It Is Official Maple Valley Farm Is a Certified Wildlife Habitat
We have some news we’re really proud to share with our Farm Fam: Maple Valley Farm is officially a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat®!
If you follow along with life here, you know the wild neighbors are a big part of what we love about this place. A mama bear passing through with her cubs. A doe keeping watch over her fawn. Birds busy raising their young. Those moments make us stop what we’re doing and pay attention.
This designation recognizes our efforts to give those animals what they need to make a home here: food, water, cover and places to raise young, supported by sustainable gardening practices.
A Farm Shared With Wildlife
Maple Valley Farm is a working cut-flower farm and a place where guests come to rest and reconnect with nature. It is also habitat. The wildlife was here long before anyone booked a stay, and making room for it is part of our responsibility to this land.
This year, we’ve documented multiple mama bears with cubs, four does each with a fawn, and a bobcat mama with twins. We’ve also seen birds and other wildlife raising young, including pileated woodpeckers, wild turkeys, kingfishers, raccoons, skunks and opossums.
Those families need more than somewhere to pass through. They need food, water and places where they can shelter. Seeing young animals here gives us another reason to keep caring for the habitat around them.
The Choices We Make Every Day
We’re constantly seeding and planting wildflowers, plants and trees that offer food and shelter. We avoid chemical weed control and synthetic fertilizers. That approach takes work, but it matters to us.
We also have a firm no-hunting policy on the farm. Fishing in our designated fishing pond is catch-and-release only, and our farm animals are pets who will be cared for throughout their lives.
The certification is a milestone we’re happy to celebrate. The work continues as we keep planting, caring for the land and learning from what we see here.
Sharing This Place With You
For our guests, some of the best moments happen when there’s nothing on the schedule: listening to the morning birds, noticing a butterfly in the flowers or catching a glimpse of wildlife at a distance.
We want to share those moments in a way that respects the animals. Please give wildlife space, never feed or approach it, and keep pets under control. Each animal has its own life to get on with, and the best way to enjoy it is to let it do just that.
Thank you to everyone who has followed our wildlife videos, enjoyed the flowers or simply appreciated the quieter side of life here. We’re glad we get to share this part of Maple Valley Farm with you.
Read more about our habitat and how we care for it at HERE. To learn how to create habitat in your own outdoor space, visit nwf.org/garden.
With love,
Jacob & Justin
Maple Valley Farm — Your Little Slice of Heaven in the Smokies.
