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18th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour – 2013

Nancy Largent | March 26, 2013 | 0 Comments

Maple Spring Gardens, 9812 Allison Road, Cedar Grove, NC

Chapel Hill in April is a colorful wonderland of blossoming flowers and bright green leaves. One of the best ways to celebrate Spring’s renewal is to visit our local farms by taking the 18th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour!

On Saturday, April 27 & Sunday, April 28, 2012 from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, thirty-nine farms on the outskirts of town will be opening their doors, well, just their fields to the general public. This is the perfect weekend event for family and friends, and each farm is planning on hosting fun activities for visitors! This is also the perfect opportunity to select a local CSA, as many of the participating farms below are also CSAs. Remember to bring along a cooler (or two!), as many farms will have fresh produce and farm products for sale on site.

For just $25 a carload in advance, ($30 at the farm), you can choose which farms you would like to visit over the two day, self-guided tour. Alternatively, you can spend $10 per car, per farm. Biking groups of two to twenty bikers count as one car. This is a tax deductible donation that benefits the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, a non-profit organization whose mission is dedicated to helping “people in the Carolinas grow and eat local, organic foods by advocating for fair farm and food policies, building the systems sustainable family farms need to thrive, and educating and organizing communities about organic farming.”

Volunteers are welcome, and attend the Farm Tour for free, and get a free T-shirt! If you would like to volunteer, email Fred: [email protected].

This tour is co-sponsored by Weaver Street Market, where you can purchase Farm Tour Admission buttons in advance and pick up a free Farm Tour Guide booklet at any of their locations. Or you can download the Piedmont Farm Tour Map 2013 (PDF) by clicking here. Click here for: More Information, to view an Interactive Farm Tour Google Map, and to Purchase Buttons Online.

Here is an alphabetical list of the participating farms:

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 is processed and blended into roving for spinning and felting and yarns for knitting and crochet. There will be energetic lambs & goat kids to see and angora rabbits to touch and admire. Watch fiber being spun into yarn by hand and learn how natural animal fibers are produced and processed. See our composting system for rabbit manure. http://www.avillionfarm.com
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, see our wine-making equipment, and tour the vineyard with the winemaker/grape grower. Shop for jellies, juice, cheeses, wine and wine accessories in our gift shop. www.benjaminvineyards.com
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 in Motion, is our way of getting the freshest food from our farm and neighboring farms straight to you. You can visit our farm to see the animals and crops, and then relax while you enjoy the delicious food at tables or bring a blanket for a picnic. (919) 732-9078, www.boxcarrfarms.com
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, chickens, ducks, donkeys, goats, sheep, and turkeys. We will have walking tours and hayrides to different outer points so that you can learn about our intense multi-species rotational grazing. The farm store will be open, so bring your coolers. www.canecreekfarm.us, www.braeburnfarms.com
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 old farm house focusing on family history and farm life. Lamb Burgers and Lamb Brats will be served each day at noon. A five course wine dinner will be served in the farm house at 7pm on the evening of the 27th. Reservations at (919) 621-1150, www.dorperscedargrovenc.com
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 hands at milking). You may see the guineas as they skitter about the farm. Learn about management-intensive pasture-raised cattle, honeybees, blueberries, figs, pears, muscadine grapes, and the 6.48 kW solar array. We are committed to having a sustainable and carbon-neutral farm. Goat milk soap, honey, and lemonade for sale. [email protected]
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 (we are writing this in early February). Next will be the location of the communal prepping area and storage of equipment to be shared. If you are needing a place to farm and have a plan, take this as an opportunity to discuss possibilities of being involved in this project with Brit, Fleming or John. (919) 742-5176, www.celebritydairy.com
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, and watch pigs slurp whey. Taste our cheeses and our new sausages. Bring a blanket and enjoy cheeses as you watch the cows ruminate. Bring a cooler so you can buy cheese and sausage! [email protected]t
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 nestled along a bend in the Eno River just outside of Hillsborough, NC. We concentrate on sustainably and bio-dynamically taking care of the land while letting it take care of us. Our vegetables are mostly heirloom varieties and raised without chemicals of any kind. Our animals are pastured raised and grass fed and never given antibiotics or hormones. Our chickens are heritage breeds that provide both meat and eggs and are completely free range. We have cover crops, hoop houses, organic soil, weed and insect management, water saving methods, heritage breed and pastured animals, bees and wildlife habitat. http://www.coonrockfarm.com
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 Chapel Hill Farmer’s Market, restaurants, and small-scale grocery stores. (919) 563-3430, www.dancingpinesfarm.com and on Facebook.
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, [email protected],

eco farm on Facebook.
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 for market year-round. Laying hens rotate on pasture and honeybees enjoy a variety of flowers. An innovative greenhouse keeps transplants (and residents) warm in cold weather by banking solar heat inside the farmhouse. (919) 619-7049 http://everlaughterfarm.com
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 tour on agroforestry, cover crops, grazing animals, and sustainable farming. Gather your own eggs! Food Truck both days. Pork, Beef, Lamb, Chicken, Eggs, and Produce to purchase and take home. Se habla espanol. On parle francais. [email protected], http://ficklecreekfarm.com
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 strawberries. (336) 364-2460 [email protected]
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, shiitake mushroom logs and a kiwi vine. We will have annual and perennial plants for sale. (919) 644-6535, [email protected], www.fourleaffarm.org
Granite Springs Farm – NEW!: 266 Granite Springs Road, 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 production. Learn about our delicious oyster mushrooms, grown on straw in bags and suspended in the air! We are forming an intentional agrarian community on our 140 acres. Visitors can learn about the vision and plans for this vibrant new community. (919) 542-2982, [email protected], www.granitespringsfarm.com
Harlands Creek Farm: 97 Plantation Drive, Pittsboro
National Historic site growing certified organic produce, flowers, herbs, and pasture-raised chicken. Box lunches prepared by Angelina’s Kitchen will be sold Saturday. Order at our website. Also see our greenhouse and two high tunnels. Our “parterre,” a geometric garden, should be in bloom with heirloom bulbs. We sell at the Durham Farmer’s Market and through several CSAs. www.harlands-creek-farm.com
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. Come visit our large herb garden and apothecary. Learn to incorporate these medicinal plants into your landscape. http://www.herbhaven.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 animals (fainting goats, chickens, Belgian draft horses, barn cats and dogs Bo, Merlot and Sadie.) www.irongatevineyards.com
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. Greenhouse, unheated high tunnel and field production. Check out our ginger and shiitake mushrooms and the new solar array to offset some of the fam’s electrical usage. Produce is sold at the Carrboro and Durham Farmers’ Markets, Weaver Street Market in Hillsborough and through our CSA. www.maplespringgardens.com, On Facebook at Maple Spring Gardens, LLC
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 like manure, minerals and gas.
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 control weeds, and more. Don’t forget to tour the orchard! We’ll have chicks to cuddle, calves to admire, and many other animals to meet. Bring a cooler and stock up on dry-aged, grassfed beef! www.minkafarm.com
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 our Hebel Block passive solar greenhouse, while tasting Chicken Bridge Bakery’s wares fresh from a wood-fired bread oven. [email protected]
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 catepillar tunnels. Also see the new solar double cropping — solar panels mixed with shade crop production. Screech is growing salad mix, tomatoes, cukes, parsley and peppers year-round, using used motor oil. Donations of oil welcome. (919) 389-8643, www.piedmontbiofarm.blogspot.com, or Facebook.
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 pork. 20 acres of organic tobacco, sold to Sante Fe Natural Tobacco Company. (919) 644-3276, [email protected]
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 lease land to start their own farm businesses. Check out our two new hoop houses and meet our enterprising farmers. (919) 245-2050, [email protected] http://www.orangecountyfarms.org/PLANTatBreeze.asp
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 alongside their mamas. Hear about the locally milled, organic feed for our layers, broilers and pigs. (919) 525-6027
Spence’s Educational Farm: 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 wonderful animals. Visit our woodshop and pottery house. Spence’s embraces a world where we all connect to each other, Nature and our food sources. www.spensesfarm.com
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 rotation. Organically raised vegetable transplants will be available for sale. Various on-farm energy production features will be part of the tour. [email protected], www.cccc.edu/green
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” sustainable farm. Stop by and see free-ranging poultry, intensively-grazed beef, and a wide variety of vegetable crops. (336) 662-5487 http://ncsunsetfarms.com
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 – mature breeding bulls, cows, calves, majestic symbols of America. Bison lunch on sale at beautiful lakeside gazebo noon to 3 pm. Bring a cooler and purchase dry-aged bison burger, steaks, sausages, roasts and more. (336) 583-6666, [email protected], www.SunsetRidgeBuffalo.com
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 homemade breads, snacks, and produce will be available for sale. (919) 563-9464, www.timberwoodorganics.com
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 to N.C. but also specializes in tropical Asian crops specific to Burma including many kinds of herbs, gourds, turmeric, ginger and galangal. Come taste ethnic Karen food and buy seedlings for your own garden. (919) 967-9091, [email protected]
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 delicious tomato “Little Cherokee”, the use-yer-foot handwash factory, and bring or borrow a fishing pole, there are too many fish in the pond. www.useyerfoot.com
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 round with the help of our hoop houses. We sell fresh and preserved vegetables, including lacto-fermented foods, at several farmers markets. Come see what’s growing and sample some of our preserved vegetables. www.twochicksfarm.com
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 rotated through wooded lots and pasture areas. Both the chickens and hogs are grain fed. We also have catfish in a few ponds that we harvest and filet. Lastly, we have a growing organic/biodynamic produce operation on 1 to 1.5 acres that includes a 2600 sq ft greenhouse. www.waltersunlimited.com
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, herbal teas. Sample unusual herbal teas grown on our farm, as you learn all about them. Rickie, a trained biologist, will lead walks in the forest to the banks of the river. Learn about the relationship between farms, forests, and our drinking water. [email protected]
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 restaurants and florists. Come see what’s growing in our hoop houses! http://www.wildharefarm.us
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 and pest control. We will have pork samples from pigs raised on the farm and also samples of homemade pickles. (919) 563-9880, [email protected], www.ncagr.gov/ncproducts/ShowSite.asp?ID=2529