A Short Drive from Cary: 16th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour

Story by Leslie Huffman, photos provided by Carolina Farm Stewardship Association

Cary, NC – The 16th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour takes place next weekend and it’s just a short drive from Cary, NC. Billed as America’s Largest Farm Tour, on the weekend of April 16-17, you can take a carload of folks to visit 40 different Piedmont farms.

Towns just like Cary all over the state and the country are getting behind the resurgence in local farming. It’s history, food, economics and a road trip all rolled into one.

You’re Invited to a 40-Farm Tour

The 2011 Piedmont Farm Tour is a wonderful chance to view our state in a new way. You will have the opportunity to visit beautiful Lindale Organic Dairy, a 5th generation farm, and Cozi Farm, which is raising animals near downtown Saxapahaw.

Visit Benjamin Vineyards & Winery to see how Muscadine grapes are grown and sample some wine. And, Suki Roth will be opening up her Herb Haven dedicated to medicinal plants.

The tour is self-guided and farms and sites are located throughout the Triangle in Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Person counties. Load up a car with your friends and family , choose the farms on the map you’d like to visit and get out in the countryside.

You can visit any farm in any order. And, don’t forget to take a cooler so that you can take home some of the farm fresh products for sale at many farms. The farms are expecting you!

You can visit the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association to get your tickets, and find out all the tour information or call (919) 542-2402. You can also check out the map here.

Take the 10% Challenge

The 10% Campaign is a challenge to you to buy at least 10% of your food from North Carolina sources. By taking this simple challenge you can help keep more money in North Carolina’s local food economy, eat healthy locally grown food instead of highly processed foods, and bring more of a demand for locally grown products to our area.

For more information on the 10% Challenge, visit North Carolina’s Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) and sign-up your family.