September 22-23, 2012
Here's your chance to visit farms in the Asheville area that are not normally open to the public. The Family Farm Tour will open 41 farms in six Western North Carolina counties. The region is home to agriculture of all kinds, ranging from century farms cultivated by the same family for generations, to certified organic farms, to urban gardens.
The self-guided tour, organized by Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), is your chance to learn how food grows, taste farm-fresh treats, interact with farm animals, and meet the community’s food producers.
“Because we’re a small farm and work long hours, it’s difficult to host many small, individual tours,” says Chris Owen, who owns and operates Spinning Spider Creamery, a farmstead goat dairy, with her family in Madison County. “The Family Farm Tour lets us give our customers a chance to see our farm in operation, in all its different aspects.” Over the weekend, Spinning Spider sets up stations dedicated to activities like hand-milking goats and, new for 2011, border collie herding demonstrations. The creamery has been a popular tour stop since 2004.
Just how do you visit Jordan Blackley Farm, Spinning Spider Creamery, and the 39 other stops? 1) Purchase a tour button at select area businesses and tailgate markets, or online at www.familyfarmtour.com; buttons are $25 in advance. 2) Pack your car with friends and family. One button admits an entire carload. 3) Set off to celebrate the region’s agricultural heritage and beautiful rural landscapes. The tour runs 1-6 pm Saturday and Sunday. Before you go, grab a tour guide, available from button vendors and for download at familyfarmtour.com. The guide includes a map and directions, tour tips, and other details. .
The Family Farm Tour Participating Farms are:
Buncombe County
- Becki’s Bounty
- Blue Ridge Bison
- Dillingham Family Farm
- Emma Farms
- Flying Cloud Farm
- Gaining Ground Farm
- Good Fibrations
- Hawk and Ivy
- Hickory Nut Gap Farm
- Hominy Valley Farms
- Hop’n Blueberry Farm
- Imladris Farm
- Ivy Creek Family Farm
- Jordan Blackley Farm
- Lady Luck Flower Farm
- Long Branch Environmental
- Education Center
- Looking Glass Creamery
- Martins Creek Homestead
- Ox-Ford Farm
- Round Mountain Creamery
- Thatchmore Farm
- Venezia Dream Farm
- Whispersholler Farms
Madison County
- East Fork Farm
- The Farm Retreat and Home of Farm
- House Beef
- Fisher Branch Farm
- New Direction Farm
- Philosophy Farm
- Spinning Spider Creamery
- Sunswept Farm Conservancy
- Wake Robin Farm
- Wild Mountain Apiaries
Yancey County
- Arthur Morgan School
- Green Toe Ground Farm
- Mountain Farm
- Mountain Gardens
- Wellspring Farm
Haywood County
- Chambers Farm Market
- Mountain Organic Research and
- Extension Unit
- Sunburst Trout
- Ten Acre Garden
