Farmer Billy leads Qi Gong in the Big Barn at Hickory Nut Gap, teaching the same flow-state practice that keeps him energized through long farm days. The session blends breath, movement and focus using techniques from the Noble Movement Academy. All levels work, and regulars say they leave feeling grounded and clear.

Classes run $18 each, or grab the nine-session fall pass for $113. Practitioners get 5% off meat and eggs at the farm store on class day with a receipt or pass. The hour-long sessions welcome beginners and anyone chasing more energy and creativity through simple but intentional movement.

Sundays September 27, October 4, 11 and 18 from 10 to 11 AM at Hickory Nut Gap Farms in Fairview.

Hickory Nut Gap is a working family farm out on Sugar Hollow Road in Fairview, east of Asheville, and the same family has been farming it since 1916. They raise 100% grassfed beef plus pasture-raised pork and chicken, and the farm store and butchery is where you stock up on all of it, along with local goods and prepared food.

Fall is when the farm really comes alive. Weekends bring hay rides and pony rides by donation, with the money going to Project HNG. Wednesday through Sunday the kids, and plenty of grown-ups, hit the culvert slides, the trike track, the sound silo and the creek with its little rope swing. Local apples, farm-pressed cider and pumpkins fill up the store in September.

The calendar stays full out here. Monthly Big Barn Socials, barn dance shows with live music and a two-step instructor, stargazing nights, birding walks and Sunday morning qi gong all happen on the farm, so grab tickets early for the bigger nights.

Regulars come for the meat, the grassfed beef and the sausages especially, and plenty of folks make the drive just to restock the freezer. On fall weekends it's a go-to for families, with kids bouncing between the slides, the piglets and the chick brooder while the grown-ups grab a hot dog and a cider.

Hickory Nut Gap Farms

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Qi Gong with Farmer Billy

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