Stay At a Farm This Summer

As I wrote about last summer, saving our farmland is vital not only for the food it gives us and the livelihood it provides our farmers, but because it can promote and protect regional food systems, play a role in environmental quality, and provide fiscal stability to a region by boosting the economy.

It does this by contributing to a community’s infrastructure and helps a local economy through sales, job creation and support services or businesses. One of the most unique of these support services is tourism, or more specifically, agri-tourism.

Traveling to a farm provides the urban or suburban dweller with a completely different vacation experience. We get to take advantage of seeing how a farm operates without the responsibility of having to run our own farm.

There are plenty of places that people visit to see rural scenery or to enjoy the food or drink of a specific region including the wineries in California’s Napa Valley or the popular farm stays found in Europe, especially Italy.

But agritourism takes many forms and includes such diverse activities as farm tours, agricultural/historical museums, petting farms, farm markets, food festivals, pick-your-own produce farms, roadside produce stands, nurseries, greenhouses, and wineries in addition to farm stays. There are even farms that provide lots of outdoor activities to people interested in things like horseback riding, kayaking, or fishing.

Since it is the summer vacation season, you might want to consider a farm stay. The great thing about a farm stay is that it offers something for all ages and you can pick the type of farm that suits your interest and fits in with how far you want to travel.

A farm stay is just what it sounds like; you stay on a working farm. Depending on the farm, each offers a different type of accommodation and experience. Some are bed and breakfast inns; others offer rooms and/or space in the farmhouse, while others are actually converted barns or other farm buildings made into an inn or guest facility.

Some are very family friendly and provide all kinds of activities for kids, while others are only for adults and offer more of a quiet retreat. Some farm stays are operated as a working arrangement where people can come and stay and actually volunteer on a farm for a certain amount of time in exchange for food and accommodations while learning about farming.

Check out this site to find a farmstay near you, check out Farm Stay USA. If you are interested in a working vacation, check out WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOF).

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Michele W.

8:46AM PST on Nov 9, 2011

This is something I'd love to do.
Thanks

send a green star

May H.

11:58AM PDT on Oct 17, 2011

would love to stay on a farm but only for a few weeks, the seaside is my place

suzanne o.

7:36AM PDT on Oct 14, 2011

i am trying to find very cheap self-catering , 3 pets allowed....a cottage/cabin per day $15-$25, including the dogs , no big luxuries......farm or country mountain - can not find anything yet

Brenda T.

1:08PM PDT on Aug 9, 2011

A great place to take the children.

Jennifer C.

12:18AM PDT on Jul 22, 2011

Thanks for sharing this article.

Laura M.

2:13PM PDT on Jul 21, 2011

i'm staying and working on a farm this summer. =)

Camila K.

6:47AM PDT on Jul 20, 2011

what a fabulous idea! I would love to bring my kids.

Rudolf A.

5:47AM PDT on Jul 20, 2011

I used to do so regularly when I was a kid.

Alexandra R.

7:36PM PDT on Jul 19, 2011

Oh, I forgot the "Weekend in the country" when a storm threatened and I spent a couple of hours running around throwing hay bales onto the truck. It was just like in the movies because as soon as we got the last bale into the shed, the sky opened and torrential rain poured down.
That was something to rejoice about. Hard to think of another "high" quite like that. The hay was safe and we were heroes!

7:18PM PDT on Jul 19, 2011

I love staying on farms and have done it several times in my life.
In the early1970s we were in England and my husband joined us up to the caravan club, which enabled us to camp on farms that were also members. so off we went for "A weekend in the country". (Not at all like the musical.)
We set up, I had cooked breakfast and we sat around enjoying it, when the farmer came around and said: "They tell me you're a doctor. There is a terrible sheep disease going around and unless the sheep get immunized today, they'll all die. The vets are all busy with this and won't come for days, please help me!"
"OK" I said and spent the whole weekend, from morn till night, injecting sheep. "God bless you!"said the farmer and I said "Think nothing of it!" In a way, I had enjoyed the weekend tremendously, though I had been working 'against the clock" the whole time to get them all done.
Fast forward a couple decades to a "Weekend in the country" in Tasmania on a farm owned by one of my best friends.
As soon as I arrived, some calves started falling down, unable to get up. They were extremely pale due to Hookworm. Apart from devising ways of making the calves stand up and correcting their anemia (which helped them to survive), I spent the whole time drenching cattle. I could do it faster than anyone and I did not distress them, so it was my job. Still feel good about that.
Other weekends? Well, not as exciting, but had fun churning butter, collecting eggs, cleaning out the stables, etc.