FAITH | FAMILY | FOOD
Inspire and energize
About Us
The Family
John and Suzanne Featherston started Four Stones Farm in 2017 to help satisfy the community’s appetite for locally grown, fresh produce.
Their love of gardening and appreciation for the fresh taste of homegrown produce began when they were young. Both grew up in the rural agricultural community of Yerington, Nevada, where their families knew each other and had big gardens. Some of John’s first gardening memories include preparing a quarter acre of soil and building a fence to grow more zucchini than the family could possibly eat. Suzanne remembers loving hand-watering her family’s orchard, nibbling on tree-ripened pears, peaches and apricots.
Although their lives took them different ways through early adulthood, John and Suzanne reunited in Spring Creek, Nevada, after 14 years apart. They hosted their wedding on the tree- and flower-studded property, near the Ruby Mountains, that would transform into their small farm.
The two feel grateful to have rekindled their love for each other based on their friendship as children and for being able to nurture their longstanding love of gardening together. Growing nutrient-rich food and sharing an understanding of how produce grows became even more important as the couple started a family. They have two daughters.
John is a mining engineer and Suzanne is a journalist. Their skills and interests—and sometimes just sheer determination—help keep the garden business going.
The Farm
Because northeastern Nevada’s growing season is a short three months, seeds start inside with supplemental heat and light weeks before the last frost date, which could be as late as June. Some of the seedlings go up for sale at the early farmers markets that start in May so that area residents can start their own gardens with proven plant varieties. The majority of the garden starts go into the farm in the backyard of the Featherston residence.
The farm focuses on specialty crops that can survive Elko County’s harsh weather conditions, with a little help from clever engineering. The operation features a greenhouse for tender perennials and plant starts, and hoop houses for growing under protective coverings to temper the heat and cold.
The infrastructure is John’s area of expertise while Suzanne focuses on marketing and sales. Everyone in the family—and often hapless friends and neighbors—helps with plant maintenance and harvesting.
Growing food takes faith. To plant a seed is to believe in the future. The family members also carry faith in God into their work, asking for guidance, blessings and peace on the farm and in their lives every day.
The Emblem
The emblem on the Four Stones Farm logo is the reimagining of what family legend says was an arrangement of stones on the Featherston land hundreds of years ago in northern England.
The Featherstons now living in Spring Creek are descendants of the original family who emigrated from England to North America before the American Revolution. They have carried the design forward into their logo to honor a long history of farming, building, engineering and a great many other accomplishments.
Licenses, Certificates and Training
Running a business takes all kinds of approvals, and running a small farm takes all of that and more. Four Stones Farm has obtained:
Nevada State Business License — Nevada Secretary of State
Producer Certificate — Nevada Department of Agriculture
Nursery Stock License #9827 — Nevada Department of Agriculture
Cottage Food Registration — Nevada Department of Health and Human Services
Craft Food Certificate — Nevada Department of Agriculture
Produce Food Safety Basics — Nevada Department of Agriculture
Farm2Food Accelerator Program — National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
Food Safety Manager Certification —State Food Safety
Four Stones Farm in Wintertime
Winter is the longest of the seasons in northeastern Nevada, but farm work doesn’t stop when the snow falls. Winter is the time for planning, dreaming and planting seeds. Come take a tour of Four Stones Farm in wintertime.
