This Saturday, July 30, 38 farms across Madison County will open their doors to thousands of visitors during the eighth annual Open Farm Day, an event that offers behind-the-scenes looks at local agricultural businesses. Visitors get to experience farm tours, rides, product samples, farm animals and more, all free of charge. This is a fantastic event — full of fun, food and education — that we anticipate every year.
In a time when “Buy Local” is not just a catch phrase but a way of life for so many people, and consumers are eager to see where their food comes from and how it is grown or made, there is no better way to learn the answers than to visit the farms themselves. We know that our readers from Cazenovia, Nelson and Fenner are highly supportive of local agriculture, and Open Farm Day is a chance to see not only the farms you purchase goods from at the Cazenovia Farmers Market but to go farther afield and visit places you never knew existed.
Last year, we visited the Fruit of the Fungi mushroom farm in Earlville, and found it the most fascinating visit of the day. We learned about different types of mushrooms, and how they are grown and harvested — and we had a great drive through the rural countryside to get there. Another favorite was Thorp Apiary on Lincklaen Road in Cazenovia, where we learned the business of beekeeping and honey harvesting. As we report in one story this week, Our Farm in Manlius/Cazenovia will be shooting watermelons 250 feet into the air with their newly repaired trebuchet (which we can’t wait to see in action), and we are excited to see that for the first time at Open Farm Day, a farm distillery — Old Home Distillers, in Lebanon — will be part participating.
Open Farm Day is a great day out for the entire family, and one that we cannot praise highly enough. This will be our fourth year taking the opportunity to visit farms across the county, and we encourage all of our readers to join in. For information and a map of the participating farms, visit OpenFarmDayMadisonCounty.com.
