warehouse employee, he helps customers by loading purchases into their vehicles and assists in keeping our warehouse stocked and clean. Outside of work, Jonatan enjoys playing Valorant with friends, watching his favorite Twitch streamers, and listening to pop and rap music.
Ethan Haggerty - Farm Delivery Route Driver
Like so many of the employees, Ethan found Country Farm and Home as a customer first. He and his dad discovered our non-GMO layer feed for their flock of chickens and became regular visitors to the store. Ethan enjoyed the atmosphere and looked for employment after his 6-month journey on the Appalachian Trail. He is our very dedicated delivery driver having been on many of the routes since the very beginning of our delivery service. Ethan has made many friends along the routes and enjoys the visits with them and their farms. When he is not learning all about sustainable agriculture from the many farms he sees, he loves to rock climb, hike and enjoy the great outdoors.
Erica Womble - Marketing Specialist
Erica started her journey with Country Farm and Home as a tutor to Melinda’s son Aidan, and shortly after, began watering the plants in the greenhouse and garden center. Eventually, she began working behind the counter in the showroom. Along with being out where she loves interacting with our customers, vendors and farm community, Erica handles our Instagram account. You can often find her behind her camera capturing our days and events. Away from all the fun of Country Farm and Home, Erica is hanging out with friends and family and exploring all her varied interests including photography.