Secret Hideaway: Fickle Creek Farm

Escape to this Efland, NC, farm to see the day-to-day work of a sustainable farm.|Diane Daniel

The Farm: Set on 145 acres of rolling hills just 20 minutes from Chapel Hill, this farm is a showcase of sustainable livestock and produce. Owners Ben Bergmann and Noah Ranells supply a number of area restaurants with eggs, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, and vegetables. They raise animals naturally outdoors, and you won’t detect a whiff of anything unpleasant from the dozens of pigs and thousands of chickens a field or two away. Request a complimentary walking tour past gardens, rooting pigs, and roaming chickens, or just wander about the farm on your own.

Where You’ll Sleep: A simple, attractive studio apartment above the garage offers privacy, while a room in the couple’s passive-solar house puts you more in the thick of things.

What You’ll Eat: Breakfast, served in Ben and Noah’s airy kitchen, is always local and usually comes directly from the farm.

Who Goes There: City folks looking for a country stay; anyone interested in an inside view of a working, sustainable farm; and families who want to show their kids where food comes from.

You’ll Love It If: You want to see farmers in action and even chip in. Guests can help gather eggs and feed the animals.

You Won’t Love It If: You don’t appreciate time in the unadorned outdoors, without television.

Authentic Farm Moment: Witnessing an egg plop out of a chicken and, an hour later, devouring an egg strata accompanied by Fickle Creek sausage and fresh-squeezed tomato juice.

What You’ll Take Home: An understanding of the ways animals not only provide food but also play an integral role on a sustainable farm, including eating brush, turning soil, and then fertilizing it. —diane daniel

Rooms from $80, with farm-fresh breakfast; ficklecreekfarm.com or 919/304-628

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