6 - Juneberry Ridge (Norwood, NC)

00:00
Hey everyone, welcome back to Biscuits and Gravy. I'm Michelle, I'm your host, and today we're talking about Juneberry Ridge in Norwood, North Carolina. Now, Juneberry Ridge is somewhere that we're fairly familiar with in our family, because Adam, my husband, has been working at Juneberry for the last several years, in some capacity or another. So, he started out working part-time as a...

00:29
land team member, meaning he worked on the land in some way. He mowed, he whatever needed to be done. I honestly don't know what he did. But that was a while back. For the past year, almost full year now, he has worked full time at Junbury as their livestock manager.

00:55
So he is managing their entire livestock program, which Junbury is a farm. It is a regenerative farm and hospitality center. And it's kind of in the middle of nowhere. So people from around here, a lot of them don't know about Junbury and I am always very quick to...

01:21
share with them just our experience of Juneberry and try to invite them to check it out. But I'm actually going to pull up Juneberry's website right now. I'm going to link their website in the show notes so that you guys can check it out as well. But I just wanted to let you know what Juneberry has to offer, especially if you're from my neck of the woods,

01:52
but without the traffic of Charlotte, North Carolina. There are several things that happen at Juneberry regularly. So the first thing that, the first real, this was after Adam had started working there, but the real experience came of Juneberry on the guest side of it.

02:20
when Adam and I were invited to go on a marriage retreat at Juneberry where they had rented, they have five, let me see, I'm pretty sure there's five. Yes, there are five tiny cabins, little log cabins, and they are adorable. I cannot wait for you guys to check out biscuitsandgravypodcast.com when this episode goes live and you will be able to see pictures

02:50
some of the insides of the cabins, the tiny cabins, as well as some of the other places that I'm gonna describe to you too that you are able to rent for yourself. But going back to this marriage retreat, there were several couples and each couple had a little tiny cabin and they're all side by side. They're very private though. They each have a private screened in porch.

03:17
We enjoyed sitting out there and talking together and drinking coffee in the morning and and reading our Bibles just Adam and I and and then they have Kitchen they have a nice spacious bathroom Really comfortable king-size bed a living area TV all the things that you could want You know for your comfort

03:46
being away from home, they had that there in these little tiny cabins. In fact, we love the tiny cabins so much that Adam and I have talked about modeling our future home, kind of our empty nest home maybe after these tiny cabins. So yes, they have these little tiny cabins.

04:15
like a meeting area, they call it the Saskatoon. It's just a, it's just like a little, like a little conference room kind of place. It's got a pool table in there. It's got like a little living area so you can sit on couches and just converse with each other. They've got bikes that you can ride. And what else? There's showers in there. It's like a...

04:44
It's kind of like a little community center. They're amongst these little cabins. And so it's a really nice place. If you are gonna have a retreat of some sort, it's a really nice setup for that because each, like I said, each family or each couple could have their own little living space and then you could come together to meet with other people. Or if you guys were doing something like we did with the marriage retreat, then.

05:13
It's a great little setup. There is another cabin that is close to there. It's a house, it's more of a house type deal. It's called the Longleaf. And this is actually the cabin that Adam and I have not stayed in yet, but I'm looking at pictures right now and I would love to stay in this the next time we...

05:36
we stay at Juneberry for whatever reason but it's really beautiful. I love windows so it is like my dream come true because it has lots and lots of floor to ceiling windows and it's just beautiful. So I'm excited. I think this is definitely where I would like to stay the next time. Let me tell you about the last place that you would be able to rent and this is actually very fresh.

06:05
in my mind because we stayed here this past weekend. This is called the Angler and it's got a private pond in front of it that you are able to fish, catch and release fish from. This is a house that will sleep eight people. I would say six people very comfortably. It has two bathrooms.

06:29
It has a full-size kitchen. We actually rented this for one night for my daughter's, our oldest daughter's, 13th birthday dinner with our family members. So our family came over and we had a dinner there and it was very nice and very spacious for everybody. It was a good change of scenery. When we were talking about Sydney's birthday we...

06:56
gave her the option, we were like, do you want us to spend money to rent this cabin, to have your birthday party at, or would you like us to go somewhere else, or spend that money elsewhere? And she didn't even have to think, she was all for renting this cabin here. And she loved it. We had had a long weekend, because it was the 4th of July weekend, so we had been going to lots of friend gatherings, and cookouts and things.

07:23
and staying up way too late and everything. So she was very tired. So she really slept most of the time that we were at the Angler this weekend. But it was really, really nice. It was, like I said, great change of scenery, beautifully decorated, well-equipped kitchen. They have a washer and dryer if you need it there. I mean, it's super homey and convenient. If you, I think, Adam and I were talking.

07:52
that it would be a great place to have like a family reunion if you had a couple of families that wanted to go in and get together or a friend reunion or whatever to help share the cost because it is a little pricey and for our standards just because Adam and I don't we don't go places where we rent huge houses a lot of times that sleep a lot of people as you've probably heard from some of our

08:21
previous episodes, we usually stay at places that are more economic for us, for our family, you know, just two adults and some kids. So, but yeah, for sure, if you had several friends that you wanted to go in with to rent this place or other families, it would be great. And like I said, you've got your own fishing hole there. They had a nice fire pit in the back.

08:47
The Angler used to be, I think they used to call it the homestead because it is right there with lots of animals. Adam had chickens set up because, you know, he works there, so this is his occupation. But he had chickens and turkeys set up there right in the backyard basically, fenced in at the Angler.

09:10
And then they have like a nice little raised bed kitchen garden in the back of the house, as well as a nice fire pit for you to sit around and enjoy a fire together. It was like hot as you know what, when we were there, I mean like you walk outside and you just feel like you have just stepped into a sauna. And so we did not sit around the fire at all, but Travis did enjoy fishing.

09:40
Travis Ansellier enjoyed fishing and Adam enjoyed fishing. So they got to enjoy that a little bit. I sat on the front porch. They've got a nice big front porch with some chairs out there. I sat out there and watched them fish in the morning and drink my coffee and read my book and it was really nice. So highly recommend one of these stays.

10:04
As far as family goes, yes, I think the Angler is a great option for families. Like I said, I would love to try the Longleaf. I have a sneaky suspicion that the Longleaf might actually be my favorite. But like I said, we haven't gone to that one yet. I just love open floor plans, floor to ceiling windows, and that's what the Longleaf cabin has.

10:31
I'm going to advocate for trying out the Longleaf next time. It says it sleeps six on the website, three bedrooms. So I feel like our family could stay there very comfortably. But as far as just like a retreat with you and your partner, the tiny cabins, the little wooded cabins, are really, really awesome for that.

10:58
Adam and I have actually stayed there a couple of times in those tiny cabins because we love them so much. So, all right moving on from staying overnight. Let me tell you a little bit more about what Junbury Ridge has to offer. One of the things that we've loved about Junbury Ridge is their brunch. They have a Sunday brunch which is amazing.

11:25
It is an all you can eat brunch, which sounds a little dangerous, doesn't it? An all you can eat brunch, and they have an omelet station, they have a waffle station, they have any kind of dessert or pastry you could ever imagine. They have eggs and meat, bacon, sausage, grits.

11:53
What else? They have so many things. I think they even have salad, they have fruit, they have all kinds of things. I mean, literally just anything you could ever imagine that you would want to eat for a brunch, they have it there. So, highly recommend their brunch. I believe they are doing that every other Sunday. So you just have to check their website. And one thing I would suggest,

12:18
doing is going on their website which is Juneberry.com. I'll leave that link in the in the show notes and sign up for their newsletter. That's usually how I hear about what's going on at Juneberry is through their newsletter and it gives you plenty of options for signing up for things and whatnot. Another thing that Juneberry does is it's called Juneberry Jams during the summertime.

12:44
And actually, this coming Saturday night is their last Juneberry Jams for the year. They did three concerts this year, this summer, with a speaker that came in to talk before the concert. And then they had an opening act, and then they had a main act. We have thoroughly enjoyed all of these this year. It's beautiful. I will try to post some pictures as well of Juneberry Jams on the website, on our website.

13:13
So check out that, biscuitsandgravypodcast.com. When this episode goes live, those will be up there. And it's beautiful. Occasionally the weather, you know, you never can tell during the summertime with the storms and things, but you know, sometimes that'll kind of put a little damper on things, but for the most part, it's just been really beautiful weather, really cool up on the ridge. It's kind of...

13:42
up on a hill and you can see far out into the distance behind where the band is playing. Everyone's sitting on the lawn. Adam and I take our lawn chairs and we take a blanket for the kids and we eat there. They have really, really good food. That's one thing that June Berry is really known for is their really, really good food. They produce a lot of their food on farms, so a lot of their produce. And then, like I said, Adam is raising.

14:11
a lot of their animals for their use in the kitchen. So that is really fun. The kids enjoyed farm camp. Juneberry has a farm camp every summer. They have one for younger kids, like elementary school kids, and then they have one for the older kids, teens. And our two middle kids went to farm camp for the younger.

14:40
the younger class this year and it was really fun for them. They were so sad when it was the last day, so they got to learn all kinds of things. They got to learn about how food is prepared there. They got to learn about how plants are grown in the greenhouse. They got to go around with their daddy one day to learn about the animal program and how the animals are raised and what they eat and how they're rotated and all that kind of stuff. So.

15:09
really really cool place. They have weddings there. I've seen some some local people have weddings there lately. Some pictures from that and just different events throughout the year. I've signed up for a painting class that they're going to have there on a Saturday. Just stuff like that. So this I mean you should I really recommend Junbury. Junbury has a good reputation now for their hospitality.

15:39
I know when we stayed for the marriage retreat, it was just so nice. Over the top hospitality. We were so pleased with it. The food was amazing. We knew it was fresh. We knew it was locally grown. We had a dinner one night, private dinner there with the other couples at the marriage retreat.

16:04
And it just, you know, candlelight, it was just so special. It just felt just very luxurious. Their conference center, which is where all of the meals take place there, the brunch and such is overlooking a pond and it's got a nice deck out on front and it's just really beautiful. So,

16:33
I highly recommend Juneberry. Juneberry is always changing. I find I get a little bit of the inside scoop from my husband, but Juneberry is always growing and always changing and trying to become better and better and more equipped to be that hospitality center for people. And as far as my husband goes, to be that regenerative farm that is

17:03
you know, raising vegetation and livestock in a responsible way and that is giving back to the earth instead of taking away from the earth. And I just think that's super important. That's something that Adam and I are really passionate about and so we are pleased that

17:31
This is a place that we would recommend if you want just a little getaway. Just you and your partner. Highly recommend their lodging. You and your family. Like I said, great place. Or if you just want to go and go to a concert one night, or if you want to go to brunch one Sunday afternoon or just like I said, I would, I would definitely check out their website.

17:58
just to see what everything looks like. You'll see how beautiful it is from their pictures they've got online. And then you can sign up for their newsletter and receive emails every once in a while as they plan events. And then you'll be able to sign up for them as well. So, all right, that's all for today's episode. I hope you will check out our website, biscuitsandgravypodcast.com.

18:25
where I will have the show notes for this, as well as the transcript of this podcast, and pictures for you to enjoy of the different events and places that we have experienced at Juneberry Ridge in Norwood, North Carolina. All right, I will talk to you guys next time. Thanks for listening.