BOONE, N.C. — An old tradition used to predict the harshness of winter is happening now in North Carolina's mountain communities. 

Cassandra Bare says farming is in her blood. It's what her family did, and now what she loves to do. She is the owner of Harvest Farm in Watauga County. They grow everything from pumpkins to Christmas trees and even flowers.

What You Need To Know

  • Many people count beans in the mountains in August

  • Each foggy morning you put a bean in the jar

  • Each bean represents a snow storm this winter

"I think farming is one of the things where we see God's creation and what he does for us on a daily basis," Bare said.

The farm's "you pick" lot brings in people from all over. She said a lot of love has gone into these fields but also a lot of knowledge and sometimes a little old folklore along the way.

"My grandpa told me about beans in a jar," Bare said.

Bare, along with many others, counts beans for every foggy morning in August. Thick fog equates to a big bean in the jar and only a little fog is a small bean. These beans are said to represent how many snow storms the area will see during the winter.  

It's something the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis has been doing for decades.

"It's a tradition that goes back to the Indians. Some people say way, way back in the day in North Carolina," Mast General Store manager Seth Powell said.

Powell said a lot of people do call and on many occasions they are farmers. Bare counts her own.

"The more prepared you can be, the better off your farm can be. That's why we keep an eye on what the weather could be. If there's little ways we can prepare for what's to come then we are better off," Bare said.