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2 days, 41 farms, countless possibilities

What: ASAP's 2011 Family Farm Tour. The Family Farm Tour is coordinated by Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project and sponsored by Biltmore and Greenlife Grocery. WNC Magazine is a media sponsor. Over one summer weekend, community members can learn how food grows, taste farm-fresh treats, interact with farm animals and meet our community's food producers. Join us to celebrate our agricultural heritage and enjoy our beautiful rural landscape! 

When: Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26, from 1 until 6 p.m. each day

Where: 41 farms across WNC, with 18 new farm stops in Buncombe, Madison, Yancey and Haywood counties.

TourTips

The Day of the Tour:

Take time to read the farm descriptions and choose three to four locations to visit each day. We suggest allowing one or two hours for each farm. Note, there will not be sufficient time to visit all of the farms, so pick your favorites and plan to join us again next year!

Because you’ll only have five hours for the tour each day, we suggest picking a region to focus on or choosing one farm that especially appeals to you and then visiting other farms nearby.

Study the map and the locations of the farms you’ll visit. Plan your route and be sure you have directions for getting from one farm to the other. ASAP’s trip planner can help with this. Visit: buyappalachian.org/map. Please note that Google maps and GPS directions are often not correct in rural areas. Refer to our detailed directions in the tour guide and look for our signs to help the day of the event.

Things to pack: Bottled water, snacks and lunches, sunscreen or hats, walking shoes, your farm tour button, hand sanitizer and an atlas or map of the area.

Bring a cooler and cash! You’ll want to take home some of the delicious produce, eggs, cheeses, meats and other products farmers will be selling on the tour. Remember to pack a cooler with ice so that you can support these farmers directly and go home with farm-fresh treats.

Look for farm-tour signs to guide you to your destination.

Do not arrive earlier or later than the tour hours. Tour hours are from 1 until 6 p.m. on both days of the tour. Many farmers sell at market or attend church in the mornings and have engagements at night.

Consider eating a meal at one of the farms. Wake Robin Farm, Ivy Creek Family Farm, Green Toe Ground and Arthur Morgan School will all offer lunch or early dinner to participants. See their farm descriptions for more details.

Please do not bring pets on the tour. They pose food safety threats, can damage plants and are dangerous around livestock. 

Wash your hands. Many farms will have hand washing facilities, and ASAP will provide hand sanitizer at all farms as well. We ask that you wash your hands after petting animals and between farms to keep yourself and the farms safe.

Visit familyfarmtour.com for more tips and all the tour details.

How: Pack your car with a group of friends or family members and set out on an agricultural adventure! One button admits an entire carload; the more people in your vehicle, the better the deal. Buttons are $25 in advance, or $30 the day of the event. Or you can pay $10 per carload to visit individual farms.

Pick up a 2011 Family Farm Tour Guide at area groceries and other businesses selling buttons (see sidebar for list of locations) for a map, tour tips and other details, and be on the lookout for tour signs as you travel to guide you to your destinations.

New for 2011: This year, your ASAP Family Farm Tour button also gets you into PolkFresh’s Agri-Tour, a one-day farm tour taking place in Polk County on Saturday, June 25. Details at polkcountyfarms.org.

For more information, including lists of participating farms and places selling buttons, visit familyfarmtour.com or call 236-1282. Also follow ASAP on Facebook and Twitter for more details and to share your Family Farm Tour experience.
Also new this year: ASAP’s new online trip planner will integrate with the participating farm stops! In advance of the weekend, visitors can head over to buyappalachian.org/map to map their specific tour trip.
About ASAP: ASAP’s mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food. For more information, visit asapconnections.org or call 236-1282.

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