Community coming together

This past weekend was Hickory Nut Forest's Third Annual Apple Festival.  The day was filled with great sweetness and abundance.  Imagine a magestic orchard on a sunny fall day filed with a diversity of people picking apples, pressing cider, and lifting their spirits in celebration.  The abundance not only included the apples as they fell (or in some cases were shaken) from the trees, but also the abundance of shared community, good food, and combined effort.  The sweetness was experienced in the taste of pies, the crispness of the air, and laughter as people connected in new ways.

It was a splendid event, and the kind that Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community is inspired to support and host.  We look forward to many more events that bring people together to remember the beauty of the natural world, the support of community and how spirit moves us in amazing ways.

Thank you to all who attended, and we look forward to seeing more of you in the future. Videos and photos will be added soon.

http://www.hickorynutforest.ecofriendlycommunities.com/

Living in an Eco-Village in Western North Carolina

One of the best-kept secrets in Western North Carolina is the quaint mountain village of Gerton, tucked high in the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge. The setting takes one back in time, having managed to stay relatively untouched in the midst of Western North Carolina’s rapid growth. Above this hamlet soars Bearwallow Mountain with breath-taking rocky cliffs. Through the main valley cascades the boulder-strewn Hickory Nut Creek with its many tumbling waterfalls.

What is Gerton like today? - the local social “Ecosystem”

Living in Hickory Nut Forest and in Gerton offers many diverse opportunities for recreation, entertainment and enjoyment of the outdoors. There are tennis courts, many miles of hiking trails, horseback riding, bird watching, fishing, picnicking, boating, over a dozen golf courses in the area, biking, gardening, and community social events. Amenities are within walking distance: Nita’s Grocery/General Store, the Post Office, Gerton Fire Department, the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Community Center.

Hickory Nut Forest is just the beginning of what is possible for Gerton.

What would be worse than simply watching sprawling growth absorb this special place? Let’s envision a different future for Gerton. You can be part of creating the hub of an eco-village that retains the authentic, rustic feeling of the community and serves the needs of all its residents. Your ideas might include a village center with an old-time general store stocked with basic supplies for the village, small shops, a natural foods café and juice bar, fresh local produce stand, coffee shop, pub with local musicians, and a bed and breakfast. It could include work spaces for entrepreneurs, artists, and professionals. It could be an entirely “net zero renewable energy eco village” where people could live as well as work. It could include cohousing, seniors housing and neighborhoods for families and children. How does this sound to you? If you are interested, please contact Us.

Hiking the beautiful gorge at Hickory Nut Forest

We don’t feel we own this land. Rather, we feel more aligned as stewards, here to protect it. We are full of wonder and awe at nature’s intricate beauty. Living here is about discovering mysteries and miracles: and with fall approaching its a magical time.  

Forever wild, protected land surrounds Hickory Nut Forest, and covenants on the lots ensure that homes will blend naturally into the forest. We have kept the most special wild places: cascading streams, tumbling waterfalls, sheer cliffs, and distant vistas. There are over six miles of hiking trails that residents and visitors can enjoy and an adjoining 800 acres in both Little Bearwallow Mountain and Florence Nature Preserves. Just down the gorge are another 3500 acres of waterfalls and cliffs at Chimney Rock State Park.

Hiking in the fall is a wonderful way to experience the magic of this area. If you would like to come out to hike, please give us a call or email us.  Go to www.LaughingWatersNC.com or www.HickoryNutForest.com

Finding EcoFriendly Windows for "green" building

\Doug is building a sustainable home at Hickory Nut Forest Eco-community.  As he builds, he is sharing his experience so others can learn from his research.  Below is his investigation into "green" windows....

It’s time to place the orders for the windows. We just need to decide size, shape colour and finish  then find the best deal right….. no actually it’s a lot more involved than that. Here are some of the other considerations

1. Construction – air leakage
2. Ability to capture heat from the sun – solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC)
3. The rate at which a window conducts non-solar heat flow – U factor
4. Type of opening –  with a passive solar house, it’s critical to move the heat from the heated zones out into the rest of the building. These vital cross ventilation needs and opportunities dictate selection of casement vs double hung vs awning style openings

All of the above need to be considered and treated differently for each individual face of the house. To the south the priority is to soak up the sun so lots of glass. To the north, where there is minimal sun, we need to focus on minimizing heat losses and for east and west, somewhere between the two.

We chose Herd H3 frames with Cardinal glass (SHGC 0.7, U 0.3). The devil’s in the detail, look at the difference in construction quality

The Hurd product has a great seal and fully contacts the seal, reducing your energy costs and increasing your return on investment.

This product is supposed to be “the best” but look at this poor seal! Not to mention it has half of the wood structure as the Hurd product.

To complete the job, after careful installation and tight  sealing and insulation we will need to carefully select window shades and add window quilts for our biggest windows otherwise, when night falls, we’ll lose all our heat gains back through the windows…….!