When we planned our trips to the mountains I thought we would just be going to visit a few shops and travel the Blue Ridge Parkway, ( which we did do one of the two- no shops but did drive part of the Blue Ridge.) But about a week before we were going, I was given the opportunity to turn it into a work trip by working with the people from the Visit NC Farms app.
I was very excited when I found out that I go to choose where I wanted to visit. Of course, since flowers are my love language, when I saw that there was a flower farm listed on the Visit NC Farms app, I know I wanted to go.
The Never Ending Flower Farm is a hidden gem in the Mountains of North Carolina. It is a business that specializes in u pick flowers. Why do I say hidden gem- because you have to follow the signs and drive down a dirt road to get to it. But it is well worth the drive. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when I got there but whatever I was expecting I am sure I was blown away by the kindness, generosity of Loretta the owner as well as the landscape of the farm.
When we arrived we were taken on a tour of the entire farm by Loretta, the enthusiastic owner. We talked about all of the plants and flowers they came across on their journey. How everything was a trial and error for her and how with farming you have to be flexible. Loretta was such a joy to chat with- I learned that the flower farm started as a hobby for her but she soon learned she can incorporate it into a business.
Each year Loretta loving starts each flower from seed in her greenhouse- which we toured. She kept apologizing for the mess but I kept telling her workspaces are supposed to be messy. I was totally impressed with her eucalyptus plants growing in the back of the greenhouse.
We got to see how they make sorghum syrup. Not sure what that is well folks, to be honest, I wasn’t either but I let my fingers google it ( what would we do without google) and came up with something that is sort of like molasses. It wasn’t until we were leaving the flower farm that my hubby pointed out that we had driven by some sorghum fields. So once I saw that I realized that looks like cane in the fields. They then strip it down and it goes into one pot for processing. Once it is processed it then gets piped into a vat where 70 gallons of processed Sorghum gets cooked down to 7 gallons of syrup. It is an all-day event. Loretta told me that they only harvest the sorghum 3 weekends in the fall, and we just happen to visit on one of the weekends. So that was kinda cool to see how the process works.
Loretta was such a gracious tour guide, introducing us (hubby and I) to her family. That is what I love about small farmers, they understand how important it is to build a community and they treat every one of their guests like they are a relative coming to eat Sunday dinner.
As we were touring I kept hearing how Loretta really listens to her customers. For example, The Biltmore House which is a very famous house in Asheville ( near there) in the spring has beautiful displays of tulips. I mean everybody goes crazy over them. So her family and her planted 12,000 tulips for you pick at The Never Ending Flower Farm. And did I mention that she loves for people to come and take pictures in the garden?
While I was there another blogger came up and set up a tea party in the garden for a photo shoot. I love it when people see the value of bloggers. ( I was so intent on listening to everything Loretta said that I left the picture taking to hubby. Let’s just say I learned my lesson. )
Our tour ended at a small table with glass vases half-filled with water. Y’all this is the first time I have ever been to a you-pick flower farm where they provide actual vases- not buckets. Loretta so graciously and generously invited us to pick a bouquet to take home. I am learning that I love dahlias. ( I will be looking forward to planting some near the blog cabin soon and I will tell you about that soon.)
TIP: Make the bouquet in your hand before you stick them in the vase. ( Don’t be like Melissa)
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