Catawba River District Voices

That's Farming, by Jeffie Hardin – Sept. 3, 2012

Now that we've turned the calendar page to September, there is a great opportunity to mark on the weekend of September 15 and 16: the 4th Annual Know Your Farms Tour!  I can't say enough about this event. It's family friendly, educational, fun and inexpensive. It can even be free if you volunteer ... I'll get to that later.

The Know Your Farms Tour gives the general public a peak at the inner workings of local farms. Maybe you've bought eggs for years from a farmer, but you've never seen the chickens the eggs came from. Now is your chance.  

Buy a $25 pass from the website below and you can visit 40-plus farms participating in the tour. The pass is good for a car full of people – it doesn't matter how many you cram in there. You can visit as many farms as your energy allows in this two-afternoon event during the hours of 1-6.

Learn how we grow hydronic lettuce at Rivendell Farms

Check out the alpacas at the Good Karma Ranch in Lincoln County. Or how about the Sherrills Ford Bird Brain Ostrich Ranch? In Landis, a good choice would be the Cotton Mill mushroom farm. You might even want to come by my farm, Rivendell Farms, in Huntersville, and get some hydroponic lettuce.

KnowYourFarmsTour.com lists all the participating farms as well as directions and indications as to which of the 2 days they are open.

And here is the free part .... if you volunteer by greeting visitors at a farm one day...the next day you'll receive a car pass for free. Even the volunteering part is fun, as you'll meet so many interesting people and hear great stories.

So start your fall off with an enriching time by checking out where your food comes from.

About Jeffie and Chris Hardin – The Hardins left suburban life in 2001 for an 8-acre farm near Mountain Island Lake. Now the Hardins and their children seek to grow half of their family’s food and help others grow food, too.