Join us this month on ASAP’s Family Farm Tour.

by Jess McCuan . photos by Naomi Johnson

We’ve written about so many women farmers and food producers in the pages of VERVE. Now, it’s time to take a closer look at these virtuous local ladies who know (among other things) how to get their hands dirty. A handful of staffers will load up a VERVE-mobile on June 25 and take the Family Farm Tour, an annual program of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. The self-guided driving tour this summer includes a record number of farms—41, according to ASAP—and 18 of them are new additions to the circuit. During the weekend of June 25 and 26, many farms offer tastings and samples, and you can often pet goats and feed chickens or watch piglets root in the dirt.

On our list of places to hit will be Flying Cloud and Hickory Nut Gap farms in Fairview, run by Annie and Isaiah Perkinson and Jamie and Amy Ager. The two historic farms are run by a family that’s been cultivating crops in Fairview for four generations. Annie Perkinson, who’s long been involved with Asheville’s Slow Food organization, grows gorgeous flowers, which she also sells at area farmer’s markets. At Flying Cloud, you can learn about cover cropping, soil testing and crop rotation. While we’re in the area, we’ll stop by and say howdy to Wendy and Walter Harrill at Imladris Farms in Fairview. Known for their jellies, the Harrills also serve up ice cream, eggs and various types of grassfed meat. Other highlights? Bison (yes, a real bona fide bison herd) at Blue Ridge Bison in Weaverville, a mushroom fruiting house at Emma Farms in Asheville, and the herding demonstrations and pens full of baby goats at Spinning Spider Creamery in Marshall.

We hope you’ll join us when we get down on the farm on June 25. (And if you can’t make it out, at least watch us make the trek, on Facebook and Twitter!) It should be nothing if not a wholesome good time.

For complete details on the Family Farm Tour, including a terrific map. plus tips for charting your course and what to pack, check www.familyfarmtour.com. June 25 and 26. 1-6pm. Find us on Facebook as VERVE Asheville, and on Twitter, @VERVE_Asheville.