The Shenandoah Valley has a wealth of farms and natural beauty. Since spring is practically here, and summer’s on the way, why not plan a vacation around getting the most out of the area’s agricultural bounty? Here’s our suggested itinerary in 6 steps.
Step 1: Tour a Farm
- Polyface Farms is a national leader in best-practices farming. Stop by any time to take a self-guided tour. Polyface also offers scheduled lectures and private tours as well as “lunatic” tours where visitors ride in a hay wagon. Want to get the kids interested? Sign them up for summer camp to keep them learning with projects and activities centered around sustainable farming.
- Wade’s Mill has been in business since 1750, grinding 100% natural, whole grain products with no additives, preservatives, or bleaches. You’re welcome to explore the mill grounds or “mill around” looking at historic equipment and displays inside the three-story structure during business hours. More in-depth tours are available for a fee. Plan to purchase bags of freshly ground products to take home.
- Next, take a self-guided tour of the 5-acre visitor’s area of the Cyrus McCormick Farm. Explore the scenic grounds, gaze at the mill wheel, and learn the history of the mechanical reaper, responsible for revolutionizing grain harvesting in the 1830s.
Step 2: Visit the Animals
- The Mt. Crawford Creamery sells the freshest milk and butter around. Visitors are welcome to say hi to the cows housed next to the dairy or register for a longer tour to learn about the farm’s history, farming practices, and the process of raising and milking the cows. Tours last an hour to an hour and a half, and you’ll definitely want to conclude with a scoop or two of on-site Smiley’s Ice Cream.
- MIddlebrook’s Creambrook Farm raises 100% grass-fed Jersey cows and sells raw milk herd shares. Follow them on Instagram to learn about tours and events.
- Another good place to visit for music, fun, agri-pub food, and delicious craft beer is Stable Craft Brewing. This brewery and event space is on a beautiful working horse farm. Visitors can hang out with the horses or tour the facilities. The tours educate participants on the brewery’s sustainable practices, introduce them to the brewers, and offer a peek behind the scenes.
Step 3: Plan Your Own Garden
- You’ll find everything you need for your garden at JMD Farm Market & Garden Center. The center grows vegetable and garden plants, sells pottery, and has a small market that sells seasonal produce, meats, eggs, and local honey. Explore the greenhouses, then sit and enjoy a glass of wine while the kids have a blast on the natural playground.
- You might know the Andre Viette Farm & Nursery only for its daylilies, but the extensive display gardens are open to the public and will inspire your own landscaping. After oohing and aahing over the garden “rooms,” visit the garden center to purchase additions to your own sun and shade gardens.
- JMU’s 125-acre Edith J. Carrier Arboretum is a wonderful place for both a springtime nature walk and for inspiration on how to use native Virginia flowers, trees, and shrubs in your own landscaping. You’ll find water features, artwork, play areas for kids, and more, nestled in the wooded environment.
Step 4: Visit a Farmers’ Market or Farm Store
- Located in Staunton’s historic Wharf neighborhood, the Staunton Farmers’ Market brings you fresh goodness every Saturday morning from April through Thanksgiving. Not only will you enjoy chatting with the farmers, but the community feel of the market will also have you returning each week. Everything sold here has been grown or produced from within 75 miles. The market is a great place for seasonal produce, herbs, plants, and cut flowers. You can also find meat, baked goods, honey, and pickled items.
- Mount Sidney’s Cool Breeze Farm believes in the humane treatment of animals as it raises and sells pasture/forest grazed pork, free-range eggs, chemical-free produce, and grass-fed beef.
- Meadowcroft Farms produces more than 60 different kinds of pickles, relishes, jams, salsas, and spreads at its farm store. You might find the setting so beautiful that you want to take a mini-vacation at the historic (but modernized) on-site Inn at Meadowcroft.
Step 5: Pick Your Own
- The Critzer Family Farm boasts environmentally-friendly methods and a commitment to bettering the land and community and educating children. The Afton Mountain farm offers you-pick strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches, plums, pumpkins, and fresh veggies. Oh, and there’s home-churned ice cream to enjoy after you pick.
- Concord and Niagara grapes are in season from the end of August to late September. You can pick or buy them at Wenger Grapes, a small, picturesque family farm that has grown grapes for 80 years.
- A local source of fresh apples is Sunrise Orchards. This small pick-your-own apple orchard offers Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Jonathan by the bag, peck, half-bushel, or bushel from early September until the apples are gone.
Overview: I wrote this blog post to inform people of local agri-tourism attractions and draw local or regional tourism. This content needed to be written and edited in a few hours due to time and budget constraints.
What I did: I researched agri-tourism and identified several areas of interest to potential audiences. I conversation mined for vocabulary specific to the subject, but not overly complicated: best-practices farming, sustainability, additives, preservatives, etc. I took an inventory of area locations and businesses and grouped them into categories.
I wrote an introduction that tells a story of an unusual, but fun and informative vacation idea. I wrote short, clear descriptions of attractions, including interesting details. I employed a casual and conversational tone, including a pun in the title, an exclamation mark or two, phrases like “say hi to the cows,” “itching to get outside,” and “mill around” at the grist mill
The original draft of this post got long because there were just so many good locations to add. I limited each section to three bullets.