Pioneer Farmers
& Apple Growers
Apples have been Edneyville community’s dominant source of income for 100 years…kept alive today by local farmers like the late Rome & Millie Lyda.
Rome Lyda
1919 – 2008
Millie Lyda
– 2015
Lyda Family Farming
Roots Run Deep in NC
The Lyda Family have been farming in North Carolina since the 1700s. Members of our family found early on that apples flourished in the rich soil and the cool climate in the North Carolina mountains around Edneyville and Hendersonville.
William and Mary Jane Lyda started farming this land in the 1870s, followed by their son, Cebron, and his wife, Hester Byers Lyda. Their son, Rome Lyda, founded Lyda Farms in 1948 with his wife Mildred. Together, they operated the farm for 59 years until Rome went to be with his Lord in 2008. Mildred passed on in 2015.
2008 Family Farm of the Year
Millie Lyda
(2009)
Farm – Family Memberships
Western North Carolina Farmers’ Market
Southern Mountain Fresh
NC Apple Growers Association
NC Tomato Growers Association
The North Carolina State Grange – Edneyville Grange #1051
Blue Ridge Apple Growers
Blue Ridge Farm Direct Marketing Association
North Carolina Farm Bureau
Edneyville United Methodist Church
