JULY 29, 2010 ISSUE
High Country Farm Tour Connects Farmers and Consumers August 7 and 8
A produce stand at Amy Fielder's stand was built with a grant from the Western North Carolina AgOption. Fiedler sells whatever is in season in the produce stand, and customers are responsible to pay for what they take on the honor system.
Springhouse Farm is one of the farms on the 2010 Farm Tour. Owner and manager Amy Fiedler grows various vegetables with sustainable growing practices and has an apiary for honey and beeswax production and pollination of the farm.
In today’s world of fast, convenient living, we often eat without any thought of what we’re eating or where it came from. Grocery stores provide everything we need under one roof—tomatoes plucked from the plants, potatoes already dug up from the ground and lettuce lined up in rows of clean, perfect heads. The dirt typically associated with farming is nowhere to be found.
People don’t have many opportunities to see local farms up close. On Saturday and Sunday, August 7 and 8, the 2010 High Country Farm Tour gives the community access to some of these farms. Hosted by Blue Ridge Women In Agriculture (BRWIA), the Farm Tour will take place from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. each day.
“A lot of it is stepping onto a landscape that usually, as consumers, we don’t have access to,” said Mel Weiss, program coordinator of the Farm Tour. “And meeting the people who produce our food and forming a relationship there so that our food isn’t coming from strangers. [It makes us] recognize the work that’s going on to bring our food to the table.”
Amy Galloway, president of BRWIA, shared these feelings about the benefits of the Farm Tour.
“It gives consumers a chance to see where the food is grown, which is especially good for kids to realize that a tomato comes from a tomato plant that’s in the ground, not necessarily from a shelf in the grocery store,” Galloway said. “It lets them see where it’s coming from and talk to farmers and understand the things that farmers deal with.”
Springhouse Farm in Vilas is one of the farms featured in this year’s Farm Tour. Springhouse Farm specializes in vegetable and honey production. Farm owner Amy Fiedler received a grant through Western North Carolina Agricultural Options to build a produce stand to sell crops as they come into season. Customers can choose what to buy and pay on the honor system.
As a farmer and a consumer, Fielder values having a local food community.
“It’s fresh,” Fielder said. “There’s nothing like something freshly pulled out of the ground a few hours before…it’s good, honest, clean work. You think about the energy it takes to haul lettuce from California. It’s not fresh. It doesn’t taste as good. I don’t think people really realize it until they actually taste fresh food and the difference.
“I think the ultimate thing is sitting down at the dinner table…with people I love, and looking at my plate and saying I grew this, my neighbor grew this, my dad provided this,” Fiedler said. “[I love] knowing exactly where my food comes from.”
Fielder also enjoys selling her produce at local farmers’ markets, participating in High Country Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and providing ingredients to Stick Boy Bread Company.
“When I sell my product, people thank me, they appreciate it, they love it and they come back for more,” Fiedler said. “That’s the greatest compliment: to have a repeat customer.”
The High Country Farm Tour allows a connection to form between customers and farmers like Fiedler.
Guests should bring a cooler and cash if they wish to purchase produce, eggs, cheese, meat or other products available at various farms. Sunscreen, old shoes that can get dirty, snacks and drinking water are also good to bring along. The Farm Tour will happen rain or shine, so umbrellas may be necessary.
In addition to farm items for sale, BRWIA will sell several products to raise funds for BRWIA’s farmer scholarships for established farmers and people trying to get into farming.
Farm Tour signs will guide cars to each farm. Because of driving and touring time, only three to four farms can be visited in each afternoon.
Tickets are purchased per car. Cars can pay $25 at the first farm to have access to all participating farms or pay $10 per car per farm.
Tickets can also be bought in advance for $20 from Bare Essentials Natural Market, Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, Original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, Mast General Store in Boone, North Carolina Cooperative Extension - Watauga Center, Stick Boy Bread Company and the Watauga County Farmers’ Market. All proceeds from the Farm Tour will go to Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture.
For more information about the Farm Tour, call the Watauga County Center of the N.C. Cooperative Extension at 828-264-3061 or click to www.brwia.org.
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