Pick your own summer flowers at McLawland Farms

McLawland Farms LLC, at 8632 Reedy Creek Road, Charlotte, is a boutique farm that has been around for just a few years, but has delighted its many visitors with U-pick flowers and blackberries. 

It’s a chemical-free, all natural farm on 28 acres just 12 miles east of Uptown Charlotte. Part of the property is along Reedy Creek. It’s convenient to University City and to Harrisburg, and is very close to Reedy Creek Nature Preserve.

You can pick your own flowers and blackberries (although the blackberry crop is a bit limited this year because of a late frost.)

You always need to make an appointment to visit. You can fill a mason jar with the flowers that you pick, for a cost of $14.

Keep reading to learn about summer flower picking (including sunflowers), tours, okra, photo sessions, and even a way to stay overnight on the farm.

Summer Flower Picking at McLawland Farms

McLawland Farms grows sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, and assorted wild flowers. During flower picking sessions, you will have a chance to pick your own flowers and create the perfect bouquet. The variety of flowers depends on the growing schedule.

Black-eyed Susans are stunning this year! Sunflowers will be ready in July.

Surprise a friend or family member, make a great impression on date night, or just do something for yourself.

Spend 30 to 60 minutes exploring the fields. While you’re there, feel free to take personal photography (keep reading for some pictures we took on the last day of summer.) Professional photographers are also welcome, but there’s a photographer’s fee. Contact the farm for more info on professional photography.

You can also purchase farm produce, like okra and tomatoes, when available.

The farm is a certified butterfly garden, and is a haven for pollinators.

The guys behind the farm

This farm is a two-man operation. Larry Land and Jason McLawhorn, a nurse educator with Atrium Health, have built this family farm as a labor of love — and it’s a lot of labor. 

They’ve put down roots in every way here. Their house is on the property, and they even got married on the farm this past summer. 

Farm Tours

The flower and blackberry picking takes place on the front field, but there’s a lot more to McLawland Farms. If you’d like to explore more, you can sign up for a tour, which costs $12 per person. Whenever tours are available you’ll see registration information on the website.

When Jason takes you on a tour, you’ll be able to sample fruits or vegetables right off the plants, if available, and to learn how they’re grown. We got to try fresh-picked okra and figs, both of which were delicious.

Your tour will also take you to other fields that are not normally open to the public, and to a pond.

You can also meet some of the farm’s newest residents, the chickens.

Staying on the Farm

McLawland Farms operates an Airbnb rental on the farm. It’s described as a Modern Farm Retreat, and it looks out on the pond. It’s got plenty of space, and if you book it during the right time of year, you can probably expect to find flowers in the unit. 

If you know people traveling through Charlotte who’d like a place to stay that’s just a few miles from Uptown Charlotte, but with the serenity of a farm, let them know about this!