Participating Farms, Orchards, Wineries & Plant Nurseries
Venues are listed geographically from north to south. Hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Please follow written directions as satellite directions may be inaccurate. Ticket purchase locations (The Link Community Center, Narmada Winery, Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School and Belle Meade Farm & School) open at 9 a.m.
Mountain Laurel Montessori Farm School (Ticket Purchase Location)
Susan Holmes
540.675.1011
www.mountainlaurelmontessori.org
mlmfarmschool@earthlink.net
The school, for students in grades 7-9 and located on a 23-acre farm in Flint Hill, uses an academically rigorous, project-based Montessori curriculum, which revolves around the needs of the sustainable farm and the needs of young adolescents.
Program: Student-guided tours of the farm and school, activities for young children, petting sheep, holding chickens and gathering eggs. Hands-on demonstrations of spinning and dyeing wool and working raw wool into felt. Presentations on the philosophy, curriculum and day-to-day life of the school; animal and crop rotation for sustainability; and the Hoophouse for the Hungry partnership with the Rappannock Food Pantry.
Products: pork sausage, eggs, fall vegetables, handmade goods created by the school’s students; lunch available for purchase includes barbecue sandwiches, sides, desserts and beverages, all made with the school’s farm products.
Location: 23 Sunny Slope Lane, Flint Hill, VA 22627. Approx. 0.25 mile north of Flint Hill off Rte. 522 (a left turn when coming from Flint Hill).
Skye Llama Farm & Wild Hair Fiber Works
Nancy (Nan) McEvoy, owner
540.675.3927
skyelama@comcast.net
Skye High Farm is a small, cottage farm with a herd of 10 llamas prized for their very fine fiber. The llama hair is harvested to make felt, the oldest fabric known to mankind. The farm is accessible for handicapped individuals.
Program: While llamas mingle among the group, owner will demonstrate wet felting using their hair (fiber). There will be a felting activity for visitors.
Products: items for sale include hats and bags of llama hair for spinners, felters, weavers. Fantastic, odor free, 2 percent soil enrichment will be available for sale as well. Llama “beans” break down easily in the garden and do not burn plant roots. Totally organic!
Hall’s Orchard
Beth Nauman Hall, owner
540.675.3179
bethhall@wildblue.net
The apple orchard features more than 400 varieties of heirloom apples.
Program: Orchard tours will be led by Beth Hall and certified arborist Bryan Lilly, who will talk about the more historical apples and how they are best used, which apple variety best suits which particular landscape, and the care and maintenance of a newly planted tree. The tour also will include apple tastings. There will be demonstrations on pruning and grafting apple trees.
Products: “pick your own” apples.
Caledonia Farm
Phil Irwin
540.675.3693
www.BNB1812.com
rphilipirwin@gmail.com
Nearly 10 percent of this 135-acre beef cattle farm is designated as acreage for wildlife. The farm is the first stop on Virginia’s statewide Birding and Wildlife Trail — unique in Rappahannock County.
Program: Tours led by owner Phil Irwin will focus on environmental protection programs for agricultural purposes and open-space landscape protection.
The Farm at Sunnyside
Nick & Gardiner Lapham, owners
Emily Cook, grower
540.675.9946
www.thefarmatsunnyside.com
Nestled up to Shenandoah National Park, this 422-acre farm strives to marry production agriculture with conservation and ecological restoration. The farm produces eggs and certified organic fruit and vegetables, which are sold through an on-farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and at markets in Washington, D.C.
Program: Walking tours of the farm at 10 a.m. Discussion of what it means to be “organic” and why it matters. Visit the CSA on Saturday only.
Products: in-season vegetables, fruit, green tomato chutney, applesauce at the farm store.
Crowfoot Farm
Kevin & Rachel Summers
540.937.4490
www.crowfootfarm.com
thecrowfootfarm@gmail.com
Established in 2009, Crowfoot Farm is a small, family homestead that raises pastured poultry, rare heritage breed livestock and heirloom vegetables the old-fashioned way — without antibiotics or chemicals.
Program: Children can make and take home a free “windowsill garden,” enjoy a petting zoo and gather eggs from the hen house. Also featuring exhibits on homesteading and rare heritage livestock, guided tours of pastured poultry operations at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., and a hands-on “sheep to shawl” demonstration at 2:00 p.m.
Products: GMO-free pastured chicken and eggs, local honey and reservations taken for holiday heritage breed turkeys.
Silk Ear Farm
Bob & Joan Duxbury
540.937.6027
Silk Ear Farm has been keeping honey bees in Rappahannock County since 1996 — an all-natural process that is an integral part of our food system.
Program: Talk to an expert beekeeper and find out why bees are an integral part of our food system.
Products: all-natural honey, maple syrup.
Narmada Winery (Ticket Purchase Location)
Pandit & Sudha Patil
540.937.8215
www.narmadawinery@gmail.com
Narmada Winery presents carefully crafted wines from vineyards established in 2001 and delicious Indian cuisine in its spacious and modern tasting room.
Program: Tours of the winery and vineyard with owner/winemaker Sudha Patil. Visitors are encouraged to stroll along the grounds, relax on the pavilion and enjoy the property’s peaceful pond on the 4-acre landscape and winery. The winery will feature a tasting from the pavilion along with an assortment of local and imported foods. Also, a variety of Indian foods will be presented that pair well with Narmada wines.
Products: Narmada wines.
Location: 80 Narmada Lane, Amissville, VA 20106. On Rte. 211, 8 miles west of Warrenton; 6 miles east of intersection of Rtes. 211 and 522.
Gray Ghost Vineyards
Al & Cheryl Kellert
540.937.4869
www.grayghostvineyards.com
This is a family-owned and -operated 13-acre vineyard and winery that produces internationally awarded wine.
Program: Taste wines made exclusively from grapes grown on Gray Ghost’s Amissville property. See wine fermenting and possibly witness grape harvesting (depending on the seasonal weather).
Products: white and red wines, dry and sweet; locally made honey, jewelry, vine wreaths, wine bottles and other gifts.
Stonyman Gourmet Farmer
Susan & Alan James
540.675.2005
www.stonymangourmetfarmer.com
farmer@stonymangourmetfarmer.com
Stonyman Gourmet Farmer offers premium farmstead cheeses and fine farm-to-table foods in its historic merchantile, café, and farm “dooryard,” featuring cook’s cottage, smokehouse and dairy house.
Program: demonstrations for children on farmhouse cheese-making and 18th/19th century farm cooking methods.
Eastwoods Nursery
Francie Schroeder & Henry Eastwood
540.675.1234
www.japanesemaples.com
schroeder.eastwood@gmail.com
The nursery, committed to earth-friendly fertilizers and amendments, specializes in Japanese maples and offers more than 300 kinds of maples, a selection of ginkgo cultivars and unusual conifers.
Program: Upon request, demonstrations of proper pruning techniques; discussions of different cultivars, their growth habits and seasonal color changes; opportunities to visit the hoophouses and fields of planted trees.
Products: maples, ginkgos, conifers, container plants, natural fertilizers, T-shirts, educational CD.
Gadino Cellars
Saturday only
Bill & Aleta Gadino
540.987.8140
www.gadinocellars.com
info@gadinocellars.com
Gadino Cellars, a family-operated winery, uses sustainable viticulture practices in the vineyard and produces 1,600 cases of wine annually.
Program: Owner Bill Gadino will lead tours of the vineyard, focusing on farming practices for the estate vines and explaining the different trellis systems in use. The tour will conclude with a visit to the crush pad where the initial processing of harvested grapes takes place. Visitors also are invited to visit the tasting room after the tour (for a fee that includes a logo glass and the tasting) and sample the Gadino’s award-winning wines. (Please allow 1 hour for the tour. You will be out in the vineyard so dress appropriately — hats recommended).
Products: Gadino wines and wine-related products; summer sausage & cheese baskets.
Mount Vernon Farm
Cliff Miller, owner
Mike Peterson, farm manager
540.987.9559
www.mountvernonfarm.net
mtvfarm@gmail.com
The Miller family, which has farmed this land since 1827, manages the farm holistically. The farm’s cattle and sheep are 100 percent grass-fed, grass-finished and hormone- and antibiotic-free. Tamworth pigs and laying hens live on pasture and receive a soy-free, certified organic grain.
Program: Presentations and events focus on the evolution of Mount Vernon Farm since 1827, the importance of pollination, native pollinators and habitat for conservation; implementing and successfully using homeopathy on the farm; sheep-herding dogs; multi-species grazing management through holistic planned grazing, or mob grazing (pasture walk); cooking grass-fed meat; benefits of pastured pigs on the farm.
Products: farm store, featuring meats raised on the farm, will be open during the entirety of the Farm Tour.
Waterpenny Farm
Eric Plaksin & Rachel Bynum
540.987.8567
www.waterpennyfarm.com
The farm features 10 acres of ecologically grown produce and flowers plus 200 laying hens.
Program: Visitors may take a 1-mile, self-guided tour of the farm that highlights Waterpenny’s farming methods. Kids may participate in a scavenger hunt along the way. In the barn, they’ll see a small aquarium with water pennies and other aquatic invertebrates. All may shop for fresh produce and flowers, all grown on the farm, from the self-serve stand.
Products: tomatoes, squash, eggplant, winter squash, peppers, melons, eggs and other seasonal vegetables; also fall flower bouquets and garlic swags, and jars of homegrown tomato sauce and salsa.
The Farm Store at Rappahannock Central
(Rappahannock Natural Foods Co-op Inc.)
Owned and operated by local farmers
540.987.8770
www.RappCentral.com
The Farm Store at Rappahannock Central sells all kinds of local and natural farm products, such as meat, produce, cheese and honey from Rappahannock’s finest farms.
Program: Visitors may “meet your local farmer” at the farm store where co-op members will be showing goats, chickens and other small farm animals at a “petting zoo.” Child-friendly.
Products: local farm products at the farmstore, lunch, dinner and coffee at Café Indigo, local arts at the River District Arts collective — all located at Rappahannock Central. Public restrooms.
Copper Fox Distillery
Saturday only
540.987.8554
www.copperfox.biz
Copper Fox Distillery produces and sells great American spirits, pot-stilled in small batches, one barrel at a time, honoring time-tested methods. Copper Fox is the only distillery in North America to hand-malt its own barley, and the only distillery on the planet to use apple and cherry wood smoke to flavor the malted barley.
Program: Tours and malting demonstrations; program is primarily for adults.
Products: whisky, spirit, barrel kits, T-shirts and other souvenir products.
Hill House Farm & Nursery
Janet Davis & Robert Devening, owners
540.937.1798
www.hillhousenativeplants.com
This farm and nursery grows high-quality eastern U.S. native plants, including perennials, shrubs, grasses and vines for gardens, landscape restoration projects and natural habitats.
Program: Butterfly Treasure Hunt for children of all ages: follow the map to locate important butterfly plants and photos of the species they support; lectures on habitat creation. Demonstrations on making “bio-char.” Master naturalists and master gardeners will give presentations.
Products: a wide selection of native plants.
Belle Meade Farm & School (Ticket Purchase Location)
Mike Biniek & Susan Hoffman
540.987.9748
www.bellemeade.net
info@bellemeade.net
Belle Meade Farm specializes in organically grown vegetables and pastured livestock — including cows, pigs, chickens, laying hens and turkeys — raised without hormones or antibiotics. Belle Meade School provides students with an academic learning environment that is holistic in its methods, creating a model of lifelong learning, leadership and sustainable living for them, their families and the community.
Program: “Growing Our Future” fundraising event and silent auction. Tours of the farm, hayrides, pony rides, corn maze, lunch, a beekeeping demonstration and discussion, chef cook-off, music and more. Funds raised from this school event will be used to support the operation and mission of Belle Meade School.
Products: farm products and a farm-fresh lunch will be available for purchase.
Location: 353 F.T. Valley Rd., Sperryville, VA 22740. From Sperryville, go south on Rte. 522 toward Culpeper for approx 0.75 mile; turn right onto F.T. Valley Rd. (Rte. 231); then 6.4 miles to driveway on the right. Bear right to the schoolhouse.
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