Blue Ridge Women In Agriculture Hosts High Country Farm Tour!

by Laura Blankenship

 

Calling all supporters of the local, sustainable, organic food movement! Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA) will be hosting its annual High Country Farm Tour this summer.

 

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

 

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Suzanne Fleishman, Program Coordinator at (BRWIA). On June 28 and 29, BRWIA will be hosting the High Country Farm Tour for its eighth year. The farm tour itself will encompass 20 farms in Ashe and Watauga Counties, surrounding the towns of Boone, Banner Elk, Valle Crucis, and West Jefferson. Program Coordinator Fleishman describes it as “a wonderful event to connect the people who eat the food in our community and the people who grow it.”

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

 

A weekend pass for an entire car is a mere $25. School buses welcome! So no matter how many passionate plant-eating compadres you pack into a truck, VW bus, or giant rocket ship, entry for your entire party is only $25 for the whole weekend. What better opportunity to share your love of food, farming, and plant-eating with friends for a minimal fee?! Fleishman says the reason for the small per-vehicle fee is two-fold: “We want to encourage carpooling, for one, and two, the main goal isn’t for us to make money off of the tickets. It’s to be able to make enough money to support the farm tour, run it, and encourage participation […] So charging by car instead of $3-$5 per person, if one person buys a ticket, it encourages friends to come.”

 

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

 

HOW IT WORKS
You can buy your weekend pass ahead of time for $25 at the online High Country Farm Tour Store, where you can also find cool farm tour gear (t-shirts and greeting cards!) or at the physical locations listed on the left of the How to Take the Tour page. If you wait until the event, you can purchase your pass at the first farm you visit for $30. Carpoolers visit the farms they choose at their own convenience between 2 and 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday. While 20 farms are on the tour, it’s unreasonable to try to visit all of them. Fleishman recommends 3-4 each day.

A good way to plan your tour would be to pick a cluster of a few farms in one area. For instance, there are farm clusters around Banner Elk and West Jefferson. Many of the farms offer tours every hour on the hour with the last one beginning at 5 pm, so plan ahead!

 

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

 

HOW TO PLAN
Fleishman, who has both planned the current tour and attended tours in years past, offers the following advice: take the time to explore the farms online beforehand. There are tons of photos and descriptions available on the site. “Look at the map and think about your route. Take time to get excited about the farms you’re going to!”

While many of the farms offer livestock, eggs, and dairy, there are also several farms of interest to plant-based eaters. Many don’t include animal products at all in their descriptions: Zydeco Moon Farm in Grassy Creek features certified organic vegetables; In West Jefferson, A Berry Patch Farm features vegetables, fruits, herbs, and honey; The Hospitality House Community Garden in Boone is a permaculture garden for Bread of Life Soup Kitchen; F.A.R.M. Café’s The Garden Spot in Valle Crucis offers vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers; Waxwing Farm, also in Valle Crucis, boasts herbs, cut flowers, and even original artwork! In Banner Elk you can find Lively Up Farm, which features heirloom vegetables. Animal lovers might enjoy a visit to Horse Helpers of the High Country in Zionville, which gives abused or abandoned horses a second chance!

 

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

 

HISTORY AND GROWTH
So how did this all get started? The Farm Tour was originally begun by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, a nonprofit that serves both North and South Carolina by promoting various facets of sustainable agriculture. Eight years ago, when Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture achieved non-profit status, they took on the tour.

 

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

 

According to their site, BRWIA is “dedicated to strengthening the High Country’s local food system by supporting women and their families with resources, education, and skills related to sustainable food and agriculture.” When asked if the tour featured exclusively women-owned farms, Fleishman explained that this is not at all the case. BRWIA’s mission includes supporting women and their families. So while Fleishman tells me that a lot of BRWIA’s work is specifically with female farmers, the tour is not in any way exclusive to women or women-operated farms. “In order to strengthen the food system we really need the participation of everyone”, she says.

 

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

Farm Tour Photo Contest Finalist

 

The tour is always expanding. Last year BRWIA added the Lil’ Locavore Learning Series, which includes an activity book, a photo contest, and a Lil’ Locavore goat symbol indicating which stops are “kid friendly”. Too cute! Fleishman shared with me why it’s so important to involve the younger generation: “The perspectives on preserving farmland and growing food in an environmentally friendly way are born when you’re younger and are carried with you throughout your life. It’s important to show kids how fun it can be to be engaged with animals or plants and see where the food comes from.”

 

Chris Patti-Apple Hill Farm

Chris Patti-Apple Hill Farm

 

New this year is the Local Food Map, part of the farm tour guide that that features restaurants that support local farms. Fleishman says that BRWIA “wanted to give them some special highlight and let people on the tour know that you can support these farms not only by buying their products on the farm or the CSA or at the farmers market, but you can also do it by supporting these restaurants that make a point of buying local.”

There’s even a Farm Tour Mobile App for tour-goers equipped with smartphones. There’s a certain irony that comes from utilizing latest technology to learn about some of our civilization’s oldest, time-honored agricultural methods. In our modern society, it’s easy to miss the connection between how food is grown and how it makes its way to, and ultimately nourishes or harms, our bodies. Like Fleishman said, “Being a part of the food creation process from farm to fork can contribute to your health nutritionally, physically, and mentally.”

 

Woodland Harvest Mountain Farm - Photo by Laura Johnson

Woodland Harvest Mountain Farm – Photo by Laura Johnson

 

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Lastly, if you believe in the farm tour’s cause and want to be involved, you can volunteer before or during the High Country Farm Tour. Developing a personal relationship with a farmer, experiencing the farm in ways you wouldn’t get to during the tour, and getting a “sneak peak” prior to the farm are all perks of helping out on the Pre-Tour Prep Team during the last week in June. Alternatively, if you volunteer to be a much-needed member of the Farm Tour Event Team you get a free farm tour t-shirt and free pass for the day you’re not volunteering! Whether you volunteer beforehand, help out during the event, or take the tour itself, you’re in for a fun learning experience about sustainable agriculture with friends and farmers! I can’t think of a better way to spend two days. Can’t wait to see you there!

 

 

Photo by Dury Womack

Photo by Dury Womack

 

Laura Marie Blankenship has a BS in Psychology from The College of William and Mary. She has worked as an editor, ghostwriter, and graphic designer and has spent over 8 years in the food service industry. Tinkering in the kitchen, experimenting with various cuisines, and creating meals out of whatever’s available are some of her favorite pastimes. Laura now resides in her small hometown of Abingdon, VA, where she works at a coffeehouse part-time and also sells her artwork.
After borrowing The China Study from Veggin’ Out and About! cofounder, Danielle Bussone, Laura has slowly transitioned most animal-based foods out of her diet. Contact Laura with your questions, comments, and suggestions or just to tell her what a good job she is doing to help others live long and healthy lives!

 

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