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 FALL PLANT SALES
Find Milkweed Meadows Farm selling pollinator-friendly potted plants at these local events:
Sunday September 4, 12 PM - 3 PM
Sunday Brunch Market
Sideways Farm & Brewery, 62 Eade Rd., Etowah, NC
Saturday, September 10, 8 AM - 1 PM
Hendersonville Farmers Market
Historic Train Depot, 650 Maple St., Hendersonville, NC
Friday, September 16, 12 PM - 3 PM & Saturday, September 17, 10 AM - 3 PM
Fall Plant Sale & Vendor Market
The North Carolina Arboretum ($16 parking fee for non-members), 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC
Thursday, September 22, 2 PM - 3:30 PM
A Monarch's Journey: From Mexico to NC and Back (registration opening soon)
Bullington Gardens, 95 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville, NC
Estela Romero, monarch educator and journalist who works in the overwintering sanctuaries near her home in Angangueo, Michoacán and Kim Bailey, local educator and farmer/owner of Milkweed Meadows Farm in Fruitland, NC will present up-close and personal views of the monarch’s remarkable life cycle and epic migration. Estela and Kim will share their in-depth knowledge of these winged wonders on the journey from Mexico to NC and back again. Also learn how to invite monarchs into your own garden by growing milkweed and planting a succession of nectar-producing native flowers throughout spring, summer, and fall. Swamp milkweed plants will be for sale for just $5 each following the presentation. 100% of plant sales will be donated to the Symbolic Monarch Migration.
Cost: $20
Registration: Call 828-698-6104 to register or register online.
Saturday, September 24, 11 AM - 3 PM
Mountain Monarch Festival (FREE!)
Gorges State Park, 976 Grassy Ridge Road, Sapphire, 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.