At Southall Farm & Inn, nature isn’t just a priority, it’s all-encompassing. Middle Tennessee’s newest hotel not only allures guests with its 325 acres of rolling hills and luxurious accommodations, but with its bounty of farm offerings no matter the season.
The origins of Southall began about eight years ago, when the owners of the property wanted to expand the idea of a community farm to a welcoming place where people could connect with nature and create moments of wonderment, explains chef Richard Jones. As the seeds were planted for the 62-room inn and 16 separate cottages, the team began to think about how they would preserve and extend the season of Middle Tennessee’s short-lived crops, so that no matter the time of year guests checked in, they’d be able to indulge on the bounty of the farm’s finest offerings.
“The Jammery is really at the nexus of operations throughout the property,” says Jones, who says he wears many hats here beyond canning and jamming.
“Everything is quite ephemeral on the property,” says Jones, giving the example of nasturtium flowers and how they bloom for only a few weeks at a time. The more flowers are picked, the more they proliferate, so the team takes advantage until they wilt due to heat. In this case, Jones is left with a plethora of nasturtium that he can’t use all at once. Therefore, he turns it into an ancient elixir used at the spa as a welcoming year-round health shot.
Jones prolongs the season of other varieties by pickling, dehydrating, fermenting, freezing, acidifying and canning. “Currently we’re having a bumper crop of collard greens, kale and Swiss chard,” he explains. “We’re blanching the greens, shocking them, squeezing the excess moisture out and bagging them into vacuum-sealed bags... that way the chefs can utilize that product in August and September when it's between seasons for greens.”
The same applies to strawberries, which Jones preserves in six-ounce jars for retail, as well as deep freezers for desserts, smoothies and cocktails throughout the year. “It allows us to serve strawberries in winter; the taste of late spring is such a welcome moment in the dark days of winter.”
Not only are excess crops being saved, but Jones uses every part of the plant that he can. Take kohlrabi – the German turnip has a lot of leaves that are pungent and bitter for most palates, explains Jones. So, he dries them out then grinds them into a powder that is offered as a supergreen add-in to smoothies served on the property.
Jones also offers workshops for guests at the Jammery’s 22-seat demo kitchen. One of his favorite classes is Food Fables, a deep dive into a singular vegetable’s life cycle. A topic could include, “Why do we grow French breakfast radishes?” That gives Jones the chance to experiment with creating desserts out of radishes, or in this case, honey-glazed radishes. “People leave learning where their food comes from, but also about flavor and flavor pairings.”
This is what Southall is all about – inspiring a connection to the land through immersive experiences that don’t just happen while on the property, but tangible opportunities to take them with you.
And in case guests need a reminder long after they’ve checked out of Southall, that’s what the souvenir strawberry preserves or apple butter are for. “When they take a scoop of it for their biscuits on Sunday morning, they might be returned to that place of peace and wonder of how things grow and why they taste a certain way,” hopes Jones.
2200 Osage Lp, Franklin, Tenn.
615.282.2000
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