2014 Black Mountain Tailgate Market Season Opening is May 3

[photo credit: BM Tailgate Market Facebook Page]

Many people who visit the mountains of North Carolina have “go to a farmers’ market” on their list of things to do. And for good reason: an abundance of small, family-owned farms are in the mountains, many of them organic, and many of them make their items available for sale at local tailgate markets. Seriously, what’s better than farm fresh strawberries, tomatoes and other fruits and veggies, beautiful cut flowers, and delicious local honey?

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North Carolina Mountain Birds: Swainson’s Warbler

[Swainson’s Warbler, image from the National Audubon Society]

Spring marks the migration of warblers to the Appalachians, where they spend the summer hanging out and raising families. We thus dedicate the month of April in our 12 Months of Birding at the Inn blog series to one warbler who likes to make Pisgah National Forest its spring and summer destination: the Swainson’s Warbler.

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2014 Painters Greenhouse Herb Festival is April 12-13

Last year’s Festival [photo credit: Painters Greenhouse Facebook Page]

Since the Inn on Mill Creek Bed & Breakfast is getting a little herb garden makeover this year (more on that later this month), we are super excited about the 10th Annual Painters Greenhouse Herb Festival, the weekend of April 12-13, 2014. Painters Greenhouse is one of our favorite locally-owned nurseries, located near the Inn on Mill Creek, in Old Fort, NC.

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Swannanoa Valley Museum 2014 Season Opening

Photo Credit: Swannanoa Valley Museum

If you’re a history geek like your Inn on Mill Creek innkeepers, we have news for you: The Swannanoa Valley Museum in the town of Black Mountain opens for the season on Saturday, April 12, 2014. Buncombe County and Western North Carolina have a diverse and interesting history, with early settlement by Native Americans followed by American colonists around the time of the Revolutionary War, the growth of farming and agriculture that influences our foodtopian society today, the significant impact of the railroad’s construction through the mountains, the area’s beauty inspiring the arrival of many religious and spiritual retreats, manufacturing and development, important historical figures being born, having lived in, and having relocated to the area shaping history, and so on. And the Swannanoa Valley Museum is a terrific place to learn all about it.

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