Tour Triad Farms this Weekend (June 7 & 8) with the CFSA's Triad Farm Tour

The brand spankin’ new Triad Farm Tour, happening June 7-8 from 2-6 p.m. both days, will feature 17 local, sustainable farms. This self-guided tour features working farms throughout the Triad in Alamance, Forsyth, Guilford, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties.


Tour tickets, good for both days, are $25 per vehicle in advance. Tickets are available for purchase during the tour for $30 or you can also choose to pay $10 per farm (available for purchase at all of the farms during the tour). Groups of cyclists count as one vehicle. No pets are allowed. The tour is rain or shine. Proceeds from the tour support CFSA.


Tickets can be purchased online now at www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft.

The tour is self-guided. Choose the farms you want to visit on the interactive map or downloadable brochure at www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft/ to plan your tour. Visit any farm in any order. Bring a cooler so that you can bring home some of the farm fresh products for sale at many farms!

Don't miss the Triad Farm Tour!

The brand spankin’ new Triad Farm Tour, happening June 7-8 from 2-6 p.m. both days, will feature 17 local, sustainable farms. This self-guided tour features working farms throughout the Triad in Alamance, Forsyth, Guilford, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties.


Tour tickets, good for both days, are $25 per vehicle in advance. Tickets are available for purchase during the tour for $30 or you can also choose to pay $10 per farm (available for purchase at all of the farms during the tour). Groups of cyclists count as one vehicle. No pets are allowed. The tour is rain or shine. Proceeds from the tour support CFSA.


Tickets can be purchased online now at www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft.

The tour is self-guided. Choose the farms you want to visit on the interactive map or downloadable brochure at www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft/ to plan your tour. Visit any farm in any order. Bring a cooler so that you can bring home some of the farm fresh products for sale at many farms!

Triad Farm Tour: June 7-8, 2014

The 2014 Triad Farm Tour is happening June 7-8 from 2-6 pm both days!

Come learn about the Triad’s local and organic farm & food scene. Meet local farmers & tour their sustainable farms!

Winstead Farm
Graham & Gwen Roach
4235 Thomasville Rd.
Winston-Salem, NC 27107
336-757-6198
farmers@winsteadfarm.com
Our animals are raised on pasture and rotated frequently. Visitors will see a variety of poultry including chickens, turkeys and ducks. The entire process can be seen from brooder to field pens to
processing area. We also have a small flock of sheep that we graze ahead of the poultry.


Milk & Honey Farm
Eric & Melissa Brown Family
307 Amberhill Rd.
Yadkinville, NC 27055
704-546-5074
milkandhoneyfarm@hotmail.com
themilkandhoneyfarm.blogspot.com
ONLY OPEN SATURDAY
We’re passionate about self-sufficiency and subsistence farming, and we love to connect with others with similar interests. We farm full-time for ourselves and are a modified “full diet CSA.” See what it means to reclaim food sovereignty over everything from grits to peanuts to dry beans to kiwis to honey to homemade rennet and buttermilk to chickens raised by mama hens. Direction Note: Do not depend on GPS directions, use Google Maps instead or watch for the Farm Tour signs! Anything that takes you on a gravel road is wrong.


Sanders Ridge Farm
1501 Nebo Rd.
Boonville, NC 27011
Sanders Ridge Vineyard & Winery
Cindy & Neil Shore
3200 Round Hill Rd.
farm@sandersridge.com
sandersridge.com
Sanders Ridge Farm is sister farm to the Sanders Ridge Vineyard & Winery. We produce organically
grown vegetables and herbs – pretty much year round. At the Nebo Rd location, visitors will be able
to see a wide variety of annual vegetable and herb crops being grown both in high tunnels as well as in the field. We also have a small herd of very friendly longhorn cattle and a few free roaming chickens. At our vineyard farm (3 miles away on 3200 Round Hill Rd) visitors can see high tunnel vegetables, 15 acres of French grapes, our restaurant and our zip line. You can find our produce in the delicious meals served at our restaurant.


Horne Creek Farm
The staff of Horne Creek Farm
308 Horne Creek Farm Rd.
Pinnacle, NC 27043
336-325-2298
hornecreek@ncdcr.gov
nchistoricsites.org/horne
Once the Hauser family farm, Horne Creek enables visitors to experience farm life in North Carolina’s northwestern Piedmont circa 1900. The site features the family’s original farm house, a tobacco curing barn, a corn crib, adjacent fields under cultivation, a heritage apple orchard and grazing livestock – including many rare and endangered breeds! GPS unreliable – follow state road
markers.


Harmony Ridge Farms
Isaac & Kevin Oliver
3835 Bowens Rd.
Tobaccoville, NC 27050
336-467-1052
harmonyridgefarms@gmail.com
harmonyridgefarms.net
We are a small family farm set in the rolling hills of Tobaccoville, NC. Our mission is to provide the finest and most diverse range of locally available sustainably grown vegetables and make them available across economic divides. The Olivers and crew produce 30 some varieties of vegetables, culinary herbs, melons, blueberries and free-range eggs. June is a busy time for us. We will be harvesting potatoes, greens, lettuces, broccoli, garlic, onions, beets and carrots among other crops this time of year. Come see us in action!


Keep Your Fork Farm
Jane Morgan Smith
1194 Marshall Smith Rd.
King, NC 27021
336-631-8080
jane@trufflesnc.com
trufflesnc.com
Keep Your Fork is a truffle farm (truffiére) consisting of English oak and European hazelnut trees whose root systems are inoculated with the black winter (Périgord) truffle. See irrigation pond and system, meet our truffle hunting dogs and hear details about how truffles are cultivated here and made into delicious foods in our NCDA certified kitchen. Truffle butter will be available to sample and purchase!


Plum Granny Farm
Cheryl Ferguson & Ray Tuegel
1041 Flat Shoals Rd.
King, NC 27021
336-994-2517
farm@plumgrannyfarm.com
plumgrannyfarm.com
As featured on UNC-TV’s Flavor NC, our certified organic farm is just 9 miles south of Hanging Rock State Park. We’ll highlight our specialty crops such as garlic, baby ginger and berries. Activity
stations include honeybees, worm composting, seed planting, tours and a hayride. Organic transplants
and produce along with jam, berry snowcones and baked goods will be for sale.


Buffalo Creek Farm & Creamery
Johnny & Robin Blakley
3255 Buffalo Creek Farm Rd.
Germanton, NC 27019robin@buffalocreekfarmnc.com
buffalocreekfarmandcreamery.com
We are a farmstead goat dairy on a 34-acre farm.  Learn about cheese production, dairy goats, grassfed cattle, pastured sheep and chickens while you view the animals from our Farm Store porch, which is open daily. We’ll have cheese, eggs and meat for purchase along with our goat’s milk soap and other local foods from area farms. BeNutty Bakes & Butters of Winston-Salem will be at the farm both days with their small-batch peanut butters, plate-licking good bakes and unique candies!
Direction Note: Do not depend on GPS directions, use Google Maps instead or watch for the Farm Tour signs!


Yellow Wolf Farm
Stacy Martin
6651 Sullivantown Rd.
Walkertown, NC 27051
stacy@yellowwolffarm.com
We are a pasture-based, rare, heritage breed, livestock farm. We raise rare pigs, sheep, goats,
poultry, Jersey cows and also farm with draft horses. We produce pork, beef, lamb, chicken, goat meat, duck and eggs plus goat milk soaps and lotions. We also teach classes on how to raise your own meat and eggs, how to butcher poultry and rabbits and charcuterie (meat preparation) lessons. We will have baby goats, chicks and llamas for the kids to pet and see up close. We will have meat, eggs, soaps and lotions available to purchase. There will be a local food truck serving sausages/sandwiches.


Two Shovels Farm
Emanuel Hayden
5000 Crossmill Rd.
McLeansville, NC 27301
336-988-3933
aggregatesize@gmail.com
facebook.com/twoshovelsfarm
Meet our heritage breed buckeye and Dominique chickens that live in “chicken tractors” and our
Great Pyranese livestock guardian dog Hairy Vetch! See how we use agro-forestry practices to establish windbreaks by planting stands of Xmas trees to slow wind and create microclimates that will help with extend growing seasons. Seasonal produce and shitake mushroom logs will be available for sale and veggie kabobs will be cooking on the grill.

Reedy Fork Organic Dairy & Feed Farm
George & Cherry Teague
7092 Sockwell Rd.
Elon, NC 27244
336-449-4888
reedyforkfarm.com
Reedy Fork Farm is a certified organic dairy and feed farm located on 500 acres of beautiful farmland. The dairy milks around 100 holstein and holstein/Jersey cross cows and prides itself on high- quality, delicious organic milk. The wonderful taste comes from cows rotationally grazing on lush green pastures – the way nature intended. The feed mills and produces certified organic feed for all types of livestock and poultry animals. Come visit with our cows and chickens as well as purchase certified organic beef, eggs and feed.


TS Designs Company Garden
Eric Henry & Tom Sineath
2053 Willow Springs Ln.
Burlington, NC 27215
336-229-6426
pr@tsdesigns.com
tsdesigns.com
CCFSA Farm tour fans will know TS Designs because they provide CFSA with our signature US grown organic cotton farm tour t-shirts. They even have a popular Cotton of the Carolinas line! Come see what a company garden looks like and learn how this sustainable initiative is incorporated into our normal business day. The garden features solar panels and permaculture design and our hens and
bees help keep the garden working at its best!


Sunset Farms
Chris Murray
2991 Spanish Oak Hill Rd.
Snow Camp, NC 27349
ncsunsetfarms.com
Sunset Farms is a multi-generational naturally grown produce and pasture-based livestock farm. We use animal and crop rotations to produce a “closed-loop” sustainable farm. Come try our delicious seasonal produce and meet our cows, chickens and guardian dog! See how Sunset Farms is cultivating faith, family and food!


Emmaus Farm
Mike & Brenda Heindl
3829 Vernon Ln.
Snow Camp, NC 27349
336-944-4916
emmausfarm@gmail.com
Our farm focuses on sustainably growing small grains including NuEast wheat for bread flour and
vegetables for a CSA and market. We are working toward permaculture including incorporating
biochar from Brenda’s wood-firing pottery kiln, fostering flexible and versatile growing for the
future. Come see our wheat field almost ready for harvest, honeybees, solar panels, hoop houses,
pottery and chickens!


Wings of Dawn Farm
Jan & Charlie Ansell
4117 W Greensboro Chapel Hill Rd.
Liberty, NC 27298
336-264-9972
wingsofdawn.farm@gmail.com
wingsofdawnfarm.blogspot.com
Wings of Dawn Farm is a small family-owned and operated farm in southwest Alamance County. We
are committed to being a source for healthy local food. Visitors may see our heritage breed laying
flocks and their mobile coops (hen-a-bagoes), the market garden, grape arbors, fig trees, beehives,
an orchard developing, Nigerian dwarf goats and livestock guardian dogs.

Ward Farm of Whitsett
John & Brenda Ward, Gregg &
Amber Ward
5337 Cook-Stewart Rd.
Whitsett, NC 27377
336-698-9622
johnlward@bellsouth.net
wardfarmsofwhitsett.com
Ward Farm of Whitsett has been continuously growing for several generations, dating back to the late
1800’s. Wanting to expand our production, we found the soil here was great for the muscadine grapes
and blueberries! In addition to our muscadines, we grow fresh, seasonal vegetables such as green beans, squash, tomatoes, okra, peas, peppers, etc. Come sample our juices, ciders, jams, cider slushies and pickle products and visit with our cows and hogs!


Schoolhouse Farm
Drew & Lacey Grim
3809 Craftsman Ln.
Pleasant Garden, NC 27313
919-623-6048
schoolhousefarm.gso@gmail.com
lifeasaschoolhouse.com
Come visit a permaculture homestead located on 10.5 acres. From bees to goats to ducks and pigs,
from the pond to the newly planted chestnuts and redbuds – everything has a roll to play in the system at Schoolhouse Farm. See first hand some smallscale incorporation of common-sense practices that can be adapted for any home setting. Lemonade and cookies will be available from our littlest farmers.

The 2014 Piedmont Farm Tour

2014 Piedmont Farm Tour

Come learn about the Triangle’s local and organic farm & food scene. Meet local farmers & tour their farms!
View our Google Interactive Map for a list of the exceptional farms on the tour this year – with driving directions!
Download a PDF of the Farm Tour Brochure - Farm tour maps, directions and descriptions of all the fun things to do at each farm!

Internship Referral Service

CFSA’s on-line Internship Referral Service connects sustainable farms throughout the Carolinas with aspiring farmers looking for hands-on learning opportunities.

 

Aspiring Farmers

Not sure what kind of internship you’re looking for? Try browsing through our recent internship listings.  Learn More →

Search the Internship Listings Enter a keyword or farm name and select a region to start your search.

Post Your Farm Internship Openings

Listing services are available to North Carolina and South Carolina CFSA farm members seeking interns. Learn More →

Farmer-Mentor Internship Handbook   Learn More →

Prospective Farm Intern Handbook   Learn More →

18th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour 2013

The 2013 Piedmont Farm Tour is happening April 27-28 from 1-5pm both days!

Come learn about the Triangle’s local and organic farm & food scene. Meet local farmers & tour their farms!

Check out the Interactive Map for a list of the 39 exceptional farms on the tour this year – with driving directions!

Farm Tour Brochure – COMING SOON!

Buy Your 2013 Tickets Online – Buy your ticket 

Load up a car with your friends and family, choose the farms you’d like to visit on the map or brochure below and get out in the countryside!
The tour is self-guided and farms and sites are located throughout the Triangle in Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Person counties. Visit any farm in any order. RAIN OR SHINE.
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!

Interactive Map

Avillion Farm

4737 Shanklins Dead End Rd, Efland: Our farm is home to fiber-producing livestock – Shetland, Jacob sheep for wool, Angora goats for mohair and Angora rabbits for angora. Fiber from our livestock i...

Benjamin Vineyards & Winery

6516 Whitney Rd, Graham: Come see the sustainable practices and unique trellising we use to grow Muscadine grapes, as well as French and French hybrid wine grapes. Enjoy a wine tasting in the winery,...

Boxcarr Farms

2207 Carr Store Rd, Cedar Grove:    We are a family of chefs, artists, and artisans who started a small farm. We are now entering our third year farming. Our catering business and food truck, Local i...

Cane Creek Farm / Braeburn Farm

1203 Longest Acre Rd, Snow Camp:    Situated next door to each other, both farms share many acres of pasture, housing several hundred pigs of multiple breeds, grass-fed New Zealand Red Devon cattle, ...

Captain J. S. Pope Farm

6909 Efland-Cedar Grove Rd, Cedar Grove: Tour the historic farm that has been in the family for over 200 years and see farming as it was and the evolution from tobacco.. Guided tour of the 150 year ...

Cedar Grove Windy Hill Farm - NEW!

1319 Carr Store Road, Cedar Grove: Come see our scenic and historic farm dating back to at least the early 1800s. You will enjoy meeting our friendly goats (learn about hoof trimming and try your ha...

Celebrity Dairy

198 Celebrity Dairy Way, Siler City: Changes are happening toward Celebrity Dairy's goal to start an "Incubator Farm". The irrigation pond site has been cleared and the dam may be under construction ...

Chapel Hill Creamery

615 Chapel Hill Creamery Rd, Chapel Hill: Our contented Jersey cows graze lush pastures in a comfortable, low stress environment. Take a  draft horse hayride, see calves kick up their heels,  a...

Coon Rock Farm

1021 Dimmocks Mill Rd, Hillsborough: Coon Rock Farm is a sustainable family farm providing garden crops and pasture raised antibiotic and hormone free chicken, eggs, pigs, lamb and goat on 55 acres n...

Dancing Pines Farm

3606 Buckhorn Rd, Efland: Come see our small-scale, chemical-free produce farm. Phase two of our new post-harvest structure is complete! We grow year-round with our two hoop houses and sell at the Ch...

Eco Farm

2501 Butler Rd, Chapel Hill: Come visit our family farm, roam our vegetable fields, pick some strawberries,learn how to inoculate shiitake logs or hang out with our hogs. www.ecofarmnc.com ecofarmnc@...

Ever Laughter Farm

2921 Open Lane, Hillsborough: Come see our farm developing according to a "permaculture" master plan.  In its fifth year, this farm uses sustainable methods to grow a wide variety of vegetables ...
 
Fickle Creek Farm

4122 Buckhorn Rd, Efland:   Something for everyone! Eggmobiles, sheep & lambs, steers, pastured pigs, Freedom Ranger broilers, ducks, Great Pyrenees livestock guard dogs, market garden. Self-guided to...

Flat River Nursery & Farm

1548 Holeman Ashley Rd, Timberlake: Family farm since 1700s. See greenhouse tomatoes, cukes, bedding plants, hanging baskets, herbs, beneficial insects, and bumble bee pollination. Pick your own stra...

Four Leaf Farm

6815 Bill Poole Rd, Rougemont: Four Leaf Farm has 1/4 acre of intensively planted permanent raised beds, two greenhouses, active composting, perennial gardens, plant nursery, a small laying flock, s...

Granite Springs Farm - NEW!

266 Granite Springs Rd, Pittsboro: We are in our 5th year of growing vegetables and pastured laying hens. Come meet our chickens! Plus, check out our greenhouse, 95 foot long hoop house, and field p...

Harland's Creek Farm

97 Plantation Drive, Pittsboro: Our farm will have vegetables and herbs in the field and ready to harvest. We operate CSAs with deliveries in Chapel Hill, Chatham County, Durham, Raleigh, and Sanford...

Herb Haven

7729 McBane Mill Rd, Graham: Herb Haven is a 6-acre botanical sanctuary dedicated to the growing, rehabilitation, preservation and usage of over 60 medicinal plants easily grown in the Piedmont. Com...

Iron Gate Winery

2540 Lynch Store Rd., Mebane:    The winery is situated on 60 acres north of Mebane.  Visitors will see how an old tobacco farm has been turned into 8 acres of vineyards. Come see our beautiful anima...

Maple Spring Gardens

9812 Allison Rd, Cedar Grove: In business since 1984, Maple Spring Gardens produces over 100 varieties of vegetables, herbs, berries, and cut flowers on what was once a worn-out tobacco farm. Gr...

Millarckee Farm

6833 Bethel South Fork Rd, Snow Camp: Millarckee Farm has been growing vegetables organically for 25+ years. The efficient bed/path/crop rotational system has allowed farmers to reduce outside inputs...

Minka Farm

120 Minka Farm Ln, Efland:  There's always something new at Minka Farm! Self-guided tour about our many animals, pasture management, pond health, our new hatchery, how our new meat goats will contro...

Perry-winkle Farm

1061 White Cross Rd, Chapel Hill: Come see fields of sustainably-grown vegetables, cutflowers, pastured poultry in “Egg-mobiles” and “Chicken Tractors” and pigs plowing up organic matter. Check out o...
 
Piedmont Biofarm, Screech Owl Greenhouse

192 Lorax Lane, Pittsboro: Visit Doug Jones's year-round vegetable, crop research, and seed production farm, as well as Screech Owl's hydroponic produce greenhouse.    Doug's farm features movable ...

Piedmont Food & Agricultural Processing Center

FEATURED PARTNER, 500 Valley Forge Rd, Hillsborough www.orangecountyfarms.org/pfap/

Pine Knot Farm

8906 Hester Rd, Hurdle Mills: Third generation minority farmer raising certified organic vegetables:  sweet potatoes, soybeans, collards, cabbage, kale and turnip greens. Pastured-raised poultry and ...

W C Breeze Family Farm Ag Ext & Research Center

4909 Walnut Grove Church Road, Hurdle Mill: Come see how we grow vegetables and new farmers! Rooted in an 8-week workshop series offered each winter, beginning farmers learn skills and then leas...

Saxapahaw Village Farm

6042 Swepsonville-Saxapahaw Road, Graham: Come see a rainbow flock of heritage hens; follow Jersey cows and two rare breeds of sheep in an elaborate pasture dance. Enjoy dairy calves frolicking along...

Spence's Community Farm for Children

6407 Mill House Rd, Chapel Hill: This family-friendly farm features beautiful pastures, horse rides and lots of chickens and goats.  See how we grow fruits and vegetables, and take care of our wonde...

The Student Farm at CCCC

764 West St, Pittsboro:  Visitors will tour vegetable production areas, learn about organic production practices that include crop rotation, cover-cropping and incorporating livestock into the field...

Sunset Farms

6225 N Carolina 49, Burlington:    We are a multi-generational, naturally grown produce and pasture-based livestock farm. We are working with animal and crop rotations to produce a "closed-loop" sust...

Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm

465 Yarborough Rd, Roxboro: Take a narrated covered wagon tour of scenic rolling pastures where grass-fed buffalo roam. See NC's second largest bison herd at this seventh generation family farm - ma...

Timberwood Organics

4619 Timberwood Trail, Efland: Certified organic family-owned farm producing quality produce and herbs since 1989 for sale at the Carrboro Farmers Market, CSA, restaurants, and stores.  Delicious hom...

Transplanting Traditions Community Farm

2912 B Jones Ferry Rd, Chapel Hill: Transplanting Traditions Community Farm is a 3 acre educational farm that works specifically with the Karen Burmese refugee community. This farm grows crops known...

Turtle Run Farm

5776 Rumley Rd, Graham: Raised bed vegetable operation, worm composting demo, cultured alfalfa fertilizer demo, cypress greenhouse, pioneer cabin, spring fed pond, garden plant sale including our del...

Two Chicks Farm

3800 Mallory Ct, Hillsborough (located at end of street down gravel driveway):  No chickens here, but a small farm built from scratch in our sixth year. We use sustainable practices and grow year rou...

Walters Unlimited at Carls-Beth Farm

7119 High Rock Rd, Efland: We are a chemical free farm that has a 100% grass fed beef operation that utilizes mob grazing practices. Our 400 laying hen operation is pasture based. The hog portion is...

Waterdog Farm - NEW!

904 Terry Road, Hurdle Mills:    Come see our beautiful 10 acre farm nestled on the Flat River. You'll learn how we use sustainable methods to grow native flowers, heirloom produce, and our specialty...

Wild Hare Farm

9836 Allison Rd., Cedar Grove: We raise a variety of beautiful cut flowers, vegetables, and strawberries. These products are sold at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market, to Weaver Street Market, local rest...

Windy Acres Farm

7624 Harmony Church Rd, Efland:    Visitors will be able to pet and feed our goats, as well as see our strawberry field and cold weather crops. We use manure and other natural methods for fertilizer ...
18th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour 2013
April 27 - 28, 1 - 5 PM. Come learn about the Triangle's local and organic farm/food scene. Meet local farmers and tour their beautiful farms. Great for the whole family. Info/tickets at www.carolinafarmstewards.org Advanced tickets are $25 per carload. Founding co-sponsors are Carolina Farm Stewardship Assoc. & Weaver Street Market. (Volunteer one afternoon & get in free. Contact fred@carolinafarmstewards.org.)
Note: Bring a cooler to purchase from the farms. No pets allowed on the tour.

Join CFSA Down on the Farm!

Farm Tours

Join CFSA Down on the Farm!

CFSA’s farm tours were created to better connect farmers and consumers. Visitors are able to see the reality of what goes on at a sustainable small farm. How do farm families balance their busy lives? How do they grow food in harmony with nature? How do they market their products and make it financially?

We are especially happy that lots of children come on the tours. Today so many children have read story books about farms and farm animals, but have never actually seen a farm. By touring, children learn where their food comes from and what a real farm is.

Piedmont Farm Tour

Apr 27, 2013			1:00 pm	to	5:00 pm
Apr 28, 2013			1:00 pm	to	5:00 pm

Learn More →

Upstate Farm Tour

Jun 1, 2013			1:00 pm	to	6:00 pm
Jun 2, 2013			1:00 pm	to	6:00 pm

 Learn More →

Eastern Triangle Farm Tour

Sep 15, 2012			1:00 pm	to	5:00 pm
Sep 16, 2012			1:00 pm	to	5:00 pm

Learn More →

2013 VIP Beginning Farmer Tour

Special Tour for Beginning Farmers

Apr 27, 2013			12:45 pm	to	5:00 pm
Apr 28, 2013			12:45 pm	to	5:00 pm

2013 VIP Beginning Farmer Tour
April 27 or 28, 2013

Time: Meet at 12:45 PM; mini-bus leaves promptly at 1 PM
Where: Fifth Season Gardening, 106 South Greensboro Street, downtown Carrboro
Parking: Please park in nearby Carrboro Municipal lots, not at Fifth Season Gardening
Cost and eligibility: $3 per person

As a part of the Piedmont Farm Tour, CFSA is providing a mini-bus to take aspiring farmers and farmers with less than 10 years of experience to three exciting farms on either Saturday or Sunday. You will get to learn from experienced growers and see their operations. Itineraries below.
Hosted by leading experts, the tour gives you a chance to network with other beginning farmers, too. CFSA provides snacks, prizes and materials.
All this for just $3.
Tours are limited to 20 people each day. Tickets will be available online in a few days!

Itineraries:

SATURDAY TOUR
Saturday the tour will visit three impressive small farms: Millarckee Farm, Turtle Run Farm and Saxapahaw Community Farm. The tour will focus on organic produce growing, innovative fertility systems and small-scale livestock. Hosted by CFSA’s Eric Soderholm and others TBA.

SUNDAY TOUR
Sunday the tour will head to Ever Laughter Farm, Maple Springs Garden and Whitted Bowers Farm. The tour will focus on permaculture techniques and design, organic produce growing and biodynamic fruit growing. (Note that Whitted Bowers Farm is not on the Piedmont Farm Tour this year, so this is an exclusive chance to learn about this farm.) Hosted by Dr. Keith Baldwin, CFSA staff, and others TBA.

If you have questions, please contact the CFSA office at 919-542-2402 or email Fred Broadwell, CFSA’s Education Director.

PLEASE NOTE

This will be a technical training event and is not open to children or non-farmers. One tour event max per person.

Mill Spring Seed Swap

Free Event: Mill Spring Seed Swap

Jan 12, 2013
9:00 am to 2:00 pm

Bring seeds to share and swap with others! We also have free seed catalogs from several different companies. Contact Laura at828-894-2281 or laura@polkcountyfarms.org and visitwww.polkcountyfarms.org.

Location:
 Mill Spring Agricultural Development and Community Center
 156 School Road, Mill Spring, NC 28756

For More Information: Contact Laura at laura@polkcountyfarms.org or 828-894-2281

Herbs, Microgreens and Edible Flower Production

CEFS Workshop: Herbs, Microgreens and Edible Flower Production

Jan 8, 2013
9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Shelton Herb Farm, started in 1986, sells fresh-cut herbs, edible flowers, herb garnish tips, and microgreens to local chefs and caterers. This workshop will be packed with topics including: How to grow herbs for fresh cut production, examples of product package and labeling, equipment used and sample trays. Participants will also learn how to sow, grow, harvest and package microgreens. (There may even be samples for snacking)! In addition, participants will also learn about edible flower production. Time will also be dedicated to the history and design of Shelton Herb Farm including farm set-up, including garden rows, greenhouses and cold frames, washing and packing station, etc.

Short biography on CFSA Member Margaret Shelton: I started out growing herbs as a business in 1986.  The fresh-cut business grew from requests for local product from two chefs.  Field growing herbs gives me an idea of how these plants grow through the seasons.  We are open year-round with both our plant sales and fresh-cut business.  Since we grow everything we sell, availability changes with the seasons.  We grow in greenhouses, garden rows, and we use row covers for season extension.  The fresh-cut part of the business has served as a good complement for the nursery part.  Selling plants is very seasonal with the main rush in the spring, whereas the fresh-cut season is more even and steady.  It peaks in the summer and fall and continues year-round with less demand in the colder months when the plants grow more slowly.  This coincides with the slower season for local restaurants.

*** Space is limited to 40 people ***

Location: Center for Environmental Farming Systems
 1 Stevens Mill Road, Goldsboro, NC 27530

Cost: $10

How to register:
 1. Download and complete a registration form (found on CEFS website at http://go.ncsu.edu/herbs).
 2. Mail your completed registration form and check to the address on the bottom of the form (Center for Environmental Farming Systems, Attn. Lisa Forehand, Box 7609-NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27695).
 3. You will be contacted that your registration has been received and a spot secured for you on the roster.

Questions: contact Lisa Forehand at 919-513-0954 or lisa_forehand@ncsu.edu

Heritage Poultry Workshop

Heritage Poultry Workshop

Jan 10, 2013
1:00 pm  to 5:00 pm

Sponsored by the Polk County Office of Agricultural Development, Jim Adkins of the Sustainable Poultry Network will be presenting. Jim is an APA certified poultry judge who has raised more than 50 breeds of standard bred poultry. Learn about breeding poultry for vigor, appearance, and purpose (eggs, meat or dual purpose).

Location: Mill Spring Ag Center
156 School Rd, Mill Spring, NC
Cost: $10 to cover materials.

To register: Call 828-894-2281 or email stephen@polkcountyfarms.org

Present Use Value & Small Farms

As you may know, state law allows counties to tax farms at property tax rates based on their use as farms (known as Present Use Value, or PUV), instead of at higher residential tax rates. However, to qualify for PUV based on farm use, a farm must have more than 5 acres in production in the case of horticultural crops, or more than 10 acres for any other crops. Thus many small farms are not able to take advantage of this preferential tax treatment.

The Council has set up a task force to investigate this situation and to propose changes that would allow small farms serving local food markets to reduce their property tax burdens, and task force members represent Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, NC Farm Bureau and NC Cooperative Extension, among others. We are conducting a survey to collect more information from small farms about their experience with PUV. This is where we need help from farmers....

Please take 15 minutes to take the survey, which you can find here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PUV. The information we collect will be crucial to proving to local and state government that small farms deserve more equitable property tax treatment.

So please help us make a difference and fill out the survey today!

Roland


Make plans to attend CFSA’s Sustainable Agriculture Conference: Oct. 26-28, 2012 in Greenville, SC! Early Registration Deadline is OCT. 4!

Roland McReynolds, Esq.
Executive Director
Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
PO Box 448
Pittsboro, NC 27312
(919) 542 2402
Check out the new www.carolinafarmstewards.org

Eastern Triangle Farm Tour

Sept. 15 – 16, 2012
Farms open 1–5 PM both days

Whether it is cute animals for the kids, meat, egg and fiber production, veggie and fruit growing, cut flowers and ornamentals, mushrooms, bees and honey or urban gardens and farms, we will have something for you — across the eastern, northern and southern sections of the Triangle.
DOWNLOAD: Eastern Triangle Farm Tour Brochure and Map
CHECK OUT: 2012 Interactive Google Farm Tour Map which lists all the farms and gives you customized driving directions.

Get Excited!

Check out photos from last year’s tour on Facebook!

Proudly sponsored by / proudly presented by

For More Information

Fred Broadwell
CFSA’s Program Manager
Email(919) 542-2402

How to Take the Tour

Load up a car with your friends and family, choose the farms you’d like to visit on the map or in the brochure below and get out in the countryside!
The tour is self-guided and farms and sites are located throughout the Eastern Triangle in Wake, Durham, Granville, Franklin and Chatham counties. Visit any farm in any order. This year we have 23 farms to choose from. Learn More →

Buy Your Tickets for the Eastern Triangle Farm Tour

Tickets are now on sale. Go to our online store to buy your ticket today. In August we will begin to sell tickets also at Whole Foods Market locations and at farmers markets.

ADVANCE TICKETS

$25 per vehicle (or cycling group) for ALL farms and for BOTH days. Rain or shine.

Buy Tickets Online

Buy your ticket
Buy your combination ticket and CFSA membership
Buy your combination tickets and donation to CFSA Learn More →

Volunteer at a Farm during the Tour

Volunteer one afternoon and attend the tour the other day for FREE!
Volunteers get an insider view of farms, have lots of fun and get a free T-shirt! Learn More →

Farm Tour Video

Special thanks to Erica Rothman of Nightlight Productions for creating this film!

Social Media for Farmers

Social Media for Farmers Workshops

Want to harness the power of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to reach new customers and grow your farm business?

You won’t want to miss this all-day hands-on workshop designed especially for farmers and taught by social media experts, Johanna Kramer (@durhamfoodie) and Cary and Grace Kanoy (GeoCore Films).

You will leave this workshop with a fully-functioning Facebook and Twitter page (or upgrade your existing pages), the skills to shoot your own short farm video using your cell phone, camera, or camcorder, and the training to take better farm photos. Limited to 25 participants!

Includes lunch.

Cost: ONLY $10!

Workshop Dates

The same information will be covered at each workshop. Please sign up for only one!

DATE	LOCATION
August 14	Winston-Salem at the Forsyth Ag Building
August 16	Pittsboro at the Chatham County Ag Building

There are three easy ways to register:

1) Online – CFSA’s online store

2) Call – 919-542-2402

3) Email – Cheryl Ripperton Rettie

Questions?

Please call the CFSA office at 919-542-2402 or email Amy Armbruster, CFSA’s Communications Coordinator, for more information!

This workshop is hosted by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association in partnership with Know Your Farms, BRWIA, BioBusiness Center and Laboratory, Mountain BizWorks, Blue Ridge Food Ventures, Center for Environmental Farming Systems, NC Cooperative Extension, the 10% Campaign, and Food Corps with funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation.

After Wednesday's Greensboro Curb Farmers Market, join Carolina Farm Stewardship Association later for a happy hour at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen. They'll be talking local food and agriculture with farmers, food artisans and passionate food-loving neighbors! If you've got a great food project in the works, come tell them about it!

Representatives from various local food projects will be present to discuss their work in a casual setting. Speakers include Leon Moses of NCA&T's campus farm and Elizabeth Gibbs, Greensboro Curb Farmers Market manager.

Carolina Farm Stewardship Association will give away mason jars to quench your thirst in a true, reverent Southern style. Chef Jay Pierce, a nationally-acclaimed chef lauded for his conscious commitment to locally-sourced and seasonal ingredients, will offer an appetizer special for meetup attendees. Read his post about buying locally at CNN's Eatocracy blog: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/06/04/chefs-with-issues-buying-food-is-a-political-act/?hpt=hp_bn10

This free event is sponsored by Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Barn Storm Tour. Visit us at the Curb Market that morning from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 501 Yanceyville St. Eat, buy, support local!

For more information about the CFSA Barn Storm Tour, visit www.carolinafarmstewards.org/bst

"Celebrating Historic Herbs" Spring Festival & Pottery Fair at Old Salem

Old Salem Museums & Gardens is hosting its annual Spring Festival, which has a "Celebrating Historic Herbs" theme in combination with a Pottery Fair.

Spring Festival: "Celebrating Historic Herbs"
Saturday May 19, 2012
9:30am - 4:30pm
Old Salem Historic District

Used for medicinal remedies, culinary flavorings, dye materials, and much more, herbs were a very important part of life in the 18th and 19th century. Join us at Old Salem as we explore the many uses of herbs, and their place in our gardens.

Activities include:
- Garden viewings
- Make your own Lavender Sweet Bag
- Medicinal uses for herbs in our apothecary
- Plant your own herb to take home
- Hearth Cooking using herbs
- Dyeing with herbs
- Outside speakers and demonstrations
- Special Presentation: "Savory and Sweet Herbs: Beginnings and Endings for Spectacular Meals" by Katherine K. Schlosser @ 2:00pm in the Single Brothers' Workshop

All activities are included with the purchase of an All-In-One ticket. Purchase a ticket online or at the Visitors Center (900 Old Salem Road)

For more information, please contact (336) 721-7350 or info@oldsalem.org


Pottery Fair on the SquareSaturday, May 19, 2012
10:00am - 5:00pm
Salem Square
(S. Main St at Academy St)

At the 2nd annual Old Salem Pottery Fair on the Square, potters from across North Carolina will sell their utilitarian and art pottery at booths on Salem Square. This event coincides with Old Salem's annual Spring Festival, which has a "Celebrating Historic Herbs" theme this year, and Salem College's 2012 Commencement.

The Pottery Fair on the Square is the only pottery show in Forsyth County. Last year, approximately 35 potters participated. Hand-crafted pottery is an excellent, unique gift for spring graduates and summer brides and grooms.

Admission is FREE to this event. In the event of rain and/or strong wind, the Fair will be relocated to the concourse of the Old Salem Visitor Center, 900 Old Salem Road.



Also, while you're at Old Salem... stop by the Old Salem Cobblestone Farmers Market! 

The market will be from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays though Nov. 19 at the corner of West and Salt streets, next to the Single Brothers' Garden. 

This is the first season for the market which is a partnership between Old Salem Museums & Gardens and Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.  It is a "producers-only farmers market" in which farmers use sustainable farming methods and humane practices in the production of meat products. 

You will see a lot of the same farm's who are at Cobblestone Farmers' Market at Krankies on Tuesdays, along with some new farms. 

We're not able to be away from our new farm store in order to sell at the farmer's market again this year, so you'll have to stop by the farm purchase our goat's milk soap.   Our store is open 7 days a week (9-6 Monday-Saturday, 1-6 Sunday, and by appointment).  In addition to the goat's milk soap we also sell our fresh eggs, farmstead meats (beef, lamb, and chicken), local foods and local gifts.  We'll be adding goat cheese and pasture raised pork, along with agritourism (tours of the farm) soon.  We're only 6 miles North of Winston-Salem, so it's definitely worth the short trip!

2012 Piedmont Farm Tour

2012 Piedmont Farm Tour: America's Biggest Sustainable Farm Tour!

Saturday and Sunday, April 28-29
Farms open from 1-5pm
Come learn about the Triangle's local and organic farm & food scene.
Meet local farmers & tour their farms!

To Take the Tour: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! The tour is self-guided and farms and sites are located throughout the Triangle in Alamance, Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Person counties. 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!

Farm Tour Brochure (.pdf) - Read about the farms, lots of maps, & more!

Interactive Map - Read about the farms, plan your stops and get driving directions!

Buy Your Tickets
1. Advance tickets are $25 per car for ALL farms, ALL weekend.





Buy your Farm Tour Button!

Buy your Combo Farm Tour Button and CFSA Membership!

Buy your Combo Farm Tour Button and CFSA Donation!

> You can now purchase your tickets at our tour co-sponsor, Weaver Street Market, at their locations in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough, and at Chatham Marketplace in Pittsboro, and Harmony Farms in Raleigh.

2. DAY OF THE TOUR TICKETS are $30 for all farms, $10 per farm (Buy buttons at the first farm you visit.)


To Volunteer:
Volunteer one afternoon and attend the whole tour for FREE! Volunteers get an insider
view of farms, have lots of fun and get a free T-shirt!

Email Fred to volunteer!

Special Tour for Young and Beginning FarmersIf you are a beginning farmer (less than 10 years experience), you can take our VIP minibus tour for just $3!
This gets you a ride with special guest experts, materials, a button for taking the farm tour the other day, snacks, and prizes.
We will meet at Fifth Season Gardening in Carrboro at 12:45, back by 5 PM.
This is a very limited offer and will sell out soon.
Buy your ticket now!
Saturday's Horticulture Tour: We'll focus on horticulture at Turtle Run Farm, Millarckee Farm and Harland's Creek Farm. Eric Soderholm, CFSA's Organic Transition Coordinator, will be your host.
Sunday's Livestock Tour: We'll focus on livestock at Hogan's Magnolia View Farm (not on the regular tour), Coon Rock Farm and Walters Unlimited at Carls-Beth Farm. Tim Holmes, Lead Certifier for Animal Welfare Approved, and Amy Saltmarsh of NCSU, will be your hosts.
Note that this will be a technical training event and is not open to children or non-farmers. One tour event max per person. Many thanks to our sponsor the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture and grant partner the National Center for Appropriate Technology.
Questions: Contact the CFSA office at 919-542-2402 or email Fred.

> Check out this excellent video by the Interfaith Food Shuttle's Mitra Sticklen about their Young Farmer Training Program Apprentice Tour during the 2011 Piedmont Farm Tour!

Questions?The tour is both an educational event and a fundraiser for CFSA, a 33-year old a non-profit organization that helps people in the Carolinas grow and eat local, organic food by advocating for fair farm and food policies, building the systems that family farmers need to thrive and educating communities about local, organic farming. Weaver Street Market has been an essential partner in building the Piedmont Farm Tour into a Triangle institution.

Questions? Call CFSA 919.542.2402.

Proudly sponsored by:

Sustainable Agriculture Conference

Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's 25th Annual Sustainable Agriculture Conference will be held in Winston-Salem on December 3-5, 2010. INSPIRING KEYNOT'S 50 SKILL-BUILDING WORKSHOPS FORUMS ON COMMUNITY FOOD POLICY LOTS OF NETWORKING FARM AND GARDEN TOURS LOCAL AND ORGANIC MEALS AND RECEPTION

Regular registration ends Wednesday, November 10. Visit www.carolinafarmstewards.org/sac10.shtml to learn more.

OkterberFresh

Join the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association for a special harvest festival celebrating local, sustainable farms! Tantalize your taste buds with mouthwatering seasonal cuisine, produced in the Upstate, prepared and served by the area’s finest chefs. There will be tours of charming Patient Wait Farm, live music, and children’s activities, so bring your friends and family for an unforgettable evening of farm-fresh fun! Adults: $45 -Children ages 5-10: $15 - Children under 5: Free admission Purchase your tickets in advance! Tickets are limited and may not be available at the gate. Buy your tickets today! Featured Chefs & restaurants American Grocery, Chef Joe Clarke - Greenville, SC Soby's, Chef Shaun Garcia - Greenville, SC Summa Joe's Searing Pans, Chef Joe Fredette - Anderson, SC The Broken TeaPot, Chef Suni McMath - Woodruff, SC Desserts by: Marvelous Pies, Lisa Marvel - Traveler's Rest, SC Confections by: CocoBon Chocolatier, David Saidat - Anderson, SC More chefs COMING SOON! Other fun stuff: 30 Minute Walking Tours of Patient Wait Farms - Tours will begin at 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm. Guests interested in the tours should meet at the house 10 minutes prior to tour time. Children's tent with activities and crafts Live music featuring the bluegrass stylings of Anderson's acclaimed This House Burning (a fun review of the band appeared in the Aug. 12th Anderson Independent Mail) Patient Wait Farm Featured in the premier issue of Edible Upcountry... Gail & Mike Cooley 309 Trotter Rd. Piedmont, SC 29673 http://www.patientwait.com/ Patient Wait Farm is long-time dream of a Jersey Girl who found home in the SC Upstate. Gail and her understanding husband/farm hand, Mike, strive to provide a sustainable farm with high quality products, animals and service to the community. It all began with a couple of horses in the pasture, a pet goat -- and a desire to take an active role in food choices and the enivronment. They started raising heritage turkeys after Gail searched in vain for a healthier (and tastier!) turkey raised in the Upstate to serve for Thanksgiving. When unable to purchase locally, and with a "can-do" attitude, the family embarked on a quest to not only raise their own holiday fare, but to share with the community. Now Patient Wait also provides local farmers an alternative to the broad-breasted production bird and helps the homesteader with raising their own poultry. Meet their Animal Welfare Approved birds at OktoberFresh! Directions From Interstate 85, take SC-8 towards Easley (exit 32). Travel 0.7 miles and take the first right onto Trotter Road. Travel 0.8 miles and look for Patient Wait Farms on the left. Attendants will guide you to a pasture on the left where there is plenty of parking - a short, non-strenuous walk to the festivities. The event is Rain or Shine. Tickets are transferable but non-refundable.