Author: Catherine Dooley

Clay shooting in North Carolina can be a very enjoyable pastime, but it may be a little intimidating for beginners. In addition to good marksmanship, the hobby also requires patience, coordination, and good form, among other things. None of these things should scare you away from giving it a shot.

State-of-the-art Five Stand clay shooting is right in your backyard at North Corner Haven. Our seven machines throw endless combinations to keep you engaged for hours of entertainment. If you’re new to clay shooting, here’s everything you need to know before trying out our Sporting Clay Escape.

All About Clay Shooting in NC

Clay shooting was originally developed as a way for bird hunters to practice and hone their skills. Now, sporting clay shooting in NC has become its own challenging hobby for those who love to shoot and spend time outdoors.

Things to Know

Safety is the number one priority and there are a few fundamentals to keep in mind before your first trip.

1. Follow All Safety Rules

Using a gun of any kind is an enormous responsibility. Whether you are in the field or not, proper gun-handling etiquette is of the utmost importance. Always show that the action (the part of a firearm that loads, fires, and ejects a cartridge) is open and keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. The muzzle (the front end of the barrel) should be pointed in a safe direction, even when the gun isn’t loaded. You should always treat every gun as if it were loaded and only aim at something you intend to shoot.

2. Keep Your Action Open Until You Call for the Target

Timing is an important skill to develop to maintain good rhythm but also for safety. When you are trap and skeet shooting, you should always load shells one at a time and never load your gun until it is your turn. For sporting clays or five-stand shooting, don’t load your gun until you are in the cage and keep the action open when you are walking to the line.

3. Limit Distractions

When it is not your turn to shoot, try not to engage in small talk. Also, consider using a shell holder to resist the urge to reach for shells or pick up empties. Not only are these distractions poor etiquette, but they can also be very unsafe.

The Sporting Clay Escape

North Corner Haven’s Sporting Clay Escape is the perfect opportunity to try sporting clay shooting in NC and SC. Our Five Stand step up is made up of seven different machines launching clay discs in all directions. We call it the “baseball stadium.” Our package includes two hours of shooting with an instructor, protective equipment, gun rental, unlimited ammo and clays, and a boxed farm lunch and refreshments. You can also book a private group as the perfect team building outing or day with friends or customize your own spotting clay experience.

Book Today

To make a reservation for your Sporting Clay Escape, contact North Corner Haven today.

With more and more employees working remotely, team building has never been more important. Remote working is a great perk for employees and can improve work-life balance, but it can also lead to a disconnection from company culture. Prioritizing team building can ensure your employees stay engaged and motivated to work towards common goals.

Here are five team building strategies you can use to strengthen employee bonds.

Show and Tell

Bonds are formed when your team members understand what motivates each other. Ask each of your team members to bring in a special object from home that gives them passion, energy, or joy. Ask the person to explain the item and why it means so much to them. This is a great opportunity for the team members to learn something new about each other or maybe discover a common bond.

Learn Something New

Physical activities can be really fun and engaging team building exercises and when you learn something new together, it’s an added bonus! Consider adding a lesson or class of sorts to your next event. At North Corner Haven, we offer a beekeeping experience, where guests learn how we grow and harvest out honey. They also get to see an observation hive and taste honey straight from the honey cone. A delicious, engaging way to learn something new and share in that with your team!

Explore the Great Outdoors

Whether sitting at a desk in the office or at home, the same work environment day after day can lead to creative stagnation and complacency. A change of scenery can be helpful to spark imagination and give your team the chance to see things from a new perspective. Schedule a team outing like a hike on a local trail or picnic lunch. Even a simple outdoor activity can have substantial benefits.

Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt is an activity that can be done indoors or outdoors, and you can structure it in a way to give your team the chance to quickly get to know each other better. Create a list of criteria or personal facts like “someone who has been to Australia” or “someone who speaks more than two languages.” Each team member will spend time moving around the group and asking questions to match another team member with an item on the list. The person who fills out their list fastest is the winner.

Frisbee Toss

Another fun outdoor activity to use as a team building exercise is frisbee toss. For this activity, you’ll need at least ten participants and 15 Nerf frisbees or soft discs. You should have roughly one and a half times the amount of frisbees as you do participants. Instruct the team to begin throwing frisbees around to each other. Create some parameters on how each person earns points, such as a point for hitting a teammate in the leg or arm. Remind them to keep picking up frisbees that land on the ground and continue throwing them.

After several minutes, stop the play and ask if anyone remembered to count their points. Chances are, no one did. Rather than a competition, the game becomes more about enjoying time with teammates.

Adventures at North Corner Haven

Schedule your next team building event at North Corner Haven for an outdoor adventure to bring your team together. Situated on 625 acres of forest and foothills, North Corner Haven provides ample opportunity to explore the outdoors and engage in activities that are fun for the entire team. Contact us today to talk about your next event.

If you’ve decided on a barn wedding, the next step is to find the perfect space to hold your upcoming nuptials. Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life, so you don’t want to choose just any location. Before you start looking for Charlotte wedding venues, we’ll give you some tips on how to find your dream wedding spot and questions to ask a potential venue.

Tips for Finding Your Barn Wedding Venue in NC

Before you spend hours doing research on venues that won’t work for you, consider these few tips to help streamline your search.

Talk With A Wedding Planner

If you are thinking about a barn wedding or a ceremony with another kind of theme, consider using a wedding planner to make the planning process more efficient. A wedding planner will be familiar with all the Charlotte wedding venues, and they can help make recommendations about how to achieve the wedding of your dreams.

Finalize Your Budget and Ideal General Location

Before you can select a venue for your barn wedding, you need to have a firm budget in place. It will be heartbreaking if you fall in love with a wedding venue you can’t afford. Having the budget in place before your search will allow you to refine your potential wedding venues in NC to just those within your budget.

Rather than considering all wedding venues in NC, you should narrow your search down to a general location. This will help streamline your search into a manageable list of potential venues that you can then tour and seriously consider.

Know Your Guest List

The number of guests you intend to invite to your wedding will drastically affect what venue will work for you. For a barn wedding, you may not be able to accommodate hundreds of guests. It will be easier for you to select a venue when you know the number of people who will be attending.

Venue Red Flags to Avoid

Not all Charlotte wedding venues will offer a positive experience. When you’re touring or interviewing potential venues, there are some red flags to look for. If the venue books multiple weddings on the same day, this could mean a lot of chaos on the day of your event. Additionally, be on the lookout for issues with communication. If it seems difficult to communicate or interact with the staff during the interview phase, chances are that will continue through the planning process.

If the contract for the venue is unclear about the scope of service or fees, or if you are offered no contract at all, be very cautious should you decide to book that location. If they are vague about what they can accommodate or don’t show any flexibility for creative ideas, you might want to consider another venue.

Bespoke Weddings at North Corner Haven

If you’re looking for a beautiful barn wedding venue in the Charlotte area, North Corner Haven is the place for you. Our Cedar Barn sits on over five acres of space for you and your guests to enjoy the most spectacular event. Our experienced wedding planner on staff will work with you to curate a magical and memorable experience. Contact us today for a personal tour.

With the rise of remote work, employers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of employee engagement. If you work for a large business or corporation, your employees can be spread out all over the country or even the world. Without an office or daily in-person contact with coworkers, your employees can begin to feel disconnected to your organization’s culture and values, which is why you should be planning your next corporate retreat

Though many organizations are still hesitant to hold large, indoor corporate retreats or team building events, there is a more creative option that allows your employees to meet in person while simultaneously helping them beat burnout and improve their mental health. That solution is to gather in nature.

Outdoor venues with gorgeous views and scenic landscapes are rising in popularity for both corporate retreats and team building events. Here are a few reasons why you should let nature inspire your next team building event or corporate retreat.

Valuable But Safe Team Time

The first reason is that the immense value of social connection is undeniable. Not only are in-person meetings important for team building and comradery but gathering your team together impacts their mental health in unmeasurably positive ways. Long-term isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to elevated blood pressure, higher rates of obesity, and increased mental health issues. Nature is the perfect solution to these isolation woes.

Eliminating remote work and bringing everyone back to the office isn’t something most organizations can safely or feasibly do right now. Planning a nature-inspired team building event or corporate retreat gives your team the opportunity to spend time together in the open-air while feeling safe.

Change of Scenery as Inspiration

The safety and comfort that comes with a nature-inspired team building event isn’t the only benefit. Pulling your team out of their home working environment and gathering them in a scenic area with beautiful landscapes can reinvigorate their imagination and spark creativity. The change of scenery will help your team look at problems from a fresh perspective, empowering the path to new solutions and strategies.

Remaining in the same work environment day after day with no change can lead to complacency and decreased quality of work. A change of scenery can increase happiness and relaxation, which can drive better productivity and employee satisfaction.

The Nature-Health Link

Many companies are spending more time focusing on employee wellness these days. With increased workloads from sick leave and staffing issues combined with the general stress created by the pandemic, employees are burning out at an alarming rate. So it’s important to note that spending time in greenspaces reduces the risk of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stress, and high blood pressure. Planning corporate retreats and team building events that incorporate hiking, kayaking, or fishing can improve your team’s physical and mental well-being.

It’s Time to Book Your Corporate Retreat at North Corner Haven

If you’re looking to book an event with a truly unique experience, North Corner Haven is the ideal setting. Schedule your personal tour today.

With the rise of remote work, employers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of employee engagement. Whether you work for a small business or corporation, your employees can be spread out all over the city, country or even the world. Without an office or daily in-person contact with coworkers, your employees can begin to feel disconnected to your organization’s culture and values.

Dinner and discussion on the Farmhouse Porch at North Corner Haven

Valuable But Safe Team Time

Explore the farm while at North Corner Haven

Change of Scenery as Inspiration

Learn and enjoy new experiences like bonsai at North Corner Haven

The Nature-Health Link

Many companies are spending more time focusing on employee wellness these days. With increased workloads from sick leave and staffing issues combined with the general stress created by the pandemic, employees are burning out at an alarming rate. So it’s important to note that spending time in greenspaces reduces the risk of type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stress, and high blood pressure. Planning corporate retreats and team building events that incorporate nature walks, fishing or other outdoor programs can improve your team’s physical and mental well-being.

It’s Time to Book Your Corporate Retreat at North Corner Haven

If you’re looking to book an event with a truly unique experience, North Corner Haven is the ideal setting. Schedule your personal tour today.

These days, people are growing more and more of their produce at home. From supply chain issues and grocery store shortages to concerns about pesticides and other chemicals in your food, there are many reasons why you might choose to start growing at home.

Growing your own mushrooms at home gives you an all-access pass to one of the up-and-coming movements within the culinary industry. With their hearty texture and earthy flavors, mushrooms can elevate just about any meal to a new level. From a quick, vegan breakfast toast to a classic and elegant risotto dinner, there isn’t much a mushroom can’t elevate. Chefs all over the world are embracing mushrooms in a new way, and it’s not just a passing fad.

In this article, we’ll tell you all about why you should be growing your own mushrooms at home. We’ll discuss types of mushrooms like lion’s mane, reishi, shiitake, and morel. We’ll also present the three reasons why mushrooms grown at home beat store bought, including better taste, higher nutritional value, and improvements to your growing soil.

Lion’s Mane

Prized by chefs for its seafood-like texture, the lion’s mane mushroom is also known for its many health benefits. Lion’s mane contains valuable antioxidants and is often used in supplements and traditional Chinese medicine. Lion’s mane has also been linked to reduced inflammation in the body and improved brain function.

Reishi

The reishi mushroom is also known for boosting health. Native to Asia, reishi can be eaten fresh or turned into a powder for supplements to improve your body’s immune system and help fight fatigue and depression.

Shiitake

Shiitake mushrooms are one of the most popular types of mushrooms in the world. They are prevalent in Asian cuisine and are known for their strong, woodsy flavor. More recently, shiitake mushrooms have been making their way into more contemporary cuisine all over the world.

Morel

Morel mushrooms are only grown in the wild, making them rather expensive but high in demand for chefs and mushroom enthusiasts. Morels grow during the spring, which is when you can see them in restaurants or farmers’ markets. Morels have a nutty flavor and a rich, meaty texture.

Now that we’ve discussed these types of mushrooms, let’s talk about the benefits of growing them at home.

Tasty, All-Natural Cooking

When you grow your mushrooms at home, you can be sure you are getting the freshest possible product. When you buy from a grocery store, you could be buying mushrooms that have spent days or weeks in transit, depending on the type of mushroom.

Mushrooms that you grow at home can be both harvested and cooked in the same day. Plus, your mushrooms will be free of pesticides and chemicals that often end up on commercially farmed produce. This adds to more tasty cooking that is better for you and the environment.

Nutritional Value

While all kinds of vegetables are important to our diet, mushrooms contain a variety of nutrients that other vegetables may lack. Many mushroom species are high in B vitamins and others are rich in vitamin C. They also contain a compound called ergosterol, which is converted into vitamin D when mushrooms are exposed to direct sunlight.

In addition to being high in vitamins and macronutrients like calcium and magnesium, mushrooms are also one of the few organic sources of germanium and selenium. These elements are powerful nutrients that help boost your immune system and fight cancer-causing molecules.

Improvement to Your Soil

Mushrooms are natural recyclers and can break down just about any kind of carbon-based material. Not only does this mean that your mushrooms can grow in nearly any type of agricultural residue, but you can also use your homegrown mushrooms as compost to fertilize any other crop you may be growing at home. Mushroom compost can increase water retention in your soil and can increase nutrient delivery to your crops.

Learn to Grow Your Own Mushrooms

If you’re ready to give mushroom growing a try, join North Corner Haven for our upcoming Mushroom Log Workshop and Fungi Feast. You’ll get a unique introduction to growing mushrooms and you’ll have the opportunity to forage for yourself. Plus, you’ll take home your own mushroom growing log and enjoy a mushroom-forward meal prepared by James Beard semi-finalist Chef Adam Cooke of Topsoil Restaurant. Book your spot today.