Clifton Avery of Ventures Birding Tours leads a morning walk through Hickory Nut Gap's pastures and forest to catch fall migration and peak sparrow season. The edge habitat between farm and woods pulls in warblers, finches, woodpeckers, hawks and the occasional bald eagle, and Avery knows where to look.

The hike covers uneven and sometimes steep ground, so sturdy shoes matter. Farm Director Virginia talks about how the farm's rotational grazing creates better bird habitat. A biscuit brunch is included, and attendees get five percent off in the farm store afterward.

Sunday October 18 from 8 AM to 11:30 AM at Hickory Nut Gap Farms in Fairview, $30 per person.

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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October Fall Birding & Sparrow Migration

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