First Annual Self-Guided
Farm Tour 2012
Visit your local, organic and sustainable farms!
Sunday, June 24 from 1-5 P.M.
Slow Food Katy Trail has asked
a few local farmers to showcase their farms on June 24 at our first (and, we
hope, annual) farm tour. It's a self-guided
(drive-yourself-to-the-farms) affair, and a great opportunity for enthusiasts
of fresh, local and seasonal foods to see where it all comes from.
Each farm will have different
and interesting things to show and tell visitors. Among the sensory offerings
will be music, frolicking baby goats, chickens
that lay blue eggs, delicious treats, farm products for sale and gorgeous
scenery.
We encourage families to bring
children and introduce them to life on the farm and the origins of food. It's
free, it's educational and it's a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Visit one or as many as you like.
See you on the farm(s)!!
Participating farms include:
Deep
Mud Farm is a
certified organic truck farm supplying diverse vegetables to farmers markets
and restaurants in Columbia and St Louis. Run by Jeremy Saurage, it is on four
acres that are part of what was once his great grandfather's farm in Callaway
County. While modestly sized, Deep Mud focuses on producing as much value and
as high a quality as possible, using the most efficient and appropriate means
available. Come on out!
*From the Hatton exit (MM144) on I-70,
go north on Rt. M for about 6 miles to T-junction. Turn right on Rt. E, go
about 3 miles to the water tower. Turn left onto CR 245, which is initially paved.
Travel for 1.5 miles, go past the brick church, the road turns to gravel,
continue north a bit farther to the first road to the west. Go left on CR 290,
continue 3/4 mile to the farm on the right side of the road. It’s the only
house on the road.
Altai
Meadows is a
family farm located in north-central Missouri near Higbee. Our family is
dedicated to the production of quality grass-fed, grass-finished beef in a
manner that respects our environment and our animals. Our animals are moved to
fresh pasture on a daily basis to provide exceptional foraging conditions,
while continuously improving our pastures. Our beef is naturally and humanely
raised without added hormones or antibiotics. We also leave out the chemical
wormer and the multitude of vaccine injections. That’s why our beef is so
clean. Grass-finished beef and eggs from pastured chickens are available for
purchase at the farm and at the Columbia Farmers Market in Columbia.
*From Columbia travel north on 63 about
20 miles or so to Rt. B and take a left. Take B about 9 miles to the T
intersection at Rt. A. Take a right and follow what is now Rt. AB through
Higbee. Just north of Higbee, Rt. B takes off to the left. Stay on Rt. A for
about a mile past B and take a right on CR 2540. A sign on this corner says Higbee
City Cemetery. Follow a short distance to a T intersection and take a left on
CR 2530. Follow to first road on right—CR 2535. Turn right and follow to end of
this dead-end road. We are the last (third) house on the road.
Terra Bella
Farm, near Hatton, is a diverse 160-acre farm
with several projects aimed at increasing the public’s access to locally raised
foods and increasing interest in the rural community. We’ve been an organic
farm since 1999 and follow strictly no-chemical practices, but dropped our
certification soon after USDA made it obvious they would make the rules easy
for corporate growers rather than small farms. On June 24, we also will be
welcoming the Crop Mob, a group of volunteers who work on farms. According to
our mission, we are "dedicated to food for the local community, arts for
all and the health of the rural ecosystem, including our farmers." We have
vegetable gardens, a timber-stand-improvement project, pasture for cattle and
sheep, and a historic wheat project in its second year. We are home to the
mid-Missouri Barn Quilt Project. Two of our buildings are solar and our
irrigation system is partially solar. On June 24, we will have a self-guided
walking tour and cookies from our wheat project in the Model-T garage, an
off-grid building that was moved to its current site in 2010.
*Take I-70 to Exit 144 and go north on Rt.
M 4 miles to 1303 Rt. M. Do not follow internet directions.
Covered-L
Farm, south of Centralia and southeast of
Hallsville. Come relax to the sounds of quail calling and grass growing. We are
making slow, but steady, progress in reclaiming worn-out conventional crop
ground for our 100% grass-fed beef operation. We use no antibiotics, hormones,
insecticides or herbicides, but we are not organic—just very close. Check out a
couple of our experimental efforts to provide a smorgasbord of forage for the
cattle and/or help us with a paddock shift —moving the herd to a fresh pasture.
For a price list, email us at cvrdlfarm@centurytel.net, place an order and we will have it
ready for pick up at the farm tour. Our Spring Grilling Special prices on
filet, rib eye and KC strip will still be in effect. Summer sausage samples and
bottled water available.
*From Columbia, take I-70 east to Exit 133.
Go north on Rt. Z toward Centralia for about 10 miles to Rt. D. Turn right on
D, go 3⁄4 mile and turn right on McDonald Rd. (gravel). In about 3⁄4 mile turn
left on Rouse Rd; it ends at our place. From Centralia, go south on Jefferson
St/Rt Z to Rt D. From Hallsville take Rt. OO to Z, then left to D. (H) 573-682-5536;
during tour, 573-982-9136
Happy
Hollow Farm is nestled
among the rolling hills along the Missouri River. The primary growing fields,
which border the Little Splice Creek bottom, benefit from beautiful silt loam
soils rich in organic matter. The farming techniques used on this farm are a
combination of highly managed cover cropping, crop rotations, the application
of compost, mulch and small quantities of minerals and nutrients. My goal is to
give back more to the soil than I take. We sell directly to Community Supported
Agriculture (CSA) members, local restaurants and at the Farmers & Artisans
Market in downtown Columbia. Joining a CSA is a shared commitment between the
consumer and the farmer, providing some certainty to the farmer in the way of a
secure market for our produce in the fickle world we know as farming. My goal
at Happy Hollow Farm CSA is to provide the highest quality produce possible. I
strive to offer the most organized and effective way for consumers to buy
seasonally fresh food directly from a local certified organic farm.
*Get on Hwy 179, then go east onto Hwy P
toward Lupus. Go 3 miles, turn right onto Lupus Rd. Go 2 miles, turn right onto
Happy Hollow Rd. Go 1 mile, farm is on the right.
Walk-About
Acres, LLC is a
small, diversified family farm with a big emphasis on honeybees. We provide the
community with quality products, responsibly grown in a fun and educational
environment for the whole family. Come visit the Buzzy Bee Classroom, Papa’s
Store, and our Missouri Mulefoot hogs, emus and Aracauna chickens. We’ll have delicious
Walk-About Acres Honey Ice Cream and maps for self-guided tours. Porta potties
are available.
*From the I-70 and Hwy 63 interchange
take Hwy 63 north to the second exit for Rt. B to Hallsville. Go about 2 miles
north on Rt. B to Rt. HH (gas station on corner). Go right on Rt. HH for about
2 miles. Rt. HH will curve to the left and Kircher Rd. is on the right. Follow
Kircher Rd. around two curves to 6800 North Kircher Rd. at the bottom of the
hill on the left.
Goatsbeard
Farm is a small
family-owned and -operated goat dairy northwest of Columbia. We maintain a herd
of about 80 goats, 60 of which are milked twice each day from March through
December. The milk is used to make a variety of fresh and aged artisanal
farmstead goat cheeses sold throughout Missouri. Visitors to the farm can see
frolicking baby goats, tour the dairy facility, visit our garden, walk along
ponds and pastures, listen to a bit of bluegrass music, and get an idea of how
a small goat dairy operates on a daily basis. Cheeses will be available for
tasting and purchase.
*Take I-70 west to Fayette exit/Hwy 40. Go
northwest on Hwy 40 about 4 miles, turn right on Hwy J. Follow J north about 8
miles and turn left on Callahan Creek Rd. The farm is about a mile farther, on
the right just across the concrete bridge. 11351 Callahan Creek Rd.
573-875-0706.
Pierpont
Farms is a 34-acre family farm located just south of Columbia near Rock Bridge
State Park. We are not certified organic, but follow organic practices. In
addition to growing many crops outdoors, we have a greenhouse for starting
plants and grow in 2 high tunnels year ‘round. We use a half-acre Haygrove tunnel
mainly for tomatoes, raspberries, melons and sweet potatoes. We grow just about
everything you can grow in mid-Missouri for our CSA members, restaurants,
colleges, the Columbia Farmers Market and Boone Hospital. We have a
demonstration garden/u-pick area for our CSA customers. We raise laying hens
for eggs, bantams for pets and have a beautiful Narragansett tom turkey,
“Goebels,” that is always fully displaying his plumage. Our property also hosts
bee hives, which belong to a CSA customer and Walk-About Acres.
*Go south on
Providence Rd. to Rock Bridge Elementary. Take a left at the light (163) and
follow until you reach the 4-way stop at the Pierpont Store. Turn right onto Rt.
N, and it’s a little over a mile on your left. If coming from US 63, go west on
163 and follow past Strawberry Hill to 4-way stop at Pierpont Store. Go
straight through the 4-way, and it’s a little over a mile on your left. Big
sign in front yard. Be prepared for friendly, barking dogs.
The Salad Garden is a small farm located in Ashland, Missouri, 15
minutes south of Columbia. On our 1.5-acre plot, we grow a wide array of Certified
Organic herbs, flowers, fruits and vegetables, including many open-pollinated
and heirloom varieties. Our mission is to provide fresh, delicious, healthy
organically grown produce to members of the mid-Missouri community, while
maintaining and improving the health and quality of the soils, the water, the
air and biological life.
*From Columbia, take
US-63 going south. Take the Ashland/Guthrie exit and turn left, going east on
State Route Y. After 2.5 miles, look for Hawkins Rd, which in on the right
after a curve in the road. Turn right on Hawkins and go a mile down the road to
the big red barn on the right.
• This
is a self-guided tour.
• Most
farms do not have public restrooms.
•
Dress appropriately with hat, sunscreen,
comfortable shoes and clothing.
•
Please—no dogs and no smoking.
•
Please do not go in greenhouses or walk farms without a guide.
