Well Fed On the Town

I’m not one to buy pumpkins at the grocery store. I would much rather get out to a local farm and pick my own. I love to experience the fall scenery and the autumn air, and to know precisely how fresh my pumpkin is.

This weekend, we went to Hickory Nut Gap Farm near Asheville, NC to let the kids go into the field and pick their own pumpkins. It was a perfect fall day, with warm temperatures, bright sunshine and the leaves turning shades of yellow, orange and red. It was still warm enough that a few children splashed in a stream at the farm.

We walked around to let everyone choose their own pumpkin, and to give the kids a chance to learn more about the connection between food being grown and food being eaten.

In fact, Hickory Nut Gap Farm provides produce, as well as meats through its Springhouse Meats operation, to several local restaurants, making it pretty easy to dine on locally-grown and produced food at various restaurants in Asheville, including Early Girl Eatery, The Market Place, Biltmore Estate Bistro, Table, Corner Kitchen and Richmond Hill Inn.

After our pumpkin-seeking adventures, I went into the farm store to find my own treats. Inside the small and modest store, there were some great finds, such as apple butters and pumpkin muffins.

The farm’s meats are all produced with livestock that is pasture raised and grassfed with no hormones and no antibiotics. Their Katahdin lamb that has a milder flavor. I settled on some lamb stew meat, figuring this is the perfect time to stock up for a hearty fall stew.

Hickory Nut Gap Farm and Springhouse Meats
57 Sugar Hollow Road
Fairview, NC 28730
(828) 628-1027