Located along Clear Creek just six miles east of downtown Hendersonville, Milkweed Meadows is a 5th generation family farm. Its grassy "bottoms" once nourished cows that produced milk sold to Biltmore Dairy Farms in Asheville. Today, the meadows are yielding milk of a different kind — milkweed plants to help sustain monarch butterflies!
THE FARM AND THE FARMER
An avid wildlife habitat gardener and environmental educator for over 25 years, farmer Kim Bailey has a true passion for pollinators. Over the past years, she has been expanding the farm's natural habitats for native milkweed species and planting additional host plants for other butterflies.
Living tunnels of passionvines, pipevines, climbing milkweeds, and hops vines benefit a diversity of species while an orchard of over 100 pawpaw trees specifically nurture zebra swallowtail larvae.
Milkweed Meadows Farm currently produces native wildflower seeds, open-pollinated heirloom vegetable seeds, pollinator-friendly potted plants, cut flowers, and specialty fruits. Educational programs and/or farm tours for groups are also periodically scheduled onsite.
2022 PLANT SALES
Find Milkweed Meadows Farm selling pollinator-friendly potted plants at these local events:
Saturday, April 23, 9 AM - 3 PM
Montreat Native Plant Sale & Arbor Day Celebration
Moore Field (below Lake Susan), Montreat, NC
Presentation at 10:45 AM!
Monarch's Journey: From NC to Mexico and Back
Discover the monarch's remarkable life cycle & epic migration. Invite monarchs into your own garden by growing milkweed and planting a succession of nectar-producing native flowers throughout spring, summer, and fall.
Saturday & Sunday, May 28-29, 9 AM - 5 PM
Garden Jubilee, Booth # P16 across from the Visitors Center Stage
201 S Main St., Hendersonville, NC
Presentation at 1 PM on Visitors Center Stage!
Recipes for Pollinator Gardening Success
Kim Bailey (AKA nectar bartender and pollinator chef at Milkweed Meadows Farm) will share secret ingredients and recipes for serving up a bountiful garden buffet for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, and more! The key is not just providing nectar-producing plants to attract adult pollinators who'll fly by "the bar" for a quick sip then move along.
You also want to offer a kids' menu to entice pollinators to stick around, make their homes in your garden, and make more pollinators! This means growing critical "baby food" plants (such as milkweed!) and flowers with "carryout pollen" to cater to offspring who are picky eaters! If you're hungry to learn more about nourishing pollinators by planting beautiful flowers, herbs, passionfruit vines, and pawpaw trees, be sure to join us for this entertaining and educational presentation inspired by a cooking show you'd expect to see on Nature's Food Network!
Saturday, June 4, 8 AM - 1 PM
Pollinator Day at Hendersonville Farmers Market
Historic Train Depot, 650 Maple St., Hendersonville, NC
Sunday, June 5, 12 PM - 3 PM
Sunday Brunch Market
Sideways Farm & Brewery, 62 Eade Rd., Etowah, NC
Saturday, June 25, 1 - 6 PM
6th Annual Fletcher Firefly Festival
Blue Ghost Brewing Co., Firefly Field, 125 Underwood Rd., Fletcher, NC
Sunday September 4, 12 PM - 3 PM
Sunday Brunch Market
Sideways Farm & Brewery, 62 Eade Rd., Etowah, NC
Saturday, September 10
Hendersonville Farmers Market
Historic Train Depot, 650 Maple St., Hendersonville, NC
Friday and Saturday, September 16-17, 10 AM - 3 PM
Fall Plant Sale & Vendor Market
The North Carolina Arboretum ($16 parking fee), 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC
CONTACT US TO...
- Make an appointment to purchase potted plants or buckets of fresh-cut flowers at the farm (typically available May - October).
- Schedule a farm tour and/or onsite educational program for your garden club, classroom, or other group ($10 per person, $100 minimum). Kim may also be available to give presentations or teach classes/workshops on monarch butterfly ecology, gardening for pollinators, etc. at your location.
- Contract for “grow to order” pollinator-friendly plants available in 5” deep 38-plug flats or quart containers (8-12 weeks’ notice needed, depending on species) or bulk seed production.
- Request butterfly eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalides (as naturally available April - September) for your classroom, public garden/arboretum, or other educational organization. Butterflies are always free. Host plants (to feed caterpillars) are available for purchase.
- Purchase native passionfruit (AKA maypop) or pawpaw fruits (typically available starting in September) for fresh eating, brewing/fermentation, or restaurant/culinary use.
Individual packets of milkweed seeds and certain open-pollinated heirloom vegetable seeds grown at Milkweed Meadows Farm are available from Sow True Seed.