Farm Tours
(This listing is not really a grower, but it is enabling our Farm Tour volunteer, Marc Tissenbaum, use of our website to take reservations and add information about our 2009 monthly farm tours and work days.)
Please join us as Athens Locally Grown hosts five monthly Farmer for a Day tours. Each month, participants will visit a different sustainable farm to gain insight into some of the low-impact agricultural methods used in our community. They will also be able to match faces and names with farms that provide fresh, chemical-free goods to Athens area markets, restaurants, and individuals.
In addition, the farmers will receive some much-deserved recognition while getting a little help and potentially picking up a few new customers.
All in all, it will help individuals create an even stronger sense of community in Athens, GA.
One Saturday or Sunday a month from May through October, we will meet at our host farm at 10am. From 10 to noon, participants will get to see first-hand what goes into producing their food by helping with small, fun and interesting projects the grower will have prepared. We’ll then have lunch (free for all volunteers) followed by a full tour of the farm. The tours generally wrap-up by 2 p.m.
Our food sponsors this year are Daily Groceries Co-op, Athens Locally Grown, and participating farmers.
Each tour is limited to 25 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. You can sign up here at the Locally Grown site while you’re shopping, or if you have additional questions you can contact Marc Tissenbaum by emailing farmerforaday@gmail.com
Directions will be provided and a carpool will be organized for each tour.
The list of farms and dates are as follows:
- Greendale Farm (Madison), June 6
- Dancing Sprout Farm (Athens), July 11
- Mills Farm (Athens), August 9
- Roots Farm (Winterville), August 22
- Johnston Family Farm (Newborn), September 5
- Boann’s Banks (Royston), October 3
The May and August 9 tours fall on Sunday; the other monthly tours fall on Saturday. Please note that the Roots Farm tour, originally set for May, has been rescheduled for August 22.
The Johnston family run a dairy farm, Greendale produces free range eggs and pasture raised chicken, and the other participating farms emphasize vegetable production, with Mills Farm, additionally, utilizing their mule to grind corn grits, polenta, and meal.
The October event is our annual tour wrap-up, a Hunter’s Moon party at Eric’s place, which features its own sandy beach on the Broad River.
Marc Tissenbaum
farmerforaday@gmail.com