gravelly hill   (grav.el.lee)

I grew up on a tobacco farm near Summerfield, NC with my 5 sisters. During the summer we were always working in tobacco – setting out, hoeing, topping, suckering, pulling, handing and housing! Hoeing was not our favorite because our soil was red clay and resisted moving. I remember the horror of pulling up a clod with the hoe that rolled over and broke the tiny tobacco plant. That was a big no-no, so I would try to lean it up against the clod so my father wouldn’t see it. We leased some land from a neighbor and they had the most beautiful soil.  A little rocky, but with the consistency of shale or sand. The hoe would glide through the soil – it was a beautiful thing.  We called this place “The Gravelly Hill”.  So when my father told us we were working in the gravelly hill today, we jumped for joy! 

Ellen graduated with a BA in History. Her first career, spanning 21 years, was in retail management where she lived in lots of places in the USA, Europe, Puerto Rico and traveled throughout Asia as a buyer.  In 2001, returning to her roots, Ellen and her husband purchased a 45 acre farm in northeast Stokes County and then in 2002 joined Carolina Farms & Homes as a Real Estate Broker. In 2004 she became an owner of the company with Leon Inman.  She supports the Stokes County Animal Spay & Neuter, Animal Rescue and new Building Fund.  She is the Board President of the Stokes County Arts Council and stays busy with their new Building Fund.  

She enjoys gardening, her chickens, pet potbelly pigs, donkey, dogs and cats and beekeeping—oh yeah --- and soapmaking!