Want to see where buffalo still roam, mountain-sustainable heirloom produce is grown or how your bottle of wine began on the vine? Saturday, June 25 marks the Second Annual PolkFresh™ Agri-Tour, organized by local farms and the Mill Spring Agricultural Development Center.

This self-guided automobile tour is your invitation to visit 10 working farms, farm stops and gardens throughout the area, ranging from wine grapes to livestock to produce to shiitake forests. Farms will offer demonstrations and tours, as well as sales, so pack your coolers and wear your mud shoes.

New this year to the tour is a collaboration with Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Projects’ 2011 Family Farm Tour, held Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26. Covering four counties north of Polk County, a PolkFresh™ vehicle pass, used on Saturday, June 25 will gain you entry to the ASAP Farm Tour on Sunday, June 26.

AP Williams Deli and Dairy Bar on Hwy. 9 in Green Creek, between Hwy. 74 and Sandy Plains Rd., will offer a box lunch special for tourists to take along with them and find picnicking locations at the various farms. Farm and farm-related stops include: Columbus Tailgate Market, Adawehi Gardens, Glenreid Farm, Green River Vineyard and B & B, Overmountain Vineyard and Tasting Room, Nelon Knoll Farm, Restoration Farm, Maple Creek Farm, LEAP Farm and the Mill Spring Agricultural Development Center. Also noted on the tour is Polk County’s only registered Century Farm, the Womack Farm off Big Level Road in Pea Ridge. Farm descriptions and downloadable maps are available online at www.polkcountyfarms.org.

Vehicle passes are for sale daily between the Mill Spring Ag Center, Manna Cabanna in Saluda and all four weekly farmers’ markets in the county. There is no entrance limit to number of passengers per car.

Organizers invite the community to come out and tour with your dedicated farms and friends of agriculture who put their “heart and soil” into sustainable, nutritious food for local families and community.

Proceeds from this event benefit the Mill Spring Agricultural Development Center and the PolkFresh™ Trade post farm store and distribution center located there.

For more information, visit www.polkcountyfarms.org.

– article submitted by Carol Lynn Jackson