During our "Virginian Food & Drink Tour" we were to encounter some quite different kinds and sizes of farms that had diversified into a whole range of activities to compliment their growing. Our next stop was Great Country Farms, Bluemont, at the base of the famous Blue Ridge Mountains (remember the Laurel and Hardy song?) and is the home of the Zurschmeide family. Their 200 acre farm grows an impressive selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, including a sizeable Pick Your Own operation (often called "U-Pick" in America) offering Strawberries, Blueberries, Peaches, Potatoes and Pumpkins among others.
It clearly wasn't long before Great Country Farm discovered the potential of adding activities to their property and over the last 15 years or so this is exactly what they have been doing. They now offer walkthrough mazes, puzzles, hayrides, a barnyard (animals), gem mine, jumping pillow (pictured above) and a cow train. Add to this facilities for hosting school trips, corporate events and even weddings! Pictured below is "The Stable", a hugely impressive building redeveloped specifically with weddings in mind with one of its biggest assets being a spectacular view over the Blue Ridge Mountains. This is all quite typical of how the creative minded American fruit farmer has developed their business in recent years.
Farm related events are another important sphere of a farm business like this, each one pulling hundreds and more often thousands of visitors in a very short space of time. Parking and crowd control can be quite serious issues! Here at Great Country Farm annual events include Marshmallow Harvest, Cider Festival, Strawberry Jubilee, Barbeque and Blackberry Bonanza, Peach Festival, Fall Festival and James's favourite, "Pumpkin Chunkin"!
Our next stop on tour was a very short journey just across the road from the Zurshmeide's farm to yet another activity of theirs, the Bluemont Vineyard. At 951ft above sea level the vineyard enjoys the same spectacular view as The Stable; it was once the family home but is now home to "The Winery", a superb facility including wine tasting, meals and a retail outlet. Fortunately our tour allowed some time for just a little bit of wine tasting!
If you ever wondered how to build a theme park on a budget, take a look at our next stop on Day 3 of our tour, Chesterfield Berry Farm in Mosely. The farm (including a pick your own unit) grows over 50 different varieties of fruit and vegetables and whilst it might not have quite that many attractions it cant be too far short! The most memorable on our part was the "Corn Gun". Imagine a mortar gun that fires cobs of maize and that's the corn gun....fantastic fun!!! (Note in the picture below how far away the target is in the distance; we wondered if they really do shoot that far and are the public really allowed to walk by within the line of fire!?!)
Other activities at Chesterfield include a Scary House, Paintball Range, Goat Walk, Trailer Rides, Hay Tunnel Jump, Pony Rides to name but a few. Pictured below is a visitors snap of the Hog Racing during the open season!
We can't talk about agritourism without mentioning the king of attractions, the Corn Maze! Us Brits are no strangers to the "Maize Maze" of course and they were well represented among our group of British travellers (check out Milton Maize Maze in Cambridge www.themiltonmaizemaize.co.uk and Tulleys Farm in Crawley www.tulleysfarm.com). Its probably no surprise to learn that this have become a really big deal over in the States and every year now sees more and more creative designs, themes and activities incorporated within them.
Finally we have to mention two of our fellow bus tour travellers, Kyla and Kirtsen Vala of "Vala's Pumpkin Patch" in Omaha, Nebraska widely regarded as the market leaders in their field. In 29 years their family farm has developed into a major attraction that hosts over 245,000 visitors in just 40 days (they're closed the rest of the year to recover!!!) and employs a staggering 600 staff, many of them actors! We can't wait to visit them one day!!! www.valaspumpkinpatch.com
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