Laura Young
news@greenepublishing.com
The 15th Annual Farm Tour takes place on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15-16. It features 40 farms across North Florida and South Georgia, with dozens of vendors. Many stops on the tour are just down the road in Jefferson and Madison Counties. Last year, more than 15,000 people hit the road to see a wide range of agricultural operations in our area. The 2022 tour promises to inspire just as many people to get out to discover or revisit the people and places that produce our food.
“Come meet our local farmers, ranchers and growers,” says event coordinator Majken Peterzen, director of Millstone Institute of Preservation, which hosts the Farm Tour. “They love for you to visit – to see how they do what they do! Many of the sites will have produce or products for sale or samples. Workshops and demonstrations abound. It's just about the best weekend of the year!”
Whether you're a consumer getting out to appreciate where your food comes from, a fellow farmer interested in what other farms are up to, or someone with an itch to scratch the earth and get things growing yourself – there's something for everyone on the Farm Tour.
There is no charge for visiting the farms, and because the tour is self-guided, people can choose sites that interest them and visit them in any order they like during the tour times.
Be sure to get a tour guidebook. You can pick one up at the chamber of commerce offices in Madison and Jefferson Counties, the public library in either county, Greene Publishing, Inc., Upholds, L&B, C&E, the Cherry Lake General Store, Hamby's, Corinth Thrift, Gayla's Grooming, The Hair Parlor, O'Neal's, Madison Books, Farm Bureau and the Extension Office. You can also download a digital copy by visiting the Facebook page for Fl-Ga Farm Tour. The guidebook provides details about what each participating farm offers and how to navigate your way to see them.
Tips and guidelines for the tour:
•Bring the guidebook and map
•Have a camera ready for great photos
•Bring a cooler, in case you buy perishable products
•Carry a tote bag
•Have cash on hand in case a vendor does not take credit cards
•Wear closed-toed shoes and a hat
•Leave your pet at home
•Gas up before heading into the countryside
Nearby sites on the tour:
Allison Acres – Happy Goats Farm (FB - AllisonAcresBBFarm), located at 9077 NW Colin Kelly Hwy., in Pinetta, is a 219-acre organic farm with goats, Christmas trees, berries, a mayhaw orchard, apiary and wildlife habitat. Tour hours: Saturday, Oct. 15, 9 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Artzi Organic Veggies & Pita Queen (FB Artzi Organic Veggies), located at 114 Artzi Dr., in Thomasville, Ga., will have fresh organic veggies grown on their two-acre, intensively cultivated farm, gourmet falafel and hummus as well as bread, pastries, halva and cold drinks for sale. Tour Hours: Saturday, Oct. 15, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Boyd Farms Fresh (boydfarmsfresh.com) is offering a mini-festival for the Farm Tour with Schmoe Farm (schmoefarm.com), at Blackwater, 1548 Greenville Hwy., in Quitman, Ga. Enjoy live music, food, drinks and a hay ride. They also will be serving up beef and pork burgers and have a market of vendors with handmade and organic products. Tour hours: Saturday, Oct. 15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 16, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Boyd Farms Fresh, Glendower Farms and Schmoe Farm – Three Farms, One Family – are the Patron Sponsors of the 2022 Farm Tour.
Deep Roots Meat (deeprootsmeat.com), located at 11061 W. US Hwy. 90, in Greenville, sells a vast array of beef cuts from their all grass-fed foraging cows. Tour hours: Saturday, 9 a.m. -5 p.m. with hayrides at 10 a.m., 12 noon and 2 p.m; Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., with hayrides each day at 12 noon and 2 p.m.
Florida-Georgia Citrus (floridageorgiacitrus.com), located at 5314 Boston Hwy., in Monticello, offers juice that tastes like “sweet sunshine,” a wide range of satsuma products, and tours of the cold-hardy citrus fields on the family farm. This stop also includes items from Full Moon Farm & Apiary, Lil-Nita's BBQ Sauce and the Jefferson County Extension Office, plus lunch from the Monticello BBQ Food Truck. This site also offers classes: Sustainable Citrus Production for Homeowners and Commercial Growers on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.; The Health Benefits of Citrus on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tour hours: Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Glendower Farms (glendowerfarms.com), located at 12617 Ashville Hwy., in Greenville, sustainably raises Iberian pigs and is one of only seven Iberico herds in the U.S. Enter the multi-generational farm via an avenue lined with 180-year-old oaks and enjoy cooking demonstrations, meat tastings and walking tours. Bring your cooler in case you decide to buy some dry-cured bacon, sausages, brined chops, pork pastrami or Glendower’s specialty, the Bacon Cheddar Burger. Tour hours: Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Boyd Farms Fresh, Glendower Farms and Schmoe Farm – Three Farms, One Family – are the Patron Sponsors of the 2022 Farm Tour.
The Good Ground Farm (Thegoodgroundfarm.com), located at 399 Osprey Lane, in Monticello, operates a bio-intensive market garden using human-scale techniques and natural, sustainable practices. At this stop, you can see how to grow a lot on a small plot, with demonstrations of the tools, techniques and set-up that make it possible. Tour hours: Saturday, 2-6 p.m.
Granny Kats Apiary Supply & Bee Learning Center (grannykats.com), located at 407 Industrial Park Dr., in Monticello, allows you to learn all about the life of bees. You can view bee anatomy through microscopes, study bee activity at the indoor observation hive, visit the outdoor hives and see where Granny Kats spins and extracts honey. Honey and products made from beeswax will be available for purchase. Tour hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
Johnston’s Old Fashioned Meat Market (johnstonsmeatmarket.com), located at 1480 W. Washington St., in Monticello, was established in 1926 and specializes in fresh beef, hickory-smoked meats as well as fresh sausage. On the tour, you can visit the locker plant, sample some fantastic food, peek behind the scenes, shop in the country store and find great deals on meat boxes. Tour hours at the meat market: Saturday, Oct. 15, 9 a.m. -5 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 16, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sausage-making workshops are offered on both days at noon and 2 p.m. On Saturday, you also can visit their newest addition inside the meat market, Lil' Figs Cafe, or swing by Johnston's new full-service restaurant, located at 1403 S. Jefferson for a pig roast. Johnston's own herd of beef cattle is now at home near Cairo, Ga., at “The Finishing Yard” at Outz's, 476 Wilcox Rd. On Saturday, there will be hayrides to see the pasture-raised herd as well as food from Johnston's mobile kitchen.
Madison County Seed Library, located at 378 NW College Loop, in Madison, has open-pollinated and heirloom seeds available free for the public to check out. Tour visitors can also watch seed-saving demonstrations, play a hands-on seed ID quiz, participate in a seed-starting activity and join Q&A sessions about various seed topics. Tour hours: Saturday, Oct. 15, 9 a.m. -1 p.m.
Monticello Vineyards & Winery – Ladybird Organics (monticellowinery.com and ladybirdorganics.com), located at 1211 Waukeenah Hwy., in Monticello, offers a vineyard tour and tasting of the wines that they have handcrafted in small batches from organic Muscadine grapes and other fruits grown in the Red Hills bioregion. Tour hours: Saturday, Oct. 15, from 12 noon-5 p.m.
Promised Land Homestead (promisedlandhomestead.farm), located at 703 S.E. Tuten Way, in Lee, takes visitors on a hayride around the farm’s 62 acres to see its open pastures, oak hammock bottoms and uncultivated ranch land. You can get a close look at baby rabbits, calves and lambs as well as see a presentation on “Hives and Honey.” Their country store will be selling fresh eggs, chicken, lamb, beef, rabbit, honey, honey-based products, wool and other unique items. Tour hours: Saturday, Oct. 15, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Rocky Soil Family Farm (rockysoilfamilyfarm.com), located at 3137 Waukeenah Hwy., in Monticello, produces more than dozens of varieties of organically grown herbs and vegetables, keeps bee hives and raises chickens for eggs. They also have their bakery up and running this year, offering fresh sourdough loaves and spatzle. Tour hours: Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15-16, 10 a.m to 5 p.m.
Schmoe Farm (schmoefarm.com) is offering a mini-festival for the Farm Tour with Boyd Farms Fresh (boydfarmsfresh.com) at Blackwater, 1548 Greenville Hwy., in Quitman, Ga. Enjoy live music, food, drinks and a hay ride. They also will be serving up beef and pork burgers and have a market of vendors with handmade and organic products. Tour hours: Saturday, Oct. 15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 16, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Boyd Farms Fresh, Glendower Farms and Schmoe Farm – Three Farms, One Family – are the Patron Sponsors of the 2022 Farm Tour.
Serenity Acres (serenitygoats.com), located at 438 NE English Ivy Trl., in Pinetta, offers hayrides around the farm, with goat, horse and cow encounters, petting opportunities and sneak peeks into the milking room, the dairy kitchen and the soap making room. Tour hours: Saturday, Oct. 15, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Timber Bamboo Nursery (timberbamboonursery.com), located at 2181 Government Farm Rd., in Monticello, will have workshops/demonstrations about bamboo propagation, bamboo biochar, bamboo animal feed pellets, bamboo caps, sustainable bamboo farming, landscaping with bamboo and bamboo pellets for mushroom substrate. You can also see where they raise peacocks, guineas, Philippine jungle fowl and Ayam Ceamani Black chickens. Tour hours are Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15-16, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information about the sites described here and additional tour stops farther afield, consult the complete 56-page Farm Tour 2022 guide. Print copies are available at various locations around town (see above), and you can download an electronic copy from the event host’s Facebook page: search for Fl-Ga Farm Tour.