Sourdough bread baking class at Wildkitchen Supply
When Julie Fox Jones came back home to Jackson County, she brought a vision for a particular kind of business for the area. In 2022, she opened Wildkitchen Supply. “We strive to support local businesses and support people in their self-sufficient, local and low-waste journeys,” she says. “We have everything from local produce from our county farmers market to value-added local groceries to kitchen tools and equipment for the home cook.”
Wildkitchen also offers classes, community meeting space, private foraging and cooking tours, and other educational and community opportunities geared toward slow living. Upcoming classes focus on baking, fermentation, herbalism, basketry and foraging, and summer months bring a small-plates dinner class and a forage-your-dinner series. “Anyone who has begun their journey to self-sufficiency or simply likes to learn new skills” will find the classes helpful, Fox Jones says.
Since its opening, the shop has evolved into a co-op of like-minded businesses. “Last year we added a low-waste refill business, Refillosophy, which provides toxic-free personal and home essentials without having to purchase plastic packaging,” says Fox Jones. “This year we’re adding a small arts and crafts section, Abitha’s Art Emporium, providing starter kits for crafts and a recycled-paper gift wrapping station. We also have dedicated spaces for several local artists who create pottery, glassworks, leather goods and wood crafts, as well as a pop-up thrift store in the back that helps fund a local community center.”
Wildkitchen Supply
Among the vendors working with Wildkitchen Supply is Jen Pearson, owner of Lupe Foods, which offers foods produced with local and whole-food ingredients. Pearson downsized her Sylva restaurant Guadalupe Café after the pandemic. Among the range of food items she now sells locally are pesto, granola, hot sauce and spice blends.
Pearson remembers a store in downtown Sylva many years ago that sold culinary, farming and gardening supplies. Its owners passed away and times evolved into the age of Amazon and big-box stores. “It feels like the pendulum is now swinging a teensy bit back this way and more folks are into making things themselves, supporting local-made and growing their own food,” she says, “even just a little since it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I’m heartened to see our cultural evolution back to valuing analog skills and pursuing something like homesteading in this quirky 21st century way.”
Wildkitchen’s motto is “Self-sufficiency is resistance,” a guiding principle that Fox Jones, whose family has lived in Jackson County for more than 100 years, believes encapsulates the history of mountain people. “From the Cherokee resisting Removal to hardscrabble immigrants resisting persecution to moonshiners resisting taxation, this area is a hotbed of fierce independence,” Fox Jones says. “So whether you want to reduce your dependence on foreign-made goods and internet billionaires, or work your way into a better situation and find a little freedom, our tagline can mean what you make of it.”
Wildkitchen Supply is located at 567 West Main Street, Sylva. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Learn more and sign up for classes at WildkitchenSupply.com.
