Watauga County Farms

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Apple Hill Farm | Lee Rankin
400 Apple Hill Rd | Matney, NC
828-963-1662

Apple Hill Farm is an Alpaca Farm that sits atop Valle Mountain on the site of a 45-year-old apple orchard. The remaining apple trees serve as the focal point for the property which is now home to alpacas, cats, chickens, dogs, donkeys, goats, horses, llamas and miniature donkeys.

FIG Farm | Hillary Wilson
Dutch Creek Rd | Valle Crucis, NC

In January 2012, Maverick Farms, in partnership with Appalachian State University's Sustainable Development Program and the Valle Crucis Conference Center, launched a new program for the High Country aimed at growing new farmers: the Farm Incubator and Grower (FIG) Project.

FIG provides low-cost land leases for vegetable, cut flower, herb, and pasture-based animal farm ventures as well as a shared equipment pool and mentorship opportunities for beginning farmers. The new FIG Farm is located in the heart of Valle Crucis, on the site of the former ASU Teaching & Research Farm, on land owned by the Valle Crucis Conference Center.

1/2 Hippie Farm | Meg Kerwin & Brian Zimmer
106 Cole Drive | Vilas, NC | farm@halfhippie.com

Half Hippie U-Pick Farm is an experience for people of all ages. It illustrates the role farming plays in our community through hands-on interaction, engages the public and demonstrates the value of all farms, not just ours.  

Seasonal produce, chicken and duck eggs, handmade crafts, chickens and refreshments will be available for purchase.  Because we are a U-pick operation, our products are only sold directly from the farm.

Horse Helpers | Amy Hudnall
1199 Odes Wilson Rd | Zionville, NC | 828-297-1833

Horse Helpers of The High Country is a non-profit organization dedicated to the compassionate care of equines. Our mission is to save, protect, and rehabilitate equines in need.  We rescue abused, neglected, or abandoned equines; provide them with care and rehabilitation; and finally find them a compatible, loving home.

Hospitality House Community Garden | Stephanie Logston
338 Brook Hollow Rd | Boone, NC | 828-264-1237

The Hospitality House Gardens produce vegetables and herbs for use in the Bread of Life Community Kitchen. Residents of Hospitality House and volunteers work to maintain the gardens daily. Through gardening, the residents build skills in self-sustenance and the fresh produce creates healthy meals for residents and community members to enjoy.

Maverick Farms | Hillary Wilson
410 Justus Rd | Banner Elk | 828-963-4656

Maverick Farms works to reclaim the pleasures of eating and sharing meals in a culture overrun by industrial agriculture and flavorless food. The project arose out of Springhouse Farm, which for 30 years sold hand-picked vegetables to local restaurants. Maverick Farms is continuing with that tradition while embarking on new education and outreach projects to connect local food producers and consumers.

Moretz's Mountain Orchard | Bill Moretz
2820 Big Hill Rd | Boone, NC | 828-264-3424

Offering over 90 different varieties of apples dating back to the 1500's. Peaches, nectarines, pears, plums, bramble fruits, blueberries, dried apples and herbs. Farm tours and classes by appointment. Express your art talents via "Pick n' Paint". Our products are available at our farm and at the Watauga County Farmers Market.

New Life Farm | Cory Bryk
254 Cindy Rd | Boone, NC | 828-355-9964

We here at New Life Farm are adamant about operating on a family friendly scale and promoting transparency in our practices and the local food movement that we are supporting.
We believe that we have been charged to steward creation to the best of our ability and to consider all and any externalities linked to our decisions as farmers. Careful consideration of the design of the animals we raise and the plants and ground we cultivate helps us to make proper decisions in all the activities that take place at New Life Farm.
Everything that human beings consume has a history, and what New Life Farm is adamant about is linking people with the intimate knowledge about what they are consuming. Our hope is that we can give people peace of mind and nutritional, wholesome, REAL food.

Springhouse Farm | Amy Fielder
433 Silverstone Rd | Vilas, NC | 828-297-2676

Nestled in the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains, Springhouse Farm is an 8 acre certified organic farm that specializes in vegetable and honey production. We sell only the freshest and most wholesome food we can grow. We actively support the local food movement by encouraging customers to know where their food is produced and who is growing it. One goal of Springhouse Farm is educational outreach. We host farm tours and teach everything from beginner beekeeping to shiitake log innoculation. We strive to make a sustainable living doing something good for the community, good for the earth, and good for ourselves!

St. Luke's Mary Boyer Memorial Garden | Bill Marr
170 Council St | Boone, NC | 828-773-1214

This garden is named in honor of recently deceased, much loved community volunteer, Mary Boyer. Most of the abundance that garden volunteers harvest will be donated to the needy through the hunger coalition and churches.

Located on the property in front of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, the community garden is easily accessible to a large percentage of locals. It is truly a community garden in that everyone works together to plant, weed and harvest, instead of having separate projects.

Watauga River Farms | Charles Church
2953 NC Hwy 194 | Valle Crucis, NC | 828-297-3775

Charles Church has been producing organic vegetables at Watauga River Farms, located in Valle Crucis, North Carolina, since the year 2000. There are four acres of broccoli and four acres of red and green cabbage. Red Potatoes, Yukon Golds, two kinds of fingerlings and Kennebec potatoes fill an additional eight acres. Turnips, corn, beans, rhubarb, you name it, it's all in there somewhere.

Watauga River Farms also offers local pork. Pigs are fed naturally, given no medicine, no hormones, nothing you wouldn't want in your own diet.