Family Farm Tour

Release from Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. For more go to www.asapconnections.org.

The 2010 Family Farm Tour will open 37 outstanding farms in six Western North Carolina counties to the public on June 26 and 27. Destinations on the tour range from century farms cultivated by the same family for generations, to certified organic farms, to urban gardens. Whether you want to learn who grows your food or get ideas for producing your own, go on an outdoor family activity or taste our area’s finest foods, you can plan a tour to suit your interests.

Tour traditional farms, as well as innovative, new farms that are diversifying agriculture in the area. Observe livestock, spinning, cheese making, and cooking demonstrations. Make your own pizza in a wood fired oven, pick blueberries and raspberries, and eat a meal on a farm. Learn about practices such as rotational grazing, cover cropping, biodynamic methods, and seed saving, and farms protected by conservations easements. See hops, medicinal plants, and Christmas trees, as well as food crops.

Visit www.familyfarmtour.org for details on each farm, suggested routes, and listings of farms selling food, and to purchase admission. Passes cost $25 plus $2 shipping at www.familyfarmtour.org, or see the website for stores and restaurants selling buttons for $25. One button admits everyone in your car. You may also purchase buttons at farms on the day of the tour for $30. If you only wish to visit one farm, pay $10 on-site. Or, support the Family Farm Tour and get free admission by volunteering.

The tour is organized by the nonprofit ASAP as part of its work to develop and advocate strategies that help family farms prosper, connect the region’s farmers with markets and supporters, and provide fair access to healthy, locally grown food.

“Through the Family Farm Tour, people get to know our region’s farms and farmers, introducing them to sources of the freshest food, and giving them great reasons to support local agriculture,” says Peter Marks of ASAP.