Know Your Farms Tour

Spend the weekend stomping through pastures, petting alpacas, and finding out first-hand where your food comes from

These places show up on chalkboards all over town. Eggs from here, pork from there, cheese from this dairy 10 miles away. Chefs and restaurant owners tout the sources of their ingredients to local-food-conscious diners on a daily basis. And that recognition is a noble effort to educate customers about the first prong in the farm-to-fork movement.

But rarely do those diners get to meet the person who tends the chickens and raises the hogs and milks the cows. This weekend, 13 farms in Charlotte and the surrounding area will open their gates for the seventh Charlotte Area Know Your Farms Tour.

For $25 per carload (vans and buses count, too!), curious Charlotteans can spend their Saturday and Sunday on the farm. Half of the farms are open on Saturday (noon to 6 p.m.), and the other half on Sunday (noon to 6 p.m.). A suggested route is available on the farm tour website. One ticket covers both days.

Many of the farms will offer activities, some for free and some at an additional cost. Thomas Bee Farm in Concord will have an observation hive and a bee equipment show-and-tell. Ellis Farms will present milking and molasses-making demonstrations. Devine Farms will take guests on a wagon ride and through a corn maze. Several farms offer opportunities to pet and feed animals, and coloring and crafts for kids.

The farms will also sell products. From alpaca-fiber apparel (socks, mittens, sweaters) at Good Karma Ranch in Iron Station to fresh ostrich eggs at Birdbrain Ostrich Ranch in Sherrills Ford, the available items go well beyond common fruits and vegetables. But farmers market staples will be available, too, including fall specialties, such as pumpkins, muscadines, Indian corn, and gourds.

Click here to purchase a ticket.