Hickory Nut Forest

16 Jun

Posted at 17:15h in Hickory Nut Forest by
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Is your dream is to live in a multi-generational, eco-friendly community with a center for healing arts and celebrations in a gorgeous setting? The seeds of this dream are already sprouting at Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community, and we are eager to hear your ideas on ways of growing it further. We want to invite you to our first exploratory meeting of like-minded folks who may be interested in living in Hickory Nut Forest and helping us in realizing this common vision.

10 Aug

Posted at 00:00h in Hickory Nut Forest by
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ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR FALL APPLES Eco-Community hosts 3rd annual AppleFest: Free apples for you, the community and beyond. Click here for flyer... Hickory Nut Forest Apple FestApples. They’re not just for pies anymore! In addition to applesauce and butter, there is caramel apple bars, apple buttermilk bread, apple kugel, apple-cabbage ravioli with thyme, apple mulligatawny and so much more.  To find fall apples for these creations, visitors and the community are invited to the Third Annual Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community AppleFest on September 25, from 1-5 at on Rt. 74-A in Gerton/Bat Cave, NC.  It is free and family-friendly event.

01 May

Posted at 00:00h in Hickory Nut Forest, Laughing Waters by
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Founder of the Honeybee Project empowers locals on the plight & flight of the honeybee ( Gerton , NC ) It is estimated that thirty-three percent of everything that reaches the American table is pollinated by the honeybee. In North Carolina this equates to $80 million of the state’s economy. Yet, honeybee colonies are dying or disappearing in record numbers. One of many theories is that chemical pesticides and herbicides are causing colony collapse disorder. In contrast to commercial operations, which use direct chemical fumigation, organic bee colonies are not experiencing major declines.

11 Dec

Posted at 22:01h in Hickory Nut Forest by
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November 2008 On the weekend before Thanksgiving, we had our inaugural hike of the completed section of the Hickory Nut Gorge Trail. We had just finished some new sections at Raven Rock and put up some new trail signs the week before. We were ready to show off our new creation. It was a beautiful clear sunny day, cold and crisp. 19 people came out for the adventure. We carpooled up to Raven Rock to begin the hike. The Upper Raven Rock loop is a short hike, but with quite spectacular vistas. The trail goes to the very top of the cliff and looks out over the whole gorge. Scrambling over the giant boulders, the hikers made their way along the crest and then down along the trail under the base. From below, they could look up at the hundred foot high walls of vertical and overhanging granite. And this was just the beginning!

11 Dec

Posted at 21:56h in Hickory Nut Forest by
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In Part 1, I discussed how I went about getting permissions for the trail. Once that was done for a large portion of the trail, we began the on the ground work to clear the trail and make it walkable. Looking at maps and envisioning a possible route from the topo lines is one thing, but getting out on the ground is something else. The land never quite looks like one imagines it from a map. The first few trips out, we just explored the land. Since the first 3-4 miles of the trail lay on over 700 acres of land, there was a lot to explore. We knew we wanted to get from the Florence Nature Preserve to Chimney Rock State Park eventually, so we looked for a possible route that would take us in that direction. Also we wanted to pick the most scenic and interesting route along the gorge. This meant looking for outcrops with views, waterfalls, ridgelines and different types of forests.

11 Dec

Posted at 21:49h in Hickory Nut Forest by
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Going for a hike sounds like a pretty simple thing to do. You put on your hiking boots, grab some water and trail mix, and go. But what goes into getting the trail ready to be hiked? The history of trail making in this country goes way back. Of course, the original footpaths were created by Native Americans and used for hunting, gathering and traveling between summer and winter areas.

03 Nov

Posted at 18:30h in Hickory Nut Forest by
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Last Sunday we held our First Annual Halloween Monster Jam at Hickory Nut Forest. We could not have picked a more beautiful day – bright sunny skies, mild temperatures, colorful fall leaves and a slight breeze. M.o.n.s.t.e.r. stands for mountain music, organic foods, natural building/permaculture, sustainability, treasure hunt, eco-friendly and renewable energy – all components of our eco-community vision. With bluegrass music playing in the background, people dropped in all day long to press apple cider, eat pumpkin pies and dip caramel and peanut butter apple slices.

17 Oct

Posted at 21:15h in Hickory Nut Forest by
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Today we had 25 people of all ages out in our organic apple orchard, Honey Bear Orchard, shaking trees and picking apples. We had a great abundance of apples this year, and we wanted to find a way to share this with people in need in the surrounding community. The Society of St. Andrews came out with all of these volunteers to gather apples from our trees. They are an organization that does gleaning, which is the gathering of fruits and vegetables from farmer’s fields at the end of the season that would normally go to waste. They then distribute the food free to hungry people in their community.