Our Story
The best place to buy grapes, fruits, and nuts in Butts County, Georgia.
The Wandalands Vineyard and Orchards journey began on December 31, 2019. This was the day Jerome Brown retired with 38 years of employment and service from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). He had a goal of establishing a vineyard and developing a site for outdoor enthusiasts to take pictures, make movies, and host events. Jerome was raised on his father's farm in Southwest Georgia. A few years earlier, his wife Wanda Brown retired with 33 years of teaching school in the Georgia Public School System. Wanda was raised in Northeast Georgia.
They began to look for a small place to retire and establish vineyards and Orchards. The criteria for the new property were simple. It must have the following: be located in a rural setting near the Atlanta airport, contain more than 5 acres in size, possess the characteristics for producing grapes and wine, house site, and site to build an agricultural irrigation lake. On February 9, 2020, they found 6.6 acres of beautiful woodland for sale that possess those characteristics.
That day, Jerome recorded a video of the beautiful woodland site to document what it looked like then and what it would look like in the future. The property was purchased in February 2020 and immediately after, the pecan tree planting began.
A Family Journey
The spring of March 2021 Jerome, Wanda, and their children Dr. Tiffany Brown Aghazu MD, Sterling Brown, Microbiologist, Trevaris Brown, Scientist, and Son-in-law Dr. Ugo Aghazu MD started planting the grapes in the vineyard and fruits/pecans in the orchards by hand.
In the fall of 2021,Jerome and his son Trevaris staked out, surveyed and designed the 1-acre irrigation lake. It made the perfect location for Trevaris small outdoor wedding venue as Trevaris married his lovely bride Michelle Hill later that fall.
Additionally, Jerome and Wanda were supervising the construction of their new home that was being built on the hill which now overlooks the beautiful lake.
In 2022, Jerome and Wanda’s family worked hard cultivating, irrigating, and developing the 2.0 acres of vineyard that now include muscadines," Blanc du Bois, Sauvignon blanc, and Black Spanish grapes. They put forth that same work on additional 2.0 acres of orchards containing: peaches, pecans, blueberries, and apples."
Additionally, we own Wandalands II which is located in South Georgia. These orchards add 5 more acres of pecan trees and Georgia grown citrus such as satsuma, mandarin, and navel oranges. The total acres of operation for Wandalands I & II are over 11.6 acres.
Wandalands Vineyard and Orchards Becomes A Reality
Everyone was beginning to stop by the property to tell us how beautiful it was and how they could not wait to come and buy wine, fruit, and nuts. Jerome and their children discussed what they should name the vineyard and orchards. The family decided to name the vineyard and orchards after their beautiful mother Wanda, hence the name Wandalands Vineyard and Orchards, LLC was established.
As family friends have asked where to buy Georgia pecans, Wandalands Vineyard and Orchard LLC decided to start selling some of their products online in the fall of 2022. The on-site market will open in May 2023.
Healthy Lands, LLC
With Jerome's background and degree in agricultural education, he's now able to help farmers across the United States via online training sessions held over zoom. He helps answer questions such as:
- What steps or practices are farmers using to improve soil health?
- How can farmers sign up for USDA soil health programs, the USDA Heirs property programs, the USDA urban farming programs and more?
- What are the different types of soils that farmers use?